In the Jason Beghe interview, he references Theta Traps.  Here’s Hubbard’s description of Theta Traps from the sci-fi classic A History of Man:

THETA TRAPS: There is no subject more interesting than that of THETA TRAPS. It is of vast interest to any invader. It is of vaster interest to your preclear. How can you trap a thetan? By curiosity, by giving him awards and prizes (of an implant), by retractor screens, by mock-ups, by ornate buildings which he will enter unsuspectingly only to be electroniced down; by many such means the thetan is reduced from KNOWING to a colonist, a slave, a MEST body.

All theta traps have one thing in common: they use electronic force to knock the thetan into forgetting, into unknowingness, into effect. Their purpose is to rid the area of those nuisances, the thetans who cannot be policed, and gain personnel—always the former, not always the latter.

The thetan feels himself, in some traps, being drawn up to a post. He fights it with his force. It cannot be successfully fought. He succumbs. A day or a hundred years later, he is picked off and elsewise used.

A thetan can sustain many implants of this character without becoming obsessed about having a body. But he becomes obsessed very easily about having facsimiles.

Glosslip has some nice coverage and commentary on Kirstie’s Alley’s Playboy interview.

PLAYBOY: If you never gained weight, what would you eat?

Kirstie Alley: I’d drink five glasses of wine and eat caviar and tons of sour cream, and then eat a box of chocolates, then have a big bowl of pasta as a snack. I like everything in abundance. I’ve always aspired to be a lush. I guess I’m like Henry VIII, except I don’t have syphilis.

The long-held allegation of the Freewinds being a cancertrap are now confirmed by the Government of Curaçao.  All that’s needed now is a class-action lawsuit representing every person who’s ever stepped on the boat.  Discussion on Enturbulation.

From InEntertainment:

A source said that “Katie and Tom want to surround themselves with fellow Scientologists these days, and they are distancing themselves from anyone who is not a believer. For Tom, a non-believer like Victoria is very dangerous. She is opinionated, strong-minded, privately very against Scientology and has voiced her doubts.”

Real friends do not force conversions.

Now that the Cult has its own Youtube page, I decided to ask Youtube to clarify a new point of their policy.

Previously the church of scientology was banned for ToS violations. One of their videos was located at ?v=XCB0HkaH0oU

The Church of Scientology now has a paid account at youtube.com/ChurchofScientology

How much is YouTube’s account restoration fee? I am interested in starting a collection to restore xenutv1 and would like to know my target.

I will keep you abreast of any developments.

Posted by Jason Beghe to the Operation Clambake message board:

One week ago, I contacted The President’s Office at The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International and asked for their help in getting my folders returned to me. The Pres. Off. artfully refused to directly respond to my request. So, I wrote a letter to David Miscavige but, when I tried to route it to him through the proper Church communication system, it was refused.

As the Church of Scientology carefully monitors all anti-scientology websites, I am posting the letter here, on xenu.net, to assure that it be received by the C of S.

A transcript of the meat of the letter is as follows:

Dear Sir,

This letter shall serve as a formal request for the prompt delivery of all my PC, pre-OT and ethics folders to me. I am also demanding any and all videos of sessions (both auditing and ethics) that were recorded of me. As I am no longer a parishioner of The Church of Scientology, no Organization or entity affiliated with the Church has any reason to further maintain them.

Please send to me all the requested folders and videos at the above address as soon as possible. I will be happy to pay for any administrative, shipping or messenger fees that are incurred while facilitating this request. The above contact information is current.

Thank you for your prompt handling of this matter.

Sincerely,

Jason Beghe

EDIT: Media coverage. And more. AND MOAR! Still moar.

Before an anonymous campaign to let Oprah know she’s supporting an authoritarian criminal business could get underway, Oprah’s own fans have been expressing their displeasure.  Here are some excerpts (all from members who’ve registered before the announcement last week) from the three separate threads on Oprah’s own message board: (more…)

“It seems like a pretty ridiculous charge, and I am very surprised that it’s going forward,” says Housh’s Braintree lawyer, Michael D. Dlott. “I spoke to a police officer who was at each of the rallies, and his take on it was that the harassment charge wouldn’t hold up, and my feeling is that this is just a free speech/right to assembly issue.”

While their masks have prevented other Anonymous members from being similarly charged, Dlott says it was his client’s trip to Boston City Hall that blew his cover.

“The Church of Scientology is known to be litigious, and that’s part of the reason why this group wears masks,” Dlott says. “But because [Housh] was the one who filed the papers necessary to conduct the demonstration, the [church] went downtown, got his name and filed the charges against him.”

Let’s see: peaceful protest, no arrests, cops reporting good behaviour… so the cult files charges (that’ll likely be thrown out) in an attempt to intimidate.  Another case of Fail Game.