Jon’s Blog
Thoughts on the Public Execution of Nidal Hasan
By Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences – USA Today Network, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8353147 Nidal Hasan, if President Trump has his way, will be the first person to be publicly executed in the US for 90 years. It will be the first US execution ever to be televised. Four years ago, I co-authored…
A review of Jamie Mustard’s Child X: A Memoir of Slavery, Poverty, Celebrity, and Scientology
More about retribution than redemption At birth, Jamie Mustard’s mother abandoned him in what he calls Scientology’s ‘baby factory’ in Los Angeles. Hundreds of children around the globe suffered shameful neglect from the few ‘nannies’ tasked with their care. Mustard’s story is harrowing. I can confirm from interviews with him and others subjected to…
Zakir Hussain musical genius – a tribute
Ustad Zakir Hussain passed away on December 15th, 2024, aged 73. He was one of the greatest musicians of the generation; a significant contributor to world music through collaborations with George Harrison, Van Morrison, Earth Wind and Fire and many others including Mahavishnu John McLaughlin in both Shakti and Remember Shakti. Zakir Hussain also…
Little Sister is Listening to You – artificial intelligence and undue influence
Can digital assistants be used as agents of undue influence? AIs like Siri, Alexa, Cortana, Now, M and Bixby help us to send messages, play music, and set reminders. We can even insult them to get a witty comeback, or ask them to tell us a joke – and then demand they tell us…
Hubbard and the Occult
Preface This article is the first in a series of articles based upon research into the roots of the Hubbardian philosophy that gave birth to the “Sacred Scriptures” of the Church of Scientology The Office of Special Affairs, the elite Secret Intelligence unit of the Church of Scientology, was well aware that this report…
‘Never believe a hypnotist’ – an investigation of L. Ron Hubbard’s statements about hypnosis and its relationship to his Dianetics.
2014 redraft of the original 1995 paper There have been many assertions that cult groups utilize hypnotic techniques. A good example is Persinger, Carrey & Suess in TM and Cult Mania, where the relatively straightforward techniques of Transcendental Meditation are analysed to show their hypnotic content. However, there has been little analysis of such…