Battle of the Sect

Thueringen, Germany
June 10, 2001
http://www.otz.de
Ostthueringer Zeitung

by Uli Drescher

A security clause in contracts which are closed by state assembly offices and city managements with training and consultation companies to train their own staff is supposed to protect civil service from the influence of Scientology, the American psycho-sect. That information comes out of a memo from the state administration office to the appropriate agencies. Consultation and training businesses now have to sign that "in fulfillment of the contract people will not be used who in any way apply the teachings or technology of L. Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology)." Violation can result in termination of the contract without notice. How this is going to be checked can not be distinguished from the document. On the other hand, don't we all have a little piece of Scientology in our computers? "Diskeeper," a part of the Microsoft "Windows 2000" operating system, is produced by a company which belongs to one of the most important Scientologists, Operating Thetan Grade VIII" Craig Jensen. Diskeeper has access to all stored information and, theoretically, could send it to the sect over the internet. Very unlikely, but conceivable. In a world of total networking, the compartmentation of individual areas is not exactly simple. But at least an obligatory signature on a contract can put, at most, the minds of a few bureaucrats at ease.

Brandenburg installs controversial software

No objections to potential influence from the Scientology sect -
Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Hamburg are more cautious

Potsdam, Germany
April 22, 2000
Berliner Morgenpost 2000

by Gudrun Mallwitz

Potsdam - A component program of the Windows 2000 software has been causing a stir for months: the "Diskeeper" defragmentation program is said to have originated from a Scientology adherent's company in California. The concern is that Windows 2000 could be used to spy on its users and forward data over the internet to points unknown.

While installation of the new operating system from the Microsoft software enterprise is being strongly debated in public administrations and is being observed apprehensively especially by the churches, the Brandenburg state administration sees no cause to be ill at ease. "The Ministry of Justice has used the program without objections since the end of last year," said Rolf Hellmert, spokesman for the Ministry of Justice.

In contrast, the Free State of Bavaria decided at the month's beginning to not install the system until it had been checked out by the Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BSI). It was also from the Alpine land where the first objections to the software came at the end of last year. There are also objections in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Hamburg.

Justice State Secretary Gustav-Adolf Stange has given assurances at the "Cebit" that anxieties were not called for in Brandenburg because of technical precautions which had been taken. The Ministry of Education, according to a statement by spokesman Marthin Gorholt, also had no problem in planning the installation of the software in the school administration. It would only be a matter of time, he said, until other ministries followed suit. The contract for joint projects between the state and Microsoft was officially concluded the end of January, but no decision had been made as to any particular software.

The Evangelical Center for Issues of Weltanschauung (EZW) in Berlin described the decision by a public administration for the software in the current stages of review as "naive." Dr. Michael Utsch, the person in the EZW assigned to the alternative psycho-scene, said, "Since Microsoft refused to let the Federal Office for Security and Information Technology (BSI) take a look at its source code, caution is advised." He said he had his reservations.

At the same time, the sect commissioner of the Evangelical Church in Pomerania called for a boycott of the software. In response, a Microsoft spokesman gave assurances that the company in question did not receive financial compensation as a part of sales. "The connection between the psycho-company and the software giant would not only be of interest to the Catholic Church, but also to all German states, Constitutional Security and Germany industry," said Harald Baer, Catholic Commissioner for Issues of Sects and Weltanschauung.

But the State of Brandenburg is not interested so far. In its statement in its call for a boycott, the Evangelical Church advised the Interior Ministry to join in, since the interests of a number of companies could be affected.

Brandenburg's Data Security Commissioner, Alexander Dix, described the security risks for the state administration as limited, because sufficient precautions had been built into it. But the installation of the software was said to be questionable, since the public administration could not test its security.

Raging with Jealousy, Woman reaches for Weapon

Amphetamines, Marijuana, Alcohol - add personal upset to that. That is the basis upon which a fit of jealousy is built. "I was probably looking at things too hard," has since said the woman who seriously wounded a supposed rival female lover (27) with a gunshot to the abdomen the 26th of October last year in Froendenberg.

Westfalen, Germany
April 3, 2000
http://www.westfaelische-rundschau.de

Since yesterday, the 40 year old shooter has had to answer to a jury for attempted murder, among other things - committed in a state of considerably impaired judgment. She said that, at the time of the deed, she was trying to get out of a threatening situation. She said she was afraid of losing her husband - and the feeling that she was to be destroyed. In one of her confused reports which she sent her rival player on a cellular telephone, the accused, who was operating as "Domina", spoke of herself as a "loving whore" who would be punished for her illusions.

The 27-year-old woman from Froendenberg had gotten to know the family through an acquaintance with whom she had built up contact in a chat room over the internet. The Christian oriented accused woman disapproved of her philosophy: "She had no sense of values." She regarded her victim-to-be as an adherent of Scientology who wanted to rob her of her identity.

Before the deed - as she described to the jury - she had not slept the entire night. Pumped full of drugs, she broke dishes and poisoned the fish in the aquarium. A neighbor saw her sitting on her doorstep, her parrot on her shoulder, and provided her with valium. After a fight with her husband, they found themselves on the approximately 230 km long stretch from Bad-Neuenahr to Froendenberg to speak with her presumed rival lover - with a revolver in her jacket pocket.

They stopped repeatedly on the road - to get some beer "to calm down" and to have sex at a rest stop. About 2:30 a.m., the couple knocked on the door in Froendenberg. It was said that the accused hissed the word "die" to the 27-year-old before, without further warning, she shot her through her jacket pocket. She asserted in front of the jury, though, that she had accidentally shot because of a "cramp." She said she had not wanted to either wound or kill her victim.

by Christina Fuessmann

Pomeranian Church Sect Commissioner warns about buying Windows 2000

Greifswald, Germany
January 20, 2000
Giessener Anzeiger

Boycott called for against Scientology company software -
Microsoft regards objection as unfounded

Greifswald/Munich (AP). Friedrich von Kymmel, Pomeranian Church Sect Commissioner, has called for a boycott against Windows 2000, the new computer program. The new operating system of the American software producer, Microsoft, contains "Deskita," a defragmentation program prepared by the Scientology company, "Executive Software Corporation," warned Kymmel on Friday in the church newspaper for Mecklenburg-Pomerania, which appeared in Greifswald. A Microsoft speaker called the objection unfounded.

Kymmel emphasized that anybody who buys Windows 2000 or a computer with this software is paying the Scientology company, thereby financing, in part, the organization which has been categorized as hostile to the Constitution. The sect commissioner demanded that the church "show its flag" and not buy this software. Since hardly anybody in Germany has addressed this problem, he also asked that each individual not acquire Windows 2000. Kymmel successful withstood repeated charges filed by the organization for his proceedings against Scientology in 1992/1993.

A Microsoft spokesman stated that financial compensation to the "Executive Software Corporation" does not depend on copies sold. Therefore, he said, customers would not be supporting the company even if it had actually been infiltrated. Besides that, he said, the program was checked out and the possibility of spying was ruled out. In general, the quality of the program was the criteria for selection; Microsoft was stated not bother itself with "the boss' hobby horse."