Re: The $43,000 Bounty
It would have been illegal if he had.
Over the last 20 years, over 70 thousand dollars have gone from my pocket to various causes fighting the cult, and helping people involved with the cult. I've never mentioned this before and will never mention it again. Your and Bardo's attempt to run some sort of guilt trip on me = exactly nothing.
As I already wrote, anything that helps the Headleys is good.
The full amount paid would be terrific.
70K! Whoa! Kudos to you for the sacrifice and generosity in carrying on the fight against a truly slimy organization.
My wife would shoot me if I diverted that much from our funds. 70k would cover most of my daughter's undergraduate work. 70K will get me a pretty decent C7 Grand Sport Corvette when the dealers stop gouging after their introduction next year. 70k invested over 20 years would be worth several hundred thousand at least with just modest returns.
You probably believe I have ill feelings for you. Actually, I'm pretty impressed with your body of work. Do I think you're a genius? Nope. Brilliant? Nope. Doggedly persistent? Yep. Able to manage mind boggling amounts of data? Yep.
I realize you help a lot of people here, presenting information they've never seen before. Most of what you've put up I've got stored on 3 1/2" floppies, which one day I might transfer over to a hard drive. Or not. I got pretty bored with Scientology before the calendar flipped into the 2000's.
It's just the devil in me that makes me want to needle you. But, the devilish side keeps me entertained, so don't expect any apology. I think you're a big boy (girl?) and can handle it.
Every now and then I get the urge to read back through your posts to see what kind of person you are behind all the documentation. I think you're probably interested in a lot of things that I find fascinating. Things I'd like to explore. Things I'd like to understand. Abstruse things which elude this obtuse mind of mine.
But, for me, Scientology isn't one of them.
And, I'm lazy. With limited time. So I only pursue that which stirs my passion rather than those things which are mildly interesting. After all, every stinking thing that exists stirs my curiosity. I just can't tackle it all.
Now, if I were a cynic, I might wonder whether that 70k were merely a fabrication designed to establish altitude. Data manipulation. Spin control.
But, believing you makes me happier. I like the idea of warriors who will carry on the battles which I'm not interested in pursuing. I like thinking of you as generous and dedicated.
I'm sure you could care less what I think or believe.
But, I prefer to think the best of people. Not because of some goodie-two-shoes self deception, but because I'm selfish and practical, and thinking badly of others just brings me down. It's not worth my time to carry ill will towards others.
As for your ideas about manipulation and spin control, both have an upside. Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh spend a great deal of time disparaging "liberals" and redefining the concept as something horrible. They're manipulating the concept, using negative spin control.
But, every time you put on deodorant, dress nicely, comb your hair; you're using a type of manipulation and spin control. You're presenting yourself in the best possible light. We're just not usually that attractive if we don't take the time to make ourselves such.
If you're in business, you want your product to be regarded by buyers as worth the money.
The negative part of spin control and manipulation is when there are blatant lies which work to the detriment of another.
Used to be that mentioning you spent 70k was considered gauche. Or that you made a million in profit from a home sale. But being successful or beautiful or intelligent are wonderful things that deserve to be shared.
I enjoy it when others use positive spin control on me. When my wife puts on something sexy and turns the lights down low, I'm not going to analyze her behavior and point out she's trying to manipulate me for her own agenda. I'm gonna get naked and enjoy the whole thing.