While dodging process servers, Scientology leader asserts that all is well

Over the last couple of days, Mike Rinder has documented some really interesting things about what David Miscavige was doing on New Year’s Eve at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida.

New Year’s Eve used to be one of the five or six big international events on the Scientology calendar, with a major taping held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in mid-December and then shown at orgs around the world on the actual New Year’s Eve.

But since the pandemic hit, Miscavige has settled for a smaller event in the ballroom at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, which is the centerpiece of Scientology’s spiritual mecca, the “Flag Land Base.”

We first reported about Miscavige holding the smaller New Year’s Eve there two years ago, to bring in 2021. He also showed up at the Fort Harrison in 2022. But Mike was right to ask, with process servers looking for Miscavige, would he dare to show up this time?

In fact, Miscavige did show up, and Mike was able to find out some interesting things about what went on from a Facebook item posted by someone who was in attendance. According to that post, Miscavige promised that things were finally going to go back to normal for Scientology in 2023, and that he planned to open four new Ideal Orgs in the first quarter of the year.

(The new Ideal Orgs in Austin and Chicago have been ready to go for two years. We’re not certain which of the other projects will be ready to go that soon. We’re interested in your suggestions: We know that several of our readers keep a close eye on this.)

The Facebook item also indicated that Patrons of the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) were celebrated, going up to Diamond Maximus With Honors, which means someone has donated $45 million. (We’re guessing that’s Florida businessman Tom Cummins.)

We will eagerly be awaiting a new copy of Impact magazine, which will list each of the donors and their new status levels. (Here are the most recent results, when wealthy donors were celebrated in a November issue.)

The item also said that Miscavige revealed this year’s new Super Bowl ad, and its title, which it suggested was “Live Again.” (We’re dubious about that title, but we’ll soon see.) For coverage of the previous Super Bowl ads, please see this recent piece, and you can see all of the ads from 2013 to 2022 here.

Anyway, we managed to get forwarded a flier that shows the other orgs around the country will get a chance to see Miscavige and the New Year’s celebration this Saturday when video of the event is shown there. (This particular image is for the party they’ll hold on L. Ron Hubbard Way in Los Angeles at Scientology’s “Pacific Area Command,” the Big Blue complex just off Sunset Boulevard.)

Well, Miscavige has really laid down the gauntlet for 2023: Back to “normal” this year, and four Ideal Orgs in the first quarter. We can hardly wait to see if he delivers!

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Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

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