Canberra org picket Thursday 9/3/2000

Louise Cook, Sun 12 Mar 2000

From: Louise <louisecook@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Canberra org picket Thursday 9/3/2000
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 14:13:29 +1100
Message-ID: <diqlcs44raig6a6e7k5r21arq6u5kjicsd@4ax.com>

While driving in to the city centre on the morning of our picket I was
listening to the science show on the radio.  The announcer was
discussing Einstein and how much his theories changed humanity's
perspective on reality, affecting our understanding of time, space and
matter, he then quipped that Einstein had infact missed a big
opportunity - he could have become filthy rich starting his own
religion like the Scientologists.  I had a good laugh, parked the car.

I met with my fellow picketers there were three and a half of us in
all.  Two signs and four different types of flyers.  We proceeded to
~borg corner~ where Anna Dethridge likes to stand with her clipboard
accosting passing people with her ~Do you mind if I ask you a few
questions?~.  She saw me and my two co-picketers approaching with our
signs and piles of leaflets.  She turned her heels and ran back into
the borg, returning soon after with hubby, Dean, she was her usual
surly self.  She said that I was only there because I was upset about
something I had ~lost~ (???) She also said that I was going to lose
something soon that began with a *b* and ends with an *e*. (My bike??)
I laughed and said something like ~Oh now you're talking in riddles~
and proceeded to ask Dean and Anna if they knew that the org had hired
a Private Investigator, who probably cost more for a few days than
they earned in an entire year.  I restrained myself from attacking
them personally,  not mentioning how they *lost* their home (they were
evicted), and how they have *lost* their humanity.

When Lara(OSA) returned from lunch, she quickly dispatched them back
into the borg, she knows what BAD PR those two are, how their public
outbursts are embarrassing for the org and how poor their comm tech
is.

We picketed for about an hour, on the corner, outside the org and in
the middle of the pedestrian mall.  We kept trying to leave, but the
public kept wanting to ask more questions and at least half of the
leaflets I gave out were to people who approached me and asked for
one.  The others I gave out to people after asking ~Do you want to
find out about Scientology's space alien scam?~  The public was really
supportive.  So many people said ~Good on you~ and ~It's about time
something was done about them~.  There was offers of assistance. I was
very encouraged.  Quite a number of people said they had read about
Scientology on the net.   I wandered around with my sign which read
*$cientology is a bait and switch scam* , yelling ~Find out about
Xenu, Scientology's space alien scam~.  We took photos and handed out
hundreds of leaflets (can't say how many exactly, at least 200).  I
was handing out the *Xemu* flyer and the *$cientology's $pace alien
$cam.*

Quite a number of people said that they already had seen the flyer and
indeed, at a couple of houses I have visited I have seen copies of the
flyer.  The Xemu one is very popular.  Canberra is a small city, with
a population of about 250,000, and *everyone* knows *everyone* so to
speak, six degrees of separation has been reduced to only one or two
in Canberra.  the word is spreading fast here.

I don't have time for a more detailed report so this will have to do,
Cheers all,
Louise