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Seems that Amazon is censoring user reviews when it comes to L. Ron Hubbard’s psychotic ramblings that mask as a self-help book… I’m talking about the reviews of Dianetics.  This is surprising, especially Amazon; at the same time it is not really.

When will they ever learn? You just can’t mess with the interbutts. First it was YouTube, who cowered in fear, when it suppressed free speech and fair use by pulling the leaked Tom Cruise Video, then it was Ebay allowing the Church of Scientology to yank post-consumer e-meters off its website, now it’s Amazon pulling negative reviews of Dianetics.

Just the usual tactics by the cult to mis-represent themselves and put their best face forward.  Though their best face has been getting worse and worse.

As we’ve seen over the last few months, the Cult of Scientology has been trying to silence dissent in the wake of the protests held outside its doors by Anonymous (there is another protest, Operation Reconnect, that will be held this Saturday, April 12).  The fall out from this should be rather interesting as Amazon’s responses seem to be a standard form mail and not specific to the actual content of the reviews.

I’m guessing this isn’t the first time Amazon has engaged in censorship of user reviews on their site.

In other Anonymous-related news, this is a pretty interesting article calling for academic study on just what has happened, from a sociological standpoint, over the last two months.

Anonymous presents an array of opportunities for interesting scholorship. It is a cultural community, a political movement, a legal battleground, and more. It straddles between internet and “real world” existence. We need to study Anonymous… and to study hard.

I have spent entirely too much time on this this morning.

http://blog.nihilogic.dk/2008/04/super-mario-in-14kb-javascript.html

Banco De Gaia - The Last Train to Lhasa

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Generation Obama Happy Hour -

Thursday April 3
6p
Olive or Twist
Free appetizers and drink specials during the event.

140 6th St
Pittsburgh, 15222

I will be there in full cult regalia.

South Park was an internet meme overload last night, but this made it all worth it:

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For those of you who are fortunate enough to not get the reference: http://youtube.com/watch?v=fbGkxcY7YFU

“The Chinese government said Sunday that formerly restive areas were under control and accused the Dalai Lama of trying to harm China’s image ahead of the summer games.”

Yeah, I don’t think China’s image is something of which they should really be proud.  But we all better be careful… they could unlease their weather dominator against the rest of the world.

The PA Legislature is at it a-fuckin-gain… This is also a bit old (not really) and something I haven’t been able to write as concisely as the PGH Comet just has.  Let me sum up my thoughts on the recent incarnation of PA’s idiotic attempt to define marriage:

It’s like PA is now getting sloppy santorum seconds from someone whom I now call Santorum Jr. (I’m not sure whose bright idea this was this time around (Boyd? Gordner?), the idea is unfortunately not new - 2006 was the latest attempt at this.  I’m willing to bet the 17 co-sponsors just held a big gangbang for the bill and there’s plenty of santorum to go around the house floor. I would hate to be the custodial staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee)

Why are people so closed-minded and bigoted toward this? It doesn’t affect them one bit. It’s like they think their marriage is going to be suddenly worth less.

Hello? Most marriages are worthless. It’s hypocrisy at its finest example (who knows, maybe one of the co-sponsors has had an affair or may be another Larry Craig in hiding).  Marriage doesn’t make people stick out tough times more than being not married - a story with which I’m well familiar.

It basically is constitutionally-protected discrimination.

All of their arguments are closed-minded and based on bigotry and / or fear; their own insecurities of some people being just plain different; they go and hide behind religion and morality.  The Comet goes on to trash that hiding spot.

I’d like to also argue that this is primarily the conservative / christian-right that goes on to pervert its sense of purpose of imposing its will on the populace.  The problem here, as the Comet points out, is separation of church and state.  Something many people do not, cannot or flat out refuse to understand.

People fear the “radical muslims” because of their overt tactics. And well we should, but we should also fear the subtle and subversive indocrination of the radical religious-right that spreads the same fear possibly causing more damage over generations of time.   They spread FUD (fear, uncertaintly, doubt) mistrust, hate under a mask of love and peace.  It’s disgusting.  If Pat Robertson’s true self were to be unleashed, I don’t doubt he would engage in a Holy Crusade.  I wonder how dangerous Fred Phelps or Robertson would have been had they grown up under some of the fanaticism in the mid-east.

“I’ve made love to a dead body.”  I don’t think I’ll ever hear that uttered on TV ever again.

I absolutely hate Fox News, but this made my smile.  I’m sure Greta Van Susteren will be complaining rather loudly.

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