L. Ron Hubbard explains the secret of OTIII

After stating the "clear cognition" (a kind of answer to an unspoken riddle), and after your check "clears" the bank, you may be initiated into the secret of OTIII.

Your auditor will take you to a room where you may sit and examine the contents of a folder. You'll be watched by video cameras to insure you don't try to crib the information somehow.

In LRH's own hand, you will read the following (click to enlarge):

Join the only team on Earth dedicated to making OTs

A recently-leaked 2009 issue of "International Scientology News" features a large advertisement recruiting for Scientology's paramilitary organization and pretend-Navy, the Sea Organization. To anyone who didn't know better (which apparently includes the 50,000 remaining Scientologists worldwide), to join the "Sea Org" is as honorable an endeavor as such legitimate public service as joining the military forces of one's own country. Those fancy uniforms must mean that the Sea Org is very important, right? Unfortunately for Scientology, being in the Sea Org is about as useless a thing as anyone can do. Moreover, it is really an intensification of Scientology brainwashing and in many ways is even a kind of slavery.

Would you be interested in working for an organization for which the following statements are true?

* Employees are housed in compounds, behind fences with locked gates and mounted security cameras.
* Employees are bused between the workplace and their locked housing compound, which is too far away to walk or bike (and which isn’t allowed anyway).
* Employees may not leave the housing compound without permission.
* Employees are forbidden to own or use cell phones and have no access to public telephones. If they make a call on company phones, they must first obtain permission, schedule it, and the call is always monitored.
* Foreign employees have their passports confiscated and locked in a company safe. US citizens who have passports also have their passports confiscated and locked in the safe.
* Most employees routinely have expired drivers licenses as their only form of identification (if they have even that).
* Employees are often transferred from business entity to business entity within the organization, and very seldom with any traditional administrative/personnel paperwork being done with the new entity (I-9, W-4, applications, transfer papers, etc.).
* There is a whole department dedicated to the obtaining of visas for foreign nationals, and a basic procedure to lie about the reason for a visa, which is contrary to the actual use of the visa.
* Foreign personnel who are “out of status” (visa expired) are sometimes transferred to other locations and their names changed
* Employees’ normal work hours are from 8 am to 11 pm daily, seven days a week, and they are routinely kept working until 2 am or 3 am. Many times they are kept working throughout the night with no chance of being bused back to their housing compound.
* Employees are not fed sufficiently, either because they are forbidden a meal break, given only a few minutes to eat, or the food provided is inadequate. Long term employees are often underweight.
* The employees are paid less than minimum wage. (At most, $50/week. Some employees are not paid at all.)
* The employees are given little to no medical or dental care — and only in emergency situations, if then. Many employees have rotting teeth and haven’t seen a dentist in years. Medical problems are often neglected or the person forbidden from seeking medical help outside the employer (who does not provide a doctor or nurse on site).
* The employees are not covered by any form of social welfare or retirement benefits and often the employer has not registered the person’s meager wages with social security.
* The employer threatens the employee with enormous debts should they consider leaving; and has routinely billed and collected from those who have left.
* The employer threatens the employee with throwing out the person who will then be indigent. Most employees have no money, no assets and long since lost contact with their families. They fear being indigent.
* The employees routinely do not have any form of bank account for their assets, and most have no assets because they are paid insufficiently to require a bank account. The employees are usually paid in cash.
* The employer opens all employee personal mail and reads it and censors it — passing on only those bits the employer deems okay.
* The employees are not free to roam independently around the local area unsupervised and unaccompanied. When allowed to roam accompanied and supervised, they are told where they can and cannot go. The local area they are allowed to roam in is covered by employer’s security cameras.
* The employees are forbidden to tell others about their living and working conditions. The employees are taught to be fearful of those outside this employment and have been taught that law enforcement and social services are enemies. They are taught and practiced in how to lie about their conditions.
* At employer’s work location, there are none of the usual Labor Law posters available for viewing of the employees. Employees are unable to learn of their worker rights by normal means.
* Employees are forbidden to watch, and are denied access to, televisions and newspapers. They have little to no access to information about the world outside their work and living compounds.
* Employees are forbidden access to the Internet and email, and are prevented from accessing the Internet.
* All sex between workers (including those married to each other) is discouraged, and female workers who become pregnant undergo extreme pressure and duress to get them to abort the pregnancy — including denying them access to their husbands to discuss the matter.
* Employees who “run” are sought out and returned with physical force and psychological coercion. Other employees practice procedures to hunt down people who “run”. Employees deemed “flight risks” due to something they have said to another, are kept under surveillance and guarded and restrained by security personnel.
* The employer maintains another compound, somewhere else, where employees work and live on the premises, without busing. This compound is fenced with security fencing (including razor-sharp inward-facing spikes, vibration detectors, flood lights, cameras, and electronic notification systems), security personnel at all gates (with guns), and it’s rare that any employees are allowed out. Some of the employees haven’t been out of that compound in years.
* The employer maintains a punishment work detail for those whom it deems troublemakers. This work detail is not allowed to speak with anyone, works a minimum of 10 hours of hard manual labor a day, gets substandard nutrition provided for meals, and gets a maximum of 7 hours of sleep per night. The employer also maintains an extra-punishment work detail for those who do not cooperate with the regular punishment work detail. Those poor souls work continuously, and get a maximum of 6 hours of sleep per night.
* Employees wear fancy pseudo-Naval uniforms for photo-ops and special events, and follow a pretend-Naval hierarchy of "rank."
* Employer employs several thousand personnel throughout the USA.

All these things are true of the Scientology cult's "Sea Organization" (Sea Org)!

Above wall of text copypasta'd from:
http://www.xenu-directory.net/scnorgs/seaorg1.html

Shreddies

I believe this ad will serve as a useful metaphor for something, at some point. So I'm leaving it here.

What are your crimes?

Whatever your crimes, they likely pale in comparison to this:

"We are slowly and carefully teaching the unholy a lesson. It is as follows: We are not a law enforcement agency. BUT we will become interested in the crimes of people who seek to stop us. If you oppose Scientology we promptly look up – and find and expose – your crimes. If you leave us alone we will leave you alone."

--L Ron Hubbard

Stairway to Heaven = Bridge to Total Freedom

Interesting story from an ex-Scientologist:

Well, I'll tell you what was really written for us....almost half a century ago. Way back when Hector was a pup, the Incredible String Band was very into Scientology and also quite famous. Rose Simpson from Incredible String Band was dating Robert Plant, a member of Led Zeppelin. Robert Plant then wrote Stairway to Heaven, a rather cynical song about buying salvation, which went on to be the number one hit of the 20th century. There's a bit of Scientology trivia the cult would rather forget.

Bowie writes to his first American fan

In 1967 a fourteen year-old girl from New Mexico sent a fan letter to David Bowie, who took the time to write back. Image of his reply below (click for larger version):

Full story here.

"Don't let my brother's death be in vain"

Stephen McBride, Nick Xenophon call for Senate Inquiry into Scientology cult from Harvey Smith on Vimeo.

Human Rights Activists Celebrate 2009's Many Wins Against Scientology Cult

"As 2009 comes to a close, the Scientology organization is reeling from another year of high-level defections, criminal convictions, journalistic exposes and books detailing the cult's criminal practices, and intense pressure from human rights activists. The Anonymous global network of human rights activists are keen to hold Scientology's leaders accountable for their crimes, which include organized fraud, human trafficking, kidnapping, obstruction of justice, and toxic waste dumping."

From: Glory Marcabia.

Frontier Psychiatrist

Counterfeit Dreams

Found a blog I must read when time allows, Counterfeit Dreams. Excerpt below:

“I found these in your room yesterday,” he said, reaching into a box and producing two magazines, a Newsweek and an Entertainment Weekly, several months old. “Why do you read such trash” he asked me, in his thick German accent. “So you can masturbate to the pictures?” He indicated the photograph of a pretty actress on the cover.

“I like to know what’s going on in the world,” I replied. The outside world I’ll soon be a part of.

“I don’t need to know what’s going on,” he replied. “All I need to know is that it’s bad out there in the wog world and Scientology has the solutions. That’s what L. Ron Hubbard says and that’s all I need to know. People laugh at me because I don’t know who the President of the United States is,” he added. “I don’t need to know that.” He threw the magazines back in the box. “You don’t need this garbage.”

How are ordinary people induced to accept the role of slave or prisoner to others who are so careless and even cruel?

Revulsion

Been reading some old threads at whyweprotest.net. Slowly I'm getting a sense for how the Scientology tech works. Seems like it's a means to gain control over those moral feelings that we find so compelling. This can be a good thing, as when a doctor learns how to do something painful to a child without flinching. But it can also, obviously, be a very bad thing.

Something in the testimony of ex-Scientologists provokes in me a sense of revulsion. What was done to these people or what they learned to do to themselves was wrong.

I don't know how to pack that word "wrong" with what I feel. Bold, larger font, underline --wouldn't be enough.

Aaron Saxton to the Sea Org, Sydney Dec-19-2009

Aaron claims that the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) owns Scientology's copyrights and trademarks and receives funds from the Religious Technology Center (RTC), which receives funds from a number of Scientology related entities.

But this is the important bit: Aaron claims that non-Scientologist attorneys who have some relationship with the IRS sit on the board of CST, and that the CST arrangement was part of the secret deal worked out between the CoS and the IRS in 1993.

If this is true... well, words fail me.

If this is true, the citizens of the USA need to examine this strange relationship in detail immediately.

But what hope do we have of separating signal from background noise, when the airwaves are filled with wacky conspiracy theories about 9/11, UFOs, lizard people, and psychic mind control? How are we to comprehend any genuine, covert abuse of power in an environment of so much strangeness?

Puzzling accidents, suicides, and other deaths become fodder for semi-fictional screenplays, further complicating any effort to separate reality from distortion.

Three people read this blog. Hopefully that will be enough to spark a larger public conversation.


Aaron Saxton speech to Sea Org - Sydney Dec 19, 2009 from Harvey Smith on Vimeo.

Addendum: Google is my friend. Here ya go:

There's no reason to try and sugar-coat it: IRS has agents now operating inside Scientology, micro-managing not only Scientology as a whole, but snooping into the private lives and financial affairs of Scientologists. And since IRS is in the Treasury Department, and the Treasury Department is part of the cabinet of the President of the United States, this is all being carried out with the full knowledge and power of the highest office in the land, and all being managed and carried out with your tax dollars.

Scientology is, in short, the first official federal religion of the United States.

This will not end well.

贾君鹏你妈妈喊你回家吃饭

Jia Jun Peng, your mother wants you to come home for dinner!

Excerpt from the LA Times:

...in China, the latest Internet obsession began with an anonymous post on a computer gaming forum: "Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you to come home and eat."

Was it a vexed parent hunting down her Internet-addicted child in cyberspace? A cheeky gamer poking fun at one of his buddies? Or simply an idler with a sense of humor?

The post's author and motive are unknown. What's clear is that the catchphrase has gone viral in recent weeks, kind of like a Chinese version of the satirical "facts" about actor and martial artist Chuck Norris that have spread on U.S. social media.

Jia Junpeng has popped up on T-shirts, on blogs and in song. The expression has been embraced by human rights advocates who sought the release of a jailed legal scholar. Naturally, businesses have also co-opted the meme of the moment.

A Sichuan car dealer advertised its vehicles with a banner that read: "Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you to drive home a Roewe 550." A nearby restaurant hung a banner that read: "Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you to eat Yanjing Hotpot!"

So widespread is the joke, it has its own Wikipedia entry. Even the state-run China Daily felt it necessary to weigh in with an editorial that called the spectacle "a demonstration of collective boredom."

The exact reason this quippy non sequitur has captured the fancy of millions of Chinese is as murky as its author. But it arrives while the Internet is expanding its reach into contemporary Chinese culture.

Jia Junpeng (pronounced Jah Joon-pung) joins a slew of online fads that have littered an increasingly crowded Web. China added 40 million Internet users in the first half of this year, boosting its total to 338 million -- a group larger than the population of the U.S.

In a country where free speech and public discourse are limited, Chinese are coalescing online and churning out catchphrases and goofy videos the way Americans have done for years.

Instead of the roly-poly, light saber-wielding "Star Wars kid" of American viral video fame, China has “Xiao Pang,” or “Little Chubby,” an unsuspecting Shanghai schoolboy whose face has been slapped onto images of everything from the Mona Lisa to "Pirates of the Caribbean" posters.

What makes the Internet especially potent in China, experts say, is its growing role as a social outlet.

Most young Chinese can't afford to roam shopping malls, catch a movie or go to karaoke. State television is often painfully out of vogue. So keeping up with peers on Internet forums and instant messaging services becomes a far more appealing alternative. Inside jokes such as Jia Junpeng are a big part of the allure.

"China has a more tightly integrated Internet community," said Kaiser Kuo, a Beijing blogger. "Everything you do is social media. It's almost incomprehensible for something like Jia Junpeng to pick up millions of posts in the States. But in China, virality is so much more ferocious."

Those movements can take on subversive undertones. Wordplay, a classic form of Chinese humor, is not only satirical but also necessary with so many government minders about.

Spyvate Sector and your older brother

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Spyvate Sector
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Total information awareness depresses me, as the people doing the data mining will be the same morons you and I went to high school with. Some of the miners will have loyalties to secretive organizations that would rather that you or I STFU. Some will simply be small minded, vindictive jerks.



That creepy logo is the official seal of the US Information Awareness Office. The motto: "SCIENTIA EST POTENTIA," or "Knowledge is Power Control."

Two stories I can't tell: One involves FBI agents appearing at a friend's door on the basis of a few phrases in some emails. That was a couple of years ago. The other event was recent but its details are ambiguous indicators of surveillance at best.

Speaking of occult organizations that like to shut people up, it's worth noting that the Church of Strong Believers (CSB) has been at war with the Internet since the mid-1990s. Essentially, the CSB wants the ability to pull up everything about you at will, particularly if you say something unflattering about it.

Many CSB sympathizers are among the leadership of prominent Internet companies. Examples include the former Warner Bros head and Tom Cruise producer Terr y Se mel, who had been the CEO of Yahoo! until June '07 then was chairmen until January '08; and Sk y Da yton who ran Earth link and now is chairman of Hel io (Yes, I know. Spacing tricks don't fool Carnivore. Just messing with Google search).

I expect that most snoops and spies that infiltrate Internet businesses are middle managers and worker drones, not top executives who require plausible deniability. But executives play a role. They can influence, directly or indirectly, who gets hired, which incidents and departments are scrutinized closely, and who might occasionally be allowed greater access to sensitive information.

Letter to John Travolta

Dear Mr. Travolta,

There are hints in the news that Jett's death has shaken you. Of course a child's death is a terrible thing for any parent. But rumors are that KSW* pressure has added to your pain.

Well, who knows. Certainly not me.

Ex-Scientologists say that audit files are used to blackmail people who think about leaving. Maybe I can help with that by promising not to care. Srsly. No matter what dirt the church dishes once you're out, I promise not to give a fuck.

Sex with guys? No problemo.
Animals? Imma let it go.
Tax evasion? Hey, I'm sure it can be fixed.
Killed a man just to watch him die? If they can't prove it, willing to overlook.

I looked at a web site called "religious freedom watch" (not gonna link; you can Google). The site lists individuals the Church of Scientology does not like, and it lists a bunch of embarrassing stuff about each. In one case it looks like they dug through old chat sessions to pull out comments that might look racist. None of the comments actually recommend doing something unfair or mean to blacks or latinos or any other group. They're more, "OMG why did the person making that stupid speech have to be black." In my book that's no crime.

Mr. Travolta, there's nothing you might have done that could upset or frighten me more than the thought of the RFW douche bags in power over wogs like me.

So do come out of the cult when you're ready. If the OSA retaliate by sliming you in the gossip rags, I will cheer you three times louder to drown their voices.

Sincerely,
Ann E. Mouse
________________________
*"Keep Scientology working," a euphemism for "everything great, boss!"

In their own words

Original below. Note that they hit the word "crusade" about 4 times.

19815

Freewinds Maiden Voyage Anniversary

From the Angry Dwarf: "So, these are just 2 handler guys that were at the Maiden Voyage of the Freewinds Anniversary in LA that all local scientologists are supposed to attend. 5,000 attendees was what the scilons told the city would be present. Perhaps 500 came. In the most densely public scilon place on the planet...

So Alex and Droopy here were doing the TR routines on anons all night...thinking it was having an effect. What a wonderful religion!"

Alex and Droopy at the Maiden Voyage Anniversary in LA, July 3, 2009 from Angry Dwarf on Vimeo.

What other organization manages to combine control freak competence and riches with such utter social retardation?

I can't take my eyes off this fascinoma.

The Selfish Meme

I want to believe

Why We Protest - Tech Support

http://forums.whyweprotest.net

Chicago Anonymous 12-12-2009

Chicago Anonymous -- Monthly Protest, December 2009 from Strong Strength on Vimeo.

WIN!

Just adding to the front group list

earthorganization.org

Council for National Policy

That last one isn't strictly a front group. It's more a coalition of Moonies, Scientologists, and Dominionists.

Wait, you say. Those guys have serious theological differences. How do they manage to get along?

Think for a minute and the answer will come to you.

Addendum:
From the Wikipedia entry for the CNP above: "Membership is by invitation only. The membership list, previously made public, is now 'strictly confidential.'"

We need to change the tax laws. Secret societies should not count as charities, non-profits, or religious organizations. The former represents self interest at the expense of society. The latter are in the public interest.

The powerful have become too powerful. They can read our email. They can review our Google searches on a whim. But we can't return the favor.

We have a window of opportunity for pushing back.

Again from Wikipedia: "Our members are united in their belief in a free enterprise system, a strong national defense, and support for traditional western values."

"Traditional western values" is code for "no homo." Not that these guys actually care about what people do in the privacy of their own bedroom. They merely recognize the value of an enemy or scapegoat.

Fun facts: The homo bashing has been a problem for the Scientologists in Hollywood. Recently Miscavige has been re-writing L Ron Hubbard's policy statements to tone down the anti-gay bits.

LOL if you find that reassuring. They're merely hiding text that their enemies can use against them.

There are reports elsewhere that much of the Xenu story has been removed from OTIII.

MOAR addendum: Gay tax attorneys. Gay CPAs. If we clue them in, they will help us save de Urfs.

YOU LIE!

Clues that an interviewee might be scuttling the truth.

Answering with a question
What do you mean? How should I know? How could I know? What makes you think I’d know? Why are you asking me that? Why do you need to know that? What kind of question is that?

Generalized answer to specific question
I’m not the kind of person who would do that. I’m not the kind of person who would ever try to do something like that. I’m not the kind of person who would think of doing that. I don’t do things of the nature. I don’t even think about doing things like that. I wouldn’t be able to do anything like that. I couldn’t do something like that.

Preserving dignity
I won’t dignify that question with an answer. What kind of question is that? I’ve got better things to do than answer questions like that. I don’t like that question. I don’t see why I have to answer that question. Why would I rob my own store? That’s ridiculous.

Nothing more
I guess that’s about it. That’s about all I know. That’s about the size of it. That’s about the gist of it, As far as I know, that’s about it. That’s pretty much what happened. There’s not much more to say. There’s not a lot more to say.

Difficult question
That’s a hard question. That’s a tough question. That’s a good question. That’s a good one. That’s a tough one. That’s a difficult question. That’s a hard one for me.

Tangential answer
"Did you steal my chocolate chip cookies?" I don’t even like cookies.
"Did you stab her?"  I don’t like knives.
"Did you kill her?" I loved her.

Could, should, would
I could deny that. I could say no. I would deny that. I would deny that assertion. I would deny that allegation. I should say not. I should say no. I could say...I would say...

Malaprops
My answers’ll tree the booth (free the truth). Just that I’m doing everything I can to prove myself guilty. There’s really not true much else I can think about. It’ll show I’m tellin’ not the truth. Should I talk around what we did last night, or what?

Failure to communicate
I couldn’t say. I can’t say. I can’t think of anything about that. I can’t tell you anything about that. I’m not able to tell you anything. I’m not able to say. I can’t explain anything about that. I couldn’t tell you that. I can say this. I can only tell you this. I can’t really tell you that.

Brain injury
Not that I remember. I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything like that. I’m just going off on what I can remember. I guess not.  All that I can remember is. I don’t recall. I can’t seem to recall at this time. Not that I recall. Not to my knowledge. I don’t think so.

Found along the crazywebs.

Say, that's not who I think it is, is it?

1996:  the December 1996 issue of Scientology's French language publication, Éthique & Liberté, published what it called an "Interview exclusive" against drug-use," written by [Bill] Clinton himself ( solitarytrees.net).

1996:  Scientology's "Hands of Hope" Quilt project culminated with a visit in 1996 to Washington, DC, where the children and their parents received a warm welcome from First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the East Room of the White House.  (scientology.org).

2001:  Clinton pardoned A. Glenn Braswell, owner of Gero Vita, an alt med scam that ran into IRS problems.  Scientology lawyer Gerald Feffer of Williams & Connolly represented Braswell.  Feffer's other clients include the Clintons and David Miscavige.  Feffer's wife Monique Yingling helped secure Scientology's tax exemption status in 1993.  holysmoke.org).

2001:  Hillary's brother Hugh Rodham was hired by scientologist John Coale (husband of Greta Van Susteren) to work on the tobacco lawsuit scam. Coale got millions in fees (holysmoke.org).

11-21-02:  Hillary Clinton, as a prominent member of the National Foundation of Women Legislators (NFWL), a CCHR front group, visited a Narconon center in Ensenada (cultnews.com).

8-30-03  NFWL website urges the Senate to pass the Child Medication Safety Act of 2003 (cultnews.com).

The Fall of David Miscavige

Reviewer: "I laughed. I cried."

Scientology and Human Trafficking

Is Scientology guilty of human trafficking?

The Hollywood Wars

I stumbled across this fascinating story copypasta'd on a few sites. Maybe the first site is here.

Typos and "Mr. Moviemaker" appearing where the author must have meant, "Mr. Moviestar" or vice-verse, made the reading slow going. So I'm going to clean it up and post chunks of it here, for your amusement. If I get the whole thing done I'll invite the author to steal it back.
________________________________

The ending of one of Hollywood’s better friendships changed the status quo between two powerful camps within the entertainment industry. Their falling out left a chill in the air, but not for long. A moment came when the working, icy veneer cracked and gave way to heated accusations and overt enmity. Then, like a brush fire moving through the California foothills, the flames of war spread rapidly until all of Hollywood was ablaze.

The first battle salvo appeared during diner at a local restaurant. A conversation became a disagreement loud enough to turn heads. Weeks later Mr. Moviemaker, a venerable icon of film making, found himself under aggressive attack by the Church of Strong Believers. He reached out to allies among an old and powerful Hollywood lobby. They in turn proved capable of delivering some punishing blows to Mr. Moviestar.

That’s when the gloves really came off. No one in the industry felt safe from attack. Even worker bees claiming bystander status were pressed to take sides. Survival meant learning how to handle the pressure while avoiding getting squashed.

When Strangers Come Calling

A few weeks after the restaurant exchange, Mr. Moviemaker was approached by his security detail. They informed him that Mrs. Moviemaker had someone following her, perhaps for quite a while. It also appeared that someone had been making inquiries about her.

Alarmed by the news, Mr. Moviemaker spoke with his reliable contacts among local authorities. They did some checking and discovered that yes, there were in fact a couple of PIs hired to follow his wife around and to dig for anything embarrassing or incriminating in her past. Who'd hired them? Well, the officials couldn't answer. But Mr. Moviemaker had a safe bet. He phoned his legal team who applied sufficient pressure to the PIs to make them back off.

Two weeks later Mr. Moviemaker received a phone call from a friendly reporter working for a major national broadcast agency in the US. The reporter requested a private meeting to discuss something concerning Mr. Moviemaker himself, something shocking. He wanted to hear Mr. Moviemaker’s side of things before airing the article that had been passed to him.

Mr. Moviemaker effectively challenged the story, explaining how it was nothing more than inaccuracies, distortions, and outright lies. The reporter was glad he'd taken the time to double-check his facts.

The two attacks coming so close together troubled and enraged Mr. Moviemaker. It wasn't just his reputation that was on the line; his family's safety was being threatened. He had no doubt, then, that his former friend had become a disturbingly dangerous enemy. However he would not retaliate... yet.

The Sea Org

Xenu is an Onion of Many Layers

Please keep going, Mr. Aaron Saxton, for as long as you are able. I very much would like to understand the intelligence agency known as "Scientology."

Naturopaths? In MY primary care? (HR3590)

Steve Novella and others reasonably capable of organized thought have formed a non-profit, the Institute for Science in Medicine.

Steve is smoove and haz teh sexy. You should probably just start writing big checks right now and never stop (payable to the ISM).

Save de Urfs!

Exerpt from first press release below:

Additional Comment by ISM President Mark B. Johnson, MD, MPH:

“I find it extremely unfortunate, and even alarming, that at a time when the house of medicine is focusing its efforts on re-establishing an evidence-based foundation to improve quality and patient safety, so many influential politicians and celebrities are lending support to unproven therapies, unscientific principles and outright quackery. Recent examples of this are the firestorm of protest against the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendations on the use of mammography and the CAM mandates in the health-reform bills. In the current state of confusion that many in the general population find themselves as to what constitutes good medical practices, the last thing we need is the licensure and governmental support of more substandard (CAM) practitioners.”

Provisions of Concern:
Healthcare workforce and professionals:
Senate Bill (HR3590): Secs. 5101(h)(3)(i)(1) and (2)[p. 1295, line 2, to p. 1297, line 2]
House Bill (HR3962): Sec. 3101(4)(10) [p. 1669, lines 10-19]

Medical-home model:
Senate Bill (HR3590): Sec. 3502(b)(4) [p. 1068, line 21, through p. 1069, line 5], and
Sec. 3502(c)(6)(F) [p. 1071, lines 15-17]
House Bill (HR3962): Sec. 1833(p)(3)(A) [p. 702, line 21, through p. 703, line 9]

Insurance reimbursement:
Senate Bill (HR3590): Sec. 2706 [p. 95, line 8, through p. 96, line 2]
House Bill (HR3962): Sec. 238 [p. 133, lines 3-13]

Use of the derogatory term “allopathy”:
Senate Bill (HR3590): Sec. (g)(1)(B)(i) [p. 1038, lines 15-16], and
Sec. 775(c)(1)(B)(ii) [p. 1322, line 6]
House Bill (HR3962): Sec. Sec. 3101(4)(10) [p. 1669, line 11]