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All ESMB Members Invited to Clearwater Event

Type4_PTS

Diamond Invictus SP
There's an event in the early planning stages in Clearwater for non-Scientologists, not just for local people as some will be flying in for it as well. Aaron Smith-Levin explains in this video how the idea for this event came about.

 

Type4_PTS

Diamond Invictus SP
You mentioned (before editing your post) that your comment regarding the "jive aces" was a joke.

I'm glad you pointed that out as it was difficult to tell.

Given that you were aware the event isn't one sponsored by Scientology why did you rate my opening post in the thread as you did?

poop.PNG
 

Leland

Crusader
My Sister told me that the Jive Aces were playing at the Swing New Years party that her and her boyfriend had tickets for....

I was going to tell her that they were a Cult of $cientology Front Group....but decided not to ruin her evening, just prior to their night out.

But several days later we had dinner together...and I told her, and she was shocked.... ( she has never been in the Cult...)

So I asked her if the band had mentioned LRH...or the Cult....or had in anyway mentioned/promoted $cientology...

She said..." the band singer did talk quite a bit....but the sound system was so bad that she couldn't understand anything he said..."

:D

(My sister at one time was married to a Professor of EE who was also a professional sound engineer.....)
 

Type4_PTS

Diamond Invictus SP
(My sister at one time was married to a Professor of EE who was also a professional sound engineer.....)
Hmmmm, I noticed when I got to the word "who" in your sentence I was suddenly feeling blank, washed out, with a "not there" feeling. I wonder would could have caused that? :D
 

haaaaa

welcome
well to be honest ... I don't think alcoholism is any better than Scientology... he's like let's set up some small businesses like wineries and bars and such ...

I mean , both scn and alchoholism destroy families so...

like just because we or you are vehemently opposed to scn doesn't mean the things replacing it will be any better.

i didn't expect to be taken so seriously..

again , to be honest it was the first thing that popped into my head , it doesn't make much sense but I have been wanting to make fun of the jive aces for some while...

but I already knew the answer was 'no' . . . so I will answer my own question ... *ahem* 'no haaaa the jive aces will not be there' , 'Lol are you drunk?" haaa: " no I'm just type 5 pts lol, hahaha more pts than monseigneur squirrel"

btw I often have debates with myself when posting on the internet thinking "hmmm I'm not so sure this will go over well and if it does will it matter?" existentialism at it's finest...

Perhaps I should take a break from the internet .

 
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haaaaa

welcome
My Sister told me that the Jive Aces were playing at the Swing New Years party that her and her boyfriend had tickets for....

I was going to tell her that they were a Cult of $cientology Front Group....but decided not to ruin her evening, just prior to their night out.

But several days later we had dinner together...and I told her, and she was shocked.... ( she has never been in the Cult...)

So I asked her if the band had mentioned LRH...or the Cult....or had in anyway mentioned/promoted $cientology...

She said..." the band singer did talk quite a bit....but the sound system was so bad that she couldn't understand anything he said..."

:D

(My sister at one time was married to a Professor of EE who was also a professional sound engineer.....)
oh , and here I thought the jive aces were kaput.
 

haaaaa

welcome
Hmmmm, I noticed when I got to the word "who" in your sentence I was suddenly feeling blank, washed out, with a "not there" feeling. I wonder would could have caused that? :D
I don't remember if that is lack of mass or misunderstood word... maybe it's both ..
 

Leland

Crusader
Sorry for the derail! (edited)

Any protesting planned with this get together?
 
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Type4_PTS

Diamond Invictus SP
well to be honest ... I don't think alcoholism is any better than Scientology... he's like let's set up some small businesses like wineries and bars and such ...

I mean , both scn and alchoholism destroy families so...

like just because we or you are vehemently opposed to scn doesn't mean the things replacing it will be any better.

If that's your takeaway from watching that video then you've either misunderstood Aaron's message or you're just intentionally altering it. :duh:
 

Type4_PTS

Diamond Invictus SP
Sorry for the detail!

Any protesting planned with this get together?
I recommend that anyone interested in the event should join the Facebook Group "Supporters of Leah Remini: Scientology & the Aftermath", as details of the event and any updates will be posted there. That group by the way now has over 12,000 members!

No planned protest that I am aware of. It seems to be more of a social event. But I could be wrong; I'm not involved with the planning at all.

Mark your calenders - the event will be on March 10th!
 

HelluvaHoax!

Platinum Meritorious Sponsor with bells on
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Aaron, awesome idea.

Ultimate paradox that the COS (savior of the planet) was not even able to save a few blocks of downtown Clearwater.

Now here are some of the interesting dynamics of trying to revitalize a retail/shopping/entertainment area that has entirely vanished.

-- Irony of ironies if the "AFTERMATH" SPs can do what the OTs failed to do.

-- If Scientology doesn't like 1000 people coming together to celebrate the accelerating dwindling spiral of their "church", they can upon a moments notice send their hundreds of nautically costumed zombies back out onto the streets. Hate to say it, but that would spook the living fuck out of any prospective business owners and/or their investors, notwithstanding the $250K grant(s).

-- If that zombie dawn didn't break out entrepreneurs toying with the idea of opening up a venue in downtown Clearwater (and again, I hate to say it) the COS could then do what they always do against their "enemies". Fair Game them, or (minimally) "put a head on a pike" and make an example of some enterprising but hapless, restauranteur or enterprise; to wit, putting PIs on them, digging up their "crimes" (secrets) or just "manufacturing" them (per policy). And of course doing their "noisy investigations" of that person to collapse their clientele, PR, income, repute or even frame them for crimes they didn't commit.

The point above is that if Miscavige doesn't want businesses (NON scientology businesses) to come into the area, he can quite easily SKUNK the downtown area with some of Ron's/his infamous black ops, hate websites or worse. This is a real factor that would have to be overcome if genuine "critical mass" were to be achieved in the momentum swing of Wog businesses taking root in the heart of the cult beast.

As a founder of many different kinds of enterprise, I had to ask myself this: WHAT WOULD CONVINCE ME OR ANYONE TO INVEST TIME & MONEY INTO A 100% DEAD RETAIL DISTRICT?

Retail, in its many forms, has the same "location-location-location" fundamental that real estate does. Very few businesses can survive without FOOT TRAFFIC and CONVENIENT PARKING. People will drive to a restaurant, but less will drive there if there is no convenient parking. Sometimes, if volume merits it, valet parking can work.

Retail stores and coffee shops and the like DEPEND on foot traffic. A dead zone like ghost-town Clearwater would be a DOA for any business that needs bodies.

I think it is a totally fascinating and uniquely challenging proposition--to REBUILD Clearwater IN SPITE OF the cult's morosely prohibitive presence. I love the idea of trying to find the right way to reach critical mass (i.e. where retailers are DYING to get in while there is still space).

Honestly, the brilliant and inspiring ideas may come out of those really cool 1000 person events you are planning. But as I look at it today, there is a LONG ROAD to go from a single event to a willingness of individuals to invest their savings in a business that is being set up in the middle of a fanatical cult stronghold.

Even if the COS Pope "blesses" a new local (wog) business, it is only a matter of time that a shop owner sells a copy of the wrong (SP) book or says the wrong thing about L. Ron Hubbard in front of some nautically-clad planet savers bearing clipboards. Wouldn't the COS automatically order DISCONNECTION of all Scientologists from that shop?

It's hard enough to do a bricks-n-mortal business these days, I can't even imagine taking on a lease inside the fanatical cult's hood.

Again, I do LOVE the challenge of it. Every problem has a solution. This is going to take some real imagination and innovative ideas. What a really fun and cool venture to take on!

Sorry if I come across as a naysayer. Maybe I seem cynical. It's not that, I am an enthusiastic entrepreneur daily for decades on VERY difficult ventures to launch. It's just on this one, I am temporarily stumped how one could pull that off. Moreover, if an prospective business owner wanted to set up another (or their first) enterprise, why would they gamble on a retail cemetery, instead of taking on a friendlier and more viable location?

As I say, every problem has it's own solution. It's solvable ...but how?



ps: "If headcam people show up at my house, I am going to blame some of the people in this room." (-Vito Corleone)

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HelluvaHoax!

Platinum Meritorious Sponsor with bells on
.

Dammit! I shouldn't have read this thread. Now this problem is crunching in the back of my mind. LOL

I wonder if the organizers of the CW event (Aaron, et al) have found a thriving FLA district that downtown CW could model itself after. Or, minimally, to see what businesses are doing well and pulling traffic.

I haven't been in CW or FLA for decades. But I seem to remember that YBOR CITY was becoming a cool nightlife scene. I think it may still be thriving. Clubs, bars, dance places, restaurants. Probably (I am guessing) some cool clothing stores?

If I was consulting the redevelopment of deadzone CW, that would be one of my first destinations to walk through, in order to talk to folks and SEE how it works. Maybe there are much better examples (Florida or other states) that could serve as a generic template of how to build a vibrantly trafficked area. It's not hard to find MANY examples of killer zones that pull HEAVY traffic. There is a century of good records for what worked and didn't work in many cities across the nation. Even when MALLS became the central magnet (for a few decades) there were always wildly successful streets or districts that people loved to park and walk and shop.

Now that malls are on serious decline (anchor stores gone and that empty space being filled by condos) we are back to the street-traffic model that always worked.

I'd have to really study the demographics more but if I were to make a wild, uneducated guess, I would say the easiest way to pull traffic is EXACTLY WHAT AARON & COMPANY did, a bar! Same as Ybor city.

Lots of bars, and clubs ..and food joints...and when there is good traffic, retail shops will follow.

I don't know how CW looks downtown any more, but if there is a way to CENTRALLY try to build up one small part of it with a few popular hangouts, that would be easier than trying a little joint on one block, and the next one on an adjacent street a distance away.

In other words, try to make SOMETHING successful on an ongoing basis. Not just a one-time promoted event. Because after the promotion or celebrity leaves, the business owner is still there waiting desperately for someone to come in again, as the first of the month lease payment approaches.

I don't have any valuable opinions about CW since i haven't looked at it in decades, but the proposition of inspiring a rebirth of a once-vital downtown area is very exciting.

QUESTION: Does the Church of Scientology even want that? Does it represent more of a threat to them than the upside of the occasional new cult member they might be able to recruit? Didn't the COS purposely drive everyone away---in order to take over the downtown real estate and create Scientology's "First Clear City"? LOL

Scn pretty much fucked it up every possible way. Even with the great gold rush influx in the 80s of Scientologists moving to their CW "Mecca", the COS could not prevent themselves from PARASITIZING ON and savaging the locals to death with demands, donations and damnation (if they didn't do what they were told!)

FACT: Scientology HAD a renaissance of people into CW and downtown CW. But, true to their sociopathic and predatory nature, Scientology attacked them and drove the Scientologists out too.

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haaaaa

welcome
_93629734_thinkstockphotos-625798052.jpg If that's your takeaway from watching that video then you've either misunderstood Aaron's message or you're just intentionally altering it. :duh:
okay, well ...I was digressing ... but
feel free to explain the message to me if you have a different take on it.
 
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HelluvaHoax!

Platinum Meritorious Sponsor with bells on
.
Damn!

Sorry if i murdered this thread with incomprehensibly long and rambling manifestos, lol.

Best regards,

The Una-poster

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Churchill

Gold Meritorious Patron
No apology needed. I'd planned to attend the Clearwater event thinking it'd merely be a cool party with some great people, and also I've never been there, but your "manifesto" reminded me of the "broken windows theory" which was the criminological idea that Rudy Giuliani and Bill Bratton successfully adopted in NYC in the '90's to dramatically reduce crime and spur a huge increase the quality of life for all New Yorkers.
A corollary of the "broken windows theory" is that good use drives away bad use. I would've called it an "axiom" - but for some reason I'm reluctant to use that word..
Nevertheless, a party and celebration of good cheer and fellowship is definitely worth raising a glass, or two!
:grouphug::gathering::dance3::party::thewave:

:cheers::cheers:
 
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