London, UK

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What the hell? Why is this posting at the first page instead of the last in reply to Gisman's message?

Originally Posted by Gisman

WAIT WHAT

When did this info come about? I can't believe I missed something that big :o

There's a few choice quotes from Vivien's interview. I Think its in this video but its taking ages to buffer and the interview is split in 6 parts. Its sometime after she describes being raped and being blamed for it when she decides she want to leave. She tells her aunt she's going to leave which is actually a crime in Scientology so she's put on surveillance. When she eventually goes to meet her aunt for a coffee, she is grabbed by the shoulders and pulled back. When asked if she considered blowing, she says another woman tried blow but they went after her and caught her 5 minutes later and dragged her back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ijcz-rDaE

More victim testimonies: http://scientology-victims-testimonies.com/

I'm sure there are plenty of people who can collaborate accounts of this sort of behaviour on the Ex-Scientology Message Board and the Operation Clambake Message Board.

Right! We have about three weeks to get this shizzy down! And we'd better, because the 12th April is my birthday, and I want it to be the best damn birthday party ever!

As far as logistics goes, everyone brought food and there were lots of boomboxes and things - excellent stuff. Not enough water, though, and we really needed that PA setup for the "main" protest at TCR.


In light of my experience from the previous protests, we really need the following at the very least:

- 50L water
- PA system present at both QVS and TCR
- A more efficient flyering system (heavy wastage and perhaps too concentrated a group doing the flyering along that side of the road)

Supply of this stuff can be sorted out in Central London to prevent hurting yourself like I managed to do. I will probably bring at most 10L into London this time around, but bump up my water supplies with locally bought goods once at TCR.

I never heard back whether all the spare batteries I donated were used, so feedback from the Epic Win Table would be appreciated on whether that was a worthwhile venture.


In regards my own activity, the chicken purchases went down well for the most part and feedback has overall been excellent. This time round, several improvements will be made on my own efforts:

- A new bucket/container with a lid to prevent easy thievery.
- Swifter and more even distribution of chicken once purchased. Purchases will remain staggered purely due to volume of chicken being purchased.
- Popcorn chicken only - no buckets.

If the figures listed for London are even close to accurate then it is no surprise there were chicken shortages after purchase. Feeding so many is next to impossible! D: But I like a challenge, so we'll see what we can do, eh? I'll probably need more volunteers next time but I dare say the volunteers from last time will come back and offer to assist again.


A designated aid station for water, first aid and easy proximity to the police outside of the main body of protesters at TCR may be advisable, and the announcement of an aid station at QVS (either at the bottom or up the stairs) should be made as soon as possible so people know where they can get a quick drink or treatment, whether by trained Anon first aiders or by Police.


Thoughts?

first things first, can i suggest having a list of suggested things for each person to bring along on the OP (along with a list of suggested slogans, links to media etc) so they're easier to find this time?



i applaud chicken guy :) even tho i didn't get any :(

one thing i thought of: me and a couple of guys went up the road to give out some flyers, and one of the main problems we encountered was the large number of non-english speaking tourists (about half spoke no english whatsoever) so i think there is a need for a multi-lingual flyer of some variety aimed at said tourists.... but i'll have to leave that up to you artistic anons :D

the one that seemed to go down best was the 'when your cheque clears' flyer.

Londanon, first let me congratulate those who protested the Ides of March on being part of the biggest Scientology protest in the world to date.

The theme of the next protest is Operation Reconnect. Our aims: to publicly denounce and inform about the Scientology disconnection policy and to re-establish communication with those still "in" with their family and loved ones. My personal opinion is that this may run into the next protest as the Co$ may attempt to relocate/hide members that "know too much" or risk blowing i.e. ones that have been thoroughly abused but not yet dead. At some point we Will need to take this to Saint Hill as this is also where Europe's RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force - Scientology labour camps for "penance" and requirement for advancement in the Sea Org) is located. Interviews with Saint Hill ex-RPF members can be found on YouTube.

I have prepared a shortlist of "jobs" in an attempt to get all our bases covered, unlike the 15th when we had enough cake to collapse a table but no communal water. Dump all your thoughts and info on these roles on here and we'll organize it on a wiki as soon as one is established.

Operation Reconnect

1) Media attention

* Radio
* TV
* Newspapers
* YouTube videos - interviews and messages

2) Where to get impartial help

* Ex-scientologists
* Legal help?
* Samaritans
* Amnesty International

3) Insider contacts

* Pass on messages
* RPF details
* Help track "disappeared" members
* People on the Ethics correction lists - known to have second thoughts, doubts etc.
* General intel e.g. org preperations, movements, recent hires (PIs), critics they're targeting

4) Division of Labour

* Signs - also bring materials/whiteboards for the day.
* Handouts and stickers
* Speeches, Chants and Callouts - to avoid people starting half a chant and not knowing the other half
* Flags
* Other Promotion - Skywriting, games, viral etc.
* Delicious Cake
* Other Food - Chicken again? :)
* Drink
* Masks
* Speakers - As many ex-scientologists and family members as possible. We will stagger them so everyone gets camera time. and allow space for the public to hear. Tralfagar square?
* Stage management/camera people - V. Important. We need to interview everyone this time and arrange our signs for maximum effect.
*Megaphones and sound systems - Remember batteries
*Waste disposal

5) Support

* Translators - Both for our propaganda and the many foreign members that are flown in to England
* Medical - Those leaving the church are often near death. Formal documentation and trained help VERY welcome
* Psychiatry/Psychological support

Originally Posted by spiral

first things first, can i suggest having a list of suggested things for each person to bring along on the OP (along with a list of suggested slogans, links to media etc) so they're easier to find this time?



i applaud chicken guy :) even tho i didn't get any :(

one thing i thought of: me and a couple of guys went up the road to give out some flyers, and one of the main problems we encountered was the large number of non-english speaking tourists (about half spoke no english whatsoever) so i think there is a need for a multi-lingual flyer of some variety aimed at said tourists.... but i'll have to leave that up to you artistic anons :D

the one that seemed to go down best was the 'when your cheque clears' flyer.

Sorry to hear you didn't get any! :(

One of the other comments I had after the event was that lots of people never saw the bucket. I think an announcement will have to be made about the bucket next time and I'll have to work harder to get it noticed, if I'm going to have a hope in hell of feeding upwards of 500 people at TCR... x____x

We should get these merged.

Merge is complete.

Originally Posted by PopcornChicknonymous

Sorry to hear you didn't get any! :(

One of the other comments I had after the event was that lots of people never saw the bucket. I think an announcement will have to be made about the bucket next time and I'll have to work harder to get it noticed, if I'm going to have a hope in hell of feeding upwards of 500 people at TCR... x____x

well i didn't give you any money either so its ok lol :P i didn't see the bucket i think til the last chicken run anyway

maybe an honour guard with a big chicken-shaped placard?

Originally Posted by k8jde6

Operation Reconnect

1) Media attention

* Radio
* TV
* Newspapers
* YouTube videos - interviews and messages

While Enturbulation was closed for repairs, I compiled a list of contacts - newspaper, radio and TV. I think I've got about 40 of them now. I would be more than happy to send out press releases and things, though if there's someone out there who actually works in the media who'd rather do it, I'll bow to their superior knowledge.

Can you dump the contacts here? I'll link to your post and sort it out on a proper wiki when someone hosts one for us.

I agree with the Saint Hill thing, as it's not too far from London, and seeing as we seem to pull the best and highest number of anons (hurrah) it could be worth making more people aware of the prescence of this HQ on the fliers.

I think in the UK, Scientology is viewed as one of those "Odd American things" so bring home the message that their HQ is in England will garner more support for us in this country.

Just my opinion.

Also just for reference, I was on the bottom far right of QVS and I couldn't hear the PA a lot of the time, so it might be worth organising some speakers on the ground floor too.

I know QVS is awesome for photos and general amount of space for extra stuff, but could we consider going somewhere different to begin with next time? I'm just thinking that QVS doesn't have as much people going past as somewhere else might do. What about parliament square for example? We'd reach a lot more people that way...

Excellent plan... Here we go:


Paper:

Big Issue
edit_lon@bigissue.com

Daily Express
news.desk@express.co.uk

Daily Mail
news@dailymail.co.uk

Daily Mirror
mirrornews@mirror.co.uk

Daily Star
news@dailystar.co.uk

Daily Telegraph
et.press.releases@telegraph.co.uk

Evening Standard
news@standard.co.uk

Express Politics - Macer Hall
macer.hall@express.co.uk

Guardian
national@guardian.co.uk

Guardian - Politics
politics@guardian.co.uk

Independent
newseditor@independent.co.uk

Mail on Sunday
news@mailonsunday.co.uk

Metro
news.london@ukmetro.co.uk

National Student Newspaper
news@national-student.co.uk

News of the World
newsdesk@notw.co.uk

Observer
news@observer.co.uk

Sunday Times
newsdesk@sunday-times.co.uk

The London Lite
news@thelondonlite.co.uk

The London Paper - Lucy Holdsworth
lucy.holdsworth@thelondonpaper.com

The Sun
exclusive@the-sun.co.uk

The Sun
talkback@the-sun.co.uk

The Times
home.news@thetimes.co.uk


Online:

BBC News Online
newsonline@bbc.co.uk

Londonist
londonist@gmail.com

Red Pepper
redpepper@redpepper.org.uk

The London Paper - Online
online@newsint.co.uk

Times Online
news@timesonline.co.uk


Radio:

BBC London Radio
yourlondon@bbc.co.uk

BBC World Service
worldservice@bbc.co.uk

Capital Radio - Claire Berry
claire.berry@capitalradio.com

Virgin Radio - News Editor - Cat Macdonald
cat.macdonald@virginradio.co.uk

X-FM News Editor - Justin Kings
justin.kings@capitalradio.com


TV:

CNN International
cnnlondon@turner.com

ITN
editor@itn.co.uk

ITV London
newsdesk@itvlondon.com

Sky News
news@sky.com


News Agencies:

Reuters
london.general.desk@reuters.com

This is Local London
newsdesk@london.newsquest.co.uk



There are some glaring omissions... mainly the Beeb. It's very difficult to find contact emails. So if anyone's got any, that would be good.

Also, I was on the tube last night and I was noticed that one of the free papers has a 'photo of the day'. It's a little thing, but possibly worth trying.

The fliering was definately not as well dispersed as Feb and there's a big reason why, last time the police let a few anon on the other side of the road for the sole purpose of talking and fliering. This time I asked a couple of times and was told that we weren't allowed to as no mention in the protest petition had been made of this.

not being allowed to take part of the road also meant our side was blocking more pavement and a lot more people crossed to the CoS side to pass.

We need to make sure that next time we request to have 6-8 anons on the other side of the road split either side of the dianetics centre (though placed a few shops away of course), make a point that they are there simply to get the public and give out information, not to confront or engage with the Scientologists unlike the main group of the protest.

if possible also request that we again have part of the road, by forcing the entire protest on the pavement we blocked off not only the path past us but several shops there so by giving us the road they provide access for the public to those places.

Originally Posted by chao

if possible also request that we again have part of the road, by forcing the entire protest on the pavement we blocked off not only the path past us but several shops there so by giving us the road they provide access for the public to those places.

^This
No only to allow pedestrian traffic being us (to flyer) but also spread out long and this like we were this time we completely lost cohesion. One end of the protest didn't know what the other side was doing, whereas in Feb we were, pretty much, a solid unit. Also there was so little room that SO many people were just milling around down the side streets.
Maybe it was like this this time because it was a Saturday? It would be nice to have half the road for the next event though, especially if some of the plans being worked on come to fruition.

Originally Posted by chao

The fliering was definately not as well dispersed as Feb and there's a big reason why, last time the police let a few anon on the other side of the road for the sole purpose of talking and fliering. This time I asked a couple of times and was told that we weren't allowed to as no mention in the protest petition had been made of this.

Me and a friend spent quite a while on the 'Scientologist' side of the road and stood right next to a, lovely and supportive, Policewoman for a lot of that. We weren't wearing masks and looked like the crusty late-20s beardys that we are and I think that helped. We also got a lot of attention from Scientologist cameramen and women for our trouble though so I don't expect many people would want to risk it.

But that said the other side of the road was very useful (nearly 200 fliers in the first hour) and we were able to combat the Scientologists giving out papers right next to us, to the woman giving out the paper's annoyance (she had a definite slip below 2.0 on the tone scale after half an hour of that).

If it's possible to get permission to have more people on that side of the road it will be a massive benefit. Numbers next time will be large as the messageboard I primarily use has a lot of interest from people doing background reading at getting angry, especially about Disconnection our next focus. A lot of these people are going to leaflet sans mask in an attempt to engage the public so there will be a lot more flyering going on.

Also Re: Saint Hill. I am originally from London, hence coming to the London protests both times, but am currently based on the coast very near East Grinstead and would be happy to get involved in something at the big sparkly Mecca of Scientology. One problem is that East Grinstead is a sleepy green fields craphole and the Org is pretty secluded and protected. It would be useful from a propoganda stand point (videos and photos showing the protest and letting the Scientologists know that SH isn't safe from our attentions), but in terms of information spreading probably won't be that useful. It would make a fine spectacle though.

Originally Posted by Raksha

I agree with the Saint Hill thing, as it's not too far from London, and seeing as we seem to pull the best and highest number of anons (hurrah) it could be worth making more people aware of the prescence of this HQ on the fliers.

I think in the UK, Scientology is viewed as one of those "Odd American things" so bring home the message that their HQ is in England will garner more support for us in this country.

From what the old guard say, it's pretty difficult to protest at Saint Hill. Apparently the entrances to the Manor are on small, rural roads without much in the way of places to stand or protest. Those within the Manor Grounds are also a long way from the road...