The European Human Rights Office of the Church of Scientology has a "Link to us" page where you can find various links to add to your web site: Link to the Scientology Effective Solutions Site
My favorite link is this one:
Church of Scientology European Human
Rights Office: Effective Solutions
Tom Cruise just announced that his sister, Lee Anne DeVette, who has run much of his PR and marketing activities over the last several years, will take over the operations and planned expansion of Tom's charitable work: Cruise will go with pro
John and Kelly wowed Scientologists at the anniversary of the founding of the International Association of Scientologists by jumping on stage and dancing to the soul classic "Stand By Me." They did a lot more than that too, presenting checks for donations to various charities: Travolta dance stuns churchgoers
My wife recently stepped into an elevator and there before her was Kirstie Alley. My wife (being a shy retiring type ... NOT) started chatting to her and told her how much she (Kirstie) had inspired her (my wife) to loose 25lbs. Kirstie was very please and very amused by my wife's rendition of her story of how "she and Kirstie" had been loosing weight together and it was about time Kirstie found out about this. My wife is quite a comedian herself.
John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston flew to Baton Rouge to lend a hand: Travolta and Preston Fly in, Thank Rescue Workers and Comfort Evacuees at Baton Rouge
Although this is a blog about Scientology Celebrities, because of the terrible disaster on the Gulf Coast, I'm going to direct you to a site where you can volunteer to help or can donate so others can help the victims of Hurricane Katrina: Scientology Volunteer Ministers
Elena Roggero is a fantastic vocalist. She is a petit girl but with a powerful and aesthetic voice. I've seen her perform several times and she just takes over the stage. She's the sort of performer you can't take your eyes off, she's so lively and energetic. She is very active in the Church of Scientology in Italy
A letter from the Boston Globe supporting Tom's stance on the dangers of anti-depressants: Scientology, hold the controversy
The LA Times gave a great review of last Sunday's performance of "Camelot" at the Hollywood Bowl with a subtitle of "Jeremy Irons' King Arthur cedes musical honors to James Barbour's Lancelot." The reviewer also described James vocal work as , "gloriously resonant" and went on to say, "Loping across the stage with casual, athletic confidence, Barbour's Lancelot quickly established himself as head jock among the knights, and when the singer opened his rich, ringing bass-baritone to full power during 'If Ever I Would Leave You,' his amplified voice must have been audible even to the tourists down on Hollywood Boulevard."
Erika Christensen's career took off after her highly acclaimed performance in the movie "Traffic". Since then she has consistently delivered outstanding performances in such movies as "The Upside of Anger" and "The Perfect Score". My daughter described her performance in "Swimfan" as "extremely scary" which is a high complement. Her next movie is "Flight Plan" where she stars with Jodie Foster. Erika is a big supporter of the Narconon drug rehabilitation and education program. Her web site tells you lots more about her: Erika Christensen
Grammy award winning musician Beck is a Scientologist and he has some good things to say about it in this article: Beck: 'Scientology Brings Joy'
A massive list of Scientology Celebrities attended the 36th anniversary of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood. To name just a few we have John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Beck, Danny Masterson, Jenna Elfman, Leah Remini, Catherine Bell, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Dohring, Erika Christensen, Anne Archer, Jennifer Aspen, Michelle Stafford, Sofia Milos, Marisol Nichols, Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson), Isaac Hayes, Chick Corea and Mark Isham. Read the full story here: Officials Praise Church Programs at Scientology Celebrity Centre's 36th Anniversary Gala
Actress Anne Archer helped open the Scientology Grand Exhibition in the UK. If you go to the Scientology UK home page you'll see a picture of her with the Jive Aces: Scientology UK
Scientologists not only support the Volunteer Ministers but many of us are VMs. During the filming of War of The Worlds, Tom Cruise had a VM tent set up to provide aid to members of the cast and crew. The VMs were able to provide relief to many a tired crew member. You can find out more about the VMs at the Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site.
Beck will be touring to support his latest album. As part of the tour he'll be opening for the Rolling Stones at three of their shows! Beck finally hitting the road this fall
The Jive Aces are a popular Scientology swing band who do a lot of work for charity. Recently they supported an anti-drug event which you can read about on the Scientology UK website.
I just got the Juliette and the Licks album "You're Speaking My Language"! It's great. This band really rocks. Juliette makes a great front man (woman), she has the presence of a real pro. The band are excellent musicians and the production is very good, what more can I say? Except maybe: Go get it!
I have had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Kelly Preston and I'm really glad she wasn't wearing that "supersuit" from her new movie "Sky High". I don't think I'd have been able to utter a single sensible word confronted with that outfit :). Anyway, here is a really great interview with her that covers such things as the movie, family, Scientology and psychiatric drugging of children (quite a mixture): Kelly Preston in "Sky High".
Giovanni Ribisi is a Scientologist and a very successful actor. He first came to prominence as "Wade" in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" and has gone on to star in everything from serious drama such as "Cold Mountain" to popcorn such as "Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow". If you saw him in "Flight of the Phoenix" last year as the nerdy but ruthless Elliott, you'll realize what a versatile actor he is. In a recent interview when asked what had interested him in Scientology he said, "... it was just applying something that was getting results. ... In Scientology when you standardly apply a, b and c, you always get this result." He's referring to the fact that Scientology is an applied religion, It provides methods of addressing problems and situations in life, methods that if applied correctly, get a successful result every time. A great example of this is the Scientology course: "How to Improve Conditions in Life".
James Barbour is considered one of the most sought after performers on Broadway today. He has a powerful and very musical voice which can be heard in many musicals and on the "Assassins" soundtrack. He can be see on August 14 at the Hollywood Bowl, playing Lancelot in "Camelot" opposite Jeremy Irons and Melissa Errico.
Tom Cruise certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons when he spoke up about the dangers of antidepressant drugs and called psychiatry a pseudoscience. Here is one columnist who begins, "I can't believe I'm defending Tom Cruise." and goes on to say "My friends who are doctors tell me that they are constantly being lobbied by drug companies, trying to convince them to prescribe some of this and more of that." and concludes that "Tom Cruise raised a serious issue, one that deserves serious attention."
Scientology Celebrities Kelly Preston and Kirstie Alley have called on the FDA to strengthen warnings on stimulants (like ADHD drugs) and antidepressants, especially when prescribed to children. These drugs have been proven to cause hostility and suicidal behavior in children. Kelly Preston went further and wrote this editorial: Kelly Preston: Arianna's Call For Drug-Violence Investigation Never More Timely
Kelly Preston and Kirstie Alley have come out in support of Tom Cruise in his condemnation of giving dangerous psychotropic drugs to children. Following on the heals of new FDA warnings on side effects such as "hallucinations and psychotic, suicidal and violent behavior" the two mothers have spoken out in defense of children and in support of parents who have been misled about the dangers of these drugs: Scientology Stars Crusade Against Antidepressants
Another article about a medical expert who agrees with Tom Cruise when he said that Psychiatry is a pseudoscience and that children are given psychotropic drugs unnecessarily: Author Joins Scientologist Cruise in Criticizing Psychiatric Profession
I feel very sorry for Brooke Shields. Without knowing it she is being used as a pawn by drug companies in their game of profit at any cost. While she promotes the use of antidepressants, the FDA warns of their dangerous side-effects. I hesitate to say this, but would you listen to a coke addict extolling the virtues of snorting cocaine? No? Then don't listen to a Paxil addict doing the same for her drug of choice. Anyway, here is the article: CCHR: While Shields Promotes Antidepressant Use, FDA Warns of Suicide Risks
Enough beating around the bush. On NBC's "Today" show, Tom Cruise said a lot of things about psychiatry and the abuses that occur in that field. Amongst other things he said that he had carefully studied the history of psychiatry, that it is a pseudoscience, that children are being put on psychiatric drugs against their will, without their parents knowing the side-effects, that Ritalin is a drug available on the street, that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance, and that psychiatric drugs do not cure anything but merely mask the real problems. So let's cut to the chase and give you the links that show he was right:
Well, by his remarks on the "Today Show" on June 24th, Tom Cruise seems to have initiated a national debate on psychiatric drugs and the "chemical imbalance" theory that is used as the excuse for prescribing them. A couple days later a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School said that Cruise was right when he said there was no test to show a chemical imbalance even existed. Now a psychiatric watchdog has come out in support of Tom Cruise: Psychiatric Watchdog on The "Chemical Imbalance"
I saw the "Today Show" piece where two psychiatrists were asked about Tom Cruise's comments that there was no test for the chemical imbalance theory which justifies the prescribing of drugs for mental disorders such as anxiety disorder, depression, ADD and ADHD. You know, antidepressants such as Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, etc. and stimulants such as Ritalin. The first psychiatrist (a Harvard psychiatry professor) said there was no evidence at all to show that any such chemical imbalance existed. The other psychiatrist was the president of the American Psychiatric Association and he agreed. The amazing thing was that the prez of the APA, Steven Sharfstein, first of all came out swinging, calling Tom Cruise all sorts of nasty things like "irresponsible" and that the things he was saying were "dangerous". Then one point at a time, Sharfstein admitted that Tom Cruise was right on every point he made. Sharfstein even admitted to People Magazine that, "We do not have a clean-cut lab test." That's a good one. In other words: there is no test and there is no chemical imbalance, but we have to keep prescribing these drugs for these mental disorders because the insurance companies will pay us for it." (That's another thing that the two psychiatrists admitted on the "Today Show".)
Anyway here is an article on this topic and at the bottom of the page a whole list of further reading: American Psychiatric Association Admits There Is No Test For "Chemical Imbalance"
You can see a video and slideshow of the War of the Worlds premiere. See Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes ride up the red carpet on Tom's motorcycle! War of the Worlds - A Yahoo! Movies Exclusive
Well, it comes out today, and if it's half as good as the trailers I've seen this movie will smoke! If you've ever read the original by H. G. Wells then you'll be pleased to know that, although set in the modern day, the movie stays true to the book. I won't get to see it until the weekend but I'm chomping at the bit! Here's an article on Tom Cruise and the movie: Cruise in Control
Here is another great reference to answer you questions on what is Scientology: Scientology
I've just read several articles from various sources about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and Scientology. I have to say that the descriptions of Scientology are getting more accurate. Time was we'd get a couple of lines that either said nothing or said something entirely inaccurate. Now I've seen a whole range from wildly inaccurate to 90% correct. That's a big change and I think Tom Cruise is the guy to thank for it. Because I've not seen any 100% accurate descriptions yet, I'll give you my quick overview and then I'll provide you with some links to accurate data:
Scientology is a religion which has solutions to the problems of everyday life and methods you can use to improve your abilities and reach your full potential, which is much greater than you ever thought. It contains methods you can use to improve any condition in any part of your life. It is a religion because it addresses a person as a spiritual being. In Scientology you are a spiritual being, not a body or a brain. Because the words "spirit" and "soul" have so many possible meanings from thousands of years of history, we use a different term. We use the term "thetan" (from the Greek letter "theta"). You don't have a thetan you are one. It's like when you are driving your car, you don't have a driver, you are one. That's my inadequate, fast rundown of Scientology but as a last comment I will say that I have been able to use Scientology to make my life much, much better and much, much, much happier. That is what Scientology is all about - making life better and happier.
For a much more thorough description What is Scientology? is an extensive site that covers everything. If you really want all your questions answered this is the place to go.
Or for fast answers to specific questions try the Scientology FAQ.
You have to watch this video. Yesterday I read the transcript, but the video is so much more! In the first half you see clips from "War of the World" and behind the scenes footage, which is very cool. In the second half you hear the actual discussion between Matt Lauer and Tom Cruise on the pseudo science of psychiatry and dangers of psychiatric drugs. It's important to see the video because the way someone says something is so vastly different to what comes over when you just read the words on the transcript. Actor Tom Cruise talks with 'Today' host Matt Lauer. (It's also much more entertaining.)
In this interview on this morning's Today Show (The movie star discusses his new film, his new relationship and Scientology with the "Today" show's Matt Lauer), Tom starts off with talking about War of the Worlds but the discussion moves to a brief mention of Scientology and then Matt Lauer gets him onto the subject of Psychiatry (starts half-way down this page: Cruise on Psychiatry and continues on this page: Cruise on Psychiatry)
Tom brings up a couple of point that I wanted to highlight: "If you start talking about chemical imbalance, you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories." The "chemical imbalance theory is just that: A THEORY. There is no actual proof that an imbalance actually exists in any brain. Next: "Where's the blood test that says how much Ritalin you're supposed to get?" There are no actual physical tests that demonstrate a chemical imbalance and there are no tests to show how much of any psychiatric drug is needed to "balance" the imbalance. In other word the whole thing is a fraud.
Actor Geoffrey Lewis has a resume that is so long it hardly fits onto the page at the Internet Movie Database: Geoffrey Lewis. He can be seen in the hit Showtime series "Fat Actress" playing Kirstie Alley's father but, as can be seen from the IMDB page, he is also in 5 movies so far in 2005 alone. I guess he must be as busy as his real daughter, Juliette, who I highlighted yesterday.
Funnily enough Geoffrey also has a sort of music career with the band Celestial Navigations. The band consists of Geoffrey and a couple of musicians. He tells stories with musical accompaniment, but that is like saying Mozart wrote music, it tells you nothing. When Geoffrey tells a story he creates the character and transports you into the story. You experience the emotions, the hopes, the laughs, everything! It has to be heard to be understood or better yet, seen live. Anyway, visit the Celestial Navigations web site and listen to a couple of sample tracks, if you got a soul, brother, you'll love 'em.
Juliette Lewis is best known as a successful Oscar nominated actress but in 2003 she decided to form a band, Juliette and the Licks. So in the past two years not only has she maintained her successful acting career but has toured with her band and produced an EP and a full length CD. If you ever wondered how someone like Juliette keeps so slim, then just watch her performance in the music video of "You're Speaking My Language" on the Juliette and the Licks web site. I get out of breath just watching it!
When she formed the band she said, "My intention is for our music to serve as an antidote to self-doubt, apathy and fear, which has become rampant in society right now." I've only heard the songs on the web site, but her music and performances sure communicate her intent.
Anyone familiar with jazz will know of Scientologist Chick Corea. His career was launched when jazz great Miles Davis had him play on two of Miles' wildest albums in the late 1960's. In the years since then Corea has consistently demonstrated his tremendous talent, winning seven (or is it eight?) Grammy's and getting on for 20 nominations. I personally am a big fan, especially of his work with the Chick Corea Elektric Band (I have all their albums). Anyway, lovers of his acoustic side (I have a ton of those albums too) will be exited at the news that he will be releasing a live album from his current flamenco oriented tour: Versatile jazz giant revisits flamenco influences for fun
Can you think of a more romantic place to propose than the Eiffel Tower?: Tom Cruise Proposes to Katie Holmes
When Jenna Elfman was asked about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes "enthusiastic public displays of affection" (which the press seem so obsessed with) she made the most sensible comment I've heard so far, it also says a lot to say about out present society: "Happiness is a beautiful thing that should be celebrated and supported. If that has become so unreal to our culture, then that's a problem."
The full article can be seen here: Plenty of 'Allure' at this Hollywood event
I got so carried away yesterday in all the accomplishments of Billy Sheehan that I forgot to talk about his new album, Cosmic Troubadour. I don't have it yet, but I do have his first solo album, Compression which is a great album. Billy has a great singing voice, he reminds me at times of the early David Bowie. On Amazon Cosmic Troubadour has 4 1/2 stars from customer reviews and Compression has 4 stars.
Billy Sheehan has won so many "Best Bass Player" Awards in his career that he's probably lost count - 5 times in Guitar Player Magazine, 14 consecutive years in Japan's Player Magazine and numerous others in Germany, Japan, Korea, Italy and the list goes on.
A Scientologist since 1971, in a recent interview in Celebrity Magazine, Billy attributed much of his success to his studies in Scientology. He said that directly after one particular Scientology service, "I had the biggest career success ever. The best success ever in my life ... I sat in the #1 chair on The Tonight Show, I had a #1 single, I had a platinum record and a #1 video."
Billy is a big supporter of the Church and was one of the celebrities who helped open the new Church of Scientology of Buffalo.
Madonna has had to put up with a tremendous amount of crap from the media regarding her own faith, Kabbalah. The fascinating thing about the media is that whatever they say about a religion, be it Kabbalah, Scientology, Islam or anything else, it's usually completely wrong. Time and time again reporters demonstrate that they are not journalists. A real journalist actually does some research in order to understand what he or she is writing about.
So it's good to see Madonna demonstrating her understanding by supporting Tom Cruise's outspoken support for Scientology: Madonna Defends Cruise's Scientology
Marisol Nichols stars in the hit TV series Blind Justice as Detective Karen Bettancourt. She is a talented actress who, early in her career, received a Golden Eagle Award for "Most Promising Actor or Actress", She has certainly lived up to that, appearing in both hit movies and TV shows. Her performance in the TV film, The Princess and the Marine earned her an ALMA nomination for "Outstanding Actress". A Scientologist for many years, she is a strong supporter of both the Citizens Commission on Human Rights and The Way To Happiness Foundation.
Her new website: Marisol Nichols
I've seen a ton of news articles that have used quotes from an interview Tom Cruise gave to Access Hollywood but I hadn't seen the interview itself. Well today I finally found it. It wasn't hard to find when I started looking, all I had to do was go to the Access Hollywood home page (duh). Anyway, here it is: Tom Cruise on Scientology
Can you believe that a 3 year-old was put on the equivalent of speed as a "cure" for having lots of energy? Well, it happened and here is an article from a British magazine about the great success Tom Cruise had helping his friends get their daughter off these dangerous psychiatric drugs: Tom Cruise Uses Scientology To Get Child Off Drugs
Tom Cruise was very lucky as a child that his mother refused to put him on drugs to "cure" a "learning disorder". Kurt Cobain was not so lucky and the ritalin he took as a child led him into worse drugs and eventually suicide.
So Cruise, like other members of the Church of Scientology, is taking a stand against Psychiatry and its destructive drugging and labeling of children: Cruise slams fraud psychiatry
Michelle Stafford, who has already won two Daytime Emmy Awards, has been nominated once again for "Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series" for her role as Phyllis Summers Abbott in The Young & the Restless on CBS.
Michelle is also a big supporter of the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project (HELP) which uses the breakthrough educational methods developed by Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, to help children develop literacy and related skills.
It sometimes seems as if a young actor suddenly bursts onto the scene from nowhere. This is rarely what actually happens, it's just that you haven't seen all the earlier work he's done which led up to the breakthrough. Such is the case with Jason Dohring, currently appearing in the hit UPN series "Veronica Mars". Jason has been acting for many years and had appeared in movies, commercials and several TV shows before landing the role of "Logan Echolls" (one of the bad guys).
I see that Tom Cruise is on Oprah today. I'm betting he'll mention Scientology, so I thought I'd dig up some links that might be useful to anyone hunting for data on the subject:
There you go - happy hunting.
Jenna Elfman's new series, "Everything I know about men" will be a CBS midseason series. Here is the blurb from CBS:
Everything I know about men stars Jenna Elfman ("Dharma & Greg") in a comedy about an attractive secretary with simple goals: find true love, have an exciting career and a normal relationship with her father. But in a world where men behave like, well ... men, she realizes that she may be overly ambitious. Brady Smith ("Just Pray"), Hugh Bonneville ("Doctor Zhivago"), Rhea Seehorn ("Romy and Michele: In the Beginning"), Lauren Tom ("Friends") and Dabney Coleman ("Nine to Five") also star. Fred Barron ("According to Bex," "Caroline in the City") is the executive producer for Touchstone Television in association with Paramount Network Television. Multiple Emmy Award winner James Burrows directed the pilot.
Jenna Elfman is not just gorgeous but is also incredibly funny. I got to be in the audience for one of the "Dharma and Greg" episodes a couple of years ago and they didn't need to hold up any "laugh" signs to get me guffawing. She's been in a couple of movies over the last few years, the funniest being "Looney Tunes: Back in Action", but these movies have never really made use of her great comedic talents. In "Ed TV" the character she played was meant to be rather subdued, so that's how she played it. In the "Looney Tunes" movie the character was an up-tight movie executive, so that's how she played it. The scenes where she was allowed to show her real talent are in the out-takes and deleted scenes section where she is a scream! Anyway, the good news is that she's coming back to television in a new series being produced for CBS. Here is the announcement on her website: Everything I Know About Men. We'll get to see hilarious talents of Jenna in the fall season - so get your TVO's programmed and your gut muscles in shape for plenty of laughs.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Kelly Preston on the day the bill she has been helping through the Florida Legislature was passed (Great News For Parents and Children In Florida.
There are some women who are beautiful only on the outside and some who are beautiful on both the outside and inside, Kelly Preston is definitely one of the latter. I saw her coming into the restaurant where I had just had lunch and I just had to tell her "Well done!" When some perfect stranger, right out-of-the blue, advances upon and starts talking to a major movie star, the stranger shouldn't be surprised if the star is less than enthusiastic, but in this case I was surprised at how enthusiastic she was. She gave me a beaming smile and we chatted about the whole process of getting the bill passed. She was very complementary of all the people involved, especially Representative Gus Barreiro of Miami Beach who sponsored the bill. She also mentioned the support from Sean Hannity who featured her on both his TV and radio shows.
As I left the restaurant with a big smile on my face, my friend summed it up with "She's a doll!"
For some years now parents have been forced to put their kids onto dangerous mind-altering drugs if teachers, psychologists or psychiatrists decide the child has a "disease" such as "ADHD". There is no way to test for these so-called diseases, it's like telling someone they have AIDS without doing any kind of test to see if the disease is actually present. But the threat has been that you can't have your child in school and you could get in trouble for child abuse for not drugging your child as instructed.
Any parent who does even a small amount of research will quickly find that the side-effects of these psychotropic drugs range from minor stomach problems to suicide and death. So the situation has been you give your kid these drugs that could kill him or her or else!
Now thanks to the efforts of many good people, including Scientologist Kelly Preston parents in Florida have the chance to "just say no" to drugging their kids. This article doesn't give all the details, but the bill has passed successfully through the legislature: Kirstie Alley & Kelly Preston Talk Drugs and Kids
As you can see from the article Kirstie Alley was also involved. I've highlighted Kelly's contribution because after she went on national television to talk about he bill the Florida Legislature was inundated with calls from concerned parents. Well done Kelly!
Tom Cruise is often in the news because of his movies or personal life, but here is a story about his activity in another area, his religion:
New Church of Scientology Opens in Madrid - Actor Tom Cruise addresses the thousands in attendance.
The son of one of my best friends just got back from spending 6 weeks in Indonesia and Sri Lanka with the International Scientology Relief Team that has been in these countries since the tsunamis hit.
There are teams in India, Thailand as well, and smaller groups of Volunteer Ministers went to help in the Maldives and Madagascar as well.
This young man and the other volunteers he worked with spent all their waking hours helping in refugee camps, hospitals, and at the relief team's tent.
Here are the faces of some of the people they helped - worth all the effort!
It would be pretty arrogant to say that Tom Cruise was my friend.
But often when I meet someone knew and tell them I'm a member of the Church of Scientology they say "Oh -- do you know Tom Cruise?"
(I wish. )
But really I think the world of this man.
He is always helping people. Here are some great examples of things he's done for our Church -- from visiting ambassadors in countries where there is a serious lack of religious tolerance, to opening a detox center for the rescue workers from 9/11, to speaking up in defense of the rights of children and being a mentor himself:
Tom Cruise: Scientology Ambassador
Cruise Helps Open the New Church of Scientology in Madrid
Another Scientology Blog Entry about Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise Fan Site about his Movies and Scientology
New Zealand Scientologist compilation of NZ Press from when Cruise was filming Samurai
Cruise Donates Money to an Anti-Drug Group
