My favouritest Pagan website on the planet, MysticPricks, has sunk to a new low. Not content with promoting woolly thinking, historical inaccuracy, superstitious dogma, sectarian hatred and allowing cryto-racists to have the run of the site, they've now stooped to the level of pimping The Church of Scientology!
As usual, click to view a larger image.
The question is, of course, is what to do with such information? Apparently, the site owner's wife has already stated that to take it down would be to discriminate against Scientologists. You know, in the same way that arresting and incarcerating Al-Qaeda members is discriminating against Muslims. I know only a few weeks ago at least one member on the site made a detailed post listing the wrongs of the Church, so either they didn't read the post (in which case they are bad admins, but then we already knew that), or they just don't give a shit, and are more than willing to promote the Scifag cult because of the filthy lucre it brings in.
Knowing Mol's addictions, I have a good idea of which of those theories I prefer.
I know I'm not telling you anything new here, I'm just taking advantage of my US hosting and First Ammendment rights to tell you, Scientology is a cult.
For those of you slow on the uptake:
SCIENTOLOGY IS A CULT.
Right, glad we cleared that up.
Because apparently, you can now be arrested for calling the Scifags a cult.
A 15-year-old is facing possible prosecution for holding up a placard which branded Scientology a "cult".
The teenager held up a sign which read, "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult" in May, outside its headquarters in the City of London.
Its outrageous that the Co$ has pressed for the kid to be charged. A fucking disgrace. I know I haven't really talked about the Scientology vs Anonymous deal for a while now, mainly because its gotten so big and is so well documented elsewhere that I suspect I'm not really needed, but I still support Anonymous in their efforts. And this sort of paranoid overreaction and heavy handed response reminds us precisely of why the Church of Scientology needs to be dealt with. Apart from being the biggest lolcows on the planet, that is.
Since the other entry was getting insanely long and bogged down with all the pictures and videos, I'm starting a second one.
First off, a little bit of misinformation spotting. It appears someone went on Indymedia and spread the rumour that the Perth protests had turned violent:
Needless to say, this is 100% FALSE and has been taken down by Indymedia soon after they were alerted to it. I don't think you even need 3 guesses to figure out who put that story up.
Secondly, the final two Boston pictures (that I have recieved, anyway...)
I'm not sure if that is a journalist or a tourist, but either is good, I suppose.
Not totally sure whats going on here...but it looks like they are having fun.
Well, anyway, I'm not hearing much in the mainstream media about New York or Clearwater, so I'm going to go lurk on a few select boards and see what information I can find.
20:07
Pictures and videos of the Edinburgh protest are available here.
Secondly, for any /i/nsurgents reading this page, you might want to look at this post from the Operation Clambake forums while considering your future strategy.
20:19
The President of the Manhatten Church gets swamped by New York Anonymous here (YouTube link).
Also, pictures from the New York protests are up on 4chan. A few are included below:
Also, the potentially most interesting protest, that in the Scientologist homeland of Clearwater, Florida, can bee seen here (Photobucket account).
About a third of all Anon currently online who attended a protest report being followed. One Scientologist was arrested for trying to remove the mask of an Anon. Some CoS buildings have removed signs and paint indicating they are a CoS branch (not that it matters, since they have been marked using Google map and earth well before now, but anyway...).
20:41
Scientology has jumped into 8th place on Technorati's search rankings. About bloody time. Hopefully this will help it gain some traction with the mainstream media, who really seem to have dropped the ball on this one, so far.
20:53
Anonymous makes a statement for the public via YouTube. A transcript can be found here. Also, the Boston protest has been snowed off, according to the people attending.
21:09
Glosslip is back up....went down there for a bit. I suspect they are getting heavy traffic. Anyway, check out their entry on the Detroit protests.
21:25
News from the Toronto protests. Everything seems to be going well there, the cops seem to be in good humour about the whole thing. You can watch a short Youtube video of the protest here.
And here are some photos:
Rumours that Scientologists were arrested in London for trying to take masks off protesters, but I'm not finding anything concrete on that so far. As always, more as I get it.
Also, there are still people protesting in Boston, despite the apparently terrible weather. Its all still on, I am informed. Video of the Boston protests are also available here.
I'll be live-blogging reports from Boston about the Church of Scientology/Anonymous protests throughout the day, thanks to our own covert HIMEOBS agents who have decided to take part there. However I want to cover what is happening in the rest of the world too, so that is what I will do as well. All times are for the UK.
NOTICE: THIS THREAD IS INSANELY LONG, THEREFORE I HAVE STARTED A NEW ONE HERE. This entry has so many images it is massively slowing up my not very old laptop, which is not a good sign.
13:31
Reports coming in from Australian Discordians about the Anonymous protests already look promising.
According to news.com.au, over 150 people attended the Sydney protests, chanting among other things ""Church on the left, cult on the right", "Religion is free" and "We want Xenu"."
More on the Australian protests can be found at the Anonaustralia blog. Hopefully soon Pope Felix over at The Madcap Laughs will also get his own material up from the Melbourne protests, which apparently went down well.
I'm going to get lunch, then check what is happening in the rest of the world.
13:50
More pictures and video from the Australia protests:
14:02
Might be some protests happening up York way, according to the York Press. However, the BBC News website is being unusually sloppy and is not reporting on anything happening in London, and I am too lazy to get on the raid IRC channels (not to mention no-one will be there anyway). Daily papers probably wont report anything, and the protests are almost certainly ongoing, so I may have to wait until this evening to see any videos on Youtube etc
Might check out 4chan, 7chan and 711chan after lunch.
14:09
According to 4chan, there are over 50 and possibly up to 100 people attending the Edinburgh protest, and over 300 at the London one. BBC and Sky News are covering it on TV, but naturally, I don't have a television. Goddamnit. Still, it sounds like both protests are bringing the thunder.
14:23
Paris protests aren't looking too impressive, going by 4chan. Then again, its hardly like 4chan is known for its large French contingent. Maybe the French Canadians will do better. A picture from the protest.
14:34
Bad quality picture from the London protests, looks like they certainly have the numbers there however. Australian press is all over the protests as well, hopefully the UK will catch up. US protests should be starting in a couple of hours.
14:47
Video from the London protests. Might take a while to load. Go to http://www.qik.com/anonlondon if you want to see more as they come in.
15:20
More videos from London, this time on YouTube.
16:10
First images from Boston are coming in. Haven't checked the US news much yet, will do so once this is up
16:22
Several more pictures from Boston:
Protesters making their way to the venue.
Hah, excellent advertising for the Operation Clambake website.
Moving on to the CoS centre, I'm guessing...
Spelling out some Horrible Troofs
PADDLE FASTER, I HEAR THETAN TRUCKS!
Half-hearted protesting there, methinks...
16:37
Even more coverage from Boston.
Now that's a little more like it!
Directly outside the Church now
Low quality picture of the Scientologists videotaping those taking part in the protest. Good thing they're all masked up...
Scientology closed due to Thetans.
More as I get it.
17:03
More information on the London raids available from Glosslip.com (cheers for the link, D!). In particular, note the video for the NYC raid.
17:15
D-Day letter from Anonymous being circulated around the internet. As usual, click to expand:
17:21
Nick Cohen on Comment is Free makes reference to todays protests and Anonymous, in the context of freedom of speech and the UK's exceptionally unjust libel laws.
Publishers and every variety of American journalist from left winger to neo-con are demanding court judgments and new laws from US politicians to protect them from Eady and his kind. They have grasped that, far from promoting freedom, the net is allowing Saudi billionaires, Scientologists and soon, I imagine, Vladimir Putin's stooges and the agents of sovereign wealth funds to come to London and secure a banning order that could be enforced anywhere in the world.
Today's anti-Scientology protesters may seem obsessive. Although they promise to be non-violent, their planned raids could turn nasty. But they understand better than bowdlerising judges and appeasing archbishops that the freedom to speak, argue, examine and satirise is the best defence against all the cults that seek to indoctrinate and subjugate our fellow citizens.
More as I find it.
17:35
Pictures from the...um, less than extraordinary Dublin raid, from 4chan:
Obviously not the strongest showing ever...
Still, its enough to warrant at least two members of the Garda, I suppose.
Not to mention this Scientologist official who wanted to know what was going on. Clearly not up on current events.
More pictures of London and Boston on their way.
17:45
Two latest pictures from Boston
A lovely rainbow there
And yet another camera from within the building, taping the protesters.
Naturally, the car was playing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up.
18:03
Some fantastic pictures of the London raid, all taken from 4chan. As always, click to enlarge (some of these are huge).
Horse police
The signs are well worth reading.
WHERE ARE YOUR ORGS NOW?
Outside the main CoS centre in London
The dude with the 'fro certainly adds a special something to this protest.
If nothing else, Anonymous are giving the cops in London some easy duty for the day
Can't think of a good caption for this
It might be obvious murder is a crime...but apparently not. At least, for some people. The other half of the London photos will be forthingcoming in a while.
19:13
The London Pictures Part Deux
Face facts: you will never be as cool as the guy on the right.
Anonymous in London has been exemplary. This is a surprise, for anyone who has ever visited any of the *chan sites.
I admit it, I laughed.
As much as I'm sure the forced abortion/CoS issue is very important and serious, my eyes keep being drawn to the Longcat banner, whether I want to or not.
Even the cops are enjoying the protest.
(insert wry comment here)
On Tottenham Road...I think.
Also hi to all the guys and gals from the Randi forums and Glosslip who are currently visiting! I feel so special.
I thought you might enjoy this Youtube video someone from PD.com has given me links to. From everything I see and hear, this is 110% the Church of Science modus operandi for dealing with critics who wont shut up. 10 minutes long, enjoy.
If you hadn't already seen the blog entry done by The Madcap Laughs, let me direct you to it. Yes, Anonymous is going to be protesting outside the various cult centres of the CoS on February 10th, thats exactly one week from today.
Personally, I'm not taking part, because of aforementioned money troubles, and because the other people who I know who are going will likely try and drag me into a pub crawl afterwards - and I absolutely have to be up early the next day. But I'll be lending a hand to the Edinburgh protesters and will be there electronically, if not physically.
Also, since I like Anonymous and don't like the CoS, I've been trying to spread the word among various Discordian groups as well. As far as I know, there will be Discordians showing up at New York, Portland, Edinburgh, Melbourne and London, to give a helping hand. Probably some in other areas as well, but I only know so many people.
Anyway, if you want a definitive list of CoS centres that are going to be protested at, go here. So, if you happen to be free on the day, and are near one, go give a helping hand (mindful of the dress code, however). Its a good cause, after all....
Oh dear. It looks like the Church of Scientology decided both Tom Cruise and their expensive legal teams were not getting enough exercise, so they let the vertically challenged Messiah out of his cage long enough to embarass them on video, then sent in the legal team to clear up the damage and prevent it becoming a laughing stock.
Unfortunately, this is the age of the internet, and there are just so many unscrupulous people about, who will think nothing off making duplicates copywrited material and disseminating it around the internet for everyone to see. For example, I managed to find the below 2 links with just a few minutes of searching.
Fortunately, its in .flv format, so not too many people will be able watch it without downloading some sort of free program.
Interestingly enough, the internet has decided to declare War on Scientology as well. At least, the parts of it on the various 4chan spin-off sites, including the HACKERS ON STERIODS of Fox News infamy. Along with mass dissemination of the Tom Cruise video and Scientology texts, there have been DDoS attacks against the Scientology site as well, which reportedly was down for a while. Operation Chanology has a lot of manpower and is even more amusing than the Church of Scientology, so I wish it well.
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