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Tucker Carlson #fundie #crackpot theguardian.com

Carlson made the claim on the War Room podcast hosted by his fellow rightwing extremist Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser in the Trump administration who was released from prison last week after serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.

“Nuclear weapons are demonic, there’s no upside to them at all, and anyone who claims otherwise is either ignorant or doing the bidding of the forces that created nuclear technology in the first place, which were not human forces obviously,” Carlson said during a discussion on the perceived “spirituality” involved in the US development of atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan in August 1945, hastening the end of the second world war.

“Let me ask you this,” he continued. “What was the moment we can point to that nuclear technology was invented? I’ve never met a person who can isolate the moment where nuclear technology became known to man. German scientists in the 1930s? Really? Name the date? It’s very clear to me that these [nuclear weapons] are demonic.”

Tucker Carlson #crackpot #fundie #magick theguardian.com

Tucker Carlson, the former CNN and Fox News political chat host, has said he was “physically mauled” by a demon a year and a half ago, in an assault that he says left him bleeding and with scars from “claw marks”.

Carlson made the claim while speaking in an upcoming documentary, Christianities? In a preview clip on YouTube, Carlson is asked by John Heers of the non-profit First Things Foundation if he believed that “the presence of evil is kickstarting people to wonder about the good”.

“That’s what happened to me. I had a direct experience with it,” said Carlson.
Asked if he was referring to journalism, Carlson responded: “No, in my bed at night. I got attacked while I was asleep with my wife and four dogs and mauled, physically mauled.”

Carlson, who said he still bears the scars, said his assailant was a “demon”. He added: “Or by something unseen that left claw marks on my sides.”

He said at the time of the attack, he was asleep in bed. I was “totally confused, I woke up, and I couldn’t breathe, and I thought I was going to suffocate”, he said.

“I walked around outside and then I walked in and my wife and dogs had not woken up. And they’re very light sleepers. And then I had these terrible pains on my rib cage and on my shoulder, and I was just in my boxer shorts and I went and flipped on the light in the bathroom, and I had four claw marks on either side underneath my arms and on my left shoulder. And they’re bleeding.”

He added that he explained the encounter to an assistant, an evangelical Christian, who told him: “That happens, people are attacked in their bed by demons.”

Narconon UK #fundie #quack theguardian.com

Narconon UK was ordered by the watchdog to address a “range of shortfalls” after an investigation identified breaches of charity law and issues with management

The charity, which runs a private rehab facility in rural East Sussex, must also be more transparent about its treatment approach and links to the Church of Scientology, the Charity Commission said

The regulatory action comes after a nine-month investigation by the Observer revealed how people seeking help for drug and alcohol issues at Narconon’s Heathfield facility were subjected to psychological drills akin to those used in Scientology’s “auditing” process. Some people would suffer extreme reactions – breakdowns, paranoia or going into “trance-like states” – according to ex-patients and staff, who were also expected to complete the programme. Independent experts said the drills were reminiscent of a military boot camp or “obedience training” and did not appear to be therapeutic

The Observer investigation uncovered evidence of the charity downplaying its links to Scientology[…]
Sheila Maclean, Narconon’s UK manager, said the issues the Charity Commission flagged had been “successfully resolved”, adding: “We appreciate and welcome their guidance and look forward to our continued relationship with the commission in the future”

She said Narconon was “proud of its record of transparency as to the source of its programme and the success of its methods” and that, while it was developed by Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard, “it does not require any religious belief and a person does not become a Scientologist by doing the programme”[…]
The exercises closely resemble ‘training routines’ used in ‘auditing’[…]
Prof Tim Millar, professor of substance use and addictions at Manchester University, said he was astonished by the allegations. During 30 years researching drug treatment in England he said he had never seen such techniques