Nevada Assemblywoman reveals trip sponsor

Nevada Assemblywoman reveals trip sponsor
Associated Press
2/12/2003 06:10 pm

An Arizona businessman was identified Wednesday as the person paying for a quick trip to Mexico so Nevada lawmakers can see a prison drug treatment program developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, said Russell Suggs is underwriting the one-day fact-finding mission, and he only grudgingly agreed to let Angle reveal his name.

"He is approached not only by non-profits, but politicians as well,"Angle said."And he doesn't like his name spread around, but he would let it go if it would help me and the Second Chance Program."

Suggs also has seen Ensenada State Prison in Mexico, where the alternative treatment program has been operating since 1995, and was impressed with its results, Angle said.

Suggs is a philanthropist concerned about prison recidivism, Angle said, adding,"He saw what I saw. It works."

Nevada Department of Corrections Director Jackie Crawford will be taking her second tour of the prison on the March 1 trip. She said she was impressed by the Second Chance Program after the first time through.

Angle reserved 35 seats for the trip, and hopes to extend the deadline for reservations, which was supposed to be Wednesday afternoon. She said media scrutiny had some legislators shying away from the trip.

"It would be hard for them to just take my word, or Director Crawford's word ... but the more people who get to see it for themselves the better,"Angle said.

The Second Chance Program detoxifies inmates by administering vitamin and mineral supplements, massage and sauna treatments to drain the body of drug residue, according to the program's brochure.

The program then includes an education component, followed by a self-respect component based on Hubbard's text"The Way to Happiness". The self-respect module also includes one-on-one interviews with a guidance counselor.

The program ends with a life skills component, training inmates on how to evaluate other people and how to change unwanted conditions of their lives. Inmates are then expected to take the program back into their communities upon their release.

The program claims a 10 percent recidivism rate for inmates participating in the program.

The Second Chance Program is licensed by the criminal rehabilitation group Criminon International, part of NARCONON International, a drug rehabilitation program. Both groups employ Hubbard's teachings in their efforts.

RE>Subject: AP: Narconon Contributor Identified

snip;

> Suggs is a philanthropist[sic] concerned about prison recidivism, Angle said,

Perhaps Mr. Suggs was not aware of this finding:

From: ronthewarhero@yahoo.co.uk (Chris Owen)
Subject: Arizona rejects Narconon
Date: 24 Aug 2001 13:52:37 -0700

I dug up this interesting passage from the website of the Arizona State Legislature at http://www.azleg.state.az.us concerning the "Second Chance" programme, a rehashed version of Narconon which has already been used in Mexico and was pitching for $1.5m of state money to operate in Arizona prisons.

Although some legislators were supportive of the proposal, it was not approved, not least because of the concerns of the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) and the Governor's office. The matter was discussed by the State Senate Committee on Judiciary on March 27, 2001, with evidence given for and against Second Chance. Terry Stewart, the Director of the ADC, was the main speaker against.

Note: this is the full text of their findings.

http://www.azleg.state.az.us/legtext/45leg/1r/comm_min/senate/0327jud.doc.htm

I believe many of the Suggs family are members of the Scientology Organization.

Perhaps some of the readers are aware of this however I am not positive.

Ida J. Camburn

The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum. Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965), U.S. Democratic politician. New York Times (19 Jan. 1962).

> I believe many of the Suggs family are members of the Scientology
> Organization.
> Perhaps some of the readers are aware of this however I am not positive.
>
> Ida J. Camburn

Interestingly enough, we couldn't find any "Russell Suggs." Kady did find a Randy Suggs, who mentioned a visit to the Ensenada prison which runs the Narconon "Second Chance" program. Randy Suggs also had a Scientology spam page which was recently removed.

I suspect that Russell/Randy Suggs are the same person, and that the site was yanked because it might look bad for a Scientologist to be funding a trip for legislators to view a Scientology front group with state funding in mind.

barb wrote:

> I suspect that Russell/Randy Suggs are the same person, and that the
> site was yanked because it might look bad for a Scientologist to be
> funding a trip for legislators to view a Scientology front group with
> state funding in mind.

Hello, my name is Randy Suggs, and here is a little bit about myself:

My name is Randy Suggs and I live in Phoenix, Arizona with my wife and two children.

In my profession, I build residential subdivisions and also develop land for other builders. My family has been doing this in Phoenix since 1944. These are exciting times for home building and real estate in general in this area. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, is the fastest growing county in the nation. Literally thousands and thousands of people are moving here every year.

When I am not working, I like spending time with my wife and two boys, ages 7 and 9. We enjoy watching our new Major League Baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. One of my sons, David, wants to be a major league baseball pitcher when he gets older. But of course, that is subject to change!

I first found out about the self-help philosophy called Scientology in 1973 from my brother, who found out about it from our accountant. That is really how Scientology spreads. A person has some success with it and improves some part of his life and he tells his friends and they tell their friends and on and on it goes.

And pissed off about the Narco-weenies in Nevada. So much so, I sent each and every Assembly representative the following email. With the exception of gullible twit Sharron Angle, of course.

It's worth noting that I've already received three responses thanking me for the info provided below. One delightful Assemblyperson had this to say, "great info - thanks.

Don't worry; we won't be funding this program."

I recently read about a privately funded trip meant to promote Second Chance, a Narconon program. Assemblywoman Sharron Angle is seeking state funding to install Narconon in prisons. Narconon is a front group for the Church of Scientology. It falls under the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) umbrella, along with Criminon, the Citizens Commission of Human Rights (CCHR) and other front groups.

Despite claims to the contrary, Narconon consists of programs identical to the ones purchased by Scientologists. Narconon representatives often try to avoid admitting this, preferring to imply that its program is simply authored by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.

The Scientology organization has a fifty year history of criminal behavior. In the 70s, the FBI uncovered what turned out to be the largest case of domestic espionage ever perpetrated in the United States. L. Ron Hubbard was unindicted because he went into hiding. His wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, went to prison for two years, along with several other high level Scientologists. This is easily researched online by typing in Operation Snow White.

Narconon, too, has a history. If you look beyond their self serving, glossy propaganda, you will see that, at best, their detox and recovery program is useless, at worst, it can cause permanent liver damage. Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, when asked to comment on Narconon's "purification" methods, had this to say,"My recommendation about detoxification is to keep away from it. You don't need it. I'm not sure it does what this book describes. It's dangerous. I don't think L.Ron Hubbard has credibility in the scientific world. The author's suggestions about detoxification can be detrimental to your health." - C. Everett Koop, M.D.

Before you make a determination on funding Narconon, you should first do a little research outside of Scientology's slick promotional material to get a better perspective.

Recently, a website addressing Narconon was launched by historian Chris Owen, who also authored the excellent expose of L. Ron Hubbard's military career. It is well-documented and researched, and should provide you with a clearer picture of Narconon. The Scientology organization is scrambling to obtain Faith Based Funding, and Narconon is one of the paths they're using. The Narconon Exposed URL is http://www.narconon-exposed.org.

Last November, I spoke at a Board of Supervisor's meeting here in San Diego. I was opposed to their approval of a Narconon facility in Warner Springs. The Scientologists bussed people in to speak in favor of the facility, some as far away as Arizona! Their support consisted of unsubstantiated testimonials as to the program's success. Curiously, the week before the meeting, I was paid a visit by two detectives from the Criminal Intelligence Unit, which handles domestic terrorism. They inquired if I was planning to blow up a church of Scientology. They were following up on an anonymous complaint, doubtless from the local Scientology facility. The timing of their visit was suspect, as the Board meeting was scheduled for the following week. I have no doubt that this tactic was meant to "shudder me into silence," as Hubbard put it.

If you can't find the time to look into the Narconon site, please have someone research it for you. It's vital that you become informed about this group before any decisions are made regarding it.

The Arizona State Senate considered the Second Chance program during the first session of the 45th legislature. Here is a paragraph from that meeting. "George Weisz, Executive Assistant to Governor Hull, testified that the amendment is designed to target the Second Chance Program, even though the State has an open bid process. He stated that he met with the Director of the program and reviewed a study that demonstrated impressive statistics of low recidivism. He stated that he was concerned with the evaluation processes on which these results were based. The inmates that attended the program did not re-enter the prison in Ensenda, but they were not tracked after leaving the program. Consequently, the low recidivism rate could be a false reading on how effective the program is." Approval was subsequently denied.

It's also worth noting that the donor, Russell Suggs, cannot be found anywhere online. There is, however, a Randy Suggs from Arizona, who claims to have visited the Ensenada prison and was impressed by the Second Chance program. Until very recently, Randy Suggs had a page on the Scientologists Online section of the Scientology website. Is a Scientologist paying for Assembly members to visit the Ensenada prison to promote a Scientology front group? I think it's quite likely.

Sincerely,

Barbara Graham

http://www.leg.state.nv.us/71st/legislators/Assembly/Angle.cfm

SHARRON E. ANGLE
Republican

Washoe County Assembly
District No. 29
Small Business Manager/Sexual Harassment Investigator
E-mail: sangle@asm.state.nv.us

Born: July 26, 1949; Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Educated: Southside, Anderson, and Roger Corbett Elementary Schools; E. Otis Vaughn Middle School; Earl Wooster High School; University of Nevada, Reno, B.A.

Married: Theodore (Ted).

Children: Joye Robertson and husband Brian Robertson; Vincent (Vince) Angle; grandchildren: Tianna (Tia) and Jacob (Jake) Robertson.

Hobbies/Special Interests: Oil painting, novel writing, swimming, skiing, weight lifting.

Legislative Service: Nevada Assembly, 1999-2001--two regular sessions.

Affiliations: Habitat for Humanity; Teen Challenge; Sonrise Church; Republican Women of Reno.

Personal and Professional Achievements: Helped establish Ely Hot Line Crisis Call line for troubled teens, Winnemucca Fine Art Gallery, and Tonopah Life Center for family fitness; substitute teacher, private school in Winnemucca, Nevada, 25 years; community college teacher, five years; tutor and community service supervisor for Nye County Juvenile Probation, seven years; Nye County School Board of Trustees, one term; published novel, Prairie Fire.

> No, it's definitely Randall Suggs - the earlier AP article got the
> name wrong. The latest article refers to Randall, not Russell, Suggs -
> see http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/02/13/34442.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News

Yep, it sure is Randall Suggs. And that would answer the question as to why his Scientology spam page was taken off the site. We wouldn't want anyone to get the absurd notion that Narconon has anything at all to do with Scientology now, would we?

Someone who is a Nevada resident should write to the editor of this newspaper and point that out! Papers tend to ignore letters from "out of staters." Locals only! Perhaps Ted Mayett might address this issue?

barb

On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 02:12:31 GMT, scamizdat@linkline.com (Not Grady Ward) wrote:

>>>>> Randall Suggs

>> Any bets on how long copies will remain on the Wayback Machine before they
>> get an Avagrammy award? I'll go make the popcorn... (Doing that would be
>> a footbullet, but that's never stopped them before! :^)

"His" crime syndicate web page was at http://randysuggs.our-home.org/myself.htm

It's gone now.

He used to be listed on: http://home.scientology.org/cntinent/Namerica/USA/arizona/

It's also gone now. The Google Cache for that page shows his name was on there very reciently:

Marisa Sigmond
Sharon Sigmond
Kathleen A. Smith
Sabrina Studenka
Randy Suggs <----------
Geoff & Sylvie Taft
Terry Taylor
Dean Thomas
Kim Thomas
Elidah Vannier

Now, why would the crime syndicate want to hide the fact that he's a Scientologist?

He was also listed on: http://www.our-home.org/randysuggs/groups.htm

That page has been removed. Google's cache shows the standar crime syndicate "groops I support" propaganda spam.

He's listed as an "IAS" member: http://www.lermanet.com/scientology/IASnames.htm

And a member of Scientology's other commercial enterprises: http://www.b-org.demon.nl/scn/misc/wise-1999-usa.txt

> If someone has a copy of the removed web pages for this creep, would
> you send me a copy? Or provide a URL? I need to add it to the Raids
> and Crackpots web sites to continue to show how the criminals try to
> hide their exposed shills.

Google has a cache:

[H]ello, my name is Randy Suggs, and here is a little bit about myself:

My name is Randy Suggs and I live in Phoenix, Arizona with my wife and two children.