Articles on the Village Voice getting More Bizarre by the Week.

And, as tony likes to say, this one's a real doozy!

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/05/amanda_palmer_dramatically_answers_some_doubters_about_her_connection_to_scientology.php

 Personally I am less interested in Amanda Palmer and what she has to say and far more interested in some of the comments, especially by one Robin Scott.

Neil's father, David Gaiman, was a really nice and charming man, intelligent, hard-working, highly effective and dedicated, very popular and well-liked by many. David held a very senior position within the Church, not just their UK spokesman; he was for many years the Deputy Guardian for Public Relations World Wide. I knew them both back at St Hill in the 1970s, and David performed the naming ceremony for our son, Edward, in 1982. I think Neil gained a great deal from his upbringing within Scientology; I believe his impressive success owes a lot to that, but he has always been silent on the subject, which doesn't do him credit, in my view. He should acknowledge the source of much of his inspiration.I will be fascinated to see what you discover about this, Tony - good story, my friend!

He goes on to say:

David Gaiman was not only a senior Scientology exec; he was also a successful businessman in his own right, with a charming wife and a lovely family. So Neil grew up in a privileged situation, with every comfort, a supportive family, and in the centre of what was at that time a fascinating and stimulating group at St Hill, largely devoid of all today's abuses. Hubbard, for all his sins, was a successful science fiction writer; and we all know that Scientology is full of science fiction! My impression of Neil, then and now, is that he benefitted enormously from growing up in that fertile environment. I think it has contributed to his success.

The Scientology organisation of the 1970s was dramatically different to what it has tragically become now under Miscavige and his cronies. To be honest, I do look back at that time as a golden age. It was exciting, exhilarating, there were lots of fantastic people involved; the early days in Clearwater were spectacular - we all felt we were part of something truly amazing, that might indeed help to save the world. We were full of youthful idealism and optimism. I was lucky enough to meet my beautiful wife Adrienne - we've lived happily ever after, ever since! For us it worked, thankfully. We left early in 1981, as we sensed that the organisation was becoming increasingly authoritarian, with an obsession with money.It's no coincidence that, when Miscavige took control in 1982, one of the first things he did was to wipe out the GO, since it was the only arm of Scientology which had the potential to curb his rise to power and moderate his behaviour. Once they were gone, he was firmly in the driving seat, and has been ever since. Funnily enough, I knew him too; he was actually a bright kid, also from a very nice family - no sense of what he was to become, ironically.

And he goes on;

Noah, I think it's a question of order of magnitude. I'm not saying that the fault lines didn't exist earlier, but on a completely different scale. During my time in the 1970s, I was aware of perhaps half a dozen people who had been declared SP; it was a very rare occurrence.

Nowadays there are literally thousands. Yes, people were tossed off boats, or children locked in a chain locker - but these were rare and isolated occurrences, not the constant systemic abuse we witness today. In my eight years in the Sea Org, I never witnessed a single act of physical violence. And, until NOTs in 1978, prices were pretty reasonable. As for infiltrating governments, I always thought that was a cool idea!
And, instead of focusing on the negatives, be aware that there were many more positives at that time. Most of my contemporaries experienced life-changing wins from Scientology auditing and training. They wouldn't have stayed otherwise, and there was no coercion.

I find myself in a curiously paradoxical situation: the true believers, who consider every word LRH wrote is gospel truth, dislike me because I was among the first to criticise him - whereas the haters, who consider every word he wrote was a complete scam, dislike me because I dare to defend the man! Lose/lose scenario for me - I get it in the ear from both sides, alternately! But I believe that my assessment of the man and his work, positioned between these two extremes, is a more balanced and nuanced perspective - and rational, rather than irrational.

Like it or not, LRH had some amazing people working for him - and David Gaiman was one of the very best.

Recently this same person and his side kick Andrew Runagall caused a lot of trouble on a face book chat page.Whilst I am not going to get into it here, I will say this, this Robin Scott talks bollachs. Be good to yourself do the research.

Deputy Guardian for PR W/W, who in the 1970s ordered the planting of false information in US Security Agency computers "to hold up American security to ridicule." He was a GO official for the whole period of the GO's existence (1966-83), was briefly purged in the 1980s but is now rehabilitated and is currently active in Russia. As a profitable sideline, he provides UK Scientologists with Hubbard's chemical concoctions (such as GUK) from his East Grinstead business, G&G Foods.

http://www.xenu.net/archive/go/whoswho.htm