Towleroad Guide to the Tube #285

I'M YOUR #1 FAN: Tom Cruise's #1 fan on yesterday's Oprah special.

ALAN CUMMING: Talks to UK gossip site Holy Moly in Claridge's.

CESC FABREGAS: Is flaming.

SHARK SURFER: Fake, but funny.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

Sphere: Related Content

Jason Beghe's Full Interview on Scientology

Here's part one of Jason Beghe's full interview on Scientology (via dlisted). The rest are here. Beghe has been speaking out about the cult via excerpts on YouTube as well as interviews.

Earlier this month, Beghe revealed that Scientologists had questioned him about a car accident he had been in, suggesting that it was the "suppression" caused by his having a gay friend that caused something bad to happen to him.

I bet you didn't know that Beghe and Tom Cruise recently had a face-to-face to discuss this entire situation.

Watch that clip, AFTER THE JUMP...

Sphere: Related Content

Madonna Defends Turtle-Worshipers and Tom Cruise

In a new interview with New York magazine, Madge defends Tom Cruise's right to worship Scientology (though I think Jason Beghe would probably have a few things to say about that).

Says Madonna: "I don’t care if people worship turtles or frogs—if they’re good people, that’s all I care about, and he is a good person. I think he gets a raw deal, just as I think the orphans in Malawi get a raw deal, just as I think a lot of marginalized people get a raw deal."

She also touches on connections between her interest in Malawi and speaking out in the early days of the AIDS crisis:

"There are a lot. One is that I myself feel like a motherless child. I grew up that way. But also the idea that I felt so helpless by the AIDS epidemic that seemed to sweep through Manhattan and claim the lives of so many people that I loved. And I saw how stigmatized the gay community was, and that freaked me out."

Sphere: Related Content

News: Taxes, Ken Livingstone, Titanic, Milo Ventimiglia, Scientology

On tax day, a reminder of how the U.S. inflicts extra financial burden on gay citizens.

The last meal on the Titanic, which went down 96 years ago today. Researchers have a new theory behind the sinking — rivets.

ABC's Jake Tapper calls attention to the "Compassion Forum" appearance of Clinton and Obama at Messiah College, which I posted about last week. One of his readers asks, ""Shouldn't Democratic presidential candidates, both of whom are explicitly on the record as being in favor of gay rights, avoid schools like this as assiduously as previous generations of politicians were urged to avoid Bob Jones University? How can politicians appear at a college that espouses these ideas and then turn around and court the gay community at the same time? How can the two leading Democratic candidates appear on stage at this college and not be questioned by the press about the hypocrisy of appearing there?"

Kentucky GOP Rep. Geoff Davis on Obama: "I’m going to tell you something: That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button. He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country." Davis apologizes...

The gay Navy lieutenant from Melrose Place, Jason Beghe, escaped the clutches of Scientology and now he's speaking out on video: "It’s very, very dangerous for your spiritual, psychological, mental, emotional health and evolution. I think it stunts your evolution. If Scientology is real, then something’s fucked up."

Lack of support from London Mayor Ken Livingstone leaves 2008 International Gay & Lesbian Football Association World Championship with a funding shortfall: "Peter Tatchell of Outrage! described as 'scandalous' the lack of any funding or support from City Hall. 'Ken Livingstone is organising billions of pounds for corporate mega events like the 2012 Olympics but can’t give a few thousand pounds to help host the gay football world championship.'"

A really mean box of jelly beans, which I'm actually really curious to taste.

Project Runway is getting not one but two spin-offs on Lifetime: "The first of them doesn't have a title yet, but Weinstein said it will look at the Project Runway world through the eyes of the show's models. The second, dubbed Project Pygmalion, is a makeover series that will turn its winner into a high-society socialite."

Somebody got carried away at the tattoo parlor.

Rick and Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in the World wins big at Italian animation festival: "Cult hit half-hour show about three gay couples in the fictional 'gay ghetto' of West Lahunga Beach took the Pulcinella nod for TV series of the year. The Pulcinella for TV series for all ages went to RAI Fiction’s 'Acqua in bocca' (Water and Bubbles), about two fish in a tank and their interaction with an Italian family, from helmer Guido Manuli."

Milo Ventimiglia dreamt of being a fighter pilot.

GYM bar in NYC to open up its locker room.

Queerty talks to author Scott Heim about his new novel We Disappear: "There were all these different disappearances in the book–including Scott Heim the writer disappearing into Scott the character—I liked this idea of readers not knowing where one starts and the others begin. There are a lot of things in the book that are total fiction. The danger of doing this blurring is when people do read this as a memoir."

Tom Cruise and David Beckham to buy a soccer team together?

A townhouse in New York's West Village transformed, part of New York magazine's excellent new occasional real estate section, Vu.

Fight to allow gay blood donors heats up in Scotland.

Judicial Watch calls on FEC to investigate Elton John's Hillary Clinton benefit concert: "Recent news reports suggest that Hillary Clinton and Hillary Clinton for President have accepted an in-kind contribution from a foreign national, Sir Elton John, in contravention of federal electon laws. On behalf of Judicial Watch and its supporters, I hereby request that the FEC investigate this matter."

Sphere: Related Content

Tom Cruise Did Not Attend Gay Artist Party with Gay Cowboy

Nor will he be appearing in any book named after a gay disco anthem.

The NYDN's Ben Widdicombe reports on a chat he had recently with the Village People's original gay cowboy Randy Jones, who recently sold his memoir Macho Man to a publisher:

"Jones had a story about meeting Cruise in 1982, when the young actor's most notable film was 'Taps.'...'Tom and I had the same management company at the time,' Jones told me at the new Bowery hot spot Antik. 'I met him at a party Andy Warhol threw for Peter Gatien's Limelight [nightclub offshoot] in Atlanta.' To hear Jones tell the story, it was quite a party. But after calls went out to a spokeswoman and attorney for the 'Mission: Impossible' star yesterday, the book's editor assured me that Cruise's name had been removed from the final version."

Tom Cruise outguns the Cowboy [nydn widdicombe]

Sphere: Related Content

News: Al Gore, Wii Tennis, Tom Cruise, Lost, Chris Dodd

Lambda Legal to file suit in Iowa today on behalf of six same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses.

Tom Cruise appearance sparks rumors of cameo on JJ Abrams' Star Trek set, but he was really there to meet someone special.

Al Gore on global warming skeptics: "You're talking about Dick Cheney. I think that those people are in such a tiny, tiny minority now with their point of view, they’re almost like the ones who still believe that the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the world is flat. ... That demeans them a little bit, but it's not that far off."

The American Family Association gave up their boycott of Ford Motors, but it looks as though they're trying again with another automaker, GM. Good As You: "What the hell gives these folks the right to go apeshit simply because a company dares to advertise to the LGBT community?! Good God of fringe extremism, why cannot they not at least accept that we are 'sinners' with a degree of disposable income, some of which we like to put towards cars?! We know they think we're barreling down the Highway to Hell. Fine. Let them think that. But can't they at least respect the right of an automaker to try and sell us a car whose climate control features will help us brave the unbearably hot Lake of Fire?"

Saulo Melo: Your hot Brazilian for Friday.

Dennis Miller does not share Bill O'Reilly's rage over San Francisco's Hunky Jesus pageant.

Hate crimes inspiring call to action in South Florida.

Senator Chris Dodd says we must end the Democratic primary: "Look, we've got five more months to go before the Democratic convention at the end of August and, candidly, we cannot go five more months with the kind of daily sniping that's going on and have a candidate emerge in that convention....We have two very strong candidates. So I'm worried about this going on endlessly and to a large extent...the media, a lot of these cable networks, are enjoying this. It's what is keeping them alive financially. The fact that this thing is going on forever, back and forth every day, all night -- I don't think it's really helping the candidates or the political institutions."

The folks who market Basil Hayden's whiskey think we're all a bunch of prancing fashionistas.

The Hills may be turned into a feature film: “I think if they were going to do a film of the hills they would basically film it like we do the show and they would just edit it into a movie. It would be like a really long episode.”

Wii Tennis about to get lifelike versions of Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Tommy Haas.

Prison Break brings a major character back from the dead.

Exploring the time travel theory on Lost.

UK urges gay men to get tested for HIV: "The Health Protection Agency made the warning after new diagnoses among gay men topped 2,600 for the third year. But the figures do seem to have begun to plateau after a surge at the turn of the century. Overall, the number of new cases hit an estimated 6,840 in 2007 - a fall of 1,400 from the previous year."

An update on that school expulsion case in Kansas I posted about yesterday: "A lawyer representing a gay student charged with harassment said he was 'hopeful that things will work out' for the student after an expulsion hearing Thursday. 'We're all wanting him to get back into school. That's the main thing,' said attorney John McKean. 'We're encouraged and hopeful that it will happen rather quickly.' Jimmy Iniguez, 17, a junior at Metro-Midtown Alternative High School, faces expulsion for allegedly harassing a fellow student in a school bathroom Feb. 28. Iniguez, who has been suspended since the incident, says he is innocent and is being unfairly accused because he is openly gay. No decision was made Thursday. District policy dictates that the decision be sent to the student's family by certified mail."

Sphere: Related Content

Eric Bana Talks Stand-Up Comedy and Kissing 'Tom Cruise' in GQ

Eric Bana, starring in this month's The Other Boleyn Girl, takes a spot on the March issue of GQ. He talks to the magazine about his various roles and his stand-up background and his work on the Australian sketch show Full Frontal, on which he performed a parody of Tom Cruise that he says he's sure Cruise hasn't seen (probably because he hasn't been on the receiving end of a lawsuit):

"Bana also does two excellent celebrity impressions, of Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and in some of his funniest work separately interviews them in the guise of a third character, a real-life Aussie TV personality named Ray Martin. In the most provocative sketch of the entire series, Bana-as-Cruise chokes up while discussing his love for his kids, at which Bana-as-Martin comfortingly clasps the star’s hands. Startled, Cruise gazes at Martin. Then both men lean forward into a passionate kiss. 'I’m sure Tom hasn’t seen it,' Bana says uneasily when I bring up the sketch. He downplays what the sketch suggests about Cruise’s sexuality. Ray Martin, he says, is a notorious sycophant, and 'I wanted to get to the side of him being so in love with the person he’s interviewing that he wants to pash them.' Maybe so, but I think Bana’s being a bit disingenuous here. Watch the sketch for yourself on YouTube and tell me it’s not Cruise who initiates the pash."

I've posted the clip below:

One more shot AFTER THE JUMP...

WILL THE REAL ERIC BANA PLEASE STAND UP? [gq]

Previously
Eric Bana the Subject of a Royal Catfight [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

News: Madonna, Cuba, John McCain, Guantanamo, Marc Jacobs

Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto supports same-sex marriage: "I think that marriage between lesbians, between homosexuals can be perfectly approved and that in Cuba that wouldn't cause an earthquake or anything like that."

Lourdes: Madonna in training? Scientology meets Kabbalah at Malawi charity event. Rosie O'Donnell blogs over Tom Cruise: "my tommy was there / handsome as ever / he makes me smile / i love that guy."

Concerned Women for America pleased as punch that they soon may be able to discriminate against gays in Florida.

Marc Jacobs fashion house embroiled in bribery probe: "The former superintendent of Manhattan's 69th Regiment Armory, James Jackson, has been indicted on charges of demanding more than $30,000 to allow the space to be used by the designer and for other events. Marc Jacobs International allegedly made payoffs to Jackson through the designer's public relations firm, KCD Public Relations, to reserve the national historic landmark on key dates, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference Wednesday. Neither Marc Jacobs International nor KCD was accused in the indictment, which was unsealed Wednesday. Cuomo said the investigation was continuing to determine if payments to Jackson, who was a public employee, constituted a crime. While the designer is cooperating fully with the probe, it could face charges of its own. A spokesman for the attorney general's office told WWD, 'Marc Jacobs International is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by the attorney general and we cannot comment further.'"

Art and architecture group calls for entries on redesign of the White House.

Politico: five reasons Clinton should be worried.

Top commander of detentions at Guantanamo Bay confirms existence of secret camp: "Somewhere amid the cactus-studded hills on this sprawling Navy base, separate from the cells where hundreds of men suspected of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban have been locked up for years, is a place even more closely guarded — a jailhouse so protected that its very location is top secret...Guantanamo commanders said Camp 7 is for key alleged al-Qaida members, who must be kept apart from other prisoners to prevent them from retaliating against long-term detainees who have talked to interrogators. They also want the location kept secret for fear of terrorist attack."

Florent restaurant being forced out of New York's meatpacking district. FLASHBACK: Destination Florent.

Who let Britney Spears out of the psych ward? Parents statement: "As parents of an adult child in the throws of a mental health crisis, we were extremely disappointed this morning to learn that over the recommendation of her treating psychiatrist, our daughter Britney was released from the hospital that could best care for her and keep her safe. We are deeply concerned about our daughter's safety and vulnerability and we believe her life is presently at risk. There are conservatorship orders in place created to protect our daughter that are being blatantly disregarded. We ask only that the court's orders be enforced so that a tragedy may be averted." Spears hits Beverly Hills hotel as if nothing ever happened.

Two gay guys: Why are some gay men so mean?

Sex it up: Big Brother 9 producers to turn off A/C in order to get contestants to strip. "When this group of 16 singles enters the house, they will be told they are being matched up with their ‘soul mate,’ a stranger who may prove to be their true love or their worst nightmare. Whether there is a love connection or not, once paired up, the Houseguests’ life in the game depends on their partner. They must strategize, plot and scheme together as a couple for a chance at the prize. These ‘lovebirds’ will live together as a couple meaning they will sleep in the same bed, hold Head of Household as a couple, be nominated for eviction as a pair, and if the time comes, say their goodbyes together upon eviction."

Caving to far right: McCain skips promised vote on economic stimulus plan.

Wayne Besen: How are we paving the way for the first gay president? "In order for our Obama to fulfill his or her potential, it is essential that the GLBT movement runs serious presidential candidates in the next election cycle. That's right, "candidates" in the plural – meaning we run a Democrat and a Republican. The Democrat would play the role of Jesse Jackson – a trailblazer that will lose badly, but earn respect and lay the groundwork for the future. This sacrificial lamb will be known as "the gay candidate," so when our gay Obama is finally ready – he or she can transcend sexual orientation and win – or lose – on the merits. It is also crucial we run a credible Republican, in order to articulate the case for gay rights in front of conservative audiences. This not only would make the other candidates uncomfortable in their gay bashing, but this candidate could serve as a role model."

Sphere: Related Content

News: Heath Ledger Hoax, Italy, Matt Damon, Mexico, Diana Ross,

Time magazine looks at the 15th anniversary of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": "The issue exploded during Clinton's first week as President, triggered by those in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill opposed to his campaign pledge to reverse an executive order barring gays and lesbians from serving. 'The issue is whether men and women who can and have served with real distinction should be excluded from military service solely on the basis of their status,' Clinton said at the time. 'And I believe they should not.' While the phrase 'don't ask, don't tell' wasn't used at that January 29, 1993, press conference, that's what everyone soon began calling the policy."

Not that Oz: Matt Damon in the Emerald City.

Diana Ross BOOED in Jamaica: Not ready for her close-up.

200 Mexican youths and parents march to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS: "Participants marched through the city's main streets chanting slogans, such as 'Not One More Infected Person' and 'Equal Rights for Young Homosexuals.' Some of the participants also dressed in costumes and distributed condoms. Josue Quino, head of the CAIPAJ gay adolescent and youth center, said the march was necessary to warn youth that a 'single unprotected [sexual] encounter is enough to' contract HIV. Members from the Group of Mothers and Fathers for Diversity also marched in the demonstration, carrying signs that said 'We're Proud of Our Children' and 'Our Children Have United Our Families.'"

Manchester UK police investigate rape at gay sauna.

Clay Aiken: no love.

Which one's Twiggy, which one's Keira Knightley?

Barbara Walters bans Kathy Griffin from The View...again. Griffin: "I was supposed to be on 'The View' [today]. But then I get a call from [producer] Bill Geddie and he says, 'You were too mean to Barbara [Walters] on your last special, so you can't come on.' Can you believe it? I've been banned before, but never re-banned!"

Scammer, posing as Heath Ledger's father, takes advantage of doctor, funeral home, Tom Cruise, and John Travolta: " Cops want to arrest the con man on fraud and larceny charges, and sent detectives to Ledger's wake at the funeral home Friday in hopes of catching him, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. But police do not know the identity of the impostor - who also tried to finagle from one unidentified Hollywood star the numbers of actors Mel Gibson and Christian Bale, who have co-starred in movies with Ledger."

Michael Jackson to get additional reconstructive surgery — this time to his album Thriller.

Method Acting: Sean Penn and James Franco, playing Harvey Milk and his lover Scott Smith, respectively, in the Gus van Sant biopic Milk, reportedly wanted to shack up together for a while before filming started to get to know one another, but due to scheduling difficulties, those plans fell through.

Study finds middle age is truly depressing: "For men and women the probability of depression slowly builds and then peaks when people are in their forties -- a similar pattern found in 72 countries ranging from Albania to Zimbabwe, the researchers said. About eight nations -- mostly in the developing world -- did not follow the U-shaped pattern for happiness levels, Oswald and his colleague David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College in the United States wrote. 'It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children,' Oswald said. 'Nobody knows why we see this consistency.' One possibility may be that people realize they won't achieve many of their aspirations at middle age, the researchers said. Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own remaining years and embrace life once more. But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old."

German airline to offer nudist flight.

Italian MP called 'faggot, fairy' and 'traitor' for voting against party lines in order to defend Italian Premier Romano Prodi: "The name-calling erupted on the floor of the Italian Senate on Jan. 24 as Sen. Stefano 'Nuccio' Cusumano shocked fellow members of the tiny Udeur Party by declaring his support for Prodi. The party decided a week earlier to withdraw from Prodi’s fragile ruling coalition, forcing a 'confidence' vote under Italy’s parliamentary system. The Senate voted 161 to 156 to defeat a resolution of confidence for Prodi, forcing him to resign immediately. Although the Udeur Party had helped Prodi form his center-left government in 2006, the party strongly opposed legislation backed by Prodi to provide legal rights and benefits for same-sex couples."

Gay Fort Worth city councilman Joel Burns talks to the Victory Fund, calls anti-gay attack a galvanizing moment: “That morning was an awful, terrible, not good morning. I thought of my mother and father, the little rural town that they live in, and waking up and reading the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and seeing my name on the front page. No parent ever wants to see their child attacked, even if they’re an adult.”

Sphere: Related Content

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #232

MITT ROMNEY: At a MLK event in Jacksonville, Florida, Romney asks, "Who let the dogs out?" Then barks.

TOM CRUISE ROASTED: Craig Ferguson sends up the Scientologist.

TYRA BANKS: Asks John Edwards what it's like to be a minority candidate? (source: nymag)

BILL HAS A DREAM: Clinton nods off during MLK service at the Convent Avenue Baptist Church in Harlem.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

Sphere: Related Content

Jerry O'Connell Takes on Tom Cruise and Scientology

The latest send-up of Tom Cruise's now famouse Scientology video.

"WAYATW" - Why are you acting this way?.

Sphere: Related Content

News: New Mexico, Tom Cruise, MRSA, Jesus Kidnap, Mariah Carey

Domestic partners bill revived in New Mexico.

Zac Efron treats paparazzi to unique version of 'Blue Moon'.

Anti-gay marriage speakers meet with resistance from Vermont audience after proclaiming "Marriage can be the union between man and woman or it can be the union of any two people. Vermont cannot have both." Audience member: "It's nonsensical that marriage can't have multiple meanings. That's simply scare tactics." Outright Vermont launches statewide outreach effort: "A rainbow-colored bumper sticker, a "queer-mobile" that travels to remote and rural areas, paid spots on the radio, an online resource and a monthly newsletter are all strategies for a queer youth visibility campaign launched Thursday in Burlington. Outright Vermont, the state's largest 'queer' organization in its 20th year that works specifically with youths, wants to make Vermont the most "queer-friendly" state in the country – one person at a time."

Tom Cruise producing partner Paula Wagner speaks out about Scientology video leaks: "I am not a Scientologist, nor are most of the people Tom and I work with, but that doesn't mean I can sit by silently while he is attacked for his religious beliefs. As a film-maker and an American, I feel strongly that an individual's religion should have no bearing on their professional life."

Actress Suzanne Pleshette dies at 70.

Michigan neighborhood kidnaps devout dachshund owner's Jesus statuette: "We are holding Jesus ransom until you clean up the poopie from your wieners and trust us we see you take your wieners for long walks w/out picking up their poopie in our yards. This has upset us dearly so please clean up all the weiner poopie, if you want to see Jesus unharmed."

Gay porn Marine Matt Sanchez paranoid that a "gay jihadist" stalker/crank caller is out to defame him!

NYT on how the MRSA staph 'superbug' story went viral: "On Monday, a team of researchers led by doctors from the University of California at San Francisco announced that gay men were “many times more likely than others” to acquire a new strain of drug-resistant staphylococcus, a nasty, fast-spreading and potential lethal bacteria known as MRSA USA300. And sure enough, the study, published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was quickly picked up by reporters round the world and across the Internet, including a London tabloid which dubbed the disease 'the new H.I.V.' But for gay men in the Castro neighborhood here, which was an early epicenter for the AIDS epidemic and a current hot spot for MRSA, the report also seemed to cast an unfair, and all too familiar, stigma on their sexuality."

High school principal apologizes for inviting anti-gay pastor Ken Hutcherson to give lecture to students on civil rights.

Paula Abdul wants you to dance like there's not tomorrow.

Could volcanoes be facilitating the melt of the Antarctic glaciers? "In an article published Sunday on the Web site of the journal Nature Geoscience, Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey report the identification of a layer of volcanic ash and glass shards frozen within an ice sheet in western Antarctica. 'This is the first time we have seen a volcano beneath the ice sheet punch a hole through the ice sheet' in Antarctica, Vaughan said."

That chick Mariah Carey dishes out new album cover.

Spencer Livermore: the most powerful gay man in British politics.

LOGO to screen Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin all week.

Indiana wingnuts irate at lawmaker's refusal to hear proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage: "Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, who is chairman of the House Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee, said today that the most urgent issue facing the state is property taxes, not same-sex marriage, which already is banned by Indiana law. 'I’m not planning on having a hearing,' Pelath said. 'The short session (of the legislature) was designed to deal with emergencies. We have a very serious problem with the property tax system, and we don’t have any gay marriages in Indiana.' The Senate committee plans to debate the amendment Thursday, but Eric Miller, who has pushed for passage of the amendment as founder of the conservative group Advance America, called that 'disingenuous.' The legislature, he said, is dealing with plenty of issues besides property tax reform and has the time to debate and vote on this amendment before its March 14 deadline."

Sphere: Related Content

Tom Cruise and Scientology are on the Loose!

It's official. The Tom Cruise Scientology video has become the new "Leave Britney Alone" and remixes have begun to pop up everywhere. In this one, Tom Cruise 'recruits' Will Smith.

Gawker's got one on their site that's quite a bit gayer.

Sphere: Related Content

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #230 Scientology Edition

Here is the entire series of Scientology Awards videos. The one that was posted earlier is #4 here. Crazy stuff. Get 'em while you can.

(Via dlisted and ohnotheydidnt)

Sphere: Related Content

Tom Cruise's Scientology Speech

You may have heard about Tom Cruise's 9-minute acceptance speech for the Freedom Medal of Valor award he accepted at an International Association of Scientologists event. It keeps disappearing from YouTube, but here it is, while it lasts.

A former Scientologist commenter at RADAR has offered some of the definitions for Cruise's Scientology-speak:

KSW (short for Keeping Scientology Working): A policy written by
Hubbard in the 1960's that requires all Scientologists to follow his
words and his rules exactly.

Orgs: Orgs is an abbreviation for "organizations" and describes
all churches of Scientology throughout the world.

David Miscavige: He is the current leader of Scientology.
He's the equivalent of the Pope to the Catholics.

Out-ethics: any behavior that violates any of Hubbard's
rules of conduct.

Put ethics in on someone else: make others conform
to Hubbard's rules of behavior.

Criminon: Scientology front group that tries to recruit through the prisons.

SP: Suppressive Person. Anyone that doesn't like Scientology and/or criticizes Scientology.

PTS/SP: another bogus Hubbard term to define behavior that goes
against Scientology rules.

LRH technology or "tech": all the Scientology policies, rules, mandates, procedures.

Basically everything Hubbard wrote that controls the behavior of Scientologists.

Kind of makes those Andrew Morton claims a lot more believable, eh?

You may have missed...
Morton Tell-All Claims Tom Cruise is Scientology #2 [tr]
Book: 'Homophobic' Tom Cruise Fled La Cage Aux Folles Performance [tr]

Transcript highlights, via US Weekly, AFTER THE JUMP...

Tom Cruise: ...I think it’s a privilege to call yourself a Scientologist, and it’s something that you have to earn because a Scientologist does... has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions. Being a Scientologist, you look at someone and know absolutely that you can help them.

"When you're a Scientologist, and you drive by an accident, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one who can really help. We are the authorities on getting people off drugs. We are the authorities on the mind.... We are the way to happiness. We can bring peace and unite cultures. Now is the time. Being a Scientologist. People are turning to you. If you are a Scientologist, you see things the way they are, in all their glory, in all their complexity... It's rough and tumble. It's wild and woolly. It's a blast. It really is. It is fun. Because damn it, there is nothing better than going out there and fighting the fight, and suddenly you see -- boom! -- things are better. I want to know that I've done everything I can do, every day... I do what I can. And I do it the way I do everything."

"But that’s what drives me... I know that we have an opportunity to really help... effectively change people’s lives and I am dedicated to that. I am absolutely, uncompromisingly dedicated to that.

"We have a responsibility.

"We are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we are the authorities on the mind, we are the authorities on improving conditions... we can rehabilitate criminals.

"...We can bring peace and unite cultures...

"Traveling the world and meeting the people that I’ve met, talking with these leaders in various fields, they want help and they are depending on people who know and who can be effective and do it and that’s us. That is our responsibility to do that.

"It is the time now. Now is the time... Being a Scientologist, people are turning to you, so you better know it, you better know it and if you don’t, go and learn it, but don’t pretend you know it. It’s like we’re here to help.

"If you’re a Scientologist, you see life, you see things the way they are, in all its glory, all of its complexity and the more you know as a Scientologist, you don’t become overwhelmed by it.

"Look, I wish the world was a different place. I’d like to go on vacation and go and romp and play and just do that, you know what I mean. That’s what I want it to be. There’s times I’d like to do that, but I can’t because I know I have to do something about it.

"I have to do it because I can’t live with myself if I don’t, and that really is it.

"So it’s our responsibility to educate, create the new reality. We have that responsibility to say, 'Hey, this is the way it should be done because we do it this way and people are actually getting better.'

"And let’s get it done. Let’s really get it done and have enough love and compassion and toughness that you’re really going to do it and do it right.

"I have to tell you something – it is rough and tumble, and it’s wild and wooly, and it’s a blast, it’s a blast, it really is fun because, dammit, there is nothing better than the going out there and fighting the fight and suddenly you see things are better.

"I want to know that I’ve done everything I could everyday, and I think about those people out there who are depending on us. I think about that and it does make me feel that we’ve got more work. I need more help, get those spectators either in the playing field or out of the arena. Really, that’s how I feel about it.

"I do what I can, and I do it the way I do everything. [laughs] There’s nothing part-of-the way for me."

Sphere: Related Content

Book: 'Homophobic' Tom Cruise Fled La Cage Aux Folles Performance

Slate scoured Andrew Morton's new unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise and picked out the good parts. The book is said to put to rest the notion that Tom Cruise is gay, so let's see what Slate found:

"Tom tried to impress [high school flame] Nancy [Armel] by taking her to the Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles, but he 'was unaware of the story line—about two gay men living together in St. Tropez.' According to Nancy, 'he couldn't handle it. We had to leave before the intermission. It really bothered him. He was definitely homophobic.'"

There you have it. Case closed.

A few more of their gems:

"Armel...also remembers fooling around in a parked car. She told Morton: 'I was black and blue from the gearshift.'"

"Tom was uncomfortable around gay men. Those who saw him in the company of some of Nicole [Kidman's] gay friends, who included designer John Galliano, noticed that he was awkward and ill at ease, much preferring the company of jocks who talked about football rather than fashion."

"High-school girlfriend Diane Van Zoeren doesn't give any credence to the 'Tom is gay' rumor: 'I don't get it. I find these stories just hard to believe. We romanced in my dad's Oldsmobile doing what you are not supposed to.'"

The Condensed Tom Cruise [slate]

You may have missed...
Morton Tell-All Claims Tom Cruise is Scientology #2 [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

Morton Tell-All Claims Tom Cruise is Scientology #2

News hit the tabloids over the weekend about Andrew Morton's new book, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, and the actor's lawyers aren't pleased.

These are some of the details the book reportedly alleges:

— Cruise is second-in-command at Church of Scientology.

— David Miscavige, Scientology's #1, planted a huge field of wildflowers because Cruise wanted to run through one with Nicole Kidman after their marriage.

— Kidman doesn't speak out about Scientology for fear the organizaiton will release "audit" tapes which detail every aspect of one's sex and fantasy life.

— Cruise's current mission is to recruit David and Victoria Beckham.

— a 500-acre resort in Hemet, California is Miscavige's "secret lair" where he lives with Scientology's most devoted followers, some of whom believe that Katie Holmes was impregnated by L. Ron Hubbard's sperm in a kind of "Rosemary's Baby" pregnancy.

— Penelope Cruz escaped the clutches of the "religion" with the help of her father and an organization devoted to helping cult members and their families.

According to Britain's Daily Mail: "[Morton] quotes Hubbard's son, Ronald De Wolf, who fell out with his father, giving a Playboy interview: 'You have complete control of someone if you have every detail of his sex life and fantasy life on record. In Scientology the focus is on sex. Sex, sex, sex. The first thing we wanted to know about someone we were auditing was his sexual deviations. All you've got to do is find a person's kinks, whatever they might be. Their dreams and their fantasies. Then you can fit a ring through their noses and take them anywhere. You promise to fulfil their fantasies or you threaten to expose them.' Morton says Karen Pressley was at Gold Base one evening when John Travolta's sexuality was openly discussed. He writes: ''It made my head spin,' she recalls, 'and made me realise that the idea of confidentiality was a chimera.' As another Scientology executive admitted bluntly, 'These files come in handy if they want to blackmail you'.'"

According to the tabloid, the book makes no claims about the actor's sexuality.

Cruise's attorney Bert Fields is threatening legal action based on the reaction of the public.

Diana author names Tom Cruise as 'World Number Two in Scientology' [daily mail]
SLAMS VS. SECT IN TELL-ALL ON TOM [ny post]

Sphere: Related Content

Praise Xenu: "The Truth" is Finally Coming!

Along with a few lawsuits, perhaps.

Sphere: Related Content

News: Barack Obama, iPhone, Vermont, Minke Whale, Charmin

Poll shows Barack Obama pulling ahead of Clinton in Iowa: "Most Democratic likely voters in Iowa, 55 percent, say they're more interested in a 'new direction and new ideas' than in strength and experience, compared with 49 percent in July -- a help to Obama, who holds a substantial lead among 'new direction' voters." And Obama struggles with spin...

Smartypants with iPhone tries to use method in latest Apple commercial to ask why plane hasn't taken off yet and gets read by pilot: "If the passenger with the iPhone would be kind enough to use it to check the weather at our alternate, calculate our fuel burn due to being rerouted around the storms, call the dispatcher to arrange our release, and then make a phone call to the nearest Air Traffic Control center to arrange our timely departure amongst the other aircraft carrying passengers with IPhones, then we will be more than happy to depart. Please ring your call button to advise the Flight Attendant and your fellow passengers when you deem it ready and responsible for this multi-million dollar aircraft and its passengers to safely leave."

Guardian gone: Now, everybody will be squeezing the Charmin.

Latvian government minister and newspaper owner praise international anti-gay group Watchmen on the Walls pledge fight against homosexuality at "human rights' conference, slam Arnold Schwarzenegger for "teaching homosexuality" to children.

18-foot-long Minke whale discovered swimming lost, 1,000 miles up the Amazon river: "Environmentalists are now considering the best way to transport the mammal from the Tapajos River, where it was last seen, back out to the Atlantic Ocean. 'It is in good condition,' veterinarian Milton Marcondes from the Brazilian Humpback Whale Institute told the Associated Press. 'We couldn't do a blood exam, so we don't know how it is doing internally, but we gave it antibiotics as a precaution.' He added that it would be easy for the whale to become ill as a result of the stress of being so far from its natural habitat."

South African guesthouse owner turns away gay guests: "We are certainly not gay-friendly, this is a Christian household. We have never had a gay couple staying in the house and we prefer to keep it that way. We hereby cancel this order and exercise our right of admission."

Popstar Azis continues to stir the pot in Bulgaria with racy magazine cover: ""I am ready to do anything for a high rating for my show! As you can see from the pictures, I sold my body, or as we say it, got a tuning." (NSFW)

British police officer among men nabbed in restroom sex sting: "The officer, who has not been named, was fined 13 days' pay following an investigation into 'cottaging' at toilets on Harrison Drive, Wallasey. Six people have been charged under the Sexual Offences Act - two have pleaded guilty, four are awaiting trial. Another 32 people, including the officer, were issued with cautions over the incidents."

Tom Cruise angered by publication of fatsuit photos.

Milo Ventimiglia thinks it's time to get mysterious for Nixon Watches.

Gay and lesbian Ohioans "eager" for Governor Ted Strickland to test limits of laws surrounding state's same-sex marriage ban.

A visit to the virtual queer red light district (nsfw).

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS hit hard by stagehand strike.

Same-sex marriage supporters get vocal in Vermont: "More than 20 people testified before the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection at its public hearing at Lyndon State College, and throughout the 90-minute session, only two people stood up to speak against same-sex marriage. This was the second forum held by the 11-member commission and the second time that a strongly supportive audience turned out. Major anti-gay groups in the state are boycotting the hearings. Joseph Gainza of Marshfield floated one theory on why gay marriage has not become a divisive topic during the hearings: Most straight Vermonters, including him, noticed that the sky did not fall down after the Vermont Legislature legalized civil unions for same-sex couples seven years ago. 'The change came and you realized that nothing in your life has changed,' said Gainza. 'The only difference is that your neighbors have some rights they didn't have. And none of your own rights were taken away in the process.'"

Sphere: Related Content

News: Missy Higgins, Global Warming, Tom Cruise, Eric Winter

New report from IPCC a terrifying forecast of the years to come: "Drawn up by more than 2,500 of the world's top scientists and their governments, and agreed last week by representatives of all its national governments, the report also predicts that nearly a third of the world's species could be driven to extinction as the world warms up, and that harvests will be cut dramatically across the world."

Tom Cruise's sexy beast makeover.

Australian singer Missy Higgins comes out of the closet: "I think sexuality is a fluid thing and it's becoming increasingly more acceptable to admit that you're that way.''

Four people stabbed at Greenville, South Carolina bar where Sean William Kennedy was fatally beaten in a hate crime assault last May.

Australian attorney general urges supporters of man thought by many to be wrongfully convicted for gay man's murder to make a petition for mercy to the Governor of Victoria. The convicted man, Jamie Koeleman, has served 19 years in prison for the stabbing murder, which many claim was improperly investigated.

Woman and accomplice in drag sought in New York real estate open house burglaries: "According to the police, the pair conducted a two-hour crime spree on Oct. 28 during three open houses, beginning at noon at 14 East 96th Street, where a Tiffany clock and designer handbags were stolen. An hour later, a dress, earrings, a bottle of Champagne and diamond jewelry were stolen at 4 East 82nd Street from an apartment listed at $2.195 million. The third theft occurred about 2 p.m. at 188 East 78th Street, where a fur coat, a wallet and a Coach shoulder bag were taken, according to the police. On Sunday, the police said, the same couple turned to the Upper West Side, at a duplex at 2373 Broadway that is on the market for $1.9 million."

A photo wrap-up of the American Music Awards.

Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken discuss their musical collaboration on live/action animation hybrid musical Enchanted.

Arrests made in gay bashing of Top Chef contestant Josie Smith-Malave after victim's lawyer publicly criticizes police for not taking the attack seriously: "Melissa Trimarchi, 21, was arrested Saturday night on a misdemeanor assault charge, police said. She was released on an appearance ticket until a Nov. 30 court date. No working telephone number could be found for Trimarchi at the Sea Cliff address police gave, and they didn't know whether she had an attorney. Police also said Saturday that Elizabeth Borroughs, 20, had been arrested Tuesday on a misdemeanor charge of aggravated harassment. She also was released on an appearance ticket and is due in court Friday."

Eric Winter to return to Brothers and Sisters.

Adrien Brody, others, take fantasy trip under the knife.

Family and friends of U.S. soldier Ciara Durkin, who was slain in Afghanistan under mysterious circumstances, still don't know why she was killed, but they don't think it was because of her sexuality: "Those close to her do not believe that Durkin was targeted because of her sexual orientation. Durkin had talked with her friends, before she enlisted, about the Army's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, which allows gays and lesbians to serve as long as they do not disclose their sexual orientation or act upon it. She was, they recall, not particularly concerned about being found out. Durkin apparently did not reveal that she was a lesbian while in the service and, according to one