Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology vs. Mike Rinder Scientology: a great real life example of what happens when your friends and your group are more important than the truth.
If you would like to see the same kind of information control that the Church of Scientology uses to squash criticism, just go over to Mike Rinder’s Anti-Scientology blog to see how he handles information provided during a US Senate Investigation into Backpage.com, the major funding source for The Village Voice while Tony Ortega was Editor there.
This back-and-forth was taken from the comments section of Mike Rinder’s blog on December 12-13th, 2017. It is a great example of the information control that Mike Rinder uses – now as an Anti-Scientology flak rather than a Scientology flak – to squash ideas and criticism of himself and his group and to keep anyone from scrutinizing their questionable veracity, their colossal bias, or their dubious logic.
It shows the problem with the present black-and-white thinking and factionalism of Scientology vs Anti-Scientology and how none of these people will ever be able to tell the truth about Scientology, themselves, or each other.
December 12, 2017 at 4:05 pm
On the topic of crazies. I saw a couple of days ago Rathbun has another poorly-done video on youtube. He’s wearing the same outfit as in all the others. Davey’s not paying the man enough to change his clothes.
Mike Rinder says
December 12, 2017 at 9:16 pm
Yeah, he doesn’t have much to say either except to read from the notes that are sitting just off camera about how Tony Ortega is supported by pornography and Leah and I have unlimited funding to find old liars and trot them out on TV. It is really dull, repetitive stuff. Not sure why they are bothering. The same 5 people tell him how great his “insights” are and the rest of the world just shakes their head in pity.
Thanks for reminding me, I was meaning to ask Marildi what she found so “enlightening” in his recent video?
marildi says
December 13, 2017 at 1:31 am
Mike: “I was meaning to ask Marildi what she found so “enlightening” in his recent video?”
Actually, the word I used was “informative.” This was the video about Tony Ortega’s involvement as Editor of the Village Voice with its Backpage ads for prostitution, including that of children and teenagers. One thing of note, in reference to victims later speaking out, was Tony’s statement that people dredging up memories from childhood is completely abused because in “most cases” when it’s investigated there’s no corroboration and in fact somebody has influenced them to make the accusations. That statement was all the more notable considering how it contradicts some of the Aftermath episodes, ironically.
Mike Rinder says
December 13, 2017 at 8:45 am
You think it is informative when Marty repeats the scientology foolishness about “Backpage Tony”? You do not grasp that he is reading “talking points” from scientology?
Did you ever look to find the actual facts about Ortega and what he said or you just accept Marty at his word at this point? He has been astonishingly helpful with the Aftermath series.
What did you think when he said “I am an open book, unlike Rinder who never seems to know anything and always refers to ‘they’”?
Was that informative too? Or how we have an “unlimited budget” to dredge up “old stories”? I can assure you, there’s no “unlimited budget” (the only people that have that are scientology) and people come to us with their stories.
marildi says
December 13, 2017 at 11:57 am
Mike: “You think it is informative when Marty repeats the scientology foolishness about ‘Backpage Tony’? You do not grasp that he is reading ‘talking points’ from scientology?”
I have no doubt the CoS would capitalize on what has been in the news that reflects badly on Tony. The upshot of it is there was a U.S. Senate committee investigation into Backpage, including the years Tony was Editor-in-Chief over it. For me, it was enough to read the committee’s report (parts of it, that is – it’s very long), to see where Tony is coming from in relation to child sexual abuse. The report is titled “Backpage.com’s Knowing Facilitation of Online Sex Trafficking.” Here’s an excerpt from the findings :
——————————————-
This report contains three principal findings. First, Backpage has knowingly concealed evidence of criminality by systematically editing its “adult” ads. As early as 2006, Backpage executives began instructing staff responsible for screening ads (known as “moderators”) to edit the text of adult ads to conceal the true nature of the underlying transaction. By October 2010, Backpage executives formalized a process of both manual and automated deletion of incriminating words and phrases, primarily through a feature called the “Strip Term From Ad Filter.” At the direction of CEO Carl Ferrer, the company programmed this electronic filter to “strip”—that is, delete—hundreds of words indicative of sex trafficking (including child sex trafficking) or prostitution from ads before their publication. The terms that Backpage has automatically deleted from ads before publication include “lolita,” “teenage,” “rape,” “young,” “amber alert,” “little girl,” “teen,” “fresh,” “innocent,” and “school girl.” When a user submitted an adult ad containing one of these “stripped” words, Backpage’s Strip Term From Ad filter would immediately delete the discrete word and the remainder of the ad would be published. While the Strip Term From Ad filter changed nothing about the true nature of the advertised transaction or the real age of the person being sold for sex, thanks to the filter, Backpage’s adult ads looked “cleaner than ever.”3 Manual editing entailed the deletion of language similar to the words and phrases that the Strip Term From Ad filter automatically deleted—including terms indicative of criminality….https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/investigations/reports
Mike Rinder says
December 13, 2017 at 12:49 pm
You really ARE a dup. Funny how you want to forward the scientology lies and try to make them seem true. You are EXPANDING on Marty’s bs, not finding it “informative.”
This will likely be your last comment here.
Have you not understood that Tony was the Editor of the VV. There is a separation between editorial and advertising in journalism. In fact, the Backpage was run by a different company than the VV. Tony had no say and no control over what the VV did with advertising. He had control over the content of their news. Scientology HATED that. The corporate bosses at VV eventually caved to the scientology pressure. Tony never would. You do know he doesn’t work there any more.
Sorry, but taking up space on my blog to spew manufactured shit about Ortega is one step too far. You are now actively participating in the smear campaign against him. And that is not what this blog is for.
Bye bye. I hope you continue to find the scientology talking points relayed by “Marty” “informative.” Perhaps you can ask the “Open Book” why he dismissed the case and screwed the lawyers? And what he does for a living…
Marildi, the woman who Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology banned from his blog as a “dupe” for posting the results of a US senate investigation into Backpage.com, contacted me this morning with another comment she made to Mike Rinder but that he did not allow.
Here it is:
Marildi wrote to me:
“I tried to present facts and have a rational discussion with Mike, and I would have been willing to hear him out, but he wouldn’t have it. After he explained in that last reply how Tony had nothing to do with Backpage and said “Bye bye” to me, I posted the following but he deleted it:’
“December 13, 2017 at 1:42 pm’
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.’
“FYI, MIke, another thing I read was a long article by Tony in defense of Backpage, and it came across that he knew all about what was going on with the adult ads. For example, he was the one interviewed by a journalist at CNN on the matter, and he provided them “with a two-page, single-spaced data sheet about what we’re doing to keep underage users out of Backpage.com‘s adult pages.”
“The Senate committee apparently found otherwise, but sorry if I still have missing data.”
Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology now calls evidence uncovered in a US Senate Investigation “scientology lies” and “pressure from Scientology”. Just like he did for Scientologists, Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology now provides conspiracy thinking to get Anti-Scientologists to see “Scientology” where the US Senate is, as if David Miscavige uses the US Senate like his puppet and gets them to investigate something that has no merit at all.
Mike calls the evidence that this US Senate investigation uncovered as all “scientology lies”.
To put this in context, this type of Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology conspiracy thinking is comparable to the crazy Scientology logical contradictions behind the claims for the State of “OT” – OTs are “cause over life” but “SPs” can shatter OT’s to bits. So which are they? Are OTs cause over life, or crying little girls in the face of a mighty SP?
Using the same anti-Scientology contradictions – Scientology is a dying cult of bumbling, stupid and deluded cult members but they are so all-powerful they can shut down FBI investigations, make almost every social scientist in the world become a “shill” thus destroying their own credibility and careers to declare them a religion, and now to cause the US Senate to investigate a company that trafficked in the sex trade for no valid reason.
So which are they? Are Scientologists bumbling fools or an omnipotent force that holds all the puppet strings for US Federal Law Enforcement, all of academia, and the US Senate, too?
These are some of the questions you have to step back and ask yourself when you are trying to discern the truth when Mike Rinder has ever been involved – either as a Scientologist, or as an Anti-Scientologist.
Completely Unrelated Factual Reminder: Mike Rinder left Scientology in 2007. Keep that date firmly in your mind.
Almost any time the Church of Scientology fair gamed critics before that date, Mike Rinder Scientology was running it and reporting directly to David Miscavige about it.
Remember also that if there was a sexual molestation “flap” in the Church of Scientology before 2007, Mike Rinder Scientology, as the head of OSA, suppressed the victims involved and kept the police from being called.
This is only one small glimpse of the incredible duplicity of Mike Rinder Scientology vs. Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology : When you really watch and listen closely, and know his history, you find that Mike Rinder’s duplicity is duplicity that is literally incredible.
Marildi sent me this comment about the above:
This is a good point. Mike Rinder says that Tony Ortega did not know anything about what went on at Backpage.com – just as Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology claims that he didn’t know anything which went on at the Office of Special Affairs, which he ran as Mike Rinder Scientology.
But I’ve never seen Tony Ortega say that he didn’t know about anything going at Backpage.com.
If Ortega didn’t know anything about what went on at Backpage.com, how could he have written that piece of apologism for Backpage that you provided where he condoned and even endorsed what they did there?
Once again, just like with Mike Rinder Scientology, Mike Rinder Anti-Scientology’s rhetoric does not correspond with the facts.
And we are finally seeing Tony Ortega as the big fat old Backpage.com apologist that he is, endorsing and condoning what went on there.