#5.On His Native American Upbringing …
#4.On His Study of Nuclear Physics …
#3. On L. Ron Hubbard, War Hero …
#2.On Living The Drug-Free Lifestyle …
#1. On Inventing the Concept of a Moral Code …

Full Story: Cracked

(via Disinfo)

[Read more →]

Full Story: Gallup.

(Thanks Bill!)

[Read more →]

The telephone rings, and a voice on the other end says that Anonymous is in crisis mode.

It’s March 13, two days before Anonymous’ second protest against the Church of Scientology, and things are starting to get serious. Rumors abound that Scientologists are flying in investigators from church headquarters in Clearwater, Fla., to Washington. Reports have come in that people involved in Anonymous–”anons”–have been followed, and a series of videos have been posted on YouTube purporting to show anons without their masks and listing their real names.

The videos appear alongside a video released by the church, titled “Anonymous Hate Crimes,” which calls the group terrorists. Down in Clearwater, the church has applied for a restraining order against planned Anonymous anti-Scientology protests on the Ides of March, but the D.C. permit is secure.

Things seem to be going down pretty much the way ex-Scientologist Arnie Lerma said they would, and paranoia is running high. It’s a woman’s voice on the phone, but she won’t reveal her name, only that the recipient of the call has met her before–she wishes to remain Anonymous.

Full Story: City Paper.

(via Hit and Run)

[Read more →]

(via Chaoflux)

[Read more →]

Recently, Radar reported on Scientology’s short-lived attempt to beat its Guy Fawkes mask-clad antagonists “Anonymous” at their own game: scary YouTube videos. A clip posted by a Sciento associate under the name “AnonymousFacts” displayed the names and personal information of several supposed Anonymous members and accused the group of violent threats and terrorism. YouTube quickly took the video down and suspended AnonymousFacts. But the hassle for at least one of the three men shown didn’t end there.

[…]

Later a friend of the family came over and said Mr. Mustachio was hanging out in front of the house and had asked her if she was Jonathan’s mom. When she said no, he waited until Jonathan’s parents did arrive, then handed them the file and said, “This is a courtesy letter. No charges are being filed yet. But your son may be involved in terrorist activity.” And then he left. Inside the package was a letter accusing Jonathan of terrorism and a DVD copy of the YouTube video, he says.

[…]

Jonathan said the DVD of Scientologists’ video and the accusation that their son was a terrorist concerned his parents. “[They] told me that while they understood what I was doing, it’s not worth it to have psychos threatening our family. And I agreed.” He’s publicly declared he’s done with Anonymous. “I can’t. I live at home, and these creepy guys started knocking on our door and handing my parents letters … Anyway, I’m not protesting anymore.”

Full Story: Radar.

Update: Another protester’s been intimidated out.

Radar’s coverage of the protests.

Scientology Sets Sights on African Expansion.

[Read more →]

GSPOT: Wes Unruh interviews Taylor Ellwood.

Phase II: Hypershielf Pt. 2.

GSPOT: Joseph Matheny and Chandra Shukla Interview Andrew Liles.

Viking Youth: Erik Davis on Scientology.

Viking Youth: The Knee Deep Slumber of the American Buffet.

Point of Inquiry: Norm Allen - African American Religiosity, Humanism, and Politics.

Point of Inquiry: Robert M. Price - The Paperback Apocalypse.

Adam Gorightly: Dr. Edgar Mitchell.

Adam Gorightly: Kentroversy Returns.

Occult of Personality: Bishop T Allen Greenfield on gnosticism.

Occult of Personality: Lon Milo Duquette.

[Read more →]

Some of this stuff has been floating around the Internet over the past few days, but Cabinet of Wonders ties it all together:

The English-language term “Scientology” originated neither with Hubbard nor Nordenholz, but with philologist Allen Upward, who coined the term in 1907 to ridicule pseudoscientific theories.

Possibly more interestingly, is the history of the E-Meter . It was invented by chiropractor and sci-fi author Volney Mathison, based on his study of lie detectors. Mark Pilkington looked at this aspect in an article he wrote for the Guardian.

Full Story: Cabinet of Wonders.

[Read more →]

It’s been way too long since I’ve done this (about a month):

Viking Youth Power Hour on Scientology.

Occult of Personality: The Life and Work of Dr. Paul Foster Case. (Plus several more).

Adam Gorightly: Richard Alan Miller. (Plus several more).

Point of Inquiry: Tom Flynn - The Science vs. Religion Warfare Thesis. (Plus several more).

Ripple: Estradasphere part 1 and part 2. (Contains a Technoccult ad!)

G-Spot: Hellhounds and Lapdogs, a conversation about the recent Alterati take down that Technoccult may have helped cause (sorry guys!)

Halfcast episode 9. My personal favorite podcast.

[Read more →]

Shawn Lonsdale, a vocal Scientology critic who both directed his own anti-church documentary and appeared in a BBC Panorama documentary titled Scientology And Me, was found dead in his home over the weekend in an apparent suicide, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

While authorities do not suspect foul play, the same cannot be said of the Internet message board posters who are alleging that church members harassed Lonsdale into committing suicide—if they didn’t actually directly off the guy and make it look like a suicide. “This is a little TOO suspicious. Coincides with our attacks?” writes one Anonymous poster, noting the proximity of Lonsdale’s death to the recent spate of public anti-Scientology protests. Over at the Times’ website, accusations are more direct: “An apparent suicide? Maybe it was staged to look like a suicide. Has anyone noticed how many Off-Duty Officers work for Scientology! These will be the same officers investigating this Suicide???? An investigation with Impartiality? Justice Denied?”

Full Story: Radar Magazine.

(Irreality news wire).

[Read more →]

More pics: White Chapel.

(via Notes From Somewhere Bizarre).

[Read more →]

Ted Rall.

[Read more →]

I’ve been following this as it develops. Here’s the press release:

CLEARWATER, Florida - Anonymous announced their intention to combat the activities of the Church of Scientology on Monday. A spokesperson said that the group’s goals include bringing an end to the financial exploitation of Church members and protecting the right to free speech, a right which they claim was consistently violated by the Church of Scientology in pursuit of its opponents.

This announcement came as a response to attempts by the Church to keep secret an internal video meant to be viewed only by Scientologists, featuring actor Tom Cruise. Despite their efforts, the movie was leaked and rapidly spread across the Internet. The video caused much controversy, and members of Anonymous posted a message to several of their websites proclaiming war against Scientology. Soon after, Anonymous struck at the church; they blocked access to its website, made prank calls, organized protests, distributed anti-Church pamphlets and information, and extracted secret files from the Church of Scientology and its parent company, the Religious Technology Center.

View the whole thing here.

Inspired by the release of Tom Cruise’s secret Scientology video and the Church’s attempts to suppress it, Anon promises an all-out war in the following hokey but entertaining video:

For further information, check out the Gawker post. It has some notes and links.

[Read more →]

More useful bacteria communication:

Electrodes have been used to trap, interrogate and release individual bacteria in a bio-electronic circuit that could be used to construct nanoscale machines.

“One of the great challenges of nanotechnology remains the assembly of nanoscale objects into more complex systems,” says Robert Hamers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We think that bacteria and other small biological systems can be used as templates for fabricating even more complex systems.”

Link.

[Read more →]