Empire of the Odd

June 13, 2008

Yarrrr! Those Anonymous guys we reported on a while ago are still going strong in their campaign to expose the dodgy practices and nasty tactics of the “Church” of Scientology, and they’re planning to make June as enturbulated as possible for the Xenu-believers, with this Saturday’s pirate-themed protest outside two of the “Church”‘s London sites, codenamed Operation Sea Arrrgh!.The London ‘chapter’ of Anonymous was greatly heartened by the City of London Police’s recent high-profile issuing of a court summons – and equally high-profile retraction of said summons – to a protester who uses the alias EpicNoseGuy (see this BBC News report for more). Turnout numbers for Sea Arrrgh are consequently expected to be high; following the cult sign fiasco (EpicNoseGuy’s sign, lest we forget, contained a direct quote from Mr Justice Latey calling Scientology a “dangerous cult” in a High Court ruling) we confidently predict that signs featuring the four-letter c-word will be much in evidence. We’ve also heard rumors of a very special feline-themed pirate ship, currently under construction.

But if you’re thinking of buying a standard-issue V mask for the protest from the usual supplier – Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue – beware: a poster on Wirah reported that staff at the sci-fi store had told him that suspected Scientologists had recently been in and bought the entire stock of the masks, and had asked shop assistants to take photos of anyone who came in trying to buy one. Will they ever learn?

Operation Sea Arrrgh!: 11am at Blackfriars station, moving to Goodge Street at 2pm

A ‘lesson learned’ when group was ‘not as forthcoming as they needed to be,’ principal says

Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun

Published: Wednesday, June 11, 2008

A Vancouver principal said his school was uninformed when it invited a group affiliated with the Church of Scientology to speak to a student assembly last month about human rights.

John Bevacqua, of St. Patrick regional secondary school, said he hadn’t been aware that Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is part of the Scientology movement until it was brought to his attention by a staff member shortly after the group finished its presentation.

“It was very unfortunate that they were not as forthcoming as they needed to be,” he said of YHRI. “It was a lesson learned.” The group was invited into the school on the recommendation of students who had heard representatives speak at a conference and were impressed with the message. The students gained the support of teacher sponsors, who vouched for the group and extended the invitation, Bevacqua said.

[[[MORE]]] 

Six weeks after public health authorities on the Caribbean island of Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles) impounded the Scientology cult’s 440-foot luxury liner “Freewinds,” the ship remains locked down. Experts advise that decontaminating the ship would cost millions of dollars and may not even be possible. Meanwhile, the cult continues to solicit funds for cruises that will not happen.

After the ship was quarantined on April 26, the Curaçao Drydock Company was contracted to carry out refurbishment and repairs. The contamination was so extensive that the company decided that the risk to its workers was too great, and ceased operations. At that point Scientology sent a team of its “Sea Org” internal paramilitary force to clean the ship themselves. They are bringing the blue asbestos by the truckload to dump at the island’s Selikor landfill site at Malpais.

[[[MORE]]]

Source, pravda.ru

Scientology’s “Fair Game” policy was a controversial hot button topic since it’s inception in 1965, by church founder Lafayette Ronald Hubbard better known as L. Ron Hubbard.

The policy stated that “A Suppressive Person or Group becomes fair game. By FAIR GAME is meant, may not be further protected by the codes and disciplines or the rights of a Scientologist.”

Later that same year L. Ron Hubbard amended the policy by adding that

“The homes, property, places and abodes of persons who have been active in attempting to: suppress Scientology or Scientologists are all beyond any protection of Scientology Ethics, unless absolved by later Ethics or an amnesty … this Policy Letter extends to suppressive non-Scientology wives and husbands and parents, or other family members or hostile groups or even close friends.”

In 1967 Hubbard further amended this policy where he defined the “penalties” for an individual deemed to be in a “Condition of Enemy”:

“ENEMY — SP Order. Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.”

Ask an active Scientologist about “Fair Game Policy” today and they will quickly tell you that this policy was cancelled by Hubbard himself in fact cancelled any such order and that it is no longer in practice today.

Is this true? Well, to answer that question we need only look at more of Hubbard’s writings dating back to October of 1968 when Hubbard amended the policy again

“The practice of declaring people FAIR GAME will cease. FAIR GAME may not appear on any Ethics Order. It causes bad public relations. This P/L does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of an SP.”

The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is exemplified in the very last sentence of the above quote; “This P/L (Policy Letter) does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of an SP (Suppressive Person).”

[[[[MORE]]]]

The full title of this site is…

“ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL,” Connecting Teens With Anti-Religion Extremists and Racism

I suppose that any web page with as dorky sounding a title like that deserves some scrutiny. This is (presumably) an official Scientology Organization dead agenting page, what skeptic could pass this up .

“ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL,” is a pretty active page right now. It’s been heavily touted on Alt.Religion.Scientology by the high tech process of repeating the same URL hundreds of times. I suppose that’s a way to ge the attention of hypnotized people, (protip- most people reading ARS are not hypnotized so repeating shit ad-nausium is simply annoying.

But! We got a theme going here, “ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL,” itself is annoying. Not because it bashes and namefaggs Anon-folk. Not because whoever is writing it really does not understand what the Anon movement is all about. It the *way* it is written.

“ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL,” is written in what I’ve come to know as “Scientology-prose.” It’s basically the same as average public-school 8th-9th grade writing. Not completely unintelligible, but it tends to run-on more than average and concepts are expressed in very simple terms. It’s not unlike Hubbard’s writing, (not as good though and Hubbard was no Hemingway.)

Some of this stuff seems to have unacceptable levels of structure. For example, this is a longer than average paragraph I pulled from the ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL page more or less randomly (and it was on top.)

“The REGIME”, a group claiming not to care about Anonymous or the Church of Scientology, are naming members of Anonymous to express their distaste for people claiming to be “hackers.” The following stills are from THIS VIDEO.

((vid))

Members of Anonymous are highly offended by this and consider it to be “Scientology FAIR GAME” tactics at work. Ironically, these same Pedo-Culture Obessed (SIC) Anonymous members who are easily offended by “bad words” overlook their own tactics, which incude (SIC) dropping names and addresses of their percieved (SIC) enemies.

Now, I’m not talking about the misspells and typos, we all get those (even you Alfred! STFU!) The subject of the second paragraph wanders around quite a bit too.

ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL also has this unfortunate tenancy to spin things almost beyond comprehension. In the preceding paragraph the author of ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL, STOP THE INTERNET HATE MACHINE mentions that Anonymous members are offended by “bad words.” This is in reference I believe to The “Reverend” Carmichael’s freaking hilarious antics in New York where he whispers into an Anon’s ear “I smell pussy, you! In particular!”

The really funny thing is, no one was offended, the Anons thought this was the funniest thing they had ever heard (if one can judge from the laughter on the video.) Either the author of ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL is unaware of the chan-culture or is simply fibbing. You can’t offend those folk with bad language, they undoubtedly know more bad language in dreams of the Sea Org (which is pretty rich in profanities so I hear.) The Anons thought it was funny because “they understand when and where this kind of language is appropriate, The “Reverend” Carmichael, head of Scientology in New York City apparently does not.

Now that’s funny!

But offensive? Naw!

ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL is nothing more than a Dead Agenting page, it’s designed to shock people into staying away from “anonymous activities ” which to Scientology is synonymous with “hate crimes.” You know, killing people, genocide, making worlds radioactive- that kind of thing. The page is only interesting for two reasons, It is frequently updated, someone is spending a considerable amount of time watching the forums and various Anon hangouts. This is a good way to see what is going on inside Scientology, how they are reacting to the Anon-folk.

The other reason is, ANONYMOUS” is a “HATE-PORTAL is following the Scientology line so closly that I think it actually is an official publication from the Scientology organization. Author STOP THE INTERNET HATE MACHINE claims it is not, however if the Scientology special forces are producing this page, they would simply lie about it.

or it could be as Anonymous said…

Is this one of those joke websites?

It sure looks like it… LOL

It sure does! Only if Scientology is a joke. And it is getting abundantly clear that it may very well be, more on that… later.

(Village Voice)

by Tony Ortega

May 30th, 2008 1:01 PM

Jason Beghe tried to get inside the Scientology building on E. 46th Street yesterday, but was turned away by three beefy security men who told him it was their job to keep him out. The confrontation happened while a contingent of about 50 protesters from the anti-Scientology “Anonymous” movement cheered on Beghe from across the street. Members of Scientology itself didn’t make an appearance during the late afternoon protest.

Beghe, who had tipped off the Anonymous activists that he’d be making the attempt to talk to Scientology officials, was pleased with the turnout, but disappointed that he didn’t get to discuss Scientology with any church members.

[[[[MORE]]]]

And it ain’t bacon!

Watch!…….

Anyone who thinks the police aren’t interested in diversity will be amazed by the links they have built with Scientology

Marina Hyde
The Guardian,
Saturday May 24 2008
Once again our great nation has entertained the world, putting on two stunning exhibition matches this week. First was the Champions League final, between the clubs who finished first and second in our very own Premier League. The second – and whether the parties were quite as closely matched as Manchester United and Chelsea will be for you to decide – was between a 16-year-old schoolboy and City of London police, who arrested him for carrying a placard referring to Scientology as a “cult”. The files went all the way to the Crown Prosecution Service before finally being dropped yesterday.

This story has gone around the world beneath such edifying headlines as “UK minor faces charges for calling Scientology ‘cult’ at protest”; and when you’ve finished wondering why we’re such a pathetic country sometimes, we should endeavour to divine precisely what it is he was meant to have done wrong.

PC Plod – very PC, by the looks of things – arrested the child under section five of the Public Order Act, which makes it an offence to “display any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress”.

Presumably, the persons the police deemed likely to be given a fit of the vapours by the word “cult” were the Scientologists themselves. Most surprising. You’d think they’d be such sanguine, unemotional people, what with it being the religion with science right up there in the title. Yet the faith’s website states: “The word Scientology literally means the study of truth”; and while L Ron Hubbard was no credit to his classics teacher – it means the study of knowledge, surely? – something in that hints at a certain unwillingness to brook dissent.

That’s the way, mind you, with a lot of luxury brands – and you’d certainly struggle to argue that the Church of Scientology is competitively priced. It is said to cost $380,000 to reach the top level of enlightenment, Operating Thetan VIII, so it’s a little less reasonable than, say, Buddhism.

[[[[MORE]]]]

A teenager who was facing legal action for calling the Church of Scientology a cult has today been told he will not be taken to court.

The Crown Prosecution Service ruled the word was neither “abusive or insulting” to the church and no further action would be taken against the boy.

The unnamed 16-year-old was handed a court summons by City of London police for refusing to put down a placard saying “Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult” during a peaceful protest outside the church’s headquarters near St Paul’s Cathedral earlier this month.

Police said they had “strongly advised” him to stop displaying the sign but he refused, citing a high court judgment from 1984 in which the organisation was described as a cult.

The summons was issued under the Public Order Act on the grounds that the sign incited religious hatred.

A file was passed to the CPS, which today told City of London police it would not be pursuing the boy through the courts.

A spokeswoman for the force said: “The CPS review of the case includes advice on what action or behaviour at a demonstration might be considered to be threatening, abusive or insulting.

“The force’s policing of future demonstrations will reflect this advice.”

A CPS spokesman said: “In consultation with the City of London police, we were asked whether the sign, which read ‘Scientology is not a religion it is a dangerous cult’, was abusive or insulting.

“Our advice is that it is not abusive or insulting and there is no offensiveness, as opposed to criticism, neither in the idea expressed nor in the mode of expression. No action will be taken against the individual.”

The teenager’s mother said the decision was “a victory for free speech”.

“We’re all incredibly proud of him. We advised him to take the placard down when we realised what was happening but he said ‘No, it’s my opinion and I have a right to express it’,” she said.

Human rights activists were outraged when news of the police action against the teenager broke earlier this week.

A simultaneous demonstration on May 10 outside a Scientology office in London’s West End featured protesters waving similar placards but the Metropolitan police did not confiscate them or issue any summonses.

Two years ago, the City of London police attracted criticism when it emerged more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology.

The City of London chief superintendent, Kevin Hurley, praised Scientology for “raising the spiritual wealth of society” during the opening of its headquarters in 2006.

Last year, a video praising Scientology emerged featuring Ken Stewart, another of the City of London’s chief superintendents, although he is not a member of the group.

Scientology was founded by the science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in 1952 and espouses the idea that humans are descended from an exiled race of aliens called Thetans.

The church continues to attract controversy over claims that it separates members from their families and indoctrinates followers.

[[[[origin]]]]