In the article I link to above, Church spokesman Ben Shaw told the St. Petersburg Times,

QUOTE
Work [construction] should resume early next year [2005], he said. But he wasn't more definite than that. In the past 20 months, Shaw noted, the church bought, renovated or restored 11 buildings in nine cities around the world, such as Madrid; New York City; Johannesburg, South Africa; Brussels; and San Francisco.

"My point being, that's where our attention has been internationally," Shaw said.
END QUOTE

So
1) The SP building had been funded for over a year as of Dec. 2004, and
2) 11 other buildings had been renovated or restored within the last 20 months (up to Dec. 2004)

There is no way they haven't spent money donated for SuperPower on the extravagant new orgs of New York and San Francisco! Those orgs have the opulence exceeding 5 star hotels, and I've personally heard another Scientologist say (back when I was still one of them), when they saw the management showing them off at an event video, "it's one thing to be 'upstat,' but entirely another to spend that much of our donations on unnecessary luxury! That's not what I intended my money be spent on!"

And the New York and San Francisco renos were started AND finished since the year 2001....

Besides lawsuits, that MAY explain where the SuperPower money is going... they obviously have their attention elsewhere, kinda like the big evil eye at the top of Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies.

Does this mean all I have to do is take the latest donation request letter which shows its postmark from last week, along with the statement made by the official church spokesman that the project was fully funded in 2003, show them to an attorney, and I've got grounds for a legitimate fraud claim?

Is it possible that by collecting enough information like this we might actually be able to legally sue for our SP donations as a class action and get that in the newspapers too??!?!?

My brother is a police officer.

He swears the most dangerous call to respond to is one of domestic violence.

And the church of scientology is in bed with its members.

An unholy screwing (going on).

But, to imagine that by coming to the defense of the one being screwed, the situation will be resolved, is to misunderstand the nature of, well, being psychologically abused (called being screwed).

Takes two to tango.

And money is relative.

$35,000.00 to me might be equal to $35.00 to you.

Trying to save scientologists from themselves is as useless as trying to save a web from a spider.

Taint gonna happen.

Better to love a fool than condemn one.

In the final analysis.

Sincerely,
JLD

Unparalled luxury? This reminds me of a phrase in the spurious Protocols of the Elders of Zion in which people's desire for luxury will be used to enslave them:

7. To complete the ruin of the industry of the GOYIM we shall bring to the assistance of speculation the luxury which we have developed among the GOYIM, that greedy demand for luxury which is swallowing up everything. Protocol Number Six, point 7.

The idea of the Protocols is to enslave people using credit and their own greed for luxuries which is described as the "greedy demand for luxury which is swallowing up everything."

I would say that the greedy demand for luxury has consumend Scientology's top management. They live like kings and queens and say to everyone else, "Let them eat rice and beans!"

At least Marie Antoinette suggested that the starving peasants eat cake. Of course, for this she had an auditing session on the guillotine courtesy of the French Revolution. This is unnecessary in our times and everyone would be happy simply to see DM go to prison with Bernie Ebers and Ken Lay. Raking leaves at Club Fed might help put DM into PT.

*****

For a "spiritual" religion like Scn to be excessively materialistic to the point of opulence serves to reveal its craven intent to capture new people, raw meat, using a facade of affluence. Everyone knows that the only affluence most Scn member see after joining is that of RTC. The members get stuck with the bills for DM's tuxedoed wagering at the Bacarat table in Monte Carlo.

If the walls of these luxurious orgs could speak, they would tell the stories of financial crimes of certain Scientologists like Reed Slatkin. They would tell of the coercion 2 billion lira from Madame Pia Gardini while she was under duress following the death of her mother and daughter. Debbie Cook got a commission on Madame Gardini's money and bought a $40,000 luxury sedan. How many people in the SO get to drive luxury sedans?

The walls would tell of countless people who maxed out credit cards and went deeply into real debt for Scn's false promises of affluence.

The walls would also tell of a Scientology slave trade called RPF, for slave labor helped to build these luxurious monuments to a monumental liar named L. Ron Hubbard.

Someday.

Someday Scientology will collapse under the weight of its own crimes.

All it takes it one exec turning State's evidence in exchange for immunity. I would remind any OSA agent reading of this axiom of prosecutors everywhere:

The first to talk walks; the rest go to prison.

As far as I can tell, an OSA exec's freedom will come not from Scientology, but from turning State's evidence.

Concerning the new Orgs in NYC and Madrid:

I heard that when an Org is about to get a new building they press their publics for fundings. So part of the money for new built Orgs can be expected to be fund raisedby the local Orgs.

They are talking about getting a new Org here (I don't want to specify where exactly but it's Europe) - and they made a presentation for publics and asked for donations.

So does "SP" stand for "Super Power" or "Suppressive Person"???

Both. However, calling the Super Power building the SP building is a big no-no in the cult. It is considered "joking and degrading" and you get sent to ethics for it.

Same with calling the "Golden Age of Tech" "GAT".

I just can't wait for the "Golden Age of Knowledge" to be released, "GAK"!!

Oh, it's good to an SP, much more fun anyway.

As long as the Super Power building is unfinished, it can't deliver the Super Power courses. If it were to deliver the courses, the courses would be revealed as ineffective. Nobody would "get" Super Power and most (especially those who donated $$$$$) will be bitterly disappointed.

See, it's the final layer of the mystery sandwich. As long as nobody unwraps it, members can soothe and inspire themselves that they'll finally get those powerzzz. Once unwrapped, they'll see it's just baloney.

Super Power means super power if we word clear. Maybe there is a MU in which Super Power means: Take ten years to finish a building that should take 2 years max? Even then, 24 months is on the extreme side of erecting a large commercial building. 12-18 months is the norm, especially for a building that will generate revenue from delivering services.

How can there be any Super Power within Scn when Scn can't even do something as simple as finish a building, especially the Super Power building?

It is an inherent contradiction in terms to be unable to complete the Super Power building. This sounds like something we would see on a surreal version of a Sienfeld episode:


Kramer: Jerry! I paid $35,000 five years ago to be a Cornerstone Member and the SP building is still unfinished!!! I need to do my SP courses!

Jerry: Five years and the SP building still isn't finished??? They need Superman or spinach. Somethin' I'm telling ya!

Mr. Kastanza: Super Power?! Try "Super Shower" because you took a bath on that $35,000 Kramer!

Mrs. Kastanza: I'd ask for a SUPER REFUND!

(laugh track)

Kramer: Jerry, I got BT's! I got BT's Jerry!

George: BT's? Yeah! That's why I'm bald and don't have a girlfriend Kramer! Yeessh! Wanna see a movie Jerry? How about we see [b]Collateral again?

Jerry: Okay, but Kramer can't come! He's broke. Scientology has his $35,000 as "Collateral" on the unfinished SP building!

(cast laughs)

(cue uproarious laugh track)

(Cut to commercial)
[/b]

Hello,

the excuse I heard today why the SP building is not finished is because it needs about 150 Auditors which need to be trained for the delivery of the Super Power rundown. And since they are not yet trained Co$ stopped the construction of the building until all the SP Auditors are trained.....

James

You would think that they would want the building finished BEFORE the training of the auditors is complete so that they could start the delivery of the "Super Power" rundown at the completion of their training.

I guess they could just as well use the "Porta Potties" to do the rundown in until the completion of the building

If I'm not mistaken, once they finish the "Super Power" building, then CoS has committed that staff located in the Ft Harrison hotel will move to the super power building and the hotel will become subject to property taxes. That's a lot of money in prime real estate tax of downtown. As it stands now, the SP Building cost very little in taxes to stand the way it is (unfinished).

Am I wrong?

Do you mean that out of the 6-8 MILLION members worldwide they can't find 150 that can "audit" at the SuperPower building? So less than .0025% of Scientologists are trained for that? Uh...yeah...those are some real good stats, aren't they?

Last I heard, (a few months ago) there were only a handful of auditors in training to deliver the super power rundowns, and they kept getting ripped off to cover other posts or "hill 10s" (emergency flaps in scientologese).

I tend to agree with Phil Scott on ARS that there are some real estate scams going on, where public are pressured to donate and others to sign mortgages, and the actual cash from both the donations and the mortgage money is going elsewhere.

Most if not all of the furnishings and finish work is being done at slave wages by Sea Org and RPF.

Any one who dared to ask for an accounting of the 120 million plus that has been donated to Super Power would be slapped with an ethics handling, and threatened with declare expulsion and disconnection.

The rundowns themselves are another story...I know the running "program" (there's THAT word again) was researched and developed by testing it on the RPF maypole "program".