Here is a list of of questions asked during a sec check. What’s a sec check? Good question, because as far as I know Scientology’s the only “religion” which requires them and then logs them. This isn’t the same as a Catholic confession, and here’s why:

Potential blackmail
Scientology researcher Jon Atack, who is a former Scientologist and a known critic of Scientology, posits in his book A Piece of Blue Sky[1]:

“In theory, Security Checking could be applied either as a Confessional, in which case the replies obtained were said to be confidential, or during the course of an investigation, in which case they were not. In practice, the Confessional has proved to be a double-edged procedure, sometimes giving genuine relief, but always harboring the potential future use of the material as blackmail. An enthusiastic convert is willing to expose even his most tortured secret. Should he become disillusioned by Church practices, he will keep quiet for fear that his confession will be disclosed.

See that, once again Scientology takes a perfectly useful tool which has been proven to ease people’s minds, confession, calls it something creepy and sinister, logs is for future use by the auditor and BAM! instant compliance. Law enforcement is effective at using this mind trick too when getting criminals to confess. As Mr. Atack states above, initially confessing gives genuine relief, but once you know that information is being kept somewhere, it provides and effective means of coercion.

Glosslip, in the interest of being fair, will now undergo a sec check:

“Whole Track Sec Check”

Have you ever enslaved a population? No, unless readers of celeb websites count?
Have you ever implanted anyone? Is this a personal question? How DARE you!?
Have you ever sacked a city? Hmmm…thinking…..no?
Have you ever sunk, or otherwise destroyed, a non-combatant vessel? Only that one time, and it was a complete accident. Sorry.
Have you ever abused hostages, or prisoners? Not in this decade.
Have you ever ordered, or yourself committed, genocide? One time I sprayed some ant spray over a huge swarm of ants entering my garage, so I guess that’s a yes.
Have you ever annihilated a population? See above. I am pretty sure they were all dead.
Have you ever poisoned food or drinking supplies? Is this a trick question? I better com back to this one.
Have you ever strangled anyone? Only with my mind.
Have you ever deliberately spread disease? Well, I have a cold right now and I went to the grocery store today, so YES, I have.
Have you ever degraded a religion? Hehehe, trick question again.
Have you ever raped a child of either sex? NO, unless hermaphrodites count, and then still NO!
Have you ever warped an educational system? It’s interesting you’d ask that. I was once forced to sit out in the hallway for an entire quarter for disrupting my algebra class, and my teacher said I was the most obnoxious student he’d ever had, so maybe.
Have you ever deprived people of hope? Every single day. Twice on Sundays!
Have you ever committed murder? Does that ant colony count, because like I said, I killed them all.
Have you ever destroyed a culture? I was afraid you’d ask that. Does New Wave 80’s count?
Have you ever forced anyone into an undesired beingness? Um…hrmmm, can I hear that in a sentence please?
Have you ever stolen a body from another being? LOL! Seriously, I just laughed right now.
Have you ever destroyed an economy? No, but I know a guy who did, can I tell on him? His last name starts with B and rhymes with tush.
Is anybody seeking to discover your whereabouts? Likely, a lot of people.
Have you ever violated a nation’s neutrality? I make fun of France sometimes, but hey, who doesn’t?
Have you ever broken a treaty? Official or unofficial.
Have you ever blanketed bodies for the sensation kick? WTF? Seriously, WTF?
Have you ever upset an ecology? I peed in the woods a few times and may have dropped a deuce once, but there were NO bathrooms. Cut me some slack.
Have you persecuted others for their religious or political beliefs? Not any “real” religions, and yes to the last part.
Have you ever interfered with the free flow of trade? I refused to buy some underage kids beer once, so yeah.

Well, that was fun, and weird. Are there a lot of dictators in Scientology? Those are some really strange questions.

Ok, where’s my certificate?

It’s hard to tell who’s goofier the hosts of Fox News “Red Eye” or those who believe the myths of Scientology.

When I began writing about Anonymous’ protests against the Church of Scientology I had NO idea what to think, expect or envision. As far as I was concerned, they were two sinister organizations battling it out, and it was good idea to stay removed.

During my coverage, I was rickrolled, memed, exposed to weird variations of intentionally misspelled words and utterly lost in this seemingly surreal world. At some point, I visited Encyclopedia Dramatica and the Something Awful forums to do some research on “Anonymous” and I genuinely thought to myself, “how is it possible I could be blogging for over six years and be so clueless about an entire subculture of people.”

In all fairness, Anonymous does have a fairly sordid past, with a strange sense of humor. Both sites listed above have a tendency to make fun of the kinds of people and things that society politely protects due to an abundance of political correctness. The SA and ED sites are not for the PC or easily offended. You’ve been warned.

This however, does not mean that all individuals who call themselves Anonymous, are in fact “Anonymous.” Even those people who are Anonymous aren’t even Anonymous. Does that make sense? It shouldn’t. For months now I have read various parties try to define who Anonymous are and who they aren’t. Most Anonymous feel there is no proper way to define the group, and many are repulsed at the idea of even trying to do so. From my perspective, this stems from the very nature of the word “anonymous.” From Merriam-Websters definition:

anonymous

1 : not named or identified 2 : of unknown authorship or origin 3 : lacking individuality, distinction, or recognizability

Still confused? That’s natural. While I am not an authority by any means, I feel as informed as anyone else in the media to make distinctions. Yes, even in a group calling itself “Anonymous” there are distinctions. And in this case, quite marked.

Glosslip has actively chosen to interact with all sorts of people calling themselves “anonymous” and from what I have observed, there are three distinct groupings of Anonymous. I will attempt to define as best I understand.

But wait, there’s more…

Heath Ledger’s family has been stunned by new revelations that he may have fathered a secret love child when he was just seventeen years old:

Ledger was a 17-year-old schoolboy when he had an affair with an older woman who is thought to have only discovered she was pregnant after their relationship ended.

The woman was living with another man at the time of the alleged affair.

Yesterday, Ledger’s uncle, Hadyn Ledger said: “There is a very real possibility that Heath was the father.”

If it is confirmed that Ledger is the girl’s biological father, it could split his multi-million dollar estate between his two-year-old daughter Matilda Rose with Hollywood actress Michelle Williams, and his secret love child. […]

Heath was still at school at Guildford Grammar when he began the affair with the woman, then aged 25.

Yesterday another family source said: “She had the baby. Everyone lived under the assumption that she was the daughter of the mother’s boyfriend and that is how she has been brought up.” The woman is now married with a young family.

Heath’s will was drawn up in 2003 and does not mention either Michele or Matilda, who was not born yet. It lists only his father, mother, sister, and half-sisters as beneficiaries, although his father Kim has said that Michelle and Matilda will be taken care of.

The battle over Heath’s estate has highlighted a long-simmering feud in the Ledger family between father Kim and his brothers, stemming from his handling of their father’s estate:

The family feud began when Kim became executor of their grandfather, Sir Frank Ledger’s estate over 20 years ago. He borrowed heavily against the $2 million estate, leaving it heavily in debt before he was removed as executor by the WA Supreme Court in 1994.

It’s interesting that rumors of this love child pop up now, after his death and while his estate is being settled, and not while he was alive. Could there have been tension between Heath and the mother? Could she totally be bluffing? Only a DNA test will tell for sure. Couldn’t they have quietly done a DNA test before releasing this to the media?  That way, if it were not true, life could go on for this child as normal.  Of course, this child (now around ten years old) will undoubtedly hear all about it, and have to readjust from thinking one man is her father to thinking of another man as her father. That’s a big thing for a kid to have to handle. I see a tell-all exclusive interview with the mom in the future, complete with a nice check.

This could have been handled in private. Why can’t people think before they open their big mouths?

Will this woman never stop?  She’s still convinced that she can be as big of a force on the silver screen as she was in music.  Madonna has her sights set on remaking the classic war-time movie Casablanca, and she wants to set it in modern-day Iraq.  Oh, and did I mention she wants the starring female lead for herself?

The singer, whose previous film career has been littered with critical and commercial turkeys, is also planning to take the lead role of Ilsa Lund, which originally made a star of Ingrid Bergman.

A source at a major Hollywood studio that was recently approached by the 49-year-old star said: “She is still determined to make it in the movies.

“She and her representatives have been touting around a project which is a remake of Casablanca. The reception has been lukewarm to say the least. No one can understand why she wants to redo what many people consider the greatest film of all time.” […]

The source said: “Madonna is talking about taking the Ingrid Bergman role for herself, even though Bergman was in her 20s when she played Ilsa and Madonna is nearly 50.

“She wants to update the story and maybe set it in a modern war zone such as Iraq. There is no script yet.

“Madonna and her people are testing the waters to see if this is the right vehicle for her and if a major studio will get behind the project.”

Hmm…if you take the story out of Casablanca, and put it in Iraq, and modernize it, do you really have a remake, or just an entirely new film with a few plot similarities?  You could say that about any movie that’s been made in the last forty years.  Let’s hope that, for once, studios will show some restraint and turn Her Madgesty down flat. There’s no need to remake one of the most famous classic films of all time, unless it’s to try and show off the size of Madonna’s ego.

What is it with famous people, anyway?  They can’t be happy with the talents they have?  Madonna has conquered the music world, but she still feels this need to branch out into acting.  Well, I’ve seen her act, and trust me…Casablanca isn’t going to be remade any time soon.  Besides, no matter how much touch-up work she has done to her face, and no matter how much she exercises, and no matter how much Kabbalah water she drinks, ain’t no way she’s passing for a twenty-year-old, or even a thirty-year-old.

Don’t be too upset, Madonna…we’ll always have Shanghai Surprise.

This is the most positive thing I have read in days. Finally words put to action. The above screen shot represents the filed paperwork by a Galveston delegate for the RNC to have the Church of Scientology’s status as a religion stripped, more below:

REPUBLICAN PARTY CONVENTION RESOLUTION PASSED MARCH 29, 2008!

On March 29th, a Houston Anon made history. This brave Anon, a Galveston county delegate to the RNC, braved a Republican National Convention policy meeting and presented a proposal to get the Church of Scientology’s status as a religion revoked. This would potentially mean stripping the tax exemption as well. This will need to work it’s way up the ladder and if it makes it, it will mean that part of the Republican party’s platform will be stripping Scientology of its religious status.

Please contact your Texas Congressional Representatives to let them know about this resolution and to ask for their support in getting it passed. Every call, email, and letter counts!

This people is how change is made. First you protest and raise awareness, then you take it to the people who make laws and the two combined can not be ignored.

Clip from “His Highness Hollywood” interview with ex-Scienologist Michael Pattinson

After an exhaustive investigation into the tech nightmare author Ian Halperin endured on the opening of his new film, “His Highness Hollywood,” a representative from the National Arts Club, Greg Singer confirmed the film’s equipment was tampered with just prior to the opening of the movie.

Singer, the tech official on duty that evening for the NAC, had this to say about the circumstances which led to the final version film being scrapped after three failed attempts:

“It [the tampering] was a professional job. Someone tampered with the screen projection system. All the settings were changed and the laptop was inspected before the screening. There was a system check for viruses, and the computer came back 100% clean. When we investigated the laptop after the screening, there was a virus infecting the laptop. Someone was definitely out to sabotage the evening.”

I asked Ian how many people he invited to the premiere and he estimated about 30, including select members of the media. Ian said he was keeping the numbers small and exclusive out of concern for any possible attempts by groups targeted in the film, namely the Church of Scientology, from preventing the screening of the film.

As stated in Glosslip’s earlier post on the event, there were 200 people at the screening, with at least 70 turned away. Ian said he didn’t know how word got out, but was initially thrilled at the turn out. I did some checking on my own and saw on the NAC’s website the event listed on their calendar of events. So really, anyone in the public could have been privy to this information.

Prior to the book’s release Ian did some publicity for his projects, plus there are several excerpts of the film available on YouTube with Ian going in undercover at the ScientologyCelebrity Center in, and the most damaging part is Ian’s interviews with ex-Scientologist Michael Pattinson. Pattinson has attempted to sue the Church for damages related to spending close to $500,000 on auditing and spiritual training to cure him of his “homosexuality.

Scientologists believe “homosexuality” to be an aberration within humans. L. Ron Hubbard spoke specifically of it within his writings, especially in his popular book Dianetics.

“The sexual pervert (and by this term Dianetics, to be brief, includes any and all forms of deviation in Dynamic II [i.e. sexuality] such as homosexuality, lesbianism, sexual sadism, etc., and all down the catalog of Ellis and Krafft-Ebing) is actually quite ill physically… he is very far from culpable for his condition, but he is also far from normal and extremely dangerous to society…

On something called the “tone scale,” homosexuality is at the top of the undesirable chart at -40 -1.1, referred to as “total failure.”,

“At 1.1 on the tone scale we enter the area of the most vicious reversal of the second dynamic. Here we have promiscuity, perversion, sadism, and irregular practices.”

I give Hubbard credit for suggesting homosexuals weren’t completely “culpable” for their condition. In some ways that’s quite generous to most other religious opinions. But most religions don’t sue people for leaving, threaten and harass their critics, have special arrangements with the IRS, or tell their members who they can or can’t have in their lives.

Between my interview, Ian’s threatening phone calls, Defamer’s and Queerty’s publicizing the details and the general air of hostility between the Church of Scientology and the public, anything is possible.

We have no way of knowing who was involved, all that remains clear is someone did not want Ian’s film watched that evening.

[Editor’s note: correction made to tone scale rating on homosexuality]

Glosslip Radio will be interviewing guests from Enturbulation.org to discuss the site, its mission and on-going efforts to inform the public of the many alleged abuses perpetrated by the Church of Scientology, including a particularly cruel policy called “disconnect”.

Enturbulation.org is a source for information on activism against the Scientology Organization. Founded on January 27th 2008, Enturbulation’s original purpose was to gather information on the Scientology Organization and present it in a user and public friendly manner. However, coming to the realization that there is so much information on the internet in regards to the crimes of Scientology the Enturbulation.org staff decided to shift focus away from being a purely informative site repurposed itself for community organization. With nearly 8,000 active users (and over 13,000 registered users) Enturbulation has come to be considered the public for Internet activism against the Scientology Organization.

Disconnect is a process employed by the Church to keep members from communicating with those people who’ve left the church (including children, parents, spouses, grandparents, friends and co-workers). This divisive policy forces members within the CoS to declare in written form their intention to cut off all forms of communication from those outside and to no longer have contact with these individuals.

This policy, besides being morally wrong, has lead to many family members losing touch with their cherished loved ones. Anyone experiencing this and wanting to reconnect with family members should tune in to the show to find out more about Operation Reconnect scheduled to take place April 12 as part of the 3rd installment of global protests from Anonymous.

Click here to listen to the show live. The show will be available in archive form approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the live streaming audio.

If you wish to call in, the call in number is: 646-478-0139

Authors Ian Halperin and Andrew Morton

Ian Halperin, best-selling author and documentarian, took every precaution to make sure the premiere of his new film “His Highness Hollywood” went smoothly. The film, which chronicles Halperin’s investigative foray into the world of Hollywood, is a side-by-side, chapter-by-chapter look at his experiences writing the book, Hollywood Undercover.

Ian and I first communicated with each other back in January during the blitz of media coverage surrounding the release of Andrew Morton’s Tom Cruise biography and the leaking of a video featuring an unhinged Cruise extolling the “virtues” of Scientology. Ian’s book, much like Andrew’s, deals with the inextricable link between Hollywood, Celebrities and the Church of Scientology.

Simply put, they are two sums of a whole part. Not only does Scientology present an imposing physical presence in Hollywood, with their gothic-style Celebrity Center nestled comfortably on Hollywood Blvd, but they have a stable of stars which would make any organization envious. As Tom Cruise says, “it’s KSW” and the CoS has Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Nancy Cartwright, Kirstie Alley and many, many more, who are doing their part to “keep Scientology working.”

Switching coasts, I find myself invited to Ian’s premiere, held at the prestigious National Arts Club in Manhattan. While Glosslip has been fighting tooth and nail to carve a niche for ourselves in fly-over country, in no way was I going to let a little thing like distance keep me from attending this premiere. Eric, my husband and the publisher of Blogcritics.org, was supposed to go with me, but alas the timing was not right for us both to be gone, so with his blessings and support I was told to go forth and represent.

But wait, there’s more…

ONWARD - The Road To March 15, 2008 from Pelvidar on Vimeo.

There is nothing more to add except this was an incredibly well-done video chock full of information.