Unfortunately for me, of all the people in this newsgroup, I have had more Scientology spies on me for longer periods of time than anyone else. (I even lived with one for several months, as most of you know.) I would therefore like to offer some tips in spotting spies that I wish I had known during the 15 years I almost always had an FSM on me. (And they're still contacting me, as recently as this week.)

I am not going to address the Laura situation directly, because I've only read a few (critical) posts, but maybe the following will help you make up your mind about her.

1. Always assume there's a Scientology spy close to the people active in fighting them. And don't assume because there's one, that they haven't planted several in groups like CAN or Factnet.

2. If their cover is blown, the spy will blow. Immediately. Jerry Levin, Paula Tyler, Margie Shepherd, Dick Bast, and all the other spies on me, when they knew I suspected them, were pulled out fast.

   BTW, I don't think this is normal behavior of a true friend. If I had done a lot for someone, and really been their friend, and they turned on me, I would hang around and try to persuade them that they were wrong about me.

   But once someone is suspected of being a Scientology spy, their ability to function is diminished and they're pulled out pronto, while Scientology lets their other operatives continue --- and looks for openings to send in reinforcements, i.e., other spies.

3. If a person you're wondering about has friends / roommates who are Scientologists, they're Scientologists. For example, while Jerry lived with me, I suspected that his close friend and former roommate Paula Tyler (Lowe) who introduced Jerry to me was a Scientologist.

   I only wish I had realized then that Jerry was lying when he feigned surprised, disbelief, and indignation toward Paula when I told him of my suspicions about his close friend. (By the way, their spies are often terrific actors / actresses, even when confronted. )

4. Just because they speak out or work against Scientology, thereby hurting them, don't assume they're not working for Scientology. Dick Bast, their PI who set me, Judge Richey, and others up, spent a lot of (Scientology) money paying for me to get their internal Washington documents which I then disseminated, and which were later widely used against them.

   Indeed, since I couldn't have afforded to stay in Washington for 4 months and photocopy documents on my own, etc., their dirty trick op ultimately did them far more damage than it did me (This is one of my few sources of satisfaction today when I think about all this. Which I'd rather not.)

5. If the suspected spy says anything positive about Scientology, especially using their terminology, they're Scientologists. I found out years later that on at least one occasion, when Jerry went up to the roof to call in his reports about me to Scientology, that he told a tenant in my building that Scientology was good and they should look into it.

6. Don't assume that because they've been close to us and see the good that we've done, and some of the bad things that Scientology has done, that they'll turn. Or that because they hurt us, they'll feel bad and confess. They won't.

   They hate us because they think we're hurting mankind by stopping Scientology's expansion, and therefore anything they do to us is justified. (I'm still waiting for some of my Scientology spies from the past to apologize for the hurt they caused me to this day.)

7. Don't think you can test them by feeding them false information and seeing if it comes back. They're usually too sophisticated for that. Scientology sits on the stuff for years before revealing it. Jerry was gone for about 5 years before pages of my teenage diary he had photocopied started being sent anonymously to others.

8. If you don't tell anybody anything about what is going on, and you don't give them access to sensitive material, you can't hurt yourself and inadvertently help Scientology.

Paulette Cooper