So, I'm back from my first ever picket and it was awesome. Yes, awesome.

I got to meet Tory and some other great people, who also have very healthy senses of humor, but more on that later.

First we arrived at Sherrif Baca's Office, which was unfortunately behind a gate, so we stood on a busy street with our signs. One good sign said BACA, CULT SHILL in huge letters on flourescent colored paper. People honked and waved, and then after 1 hour we packed up to go to Hollywood.

We arrived in Hollywood at the Scn building, and Xenu prepared his costume. Yes, Xenu was there. We were on a side street getting ready, when the security guard discovered us (they're quick). Someone else had a giant pole with something like 8-10 blowup Xenu dolls on it. I had my famous "Ten Reasons You Should Run Away Screaming From Scientology" flyer. The security guard turned back and went back to the building.

On the corner of Hollywood and Ivar we proceded to wave our signs and hand out flyers. The response was a lot of horn honking and head nodding from the cars and passers by. My sign said "SCIENTOLOGY, IT'S WORSE THAN YOU THINK" (borrowed from Arnie), and Tory's said "HONK IF YOU DON'T THINK YOU ARE INFESTED BY SPACE ALIENS." I also had a NARCONON=SCIENTOLOGY, and my own green Xenu doll, so I was pretty loaded down.

Then, there on the corner, stood Xenu, waving like the queen of the Rose Parade. People were laughing a pointing. I went up and handed a women a flyer through her open window, and she came back later asking for more.

Tory immediately got cornered by some current Scinos, and I think she knew some of them. Some people tried to ask me things like, "Why are you here?" "Has Scn hurt you personally?" To this second question I said, "So you're only against things that hurt you personally? That's pretty selfish." And, "I'm exercising my right to free speech." I kinda took my cues from some of the old timers who kept it low key ("It's better to make ourselves look as different as possible than the Scientologists.") and tried not to get engaged or angry because it's probably futile, and time is better spent handing out flyers.

The secrurity guard kept walking back and forth, talking on his radio. At one point he took our pictures. He had on a very official-looking, black uniform, with this belt that had about six different things in the pouches. I figured one was a flashlight, and my husband suggested that maybe the others held batteries.

Some Sea Org people walked by, and to their credit, they ignored us. I felt bad for them because here it was Saturday night in Hollywood, and they were working. They were pretty young, too, and wore white shirts and black Dickie pants. A guy who worked around the corner came by and said that the SCn building is open 24 hours.

Xenutv showed up, so maybe some of this will show up on Xenutv.com

After an hour or so we packed it in. I took a tour of Melrose and Robertson to see what the rich and famous were doing, and got an excellent bowl of corn chowder to go from Barefoot on 3rd street. It's the best corn chowder ever. Good times.

You Go Girl!

Well done. Sorry I couldn't make it. I'm glad you all did and especially...

This was a terrific two pickets!

First, meeting the people from Leona Valley, and learning their story,
and how on top of Narconon infesting their neighborhood they are, was really cool.
As I'm Glib said, it was fun for all of us to meet.

And Jeff showed up in his Dr's outfit with his name, "Dr. Fake".
He's perfect for the Dr role!!

All of us were quite surprised at how many people on this little frontage road were honking and waiving....but they were! We all picketed there for I'd say an hour, and then we moved onto Hollywood, as has been posted.

We'd met previously at the Sizzler, and that is always fun for us to do.
It's sort of a tradition for the gang to meet before hand, and then go picket. Gooneybird also showed up, someone we hadn't seen in 2 years!

Xenu had arrived at my house in droves on Friday, and Freisty was the master mind of this! She put a bunch of them on dowels....so she could carry more than one. They were a hit for tons of people!

My sign wasn't about Space aliens, it says: "Honk if you Think Scientology is a CULT". Tons and Tons of people honked while we were picketing.
Many wanted their pictures taken with either Xenu or me, or Dr. Fake!
Mark Bunker arrived, hooked me up with a mike, and we'll see how that turns out. Barb also was there dressed up as a live XENU, and many wanted to get their pics taken with Xenu.

I had a rather long conversation with two "OT's" who were there to "handle" us. The wife, although pretty fake, was at least willing to
communicate some. Her husband looked at me and said, "You're a wacko".
I said first of all I wanted to congratulate his wife, as at LEAST she could,
to some degree, apply the very basics of Scientology: Communication. He, one the other hand, totally violated the basics of Scientology and IS why many people are out there criticising their 'church'. I pointed out to him that he didn't even know me, that someone had put that black pr line into his head, and it's that kind of abuse (Fair Game and Scientology's attempts to silence people) that people around the world are standing up fighting them for, and shall do so until they stop. I think he began to see what I was talking about, as people continued to honk while we talked.

From that point, he got nicer, and was more willing to talk. We taked about quite a bit, and we'll see if it sticks in his head or not. I asked both of them, once they'd heard that OSA has up 5 P A G E S of flat out lies about me, IF they were going to do anything about that? Neither would commit to even trying. She tried to promote her Wins, as I had done in the past, and I told her I was just like her 5 years ago. But SEEING Such abuse, I got to a point where I couldn't just do nothing. She tried to slide off of that. I told his wife the bottom line is: "How do you know if a Scientologist is lying? If their lips are moving!" ( She said Scientologists don't lie, yet here they were, ignoring that their "Church" posts flat out lies about people---and trying to slide off with the "We don't know". Ya...right).

As the day wound down, we began to walk up the street. To our great surprise, tons of Sea Org came marching across the street. Of course Feisty had the Xenu dolls, and we both suggested they don't waste their lives. They hussled on by, and we left to come home for a delightful party here at my house.

I'm Glib....next time you'll have to drop by! We had some fun discussions after. Same for Gooney, who had to go home, too.

All in all, it was a terrific day, and now we're having a slumber party!!!

Happiness is doing what you want to do, and enjoying it!

My best to all,

Tory/Magoo~~

WELL DONE for picketing.

I wish I could have been there.



Opter

I had a few more observations that I forgot to mention:

1. When we first got there, the Sea Org drapes were open, but within minutes they were closed.

2. As we were leaving with Xenu and the signs and the blow up dolls, a tour bus went by (double decker with the people on top out in the open). The bus driver slowed down to talk to us, and we chatted about Xenu. We gave him a blowup doll and a bunch of flyers, and he seemed happy about that.

3. Tory is as nice in person as she is on this message board.

4. I almost wish I had talked more to the Scinos who approached us. The little I did talk to them, I was surprised at how little they knew, and how poor their debating skills were.

Well done.
Seems like you all had great fun too. .

Sponge....

We did!

I'm Glib.....me too. We were both busy picketing, and didn't have lots
of time to chat. Never time make sure to come to lunch, as that's always
a good start

Good observations!

Best....

Tory/Magoo~~

Oh damn, I wish I was there with you guys. I used to work in that HGC building and know most of the staff. I remember it was 2001 or 2002, I came out with another SO member to go to the library on the otherside of the street and I saw the picketers right outside.

Even though I was blocking my view of the them with my hand, I caught a glimps of one of the posters someone was holding up. I don't remember the exact content of it, but it was about how the "The Bridge to Total Freedom ends when you got no cash" something like that. Man that poster got me thinking! Even I didn't want to admit it at that time ..it made me think " it's so true".

But I told the other person that was with me that "Oh don't look at them they are so enturbulating!"(sorry, was brain washed to the bone at that time)

Anyway, just wanted to say how effective these picketings are. It can even make the ones that are still in there and have been in for a long time think. At least it triggeres something in their mind.

So good job guys!

Thanks, Merc.
It really makes me wish I had talked a little more to the people, but I thought they'd be these impervious robots like Rawl who can hear everything and still keep repeating "But it works for me."

Maybe I'm deluded, but the little talking I did, I could see that the people hadn't read that much and didn't know that much. (These were people who definitely weren't on staff.) I wish I had answered the question, "So what has COS done to you?" You know how when you're driving home you think of all these great things to say? Next time I'll be ready.

Looking forward to seeing any good pics you have plus video on xenutv.

Yah..........it should be wild

Wait until you see some of the critics!!

This was one fun day!!

Best,

Tory/Magoo~~~

bravo to you all I'd like to see the flyer about" the 10 reasons not to join scientology " I may use it transleted in paris ,france ,merci ,zorro ,"may the farce be with you"

Yay! Thanks for asking, Zorro.
Here's my flyer. I make the margins of the paper small so that it fits on one page. Having a list of web sites, or just this web site (XENU.NET) on the back of the paper would be a nice touch.

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Run Away Screaming From Scientology:

10. All they want is your money. Everything costs money in Scientology, and after you finish a course, they come after you with heavy sales tactics to get more. Estimates are that is would cost over $300,000 to reach the top levels of Scientology. Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard's instructed, "Make money, make more money -- make other people produce so as to make money."
9. $cientology destroys families. There are countless stories of people having to separate from their families due to Scientology, because of their process of shunning called disconnection. Husbands are separated from wives, and children from their parents, if Scientology decides someone should be shunned. Checkout www.religiousshunning.org for many personal accounts.
8. The “Church� of $cientology mistreats its employees. Sea Org members are paid less than $100/week, while working 6-7 days with virtually no time off. Women are encouraged to have abortions to keep up productivity. Under-producers and doubters end up in the “RPF�, which is like a mind altering gulag, where a worker might clean toilets, eat bad food, get little sleep, or even run around a pole for 8hrs/day. See www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Org.
7. L.Ron Hubbard was a liar and a kook. The late leader of Scientology made up stories about his education and military career that were lies, and he once said that he had personally visited an asteroid belt. Apparently it was really hot there.
6. $cientologists believe that $cientology cannot be questioned or doubted. How can an organization not become corrupt if there is no way to question its practices? Scientologists are told to fill out “Knowledge reports� against “Any person who is hypercritical of Scientology or the Church� or makes “Public statements against Scientology or Scientologists.� That is one way that criticism is terminated. Another is “ethics� and “security checks� that members are put through, which are actually mind control procedures used to stamp out criticism (at the member's expense, of course).
5. $cientology practices medical abuse. Not only is Scientology against any kind of psychological treatment for anyone, they encourage their members to forgo treatment for illnesses such as asthma, epilepsy, and even cancer. The results are sometimes deadly. See www.whyaretheydead.net and www.Lisamcpherson.org.
4. $cientology practices “fair game,� and “black PR� on their critics. Here’s what L. Ron Hubbard said should be done to any critic: “Ruin him utterly.� That means picketing their houses, spreading rumors to their neighbors, and suing them until they give up. Check out www.fairgamed.org.
3. $cientology hinders people from getting real help that they might need, and they don’t mind using tricks to do it. Scientology “volunteers� show up at disaster sites like 911 and Hurricane Katrina to “help,� but what they really want to do is sell their books and recruit new members. Ever heard of Narconon? No, not the 12 step based program that gets people off of drugs (that’s Narcotics anonymous). Narconon is a front group for Scientology. They trick people by using a similar name, in order to recruit new members. See www.stop-narconon.org.
2. $cientology is against free speech. Time magazine, various writers, and even Google have all been sued by Scientology in an effort to intimidate the press and free speech.
1. And the number one reason you should run away screaming from $cientology: It’s just plain silly. Have you heard the story about Xenu? That’s the intergalactic warlord who released alien souls 75 million years ago that infect all of us. See www.xenu.net. This is what Scientologists learn after spending thousands of dollars on training. Save your money. Run!

Edit: Changed #5 to Scn practices medical abuse.

Glib one,

Congratulations on your first picket!! Hopefully, in time I can follow in suit.

My 2 cents.

Great idea, MrFunk...please do

I'm Glib...I LOVE that flyer, I really do!

The only one I'd change is the one about robots: Not that it doesn't,
but I think it's more important to mention

Scientology practices Medical Abuse----and then tell about TC and all
his rants about medicine. Just a suggestion, but so far 3 people I've
mentioned it to (who were "in") agree with me on that one point, and
we all love the flyer!

Their medical abuse must be promoted so no more are harmed.

Thanks, I'm glib! It was great meeting you and picketing with you

Tory/Magoo~~