Friday, October 23, 2009

Chick Corea at the Scientology Charity Concert in East Grinstead

I can only dream what this concert was like. It was part of the annual benefit concert following (a day or so after) the Anniversary of the International Association of Scientologists. Can you imagine? Chick is a musical giant and that's Mark Isham on the horn--another real great. I saw both of them, jamming together in Hollywood a few months ago at the Celebrity Center Gala. Wish I could have been in England too. Not something you want to miss!


A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Scientology in UK: Anne Archer Hosts Sussex Charity Concert

EAST GRINSTEAD, Sunday, October 18th: Academy Award nominated actress Anne Archer, presented cheques amounting to £50,000 to several different local charities on behalf of the L. Ron Hubbard Foundation and the Church of Scientology at the annual Gala Charity Concert at Saint Hill, East Grinstead.

Ms. Archer was the Master of Ceremonies, introducing each performer and also presenting the cheques on stage to the representatives of each charity, namely: the Sussex Air Ambulance; the Bluebell Steam Railway; East Grinstead charities the Town Museum, Furnihelp, and the East Grinstead Access Group for the elderly and disabled; Impact; and Crowborough charities the Town Mayor’s Charity Fund and the Community Hospital.

Bob Mainstone, representing the East Grinstead charities, said, “This donation will make a big difference to these charities in accomplishing their respective aims and is warmly appreciated.”

More than 1,500 were in attendance to enjoy the concert and give their support, including Mayors, District Council Chairmen, Town Councillors, and community leaders from all over the South of England. Other guests flew in specially from all over Europe and as far away as the United States and Canada.

The event covered a wide spectrum of music including Chick Corea, jazz legend and 15-time Grammy Award Winner; Mark Isham, Grammy, Emmy and Clio Award Winning composer, who has scored over 100 films; Alexander Markov, internationally celebrated virtuoso solo violinist; David Pomeranz, songwriter and recording artist with 18 Gold and 22 Platinum records; Elena Roggero, the “Italian Queen of Jazz”, and the UK’s top swing jive band – the Jive Aces.

Marianne Rowell, Deputy Director of the L. Ron HubbardFoundation, said, “We, as the L. Ron Hubbard Foundation and theChurch of Scientology, were delighted to give our support to these wonderful local charities tonight. This annual event is the highlight of our charity fundraising events and activities. Our warm thanks are due to all those who contributed.”

Over the years the Saint Hill Gala Charity Concert has supported numerous charities, from the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and the RSPCA to the National Drug Prevention Alliance and theBluebell Railway Trust. The concert follows the tradition that was started by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1960’s when he resided at Saint Hill Manor and supported many of the local charities.

The Gala Concert concluded a three-day jam-packed weekend of activities at the Church of Scientology with over 7,000 people from around the world, with conferences and seminars for parishioners and community leaders alike, encompassing the Church of Scientology’s social betterment programmes in the areas of human rights, drug education, common sense morals, and the volunteer ministry.



A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

Saturday, October 17, 2009

FOX in DC loves Tom Cruise


The news team for FOX in Washington, DC think Tom Cruise is the nicest celeb they've ever met.
Unfortunately the video won't embed so here is the link: Dave Ross Hanging out with Tom Cruise

A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

Friday, October 16, 2009

Reply to Jackie

Jackie from Arizona left a comment on my last post. The comment was about a post she thought I had made regarding the use of the drug Abilify on children.

Jackie, I see that your comment was clearly heart-felt and I empathize with your situation. However, I can't find any post on the four blogs that I contribute to that mentions Abilify. I can only guess that you got to my post from a link on another blog.

I would never criticize desperate parents for the actions they take to handle a situation with their kids. I do criticize doctors and psychiatrists who, without seeking less harmful alternatives, prescribe drugs that are not approved for kids and that have dangerous side effect. (See this data on Abilify.)

Parents trust health care professionals to be advising them correctly and honestly. It is not the parents fault when a health care professional is poorly trained and ignorant of alternatives to dangerous treatments, yet pretends to know what he or she is talking about when prescribing potentially lethal drugs.

The parents place their trust in the doctor and all too often in these days of assembly line medicine, the parents are betrayed when the doctor scribbles a quick prescription for the latest and greatest drug the pharmaceutical rep just told him about.

There are alternative treatments and even if the child needs a calming drug in an emergency there are older and safer alternatives, drugs that are out of patent but that have a 30 or 40 year history of safe use with minimal side-effects. Trouble is, such drugs are out of patent and so are not pushed in the face of doctors by pharmaceutical companies hungry for profits.

So, Jackie, I am sad that you gave your child Abilify, but I understand that you were doing what you thought was best for your son based on what you were told by the doctors.



A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Scientologists don't believe in ...

I get fed up with hearing self-proclaimed experts telling me what I do and don't believe. Case in point, just a week or two ago some twit on "The View" made the authoritative announcement that "Scientologists don't believe in autism."

Did she ask a Scientologist? No. Did she read it in a Scientology book? No. Did she read it in a Scientology publication? No. Did she read it on a Scientology web-site? No.

In fact L. Ron Hubbard (founder of the religion) never mentioned it anywhere in his writings. The Church of Scientology has never mentioned it in any of its publications and no representative of the Church speaking in the media has ever denied its existence. (It's not mentioned in the Bible either, so does that mean Christians don't "believe" in it? Of course not.)

So where do these media "experts" get this garbage from? I would guess rumor and lies because there is no actual valid source for such stupid pronouncements.

In fact on Sept 23rd, John Travolta acknowledged in court that his son Jett was autistic.

So why do the media talking heads continue to expound these lies? It all comes down to two things: controversy and conflict. Because those are thought to be two of the essential ingredients of news stories, the media tries to put them into every story. And apparently they do it even if it involves lying or twisting the facts.

So, if you are a reader of this blog and you want to know what Scientologists really do or don't believe, then just ask me. Leave a comment or go to this link: Questions About Scientology


A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard