So many places to protest, not enough hours in the day!

We met on Saturday May 6, 2006 to protest, originally because the dianetics anniversary which is/was today, May 9. Due to other recent concerns and citizens interested to stand up, we gathered to support activists in Leona Valley to protest Sheriff Baca's cult connection to endorse Narconon. We then picketed by the LRH Museum on Hollywood and Ivar. We unfortunately missed picketing at the Arc Light Theatre during the opening night of Mission Impossible 3, although we had the best of intentions to try. (We are only human!) To all of our surprise, the Arc Light has come up with its own protest of "numbers" after the weekend, the signs of a desperate cult. The fallacy of trying to inflate numbers, even if successfully done without notice, does nothing to help make $cientology look important. This is only a feeble try to cover the big league sales tactics and failing PR tech of head spokeperson and salesman for the cult, Tom Cruise.

We started off in the usual tradition by meeting at the Sizzler at noon. Had a bite to eat and headed out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's facility on Ramona Blvd. to protest Sheriff Leroy Baca's endorsement of the Narconon program.

Tory, Jeff, Barb and I arrived and were met by three other other residents of Leona Valley, a new picketer, and later by two others. We received many honks, but due to the road being situated right near the front of the complex of buildings, foot traffic was slow. Hoewever our protest was successful. I made a sign that said "Baca Way from $cientology - Not our taxpayer dollars" with the url: http://Stop-Narconon.com/Baca Others had some good signs too, with Jeff Jacobsen's fluorescent sign the best to view from afar.

We learned alot of things that the cult had been up to in Leona Valley, and basically $cientology came into a relatively small town with big PR tactics.

The isolation of Sheriff Baca, bussing in $cientologists to meetings and fixed letter writing campaigns, strong-arming the local paper with Narconon ads and celebrity attention is all a part of the show to look like something it is not. The scales of concensus are repeatedly fixed with a faux set of actors who cannot take away the voice of the taxpayers and those who know that an endorsement here means a stepping stone somewhere else. It is a feudal, not fair.

It is encouraging that another meeting will be held in July for some of the facts to be reviewed. This is why it is so important to realize that paying taxes does give you the right to speak up and question and add information that $cientology leaves out or fraudulently publishes. Getting such a scam approved only means funding for programs that have to do with criminal reentry programs or others similar. Their job is to avoid review, and lessen people who can bring a fair concensus. The process is fixed and corrupt. Not if the residents of Leona Valley keep doing such a good job, and all of us keep writing.

(back to the picket...)

After an hour, we moved on to the L Ron Hubbard Life Museum at Hollywood and Ivar, across from the Sea Organization headquarters. Within minutes of arriving, the curtains on the top floor of the Sea Org bldg. were closed.

I had my hands full of space aliens, so someone else carried my sign. It said, "Tom Cruise Censors Space Aliens, Watch South Park - Save $400,000 and with http://www.Xenu.net up in the corner. I did have colorful http://www.Lermanet.com flyers that covered Isaac Hayes leaving South Park, and Tom Cruises further censorship of the rebroadcast of Episode 912 - Trapped in the Closet with the Xenu Story. I passed out every one of the 100 I brought.

Xenu stood regally at the corner of Hollywood and Ivar and drew quite a crowd. Many knew who Xenu is and several families with kids and others stopped to take pictures. I held a frame with five inflatable aliens, as a tribute to Dianetics day, and as a testament to what is on the cover of the book. The honest truth is that this is a consumer issue, a bait and switch ruse that everyone should know. "You are not infested with space aliens! We just saved you $400,000 dollars!" It is every taxpayers right to bring this issue to the forefront and bridge the gap between the bad alternative health advice, and what really is behind all those human problems.

So Xenu and the clusters of space aliens were there to commemorate and stand where they belonged - by the founder who created the implant station for this cruel con game that takes peoples money and mind - L Ron Hubbard. The building should appropriately be named , "The space opera building" (Some who think we were selling the aliens may have a good idea, as every carnival has its props and it's not surreal that this would be where Xenu belongs all the time.) Colorful aliens much cheaper!

Jeff was dressed appropriately as "Dr. Fake," the perfect role considering Tom Cruises giving advice about pregnancy and post partum one day, and chugging oil the next. Would you take advice from Dr. Fake? The statement Jeff's attire made covered many of $cientology's deadly quack teachings - fake claims of curing, the treatment and demise of Lisa McPherson and others; the list goes on and on.

The amount of handlers here was more than I have seen during the time I have protested, about seven at one point. Obvious jobs: take pictures to put in the massive database of information $cientology keeps. Identify who the people are. Ask what their motive is, and what organization then represent. I've never attended a protest where they did not do this, yet it is always interesting to see how each member adapts to this virulent practice. This is what they got into $cientology for?

This is obviously something that they must brief members on, who come out to handle someone based on crude and dishonest information. "Those people out there" must be really bad for some reason.

Some of the members tried to engage us in conversation. This is about as effective as doing this on ars, and shows the same lack of logical means to debate. Face to face however is quite an observation, to see how $cientology members are "all in their head" - or how the tech is talking and the ears are closed. The idea is not for them to understand what you are saying, as much as they are trying to get you into answering to L Ron Hubbards line of questioning, or - thinking the way they are! The built in stance in which they are so individually claiming to be speaking from includes having to have you convert to the way they are thinking. It's built into the responses they give, and is quite bizarre. This lacks debate totally and is a very indicative of the language skills they are trained with. The dialogue is repetitive and so old, very narrow and includes giving you every reason to respond in the way they expect, the entrapping and subversive cult think... It is not intimidating to talk to these members, it is just about talking plainly, avoiding these communicative traps, and get them thinking about something in a normal way if even for a while.

Tory is the best person I have ever heard communicating to members who have come out to address picketers. She knows just where the problem lies in the limitations of what these members are allowed to say when they come out to talk. She knows, she has been there. The main point is that they are not practicing what they learned if they cannot think about something another person says. And for the short time she addressed this one gentleman who came out, you can see that he stopped a few times to think. There were a few brief moments of exchange to this gentleman where what Tory said sunk. That they can read something else or hear something else is a major breakthrough that really allows people to be free. The flipside of that is seeing what I described as talking with the ears closed, and surely depriving of ones freedom of speech. I never forget what Tory says to members and it is so true, "if Hubbard said you are so free then why can't you read other things or talk to me?"

It was odd to hear the ECT story from this same gentleman Tory talked to. I asked, "what book or information have you been given," because he spoke as if it were happening so excessively, "right now." I told him it was pretty rare these days, and he started making "whoa ho ho ho" noises as if I were misinformed. You could see the level of hysteria from teaching such things are in fact, excessive.

Others came from Leona Valley and Goonybird and a new picketer were there talking to members and the many people walking by.

I walked across the street to the HELP Hollywood Education Literacy Project because I saw some mothers and children leaving. The children smiled at all the colorful space aliens and asked for one, so I gave one to each of the two families. (I gave away 10 at least) The mothers said that the kids were receiving tutoring there, and I told them that although they think their children are receiving some attention, they should beware that the method used is the study technology of $cientology and that the children would be learning the language that L Ron Hubbard taught. They said they would look on the internet and read about it.

It was odd to see the uniformed sea org members march by in double lines from the sea org building to the museum and then later back to the sea org facility. They were mostly young adults, good looking kids who should be out enjoying life. Tory and I told them to leave as they walked by, amongst other things.

Mark Bunker was there to interview and film the protest at the "Space Opera Building" and did a great job. http://www.xenutv.com/pickets/hollywood-baca.htm

After the picket we went to Tory's house for a gathering of picketers and other guests. We enjoyed some good food and conversation. Several people called in from all over, and the phone was passed around so we could all say hello. Keith Henson called too for a brief chat even though he had been busy talking to the people at the International Space Development Conference.

I took the next day to drive over to Ida Camburn's house where we spent a pleasant afternoon talking about the picket and reminisced about all the people who had passed her way over the years. We even attended a singalong at the local club which was entirely relaxing after a busy day. I am grateful to know Ida and everyone I have met who care to stand up for our Constitutional right to freedom of speech and the right to assemble.

After driving through the mountains and a little jet lag,

Feisty

Get Up, Stand Up, stand up for your right

Jeff Jacobsen's pictures from the protests http://www.lisamcpherson.org/la_picket_06.htm

Scientology and Historic Buildings - Like Hitler and the Third Reich http://www.lermanet.com/scientology-and-occult/historic-building.htm

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