Talk:Operation Freakout

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Operation Freakout article. This is not a forum for general discussion about the article's subject.
Please sign and date your posts by typing four tildes (~~~~). Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic. New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Ask questions, get answers.	Be polite Assume good faith No personal attacks Be welcoming	Article policies No original research Neutral point of view Verifiability

	This article is supported by WikiProject Scientology, a collaborative effort to help develop and improve Wikipedia's coverage of Scientology. The aim is to write neutral and well-referenced articles on Scientology-related topics. See WikiProject Scientology and Wikipedia:Contributing FAQ.
B	This article has been rated as B-Class on the Project's quality scale. (If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)

Contents 1 laundromat 2 Origin of the code name "Operation Freakout" 3 Operation Snow White 4 Article lacks reliable sources 5 Sentencing Memoranda

[edit] laundromat

....to frame writer Paulette Cooper for bomb threats against the Church, Henry Kissinger, Arab nations and a laundromat.

Must've been some laundromat.--Wasabe3543 16:24, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Hmmmm, I'll have to check that out. I believe it might be true, actually; the Scientologists drew up the Operation Freakout plans in great written detail and at least one of the steps in the plan was to have a Scientology agent impersonating Paulette Cooper have an apparent psychotic episode in a laundromat, in which she would mention "her" intentions to bomb the above-mentioned targets. However, I don't remember off-hand whether the agent impersonating Cooper was directed to threaten the laundromat as well. I'll check into it. -- Antaeus Feldspar 21:36, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Yup, checks out. http://www.skepticfiles.org/sciento/sci592.htm The agent assigned to impersonate Cooper was supposed to go in the laundromat, ask if they had her clothes (which they wouldn't, since the real Cooper had never been there), and when they told her they didn't, to scream "You're one of them! I'll kill you. You're a dirty Arab. You fucking basterds. I'll bomb you. I'll bomb the Arabs. I'll bomb the President. I'll kill that traitor Kissingner. You're all against me." As their own documents show, they were trying to get Cooper locked up in a mental institution; to have "her" apparently issue a death threat over something so unproportionate was perfectly in their interests. -- Antaeus Feldspar 21:49, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of the code name "Operation Freakout"

Will someone kindly find some indication, somewhere, somehow, that this title was created by the CoS? and then post it as a verification for the title? Terryeo 19:04, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

The code name was used in the header of the 1 April 1976 document outlining the aim of the plan as "To get P.C incarcerated in a mental institution or jail, or at least to hit her so hard that she drops her attacks." and again as "Op Freakout" in the 13 April 1976 document which identifies the problem as "Cooper is getting her power back, attacking again." and the solution as "Attached is approved Op Freakout. This additional channel. Should really have her put away. Worked with all the other Channels ... The FBI already think she really did do the bomb threats on the C of S.", with the parameters of the operation being specified to include getting one of Cooper's "friends" who was actually a Church plant to obtain her fingerprints on a blank piece of paper then type a bomb threat on a library typewriter and mail it to Henry Kissinger. These documents were among the many seized by the FBI in their raids on Scientology's Los Angeles bases in 1977 following the exposure of Operation Snow White.

That, I think, is more than the "indication" you asked for. I don't understand exactly what you mean by "then post it as a verification for the title?" -- Antaeus Feldspar 20:43, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Images to back that up: [1]--216.165.33.63 00:22, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I see. I was asking, "where do the word come from?" You know, where did the term originate. The article seems to imply the Church of Scientology thought up the term, created a plan, called it by that name, etc. I was hoping to get some clarification. Terryeo 20:29, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

And you got it. -- Antaeus Feldspar 21:01, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Viewing user 216's link it looks like someone who's name appears as "Buck" or "Puck" originated the name and plan. It is a little difficult to be sure exactly who that might have been. Certainly the photographed document isn't as clear as could be wished for. Terryeo 20:33, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

This page ([2]) provides some background info on the circumstances of the document's recovery. As for why the operation was called "Freakout", there are two possible explanations. First, it might be a purely descriptive name (like "Iraqi Freedom" or "Desert Storm" - the US military seems to like that sort of name). Googling for the term "freak out" returns the definition: "lose one's nerve; "When he saw the accident, he freaked out" ". The objective of the operation could be interpreted as making Paulette Cooper "freak out", by hitting her so hard that she would never dare to criticise Scientology again. (Hubbard's "Manual of Justice" certainly advocates using blatant intimidation to "shut down" critics.)

Alternatively - and I know this is a long shot - it might be a Frank Zappa reference. Freak Out! was his debut album back in 1966. I think that explanation might be a red herring, though. :-) -- ChrisO 22:22, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

My question is, why would anybody join a religion as crazy and relentless as Scienology? Longbow 12:40 16 June 2005 (EST)

[edit] Operation Snow White

Have added a mention of this as what resulted in the papers being siezed that proved her innocence. Adam Cuerden 22:31, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article lacks reliable sources

It's based almost entirely on information from personal webpages. BabyDweezil 18:22, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Changed that. AndroidCat 20:20, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sentencing Memoranda

There are two memorandums that are key for Operation Freakout. Kember and Budlong, and Mary Sue et al. The second has a PDF scan and a converted text (possibly with deadly misplaced commas). AndroidCat 02:07, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I've added an HTML version of the Kember memorandum to Wikisource - I corrected it from an existing HTML version, which had some serious formatting errors and quite a few typos in it. We really ought to try to get the Hubbard memorandum on Wikisource as well. -- ChrisO 02:12, 14 February 2007 (UTC)