38 ICSA TODAY 36
descendants will go on trial on Tuesday in Cranbrook. …The trial
opens without Canada’s most notorious polygamist, Winston
Blackmore, husband to 27 and father to 145. Blackmore was
charged with one count of polygamy in 2014 at the same time
as three others from Bountiful [Utah]. …Brandon and Gail
Blackmore are accused of taking a child (known as M.M.B.) into
the United States for illegal purposes in February 2004. The
records were seized during a 2008 raid on the FLDS’s Yearning
for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas and included the names of 31
girls aged 12 to 17, who over a 10-year period were alleged to
have been transported by their parents between Canada and
the United States for religious marriages. …A 2008 fax about the
13-year-old was also entered in evidence in the B.C. case. It was
sent from a Texas child protection worker to a B.C. social worker
informing that the Bountiful girl was among the mothers and
children swept in the raid on the YFZ ranch.” (Vancouver Sun,
11/20/16)
Polygamy remains a crime as US Supreme Court won’t hear
case from Sister Wives
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear arguments
from the husband and four wives who star in the television
show Sister Wives, letting stand a lower court ruling that kept
polygamy a crime in Utah. The appeal by Kody, Meri, Janelle,
Christine, and Robyn Brown sought [to] remove the penalties
for a practice that has caused consternation in Utah since the
first Mormon settlers arrived. Some of the state’s politically active
polygamists vowed Monday morning to continue efforts to
decriminalize plural marriage.” (The Salt Lake Tribune, 01/23/17)
Herbert signs polygamy bill into Utah law
“Gov. Gary Herbert on Tuesday signed a bill that keeps polygamy
a felony in Utah and increases the penalties for polygamists
convicted of committing frauds and abuses. Herbert’s approval
of HB99 affirms the position Utah has held since statehood—that
polygamy is against the law. Yet it’s unclear how much of the
bill will ever be used. …HB99 was a response to the lawsuit filed
by the Brown family from the television show Sister Wives. The
Browns sued the state after Lehi police investigated them for
bigamy. Clark Waddoups, a federal judge in Salt Lake City, ruled
for the Browns in 2013, saying Utah’s bigamy statute, as applied
to polygamists, is unconstitutional. But the 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals overturned Waddoups’ ruling on the grounds that the
Browns were never prosecuted. The U.S. Supreme Court declined
to hear the case. …The new law keeps the offense a third-degree
felony punishable by up to five years in prison, but the penalty
could increase to 15 years if bigamy is prosecuted in conjunction
with crimes such as abuse, fraud or human smuggling. Anyone
leaving a polygamous marriage and reporting abuse or
protecting a child would receive amnesty.” (The Salt Lake Tribune,
3/28/17)
Scientologists blast “hypocritical” A&E for canceling KKK
docuseries
“Scientologists demanded ‘fair and equal treatment’ from the
A&E cable channel this week after company executives canceled
plans to broadcast a controversial documentary series devoted
to the Ku Klux Klan while continuing to air a program critical
of their church. The channel’s decision to pull the plug on its
planned KKK series in light of recent complaints is hypocritical,
an attorney for the Church said in a letter sent Tuesday to A&E,
particularly given its reluctance to take similar action against
the program Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. … Ms.
Remini and others who appear in Aftermath have either received
monetary compensation or ‘in-kind payments in the form of free
advertising and promotion for anti-Scientology books they have
published,’ Church attorney Gary Soter said in Tuesday’s letter.
‘This quid pro quo aimed at gaining access to these individuals
is similar in effect—although more substantial—to the ‘nominal’
payments made to the Ku Klux Klan members which [sic]
caused A&E to pull that series,’ Mr. Soter wrote. ‘A&E has applied
its policies and practices in an invidious and discriminatory
manner. We can think of no justification for A&E’s hypocrisy.’” (The
Washington Times, 12/29/16)
In Russia, some Scientology files have been included in the
federal list of extremism-related materials
“Police are carrying out a search at a Scientology center located
to the northeast of Moscow, a law enforcement source told
TASS on Wednesday. …The investigation is underway as part
of a criminal case into illegal entrepreneurship launched by the
Federal Security Service in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad
Region. …In Russia, some Scientology files have been included
in the federal list of extremism-related materials, and their
storage and dissemination is prohibited in the country.” (Tass,
3/29/17)
Transcendental Meditation is taking over Wall Street—here’s
how it works
“Five years ago, Ray Dalio—founder of the world’s largest hedge
fund, Bridgewater Associates—declared Transcendental
Meditation (TM) to be ‘the single biggest influence’ on his
life. Over the past few years, TM has made its way into the
mainstream, with celebrities like Jerry Seinfeld and Arianna
Huffington proclaiming its benefits, and doctors around the
United States recommending it to patients with anxiety and
high blood pressure, given its approval by agencies like the
American Heart Association.… Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, TM’s
founder, was a young man with a physics degree when he
traveled to the Indian Himalayas to study as a Hindu monk under
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, the leader of the monastery
in Jyotir Math. When the Maharishi—a title that means ‘seer’
and is commonly used as shorthand—began his global tour of
spreading TM in 1958, he made it clear that although he and
his guru were Hindu monks and TM was rooted in the ancient
Vedic scriptures, his practice was not tied to the Hindu faith.…
‘I think where we are today is where Maharishi always wanted it
to be,’ DLF [David Lynch Foundation] director Bob Roth told
me, ‘which is science-based, and evidence-based, and fits in with
medicine and mainstream wellness programs.’’’ (Business Insider,
11/10/16) n
descendants will go on trial on Tuesday in Cranbrook. …The trial
opens without Canada’s most notorious polygamist, Winston
Blackmore, husband to 27 and father to 145. Blackmore was
charged with one count of polygamy in 2014 at the same time
as three others from Bountiful [Utah]. …Brandon and Gail
Blackmore are accused of taking a child (known as M.M.B.) into
the United States for illegal purposes in February 2004. The
records were seized during a 2008 raid on the FLDS’s Yearning
for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas and included the names of 31
girls aged 12 to 17, who over a 10-year period were alleged to
have been transported by their parents between Canada and
the United States for religious marriages. …A 2008 fax about the
13-year-old was also entered in evidence in the B.C. case. It was
sent from a Texas child protection worker to a B.C. social worker
informing that the Bountiful girl was among the mothers and
children swept in the raid on the YFZ ranch.” (Vancouver Sun,
11/20/16)
Polygamy remains a crime as US Supreme Court won’t hear
case from Sister Wives
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear arguments
from the husband and four wives who star in the television
show Sister Wives, letting stand a lower court ruling that kept
polygamy a crime in Utah. The appeal by Kody, Meri, Janelle,
Christine, and Robyn Brown sought [to] remove the penalties
for a practice that has caused consternation in Utah since the
first Mormon settlers arrived. Some of the state’s politically active
polygamists vowed Monday morning to continue efforts to
decriminalize plural marriage.” (The Salt Lake Tribune, 01/23/17)
Herbert signs polygamy bill into Utah law
“Gov. Gary Herbert on Tuesday signed a bill that keeps polygamy
a felony in Utah and increases the penalties for polygamists
convicted of committing frauds and abuses. Herbert’s approval
of HB99 affirms the position Utah has held since statehood—that
polygamy is against the law. Yet it’s unclear how much of the
bill will ever be used. …HB99 was a response to the lawsuit filed
by the Brown family from the television show Sister Wives. The
Browns sued the state after Lehi police investigated them for
bigamy. Clark Waddoups, a federal judge in Salt Lake City, ruled
for the Browns in 2013, saying Utah’s bigamy statute, as applied
to polygamists, is unconstitutional. But the 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals overturned Waddoups’ ruling on the grounds that the
Browns were never prosecuted. The U.S. Supreme Court declined
to hear the case. …The new law keeps the offense a third-degree
felony punishable by up to five years in prison, but the penalty
could increase to 15 years if bigamy is prosecuted in conjunction
with crimes such as abuse, fraud or human smuggling. Anyone
leaving a polygamous marriage and reporting abuse or
protecting a child would receive amnesty.” (The Salt Lake Tribune,
3/28/17)
Scientologists blast “hypocritical” A&E for canceling KKK
docuseries
“Scientologists demanded ‘fair and equal treatment’ from the
A&E cable channel this week after company executives canceled
plans to broadcast a controversial documentary series devoted
to the Ku Klux Klan while continuing to air a program critical
of their church. The channel’s decision to pull the plug on its
planned KKK series in light of recent complaints is hypocritical,
an attorney for the Church said in a letter sent Tuesday to A&E,
particularly given its reluctance to take similar action against
the program Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. … Ms.
Remini and others who appear in Aftermath have either received
monetary compensation or ‘in-kind payments in the form of free
advertising and promotion for anti-Scientology books they have
published,’ Church attorney Gary Soter said in Tuesday’s letter.
‘This quid pro quo aimed at gaining access to these individuals
is similar in effect—although more substantial—to the ‘nominal’
payments made to the Ku Klux Klan members which [sic]
caused A&E to pull that series,’ Mr. Soter wrote. ‘A&E has applied
its policies and practices in an invidious and discriminatory
manner. We can think of no justification for A&E’s hypocrisy.’” (The
Washington Times, 12/29/16)
In Russia, some Scientology files have been included in the
federal list of extremism-related materials
“Police are carrying out a search at a Scientology center located
to the northeast of Moscow, a law enforcement source told
TASS on Wednesday. …The investigation is underway as part
of a criminal case into illegal entrepreneurship launched by the
Federal Security Service in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad
Region. …In Russia, some Scientology files have been included
in the federal list of extremism-related materials, and their
storage and dissemination is prohibited in the country.” (Tass,
3/29/17)
Transcendental Meditation is taking over Wall Street—here’s
how it works
“Five years ago, Ray Dalio—founder of the world’s largest hedge
fund, Bridgewater Associates—declared Transcendental
Meditation (TM) to be ‘the single biggest influence’ on his
life. Over the past few years, TM has made its way into the
mainstream, with celebrities like Jerry Seinfeld and Arianna
Huffington proclaiming its benefits, and doctors around the
United States recommending it to patients with anxiety and
high blood pressure, given its approval by agencies like the
American Heart Association.… Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, TM’s
founder, was a young man with a physics degree when he
traveled to the Indian Himalayas to study as a Hindu monk under
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, the leader of the monastery
in Jyotir Math. When the Maharishi—a title that means ‘seer’
and is commonly used as shorthand—began his global tour of
spreading TM in 1958, he made it clear that although he and
his guru were Hindu monks and TM was rooted in the ancient
Vedic scriptures, his practice was not tied to the Hindu faith.…
‘I think where we are today is where Maharishi always wanted it
to be,’ DLF [David Lynch Foundation] director Bob Roth told
me, ‘which is science-based, and evidence-based, and fits in with
medicine and mainstream wellness programs.’’’ (Business Insider,
11/10/16) n
