"Siberia USA"-1955 plan

[Romuva]

I was wondering if anyone had the document of a 1955 plan by American
Physchiatrists to start a institution in Alaska.

October 2006 David Miscavaige interview.

Dave mentions the plan by the physchaitrists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H6BBItttq0


Was it true or sketchy like Brainwashing manual?

[Romuva]

Emma,just delete this if you feel it will cause potential problems
for your website.


No problem,I was just curious.

[oudeis]

I was wondering if anyone had the document of a 1955 plan by American
Physchiatrists to start a institution in Alaska.

October 2006 David Miscavaige interview.

Dave mentions the plan by the physchaitrists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H6BBItttq0


Was it true or sketchy like Brainwashing manual?

It was true.

The document was called 'The Alaska Mental Health Bill', HR 6376, and it passed the House of Representatives in January 1956. This bill would have empowered any friend, peace officer, doctor or psychiatrist to institute commitment proceedings on anyone, with no recourse.

After civil rights groups and Scientologists dubbed it the 'Siberia Bill' and organized a letter writing campaign against the bill, the involuntary commitment part of the bill was killed. The bill was then defeated in the Senate. I don't have a copy of it.

[ChrisO]

Hi, I was directed here by a contact who suggested I might be interested in this thread. I'm an administrator on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ChrisO) who's currently looking into this very same issue, with a view to adding an article on the Alaska Mental Health Bill.

The controversy surrounding it is discussed by Michelle M. Nickerson in "The Lunatic Fringe Strikes Back: Conservative Opposition to the Alaska Mental Health Bill of 1956", in Robert D. Johnston (ed.), The Politics of Healing: histories of alternative medicine in twentieth-century North America (Routledge, 2004). The mental health bill was opposed primarily by far-right groups who saw it as a communist plot (the same groups also opposed fluoridization of tapwater on the same grounds). The opposition was led by groups such as the White Citizens' Council (a group which mainly campaigned to preserve Jim Crow), the American Public Relations Forum and the Women's Patriotic Committee on National Defense, who coined the nickname "Siberia Bill" for the legislation. At least some of the opposition was openly anti-Semitic, claiming that Zionists were behind the plan.

As for what happened to the bill, oudeis is incorrect - to quote Nickerson's article: "With just a few minor changes, the Alaska Mental Health Bill passed that summer. Political commentators emphasized the inevitability of the outcome. The Reporter announced that, "no longer hampered by sensationalized opposition, the Senate passed the Alaska Mental Health bill without dissent after a ten-minute debate." "In the end," wrote historian Clause-M. Naske in 1980, "reason prevailed." "

L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology seem to have played only a very minor role at best. A contact sent me a copy of the Congressional hearings into the bill, and neither Hubbard nor Scientology are mentioned anywhere. This isn't surprising when you consider that Scientology was a pretty small outfit at the time - probably only a few thousand members worldwide - whereas the Women's Patriotic Committee on National Defense claimed three million members. You can guess which group got more attention from the politicians!

Regarding the Brainwashing Manual, there is fairly strong evidence that it was concocted by L. Ron Hubbard in 1955. I haven't yet definitively determined why, but it's clear that he passed it on to others - it was entered into the Congressional Record by the campaigners against the Alaska Mental Health Bill and has been repeatedly republished by far-right organisations in the US and Australia. In fact, it's still in print - looking at Amazon.com, I see it was republished in a new edition as recently as this January (http://www.amazon.com/Synthesis-Russian-Brainwashing-Manual-Psychopolitics/dp/141161822X/sr=8-10/qid=1170113999/ref=sr_1_10/104-2846957-4141520?ie=UTF8&s=books).

[Emma]

Hi ChrisO,

Welcome to the board :)

It's a real pleasure to have you here. Your research skills are held in such high regard.

Your post certainly has cleaned up the hype and spin at : http://www.scientologytoday.org/corp/rights1.htm (http://www.scientologytoday.org/corp/rights1.htm)

Your websites were the clincher for me in deciding who was the lying and who was telling the truth in the LRH bio story.

I never got a chance to thank you for your hard work. It really helped me disentangle myself from the web of lies.

I hope you post here often---your insights on so many topics related to Scientology would be most welcome.

[probity]

I was wondering if anyone had the document of a 1955 plan by American Physchiatrists to start a institution in Alaska.

http://www.lisamcpherson.org/siberia_bill.htm

There it is.

[probity]

From Abebooks.com


Deterioration of Liberty-Classic CD, English. (ISBN: 1403111057)
Hubbard, L. Ron.
Bookseller: Antique Mall Books [IOBA]
(Fayetteville, GA, U.S.A.) Price: US$ 12.70
Quantity: 1 Shipping within U.S.A.: US$ 3.50

Book Description: Golden Era Productions., 2003. Lecture on the threats of freedom posed by such things as the Siberia Bill. Warning against the relentless erosion of individual rights, laying out what every person must know to guard against The Deterioration of Liberty. - Factory Sealed! ! Audiobook CD New In March 1965, L. Ron Hubbard was in Dublin, Ireland, pioneering the actions necessary to bring the benefits of Scientology to people anywhere on Earth. Even as the new offices at the fashionable 69 Merrion Square were being painted, Dubliners who days before had never heard of Scientology were enthusiastically lining up for service. Amid this burgeoning scene, Ron received an ominous cable from the Founding Church in Washington, DC. The US House of Representatives had passed a Siberia Bill, authorizing commitment of mental patients to a million acre facility in Alaska, without a legal trial or the patient even being present at the commitment hearing. The bill needed only ratification by the Senate to become law. At Ron s behest, Scientology organizations mobilized civic groups from coast to coast. No Siberia USA! echoed chillingly through the corridors of power. Pressure was felt, and organized psychiatry's plans to deny Americans their basic human rights died in the Senate. Upon his return to Washington in October, Ron briefed Scientologists on his activities in Dublin, which included disseminating in the streets, lecturing, running courses and setting up an organization, in a series of lectures known as the Organization Series. On November 22, he devoted one of these lectures to the threats of freedom posed by such things as the Siberia Bill. And he warned against the relentless erosion of individual rights, laying out what every person must know to guard against The Deterioration of Liberty.

What a guy. Howard Stern said this morning that LRH was one of the three people (living or dead) that he'd like to interview, because LRH was a bigger bullshitter than Stern himself.

[tarbaby]

Wow, we are indeed honored, Chris. Thanks for joining. I think this board will be very fruitful. You should share the addresses of related websites you host.

Dennis


Hi, I was directed here by a contact who suggested I might be interested in this thread. I'm an administrator on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ChrisO) who's currently looking into this very same issue, with a view to adding an article on the Alaska Mental Health Bill.

The controversy surrounding it is discussed by Michelle M. Nickerson in "The Lunatic Fringe Strikes Back: Conservative Opposition to the Alaska Mental Health Bill of 1956", in Robert D. Johnston (ed.), The Politics of Healing: histories of alternative medicine in twentieth-century North America (Routledge, 2004). The mental health bill was opposed primarily by far-right groups who saw it as a communist plot (the same groups also opposed fluoridization of tapwater on the same grounds). The opposition was led by groups such as the White Citizens' Council (a group which mainly campaigned to preserve Jim Crow), the American Public Relations Forum and the Women's Patriotic Committee on National Defense, who coined the nickname "Siberia Bill" for the legislation. At least some of the opposition was openly anti-Semitic, claiming that Zionists were behind the plan.

As for what happened to the bill, oudeis is incorrect - to quote Nickerson's article: "With just a few minor changes, the Alaska Mental Health Bill passed that summer. Political commentators emphasized the inevitability of the outcome. The Reporter announced that, "no longer hampered by sensationalized opposition, the Senate passed the Alaska Mental Health bill without dissent after a ten-minute debate." "In the end," wrote historian Clause-M. Naske in 1980, "reason prevailed." "

L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology seem to have played only a very minor role at best. A contact sent me a copy of the Congressional hearings into the bill, and neither Hubbard nor Scientology are mentioned anywhere. This isn't surprising when you consider that Scientology was a pretty small outfit at the time - probably only a few thousand members worldwide - whereas the Women's Patriotic Committee on National Defense claimed three million members. You can guess which group got more attention from the politicians!

Regarding the Brainwashing Manual, there is fairly strong evidence that it was concocted by L. Ron Hubbard in 1955. I haven't yet definitively determined why, but it's clear that he passed it on to others - it was entered into the Congressional Record by the campaigners against the Alaska Mental Health Bill and has been repeatedly republished by far-right organisations in the US and Australia. In fact, it's still in print - looking at Amazon.com, I see it was republished in a new edition as recently as this January (http://www.amazon.com/Synthesis-Russian-Brainwashing-Manual-Psychopolitics/dp/141161822X/sr=8-10/qid=1170113999/ref=sr_1_10/104-2846957-4141520?ie=UTF8&s=books).

[ChrisO]

Hi Emma, Dennis, thanks for the warm welcome!

To be honest, I'm semi-retired from the Scientology criticism scene these days. I've been working on improving some of the Wikipedia articles on Scn, in an on-and-off sort of way, to document some of the more obscure details. For instance the very convoluted production history of Battlefield Earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_Earth_%28film%29), the workings of the Oxford Capacity Analysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Capacity_Analysis), the story of Hubbard's favourite degree mill at Sequoia University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_University) and info on the Freewinds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freewinds). It's not exactly earth-shattering stuff, but it's a useful way of bringing together background info on topics that don't seem to have been covered in much detail before (as far as I know).

If you want to find all the Wikipedia articles on Scn-related topics, see the public watchlist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Scientology/publicwatchlist). You can monitor changes to the articles here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Scientology/publicwatchlist).

I'm planning to do a Wikipedia article on the Alaska Mental Health Bill controversy, and I also want to document the development of the Brainwashing Manual. There isn't much on the web about the Alaska controversy and the stuff that's been published on the Brainwashing Manual (including, I'm sorry to say, some of my own work) is incomplete and has some serious inaccuracies. I may need to ask for some help with library sources at some point! :)

[Romuva]

Hi Chris,I've been reading this post.Thank you very much for the info.

I wanted to ask you ,Did you or anybody else at Wikipedia find any
speeches made by Beria?

Perhaps ,the Russian government has files that have yet to be released and there may
be something to point to as far as evidence.

[ChrisO]

Hi Chris,I've been reading this post.Thank you very much for the info.

I wanted to ask you ,Did you or anybody else at Wikipedia find any
speeches made by Beria?

Perhaps ,the Russian government has files that have yet to be released and there may
be something to point to as far as evidence.

I doubt it! One thing we can say for sure is that it wasn't by Beria. Some of his public speeches have survived, but they're totally different in style and content to the Brainwashing Manual. In particular, the BM doesn't bear any resemblence to an orthodox Marxist text. It's analysed in some detail by Morris Kominsky in The Hoaxers: Plain Liars, Fancy Liars, and Damned Liars (Branden Press, Boston, 1970) in which he cites various experts calling it a hoax and unverifiable, and points to inconvenient facts such as Beria not being in the Soviet government at the time that he supposedly gave the speech.

[Romuva]

Hi Chris,thanks for your response.

I figured it was B.S. but it warrants a good discussion,nevertheless.
I'm Lithuanian-American ,so Soviet and Russian history interests me.

There has been so much information released out of Russia since the
end of the soviet union.You would figure something would of been
released by now.

thanks again

I actually have a link to Beria's speech at stalin's funeral but it's in Russian.

http://weblinks.ru/2006/09/11/print:page,1,rech_berii.html

[programmer_guy]

ChrisO,

Is this text of the book refered to?

http://warrior.xenu.ca/Brain-Washing-manual.html

If so, why would Scientology even be mentioned by a Soviet? This never made any sense to me.

[ChrisO]

ChrisO,

Is this text of the book refered to?

http://warrior.xenu.ca/Brain-Washing-manual.html

If so, why would Scientology even be mentioned by a Soviet? This never made any sense to me.

There are at least twenty different versions of the manual, according to Massimo Introvigne (http://www.cesnur.org/2005/brainwash_13.htm).

The earliest one is the "Charles Stickley" version which LRH almost certainly wrote and distributed through the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation in late 1955. It was given a wider distribution by a far-right McCarthyite housewives' organisation (seriously!) called the American Public Relations Forum at the start of 1956, when it was used to support their claims that communist psychiatrists were trying to set up a concentration camp in Siberia (the "Siberia Bill" controversy).

It was then picked up later in 1956 by Kenneth Goff, a former communist who became a fundamentalist Pentacostalist and a rabid anti-communist. He deleted the "Stickley" introduction, added his own and altered the text (for instance, adding "Pentacostalist healers" to the list of groups against whom the communists were supposedly plotting. Goff used the text as the centrepiece of his anti-communist lecture tour across America. The Goff version seems to be the most widely distributed - it was entered into the Congressional Record twice by clueless Congresscritters.

In 1957 it was republished in Victoria, Australia by another far-right group, the Victorian Rights League, who re-used the original Stickley text but added Goff's introduction. Another version was published by Lt Col Gordon "Jack" Mohr, who was one of Goff's associates. The version you mention was published in 1968 by the American Saint Hill Organisation in LA. The reason it mentions Scientologists is that the original "Stickley" version mentions Dianeticists - evidently they decided to update the text. Of course, this falsifies the text even further - Beria was dead before the Church of Scientology had even been founded!

[tarbaby]

Wow, Chris!

For anything to persist, it must contain a lie. The more the merrier, MoRon figured.

Dennis


There are at least twenty different versions of the manual, according to Massimo Introvigne (http://www.cesnur.org/2005/brainwash_13.htm).

The earliest one is the "Charles Stickley" version which LRH almost certainly wrote and distributed through the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation in late 1955. It was given a wider distribution by a far-right McCarthyite housewives' organisation (seriously!) called the American Public Relations Forum at the start of 1956, when it was used to support their claims that communist psychiatrists were trying to set up a concentration camp in Siberia (the "Siberia Bill" controversy).

It was then picked up later in 1956 by Kenneth Goff, a former communist who became a fundamentalist Pentacostalist and a rabid anti-communist. He deleted the "Stickley" introduction, added his own and altered the text (for instance, adding "Pentacostalist healers" to the list of groups against whom the communists were supposedly plotting. Goff used the text as the centrepiece of his anti-communist lecture tour across America. The Goff version seems to be the most widely distributed - it was entered into the Congressional Record twice by clueless Congresscritters.

In 1957 it was republished in Victoria, Australia by another far-right group, the Victorian Rights League, who re-used the original Stickley text but added Goff's introduction. Another version was published by Lt Col Gordon "Jack" Mohr, who was one of Goff's associates. The version you mention was published in 1968 by the American Saint Hill Organisation in LA. The reason it mentions Scientologists is that the original "Stickley" version mentions Dianeticists - evidently they decided to update the text. Of course, this falsifies the text even further - Beria was dead before the Church of Scientology had even been founded!

[Alan]

Hi Chris,

Thank you the fabulous work you have done over the years to uncover the false history of LRH.

You have saved a tremendous amount of people a great deal of grief (and money) with what you uncovered.

I and many others truly appreciate what you have done.

Alan

[ChrisO]

Thanks, I'm glad to have been able to make a difference, however small!

I've written the first in what will hopefully be a series of articles on the Brainwashing Manual, the Siberia Bill and the groups behind them - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Public_Relations_Forum .

[jodie]

Thanks, I'm glad to have been able to make a difference, however small!

I've written the first in what will hopefully be a series of articles on the Brainwashing Manual, the Siberia Bill and the groups behind them - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Public_Relations_Forum .

Belatedly adding my small voice to the chorus of admiration and thanks. Your work has been of the most incredible value, you have no idea. Thanks, Chris.

- jodie

[Veda]

Hi Chris,

Thank you the fabulous work you have done over the years to uncover the false history of LRH.

You have saved a tremendous amount of people a great deal of grief (and money) with what you uncovered.

I and many others truly appreciate what you have done.

Alan

Chris,

This is excellent work that you are doing!

It may be helpful to look over pages 9-18, and page 87 ('Notes') of Brian Ambry's 'Brainwashing Manual Parallels in Scientology'.

http://www.xenu-directory.net/practices/brainwashing1.html

[ChrisO]

Veda and the rest, you might like to see what I've just posted at http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=392 - comments welcomed!

[OHTEEATE]

Awesome work! Thanks for clearing up that old piece of crap lie stuck in my head for 34 years. Mike

[Veda]

There are at least twenty different versions of the manual, according to Massimo Introvigne (http://www.cesnur.org/2005/brainwash_13.htm).

The earliest one is the "Charles Stickley" version which LRH almost certainly wrote and distributed through the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation in late 1955. It was given a wider distribution by a far-right McCarthyite housewives' organisation (seriously!) called the American Public Relations Forum at the start of 1956, when it was used to support their claims that communist psychiatrists were trying to set up a concentration camp in Siberia (the "Siberia Bill" controversy).

It was then picked up later in 1956 by Kenneth Goff, a former communist who became a fundamentalist Pentacostalist and a rabid anti-communist. He deleted the "Stickley" introduction, added his own and altered the text (for instance, adding "Pentacostalist healers" to the list of groups against whom the communists were supposedly plotting. Goff used the text as the centrepiece of his anti-communist lecture tour across America. The Goff version seems to be the most widely distributed - it was entered into the Congressional Record twice by clueless Congresscritters.

In 1957 it was republished in Victoria, Australia by another far-right group, the Victorian Rights League, who re-used the original Stickley text but added Goff's introduction. Another version was published by Lt Col Gordon "Jack" Mohr, who was one of Goff's associates. The version you mention was published in 1968 by the American Saint Hill Organisation in LA. The reason it mentions Scientologists is that the original "Stickley" version mentions Dianeticists - evidently they decided to update the text. Of course, this falsifies the text even further - Beria was dead before the Church of Scientology had even been founded!

Contains various links related to the above:

http://www.forum.exscn.net/showpost.php?p=54605&postcount=2

[aylen]

I like to know many things.And through this forum i am able to learn many things.This forum is very informative.It is helping people to learn many things.

==============================
aylen
Alaska Alcohol Addiction Treatment (http://www.alcoholaddiction.org/alaska)

[nexus100]

I like to know many things.And through this forum i am able to learn many things.This forum is very informative.It is helping people to learn many things.

==============================
aylen
Alaska Alcohol Addiction Treatment (http://www.alcoholaddiction.org/alaska)

Welcome, Aylen! Thank you for being here!

[degraded being]

Coincidentally I found and downloaded a PDF file on the Brainwashing Manual
and how it was related to /used in Scientology. By Brian Ambry.

www.holysmoke.org/cos/brian-ambry.htm - 40k

That may get get it for you or a search including 'Brian Ambry'.
It's very thorough and includes all the stuff about different versions of the manual, authorship etc and how the brainwashing techniques were and are used in the cult. OSA/and scio "layers of the onion". public, front groups,
OT levels etc.

Solly if I am repeating something already posted. Have only had a quick look at the file I mentioned and it looks very interesting

[GoButtonIsBlowButton]

Beria, Stalin's 'go to' guy for executions and terror, was himself executed in 1953, after allegedly poisoning Stalin. What does he have to do with any of this?

Ron lied about this. Anything more to say?

[Veda]

Beria, Stalin's 'go to' guy for executions and terror, was himself executed in 1953, after allegedly poisoning Stalin. What does he have to do with any of this?

Ron lied about this. Anything more to say?

If you're curious about the 'Textbook on Psychopolitics', a.k.a. the 'Brainwashing Manual', then this thread, and its links, provides plenty of information.

http://forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=194&highlight=hubbard%2C+beria

[Dulloldfart]

Coincidentally I found and downloaded a PDF file on the Brainwashing Manual
and how it was related to /used in Scientology. By Brian Ambry.

www.holysmoke.org/cos/brian-ambry.htm - 40k

That may get get it for you or a search including 'Brian Ambry'.
It's very thorough and includes all the stuff about different versions of the manual, authorship etc and how the brainwashing techniques were and are used in the cult. OSA/and scio "layers of the onion". public, front groups,
OT levels etc.

Solly if I am repeating something already posted. Have only had a quick look at the file I mentioned and it looks very interesting

I found Ambry's write-up very illuminating, especially the Scientological Onion view.

Paul

[13heathens]

Well, It looks like I'm late to this discussion. I'll be attacking a video from my series refuting "Psychiatry: Industry of Death" dealing with the "Siberia Bill".

One thing I didn't see mentioned is the reality about the commitment issues. There are some fun claims out there. The bill was initially set up so that if someone became mentally ill while visiting Alaska and needed to be hospitalized they'd be sent back to their home state. However, if they were an alaska native and became ill in another state they could be sent home. The funds generated from the land trust would be used to pay for a health care program which didn't exist previously..

the attached video includes the head of the Alaska Trust giving a lecture discussing the history.. There's so much BS online about this one that it took a LOT of dogging to get to the truth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7tT5Ufs5T0

[dr3k]

I was going to mock this thread for lack of information but then 13Heathens fixed it for me by providing the same evidence (in cool video format). Nevermind.

[Div6]

The video is a must for understanding that claim, and effectively dead agenting it.