Well! It's been quite a while since the announcement of the Ides of March rally--one month, to be exact. This has given us a lot of time to prepare, and to evaluate what things went right on 2/10/2008 and what things needed improving. We are beginning to muster once again for this, and we do believe these rallies will become a regular occurrence for us.
Here's our current schedule:
- The day for our rally is on 3/15/2008, outside of the local Scientology mission here in Bellingham (at 722 N State St.). Please respect private property laws by not trespassing in their parking lot. We will most likely be situated across the street from the mission itself. It shouldn't be too hard to spot us.
- WWU Students and Bus People - You will be meeting at 10:30 am in front of the VU building (the side that's on High St., facing the Library). This is a great place to meet as it's a central bus hub, and it is situated within close proximity of the library building so those wishing to print off last minute fliers may do so.
- The general time for meeting up is at 11:00 am on Saturday. I know most of us would rather be doing something else on our weekends, especially students who are currently feeling the pre-Spring Break pinch by Academic fingers. Please try to show up at around that time, but if you are late don't feel like it's all for naught. Drive/walk on by and see if we're still there, and join up if we are.
- In regards to delicious cake. Bring cake for yourselves, and don't serve it to more than a few friends lest you have a food handler's permit. One alternative is to bring cupcakes. These are pre-packaged, and therefore do not require a food handler's permit. While the scientologists at the local mission just sit/stand around, chain smoking cigarettes while watching us or making poor attempts at bull-baiting, don't underestimate their prowess at litigation and blowing a whistle on anything that could shake up the protest. If they see us doing anything that warrants police, whether or not it directly affects them, they will not hesitate to call. Please look at the other rallies and protests that took place on 2/10 and some of the previous protests done by other veterans, and you will see just how far they will go sometimes to silence dissent.
- Wear Masks. They're legal, and they protect your identity. You can Google "Fair Game Law" and get the gist of what this is all about. Or dig through the video evidence that exists out on the internet that shows Scientology critics being followed around, especially after anti-Scientology demonstrations. Wear masks to protect them knowing who you are and prevent them from attempting to ruin your reputation. One of their favorite things to do is to gang up on someone and toss out verbal implications that the dissenter is a child molester or something to that tune (and yes, there's even a video on the net showing that).
Here is a list of what we currently require:
- Music (of some sort)
- Water (bottled; unopened)
- Etc.
And here is the best article I've read since the Time Magazine article from 1991. A 6 page expose of Scientology in the magazine Radar which also does an excellent job of explaining why many of us are involved.
