Are Craig Ferguson fans watching the shows from Paris this week? They're excellent. Kristin Bell in a beret!

So you're saying she's one of the 115, not the 2000? And was it a case that press coverage could help solve?

yes, one of the 115. Without your original link, I would assume that a large portion of the 115 includes kids in what people would consider high-risk situations -- kids who live in maybe poor areas, or who like in my link, are living with a cult (!), or foster homes, or whatever. Crime happening to someone who is in a high-risk environment is less newsworthy than a kid who's in her own house in a small town. Whether or not press coverage would help -- the press is in the eyeball business, not the solving missing-kid business. They wouldn't be in business long if their primary aim was drawing attention to the stories that could use it most.

are living with a cult (!)

It happens!

Actually I'd like to see some numbers on that. I remember a woman doing a one woman show about her experience growing up on a Synanon compound.

Also, Teppy and Billytea's experiences with FAC make me suspect they're more prevalent than is generally acknowledged.

Synanon! That's the name! DH and I were talking about cults the other day and I was trying to explain to him how deeply the Jonestown events affected me as a kid. But part of it was that the whole cult thing seemed so prevalent.

Synanon and Jonestown cults had a common emphasis on creating a post-racist culture which pulled a lot of people from the counter culture. Both of those groups were notable for being racially integrated.

Reading up on the cults in Wikipedia I'm experiencing tremendous turmoil in the subtext.

There's obvious seeding of a stance which isn't exactly pro-cult, but tries to spin it as New Religious Movements, and define the opposition as some minority Anti Cult Movement.

But there's even deeper subtext because from a sociological perspective the mechanisms which define a cult are the basic levers and pulleys of society. Social pressure and indoctrination etc.

And beyond that there's a deeper taboo tapdance around the fact that religious history and cults are very difficult to disentangle.

My admittedly vague memories at that time was that both groups were creepy.

A one-time close friend dismantled her marriage because of her involvement with the "Noetics Institute" and it was a real fucking bummer to watch.

EM was subjected to Mind Control at a communist controlled camp in Cuba in the 70s and it Fucked. Her. Up.

(Mind Control is a specific form of cult indoctrination, distinct from Brainwashing.)

She did a lot of therapy with a specialist on the subject.

Then her sister became involved in the Recovered Memory movement so I wound up getting an education in two of the all time great Mind Fucks of the last forty years.

And an irritating thing on this show, they gave a blanket pass to women involved in couple kidnappings. Only men are that evil. Women are just broken.

And victims. Always victims. (That pissed me off too.)

Burrell,

I am not sure why Jamestown fucked you up, but I was about 7 or 8 when Jamestown came across the news and I just could not get over all the adults and little kids dying in mass after drinking kool-aid! The family watched "60 minutes" every Sunday faithfully and some of the material on that program still lives with me decades later.

They had some grim shit on "60 minutes."