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Yet another Scientology library scampaign

CommunicatorIC

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Yet another Scientology library scampaign.

From the South African Independent Scientology blog, Scientologists getting back in comm. As usual for that blog, the article is well researched, well documented and as a result... long. Some may be tempted to say TL;DR. You may want to refrain from doing so. The article is worth it.

Yet another library scampaign
https://backincomm.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/yet-another-library-scampaign/
One of our eagle eyes alerted us to this email from Sebastian Howarth. This guy sure gets around. In one of our previous articles – “Ideal Org Update”, Sebastian appeared in a promo piece explaining how he had been working on the project to get a building purchased for Joburg North and was now in Cape Town with his wife and Stephen Smith to ensure that org was to be the next Ideal Org DONE. With both of those projects not accomplished, he seems to have come full circle back to Joburg North and is now posted as their D/FBO MORE……. As a reminder, that article can be viewed here.

Here’s the email:
Hi all,

A new campaign for libraries has just launched: getting Clear Body, Clear Mind into all the libraries on Earth!

Because of the massive drug problem there is in the society, and the release of the new Purification Rundown, we are now getting these books into all the libraries of the planet.

Our portion is obviously Africa. In Africa we have 1201 libraries, 530 of which are in South Africa. We are getting two copies of Clear Body, Clear Mind into each library; one book costs R230.

It would be very cool if you could contribute towards this massive dissemination movement. A great game is finishing a whole country! This is a game for everyone – big donators and small. Some countries have only 1 or 2 libraries! That’s only R460! Others who can contribute more can finish a country like Burkina Faso which has 10 libraries: R4600.

Other countries have more (14, 21, 47, etc.)

Please let me know how many you can do and I will tell you which COUNTRY you just took responsibility for.

Sebastian Howarth

D/FBO MORE JBGN
To be clear – not one library donation campaign has ever resulted in books in every library. This goes as far back as the campaign to place “What is Scientology?” into all South African libraries in the early 1990s. A great number of those books were sold by the central library at R5 a piece. We wrote an extensive article on the fraudulent basics library campaign back in November last year.

The closest library to Johannesburg Org is Rhodes Park. A couple of months ago, someone visiting the library looked for the basics, and found this:

rhodes-park-library.gif


That’s right – only DMSMH and Self Analysis. These two books were all the library had left from the entire set of basics. (It’s rather ironic that DMSMH is next to “The Disappearance of the Universe”).

To put this in perspective, this library is 1.4 kilometers away from Johannesburg Org. It’s a 2 minute drive down the road. Of all the libraries in South Africa, one would surely expect the one closest to the Continental (Ideal) Org would have a full set of basics.

Today we did some further digging. We phoned the Rhodes Park library and asked how many books by L.Ron Hubbard were still in stock. The answer? None.

We asked what happens when books are “donated” to libraries, and were told that all books are sent to Head Office for cataloging. Once this is done they are sent back to the library. If the books don’t “move” (i.e. are not being taken out regularly enough) they are sent back to Head Office.

We phoned Head Office and spoke to a lady who, upon hearing we were enquiring about Scientology books, asked not to be named. She told us that all books returned to Head Office were either sent to other libraries, but generally they were sent for pulping.

Now back to the email:

There is zero evidence that indicates there has been any study on the validity of even putting books in libraries. What are the stats on library use? Particularly across Africa. Is this a proven method of dissemination?

Once again, public are being expected to pay the FULL RETAIL PRICE for books to be “donated” to libraries – the Church means to profit from the goodwill of public donations.

Sebastian encourages people to “play a game” and do a WHOLE country. The last person who did a whole country was Ralph Madeira – he was relieved of his money, and then promptly declared. He had apparently answered one question of a survey on an “enemy” blog. No comm-ev, B of I, nothing. Both Albert De Beer and Ken Krieger knew that Ralph was looking at the internet – he openly admitted it to them. This didn’t stop them from regging him for a few hundred thousand Rand for library campaigns and other cycles. As soon as he handed over the money, he was toast. He was not informed of his declare and only found out by default when he called Hillary Eenkhorn on an unrelated cycle. According to her, Anne Hogarth made the “instant declare” decision.

Clear Body Clear Mind is a book that is specific to the Purification Rundown. While it discusses doing a home purif its main function is to encourage the reader to contact their “nearest org” to do the program. For Africa, the orgs listed are Bulawayo, Cape Town, Durban, Harare, Joburg, Joburg North, PE and Pretoria. Africa has 47 countries and there are only 8 orgs in 2 countries – both located in Southern Africa.

Saying that there are 1201 libraries in Africa is one thing, but has anyone considered what this means in terms of logistics? From the viewpoint of those running the campaign a “done” means “paid for” not “in the library”. There is no discussion in the email about how books will be shipped or the how they will ensure those on the ground actually put those books on the shelves. What about languages? There are between 1,250 to 2,100 and by some counts 3000 languages spoken in Africa. Nigeria alone has 500 languages. Of these, about 100 languages are spoken for inter-ethnic communication, with these being broken down further into 6 different language families, depending on the area (Northern, Saharan, Western, Central, Southern and Indo-European). It would be interesting to know how many languages the book has been translated into – we guarantee it doesn’t come close to covering the diversity of Africa’s languages. Sending this book to a remote rural library would be a complete waste of time – and money.

Sebastian says in his email “because of the massive drug problem there is in the society, and the release of the new Purification Rundown, we are now getting these books into all the libraries of the planet”. If anyone had done ANY research on this, they would have found that of the top 10 countries in the world with the worst drug problems, not one African country features. In order, the countries worst affected by drug or alcohol abuse are Iran, UK, France, Slovakia, Russia, Afghanistan, Canada, USA, Brazil, Mexico.

In order of importance, drugs are the least of Africa’s worries. How about the Church does something of REAL value for Africa and her people – such as addressing the fact that 70% of all AIDS deaths come from Africa? The top 10 countries affected by HIV and AIDS are ALL African Countries. In order, these are Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Cameroon.

Then there is the issue of poverty. From the 50 nations considered to be least developed, 34 of these are in Africa. This equates to extreme poverty and a tragic lack of basic human needs such as safe drinking water, nutrition and shelter. When one considers that Africa is the world’s poorest inhabited continent with major issues such as extreme poverty, AIDS, TB and other diseases confronting her people – many of whom live below-the-breadline, it stands to reason that very few people are going to be queuing up to do a R10,000 Purif Program when their family doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from.

Copies of this book are available on Amazon for anything from $0.01 to $3.95.

Most critically history shows that there is no intention of getting these books into libraries. Only to keep the donations coming in. Sebastian will be reposted elsewhere long before the first CBCM is ever checked out of a library.
 

Veda

Sponsor
Yet another Scientology library scampaign.

From the South African Independent Scientology blog, Scientologists getting back in comm. As usual for that blog, the article is well researched, well documented and as a result... long. Some may be tempted to say TL;DR. You may want to refrain from doing so. The article is worth it.

Yet another library scampaign
https://backincomm.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/yet-another-library-scampaign/

Have you seen the comments?

There's a discussion, begun by Dan351, about how Miscavige is violating the HCOPL 'Ethics and Study Tech' by making books such as 'Scientology 8-8008' available to raw public.

Anyone disseminating out-gradient information, according to this policy, could find himself in big trouble and headed towards becoming a Declared Suppressive Person.

This blog seems to have tightened its controls on comments as not a soul is disagreeing with the keeping policy working people.

I didn't even know it was a suppressive act to give a copy of 'Scientology 8-8008' to a humanoid.

Learn something new everyday!

That's a whole new aspect to the "Which Scientology book snagged you?" thread. http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?35198-Which-Scn-book-snagged-you

"Which out-gradient book, given to you by an off policy, out ethics, DB, caused you to have misunderstood words, and out-reality, and started you on a dwindling spiral of nattering and squirreling?"

Oy vey.
 

anonomog

Gold Meritorious Patron
Even if this campaign was 100% legitimate (and those squadrons of pigs are going through their pre-flight checks) how could anyone seriously believe that putting books written by a colonialist, who thought he was Cecil Rhodes, in African libraries is a good idea.
 

Sindy

Crusader
Scientology never allows a good working scam to go to waste. What caused their affluence can still cause their affluence and ya know what? They're right!

Frankly, the people that continue to fall for this or who know these books don't actually end up on the library shelves and yet they still keep contributing, well, they're fucking idiots.
 

Sindy

Crusader
Scientology never allows a good working scam to go to waste. What caused their affluence can still cause their affluence and ya know what? They're right!

Frankly, the people that continue to fall for this or who know these books don't actually end up on the library shelves and yet they still keep contributing, well, they're fucking idiots.

On this point, when I was in, the DSA and her husband (the now ethics officer) at the Chicago Org would talk to people about how they knew these libraries didn't want these books, that they were sold off for a few dollars or thrown in the dumpster. They not only knew it but had lots of proof. They still kept donating. They still kept encouraging others to do so. They're still in pushing the bullshit as we speak. WTF?

I guess some people are wired to live comfortably with cognitive dissonance. I don't get it.
 

guanoloco

As-Wased
Of course, if one really wanted to BPI Ron's tech for massive dissemination all of the books and lectures would be downloadable for free.

Now, as a Scientologist, go in and suggest this as a campaign. I'm willing to wager that this will be acked with a response somewhere below Enthusiasm on the Tone Scale.
 

Sindy

Crusader
Of course, if one really wanted to BPI Ron's tech for massive dissemination all of the books and lectures would be downloadable for free.

Now, as a Scientologist, go in and suggest this as a campaign. I'm willing to wager that this will be acked with a response somewhere below Enthusiasm on the Tone Scale.

No kidding. Well, if these really were true donations, Bridge should just collect the actual cost of donation (sans the profit margin). But no, they have to add yet another scam on top of this one by saying, "your donations (understood at full-on profit price) help us to fund all these other vital planetary salvage campaigns (that we're going to ask you to fund again directly anyway)....yada, yada, bullshit......
 

HelluvaHoax!

Platinum Meritorious Sponsor with bells on
...
We phoned Head Office and spoke to a lady who, upon hearing we were enquiring about Scientology books, asked not to be named. She told us that all books returned to Head Office were either sent to other libraries, but generally they were sent for pulping.



Pulping? LOL Karmic irony and justice all rolled into one.

"The perfect answer to a question is the question itself." (L. Ron Hubbard)

Scientology's pulp fiction written by a pulp fiction writer recycles itself into......pulp.

"The perfect answer to a cult is the cult itself." (Hell Ruin Hoaxard)
 

Sindy

Crusader
If you think about it, this library campaign is like a cosmic rape.

The entire world library system has been FORCED to deal with these unwanted advances for years. I guess the survey tech is only used when it's convenient.

Had they surveyed the libraries before embarking upon this fiasco, they would have gotten a resounding, "Hell no!" but just like everything else in Scientology, this campaign is just a pretense. COB couldn't care less if these books get and stay in the libraries. What the libraries want is completely irrelevant.

Scientology's hubris is obnoxious, totally inconsiderate and really beyond the pale.
 

anonomog

Gold Meritorious Patron
On this point, when I was in, the DSA and her husband (the now ethics officer) at the Chicago Org would talk to people about how they knew these libraries didn't want these books, that they were sold off for a few dollars or thrown in the dumpster. They not only knew it but had lots of proof. They still kept donating. They still kept encouraging others to do so. They're still in pushing the bullshit as we speak. WTF?

I guess some people are wired to live comfortably with cognitive dissonance. I don't get it.

:omg:

*have.no.words*

I can't believe it, I do, but I can't.
It is so terribly sad, how many mobile eye clinics could have been funded and a real difference made to people's lives.
 

HelluvaHoax!

Platinum Meritorious Sponsor with bells on
If you think about it, this library campaign is like a cosmic rape.

The entire world library system has been FORCED to deal with these unwanted advances for years. I guess the survey tech is only used when it's convenient.

Had they surveyed the libraries before embarking upon this fiasco, they would have gotten a resounding, "Hell no!" but just like everything else in Scientology, this campaign is just a pretense. COB couldn't care less if these books get and stay in the libraries. What the libraries want is completely irrelevant.

Scientology's hubris is obnoxious, totally inconsiderate and really beyond the pale.

:clapping::clapping::clapping:


BILLY BLOWDOWN
Hi my name is Billy. I am new on post
and want to do Non-Existence with you.

WOG
Okay, whatever.

BILLY BLOWDOWN
So, now that we have a com line and I have
made myself known, I need to know what is
needed and wanted.

WOG
I need and want for you to leave me alone.

BILLY BLOWDOWN
I am sorry, I can't do that. My formula requires
that I find out what you need and want.

WOG
I just told you. Leave me along.
That's what I need and want.

BILLY BLOWDOWN
This seems to be getting into a stuck flow.
Let's reverse it. Let me tell you
what I need and want. . .


WOG
Let me guess. Go with you to your
church and give you money?


BILLY BLOWDOWN
Why yes.

WOG
Then why did you bother asking me
what I need and want--if you really
just wanted to tell me what YOU need and want?

BILLY BLOWDOWN
Hey, my formula doesn't say anything about
you asking me questions. Let's just

apply the tech standardly, okay?

 

afaceinthecrowd

Gold Meritorious Patron
By happenstance, I know some of the story of how the El Ron Books in Libraries Campaigns came about. I've posted some of the following on ESMB in a few Posts here and there a few years ago.

Somewhere, IIRC on an El Ron Lecture Tape, PAB or Issue, there's a short mention about how an Auditor in a Field Practice should place a DMSMH in their local Library with a business card tape inside. Years later...four or so decades ago...not long after the opening of the FLB but after El Ron had fled to SoCAl, a couple or so FSO Crew members happened across this El Ron advice and cooked up a way to boom the FSO Book Sales, be "Upstat, On Source" heroes and make extra personal dough from book commissions.

The recently established FLB was filled to the rafters with Scn Whales form all over the world, especially the US. An unwritten and unauthorized "Pilot Project" by was started by the aforementioned FSO Crew members to Reg FCCI's to donate El Ron's "Beginner" books to be shipped to Libraries where they lived...DOT, DMSMH, SOS, NSOL, FOT and SA. This was immediately so successful that the "pitch" was increased for multiple copies of the "Beginner" books and, not long afterwards, to complete El Ron "Libraries" and then multiple sets of El Ron Libraries.

Around 5 or 6 weeks into this program, one of the Folks involved in the unannounced project came across another brief, long forgotten about El Ron comment, in one of Hisself's voluminous Issues, that if El Ron C/Sed a Case, gave a Session to someone or personally autographed something the "donation" would be with a premium (I think it was 3 or maybe even as much as 5 times), and CSW was sent on the SO #1 Line by one of the Folks to El Ron, referencing Hisself's years ago statement along with a copy of DMSMH with request to be autographed. The book came back a few weeks later "signed" by El Ron (undoubtedly, the CSW never reached Hisself but the book was signed "L. Ron Hubbard"--by someone in the SO #1 Unit). The book was immediately sold at a 3-5X premium to an FCCI and, within a few hours, droves of FCCI Whales were lined up wanting to purchase an "LRH Personally Autographed" DMSMH. More DMSMH's were sent up the SO #1 line and came back "signed" by El Ron".

Within a few months, the FSO Weekly Book Sales Income was more than the Weekly GI of more than half of the CL IV Service Orgs. However, at that time, the Flag Bureaux "Senior Management" was in complete chaos with key Crew being "ripped off" literally overnight to go "Over the Rainbow" (what is now Int Base), and replaced (if at all) with green Flag Recruits and/or SO Crew from outer SO Orgs ripped off and thrown "into the breech" with no clue re: "Senior Management" or running an Org. Nearly every FSO Stat was "booming" at that time and almost every FLB Crew Member that had Tech Training was being, overnight, "Musical Chaired" into FSO. The booming Book Sales were a "minor point" lost in all frenzy--lost to everyone except Ken Delderfield. Ken was on an "El Ron Mission" to produce the "State of the Art" "Green and Red Volumes" and R&D Volumes and had come up with the idea of producing a high price "Limited Edition" Leather Bound Collectors Set of all El Ron Books and all the Volumes.

"Deld" noticed the FSO Book Sales Stats, knew that the FCCI's represented the "Target Market" for the "Collectors Editions", "pulled the string" and had a meeting with the Folks that had come up with and were running the "unofficial" Pilot Project.

A few months later, FCCI's were not only paying HUGE bucks for (not yet in production) "El Ron Limited Edition, Leather Bound, Collectors Sets" of all the El Ron Books and Volumes, a number of some of them were paying the El Ron Autograph "Premium" for Titles of their choice and a few (OMF'nG!) bought the entire "Package" of EVERY "Limited Edition Leather Bound Collectors Set" book and volume (for which Deld had found a machine that would "autograph" each of them "personally").

Eventually, out of this, was born the "Library Donation Campaigns" and other "Donation" insanities.

IMHO, the genus of all this ceaseless "'Personally' By, From and for El Ron" frenetic fleecing of the flocking flocked flock was the Apollo Stars' "Power of Source" Album and I wrote tens of thousands of words a few years ago on ESMB's Shooting Stars Thread chronicling why that's my "Take".

Face:)

EDIT PS: Deld was one of a few folks at that particular that time that had a fairly direct "line" to El Ron. Deld's Mission was important to Hisself as the highest percentage of dough that could "cleanly" go directly to El Ron from Scn was from HCO Book Sales of El Ron copyrighted material. The new volumes, and especially the "Limited Edition Leather Bound Collectors" books and volumes were gonna make El Ron buckets of "clean" dough. I honestly think that El Ron had forgotten about the Library placement and "Personally Autographed premium", and when Deld "refreshed" Hisself's memory about that, "came up with the 'Bright Idea" and ordered Folks to do what they were already doing.
 
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Boojuum

Silver Meritorious Patron
If you think about it, this library campaign is like a cosmic rape.

The entire world library system has been FORCED to deal with these unwanted advances for years. I guess the survey tech is only used when it's convenient.

Had they surveyed the libraries before embarking upon this fiasco, they would have gotten a resounding, "Hell no!" but just like everything else in Scientology, this campaign is just a pretense. COB couldn't care less if these books get and stay in the libraries. What the libraries want is completely irrelevant.

Scientology's hubris is obnoxious, totally inconsiderate and really beyond the pale.

Sindy makes an excellent point!

The Donate Books Program of the COS has the erroneous idea that librarians simply put donated books on the shelf. They don't. Librarians get free books from other religions as well and FWIK most of those books are trashed.

Librarians in most public libraries are specialists who have limited shelf space. The "collections" are monitored with care usually by someone with an advanced degree in Library Science. Think of your local librarian, who is under continual scrutiny for scarce public funds, opening yet another box of Scientology books. Is she going to go to the trouble of cataloging and shelving books in limited space that she/he didn't ask for?

The yearly book sale at my local public library is impressively large. It's heartbreaking to see all the fabulous and well read books, magazines and videos that are cleared out because the library needs the space for new books, magazines and videos. Unless a library is trying to impress patrons with size, you probably won't see many Scieno books on a library shelf, except for DMSMH.

What is impressive to me, is the MAGNITUDE of the idiocy. SO members having to stay up month after month selling Basic Book packages to a public that doesn't need or want them. So much wasted energy.
 

Sindy

Crusader
Sindy makes an excellent point!

The Donate Books Program of the COS has the erroneous idea that librarians simply put donated books on the shelf. They don't. Librarians get free books from other religions as well and FWIK most of those books are trashed.

Librarians in most public libraries are specialists who have limited shelf space. The "collections" are monitored with care usually by someone with an advanced degree in Library Science. Think of your local librarian, who is under continual scrutiny for scarce public funds, opening yet another box of Scientology books. Is she going to go to the trouble of cataloging and shelving books in limited space that she/he didn't ask for?

The yearly book sale at my local public library is impressively large. It's heartbreaking to see all the fabulous and well read books, magazines and videos that are cleared out because the library needs the space for new books, magazines and videos. Unless a library is trying to impress patrons with size, you probably won't see many Scieno books on a library shelf, except for DMSMH.

What is impressive to me, is the MAGNITUDE of the idiocy. SO members having to stay up month after month selling Basic Book packages to a public that doesn't need or want them. So much wasted energy.

Great post. Yes, it's obscene and surreal.
 
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