It was well after midnight and the Tampa airport terminal was almost empty. Just a few late-night travelers sitting on the benches, reading, trying to sleep or, like me, watching the movie on the screen hanging above the waiting area. They were showing Pancho Villa, the 1972 Eugenio Martin film with Telly Savalas as Villa. I was identifying with Villa – his betrayal and imprisonment, his escape, his revolt against his enemy, Huerta. I could feel Villa’s hot outrage. ''¡Viva la ...

Published Monday, February 4, 2008 Issue 69 / Volume 88 [Picture of masked protestors / Source: Sabrina Ricci; Daily Nexus] A group of protesters yielding signs and handouts rally outside the Church of Scientology on State Street Saturday afternoon during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in protest of the Church's alleged restrictions of free speech. A group of protesters yielding signs and handouts rally outside the Church of Scientology on State Street Saturday afternoon during the Santa Barbara International Film ...

They never broke into church buildings or planted electronic bugs, but for the past 13 years, undercover Clearwater police detectives have investigated the Church of Scientology. They never developed a case against the church that was prosecuted. The work ranged from gathering Scientologists' names to seeking refunds for dissatisfied parishioners. Police once stormed Scientology headquarters after hearing anonymous allegations - unfounded, it turned out - that Scientology children were being strapped to gurneys and given electric shocks. The investigation boils down ...

Doris Braine says the transformation of her Patty Jo was heartbreaking. "It was," she said, "like my darling daughter had died." Before Patty Jo went to work for the Church of Scientology at the age of 20, she had been "fun and pretty and a joy to be with," recalled her 72-year-old mother. "Suddenly, she became a totally different person, shooting fire from her eyes." There were those hateful looks, and the dozens of letters that Patty Jo returned unopened. For ...

Records of L. Ron Hubbard's World War II military service and medical treatment were released from court custody Friday by a Portland judge who decided they have become relevant to a fraud trial against the Church of Scientology. Circuit Judge Donald H. Londer ruled that defense testimony offered this week by the church would make the private records relevant to the claim by a Portland woman that the church and its founder, Hubbard, defrauded her in 1975. Londer reviewed several hundred ...

A former Portland man who enrolled Julie Christofferson Titchbourne in her first Scientology course in 1975 testified Thursday that Titchbourne willingly signed up for the class and that she was advised that the course material involved religion. "She came in already wanting to do the course," said William M. Landers, describing Titchbourne's first appearance at the Portland Church of Scientology mission in July 1975 when Titchbourne was 17. Titchbourne is suing the church and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, in Multnomah ...

A Church of Scientology member who said her involvement in the church helped free her life of drugs and excessive use of alcohol testified Wednesday that the church helped pay for a 1978 lawsuit she filed against opponents of the church. Jessica Marks, a former Portland resident, appeared as the first witness for the church in defense of a $42 million civil fraud trial in Multnomah County Circuit Court against the church and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. The fraud suit ...

"Corrupt, sinister and dangerous" were the words used to describe the Church of Scientology in a judgment given by Mr Justice Latey this summer. He also referred to it as "immoral and socially obnoxious". But who controls the Church now? A major Sunday Times Magazine investigation into the activities of the cult in America and Britain has uncovered a disturbing and extraordinary story — the takeover of the organisation by a small band of youthful fanatics following the disappearance of the ...

A new bill, designed to control fraud by religious organizations, was criticized Monday by an attorney for the Church of Scientology who said it still may be unconstitutional. Lee Boothby, the lawyer for the church, told the Senate Judiciary Committee some sections of SB343 may conflict with doctrines of the Catholic and Mormon churches, putting it in possible conflict with the First Amendment. SB343 is a replacement for an earlier bill which singled out religious cults which could be sued for ...

Carson City, Nev. (AP) — More pleas for controls on cults were aired Monday as the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed a plan to allow for civil lawsuits against cults or any other groups which bilk people. No immediate action was taken on SB343, being pushed by Sen. Bill Hernstadt who had to "deprogram" a daughter who had joined the Church of Scientology. Scientology representatives were criticized by Sen. Thomas "Spike" Wilson, committee chairman, for failing to deliver promised documents outlining their ...

"Narconon is the ONLY successful drug rehabilitation program on the planet." L. Ron Hubbard, Founder of Church of Scientology "Narconon was definitely a con. It was bullsh•t. Those guys were forcing guys into Scientology." Narconon graduate St. Cloud Prison, Minnesota [Picture of internal memo: "We are expanding the Scientology drug rehabilitation programs, primarily through NARCONON. During the coming months we plan to get NARCONON programs into many additional prisons, rehabilitation centers and the armed forces. We also have plans to open ...

Scientology begins with Dianetic Release, leads up through Grade O, SOLO and eventually CLEAR. And, if you're among the lucky few, you might even emerge an auditor... one of the most valuable beings on the planet. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND? BY GEORGE MALKO Leonard Cohen's in it, and so is Tennessee Williams, read William Burroughs, and Cass Elliot got her Grades down in St. Thomas, and there's the rumor that's been around for years that Truman or Kennedy or ...

Couched in pseudoscientific terms and rites, this dangerous cult claims to help mentally or emotionally disturbed persons—for sizable fees. Scientology has grown into a very profitable worldwide enterprise . . . and a serious threat to health. [Picture / Caption: L. Ronald Hubbard, Scientology's founder.] [Picture / Caption: Bust of Hubbard flanks "altar" in Scientology "church" near London. Among his accomplishments, Hubbard claims to have been dead and recovered, to have visited Venus and heaven.] LAST SUMMER in New York City, ...