Backwater Cowboys

HAROLD'S JOURNAL
Editorial Comment By RWL - 27 April 1989

Backwater Cowboys

Whoa, now! Maybe it's time for us backwater Cowboys and Indians to slow down our wagons and ponies a bit, before we git stampeded into thunderation by a bunch of slick talkin' riverboat shysters toutin' some new fangled snake oil cure for the fire-water frazzles.

Like olden days when Dr. Malingerer visited the town with his wagon of "tonic" guaranteed to cure everything from gout to the vapors in man or beast, we're about to be hoodwinked by another bunch of bamboozelers.

We need to wake up quick and smell the horse apples. This Narconon outfit appears to be a front for the "Church" of Scientology and it's founder L. Ron Hubbard. It looks right like a "religious" cult... a "religious" con that makes TV preachers look like choir boys.

Hubbard's Wagon seems to be filled with bottles of hocus-pocus, engrams, E-meters and other imaginary whoo-ha designed to dazzle the desperate and free from their wretched bodies not only their "Thetans", but also their bucks.

That this pseudo-theological mumbo-jumbo not only exists, but is actually growing is a credit to Mr. Hubbard's ability as a convincing science fiction writer.

Conanon..., I mean Narconon is settin' up shop at Chilocco with some "generous" assistance from a philanthropic outfit called the Association for Better Living & Education (ABLE) which says it has been impressed with Narconon's worldwide record. Just like it was a separate outfit looking for a good cause. And the Narconon guy profusely thanks the ABLE lady for the "donation" that will insure the success of the Chilocco project! How wonderful it all is. The melodrama is tearjerking.

ABLE and the Narconon International Association share the same building in Los Angeles. In fact. they share the same floor of the same building. In fact, they share the exact same office suite of the same floor of the same building. Why did they bother to come here to "donate" the money from their left hand to their right? Unless it was a hokum-pokum show for us dummies out here in the gulch!

They ain't selling snake oil, tax free cigarettes, or nickel bingo. What they're selling is hope, vitamin pills and steam baths. Packaged in blarney. Their own propaganda says their treatments "cannot be construed as a recommendation of medical treatment or medication and it is undertaken or delivered by anyone on his own responsibility." In other words, if it don't work, tough cookies.

Narconon says it has an 86 percent cure rate, but a West Berlin study showed the rate to be about 10 percent. Of course, if the first two weeks of the basic program don't work - and they probably won't - there are many more courses available that might. Nineteen volumes of them, in fact. All part of the "unique technology" of Mr. Hubbard. How much money can Narconon rake out of Indian Health Care funds that could otherwise be used for legitimate medical expenses?

Information we have read suggests that dependency upon drugs is simply replaced with dependency upon Scientology. A sociology professor in California has warned us that similar establishments have been used by this group in the past as warehouses for dissident members. The isolation is ideal. The lack of outside scrutiny is perfect. The potential is frightening beyond anything we have dealt with before.

These mental messiahs with forked tongues are treading on our Indian neighbors' hopes of economic and social development. What they really want is the isolation of Indian land, exempt from state and local law enforcement jurisdiction. And in the deal, they'll get a ready made crop of Indian "patients." With Indian Health Care picking up the tab for nearly all of them while they get "processed" down the path of "enlightenment."

And beyond the swindle of Indian health care funds, how many patients will actually wind up believing they are "Super Thetans" capable of taking intergalactic voyages by leaving their bodies behind? How many people will forgo medical care while trying to "erase" the "engrams" that are causing their heart trouble? How many will die? It only takes a few more courses to get there. And money, of course.

How many of our sons and daughters will wind up working as Scientology missionaries or Narconon staffers in order to pay for their unending array of enlightening courses?

In return, Narconon is offering a measly $3.2 million per tribe for a 25 year lease on misery. Our Indian neighbors have again been let down by the "agencies" designed to help and protect all of us from shysters and swindlers. Especially the Oklahoma Health Planning Commission, which must have had it's head plugged into an E-meter not to discover the true nature of this malignity. Surely information so readily available in the Newkirk Public Library is available in Oklahoma City.

If you think this all sounds like I've been smoking funnygrass, I suggest you trot on over there and look it up yourself. If you need a list of references, I've got lots of 'em. But just reading today's paper will give you the general idea. And you won't need an E-meter to get the mental picture. We've already got too many drunks and dopers. Do we want a bunch of space cadets, too?

We may be the only voice crying in the wilderness, but we suggest that Narconon is no answer to our area's drug problem, or it's economic problem. It would behoove us all to encourage Hubbard's hucksters to hook up their horses and get their asteroids on down the road.



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HAROLD'S JOURNAL
Editorial Comment By RWL -
11 May 1989

Well, now. Haven't I been put in my place.

I guess now I know better than to mess with big, important folks from LA. Narconon, it turns out, is a wonderful program after all. They said so. And that, of course, is what AP reported last weekend, gutsy organization that they are.

Now, we already had enough of Narconon's own material to tell you what they would say about their program. Of course it's wonderful. What else would you expect them to say?

We thought you had a right to know what they weren't saying. And we found plenty they were staying quiet about. There is no shame in not knowing the difference between an ugly duck and the goose that laid the golden egg. The shame is in not changing ones thinking when one finds out the difference.

Mr. Miles, from the Health Planning Commission is a likable individual in a tough spot. His head is not hooked to an E-meter after all. He simply has to live by somebody else's regulations. Mr. Bridges is a fine fellow, too, with a sincere, personal interest in trying to help the Indian people. But he's in the same situation. Which boils down to the fact that the state can do nothing about the situation because everything is quite legal.

Narconon says it is not connected in any way with the Church of Scientology. Fine. It was just started by Scientologists, and Scientologists run it. But that is a coincidence of nature...

Suppose that next week, Doc S. announces he is going to start a Birth Control Clinic that adheres to the methods of John Paul II. What are you to believe about his operation?

This deal is no different. A consistent history and long term reputation, documented in print doesn't change just because one refuses to read it or check it out. No matter how many times you "play it again, Sam," the record stays the same.

We'd all like the Chilocco project to be the grand and glorious establishment it's makers say it will be... helping humanity and providing economic assistance to the Indian people as well.

But I'm afraid if it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, and walks like a duck, it's probably a duck.






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HAROLD'S JOURNAL
Editorial Comment By RWL -
11 May 1989

We're Pretty 'Clear' On That!

We have this terrible urge to refer to the writer of the above letter as "Duffy Duck", but we won't, simply because we feel a certain sympathy for individuals so taken in by the ruse of Scientology. Beyond that, personality is not at issue, no more than is qualified and appropriate drug rehabilitation, or freedom of religion.

What is at issue is the long and spurious reputation of Scientology. Documented in print since the imagination of the first "Thetan.".

"Old articles," he calls them, without refuting their accuracy. As old as Scientology itself. And as new, too. Scientology's own magazine, The Auditor, in it's February 1989 edition further confirms our opinion.

"Trained Scientologists to staff huge Oklahoma facility," brags the headline of one article. And yet with straight face they tell us there is no connection.

Americans will tolerate practically anything one chooses to believe in the name of religion, if they are convinced it is a religion to begin with. Scientology is science fiction. Unlike religion, it was science fiction at its conception, albeit good enough science fiction that the naive amongst us began to believe it was real science.

Only when the scientific community in mass began to debunk it did it decide to become a "religion." And that, my friends, is why it has been so poorly tolerated in spite of the legal manipulations it has undertaken to make it look like religion. It remains what it has always been. Science fiction. Accepting the occasional abuse of religious freedom is still preferable to limiting religious freedom.

Scientology is a successful business enterprise. It accepts people who are, or think they are, in trouble. Often it even relieves them of their real or perceived problems as it allows them to brainwash themselves down the unending path of L Ron's "unique methods and technology."

Narconon is simply one of many methods Scientology uses to get their "technology applied broadly in the society," as The Auditor gently puts it.

Hubbard said it more bluntly in a 1960 Communications Order to his followers: "It is a maxim that unless you have bodies in the shop you get no income. So on any pretext get the bodies in the place..." If the "shop" can offer a service, like drug detox, along the way that will be paid for by insurance or some other third party, then so much the better."

We have little doubt that the Narconon drug detoxification methods work as well as any other dry-out clinic. We find it interesting that L. Ron Hubbard claims patent to food, exercise, and vitamin therapy. We'll concede sauna baths may be his own idea. And we will give him full credit for the "counseling and training" sessions that go along with it.

What is unique about Hubbard's methods is not that he feeds his patients, or exercises them, or gives them vitamins. The "unique" part is that his counseling and training methods dissipate dependency on drugs while creating dependency on Scientology. And maybe that's not all bad, if only they were straight forward enough to admit it.

It would be interesting to know how many Spanish Narconon patients were Scientologists after their treatment. That would tell us an awful lot more than cure rates. We suspect the number is about 69.2%.

These are some of our concerns about Narconon and Scientology. But in a fashion true to their historical reputation and background, they have failed to address them, and instead resort to calling our citizens drug racketeers "in favor of a drug ridden society..." for questioning their motives.

It's a duffy... I mean daffy world they want us to live in, we're pretty "clear" on that





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Harold's Journal
Editorial Opinion By RWL -
14 September 1989

WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER

The Newkirk Herald Journal will heartily support the Narconon/Scientology drug abuse treatment program at Chilocco as soon as Narconon...

1) produces the necessary scientifically acceptable studies that they should have done during the 23 years they claim to have been in business... studies done by non-Scientologists, reviewed thoroughly by Oklahoma professionals, that will confirm without doubt that their system is safe, effective, reliable, and medically sound.

2) can prove that their treatment program does not consist of any of the first half dozen steps up the Scientology chart of religious progress known as the Bridge to Total Freedom.

3) can provide accurate and accountable reports of results they have attained instead of wild guesses.

4) can prove that they have never, do not currently, and will not in the future use any type of "religious artifact" or require as part of the treatment, the services of a minister (or auditor) of any church in their treatment program, at Chilocco, or at any other Narconon establishment.

Or when Hell freezes over, whichever comes first.

We will heartily support any drug abuse treatment program that can comply with these few simple requirements that insure quality treatment, separation of church and state, and basic honesty. And we have, in fact, suggested to Drug Czar William Bennett that Chilocco would indeed make an excellent facility for legitimate drug treatment. We hope he is listening.






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Harold's Journal
Editorial Opinion By RWL
05 October 1989
THEY'RE SHOOTING THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT.............AGAIN!

Since Scientology/Narconon can't refute facts, and they won't address the real concerns, all they have left is to attempt to discredit. And, as the reaction to their mailing last week proved, they did a rather miserable job, even, of that. More unity has been demonstrated in Newkirk than we can remember in the past decade.


Scientology spent a lot of money, used a lot of words, and managed to make just about everybody in town unhappy with them, especially our former mayor, who said Monday that he felt he had been "raped."


We didn't dream up Scientology. We didn't create its nefarious 30 year history. Scientology did.

We didn't attempt to frame people like Paulette Cooper and Gabe Cazares and Michael Flynn.

Scientology did.

We didn't break into Government offices.

Scientology did.

We didn't hire any "private investigators" to try to discredit Scientology.

Scientology discredited themselves without our help.

We didn't ruin Scientology's reputation. Scientology did.

We didn't shoot Scientology in the foot.

They did it all by themselves.

We just made sure everybody noticed.

Which is our job. *** We simply insist that any drug rehab program at Chilocco be proven safe, effective, reliable, and medically sound by independent scientifically acceptable studies verified by Oklahoma professionals.

We insist that any drug rehab program at Chilocco not consist of any portion of the religious dogma of any religion, or require the services of a minister of any religion, or the use of any religious artifact as part of the treatment.

And we insist on basic honesty and accountability.

Why can't they do that?

Is it because their program has never been independently proven safe, effective, reliable, and medically sound?

Is it because their treatment program does consists of the first steps up the Scientology chart of religious progress known as the Bridge to Total Freedom, thereby violating the principle of separation of church and state?

Is it because they do require the services of a "minister" of the church of Scientology in their treatment? Is it because they have no accurate and accountable reports of the results they have attained? ***

Item: "Noisy Investigations" are a trademark of Scientology. It's standard procedure to attempt to discredit those who oppose them. Eugene Ingram, sent by Scientology to "investigate" many of Newkirk's leading citizens, is reportedly a former Los Angeles Police Officer who left the department amid a cloud of un-prosecuted allegations that he was involved in pandering, pimping, prostitution, and harboring narcotics dealers. The charges were later dropped for lack of evidence once he left the force. He was later allegedly implicated in an attempt to frame Boston lawyer Michael Flynn. Currently, there is a warrant outstanding for his arrest in Kay County allegedly on charges of impersonating an investigator and carrying a concealed weapon.

This is the type of individual a "church" sends out to investigate us?

Item: Harassment is another tactic often used. KOCO's Larry Blunt was threatened with legal problems and told he would lose his job for reporting on Narconon. A KOTV reporter and cameraman were pushed around when they attempted to report on Narconon. Mr. Ingram subtly suggested that Newkirk Mayor Garry Bilger and School Board President Jana Shafer would be subject to some kind of phony "conspiracy" lawsuit if they didn't retract their opposition to Narconon. The Newkirk Herald, he suggested, would face legal trouble for running a "hate" campaign.

The only people who are allowed to have an opinion, it appears, are Scientologists. And they are only allowed to have one... the one written by their late leader, L. Ron Hubbard. Free thinking is not a hallmark of Scientology.

Item: Deception is a Scientology artform. It's called Training Routine L. Persons properly trained in TR-L can "outflow false data effectively." It is the opposite of TR-1 (which, incidentally, is one of the drills used in Narconon's program).

The person who visited Mayor Bilger last Monday may have been trained in TR-L. He said he had a daughter in a government class at Ponca City High School who was supposed to interview a small town mayor to find out what his accomplishments were... what his goals were, and how small town government worked.

It was a good story, except that Ponca City High School has no one enrolled by this person's name.

The person who called the Herald Journal a few weeks ago may have been trained in TR-L. He said he had been hired by Prudential Life Insurance to locate RWL and another person because we were beneficiaries of a policy from Atlanta, Ga. Mostly, he wanted the other person's address. He said we were both in line for a lot of money. He was told to put it in the mail.

It was a good story, except that Prudential Life insurance doesn't know anything about it, and nothing ever arrived in the mail.

The person from Brooklyn, N.Y. who wrote and called several ministers in town, all the city commissioners, and RWL several months ago told a sad story about a child hooked on drugs who wanted her to send money for Narconon, she said. But she had heard this "bad publicity" about Narconon and wanted to know the source of it...

It was a good story, except she gave a couple of different names but the same phone number to several different people. One time it was her son on drugs - the next, it was her daughter. She probably had poor TR-L.

We suspect all of the above incidents (and a few others) are deceptive attempts to gain information from those opposed to Scientology/Narconon. We can't prove it, of course, but it's funny we never received any "stories" that wouldn't check out before Narconon arrived in our midst.

These "Battle" tactics were outlined by their leader, L. Ron Hubbard, in 1969. Some more of his advice (paraphrased to avoid infringing on the gentleman's many copyrights) is as follows:

1. Make those who oppose Scientology unpopular to the point of total annihilation.

2. Gain the backing or fidelity of the news media. (Are you awake, Ark City?)

3. Get command or loyalty of top political figures.

4. Take over those who oversee finance, and shift them into an unstable situation.

5. Blame everything on a conspiracy headed by psychiatry and psychology.

6. Always attack. Never defend.

7. Never be reasonable. Give non-sequiteur answers (double talk)

8. Fight on somebody else's turf, never Scientology's.

9. Cut off communications, funds, connections. Deprive the opposition of political advantages. Take over opposition territory. Raid and harass.

10. Public Opinion is what Scientology is trying to win. Make people love Scientology and hate the opposition by using standard wartime propaganda... complete with "atrocity, war crimes trials, the lot."

11. Preserve and improve the image of Scientology and degrade the image of the opposition to "beast level."

There's more, but you get the point.

If we are running a "hate" campaign, it is a campaign against deception, against harassment, against fraud, against smear tactics, against frame-ups, and against intimidation.

But we surely don't hate Scientologists.

They are more the victims than we are of their own warped management practices.

We could [not] care less what the "religious beliefs" of Scientology are. But we are very aware of the outrageous behavior of the organization. We don't think it is deserving of our taxes or our insurance benefit money. The war on drug abuse is too important to allow a dime of it to be waisted on an outfit like Scientology's Narconon