MisterBluxom

I know there is not a whole lot of participation in this particular thread. But that may be a good opportunity for me to show you something I'm working on and ask for your opinions. I hope to get the following "open letter" published on one of the more active Anti-Scientology blogs. It is quite long. But you should know very quickly after beginning to read it whether you want to read more or not. In any case, I will put it into a spoiler box so that no one here will have to look at this long "suggestion" if they don't want to. I'd like to ask you about any changes you would make before I submit it for publishing. I know the odds of it getting published are very small. Nonetheless, I'm concerned about several other things - including any potential "blow-back" from this organization. I hope that will be very unlikely, but I would dread having these people show up at my door and try to film me or go through my garbage to find out things about me they can then publish to try and expose me as some kind of pervert or freak - especially if they will lie about that. Any suggestions you might make for ways I can change this document to either make it better or reduce the odds of any "blow-back" would certainly be appreciated. Here it is and I thank you for taking the time to read it:

It seems the only things that ever get clear are all your savings, all your bank accounts, all your retirement savings plans, all your childrens' college funds, etc. etc. etc.

I found this show to be most interesting because I have been following the Scientology cult and the superb program made by Leah Remini and Mike Rinder. I have posted to Mike's excellent blog and I feel like I am a part of this struggle and that I am involved and invested in seeing both of these horror situations smashed forever. I have a lot to say about both situations. But unfortunately (or perhaps it is fortunately), I recognize that I really don't know what I'm talking about. For example, I have a suggestion as to what our society should do to R. Kelly but it would enrage most everyone here if I explained what it was. It is not some kind of torture or execution but it is certainly not permitting this abuse to continue either. The thing that is absolutely astonishing is all the people who have decided that R. Kelly cannot possibly be guilty because his music is so angelic. He sings like an Angel. Therefore he could never have possibly committed these crimes. I think it is absolutely essential that we find a way to understand this mindset. Without any understanding, I can't imagine how it could be possible to come to any kind of satisfactory resolution. How can anyone have any faith in our justice system when jurors make their decisions based on how well someone sings? It's enough to make me believe that human brains are thoroughly defective and all humans deserve to die in a fire. I'm sorry. I really don't mean that. But I find the entire situation to be absolutely nuts! Most all these cults make me weep for the human condition. If I was a powerful inter-planetary race who was far advanced above and beyond humans, I don't think I would have any hesitation to just take a huge fly swatter and in one fell swoop, I would simply destroy this planet and all the crazy creatures who inhabit it. Seems eminently obvious that none of them deserve to live for more than just one more split-second. If you believe there could exist other life forms on other planets (and I do believe it's possible in the spirit that most anything is possible), I would worry for the continued existence of these crazy human creatures. It seems beyond any debating that - as a species - they just suck to the point where they do not deserve to live. By the way - I searched the older brother because I wanted to know why he was in prison. All the info I found was very general and vague. Most of it talked about burglary. That is not very important. But I did find it somewhat intriguing.

The most terrifying thing about this episode to me is the following: They explained that as Sea Org members age, they inevitably become too sick or too weak to work for the cult. At that point they are of no value to the money-grubbing cult but TS (The Scam) can't afford to let them leave for fear they will tell the truth. They spend most of their lives in TS so they have no money, no insurance, no pensions, no education, no nothing. Do you see where this is going? There is a huge disaster waiting to happen. They have never gotten any medical care and will certainly never get any in the future. Talk about elder abuse? These people will end their lives living in filth and suffering from neglect. No one will care for them. They will die in the worst possible conditions. Have you ever seen that famous B&W documentary titled, "Memory of the Camps"? A British camera crew entered some Nazi death camps at the end of the war and showed tens of thousands of corpses that had been starved to death and died of disease and neglect. If you've never seen this film, I urge you to see it. It can be found in many places on the Net. There is a similar disaster coming to this place and if it ever becomes known - and I can't imagine how it couldn't be discovered - I would hope that would be enough for the authorities to act. The other reason why the authorities may never have really acted is one I've not seen anyone discuss. It is bribery and corruption. What are the odds they pay off people in The FBI? I can't imagine any FBI member taking bribes. But stranger things have happened. There are also two other important factors that make it difficult for authorities to enter the compound with search warrants. First, they pretend to be a Church. That is patently ridiculous, of course. But they have managed to be recognized as a Church and that gives them all kinds of protections under the Amendment that deals with religous freedom. Churches are allowed to beat their members as part of their services providing the members consent. Second, they brainwash their victims and they then live in fear that if they ever speak out, they will never be able to see their families again. This is an unbelievably powerful inducement for them to lie and tell the police, "I am here of my own free will. Everything is fine. No one gets hit here. Everyone is happy here. Everyone wants to be here. This place is like paradise on earth. Of course it's all the biggest load of bullshit since people have stood up in court and denied the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews.

Sorry. I originally made this post in the general discussion for the season. I didn't see there was a separate thread for the Xmas episode. In that thread, @Cleo posted: So I like this show but I have a bunch of unpopular opinions. Or two. I really dislike stevie. It is just too much sarcasm and no other expression. It's tedious and irritating. And this is coming from someone that is very sarcastic, but I am open and straightforward when needed. I known that sarcasm is not always the best response/approach. And the new guy with David just seems boring. He is like the actual bland guy they tried to make the vet out to be. The townspeople are the best. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I then replied with the following: I think the problem with Stevie lies in the writing. I think they just don't know how to write her. The actress has appeared in other shows and she seems like a completely different character there. But you are definitely correct about there being a problem with her character. She is kind of like a dead fish that someone drops onto your dinner table. She just lies there with dead eyes. I'm talking about the character and not the actor. I thought Season 4 was the best ever for many reasons. I really enjoyed it. But I was very disappointed in the Christmas Special. For a few years now, I've been growing to appreciate the physical beauty of the actress who plays the daughter - Annie Murphy. I saw a picture that looked like a publicity still for the Xmas Special and Annie Murphy appeared in it and looked like one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She displayed these long, long legs that left me open mouthed and drooling. But there was none of that in the Xmas Special. The story was weak - close to non-existant. The entire thing seemed to be like a lead balloon. It just crashed to earth. As a single episode, it may have been the most boring of all the episodes ever produced for this show. I was so very disappointed in the Xmas Special. IMHO, it stank like last week's garbage.

Sorry. I originally made a post about the Xmas Episode to this thread before I saw there was a separate thread for the Xmas Episode. So, I deleted my original post and re-posted it to the Xmas Episode thread. But while I'm here, I'd like to say a few things about the Roland character: I really enjoy this entire show. I especially enjoy some of the funny themes they explore that are not typically explored by other shows. But the Roland character really bothers me. My first problem is that I can never seem to forget that is Chris Elliot. He has been in several other shows and some of them were just so terrible and his characters have been such incredible idiots that I just can't seem to forget that. Also, his acting is not strong enough to make me forget about all his past catastrophes. I get the feeling - which is just a guess - that Eugene Levy may feel beholden to him for some reason and arranged for him to have this work because he may feel he owes him something for some reason. There are a huge number of other actors who are much closer to home (in Canada) who could have played this part much better than did Chris Elliot. In fact, it is my opinion that almost anyone - right off the street - could have done a better job with this character than did Chris Elliot. The chemistry between Roland and his on-screen wife is entirely absent - less than zero, if that is possible. I can only fault the writing so far. The fact that this character behaves like a cross between someone who is totally stupid and someone else who is totally insane seems to me to mean that two people control the writing - one of whom likes him and the other one who hates him. Interestingly enough, it seems pretty clear the entire show - in particular the writing - are indeed controlled by two people - Eugene Levy and his son Dan. I think both these men are extremely talented. But when it comes to the writing of Roland Schitt, I think they have not only dropped the ball, I think they lost it and cannot seem to find it again. Bleh! They would have such a better show if they got a different actor to play Roland the imbecille.

What a lovely summary! "Angelina"? "Yes"? "Angelina. Won't you please SHUDDUP! " Oh please SHUT IT UP!

Thank you Deaja. Very kind of you to consider helping me. Very much appreciated.

Oh dear. I must apologize to you all. I got Alex Gibney confused with Paul Haggis. Alex Gibney is the producer of most all the episodes of "Dirty Money" and he did direct the film "Going Clear" which was a wonderful expose on Scientology. But it was Paul Haggis who appeared in "Going Clear" and I confused the two of them. In any event, I hope the mod will allow the post to remain. Who knows? Perhaps some of you will like this show enough to recommend starting a new forum for this show.

Hello. I’d like to wish everyone here a Happy Holiday season. I hope the following comments will not offend anyone because they are off topic. I checked the Index under "D" for "Dirty Money" which is the title of the TV show I wish to recommend to you all. I'm posting here because there is no thread for "Dirty Money" that I can find and it is produced by Alex Gibney who is a former member of Scientlogy and who has appeared on Leah's show, "Scientology the Aftermath". I hope it will be OK for me to post my recommendation here in this forum. I recently discovered a documentary TV show and most all of its episodes (I believe) were created and produced by Alex Gibney. Mr. Gibney is a former member of Scientology and in the past, he has produced some terrific documentary films. He won the 2007 Academy Award for the film "Taxi to the Dark Side" which is a film that exposes the haunting details of the USA’s torture and interrogation practices during the War in Afghanistan. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316795/awards?ref_=nm_awd The TV show I'd like to recommend to you is called "Dirty Money". The first season has six episodes. I’ve only seen the first one so far. But it surely was up to the standards of all his other work. So, after you've watched the current episode of Leah and Mike’s show "Aftermath", I’d like to suggest that you see the episodes of Dirty Money. The first episode is pretty amazing. Did you know that many years ago, VW (Volkswagon) was near bankruptcy because it was no longer selling enough cars to keep the company solvent. But instead of investing in the development of new technologies, VW chose to invest in good advertising. Unfortunately, the product they created did not perform nearly as well as advertised. In other words, they cheated. And I’m not talking about a little bit of cheating. They cheated one whole Hell of a lot. Cheated to a monumental level. Cheated more than most any other corporation (that I know of) ever did. The US govt has certain emission standards and car manufacturers must ensure their exhaust fumes do not contain more pollutants than a strict maximum. It was wrong for me to say that VW did not invest in technology. They certainly did invest in technology. But the technological device they invented was designed to defeat the exhaust system so that although their new Diesel Jetta cars (from about 2011 to 2016) were advertised as being highly "green" and getting fabulous mileage and fabulous performance and supposedly emitting extremely clean exhaust fumes, it was all a lie, a big huge lie, an unbelievable, monumental sized lie, A bigger lie than even Angelina could create. The American public loved the new VW diesel cars and bought them in huge numbers. Can you imaging buying a new car that cost about the same as similar other new cars but was extremely efficient, got magnificent mileage, magnificent performance and magnificent everything else? However, the only component that really worked was the cheating exhaust system. Shame! Shame! Shame! VW sold about half a million cars and they had to buy them all back. It cost them about $6 billion (if I remember correctly). Well, I have lots more to say. But I’m gonna stop now and recommend you watch the first episode which is all about those lying, cheating and scamming VW scum bucket executives who were lying out of both sides of their mouths at the same time. But Alex (bless his heart) produced this episode and showed them all up for the scam artists they were. To be clear, I do not belileve that Alex Gibney discovered this scam. I think that someone who knew about the scam and knew of Alex’s work, contacted him and, as they say, "The Hunt was On!". Go Alex Go! Alex? Why don’t you stop by here one day and take a bow? You surely do deserve that! You are a wonderful producer of wonderful films! Thank Goodness you got out of that scam situation. Please, won’t you tell us about the difference that made to the quality of your work and to the quality of your life? I’m sure that I’m not the only one who would love to hear what you have to say. Oh, come on by Alex. Do not be shy. We would love to have you come by and take a bow! Honest we would!

I think that in order to make sense of what Jeff says, it is necessary to first determine the "factor" or "issue" that he is using to measure the importance of what he says. For example, I might guess that most of what he says concerns ratings. He will say or do whatever he can to promote the show and thereby help to increase its ratings. By trying to convince people that Aggravina's actions result in a terribly exaggerated show, he might then convince some of the viewers that it's a good idea to watch the show because she is somehow responsible for making the show ever so much more entertaining. If that is true, then the show just may well get much bigger ratings than it otherwise would get. It's just a guess. I truly have no idea just how much her shenanigans impact the entertainment value of the show. Personally, I would think the primary effect of all her foolish crap would be to lower the entertainment value of the show which would then cause the ratings to fall lower. But I really do not understand the effect that the actions of the players have on the ratings of the show. So, I could easily be wrong about that. I'm just guessing.

Hey there KIMBERSTORMER. I guess I don't know why we hate talking resumes. But I would like to say something personal to you. I want you to know that I have enjoyed your posts very much throughout this season. You have always been one of my favorite posters on this forum. There are a great many people who post on this forum who I enjoy reading. Far too many for me to name them all. But I think I'd be doing something wrong if I didn't take the opportunity to tell someone how much I have enjoyed their contributions here. See you next season and looking forward to that.

I'd just like to say goodbye and thank you to everyone who participated in this forum during the Survivor season. The mods were great. They were almost invisible. That may sound like I'm being a smart ass. But I'm not. It takes a lot of skill to be a good moderator and remain almost invisible. The best moderators are usually only seen rarely - only when they have to be seen. I want to give a shout out to @whimsey. I've only ever spoken with her two or three times but I think she did a great job. I'd also like to thank so many of the people who have posted throughout this season. There are a great many really smart people who know how to write and have something poignant and/or something amusing to say. I can't mention all the people who I've enjoyed reading this season. So, I'll just say that @Nashville has always been my favorite poster. I won't embarrass him with a bunch of fawning language. Anyway, a "favorite" writer is too subjective for anyone to explain. Thank you all very much. You are a great bunch of people and I hope to see you all back next season.

I really get the way you feel. She was definitely terrible at all the "nuts and bolts" types of activities required to play the game. One of the things I think most people learned about this game very early on can be summarized in the old saying, "There are 3 types of people in this world: 1) Those who make things happen. 2) Those who watch things happen. 3) those who wonder, "what happened?". The moral is that if you want to win the game, you can't just sit around and smile at people and be nice to them in the hope they will not vote you off. You actually have to do things. That usually involves using some strategy and some tactics. It involves talking with other people to share info and make alliances. IMO, that is the most important thing you must do in order to win Survivor. You can't just sit around and wait to be voted off. Alison, never seemed to get that. After 37 seasons, there are fewer and fewer people who make that mistake because most have learned the importance of "doing something" as opposed to "doing nothing". Another thing that people seem to have learned from this game is that qualities that make people "capable" in one field do not necessarily make them "capable" in all fields. Some of the best players can easily appear to complete idiots in other fields. So, it's no surprise that someone like Alison may be highly accomplished in some areas of her life but a complete dolt when it comes to Survivor. Remember what she said when Jeff snuffed her torch? It was something like, "Oh gee. I was hoping to avoid this from happening." Alison? It takes more than just wishing and hoping. You are so right. It takes a real idiot to view this game that way after 37 seasons. But it's also understandable that Alison can be a real dummy at Survivor while also being a good doctor and also being higly capable in many other areas. What am I trying to say? I guess I feel sorry for Alison. How can someone who is smart enough to be a doctor (which requires a huge level of smarts) not understand the most simple thing about this game? I wonder if the casting people realized this about Alison and cast her because they thought her defect would be entertaining? If they did, I sure wish they wouldn't have done that. There are so many people who would give anything to play this game. They would work their guts out just for the opportunity to play. Some people find Angelina "interesting" or "laughable" and they enjoy watching her because they figure she is entertaining in her own horrible, terrible and aggravating kind of way. I just don't get that at all. I think casting people like Alison is just cruel when there are so many other people who would give anything to play and would make the most of it - providing the audience with some real entertainment. Alison never brought one drop of entertainment to this show - except in the way she would never let Angelina sneak one single drop of her bullshit past Jeff. I really admired her for that.

I got a real kick out of that. Remember when he said, "I want to surprise myself"? Well, I think this game was his to lose and .... lose it he did. I wonder if he was surprised. What do you think? "I have dozens and hundreds of people working for me." Really Mike? I'm super impressed. You must be a very wise and powerful numbskull. Who'd a thunk it?

I found what you said to be incredibly uplifting. If you might be agreeable I'd like to discuss one other sexist type of issue. But it would be completely "off topic" and out of place here. Maybe after I get some sleep I'll send you a Private Message if that would be OK?

Not only does she not get it now and not only will she never get it, but if the rumors that Probst likes her and wants to let her play again are true .... She will come back to the new season with seemingly boundless energy and confidence and proclaim, "I am a lot smarter now and a lot more experienced and I guarantee you that I will win it all this time. If you thought I went far last time, just you wait and see what I will do this time. Nothing can stop me. I am worth any ten ordinary players because I can negotiate for rice.

Take comfort in the fact that these are truly good hearted people and have a good chance at having a happy life. I wish them all the very best of luck at finding that happy life.

Heh. Heh. Heh. It would have been worth something like that to me. Maybe they could have greased the second rung from the top of the ladder and placed the idol so it was just out of her reach so that she would have to stand up on her tippy toes and then .... slip and slide and fall of the ladder and bust her ass? I'm just joking of course. Deliberately causing someone to injure themselves is no joke and it's a serious matter. So no one would ever do that. But, I can still dream. Can't I?

Of course. I fully agree. They would have to be out of their minds for risking the entire show just to help one gender cheat. I can't imagine what anyone would even get out of doing such a thing. It would be incredibly stupid.

Alec was not at the reunion. But the interesting thing IMHO, was the editing employed throughout the Finale. Whenever the jury came in, they would quickly cut away just before we were about to see Alec. So, they edited things to make it look like he was never even there. Very strange. But it shows us how easy it is for the editors to make things appear to look very different from the way they were. It gives me pause for thought.

Does anyone have an opinion on the fact that only about 15% of idols are found by women? If the production staff did something to deliberately make it more difficult for women to find the idols - more so than men, I would be sympathetic. Of course, it would be an incredible outrage. But it seems to me that is almost impossible for TPTB can find a way to do that. So, this may be a valid issue. Why are only 15% of the idols found by women? More importantly, should TPTB attempt to do anything to give women an advantage somehow? To help them find a way to level the playing field? That would seem to me to be pretty ridiculous. I have a theory why women tend to find so many fewer idols than do men. But I'm reluctant to post it here because, I would expect that many women would soundly criticize me and accuse me of being "sexist". The truth is that I really do fear being criticized for such thinking. It's happened before and I can tell you that it's a very unpleasant experience. Also my theory is kind of long and involved. Definitely not the kind of thing I should do while typing at a keyboard. Probably would be best if I went away for a day or two and composed my thoughts and tried to slant them in such a way not to offend any one gender. But I'm going to put my theory into a spoiler box and try to keep it real brief. I would ask everyone who feels they would tend to get offended by such a theory to please not open the box. It's not a very great idea anyway. Not as if you will miss out on anything important if you never read it. OK. Here goes:

There is something that has been bothering me all season long and I could never quite put my finger on it. There was one player this season who strongly reminded me of a player from a previous season. But no matter how much I pondered, I could never seem to remember just who it was. I guess the reasons were many. They were of different genders, different backgrounds, entirely different temperaments. But their approach to the game was almost identical and so were their results. I'll bet that some of you are close to figuring out just who I'm talking about. There was once a player who took a completely unique approach to this game. I'll call them "Player A". They just stormed through their season finding all kinds of ways to get rid of their competitors. No one had ever seen someone play such a dirty game before. They did anything and everything they could to win. Starting to sound familiar? People could not believe their eyes. They could not believe that anyone could stoop to such atrocious behaviors to win. But it was hard to deny the truth. Player A just blew away the competition got to the Final Tribal Council and then ... Do you know the two players I'm thinking of?

My Final Thoughts I always thought that I hated Probst. But after watching the 2.5 hours of the Finale and the 20 minutes of the Reunion, I am forced to admit ..... I never knew what hate really was. Every single word out of his mouth is nothing but promotion for this show. "It's the greatest social experiment ever". "Nothing else is as difficult as Survivor". "Nothing else is as rewarding as Survivor". After a time, he just makes me sick. Blah. Blah. Blah. It never stops. I was struggling with my remote all the way through to mute the sound every time he started talking. I am completely convinced there is never any need to listen to what he says. It gives me a headache and anything I need to know is always repeated one way or another. I also have some feelings about Aggravina. But decency and the mods and admins of this board would not favor me if I told you how I really felt. I know there is more to say. But I think I'll just quit before the FBI comes to my door and arrests me for threatening to do some harm to someone. I'm definitely not going to harm anyone. I just don't want to listen to Probst any more. P.S. Did anyone else notice the editing whenever the jury came in and just before they would show Alec, they cut away real quick so it was as if Alec never existed - not in the finale and not in the reunion. I don't think they ever showed Alec's face during the finale. That must have been a little difficult.

Knowing Christian, it could have been a real evil insult that he knew no one else would understand.