Gus
Patron with Honors
What your donations buy...
Last week, I got an overnight FedEx delivery. I wasn't expecting anything and I wondered what it was.
Well, it was a friggin' full-on glossy heavy paper pitch to buy the ACC lectures! I guess this was the big, world-saving news at the New Year event.
This was FedEx overnight! Even with bulk rates, that had to cost close to ten bucks! Plus of course the glossy waste of paper therein.
Has anyone else been sent this promo by FedEx?
I thought that was bad, but then what should arrive today, but another FedEx envelope. This one had a sticker on the outside that blared, "Find out why the New York Times is talking about THE BIGGEST LRH RELEASE IN HISTORY (their caps). I wondered why the sticker didn't ask me to find out what the Saint Petersburg Times was saying...
Well, I guess they decided to cut back a bit, because this one was FedEx Ground. Another set of the same glossy promo.
So, I thought I'd dig in and have a look... the special buy-it-now for all 1,020 lectures in 30 subjects (!), full price being $11,550.00, but if you purchase them today, is the low low price of $7,500.00.
Oh, but of course this is less than it cost to purchase them the year they were delivered (the promo so helpfully informed me) - it was $25 per lecture in 1954, so the package would have cost $25,000.00 in today's dollars!!!!
But thanks to that little midget fuck, they only want $7,500. For a limited time, of course. Christ, I feel for the people who are still in right now. They are probably still paying off the $3K they borrowed to get the basics package last year.
As a bit of "freakanomics" I looked up the price of The Beatles Stereo Box Set and did a quick and dirty comparo... From what I see here the $7,500.00 (for a limited time only) ACC comes in 25 "sets" of CDs. Each set appears to have about 15 lectures, presumably one per CD since The Fatman usually rambled for an hour or so at a time, so about 15 CDs or so plus the transcript booklet.
The Beatles set comes in one "set" of CDs, and contains 14 CDs plus a DVD and a nice photo book.
So, 25 Beatles Box Sets, at $175.49 each (Amazon) comes to $4,387.25, significantly less than $7,500.00 and a shitload less than the "full price" of $11,550.00. I'm thinking there might be more spiritual gain in that one box of Beatles CDs...
Back to the New York Times - enclosed with the usual tacky gold-lamé-themed promo crap is a copy of an AP story entitled, "Restoration of Lost Scientology Materials Complete." It reads like a press release from DM, with a few very minor bits added about the "price of $7,500.00 being likely to raise a few eyebrows..." designed to appear like "balanced reporting."
I might scan this for the Board's enjoyment if I get any time in the next few days, if someone else doesn't scan it first.
Imagine the amends projects with this one! Now, instead of shelling out $3K to donate a Basics package, you're out $7,500 to donate an ACC package. Don't fuck up your sec checks!
And imagine the pressure to BUY NOW or cough up $4,000 more if you wait. I can hear the regs now: "You know, the interest on that credit card will be less than the $4K it'll cost you to wait..." Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said that, that'll give the OSA lurkers good ideas to pass on to the registrars.
I didn't look to see exactly who sent the FedEx overnight package, and I've chucked it already, but the FedEx Ground package was sent by ASHO. Contacts are Jon De Vries or Nancy Vaughan.
Damn, I'm glad I don't have to run the Reg Gauntlet anymore...
Gus.
Last week, I got an overnight FedEx delivery. I wasn't expecting anything and I wondered what it was.
Well, it was a friggin' full-on glossy heavy paper pitch to buy the ACC lectures! I guess this was the big, world-saving news at the New Year event.
This was FedEx overnight! Even with bulk rates, that had to cost close to ten bucks! Plus of course the glossy waste of paper therein.
Has anyone else been sent this promo by FedEx?
I thought that was bad, but then what should arrive today, but another FedEx envelope. This one had a sticker on the outside that blared, "Find out why the New York Times is talking about THE BIGGEST LRH RELEASE IN HISTORY (their caps). I wondered why the sticker didn't ask me to find out what the Saint Petersburg Times was saying...
Well, I guess they decided to cut back a bit, because this one was FedEx Ground. Another set of the same glossy promo.
So, I thought I'd dig in and have a look... the special buy-it-now for all 1,020 lectures in 30 subjects (!), full price being $11,550.00, but if you purchase them today, is the low low price of $7,500.00.
Oh, but of course this is less than it cost to purchase them the year they were delivered (the promo so helpfully informed me) - it was $25 per lecture in 1954, so the package would have cost $25,000.00 in today's dollars!!!!
But thanks to that little midget fuck, they only want $7,500. For a limited time, of course. Christ, I feel for the people who are still in right now. They are probably still paying off the $3K they borrowed to get the basics package last year.
As a bit of "freakanomics" I looked up the price of The Beatles Stereo Box Set and did a quick and dirty comparo... From what I see here the $7,500.00 (for a limited time only) ACC comes in 25 "sets" of CDs. Each set appears to have about 15 lectures, presumably one per CD since The Fatman usually rambled for an hour or so at a time, so about 15 CDs or so plus the transcript booklet.
The Beatles set comes in one "set" of CDs, and contains 14 CDs plus a DVD and a nice photo book.
So, 25 Beatles Box Sets, at $175.49 each (Amazon) comes to $4,387.25, significantly less than $7,500.00 and a shitload less than the "full price" of $11,550.00. I'm thinking there might be more spiritual gain in that one box of Beatles CDs...
Back to the New York Times - enclosed with the usual tacky gold-lamé-themed promo crap is a copy of an AP story entitled, "Restoration of Lost Scientology Materials Complete." It reads like a press release from DM, with a few very minor bits added about the "price of $7,500.00 being likely to raise a few eyebrows..." designed to appear like "balanced reporting."
I might scan this for the Board's enjoyment if I get any time in the next few days, if someone else doesn't scan it first.
Imagine the amends projects with this one! Now, instead of shelling out $3K to donate a Basics package, you're out $7,500 to donate an ACC package. Don't fuck up your sec checks!
And imagine the pressure to BUY NOW or cough up $4,000 more if you wait. I can hear the regs now: "You know, the interest on that credit card will be less than the $4K it'll cost you to wait..." Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said that, that'll give the OSA lurkers good ideas to pass on to the registrars.
I didn't look to see exactly who sent the FedEx overnight package, and I've chucked it already, but the FedEx Ground package was sent by ASHO. Contacts are Jon De Vries or Nancy Vaughan.
Damn, I'm glad I don't have to run the Reg Gauntlet anymore...
Gus.