========
Subject: CW Reflections
From: Ed <metasyn@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 09 Dec 1999 17:34:24 -0500
Message-ID: <38502E70.2783D546@aol.com>

     I had never met in person any of the people who came to CW, not
had I seen the place physically. I was highly impressed at what a fine
bunch of people we were, without exception, and the C of $ should take
heed very well, we are a magnificent team of, well, "OT"s. That is, we
make things go right and nothing can stop us.

     You don't have to be very special to hate the oppression and
deceit and heartlessness of the C of $; or to favor free speech and
oppose those who want to silence it; or to be eccentric, feisty,
libertarian, or a techie wizard. So I could imagine quite a few of the
critic=picketers as being loudmouth assholes mainly good at having
sharp tongues, with only the common bond of opposing the same evil.

     But no, wow!!! these are my kind of people. Before I was
entangled in Scn in the late '60s I was pretty deep into the antiwar
and antidraft movements. Then, like now, I leaped at the opportunity
to oppose evil systems that seemed to be very anti-life as well as out
of control. It was pretty uncommon for people in Scn to have been
active in the radical left or antiwar activities, because Scn's
politics, starting about 1968, became very radical right. The radical
left and right were very different kinds of people and instinctively
opposed each other. (For a couple of years I lived a double life, half
the time selling underground papers, the other half being on course in
Scn, and neither side knew of the other.)

     For years I would have been happy to get involved in the anti-Scn
cause, but like most ex-long-time Scns I knew what OSA could and would
do to me if I stood up, and I wasn't willing to have that done to me.

     I was deeply honored to meet several people much more courageous
than I: Gerry Armstrong, Kim Baker, Arnie Lerma, Grady Ward and Keith
Henson, Bob Minton, Stacy Brooks, Jesse Prince. In the truest sense,
these are OTs: their postulates and intentions will not be stopped.
(Scientology has finally made some OTs! Hehehehehe!)

     The others who came from far and wide were also very fine people.
I would have to say that in terms of overall clarity, brains, and
alignment with one's true purposes, these folks are equal or better
than the GO and SO elites of the '70s.

     I talked with several of the local press and TV reporters and
found them to be very knowledgeable, and, I suspect, kindred spirits.
I heard several great presentations at the conference and met a number
of our allies, including Lisa's relatives from Texas. During four days
I also got to meet just about all of the various ARS/IRC characters
that I had known only by their words on the computer screen.

     Arnie Lerma gets my high praise for having the insight to start
the #scientologylies IRC channel a couple of months ago. That was an
idea that really worked! I would credit #scnlies and Arnie's
management of it for the increased number of picketers and for the
awesome level of harmony and love that pervaded everything we did. I
believe with #scnlies as a group we have finally learned to be immune
to the OSA third-partying tactics that kept people divided and
distracted in the past.

     I have to give Bob Minton the highest thanks for turning the
overall tide of the battle. It has turned since he came on board. That
is a fact. That is something I have wanted to see for many, many
years. And anyone who has trouble with Bob being here, your motives
become very peculiar.

     Friday, picketing, I observed only one negative feedback from
passing cars and 200 or 300 positive. Saturday and Sunday there were
five or ten negatives and several hundred positives. There is huge
anti-Scn sentiment in CW, any way you slice it, and I can't imagine
any way the C of S could ever overcome that.

     The obvious absurdity of the Cof$ being in hiding, wow! One of
the local TV reports said that at this time last year they began using
the buses and vans to move people around and they had been doing it
ever since. Is this correct?? If so, they are like prisoners who never
get their exercise period. Without exposure to natural sun and
daylight they are going to be even more stressed physically than they
already are.

      I think we need to start looking at endgame scenarios, and I
will post some stuff on that soon.

Ed