Scientology calls itself a religion and claims to offer purpose and meaning to its members. Yet for some who worked in the church's militaristic Sea Organization, Scientology provided something different: physical punishment, humiliation, beatings, sleep deprivation, and long and ruinous separation from loved ones.
The stories of 11 former staffers, reported in a St. Petersburg Times special report Sunday, are told with such detail and emotional heft that the church's official denials of abuse ring hollow.
It takes courage to challenge the Church of Scientology, which has long pursued and attempted to destroy its critics. Yet now 15 former Sea Org members have gone on the record with their stories of abuse during years of working at or near the church's top management. Four of those, whose stories were related in the Times' first special report in June, are the highest ranking officials ever to defect from Scientology.
Society's Child
Very sad; Lisa Nelson passed away today 3.7.11. She was an inspration to all who were fortunate enough to know her and will be dearly missed. God bless her beautiful soul.
© AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, M.P. King
State Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, says 'no' during a vote on the budget repair bill after a meeting of a state Legislature conference committee at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011. Senate Republicans used a procedural move on Wednesday to pass the proposal without the Democrats present. Schultz was the lone Republican voting against the bill.
State Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, says 'no' during a vote on the budget repair bill after a meeting of a state Legislature conference committee at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011. Senate Republicans used a procedural move on Wednesday to pass the proposal without the Democrats present. Schultz was the lone Republican voting against the bill.
Madison, Wisconsin - The Wisconsin Senate voted Wednesday night to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers, approving an explosive proposal that had rocked the state and unions nationwide after Republicans discovered a way to bypass the chamber's missing Democrats.
All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker's "budget-repair bill" - a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall.
The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday separated from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, which spends no money, and a special committee of lawmakers from both the Senate and Assembly approved the bill a short time later.
The memorial, designed by Japanese-Russian artist Miya Ando, was to be crafted from twisted shards of steel ranging between 5 and 8 meters (yards) in height, standing in a pool with lights.
"It is my hope that by standing upright the fallen steel columns, I may evoke a quiet yet strong message of transcendence and the role of education in the growth of hope from tragedy," New York-based Ando said in a statement submitted with the planning application.
London's Southwark Council approved the plans last December and the sculpture was due to be inaugurated in London's Potters Fields Park this September to accompany an educational program and commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attacks by suicide hijackers who flew two planes into the World Trade Center, killing nearly three thousand people.
Trustees of the 9/11 London Project Foundation -- the educational charity which commissioned the sculpture -- on Wednesday said they had decided to extend a consultation period for the artwork after "significant concerns" were raised, especially by British families.
© P Photo/Courtesy of Noah Sauder
The Albright and Clouse children are seen in a Christmas photo taken in December, 2010, in Loysville, Pa., provided by their grandfather, Noah Sauder. Top row from left, Evan Albright, 7, Brady Clouse, 7, Trevor Albright, 6, Miranda Clouse, 20 months, Christina Clouse, 11, Isabelle Clouse, 9, Samantha Clouse, 7 months. Front row from left, Leah Clouse, 3, Hannah Clouse, 6, Autumn Albright, 4, Heidi Clouse, 4. A fire ravaged the farmhouse of Theodore and Janelle Clouse in Loysville, Pa., Tuesday night March 8, 2011. Seven Clouse children including an infant perished in a fast-moving fire while their mother milked cows and their father dozed in a milk truck down the road. The Albright children are cousins of the Clouse children and were not involved. Leah Clouse is the only child to have survived.
The Albright and Clouse children are seen in a Christmas photo taken in December, 2010, in Loysville, Pa., provided by their grandfather, Noah Sauder. Top row from left, Evan Albright, 7, Brady Clouse, 7, Trevor Albright, 6, Miranda Clouse, 20 months, Christina Clouse, 11, Isabelle Clouse, 9, Samantha Clouse, 7 months. Front row from left, Leah Clouse, 3, Hannah Clouse, 6, Autumn Albright, 4, Heidi Clouse, 4. A fire ravaged the farmhouse of Theodore and Janelle Clouse in Loysville, Pa., Tuesday night March 8, 2011. Seven Clouse children including an infant perished in a fast-moving fire while their mother milked cows and their father dozed in a milk truck down the road. The Albright children are cousins of the Clouse children and were not involved. Leah Clouse is the only child to have survived.
No cause or origin of the fire had been determined by early Wednesday morning, but the children's grandfather, Noah Sauder, told The Associated Press the blaze may have started in the kitchen, where the family used a propane heater. Fire marshals were investigating.
Public records indicate the parents are Theodore and Janelle Clouse. A neighbour described the family as hard-working.
Police said the children's father had left the two-story home on a working farm in dairy country not far from the state capital, to begin his rounds hauling milk around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Two children, ages 2 and 3, were watching television at the time.
The father picked up milk and then parked the truck about a mile from home before nodding off, state police Trooper Tom Pinkerton said.
Soon after, the 3-year-old smelled smoke in the home and ran to the barn to alert her mother, who apparently tried to get into the house. The woman then ran to the homes of two neighbours before getting someone to call firefighters, then ran with the child to the father's truck and banged on its windows, screaming that their home was on fire, he said.
A senior economist at the worldwide bank HSBC has warned of civil unrest in Britain if food prices continue to soar.
© Unknown
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
A Rasmussen poll out today reveals that almost 60% of likely Wisconsin voters now disapprove of their aggressive governor's performance, with 48% strongly disapproving.
While these numbers are clearly indicators of a strategy gone horribly wrong, there are some additional findings in the poll that I suspect deserve even greater attention.
It turns out that the state's public school teachers are very popular with their fellow Badgers. With 77% of those polled holding a high opinion of their educators, it is not particularly surprising that only 32% among households with children in the public school system approve of the governor's performance. Sixty-seven percent (67%) disapprove, including 54% who strongly disapprove.
Can anyone imagine a politician succeeding with numbers like this among people who have kids?
These numbers should be of great concern not only to Governor Walker but to governors everywhere who were planning to follow down the path of war with state employee unions. You can't take on the state worker unions without taking on the teachers - and the teachers are more popular than Gov. Walker and his cohorts appear to realize.
Comment: For more information regarding soaring food prices, see this Sott link:
Food Prices Soar Around the World