- From the satirical magazine "Private Eye" issue number 1,039 "Although fears of terrorist action kept attendances down at the Frankfurt book fair, New Era, the publishing arm of the "Church" of Scientology, attended in force. Not content with bringing yet more books from the world's most prolific corpse, L. Ron Hubbard, the company also offered a cynical and sinister service to those distressed fairgoers who made the trip.

On the Wednesday morning of the fair, Sharyn Runyon, billed as the 'leader of the volunteer disaster relief team at [the] World Trade Center', was on the New Era stand to discuss 'details of the disaster relief activities, centering on the mental/spiritual causes and effects of the tragedy'. Unfortunately the press release chose not to spell out that in addition to her 'selfless volunteer work,' Runyon is the director of the Friends of L. Ron Hubbard Foundation.

No surprise, then, that her rescue work was conducted 'using techniques based on Hubbard's book Dianetics:

The Modern Science of Mental Health, these techniques being 'increasingly recognised by disaster relief services not only in New York but worldwide as uniquely effective'.

Er, up to a point. Most sensible rescue workers regard the Hubbardian therapy as nothing but cynical ambulance chasing. The main form of relief in which Hubbard's outporings are 'uniquely effective' is in relieving the emotionally weak and vulnerable of large sums of money. The experiences of the World Trade Center, the press release said, 'give us a new understanding, and there are solutions'.

Could these solutions have involved joining the 'Church' and forking over vast piles of cash?

Surely not."

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