UTPB held Spring Commencement at 9 a.m., Saturday, May 12, 2012. 339 graduates received their diplomas in a ceremony that was outside in the grassy quad area between the Mesa, Science and Tech, Student Activities and Library Buildings. 

 U.T. System Regent Alex M. Cranberg gave the commencement address. Regent Cranberg was appointed to a six-year term on the University of Texas System Board of Regents by Governor Rick Perry in February 2011. Mr. Cranberg has been active in education philanthropy, governance and policy advocacy.

In his commencement address, Regent Cranberg noted the population of those graduating from UTPB: 82% were transfer students, 62% were first generation college graduates, 70% were students from outside of the Permian Basin, 45% were hispanic and the age range of those graduating was between 20-65 years.

“Persistence and perseverance are the building blocks of earning a degree,” added Regent Cranberg, “Now is the hard part – going out in the world. Now is your moment to dream big…What starts here at UTPB changes the world.”

The Spanish convocation followed in the Multipurpose Room of the Student Union and honors graduates from Spanish speaking families.

Article source: http://www.oaoa.com/news/holds-87489-spring-utpb.html

13 Things To Watch In The Coming Week: Lowe’s (LOW), Campbell’s Soup (CPB), TechData (TECD), Autozone (AZO), Best Buy (BBY), Ralph Lauren (RL), Dell (DELL), Toll Brothers (TOL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Pandora (P), Phillips Van Heusen (PVH), Costco (COST), Tiffany (TIF). Other stocks mentioned: Home Depot (HD), Hain Celestial (HAIN), LinkedIn (LNKD), Facebook (FB), Salesforce.com (CRM), Chesapeake Energy (CHK).

Cramer discussed things to watch in the coming week:

Monday:

Lowe’s (LOW) reports, and Cramer is circumspect after a downbeat reaction to Home Depot’s (HD) good quarter. HD might be picking up market share from Lowe’s, and Cramer would rather own HD than Lowe’s.

Campbell’s (CPB) yields 3.5%, and might ordinarily be a buy, but after talking with CEO Irwin Simon of Hain Celestial (HAIN), Cramer thinks the latter might be winning the soup wars, as consumers increasingly buy healthier choices. Cramer would stay away from CPB.

TechData (TECD) is a supermarket of tech, but with tech slowing down, Cramer would just listen to the conference call and would not buy.

Tuesday

Autozone (AZO) has a great buyback, and is a solid company

Best Buy (BBY) is a value trap.

Ralph Lauren (RL) is a battleground. It has a terrific domestic story, but it may suffer in Europe.

Dell (DELL) is reconfiguring itself, but Dell customers, including governments and Europeans, are spending less on its products. Dell is too risky.

Wednesday

Toll Brothers (TOL) is good to buy if it gets hit ahead of the quarter. TOL should benefit from the turnaround in housing, improving mortgages and cheaper raw materials.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is going through a major restructuring, but is struggling. Its consulting business is facing furious competition. It is not worth trying to call a bottom in HPQ.

Pandora (P) is an unmitigated disaster, and needs a few good quarters before it can be considered a buy.

Phillips Van Heusen (PVH) is the retailer most likely to survive the woes in Europe. Cramer would buy it only after hearing what Ralph Lauren has to say.

Thursday

Costco (COST) may see an upside after it raised its membership dues.

Tiffany (TIF) recently increased its dividend by 10%, but it is in the penalty box after a it failed to deliver last quarter.

Cramer took some calls:

LinkedIn (LNKD) and Salesforce.com (CRM) are two beneficiaries from the Facebook IPO (FB), but LNKD is too expensive to buy right now. Cramer prefers CRM.

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) is too opaque right now since its financials are hard to decipher; “I have better fish to fry,” Cramer said.

When Bad Stock Prices Happen To Good Companies

It is not enough to buy stock in a good company and expect shares to rise. Often there is a disconnect between share prices and the value of a company. This can happen when macro data is working against a company, when certain sectors are out of favor or when hedge funds need to buy or dump certain stocks. ETFs cause stocks in the same sector sometimes to trade in lockstep, making the distinction between best and worst-of-breed seem irrelevant. However, it is still important to do homework. Cramer recommends spending an hour a week per holding on homework and to read conference calls and reports from the company carefully. Homework can help investors decide whether a decline is deserved or not, and it can empower people to take more intelligent risks. While few can predict when and how much a good stock may be taken down, doing homework and keeping abreast of the fundamentals will help investors know when a decline is deserved and when it is a buying opportunity.

All About IPOs. Stock mentioned: Google (GOOG)

There is nothing wrong with gaming an IPO as long as investors are aware of the elements involved in such a deal. IPOs often gain from 20% to 100% in the first day, and it is usually worth it to get in on an IPO, but to avoid buying in the aftermarket. However, investors should beware of many private equity offerings which enable the sponsors simply to unload some bad assets. Well-known brokerages that have solid reputations worth protecting are more careful about what IPOs they are involved in, and are a better bet than private equity. While it is useful to look at the management of a company, with internet IPOs, it might be a hard metric to measure; who would have thought the two young inventors behind Google (GOOG) had a company that would revolutionize tech and advertising?

Often, brokerages offer a very small amount of shares at an extremely low price to orchestrate a huge pop on the first day. It might be hard to get on these deals, but it is usually worth trying to get in on a good IPO. However, once the pop has happened, it is prime time to sell. As with the Facebook IPO, investors might have to be patient to wait for a buying point, but it was not a good idea to buy on the first day. LinkedIn jumped 100% on the day of its IPO, but it has given investors better entry points since it came public last year, and LNKD is a social media company with real earnings and growth.

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Jim Cramer’s Action Alerts PLUS: Trade right alongside a Wall Street pro! Start your 14-day FREE trial today.

Get Cramer’s Picks by email – it’s free and takes only a few seconds to sign up.

Article source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/602941-cramer-s-mad-money-13-things-to-watch-in-the-coming-week-5-18-12

New research shows that suspicion resides in two distinct regions of the brain: The amygdala, which plays a central role in processing fear and emotional memories, and the parahippocampal gyrus, which is associated with declarative memory and the recognition of scenes.

Researchers at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute set out to discover how people assess the credibility of others in social interactions.

“We found a strong correlation between the amygdala and a baseline level of distrust, which may be based on a person’s beliefs about the trustworthiness of other people in general, his or her emotional state, and the situation at hand,” said Read Montague, director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and the Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, who led the study. “What surprised us, though, is that when other people’s behavior aroused suspicion, the parahippocampal gyrus lit up, acting like an inborn lie detector.”

The scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to study the neural basis of suspicion. They asked 76 pairs of players, each with a buyer and a seller, to compete in 60 rounds of a simple bargaining game while having their brains scanned. At the beginning of each round, the buyer would learn the value of a hypothetical widget and suggest a price to the seller. The seller would then set the price. If the seller’s price fell below the widget’s given value, the trade would go through, with the seller receiving the selling price and the buyer receiving any difference between the selling price and the actual value. If the seller’s price exceeded the value, though, the trade would not execute, and neither party would receive cash.

The researchers found that buyers fell into three categories: 42 percent were incrementalists, who were relatively honest about the widget’s value; 37 percent were conservatives, who adopted the strategy of withholding information; and 21 percent were strategists, who were actively deceptive, mimicking incrementalist behavior by sending high suggestions during low-value trials and then reaping greater benefits by sending low suggestions during high-value trials.

The sellers had a monetary incentive to read the buyers’ strategic profiles correctly, yet they received no feedback about the accuracy of the information they were receiving, so they could not confirm any suspicions. Without feedback, the sellers were forced to decide whether they should trust the buyers based on the pricing suggestions alone.

“The more uncertain a seller was about a buyer’s credibility, the more active his or her parahippocampal gyrus became,” Montague said.

He adds that a person’s “baseline” suspicion may have important consequences for his or her financial success.

“People with a high baseline suspicion were often interacting with fairly trustworthy buyers, so in ignoring the information those buyers provided, they were giving up potential profits,” said Meghana Bhatt, the first author on the research paper. “The ability to recognize credible information in a competitive environment can be just as important as detecting untrustworthy behavior.”

The findings may also have implications for psychiatric conditions such as paranoia and anxiety disorders, added Montague.

“The fact that increased amygdala activation corresponds to an inability to detect trustworthy behavior may provide insight into the social interactions of people with anxiety disorders, who often have increased activity in this area of the brain,” he said.

The research appeared in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute

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Anxiety, Brain and Behavior, General, LifeHelper, Neuropsychology and Neurology, Research

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Article source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/05/20/your-brains-lie-detector/38846.html

When you have a hit TV Show, more people are watching, therefore, you can charge more for ad space during that program. Tech isn’t all that different. Take the Kindle Fire. Super popular. If you want to advertise in front of an audience that is tech savvy (at least enough to be using an Android tablet), it may soon cost you $600,000 to do so.

Amazon is offering some ad space on the Kindle Fire’s Welcome Screen. For $600,000 users can view your ad for 2 whole months. The ads show up on every boot which adds to the sponsored screensaver ads on the tablet’s screen whenever the Amazon Kindle Fire shuts down.

Amazon isn’t even sure it will even work, but they are trying this. Amazon is considering offering the ad space on the current version of the tablet or might just place the ads on a future ad-supported tablet. So if Amazon offers a tablet with a price subsidized by ads, the price that consumers will pay for such a tablet might make the $199.99 price tag on the original Kindle Fire seem very high. It will be interesting to see where this goes. How would you feel about an ad showing up every time you boot up?

Source Phonearena

Article source: http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/amazon-to-charge-600000-for-ads-on-amazon-kindle-fires-welcome-page-20-05-2012/

IBM will develop cloud computing and the “Internet of Things” technologies in its Hainan center, part of the government’s efforts to make Hainan a leader in the country’s smart technology drive, officials said.

The “Internet of Things” refers to a wireless network connecting objects ranging from luggage to household appliances by managing the data sent by radio tags on the objects.

Guo Rensheng, general manager of Southern China Region of IBM, said the company will partner with local firms to develop the smart systems that will provide clients with administrative and business solutions.

Article source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2012-05/20/c_131599888.htm

Ursula Caberta

Titled “Office of Special Affairs: Der Scientology-Geheimdienst” (Scientology’s Secret Service), it included interviews with several people very familiar to readers of this blog: Marc Headley, Mike Rinder, Gerry Armstrong, and Tiziano Lugli. It also featured Ursula Caberta, the Hamburg politician who for years led a state-sponsored attempt to curb Scientology. We spoke to her on the telephone yesterday about the documentary. After the jump, her thoughts, as well as the documentary itself, with English subtitles.

In 2010, the Hamburg state ended its Scientology Task Force which she headed, for budgetary reasons. But she says she hasn’t stopped keeping an eye on David Miscavige‘s organization.

“It’s always the same, if you are not looking at what they are doing, they will grow in two or three years. You have to be always watching them.”

Here’s the 90-minute documentary, with English subtitles. Below, I’ll list some highlights.

For me, the interviews with Headley, Rinder, and Armstrong were pretty familiar. But I thought the film worked best when it was describing the experiences of Ingo Heinemann, who runs a website critical of Scientology, and who was followed and harassed by OSA. We know this because the filmmakers also interview the OSA spy who sifted through Heinemann’s garbage — a man named Norman Suchanek.

We also learn that Rinder, when he was running OSA, considered Caberta a “pain in the ass.”

Another highlight for me was the interview with French journalist Serge Faubert, who explains some of the mysterious problems with the French fraud prosecutions.

It’s also nice to see what cool digs Tiziano has in the hills above LA — and to see him confront one of the 70 different private investigators he’s observed following him and casing his house.

On the down side, it felt like the filmmakers wasted time trying to get an interview with Tommy Davis. By this time last year, it was becoming clear that he’d been dropped as chief spokesman of the church, and we hear he’s now spending time with his ill wife.

As Caberta says, the really interesting thing regarding OSA and Europe is the way Scientology continues to get support from the American government, even with so many revelations about its abuses in this country. The film could have used a little more focus on that, and less on all of its travels to various American Scientology sites. Just my 2 cents.

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Samantha Domingo Featured in the Sun

Last July, we brought the exclusive story that Placido Domingo Jr. had decided to leave Scientology after it hassled him about his ex-wife, Samantha.

Samantha had left Scientology earlier and had dared to visit Marty Rathbun in Texas. Placido told us that this upset church officials so much, they insisted that he “disconnect” from her or face retaliation.

Although he and Samantha had divorced, they remain close friends and help each other raise their three daughters. Placido told church attorneys that he refused their suggestion to break away from his ex.

In retaliation, Placido told us, the church leaked private information he had told auditors in confidence by way of attack websites. Disgusted with the church’s behavior, Placido told us he was washing his hands of Scientology.

Now, the Sun in the UK has a great story about Samantha and her own experience in Scientology, which included being forced to have an abortion during a previous marriage.

(Samantha is just one of many former Sea Org women who say they were forced to have abortions in order to keep up the relentless 100-hour work weeks in the organization.)

From the Sun piece…

Sam found herself falling for a colleague called Michael and they married. Despite being on the pill, she got pregnant. The church’s response chills her to this day.

She said: “I was told in no uncertain terms this was not to be — and to have an abortion as it was for the greater good.

“It felt like I had just committed a criminal act, the way they reacted. I was full of shock and horror. As I believed in this organisation at the time, the only option was utter compliance. My passport had been taken from me, so I couldn’t just pack up and fly home.

“An ‘ethics officer’ helped arrange an abortion at a free clinic and I was given a week off to recover and then I was back on post as if nothing had happened.

“Michael and I divorced a short time later.”

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Scientology Sunday Funnies!

Just about every day, we receive the latest wacky and tacky fundraising mailers put out by Scientology orgs around the world. Thank you, tipsters, for forwarding them to us! On Sundays, we love to reveal them to you.

This week, rather than a colorful flier, we have an e-mail that was forwarded to us late Friday night. We had to agree with the tipster who sent it to us, who wrote: “Oh, dear! Heads will roll. David Miscavige is supposed to be at this grand opening. I hope he had more than one day’s notice. My OT powers sense a big flap.”

From: OC Ideal Org Live! [mailto:cofsorangecounty@earthlink.net]
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 1:08 PM
To: Orange County
Subject: Re: OC Grand Opening.

Hello!

Due to unforeseen construction delays we are postponing our grand opening and it will not be tomorrow the 19th of May. We can assure you that we are very close and we will be opening very soon!

Watch for our calls and emails informing you of the specifics and please spread the word to any other people you know that the opening will not be this Saturday.

If you have any questions or want more info on the opening feel free to contact any staff member at: 714-544-5491

See you at the Grand Opening!

Thank you,

OC Org Grand Opening I/C

We also received several e-mails this week which were all on a similar theme — Super Power.

Apparently, there’s suddenly a frantic effort to staff up and sell the Super Power rundowns — a sign that Miscavige is trying to keep what appeared to be a promise at the Birthday Event in March to open the Super Power building by June 21. (I’m getting oily just thinking of it.)

From: “Superpower”
Date: May 13, 2012 4:15:15 PM CDT
To:
Subject: A Message From The Super Power Project In-Charge

Our future holds a tremendous rocket ride for a being. With the 12 rundowns of Super Power, each and every Scientologist will be armed with the tools to truly effectively lead and master life. With your 57 channels of communication rehabilitated, your perceptions as a theta being will be at a level you have always dreamed of. And with the Cause Resurgence Rundown, a being will be totally aligned with total power and ability to be cause across the dynamics. These rundowns will drastically change the face of Earth.

It is the purpose of the Church of Scientology Religious Trust to expand the religion of Scientology and through its Super Power Expansion Project, you have been or have an opportunity to be part of the most historical project ever in Scientology. We are building our OT base and the center from which true power will be channeled across the planet. Its establishment of the entire New Flag Land Base is a strategic step in the plans to fully clear Earth.

I encourage you to see this project to full completion with your contributions. Our plans are to be delivering Super Power to you in the near future so that you will take this new level of power and ability and change the world. I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Sincerely,

Lauri Webster
Super Power Project In-Charge

Contact your Super Power Representative today at:

Phone
Flag On-Board Representative: (727) 467-6946
VIP Representative: (727) 467-5039
Europe Representative: +45-33737799

E-mail
Flag Office: superpowerproject@earthlink.net
Europe Office: superpowereurope@gmail.com

Address
Flag Office: 319 S Garden Ave
Clearwater, FL 33756

Europe Office: Jernbanegade 6
1608 Copenhagen V
Denmark

What Is Super Power?

In 1978, LRH wrote about Super Power in Ron’s Journal 30: “1978, The Year of Lightning New Fast Tech.” He called it:

“A super fantastic, but confidential series of Rundowns that can be done on anyone whether Dianetic Clear or not that puts the person into fantastic shape unleashing the Super Power of a thetan… It consists of 12 separate high‑power rundowns which are brand new and enter realms of the tech never before approached.” — LRH

This was the year that he researched and released New Era Dianetics and NED for OTs. He called Super Power the most major technical breakthrough of that year! Super Power first addresses barriers to a person’s ability to DO and to OPERATE, and handles these. Then the person is raised up to greater awareness of his environment. And finally it raises his competence level in his activities in life. Super Power raises the power of a thetan!

LRH made a discovery about perception during his research of these rundowns. A being has 57 perceptions and each one of them has channels along which he can sense things. LRH found that difficulties along a particular sense channel can exist despite there being nothing wrong with the sense channel itself. On Super Power, drills exist which train a thetan to perceive along each of the 57 sense channels.

Imagine doing a process that increases the ability to perceive magnetic fields, or the saline content of the body, or compass direction. How about having every one of the 57 sense channels open and operating and completely under one’s control? That’s just one of the 12 rundowns!

During the early days of research into Super Power, LRH found a new phenomenon and said:

“Apparently during the last decade, a new factor has entered into the culture that was previously only rare, possibly due to lowered educational standards or the declining nature of the culture itself, but most probably due to one of the common drugs or medications or even food deficiencies. A percentage which was only one or two seems to have jumped up to eighty or ninety. This factor is visible in a decline in the ability to tell identities, similarities and differences. The factor can be called ‘Disassociation’.”

– LRH

Disassociation from situations, present time and in life, is a severe barrier to a being’s ability and power. Think of a time you were trying to concentrate on something but were distracted. You didn’t get much done. Well, multiply that to the nth degree in all activities in life and you get an idea of the extreme this can go to. Not everyone by a long shot suffers from it to this degree, but it can be present in varying degrees, any of which is HANDLED on Super Power.

These separate rundowns, audited in order, will take a thetan through the exact actions in sequence that he would use to perform effectively and dynamically on any post or job. It starts with handling a person’s ability to be fully in‑ethics on all dynamics, then it addresses and handles any reason why a person might be stuck at a low point on the tone scale, his ability to predict consequences, his ability to assimilate and use data, to make decisions, and to be at cause over what occurs in his life.

Super Power was very appropriately named by LRH as it unleashes the true power of a thetan. Super Power does not replace the Grade Chart and can be run on any pc anywhere on the Grade Chart providing he is not in the middle of another major rundown and has handled any harmful effects of drugs, alcohol and medicine. The results are spectacular wherever the pc receives it.

Right now Scientologists are in a unique position. Normally tech breakthroughs are put together, printed and released and then the public have the opportunity to come in and take the new service. This release is very different as one has the opportunity to be part of getting out the release of a brilliant piece of LRH tech which will make world clearing a reality in the not too distant future. It is a once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity. Be part of spearheading the way now!

THE 12 SUPER POWER RUNDOWNS

Ethics and Justice Repair Rundown
Personal Revival Rundown
Consequences Rundown
Bright Think Rundown
Study Rundown
False Data and Loss Rundown (Part I)
False Data Rundown (Part II)
Cause Rundown.
Power of Choice Rundown
Perception Rundown
Perception Drills
Learning Drills
Physical Universe Drills

SOME OF THE THINGS THESE RUNDOWNS CAN ACCOMPLISH ARE:

Releasing a person from out‑ethics on all flows on all dynamics.

Removing any reason for a thetan to remain at or below death on the tone scale.

Unsticking a person from points of disassociation on the track.

Putting him in shape to predict and build a future.

Removing the causes of any inability to assimilate data and learn.

Freeing a person from a fundamental mechanism which pins him to false data.

Straightening out his ability to think.

Restoring his power of choice over data, situations and activities.

Heightening his cause level.

Sharpening his perceptics and in many cases restoring perceptics the person had thought to be lost or impaired or non‑existent.

(Another breakthrough LRH made during the time he was researching Super Power was that a thetan can have missing or impaired perceptics stemming from reasons quite in addition to case and he developed a dynamite handling for this.)

Orienting a person to his activities in life, from the new viewpoint of having had all the gains from the earlier rundowns.

Late in 1978, LRH had auditors brought in from all over to train on Super Power and this was the advent of the New World Corps.

However, he found that the standards of the TRs and metering needed to deliver Super Power were lacking and from this need to make auditors with the presence and basic auditing skills to deliver Super Power, he researched this, which led to the developments resulting in the Key To Life Course which was followed by the Hubbard Life Orientation Course.

Super Power is the original tech breakthrough which led to all these other tech releases and now that these other courses (which represent steps needed to ensure proper training of Super Power auditors) are firmly in place, Super Power itself can be released.

Here’s a flier featuring the Turnaround King himself…

And finally, here’s a real treat from the UK: shiny happy people at Saint Hill Manor!

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Commenters of the Week!

Last week, we kicked things off by breaking news about the lyrics to “So Long,” a second Lisa Marie Presley song from her album Storm and Grace that appears to describe her break from Scientology.

John P. agreed with us that this second song seems to settle things…

The lyrics to this song added to the last one seem to remove any doubt that Lisa Marie Presley is out. She might launch an outright attack, or she might smile coyly and deflect any questions about whether the lyrics are specifically about Scientology, unless the church, under crazed Chihuahua-like leader David Miscavige, does something to “fair game” her, then she goes to war.

TheHoleDoesNotExist noted that this news was coming on a significant date…

Happy Mother’s Day, Lisa Marie Presley! And welcome to the real world. I wish you the best outcome with all your family huddled around you and with you on this. You have given your children the best gift any Mom can give her family: Free will. By now you have realized that is what Scientology takes away, one choice, one decision, and one manipulation at a time until that day comes when even your children or parents are put on the potential enemy list.

And anne captured the mood of many, who’d been feeling a bit down…

Been a tad depressed ever since the Deb Cook case settled,and feeling somewhat defeated. But along comes Lisa Marie singing this song,and once again I feel the warmth of the sun. Here comes the sun….. Bless you Lisa is all I can say, bless you.

Monday, we noticed that Lisa Marie had removed nearly every mention of Scientology from her website — and soon after we pointed out one last remnant, it too disappeared. But later, some mentions of CCHR reappeared on the site, so who knows.

Kate Bornstein offered an explanation for how Lisa Marie’s songs could so plainly describe her defection, at the same time that her public statements are more ambiguous.

I think I understand why she’s not saying “Scientology.” When I first started talking about Scientology, years ago, I also used veiled language. When you’re a member of that group for as long as she was, you’re scared to speak out at first. It’s websites like this that finally give a person the courage to call a cult a cult. What she’s saying — veiled as it is — is already powerful. I look forward to the day she knows she can speak and sing freely.

Bruce Hines answered Kate’s statement with his own…

I can corroborate this. After I left I was scared to say anything to anybody. Plus, I still avoided researching Scientology on the Internet. Gradually, I started to read things online that were negative about the Co$. It became clear to me that many others had had similar experiences to mine. One tends to think that the things that happened to oneself were isolated incidents, not general. Then, via the Internet, I got back in touch with Chuck Beatty, who was a friend in the Sea Org. He pointed out that Dan Garvin had posted a lot about his Sea Org experiences with no retaliation from the Co$. But I was still very careful. Slowly I became more relaxed about it. Then some family members close to me, who were still in the Co$, disconnected. Several months later a reporter (Richard Leiby of the Washington Post) contacted me, via Chuck, and wanted to interview me. As I had no more family to lose at that point, I agreed to the interview, though still with some trepidation. This was over a year and a half after I had left. From there, I gradually gained more courage to speak out more. But it definitely is something, in my opinion, that goes through stages. None of it would have happened without the knowledge and opinions available on the Internet. It is heartening to realize that someone working for Lisa Marie, or she herself, is reading about Scientology on the Internet.

On Wednesday, we brought you the story of Derek Bloch, a young man who had grown up in Scientology, discovered he was gay, and then became disaffected with the church. After he wrote up his experiences anonymously at the Ex-Scientologist Message Board, Scientology declared him a suppressive person and his entire family kicked him out of their house and “disconnected” from him.

Many of our readers expressed support for Derek. We were moved by all of them. There was this message from Chocolate Velvet…

Derek, first of all, congratulations on breaking away! As a mother, I am utterly outraged at the way your parents handed you over to Scientology. No child should ever be bereft of his parents’ concern and protection. One day, they will wake up to their mistakes, and I assure you the grief will not be something they can audit away. I am glad you are telling your story, and building a life outside of the Sea Org. It is so hard to leave behind what you are brought up to believe, and I applaud your courage. There are lots of people who know how it is, because they’ve been there — they’ll be reaching out to offer support now that your story is spreading. It is very sad that your family has chosen not to be a part of your life — but we all know the coercion that goes on, so bless ‘em and I hope they wake up soon. As for you, Derek, may your life continue to get better, bigger, and more truly free.

Patty Moher wrote from the heart…

Derek, thanks so much for your courage and taking a stand against this cult. I was a homophobic Scientologist for 27 years and thought and felt as your parents do. Fortunately for me, when I left the cult and stripped myself of cult thinking my homophobia left me. Now I am a strong supporter of gay/lesbian rights and my very closest and dearest friends that I love with all my life are a lesbian couple that are like my sisters. So dear Derek, don’t give up hope on your family. They too may come to their senses one day.

And Artoo45 got angry…

As a gay man Derek’s story makes my blood boil. As a human being it brings tears to my eyes. Mr. Miscavige is a walking example of Hubbard’s tech in action. Both tortured and torturer, his virulent homophobia combined with his masculinity obsession says only one thing to me. I grieve for the abuses he must have endured to end up as such a sociopath, but not as much as I grieve for those who have been his victims.

On Friday, we reported that an enterprising New Zealand reporter, having read our stories on Lisa Marie Presley’s songs, asked her outright about their lyrics seeming to describe her defection from Scientology. She begged off, but didn’t deny that her songs are about her leaving.

Gina Smith offered this explanation for what Lisa Marie might be going through…

I can understand she wouldn’t want the publicity about her blowing to overshadow what seems to be some pretty decent music that she’s made. All Lisa Marie’s life she’s been overshadowed by famous parents and husbands, even her religion, so it’s understandable she wants to let the music be the focus for just once. Something she created on her own. Heck, I saw a tabloid story about one of her children and the empasis was all on ‘Elvis’ grandson’. It has to be rough when the world can’t even give you credit for your own kid.

Mimi the Great pointed out that Lisa Marie has a lot to lose if she’s more plain…

A Lisa Marie Presley non-answer is just as telling. If she were still a happy parishioner….or a parishioner in any sense, a non answer wouldn’t be acceptable. If she’s left, it’s obvious she has family IN, a non answer may be her attempt to keep that family intact for as long as she can.

And finally, wannabeclear offered this well-reasoned assessment…

If Lisa Marie wanted to shut down any talk that her lyrics are anti-Scientology, she could have answered that question by simply saying “no.” If pressed further she could have then said that as a rule she doesn’t discuss what her lyrics are about or religion. Instead she said she was backed into a corner. That seems pretty telling. Why would she feel backed into a corner if it weren’t true?

Writing those lyrics was a huge step for someone who has been indoctrinated and influenced (and damaged) by this cult for so long. Despite the brave declaration in her music, I wouldn’t discount the amount of fear of influence that must still exist for her. Creating a statement in a piece of art is one thing, and the fact that it’s art provides cover the intentions of the lyrics — a sort of plausible deniability. Whereas, coming out and saying, “yes, this shit fucked me up and I’m done with it” to a journalist is a whole other level that could be be enormously daunting.

I think it’s natural that recovery would not be an overnight process. It takes a long time to shake the damage that’s been done and despite the need to do so, that cognitive dissonance is an ugly beast that can rear its head even after the spell has been broken. The removal and reinstatement of the CCHR propaganda on her website would seem to be evidence of that ambivalence.

Well, this was a busy week. And my personal thanks if you’ve managed to plow through all this material in what turned out to be quite a voluminous Sunday post.

Please remember to check our Facebook author page for schedules and updates!

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Tony Ortega has been the editor in chief of the Village Voice since March, 2007. He started writing about Scientology in 1995. You can reach him by e-mail at tortega@villagevoice.com, and if you ask nicely he’ll put you on his mailing list for notifications of new stories. You can also catch his alerts at Twitter (@VoiceTonyO), at his Facebook author page, on Pinterest, a Tumblr, and even this new Google Plus doohickey.

New readers might want to check out our primer, “What is Scientology?” Another good overview is our series from last summer, “Top 25 People Crippling Scientology.” At the top of every story, you’ll see the “Scientology” category which, if you click on it, will bring up all of our most recent stories.

As for hot subjects we’ve covered here, you may have heard about Debbie Cook, the former church official who rebelled and was sued by Scientology. You might have also heard about the Super Power Building, Scientology’s “Mecca,” whose secrets were revealed here. We also reported how Scientology spied on its own most precious object, Tom Cruise. (We wrote Tom an open letter that he has yet to respond to.) Have you seen a Scientology ad on TV lately? We debunked some of the claims in that 2-minute commercial you might have seen while watching Glee or American Idol.

Other stories have looked at Scientology’s policy of “disconnection” that is tearing families apart. You may also have heard something about the Sea Org experiences of the Paris sisters, Valeska and Melissa, and their friend Ramana Dienes-Browning. We’ve also featured Paulette Cooper, who wrote about Scientology back in the day, and Janet Reitman, Hugh Urban, and the team at the Tampa Bay Times, who write about it today. And there’s plenty more coming.

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Article source: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/05/scientology_ursula_caberta_samantha_domingo.php

Hewlett-Packard may layoff as many as 30,000 workers. Photo by Flickr user Vernon Chan

With the Facebook IPO finally behind us, it looks like another Silicon Valley company will be dominating the headlines this week.

Unfortunately, instead of instant millionaires, the storyline will feature job seekers if tech giant Hewlett-Packard indeed lays off up to 30,000 workers, as the Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday.  If it plays out, the Journal said, it’d represent about 8 percent of HP’s workforce and be on the largest layoffs since the start of the recession.

It’s grim news for No. 10 on the Fortune 500 list.  And you probably have some local links to the story. With nearly 350,000 workers worldwide, according to the company’s fast-facts sheet,  there are probably some HP employees wondering about their fate in your market.  You can look for branch offices, but keep in mind that these days, sales and service employees in the IT world often have virtual workspaces and are on the go.  And here’s a list of the company’s customer education centers nationwide; that would be a starting point as well.

It’s unlikely that HP workers will bare their souls to reporters before they know their own fates, of course, but you can make contact and have human-interest stories lined up if the cuts affect people in your region.  And often these large workforce reductions include buyout offers or take into account natural attrition, so it is unlikely that 30,000 pink slips will be handed out next week.   (A story on the pros and cons of taking a voluntary buyout in today’s jobs market would be a catchy personal finance angle.)

Then there’s the Department of Labor’s WARN Act; that stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification and requires employers to give 60 days notice of mass layoffs.  Nothing I’ve seen indicates that HP has notified workers of its plans so this too probably provides a buffer zone between this week’s news (which is expected in conjunction with HP’s earnings report) and the actual terminations.

Most activity that meets the government’s definition of “mass layoff” doesn’t hit our radar screens, but if you don’t want to chase local Hewlett-Packard employees, you might use the headlines as a peg for a piece on other layoff activity.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Mass Layoffs page, private nonfarm employers jettisoned more than 180,000 workers in the first quarter of 2012 through 1,077 mass layoff activities.   The quarterly report features quite a few tables that slice the data by industry, by worker characteristics and by state; you should be able to use the tables to present an update on layoff activity in your neck of the woods. 

Related stories would include an update on unemployment benefits in your state (some legislatures are reducing them) and career-related resources for the unemployed.

Article source: http://businessjournalism.org/2012/05/20/amid-rumored-hewlett-packard-cuts-layoff-activity/

By Pat Corso

Special to The Pilot

The accompanying ­article, although “urban” in its subject and context, is more relevant to Moore County than one might think.

This being the graduation season, we celebrate our best and brightest as they move on. Although as parents we want them to, we probably don’t give much thought at the time to our hope that they might someday return, bringing their talents back home.

The desire to leave is natural, but the ability to create the opportunities that can bring them back is our responsibility.

There has been much written in The Pilot recently about efforts to create an innovative and vibrant entrepreneurial environment. The model that we at Partners in Progress have been following is found in Durham.

Their success is in developing centers for technology incubation (life sciences and gaming) at the American Underground in the Tobacco Warehouse District and business incubation (for profit and nonprofit) at Bull City Forward.

Both of these models are located in downtown locations, which introduce a spirit of innovation and enthusiasm that not too many years ago would have been thought impossible.

As improbable as it may seem, we have the opportunity to do the same thing here in Moore County. We have several technology companies here now, including Meridian Zero Degrees in Aberdeen, Accelerated Technology Laboratories in West End , ATEX in Pine Bluff, and Hirease and Southern Software in Southern Pines.

All of these were startup companies founded by local entrepreneurs. We can also use the model to create startups in other fields, including business and the arts. (More on that another time.)

These companies and many others like them started here and want to stay here. However, when we asked them their single most important issue, their answer was, “We can’t find qualified employees.”

This has forced some local companies to open “satellite” operations in Raleigh and others to recruit qualified talent from as far away as Charleston, S.C. They come for two or three weeks, go home for two weeks, then come back again.

One local company literally recruits scientists from India and other countries, as we simply aren’t turning out enough from our own universities.

Recently, Partners in Progress sponsored a “summit” with Sandhills Community College to begin a dialogue to address their needs through new curriculum and training.

The conversation between the two groups was stunning, as neither was aware of the other’s respective needs or the resources available. This led to a conversation with Dr. John Dempsey, SCC president, during our annual baseball spring-training sojourn regarding ways to address their issues.

Creating a “pipeline” of talented locals for those existing companies and attracting similar companies led to an idea.

It builds on the Moore County school system’s recent dramatic success in being named the recipient of the very competitive multimillion-dollar Mebane Grant for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) infusion training.

Selected teachers at the elementary, middle and high school levels will be trained through innovative career preparation and professional development.

The “idea,” then, is to consider creating a technology/ medical high school, a possible STEM-focused “magnet” school.

It could be designed to provide such things as “early college,” associate degrees upon graduation, medical and technology internships, etc., not unlike similar schools primarily found in metropolitan areas.

Ours would be unique for a rural community and provide us with an incredibly valuable arrow in our economic development quiver.

Partners in Progress has hired Christopher Gergen and Bull City Forward to conduct a feasibility study over the next four months to determine our ability to become a center for rural innovation and entrepreneurship.

A cross section of community “stakeholders” will be involved in this process, with a final report and plan of action by the end of September.

Jim Goodmon, owner of Capital Broadcasting, the Durham Bulls and the Tobacco Warehouse District, and a local homeowner, recently told me to always remember that “economic development is community development.” Nothing we can do is more important in rebuilding our local economy, attracting young professionals and giving our kids a reason to come home.

Article source: http://www.thepilot.com/news/2012/may/20/tech-startups-could-play-key-role-here/

But the underdog Crusaders couldn’t hold a 2-1 advantage as the seventh-seeded Owls roared back with four runs in the top of the sixth inning for a 5-2 win.

Oregon Tech first baseman Janelle Cromie delivered the key blow with a one-out, two-run homer over the left-field fence off MU starter Hallie Minch (14-10).

Shauna Collins and Ashley Sfetku each followed with RBI singles as the Owls collected six of their 13 hits during the surge.

After Arielle Cox led off the first inning with a single, shortstop Jackie Barley cleared the left-field fence with a two-run homer to chase Oregon Tech starter Melissa Logan and stake the Crusaders (33-13) to a 2-0 advantage.

But Oregon Tech reliever Taylor Schmidt (26-4) closed the door on MU by allowing just two hits and a walk the rest of the way. She struck out four with Minch and Kristen Drabek collecting the only other hits.

Freshman Angela Pavilanis got the final four outs after replacing Minch, who gave up all five earned runs on 13 hits.

Sara Coates went 3-for-4, while Ashleigh Larson, Jess Plummer and Melissa Logan added two hits apiece for Oregon Tech (40-7).

Article source: http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20120520/SPORTS06/205200528

The Yellow Jackets got on the board in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0 when Kelsi Weseman hit a RBI single to score Ashley Thomas. Tennessee-Martin tied the game in the bottom of the third with the only run of the game on a RBI double by Jenny Bain.

Georgia Tech would go up for good in the fifth inning by scoring a pair of runs, and then in the top of the seventh they knocked around starting pitcher Chelsea Jones by giving up six runs.

With the win, Georgia Tech now takes on South Alabama Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET with the winner getting to take on Alabama on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

For more on Georgia Tech check out From The Rumble Seat

Article source: http://atlanta.sbnation.com/2012/5/19/3031441/2012-womens-college-world-series-georgia-tech