Whoo-Hoo: A Bulgarian Would-Be Assassin Beatdown!

Actually there's several things happening here you don't see every day:

Like the gun jamming,...

Tom, Jumping On The Couch, Sheryl Crow - Nothing?

Here's the mirror:

It's a particularly cheerful headline — "Stocks Hit 5 Year High" — with a picture of wine glasses splashily clinking, angled together in a position that parallels Oprah's hands in a picture just above and to the left. Oprah looks alarmed/outraged, but only because "He even lied — to Oprah?!" And how reassuring that is. The outrage of the day is Lance Armstrong, doping and lying, the same old thing, and it's something that only vaguely affects us. Thank God. 

What was the headline I saw in my dream? I won't tell you. It's not that I'm superstitious, but ideas affect minds, and it's an image I won't put out there.

Here's the image:

"Going Clear" is sometimes hard going on account of its subject matter. But it is an utterly necessary story even so. As "In Cold Blood" is now a monument to the age of New Journalism, "Going Clear" may wind up a monument to an age of enlightened corporate journalism, a time when powerful magazine editors and their book-publishing counterparts had the wherewithal to devote resources to vital stories of scant direct pertinence to their readers—stories told by full-time, expenses-paid writers backstopped by researchers, fact-checkers, lawyers and insurance companies. 

The surprise isn't that Mr. Wright presents Scientology as a perplexing and alarming organization. The surprise is that he has managed to tell its story at all.

Place something here about the inability to "see the forest for the trees",...

 

Acting (On Impulse) II

"Despite advancement of modern thought and practice,…many _________ still revere ‘godly’ people and have a staunch belief in faith healers."

If I could tell whether the country being discussed above was in the First or Third world, simply by looking at that sentence, I guess I could find reasons to venture out more often. But I doubt it.

 Is that a true fucking tragedy or isn't it?

I think I've been Traumatized By Travel™,... 

 

Acting (On Impulse)

I never go to the theatre. I watch a lot of DVDs, many of plays, but I've got a nagging feeling I also gotta go see a few for myself sometimes.

Not only will it open up the blog but - added bonus - it may even make my life Complete:

Complete is a comic, time-splitting wrangle over the power and perversion of language. When Eve (Bishop) finds out that Micah (Kruse) is doing "The Training," she risks their careers, their relationship and their safety to prove just how destructive the notion of self-creation can be. 

"Complete is inspired by both the language of est and the scientific study of syntax and semantics," explained Kuchlewska in an interview. "I did the est training at age nine. The use of language in that subculture was specific and differed in important ways from the English I had been speaking up until then. This was a potent combination for me as a child-using language to empower myself, but also being confused at times by what I and others were saying. It forever changed the way I think and how I speak." 

Developed by Werner Erhard, est is a system of experiential philosophy that was popular in the 1970s and '80s and was accused by some of being a cult. Inspired by her childhood experience and aided by the deeper understanding of language she gained as a linguistics major, Kuchlewska constructs a fictional "Training," a world in which phrases like "I intend to create a parking space" and "You can create yourself being any way you want to be" are normal statements, even in the mouth of a child. 

As a graduate of and former coach at the Ford Institute for Transformational Training, Jennifer Chambers brings an insider's understanding to the project. 

"There is a very specific language that the self-help industry uses, and it can be viewed as either very helpful or very manipulative," she says. "I want to go back and explore that world now that I have some distance from it."

Can you hand me a better give/take-away line than that last one? 

I'm hearing she's snapped - and now sees an "in" and "out", "before" and "after". 

Well Hell, that's worth grabbing my coat all by itself,…

 

Oprah, The Tooth Fairy, And Hatin' When Cool Shit Ain't

Look, in order to turn this thing around we have got to be positive, so don't you give a good goddam what anybody may do or say, this is a great time to be alive:

"We are seeking people from all walks of life, goths, grandparents, soccer moms, etc to be the followers of a charismatic yet down to earth Satanic cult leader."

Alright, hang on, I'ma try this again,…

 

Blasphemy Blasphemyou (L. Ron Hubbard In Your Head)

"Taking a set of tragic shocking circumstances, and maintaining that it was orchestrated for a more sinister purpose, is difficult for some to comprehend."

-- Christopher Thresher-Andrews

Knowing that, I guess you can say, when it comes to me "helping," Elvis has not only left the building but already returned from meeting Nixon - high as a fucking kite - and, with his new presidential drug enforcement badges, can surely be counted on to "crack the case" any day now.

Come along, Watson:

"We had the Pagans. 

They were into sex, death, and religion in a night-time telly type of way."

-- Eddie Izzard, Dressed To Kill, 1998

Americans know nothing about the Pagans.

Scientology's in the news right now - not only because it's being investigated (and in the specific manner I've been calling for because I've always known I couldn't do it alone) but because Scientology's been around for so long. Before many of us were born.

It follows that Scientology is now being investigated - and the revelations are startling - precisely because few ever understood what Scientology actually is or was to begin with. Queer, isn't it? How there could be this group you're all familiar with, yet know little about, until now?

If anybody's still asking "What's The Harm?" Baby done a bad, bad ting.

But at least we now know what they're working with:

"Scientology is partly a new-age self-help mantra and get-rich-quick scheme,…."

We know nothing about the Pagans but everybody understands get-rich-quick schemes, right? 

Good - forget about 'em for a moment - let's expand our horizons:

When did Self-Help - Ben Franklin's reliable admonitions - get dragged into this Pagan cesspool?

"It was in the seventies that we began to shed that baggage, starting with the outer layer of self-help: common sense. Children of the postwar middle class were weaned on the mass paperbacks of Dr. Spock, and their parents learned how to win friends and think positively from Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale. But in the late sixties, that gray-flannel-suit howtoism gave way to the reemergence of an older, more mystical strain, part bootstrapping and part magical thinking. The New Age,…."

Whoa, Nellie, so let's back-up a minute. There was nothing in that previous description of Scientology indicating it had any actual science in it, either. It had some Self-Help, but not "an older, more mystical strain, part bootstrapping and part magical thinking." There's a lot of Self-Help today, not all by Scientologists, but it still sounds like they're currently working from the same playbook:

"I blame Deepak Chopra. Although I highly doubt he was the first promoter of alternative medicine and various New Age thought to use and abuse the term 'quantum' as a seemingly scientific justification of what in reality is nothing more than ancient mystical thinking gussied up with a quantum overcoat to hide its lack of science, Chopra has arguably done the most to popularize the term among the science-challenged set. In Chopra’s world, the word 'quantum' functions like a magical talisman that explains ™everything because in the quantum world anything can happen. Actually, I should clarify. While it’s true that many bizarre and wondrous things can be explained through quantum theory (such as quantum entanglement), it is not, as Chopra and his many imitators would have you believe, a 'get out of jail free' card for any magical thinking you can imagine, and quantum effects do not work the way people like Chopra (say, Lionel Milgrom, who seems to think that homeopathy works through quantum entanglement between practitioner, remedy, and patient) would like you to think."

See? It's all right there. And Deepak ain't no Scientologist - he peddles woo - so we've got to be talking about more than mere Self-Help. Something that can embrace U.F.O.s, crop circles.

Hey - I've got an idea:

Maybe Self-Help is now a subset of NewAge.

Everybody keeps putting NewAge before mentioning other stuff. 

They're all "new-age self-help mantra" and "New Age thought". 

Could be important. 

I'm leaving out the "spiritual" aspect for now, and I want to reference the three quotes I used above.

Each is by a writer who individually used the term "New Age" as he or she saw fit. That's all I chose them for. (Notice that NewAge is never defined, always assumed. A cult on-a-roll can really make that work to their advantage,…). Based just on the listed interests these fine folks associated with the term, NewAge would appear to encompass self-help, mantras, (some forms of) get-rich-quick schemes, a lack of common sense yet positive thinking, mysticism, magical thinking, quackery, "quantum", alternative medicine, a lack of science, and homeopathy.

So, based on what we know of them all, I'd say there's absolutely nothing to stop the "teachings" of Scientology or Deepak being included on that list, would you?

If you think about it, in this "open-minded" society of ours, all that sure is covering a lot of territory! 

Why, some part of NewAge could be practically everywhere you look!

Actually - when you really do think about it - it's not all that much. But all of them, literally, are frauds. Many of them, in essence and/or execution, are crimes. People do die from them. And yes, many of them are children. All "tragic shocking circumstances", yet hardly anybody mentions The NewAge Movement as a possible source of society's problems or even a serious adversary.

Why not?

“I was ashamed of my own stupidity.”

-- Academy Award-winning Director Paul Haggis

Looking back on it - this also sounds stupid - but I thought it was just my wife. I was married to that woman for 20 years and never considered she was in a cult, much less several. Flash-Forward, to one of the last days I spoke with her, and I found she was speaking in plural:

"We're in the hospitals - we're getting legit - you'd better 'get it' before it's too late!"

Whoa. Wondering what, if not legit, "we're" supposed to be "in the hospitals" - while apocalyptically threatening outsiders the whole time - is how I discovered the beliefs of The NewAge Movement.

Known today mostly as the "spiritual but not religious" (having abandoned the NewAge brand after the embarrassment of 1988's spiritually disastrous "Harmonic Convergence") it is my contention, whether we're talking about Scientology or the wider cult(ure), as these individually stated parameters of NewAge are expanding, what we're really looking at are their works, aided by an even greater level of ignorance than what's been shielding Scientology "in an interesting night-time telly type of way."

This is Paganism 2013:

"Federal regulators on Wednesday released their final ruling against POM Wonderful LLC, makers of a popular pomegranate juice, saying ads for the juice such as one headlined 'Cheat death' made misleading claims about the drink's health benefits."

It's (almost) all right there - self-help, mantras, (some forms of) get-rich-quick schemes, a lack of common sense yet positive thinking, mysticism, magical thinking, quackery, alternative medicine, and all with a lack of science - as the saying goes, "Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff." Making sure to spend part of your day at Whole Foods:

"You have to be a good citizen of the planet. You have to give back."

-- Lynda Resnick, owner of POM "Cheat death" Wonderful LLC

Which doesn't sound so bad until you get there. 

And then, once you understand what's going on, it's always too late:

"Lynda had read about the fruit's reputation as a mystical cure-all and began to explore its market potential,…"

Honestly, if she had been looking at Mitt Romney for the last Republican presidential exploratory committee, wouldn't that sentence read the exact same way?

She was screwing the public the same way he was.

They're both NewAge, remember - you can't forget:

Put NewAge in front of whatever cosmic occurrence is being described.

Whatever cosmic occurrence is occurring:

It makes everything bigger than anyone's ever had a right to believe,...

 

We Didn't Start The Fire (The NewAge/Nazi Connection)

I become excruciatingly aware whenever I retrace old ground (and I become excruciatingly aware a LOT) but, it seems to me, this particular trench still isn't deep enough. Not for young children to run in safely yet. Or even see, if parts get bombed, so they must be memorized. Rote, if necessary. Totally Old School. Repeat after me: 

Before it all went wrong, did we live in a culture enthralled with Pagan "ancient teachings"? 

Yes - say it: 

 "Just like during the Nazis." 

Very good. Before it all went wrong, did we live in a culture enthralled with pseudo-science AKA "Nazi Science"? 

Check - say it: 

  "Just like during the Nazis." 

Outstanding! Now, before it all went wrong, did we live in a culture whose leaders claimed the Jews brought the misery inflicted on themselves? 

Know who your friends are - and then say it: 

  "Just like during the Nazis." 

 Excellent! Once again - before it all went wrong - did we live in a culture,...

 

Henry The Ath

My so-called "fellow bloggers" are a trip.

For instance, last August, Robert Stacy McCain labelled "Scientology As A Criminal Conspiracy" - basically for having weird beliefs - saying:

"It’s hard to believe anyone with an IQ above room temperature could be suckered into believing the nonsense promulgated by Scientology — but then again, is it really more absurd than the beliefs of the Democrat Party?"

Clearly that all depends. Considering the similarities between Scientology and Mormonism - which RSMc backed and defended in the last election - I'd say yes, the American people thought there was something "more absurd than the beliefs of the Democrat Party" and it's name was Romney.

"Crack Emcee at The Macho Response doesn’t seem to care much for the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I link his post not to endorse such anti-LDS views, but rather to remind you what kind of stuff is out there."

Yeah, that "kind of stuff." But since Scientology's feeling the heat (again) it seems Robert Stacy McCain wants to sit at the Big Boy Bigot Table and throw something "out there" himself - listen:

"There was a time when the cult could sue a few critics and thereby intimidate everybody else. But the Internet makes it impossible to silence the truth, and the truth is not Scientology’s friend."

Ahh, but it was Mitt's - such a friend he had to keep his cult's beliefs hidden, which still didn't work.
 

Is there a cult god to help hypocrites with their sins?

Don't answer if it's me (I like surprises,...)