Beyond 'Going Clear': The Terrors of the David Miscavige Family

Picking up where Going Clear left off:
The David Miscavige Family

While Going Clear is "going global" for its enormous revelations about Scientology, the real scandal is just how much Going Clear didn't tell you.

Be it time limits, legal limits, or financial limits, the bottom line is that Alex Gibney had a four hour documentary when he made his first cut... and we only saw the 2 hour version. No wonder those of us who already knew Scientology inside and out walked away feeling like it only covered half of the story.

As one expert wrote, when asked if things were "really that bad," they responded,"Oh, it could have been much much worse. Imagine every story, make it twice as scary, and then you'd been just a hair closer to how it actually happened."

And so, in honor of that sentiment, we've decided write for you a series of shocking articles that pick up where Going Clear left off.  A sort of one-stop-shop, if you will, that will introduce you to a myriad of names and references you will hear along the way as you Google yourself into Scientology oblivion. It can be daunting, but these quick articles should get you started on the path to expert with ease and grace.

Are you ready for this? Then let's begin.

Leonard Nimoy: What We Lost and Now Mourn

Today we lost Leonard Nimoy. Which is a lot more than one might think. We lost a generation, a hope and a kind of hero that we have nowhere... not even on the famous Marvel movie screens.

No... we lost a lot more than a man today.
We lost a hero.

A hero who stood for humanity and civilization - two such things we never thought would part - never thought would go - but go they are... they are so far off in the distance, that Nimoy is now closer to his true home.

I envy him. I want to be up in those stars - up with him tonight. I want to shake the hands he'll shake - of the men and women who came before and shaped an entire generation of adventurers, enthusiasts for life and freedom fighters who just knew what was right - knew what to do - with laughter and less fear.

The Secret Sauce in Charlie Day's Amazing Speech

Of all the 2014 commencement speeches, the clear front-runner is Charlie Day. Speaking at his alma mater, Merrimack College, he managed to hit the ball so far out of the park, that his words are going viral.

That's right. We non-grads are tuning in too.

Why? Well, it's not because of his jokes, which were aplenty and it's not because he used the word, "sh!t," which is what all the reporters seem to think.

No, we have heard talented jokes before. And the use of a single bad-word does not a viral video make. (Well, not this word anyway.)  So I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it's the front-runner because of what he actually said. And meant. And taught.

Because we don't hear people being honest about the "permanent" nature of things today, or the new and terrible fears such things create - down, down deep below. Or perhaps, when we do, we don't hear it written, nor delivered, just-so.

This is why he's going viral:

No Doubt: Jr's Sexism Spanked Abramson Out of NY Times

Power Plays vs Nepotism Bring NY Times Down

Women battle to break through the glass ceiling. After that, what comes is walking on broken glass. -Frida Ghitis

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It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that Jill Abramson, the first female editor of the NY Times, was fired because she is a woman.

Or maybe it does?

Because people seem to think it's up for debate, especially men. They are certainly voicing their opinions. One man thought the entire disaster wasn't a disaster at all. He didn't think it was an action worth any ink on the page. Wow. I guess Ryan Gosling's character in the movie Crazy Stupid Love was right: "The war between the sexes is over. We won the second women started doing pole dancing for exercise."

Sigh. I can see Mr. Arthur Sulzberger Jr sitting for a lap dance right now. Can't you? But the quote, in my opinion, has always proved that not only is the war is still on, but that few of us, even some women, seem to notice or even care about it anymore. So often I hear mature women shocked at the actions of young women today. They are in awe. "Don't they know how hard we had to fight for these rights? Don't they know what stereotypes we faced, or the sacrifices that were made to change them?"

They don't. And perhaps that's what Arthur Sulzberger Jr was counting on. Maybe. But I don't really think he really "thought" anything at all. All facts point to a knee-jerk grudge kill, not a plan. But more on that later.

Eminem's 'Headlights' Breaks New Ground

Eminem's Vulnerability in 'Headlights' Pays Off

I hate Mother's Day. I really do. I didn't used to and I didn't for most of my life, but once I hit adulthood, things started to change. 

As I grew up on my own, studied on my own, lived on my own (before the days of umbilical cord texting) I started getting this sneaking suspicion that... well, I wasn't exactly... right.

I had handicaps. I had fears. I repeatedly harpooned my own cargo carrier and sailed down bombs to explode my own battleships. Everyone said I had promise, but I spun my wheels faster, faster and then even faster... to nowhere.

There's normal. There's better than normal (read = healthy) and then there's... us.

The broken. The handicapped. The fallen. The ones with deep wounds that burn, tug, pull and choke us this way and that. The ones who say absolutely nothing is wrong, that everything is good and that we are lucky. "We are so, so lucky!" we always tell you, about everything we can grasp at. But we lie. 

Here's what we don't tell you.

3 Reasons Will Gardner Should Have Stayed on The Good Wife (Not What You Think!)

I make it a habit to avoid hearing about my favorite shows while I'm watching them. You'd think that I'd be like most people - fans that can't seem to get enough, even after watching every behind-the-scenes commentary, vlog and podcast available on the show's main homepage.

And today it usually goes much further. Fans know intimate details about the actors themselves, the ones playing the characters that make these shows so popular. It's as if an actors real life is just another story to fans these days - just another story line that can add to their fulfillment and enjoyment of the show.

I am so different. I do the opposite. I don't want to hear anything about anything when I find a show I really love. For me, it protects the story - protects the characters. I want to fully live in the world that has been written and produced for us. I want to enjoy every sound, movement, costume and line of my favorite shows... and the less I know about what went in to creating that painting, the more easily I can suspend my belief and throw myself wholeheartedly into the story.