Co$ Tackiness

January 22, 2001 8:24 AM

Co$ Tackiness The Church of Scientology spinoff Narconon completely rips off the Urban75 Web site (including similar meta tag content). Jeeze....talk about unabashed design stealing.
posted by bkdelong (6 comments total)

I went into the Scientology place in Burbank to have my IQ tested, just out of curiosity. For the next couple months, the Scientology place called me once or twice a week, trying to convince me to go back over there and watch some video.

I wouldn't watch the video, cuz obviously that's where they get you with subliminal messaging.

The place looked like a high-tech self-help store. There were weird little machines for sale everywhere that looked like lie detectors crossed with stethoscopes / blood pressure machines. I thumbed through some of the literature for the machines, and it turns out they are to train your brainwaves - no shit!

I'm sure the Scientology version is BS, but I do believe that people can attune their brains to certain types of brainwaves to achieve different cognitive / perceptual effects.
posted by tweek at 10:01 AM on January 22, 2001

Subliminal messages don't work.
posted by waxpancake at 10:20 AM on January 22, 2001

Indeed. Those boxes are electrogalvanometers; fancy milliohmmeters, effectively. CoS refer to them as "E-Meters"; they're supposedly supposed to (how's *that* for an ugly piece of English :-) measure "engrams" -- nasty thoughts wedged in your brain.

"Dianetics", from what I could gather from the first chapter or so of the book, which was all I could stomach (no, I didn't *buy* it; I was working at a bookstore and got bored), is a mish mash of Freud, Rogers, Jung, and blackmail.

No, I didn't get the last from Dianetics, I got it from "L. Ron Hubbard -- Messiah or Madman?", a book written about 15 years ago by Brent Corydon, AKA LRH Jr., an ex-communicate.

Excellent book -- if you can find it.

Oh, and if anyone notices that I've been off-Meta for more than 48 hours now that I've posted to this thread, assume they've had me neutralized; I live about 15 miles from their Worldwide Spiritual Headquarters; them Sea Org guys may've gotten me.
posted by baylink at 11:44 AM on January 22, 2001

First they steal web sites, then souls!
'cue evil laughter'
posted by Mick at 12:06 PM on January 22, 2001

That's it -- Xemu's coming to kick all your non-believing, puny Earth asses.
posted by jess at 3:26 PM on January 22, 2001

That's just tacky. And dumb. Did they think they'd never be found out? It's the same kind of site.
posted by dhartung at 6:31 PM on January 22, 2001