S03.E09: Buying a Town (Part 1)

[SailorGirl]

5 hours ago, DNR said:

Downtown Clearwater looks SO CREEPY on TV , must be disturbing in person ! 

Its not that its disturbing, its more that something just seems and feels . . .off . . . you can't put your finger on it.

The very first time I drove through, I didn't know it was all COS -- I thought it was just the hotel and Flag and I wondered why it was so deserted. The streets are very clean and the COS buildings are very well kept -- if you didn't know it was all COS, you would wonder where everyone was. Its more that the parking spots along the street are mostly empty (like, one car on the block-length line of parking spots) and very few to no people walking around.

Its a little town -- you would imagine there would be people strolling those streets. But . . . they aren't. Its just feels . . .weird. 

I've only seen the SeaOrgs walking from the shuttle busses to Flag or over to the hotel. They don't go off that block. 

Edited January 25, 2019 by SailorGirl

[Twopper]

2 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

I knew nothing about Scientology when this series began. This episode was so horrifying! I live in an area of the country where there are more churches than gas stations (just a slight exaggeration!) so I'm pretty certain they wouldn't want to waste their time here. This is the only time I've been happy about the evangelical stranglehold on the area.

I cannot recall where I read it, but I read an account by a scientologist that she had gone into a church to infiltrate its small groups and introduce them to the Co$ materials to draw them in.  It would probably be one of the little programs they offer to help with marriages or children or finances.   So I wouldn't feel all that safe if I were you  ;-)     If they have made inroads with the NOI, it wouldn't surprise me if they get a few congregations, too.

[bdel]

10 hours ago, SailorGirl said:

Its not that its disturbing, its more that something just seems and feels . . .off . . . you can't put your finger on it.

The very first time I drove through, I didn't know it was all COS -- I thought it was just the hotel and Flag and I wondered why it was so deserted. The streets are very clean and the COS buildings are very well kept -- if you didn't know it was all COS, you would wonder where everyone was. Its more that the parking spots along the street are mostly empty (like, one car on the block-length line of parking spots) and very few to no people walking around.

Its a little town -- you would imagine there would be people strolling those streets. But . . . they aren't. Its just feels . . .weird. 

I've only seen the SeaOrgs walking from the shuttle busses to Flag or over to the hotel. They don't go off that block. 

In a previous episode when they were in Clearwater, Leah said that she spent all of her time off (from KoQ) studying at Flag. Since CoS is always pumping up its "congregation" with how many millions of members there are, I wonder what she (and others) thought when they came for courses and saw how empty it was (and how empty the other CoS buildings always are). Wasn't there ever a feeling of dissonance - long before she started questioning where Shelly was and other things? 

[funky-rat]

I think they get some of the younger people they have because the younger generation as a whole is pretty disenfranchised, and job prospects aren't great, etc, so they're peddling a lifestyle (Sea Org) where they have little financial worries and they're going to help save the planet.  They can use tech to spin it many ways.  Tie it up in a slick audio/visual package, because it's pretty much a given that people respond better to that nowadays.

[juliet73]

On 1/23/2019 at 7:20 PM, Twopper said:

I was sorta confused about this when I heard about how he sold all their stuff and never went to Clearwater. I guess he kept the money.  Earlier this season  (or maybe it was another season) she mentioned all the money her mother and step-father had spent on Co$ so I guess this step-father is a different person.

Yes, two different people. The 1st stepdad Dennis Farrara is the one that brought them into $cientology.  He's the one that stayed behind, etc and he's also Shannon's dad. Leah was not paying for his stuff because that was back in NY and she was just a kid. The 2nd stepdad (the one you're referring to in your post) is George Marshall. Leah has mentioned that after she starting making money from KoQ, she was paying for his and her mom's courses, etc. He's still married to Vicki and was featured in Leah's "It's All Relative" show.

Edited January 25, 2019 by juliet73

[TVbitch]

This season of the show has been riveting (and mind boggling). It takes all the painful personal stories we have learned about in season's past and shows the nuts and bolts of how the Scientology Machine achieves its purposes, chewing up multitudes of its own members and leaving them in its wake. To what end... who the fuck knows? The greed and meglomania of a couple dudes, I guess. 

[Lugal]

On 1/24/2019 at 9:22 AM, SailorGirl said:

“To make it sound like the local elected officials are just acquiescing to Scientology, nothing could be further from the truth,” said Hamilton, who is in his fourth term on the council since an appointment in 2001. “We have to play the hand we’re dealt with. The only people that can deal me a better hand than what we have is the federal government. That’s not something the city of Clearwater has the resources to do. The federal government gave them their tax exempt status. The federal government is the only one that can take it away. We can’t do anything to change that.”  [TECHNICALLY TRUE, BUT THERE'S A LOT YOU CAN DO, LIKE HAVE YOUR CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT ACT IMPARTIALLY, RATHER THAN BEING THE COS EXTENDED SECURITY TEAM].

Exactly the benchgate thing shows how the police are used.  If the cops wanted to they could find reasons to work against the CO$.

On 1/25/2019 at 6:07 AM, bdel said:

In a previous episode when they were in Clearwater, Leah said that she spent all of her time off (from KoQ) studying at Flag. Since CoS is always pumping up its "congregation" with how many millions of members there are, I wonder what she (and others) thought when they came for courses and saw how empty it was (and how empty the other CoS buildings always are). Wasn't there ever a feeling of dissonance - long before she started questioning where Shelly was and other things? 

I remember an earlier episode where Leah walked barefoot in the surf and somewhat regretfully said of all the times she had been in Clearwater, she had never done this.

[DXD526]

Quote

Multiple people are tweeting to Mike Rinder that Spectrum (one of the main cable providers in the Tampa/St. Pete area) curiously had "problems" between 9 pm and 10 pm and A & E was the only channel they weren't able to get. Then at 10, apparently it was all fine again. Spectrum says "a cable was cut in another part of the state."

How does a cable getting cut affect just one channel? A "cable was cut" and A&E was the only channel customers couldn't get? And only while this episode was on? Sounds pretty fishy to me...

[Twopper]

48 minutes ago, DXD526 said:

How does a cable getting cut affect just one channel? A "cable was cut" and A&E was the only channel customers couldn't get? And only while this episode was on? Sounds pretty fishy to me...

That sounds fishy to me, too.  But I think someone at the local station could stop or interfere with the broadcast.

[italianguy626]

55 minutes ago, DXD526 said:

How does a cable getting cut affect just one channel? A "cable was cut" and A&E was the only channel customers couldn't get? And only while this episode was on? Sounds pretty fishy to me...

Yeah, that is very fishy. Especially since programming is usually sent up to a satellite by the network and then the cable company pulls it down and delivers it to local customers over their lines, so something happened on the local providers end. I wonder if anyone who has satellite service (DirectTV; Dish Network) suffered similar outages of just A&E that evening?

Edited January 27, 2019 by italianguy626

[CrazyInAlabama]

When there is a financial negotiation between the cable company, and a network, or a channel, that channel is off the air, and usually they put a notice about why the channel is gone.   However, I'm sure for an employee to block one or more channels, and have it blank wouldn't be that hard if you had the technical knowledge.   

Edited February 3, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[MisterBluxom]

On 2019-01-24 at 9:05 AM, DC Gal in VA said:

Please someone tell me how in the Hell they have not been successfully sued for libel? They were publicly putting out outright lies about the mayor and the police lieutenant.

I really don't know. But I suspect the fact they are recognized as a Church and a Religion (how patently stupid that is) may give them some greater protection against libel suits than ordinary people or companies.

Rotten F'n Cockroaches!

On 2019-01-22 at 9:34 PM, SailorGirl said:

I do find it highly amusing, though, that along one of the main streets where a lot of shops are is a Christian Science Reading Room. I don't know how the cult hasn't managed to get rid of it.

My guess is that they use it somehow to trick people into leaving Christianity and coming in for a "Personality Test" - the first step to a live of slavery and poverty.

[Skycatcher]

A Christian Science Reading Room has absolutely nothing to do  with Scientology.

[Twopper]

1 hour ago, Skycatcher said:

A Christian Science Reading Room has absolutely nothing to do  with Scientology.

True.  I think they spend a lot of time trying to keep people from confusing and or connecting it with Co$.   Christian Scientists would be appalled at Hubbard's statement about Christ.   It would not surprise me if the Co$ would try to run them off.   

[funky-rat]

22 hours ago, Skycatcher said:

A Christian Science Reading Room has absolutely nothing to do  with Scientology.

No, but the OP was wondering how they managed to stay open in Scientology City.  How Scamatology hasn't been able to run them out on a rail.

[Tachi Rocinante]

Christian Scientists have their own issues and stereotypes to overcome.

[Skycatcher]

My dogma of choice is Religious Science, aka Science of Mind. I am always having to follow up with "No. That has nothing to do with Scientology." (Total pain in the  butt!)

Edited January 30, 2019 by Skycatcher

[funky-rat]

20 hours ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Christian Scientists have their own issues and stereotypes to overcome.

Yeah, they're a more intellectual version of Faith Healers.

[MamaMax]

Can regular people stay at the Fort Harrison, or only Scienos?

[Maelstrom]

Only "Church" members, MamaMax.

[ch1]

On 1/24/2019 at 9:14 PM, SailorGirl said:

Its not that its disturbing, its more that something just seems and feels . . .off . . . you can't put your finger on it.

The very first time I drove through, I didn't know it was all COS -- I thought it was just the hotel and Flag and I wondered why it was so deserted. The streets are very clean and the COS buildings are very well kept -- if you didn't know it was all COS, you would wonder where everyone was. Its more that the parking spots along the street are mostly empty (like, one car on the block-length line of parking spots) and very few to no people walking around.

Its a little town -- you would imagine there would be people strolling those streets. But . . . they aren't. Its just feels . . .weird. 

I've only seen the SeaOrgs walking from the shuttle busses to Flag or over to the hotel. They don't go off that block. 

Sounds like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

[Twopper]

On 1/30/2019 at 12:22 PM, ch1 said:

The very first time I drove through, I didn't know it was all COS -- I thought it was just the hotel and Flag and I wondered why it was so deserted. The streets are very clean and the COS buildings are very well kept -- if you didn't know it was all COS, you would wonder where everyone was. Its more that the parking spots along the street are mostly empty (like, one car on the block-length line of parking spots) and very few to no people walking around.

I wondered if people were scared to go to that part of town and worried that some Sea Org person will try to recruit them, but I came across a youtube video where it was explained that Flag and whatever else in Clearwater is a Level 5 org so if someone in Clearwater wants to join they need to go either to the org in Tampa or to a little town nearby (I forgot the name) where there is a mission.    I wish Leah could spend a few minutes on the levels of the orgs and what percent of the time Miscavage is at Flag. 

Edited February 3, 2019 by Twopper
add youtube

[DNR]

On 1/27/2019 at 3:25 PM, Twopper said:

That sounds fishy to me, too.  But I think someone at the local station could stop or interfere with the broadcast.

Years ago my son worked  overnites at the local cable company . His job was to sit & watch assigned channels for any issues. I’ll have to ask him if he was able to affect channels in any way ..... it wouldn’t surprise me that CoS would have members emplyeed at a cable company to interfere with A&E and Leah’s show 

[Gothish520]

On 1/24/2019 at 9:02 PM, princelina said:

Yes that's true - it does seem like most of these people were drawn in in the 60s-70s when they were looking for alternative (to church) measures of "finding themselves".

ETA:  I have noticed before but in this episode especially that there's something very juvenile, which I can kind of see would be satisfying, about the whole "org".  From the military imitations to the "missions" and "operations" and projects" - it seems like LRH was living out some boyhood fantasies, and despite his unattractive appearance he must have had a powerful personal charisma.

I swear I remember seeing the "Many are Called, Few are Chosen" ad in a magazine way back in the day - I thought it had something to do with the Marines or the Navy! Also remember seeing those Dianetics ads constantly. I do get how people back in the pre-internet era may have been attracted to the messages put out by this cult. And as repugnant as LRH was, I can see even through the tv screen that he had that charismatic presence that draws in weak-minded and/or disenfranchised people. 

[MisterBluxom]

1 hour ago, Gothish520 said:

I swear I remember seeing the "Many are Called, Few are Chosen" ad in a magazine way back in the day - I thought it had something to do with the Marines or the Navy! Also remember seeing those Dianetics ads constantly. I do get how people back in the pre-internet era may have been attracted to the messages put out by this cult. And as repugnant as LRH was, I can see even through the tv screen that he had that charismatic presence that draws in weak-minded and/or disenfranchised people. 

I believe it is true that "Few are chosen" because very few have the hundreds of thousands of dollars these bandits want to suck out of all their victims.

It simply is not worth the time or trouble to them to deal with people who don't have the minimum amount of money to satisfy the insatiable greed lust these people have.

I just watched a recent epsisode of Australia 60 Minutes where the police busted a large scam operating in The Phillipines and targeting Australian retirees. Retirees are a good target for these people because many are elderly and lack the fortitude to resist these criminals. Any time someone calls you and you get the feeling they are trying to take your money, do yourself a favor and hang up the phone and report the call to your local police.

The other thing that makes retirees attractive to these monsters is that many have enough money in the bank so that they can transfer a large sum of money almost immediately. It is just not worth their time to talk to people unless they have a reasonable expectation the victims will be able to send them a very large chunk of money - often within the hour.

The criminal law system that assigns penalties to criminals has been out of date for a very long time. Someone who attempts to murder an innocent victim may wind up in prison for about 10 years. But the only penalties the modern Criminal Justice System hands out is a scale that includes a number of years in prison. So, someone who destroys an innocent person's life by stealing all their retirement money had done something to them that is almost as bad as attempted murder. But they only get a handful of years in prison because it is a non-violent crime. It is long past time these penalties were reviewed. I feel strongly that different kinds of penalties of different severities are deserved by these scum bags who ruin peoples lives. After all, a great many of them only get tiny penalties if they even get apprehended in the first place. I would guess that only a very small percentage ever get caught. To avoid getting punished, so many of them can just pick and choose the country in which they live and the country in which their victims live. The penalties depending on those two decisions can make a huge difference in the size of the penalty.  I shudder to think of how many can escape punishment completely with a sizeable bribe to the police or others in the country in which they commit the crime.

It's just absurd.

[Rlb8031]

21 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

I swear I remember seeing the "Many are Called, Few are Chosen" ad in a magazine way back in the day - I thought it had something to do with the Marines or the Navy! Also remember seeing those Dianetics ads constantly. I do get how people back in the pre-internet era may have been attracted to the messages put out by this cult. And as repugnant as LRH was, I can see even through the tv screen that he had that charismatic presence that draws in weak-minded and/or disenfranchised people. 

For those of us that are children of the 80's, the Dianetics ads ran constantly on the local tv channels in NYC that showed cartoons in the afternoons. We all remember the exploding volcano and the announcer with the rumble in his voice book ending the Flinstones, the Little Rascals and Looney Toons between the hours of 3pm and 6pm. It was as common as the prescription drug ads are on tv today.

[libgirl2]

22 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

I swear I remember seeing the "Many are Called, Few are Chosen" ad in a magazine way back in the day - I thought it had something to do with the Marines or the Navy! Also remember seeing those Dianetics ads constantly. I do get how people back in the pre-internet era may have been attracted to the messages put out by this cult. And as repugnant as LRH was, I can see even through the tv screen that he had that charismatic presence that draws in weak-minded and/or disenfranchised people. 

I remember the Dianetics ads on TV back in the day. I was curious about it but never sat down and read it. I can understand how some people could have gotten involved though.