turbotad's blog

Scientology Volunteer Ministers - What Makes them EffectiveThere are two major disasters going on right now in the ANZO area (Australia, New Zealand and Oceania) -- with the fires going on in Victoria, and the Typhoon which just hit in the Philippines. Now, Volunteer Minister teams are being dispatched to both locations -- but what are the technologies they use which makes them so effective? Governments praise them, the people on the ground wonder at why they can just get in and get things done -- but they're just people.

What's the difference between what they've got and what other groups might lack? The difference is that Scientology Volunteer Ministers are studied and drilled heaviliy in L. Ron Hubbard's organization technology -- for handling situations which seemingly are a confusing mass.

They're also drilled on L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology Assist Technology, which is a technology anyone can learn to help others. That in itself -- that anyone can learn it -- is something that Scientology Volunteer Ministers use to the hilt -- because when only a few hundred Scientology Volunteers hit a three-state disaster zone line Hurricane Katrina was, it's imperative that as many people as possible become empowered to themselves provide effective help to each other.

So, as an engineer concerned with Technology, that's where I salute the PEOPLE technologies like was created by L. Ron Hubbard and is put to use by Scientology Volunteer Ministers all over. I learned it -- and I think anyone else who could possibly run into similar such situations (which, if you live on earth, is you) -- should learn it.

Volunteers are on the ground conducting damage assessments and assisting in rescue operations. Stockpiles from the national warehouse as well as donations received will be sent to the NCCP Andurog Mayon Operations Center in Legaspi City for immediate distribution to the evacuation centers.

Contact the Scientology Volunteer Ministers international hotline to find out how you can help.

• Scientology Volunteer Ministers Website
• The Scientology Handbook - the main training manual for Volunteer Ministers.
• Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response
• Photos from the Affected Region
• David Miscavige on Scientology Volunteer Ministers

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Help Children in KolkataAlthough Children's Day was established in 1954 by the United Nations General Assembly as a day to honor children, to millions of impoverished youngsters there is no difference between this day and any other. Learning about study technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard Mohammad Khalil Ullah has established free study centers to give children in the slums of Kolkata, India a chance to succeed in life.

In India, 135 million children do not attend school. That means that with no prospect for gaining the skills school can provide for them, the equivalent of nearly half the population of the entire United States has little prospect of ever moving themselves out of the poverty that dominates their lives.

When the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour arrived in Kolkata, earlier this year, one of the first people they met was Mohammad Khalil Ullah, a humanitarian who has been working to improve the lives of his people.

Related Resources:

Found this one on FoxNews.com, regarding the Tom & Katie Wedding:  

The guest list, insiders say, also includes all the top dogs at Scientology, including leader David Miscavige, Helio and Earthlink founder Sky Dayton, as well as Cruise’s best friend, Tom Davis, son of actress Anne Archer. Davis was Cruise’s constant companion in between Cruise’s Penelope Cruz and Katie Holmes chapters. He turned up unexpectedly at the premiere of "Collateral," where guests were surprised by his resemblance to the movie star.

The Presleys are likely guests at the wedding for another reason. Insiders are quick to point out that in 2000, Priscilla — an active Scientologist — was appointed to the board of directors at MGM, the company that owns United Artists and the place where Cruise has now found refuge after his very public embarrassment with Paramount.

Sharp-eyed observers will also be looking for members of the Feshbach clan, the controversial, Palo Alto-based investors who have donated millions to Scientology and run a couple of their centers. Daughter Jessica was Katie Holmes’ assigned watcher when the "Dawson’s Creek" actress first became involved with Cruise. With all of Holmes’ close pals gone since that period — including former hometown best friend Meghann Birie and actress Rebecca Gayheart, among others — it should be interesting to see if Feshbach is the bride’s matron of honor.

Church of Scientology Johannesburg: Grand Opening, Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center

Okay - so I’m definitely liking the Flock thing for Blogging.  Works great with my Wordpress blog.  However, part of what I wanted to do with this was basically replace the functionality I have with Stumbleupon with a blog-based setup like this. 

However, the only thing I have been able to get to work so far in Flock has been my Wordpress blog.  A brand-new blogger blog I set up expressly to use for this won’t work.  Another existing blog from long ago won’t work.  API stuff didn’t work.  Hm.  Well, I guess I’m sticking with Wordpress then.  

I was going to use that Blogger blog to blog about Johannesburg - which I love dearly, and wished I could be at for the Grand Opening of their new space.  However, once again, it lands here on Wordpress.

Just saw a new Scientology Media page that has a whole bunch of various media articles from around the world on Scientology: 

http://www.scientology.org.za/related/scientologymedia.html 

Another one near my old home in the Pacific Northwest. 

Due to the recent popularity of Scientology in the Pacific Northwest, the Church of Scientology of Washington State, in Seattle, Washington, has purchased larger quarters overlooking Puget Sound.

The organization is dramatically larger than their current premises, so as to properly be able to service the Scientologists in the Seattle area. The Church of Scientology of Seattle is also responsible for many Scientology missions around the Pacific Northwest, from Bellingham, WA, all the way out to Kalispell in Montana.

Scientologists, spurred on by the recent opening of the new Church of Scientology of London by Mr. David Miscavige, are gearing up on renovations to get this Church completed by the beginning of 2007.

Saw a nifty one on the Sun Times (an AF newspaper):

The revamped building is a short walk from St Paul's Cathedral, and sits next to an Anglican church. Some parishioners walked out of the church following their Sunday service and stayed to watch the ceremony.

The ceremony started with a procession by the London Scottish Regimental Pipe and Drum Band, finishing with an explosion of multi-coloured ticker tape. Scientology leader David Miscavige addressed the several hundred Scientologists who attended the outdoor ceremony, describing the occasion as "momentous".

"This day will go down in history. Of all the foreign lands where LRH (Hubbard) lived and worked, he called England home," Miscavige declared.

As a Scientology Volunteer Minister myself, I always thought that the Scientology Volunteer ministers should have a pretty gnarly site befitting of the amazing acts that they do.   Well, that's finally come to pass.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers just launched a new website for the activity, a massive upgrade from the last one.  The site makes it much eaiser to find out about the Volunteer Ministers, but really, I think, shows how big and productive this group has become.  They are now the largest independent relief force in the world.  Over 87,000 people active in the effort!

Mr. David Miscavige said in his speech on Volunteer Ministers in 2004, "So when it comes to helping those in most desperate need, we not only know we can help, we are doing something about it."  Seems everyone could do well with checking this out, and seeing how they might be able to help. 

If you want to find out more about this, check out any of my Quests on Scientology -- I've been rooting out pages regularly that I think explain what this is all about.  

The new home of the Church of Scientology of London is an 1866 Italian-styled Victorian landmark designed by architect Edward l’Anson for the British and Foreign Bible Society. Redevelopment in the mid-80s transformed it into a fully functioning modern office facility that served British Petroleum for two decades. The stunning period staircase and double-height entrance hall have been restored to create a welcoming and elegant atmosphere for parishioners and visitors.

Beyond the aesthetics of the building itself, Mr. David Miscavige spoke of the role of the programs that will roll out from within the London church’s walls: “Our gift of literacy to disadvantaged children; restoring self-respect to those who’ve gone astray; easing suffering; eradicating racial prejudice; and, repairing the bonds that bind man together.

“This new church packs the full body of L Ron Hubbard’s technologies as derived from the greater well of Scientology knowledge,” said Mr. David Miscavige, “and, as such, it provides the full gamut of Scientology activities for the betterment of mankind.”

More than 3,000 members and friends of the Church of Scientology of London packed Queen Victoria Street in the heart of London for the sensational grand opening of the new home of the UK’s oldest Scientology church.

Steps away from the Tate Gallery and St. Paul’s Cathedral, the beautifully restored historic building at 146 Queen Victoria Street now serves the growing membership of London-area Scientologists. Its opening marks the largest expansion for Scientology in the Church’s 50-year history in London.

Guest of honor, Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center and leader of the Scientology religion, stressed the historical importance of London. “This is the city L. Ron Hubbard himself [founder of the Scientology religion] selected as home to the first Scientology organization. This is also the city wherein he first defined the human spirit as an immortal being possessed of capabilities beyond anything predicted, and so arrived at the axiomatic truths on which the whole of Scientology is founded. Your early London organizations were also the original proving ground for the bulk of Mr. Hubbard’s social betterment programs which are used to uplift neighborhoods just like this one.”

Guinness World Records choose to honour Hubbard at the Book Fair by awarding him two new world records. The first confirmed that he is the world's most published author with 1084 works exceeding the record held by Brazilian author Jose Carlos Ryoki with 1,058. Guinness also officially verified that Hubbard exceeded his own previous record as the world's most translated author when his works were published in six more languages raising the record from 65 to 71.

Mr. Kalyan Shah, President of India's Publishers And Booksellers Guild, the organizers of the Kolkata Book Fair, the world's largest consumer book fair, presented the Guinness World Record certificates to L. Ron Hubbard's literary agency, Author Services Inc. (Los Angeles). Shah described Hubbard as "one of the world's most influential authors whose many works of fiction and non-fiction have both entertained and enlightened readers on all continents and contributed to our emerging global culture. He is not only a publishing phenomena, his works are a treasure to be shared by all who believe that humanity can find solutions to its many problems and build a better world for all."

The above was published by New Era Publications and Author Services at the Frankfurt book fair, which is happening in Germany right now.

Mr. David Miscavige gives an annual tribute address to L. Ron Hubbard at an event at the celebration of his birthday, which can be found at the LRH Tribute website, on which I think is summed up my feelings on Mr. Hubbard as well.  The fact that one man could get over 1000 works published by publishers, and be translated into more languages than any other author in the world - even J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, this sort of leaves one without words that really describe him.  

Scientology in New Zealand is getting to be quite interesting these days!

This was never something I heard much about previously, but now that their news has been showing up on ScientologyToday, I decided to snoop around a bit and find what I could find.  First off, just in checking out photos of the place, I'm still sold that New Zealand where I'd be living if I could have my choice.  It's beautiful!

However, it's not without the same problems as any other country, including massive problems with drugs, as well as the attendent violence and crime.   Now, if you were at the Celebrity Centre Gala in 2004 or at the Church of Scientology of Buffalo Grand Opening (like I was, luckily enough), you would have heard Mr. David Miscavige speak about the strenuous work that Scientologists are putting in on the anti-drug front, with drug education, drug prevention, and drug rehabilitation high on the list of things active Scientologists are engaged in -- not only "engaged in" though, but actually effective at.

See Also: http://www.scientologytoday.org/press/610091537061_scn-local.html 

I posted a link to this in my "Get Help" quest, but figured I would reiterate the case here, for anyone who's browsing my blog. 

I know that the media is probably going to go crazy on this subject for quite some time, ensuring that everyone is a beaten down and suppressed as is humanly possible.  I think a lot of the media think that that's their job, and that this then amounts to "free press".

As per my last post, I think that any one who's browsing the media on North Korea needs to totally take a step back, real the Solutions for a Dangerous Environment booklet, and then take a good look at things they can do in their own backyards to help calm things down and bring some order to the environment.

As Mr. David Miscavige pointed out when delivering his grand opening speech at the Church of Scientology of New York, it wasn't just the fact that Scientology Volunteer Ministers and Red Cross workers were day and night at Ground Zero, digging people out of the rubble -- it was the other peripheral actions done that really made a difference in terms of calming things down and getting people connected to that whole disaster to be able to continue with their lives.

So right now, even it if it's a simple action like someone starting a local "go hug a Korean" campaign in their neighborhood, or  whether it's actions taken to help the UN come up with effective actions that bring peace with North Korea, anything is better than sitting back and absorbing the enturbulating hysteria that is pouring out of the media on this subject.

Community leaders have contacted the volunteers, asking them to provide seminars to teachers and youngsters, so they learn this technology, giving the children of the region the tools they need to excel in whatever career they chose in life.

This is one where I have serious respect for the French Volunteer Ministers who came to India to make these sort of things happen.  

In 1976, L. Ron Hubbard launched the Volunteer Ministers program with an essay titled, "Religious Influence in Society," in which he wrote:

"...a Volunteer Minister is a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.
"A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well."

This is where the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Pondicherry have come in to lend a hand.  Anyone interested in Volunteer Minister activities should visit the Volunteer Minister website, or contact your closest Church of Scientology.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour working with the Suva, Fiji soccer team to help them improve their reaction time, have fewer accidents and make speedier recoveries from injuries.

Ever since 2004, after Mr. David Miscavige went over the actions the Scientology Volunteer Ministers have been taking in his incredible This is Scientology address, Scientology Volunteer Ministers have been touring the world, in remote locations such as Fiji.  

Here's one interesting anecdote I got from ScientologyToday :  

When the Suva Minister of Sports learned that Dianetics technology could help the members of the Suva Soccer team improve their reaction time, have fewer accidents and make speedier recoveries from injuries, the he was very interested.  In fact, he told the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour, "Suva is my team, help them!"

Found this nifty one on ScientologyToday:  

3 Oct 2006 — Scientology Volunteer Ministers South Pacific Goodwill Tour Working to Build Tolerance and Understanding The Scientology Volunteer Ministers South Pacific Goodwill Tour has been working with community leaders in Fiji to forge understanding and tolerance between the two disparate cultures inhabiting the islands: the predominant culture of native Fijians and the Indo-Fijian minority that comprises more than 38% of the population.

If you read that "Technology in India" article, and the references therein (namely the This is Scientology presentation by Mr. David Miscavige) I think it's pretty clear that cell phones and Dell tech support centers are not what's going to save India. The technology of Communication, another area covered extensively in Scientology - and honestly one of the foundations of such - is probably more pertinent. What other area of the world has so many different languages and cultures? Look at the friction with Pakistan - all, really, because the Governments there have no clue how to communicate to one another!

As anyone should be able to tell by this point, I am a Scientologist, and a fairly active one at that.  Ever since the Church has been updating regularly their ScientologyToday website, I've been using that as one of my most major sources of info about the church and its activities.  However, I think it's pretty important that anyone trying to find out about Scientology also use that to judge what they think on Scinetology rather than the other bits of drivel you find here and there on the Internet.

The most important part of all this is just that it's way easier to judge by normal, day-to-day actions than it is to judge by someones comment they post on the Internet.  When you have people literally dropping everything to get on a plane and help drag bodies out of the mud in Indonesia or help rebuild lives in Thailand, I think that's pretty impressive, personally.  It's a fair bit more honorable than the people who are working only to put a new set of rims on their Lexus, etc.

Nifty! I just saw that I can blog in Otavo - which is a pretty slick addition. 

I have blogs elsewhere, but definitely have Otavo quests that I post to regularly, so am glad for a place to blog as well.  

Have a look at some of my quests, like:

get equal religious rights

get help