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Monique reportedly fires her legal team.

BunnySkull

Silver Meritorious Patron
I cannot believe that this court case was ever about anything but money ... after wasting the best years of his life in the cofs and leaving with virtually nothing Marty now has a family and all the usual financial responsibilities of the real world, he has many decades to make up for financially, he needs serious money to have any kind of lifestyle and due to the harassment they received and by Mosey agreeing to stand up to the cofs they had a very good chance of achieving a result, but something changed recently.

We're all guessing about what happened prior to Mosey dumping the lawyers and dropping the case but I can only imagine that Marty was threatened with some kind of expose (based on his gory cofs past) that would so devastate his current life that he chose to lay down when told to.

That is the only thing that makes sense to me (apart from a secret settlement which would be insane) and whatever miscavige has over him must be truly shocking and he (miscavige) must have managed to arrange things so that he cannot be implicated in anything himself.

:confused2:

Nope, this is absolutely not the case. Tony has verified he does know what happened but can't yet report all the details he has, however, in very straightforward terms stated that there was no trump care or leverage used by the cult against the Rathbuns nor was their any secret settlement.

Everything points to Marty not working well with others and just being a real asshole and fucking over the lawyers for stupid/selfish reasons. Marty has been attacking Tony because obviously Tony knows the truth, has agreed with the lawyers about the matter and Marty's terrible behavior. His posts have been to try and strike out and smear Tony so when the truth comes out he can try to pretend it's some terrible campaign against he and Mosey - instead of just shitty behavior by Marty and Mosey.
 

prosecco

Patron Meritorious
Nope, this is absolutely not the case. Tony has verified he does know what happened but can't yet report all the details he has, however, in very straightforward terms stated that there was no trump care or leverage used by the cult against the Rathbuns nor was their any secret settlement.

Everything points to Marty not working well with others and just being a real asshole and fucking over the lawyers for stupid/selfish reasons. Marty has been attacking Tony because obviously Tony knows the truth, has agreed with the lawyers about the matter and Marty's terrible behavior. His posts have been to try and strike out and smear Tony so when the truth comes out he can try to pretend it's some terrible campaign against he and Mosey - instead of just shitty behavior by Marty and Mosey.

I don't understand why Tony Ortega wouldn't publish what he knows.
 

BunnySkull

Silver Meritorious Patron
I don't understand why Tony Ortega wouldn't publish what he knows.

Probably because the best information so far has been given "off the record" by certain people. He will have to string together bits and pieces of information than can either be double sourced or given on the record by involved parties before proceeding to publish anything. As much as the cult looney tunes like to accuse Tony of being a "tabloid journalist" he in fact runs a very tight ship and is extremely careful with what he publishes.

I'm sure what's he's heard and knows "off the record" about many aspects of the cult would blow our minds, but dealing with a monster like the CoS an editor/journalist has to be very careful and dot all their "I's" and cross their "T's."
 

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
Marty Rathbun apparently responds to the controversy.

Marty Rathbun: Arrogance and Ignorance

https://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2016/05/15/arrogance-and-ignorance/

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

Arrogance and Ignorance

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Mark C. Rathbun | 5 comments

The following passage is taken from the novel Texas Tropics.



When I arrived Amerigo was as relaxed and content as the last time I interrupted his little fisherman’s paradise. As I pulled Lucille ashore, Amerigo grabbed my pole and turned to his shrimp bucket to bait up my line. He handed back the pole. He looked at me knowingly and said, “You’ve been busy, no?”

I took the invitation to fill him in on my adventures. Amerigo did not show the kind of surprise or shock or wonderment you would expect any other human to exhibit in reaction to my story. When I finished, his only comment seemed to come randomly out of the blue, “Your father is wise beyond his years.”

I wanted to say, ‘What about me almost getting killed? What about me standing up to Ramos? What about me being set up like a bowling pin? What about me standing trial with my life in the balance?’ Instead, the thing he found most interesting was the last thing I cared about at the moment. I took a deep breath. I looked out across the cove. I let my emotions settle and then calmly asked, “Oh, you mean teaching me about Zapata?”

Amerigo smiled and shook his head in the negative.

“Then what?”, I asked.

Amerigo said, “He has discovered the secret of arrogance and ignorance.”

“What do you mean?”, I asked.

“Well, you asked him what drove him to do what you have told me most people characterize as evil, right?”, he asked.

“Right.”

“And his answer was?”

“He was too proud and too stupid”, I said. “Right, okay, too arrogant and too ignorant. And that – well, it does resonate with me.”

“Why?”, he asked.

“Because you can do something with it”, I said. “If he says instead, ‘it was evil’ it is like saying ‘I am evil.’ Where does that lead?”

He asked, “Where do you think?”

I thought out loud, “Isolation, imprisonment… Hell, I don’t know. It leads to labeling and distancing so you don’t catch any of that disease called ‘evil.’”

“Out of sight and out of mind?”, he asked.

“Maybe out of sight – which, I guess, is ignorance itself…and – come to think of it, arrogance too. But, I don’t think entirely out of mind.”

Amerigo’s seemed pleased with my working it over. He continued fishing, his invitation for me to think it through some more. And I did.

“Ok, Amerigo”, I said. “So, now I am thinking about judgment – like we talked about last time. When you judge, you use convenient labels like ‘evil’, hoping to put something or someone you don’t like out of sight and out of mind – or, at least, waaay over there.” I motioned toward the mainland with my hand for emphasis.

Amerigo smiled. Then he carried on fishing.

A few minutes later I added, “But the act of judging itself is an exercise in arrogance and ignorance.”

“How so?”, he asked.

“Arrogance…the act of judging gives one a feeling of superiority to whatever, or whoever, is being judged.”

“And ignorance?”, he asked.

“Judging, puts it out of sight”, I said. “Makes it no longer worthy of inspection or consideration. One makes oneself ignorant.”

Amerigo winked at me. And in the micro second it took his eyelid to shut and open again it all came to me. I said, “And all this opens the door to resolution.”

“Of what?”, he asked.

“The vicious circle”, I said. “It is a dwindling process toward, well – really…evil, I guess. The more ignorance we demonstrate, the more arrogance we produce. The more arrogant we become, the more ignorant too. Finally, the arrogance is so great we feel just fine sitting in judgment of those we consider lesser than ourselves. And the ignorance is so great we resort to labeling, stereotyping and condemning so that we don’t need to exercise intelligence. We are unaware of, and – so, we don’t care about the consequences of our judgment. You know, the consequences to those we judge. “

Amerigo was looking at me with interest.

I said, “And so, judgment tends to create evil…out of arrogance and ignorance. Do you see, it all becomes a self-feeding circle?”

“Yes”, he said. “And so, the resolution you spoke of?”

“Well, what is the reverse activity of exercising arrogance and ignorance?”, I asked.

Amerigo rolled his eyes and gave an impish smile, indicating he was going to consider the question. I was pleased. I thought maybe I had earned enough respect to ask deep questions of him and have him answer me for a change.

“Humility and curiosity?”, he asked.

“Right”, I said. “I had the concept but I couldn’t find the words. But, you are right on the money. And so when we feel compelled to judge, I mean in the judgmental sense – when we feel the compulsion arise to judge, label and reject…instead, maybe we hold off for a moment. Maybe we gather our wits. Maybe we exercise a little humility and a little curiosity.”

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *
 

uncover

Gold Meritorious Patron
Marty Rathbun apparently responds to the controversy.

Marty Rathbun: Arrogance and Ignorance

https://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2016/05/15/arrogance-and-ignorance/

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

Arrogance and Ignorance

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Mark C. Rathbun | 5 comments

The following passage is taken from the novel Texas Tropics.


.......

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *
This cryptic and boring yackety-yak is annoying. If the whole "novel" is written like this, I bet noone ever read it or will read it.
 

lotus

stubborn rebel sheep!
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Mystical cryptic stuff here :nervous:

Anybody holds the key to decrypt ???

:unsure:
 

BunnySkull

Silver Meritorious Patron
Marty Rathbun apparently responds to the controversy.

Marty Rathbun: Arrogance and Ignorance

https://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2016/05/15/arrogance-and-ignorance/

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

Arrogance and Ignorance

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Mark C. Rathbun | 5 comments

The following passage is taken from the novel Texas Tropics....yackety yackey, woo woo I'm deep and a terrible fucking writer.......

“Humility and curiosity?”, he asked.

“Right”, I said. “I had the concept but I couldn’t find the words. But, you are right on the money. And so when we feel compelled to judge, I mean in the judgmental sense – when we feel the compulsion arise to judge, label and reject…instead, maybe we hold off for a moment. Maybe we gather our wits. Maybe we exercise a little humility and a little curiosity.”

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *

As painful as his prose is, I do enjoy the irony of Marty lecturing on arrogance and ignorance, since he was the absolute prince of it for decades (I'll let DM be King).

So now he's preaching humility and curiosity? Marty seems mighty mad about everyone's curiosity about his firing his lawyers and keeps going between veiled threats and mystical philosophicalbabble whenever commoners or journalists give voice to this wonderful curiosity. (Guess they need to humble themselves to Marty before their curiosity is acceptable?)
 

Lulu Belle

Moonbat
You know, I didn't pay much attention to this whole thing when it happened.

But looking at Marty's blog the last couple of weeks...

...I really think that the simple explanation as to what happened with this is Rage Quit.

His attorneys were advising him and Monique to do something. He disagreed. He got mad. He fired them.

And that's really all that happened.

Sounds crazy, but I know someone like that. Does this kind of shit all the time. Makes rash decisions against his own self interests based on his ego and his temper.
 

Anonycat

Crusader
I'm working on a new treatment for the book. I'm just getting some rough ideas on how to punch it up a bit.

“Ok, Amerigo”, I said. “So, now I am thinking about judgment – like we talked about last time. When you judge, you use convenient labels like ‘evil’, hoping to put something or someone you don’t like out of sight and out of mind – or, at least, waaay over there.” I motioned toward the mainland with my hand for emphasis.

Amerigo smiled. Then he added: "why do you get all trippy, when all I did was return my cheeseburger at lunch today. Come on, it was way overcooked. You saw it".

A few minutes later I added, “But the act of judging itself is an exercise in arrogance and ignorance.”

“How so? It just a fucking sandwich”, he offered.

“Arrogance…the act of judging gives one a feeling of superiority to whatever, or whoever, is being judged.”

“In some sense I am superior to my cheeseburger ... if nothing else, I'm up on the food chain, right?”, he asked.

“Judging, puts it out of sight”, I said. “Makes it no longer worthy of inspection or consideration. One makes oneself ignorant.”

Amerigo winked at me. And in the micro second it took his eyelid to shut and open again it all came to me. I said, “And all this opens the door to resolution.”

“Yes, out of sight! I wanted the waiter to take it away”, he spoke.

“The vicious circle”, I said. “It is a dwindling process toward, well – really…evil, I guess. The more ignorance we demonstrate, the more arrogance we produce. The more arrogant we become, the more ignorant too. Finally, the arrogance is so great we feel just fine sitting in judgment of those we consider lesser than ourselves. And the ignorance is so great we resort to labeling, stereotyping and condemning so that we don’t need to exercise intelligence. We are unaware of, and – so, we don’t care about the consequences of our judgment. You know, the consequences to those we judge. “

Amerigo was looking at me with interest. "Did you take your meds today?", he inquired.

I said, “And so, judgment tends to create evil…out of arrogance and ignorance. Do you see, it all becomes a self-feeding circle?”

“Dude”, he said. “And this all relates to me judging my cheeseburger as improperly prepared?”

“Well, what is the reverse activity of exercising arrogance and ignorance?”, I asked.

Amerigo rolled his eyes and gave an impish smile, indicating he was going to get away from me as soon as he could. I was pleased. I thought maybe I had earned enough respect to ask deep questions of him and have him answer me for a change.

“Humility and curiosity?”, he asked.

“Right”, I said. “I had the concept but I couldn’t find the words. But, you are right on the money. And so when we feel compelled to judge, I mean in the judgmental sense – when we feel the compulsion arise to judge, label and reject our crap lunch … instead, maybe we hold off for a moment. Maybe we gather our wits. Maybe we exercise a little humility and a little curiosity about overcooked meats.”

I was jolted with surprise when he jumped up from his chair and ran out the door.

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *
 
I'm working on a new treatment for the book. I'm just getting some rough ideas on how to punch it up a bit.
Humm. Have you read the 10 rules of Writing by Elmore Leonard?

WRITERS ON WRITING; Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle

By ELMORE LEONARD

Published: July 16, 2001

These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story. If you have a facility for language and imagery and the sound of your voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip the rules. Still, you might look them over.

1. Never open a book with weather.

If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a character's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead looking for people. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways to describe ice and snow than an Eskimo, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

2. Avoid prologues.

They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in nonfiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.

There is a prologue in John Steinbeck's ''Sweet Thursday,'' but it's O.K. because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: ''I like a lot of talk in a book and I don't like to have nobody tell me what the guy that's talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks. . . . figure out what the guy's thinking from what he says. I like some description but not too much of that. . . . Sometimes I want a book to break loose with a bunch of hooptedoodle. . . . Spin up some pretty words maybe or sing a little song with language. That's nice. But I wish it was set aside so I don't have to read it. I don't want hooptedoodle to get mixed up with the story.''

3. Never use a verb other than ''said'' to carry dialogue.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with ''she asseverated,'' and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb ''said'' . . .

. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances ''full of rape and adverbs.''

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.

You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.

6. Never use the words ''suddenly'' or ''all hell broke loose.''

This rule doesn't require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use ''suddenly'' tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apostrophes, you won't be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavor of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories ''Close Range.''

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

Which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway's ''Hills Like White Elephants'' what do the ''American and the girl with him'' look like? ''She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.'' That's the only reference to a physical description in the story, and yet we see the couple and know them by their tones of voice, with not one adverb in sight.

9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.

Unless you're Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language or write landscapes in the style of Jim Harrison. But even if you're good at it, you don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.

And finally:

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

A rule that came to mind in 1983. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them. What the writer is doing, he's writing, perpetrating hooptedoodle, perhaps taking another shot at the weather, or has gone into the character's head, and the reader either knows what the guy's thinking or doesn't care. I'll bet you don't skip dialogue.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. It's my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing. (Joseph Conrad said something about words getting in the way of what you want to say.)

If I write in scenes and always from the point of view of a particular character -- the one whose view best brings the scene to life -- I'm able to concentrate on the voices of the characters telling you who they are and how they feel about what they see and what's going on, and I'm nowhere in sight.

What Steinbeck did in ''Sweet Thursday'' was title his chapters as an indication, though obscure, of what they cover. ''Whom the Gods Love They Drive Nuts'' is one, ''Lousy Wednesday'' another. The third chapter is titled ''Hooptedoodle 1'' and the 38th chapter ''Hooptedoodle 2'' as warnings to the reader, as if Steinbeck is saying: ''Here's where you'll see me taking flights of fancy with my writing, and it won't get in the way of the story. Skip them if you want.''

''Sweet Thursday'' came out in 1954, when I was just beginning to be published, and I've never forgotten that prologue.

Did I read the hooptedoodle chapters? Every word.

Writers on Writing

This article is part of a series in which writers explore literary themes. Previous contributions, including essays by John Updike, E. L. Doctorow, Ed McBain, Annie Proulx, Jamaica Kincaid, Saul Bellow and others, can be found with this article at The New York Times on the Web:

www.nytimes.com/arts
Hope that helps - Mimsey the scribe
 

ethercat

Cat in flight
Some posts have been moved to the "other" thread.

This thread is in the Legal and Government Actions Involving Scientology forum and is about Monique Rathbun's lawsuit, not Marty. Please keep it on that topic so that people interested in that subject don't have to wade through miles of drama to find what they want to read about.

Thank you. :)
 
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