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From: dcs@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (David C Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Houston Protest Report
Date: 9 Sep 1995 23:57:19 -0500
Organization: NeoSoft Internet Services +1 713 968 5800
Lines: 146
Message-ID: <42tr7f$5vm@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>
NNTP-Posting-Host: starbase.neosoft.com
Summary: Clam(tm) Pizza for All!
Keywords: Scientology, cult, Dianetics, scam, Clam(tm) Pizza, OTs
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Here's my report on the Houston Protest. I will be submitting
my official report to the ARS Executive Committee on the proper
forms shortly.
******************************************************************
My wife and I arrived at Fuzzy's Pizza (which is in the same strip
center as the Dianetics Center) around 1:45pm, a bit late, but just
in time too. As we made our way towards the counter, I noticed the
gentleman in front of us was ordering a Clam(tm) pizza. I knew we
were at the right place! <grin>
I had made up a couple of Clam(tm) pizza signs before hand and
one was posted by the menu board, and the other was placed in
the window near our table. We all (there were 8 of us in all)
sat around our table and chatted about the happenings on ARS.
We watched some of the local org members go in and out of the
Dianetics center, but foot traffic was light.
The Scientologists kept an eye on us, often coming into Fuzzy's
to buy a bottle of Coke or Snapple. At one point, we watched as
two Scientologists walked through the parking lot, writing down
vehicle liscense plate numbers on a clipboard.
Back to the pizza, which seemed to be taking an awfully long time
cooking. Being the ARS Executive Committee members that we were,
we automacially assumed that the lateness of our Clam(tm) Pizza
was a Clam(tm) Conspiracy. Eventually, the pizza came and we
chowed down on a delicious Pepperoni and Clam pizza.
After we finished off the Clam(tm) Pizza, we sat around and chatted
about ARS, Woody, Phatso (aka LRH), telephones, Houston, and other
fun topics. During this time, one of the Clam(tm) Pizza crew takes one
of the leaflets over to an obvious Scientologist observer, and
strikes up a conversation with him. They talked for awhile, and we
tracked the clipboard duo around the parking lot, while we chatted
away. Later, another fellow, obvious Scientologist joins them and
they all talk for a little while. Around this time, a big fellow
with reddish hair wearing a green shirt comes in to Fuzzy's, buys
a Dr. Pepper, becomes *very* interested in what's on the big screen
near us (I remember it was a commercial, then another commercial),
and comes and sits down at the table next to us. I thought, "hmmm..
he looks almost like LRH". Then, he pulled out his pack of Kools,
and lit up a smoke. An LRH wanna-be planted to listen in on us! I
almost broke out laughing, but managed to keep my K^Hcool.
Eventually, our fellow ARSer brings the 2 men over to our table and
introduces them. They sit down to join us, and we all start to talk.
The guy in the suit is the most talkative, and is wearing a <T>
bracelet. The other guy (we'll call him cell-guy since he had a
cellular phone with him) pretty much kept quiet. We discussed the
raids, the lawsuits, and trade secrets. He didn't know a lot (or
so he said) about the FactNet raid or the keyword searches by I-net.
We did discuss the copyright and fair use issues, and also trade
secrets. He didn't much believe in fair use of LRH works, as he
mentioned the statement in LRH's works that forbid *any* copying,
which I disagreed with. One thing that we did agree on is that
the Erlich trial and the others will set the precedents for these
areas.
Soon after, another Scientologist joined us. He was quieter than
suit-guy, but spoke much more than cell-guy. At one point suit-guy
asks if we've read the number one piece of cult pulp (my description),
Dianetics. As we answered, he started the "sell" routine about
"read this book, get a friend, and audit yourselves to clear".
He sent cell-guy back to the org to grab a few copies to hand out
to us. Cell-guy exits.
We continue our conversation, talking about the OT materials (not the
content though, darn-it!) and we learn that suit-guy has reach OT V,
and the new guy has reached OT VIII (Of course you didn't think they'd
let us talk to Pre-Clear members!).
At one point, suit-guy says something to the order of "We are not
on staff, just members of the church". I ask the magic question,
"Are you FSM's?". They both answer yes. I then explained to my
wife what FSM's (Field Staff Members - They sell Scientology materials
and services and receive a 15% commission on what they sell) are.
Thank you RonArtistR! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Eventually cell-guy comes back with 4 copies of _Dianetics_ to pass
out to the group. Neither my wife nor I took a copy, since I just
bought one recently at a used book store for half price - 20%. BTW,
watch for my comments and fair use extracts from it on ARS in the
coming weeks.
The OT VIII guy goes to a table near us to talk with one of our
group (He's an ex-Scieno who made OT III!) and we all continue
to chat. The suit-guy was pushing hard to sell.sell.sell us on
Scientology! I was shocked and amazed that this guy was not only
attempting to "handle" us, but also to SELL us on Scientology.
At one point, suit-guy was talking about the free _Dianetics_
books he handed out, and I requested a free set of the Green
Volumes since I already had _Dianetics_. He said no, you're
going to have to pay for that since it's a couple of thousand
dollars... :-)
We continued talking, and I brought up a question I had about
the tone scale relating to a post I did awhile back which quoted
material from _Science of Survival_ about Sexuality in which
LRH said that a rapist was higher toned than a pervert. We all
had a laugh during this bit, but he was willing to and did
explain why.
Soon after, my wife and I had to leave. We said our goodbyes
to our ARS friends and the Scientologists. As walked out of
Fuzzy's to our car parked close-by (but not close to the
org), we noticed a young Scieno with a camcorder standing
out front of the org attempting to tape people leaving. We
managed to get into the car un-noticed. My wife was driving
and said something to the effect of "f*ck this" as she pulled
out, and sped out of the parking lot before the camera-
clam^H^H^H^Hman could turn to catch us on tape. Heh.
Altogether, it was a VERY interesting and bizarre day. Since we
didn't actually picket outside, I guess the OT-guys did their
job. But, the Houston Dianetics Center is not in a good location.
There is practically no foot traffic, and the busy street,
Westheimer, is not near the org, and is crowded with a gas
station and a business building. I think that we conveyed our
message to the Scientologists, and the lower level folks were
aware of our presence. I would have liked to talked to some
of them, but they weren't exactly friendly to us. ;-)
If I left anything out or goofed on anything, I hope my fellow
ARS-ers who were there will point it out.
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--
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