Edit: as of about 3:00PM Eastern, Magoo’s Youtube account has been reinstated.  Victory.

from enturbulation.org:

Youtube is again censoring videos of Scientology critics. Tory Christman, former-Scientologist turned critic, has had her Youtube account suspended and videos removed due to “terms of use violations”.

If you’ve ever viewed one of her videos you probably have to ask, “is speaking out against Scientology now a ToS violation for Youtube?”

Apparently, so… this isn’t the first time a critic of the “Church” of Scientology has had their account suspended on Youtube. Previously, Emmy Award-winner Mark Bunker - also a long-time critic of the “Church” - had his account suspended, most likely due to efforts by the “church”.  Bunker’s videos have been since uploaded to Xenutv1.

How? Well, one can only guess, but the most logical reason is Scientology has been ordering their drones to flag / report videos and accounts of users who are critical of the church, most likely hiding behind their faux-religion status and crying wolf about hate speech.

Also, Youtube did continually bow to pressure from Scientology’s lawyers to remove the video of the Tom Cruise in his natural state. Youtube, sadly, didn’t take a page from Gawker’s playbook and claim that the video was newsworthy. Youtube also has previously removed (and later restored) videos by members of Anonymous which were posted to Youtube to galvanize protest support.

Censoring critics of information and religion? You’d think Google / Youtube would have a bit more backbone when it comes to things like this.

Even though this may in the short-term embolden Scientology, have they not learned anything over the last three months since this began? Do they know this will cause more backlash and critical talk about the “Church”?

Mark Bunker speaks about this:

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’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.

Made by SA Goon Pelvidar, this is another excellent video which shows the motivations and successes of Anonymous - The video: Onward: The Road to March 15th

This video is finally ready for release. I have hosted it on Vimeo this time around, because they offer HD uploads for free. To view it in full quality, click the “FULL” icon on the screen, and then click the scaling button. Depending on how the scaling is set, it will either stretch to the full monitor size or not. Stretching to full monitor size looks nice on my screen.

I have mixed feelings about this video. The first one I created tried to capture the beginnings of this movement. That video was called “Road To February 10, 2008″, and was originally posted on DailyMotion (see it here: http://www.dailymotion.com/SA-Anonymous/video/7341208). It told a truly phenomenal story about the rise of Anonymous vs. Scientology. There was a lot of emotional energy to draw from.

This sequel, however, focuses more on “information”, and I don’t think it has the same emotional impact. Which is okay, I suppose, but I think it reduces the “epic win” nature of it. I hope some of you still find it bearable to sit through. Once again it is 15 minutes long… could be tough if you have A.D.D.

I do think it would be a useful tool to show those who don’t have a personal investment in Anonymous and simply want to know “why” concerns about Scientology are worth a second thought.

The video: http://www.vimeo.com/824772

If you are wondering about the music, in order, it is by these artists:

UpCDownC
I Hear Sirens
Mogwai
I Hear Sirens
Ton Gelissen

I could tell you the names of the songs, and someone else might, but personally, I’d prefer you go check these artists out yourselves and buy some of their music. They are all worth it.

Enjoy.  I enjoyed the audio of the Judges bitch-slapping the IRS.

From Xenutv: Jenna has asked that the following message from her be forwarded everywhere possible. This is another example of Scientology making matters worse for themselves. And it’s even more evidence of just how much courage Jenna has:

————————————————

So where do I begin…. I did an interview this week with ABC Nightline. They of course had to call the Church for comment which they did.

Last night at 11pm, while we were in bed, we got a call from Dallas’s father. He said he was 20 minutes away from our house and he was driving down from a meeting he had today and in the car with him were 2 Sea Org members from OSA Int and they were coming to talk to us at our house.

He said that they had come to talk to him but he insisted that we should be there and that they wanted to talk to us. So they just decided it was okay to drop in on us in the middle of the night in true Sea Org style.

I told him that they could absolutely not come to my house and that they need to call me and tell me that they apologize and want to sort this out before I even consider meeting with them. A couple of minutes later I got a call from Angie Blankenship (she was the CO CMO CW while I was in CMO CW for many years and we last I heard she was COB’s Programs Operator. She said she was with Jenny Devocht/Linson who was the CO CMO CW, WDC FLB and CO CMO Int. For those of you who this is all gibberish to, they are both VERY high Church Executives. She said she was here to sort things out. So reluctantly I agreed to meet with them. Mostly for the purpose of demonstrating the truth of what goes on to Dallas’s parents.

We met at Denny’s because it was the only place open. We sat down at a table. Both of these women looked like they hadn’t slept in years!

We were there until 4 o’clock in the morning….
Continue Reading »

As expected, it was a surreal and interesting time in the South Side Saturday as Anonymous and drunks filled the streets.  I started the morning with a couple pints of the black stuff at Piper’s and shortly after 11am joined others for the second protest in as many months against the “Church” of Scientology.  anonpgh has an excellent write-up of how the Pittsburgh protest went so, I won’t write much about it here, other than to say that I wish I could have stayed longer, but other obligations kept me from returning.  Miss Anonymous and Xenu deserve a hand for their efforts.

Still, Anonymous may have lost The Fresh Prince.  In Philadelphia the theme to the show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was also enjoyed along with favorite, Rick Astley.

Thankfully in Pittsburgh, nobody had to deal with Fair Game tactics such as this.  It’s none other than Wise Beard Man in action against the Scientology plant. And Scientology insists that its Fair Game policy is no longer in effect.

I did notice from the Scientologist speaking with the police officer than they were, in fact, yinzers (most notable by the bad mullet-style hair) too and need to stress again it really isn’t against the individuals.  It is against the practices of the higher ups and those who try to maintain control on the cult’s followers.

What made my appearance at the protest so short?  Well, I stopped by to see the Post-Gazette’s Bill Toland get his head shaved for St.Baldrick’s after raising over $2,000.  Forgetting my real camera, I took some pics from my cell phone but the quality is horrible.  I should, however, have photos from the shaving in my possession soon.  I was asked if I wanted to have my head shaved for the cause.  I pointed out that I was already bald under my beret (see left).  To hide my identity from the Scientologists and those filming from across the street, I did not wear my beret. Chauffeuring my family, who was in town, through Station Square for dinner was a test in maintaining sanity.

Pittsburgh’s protest against Scientology was only a small piece of a huge event which occurred, once again, around the world.  Figures from London put the number of protesters around 700.  Groups of several hundred were once again reported in New York City, Toronto, Clearwater and Los Angeles to name a few.  In Los Angeles, someone hired a plane to carry an aerial sign which said, “Honk of you if you think Scientology is a Cult“.  Anonymous has even grabbed the attention of the Christian Science Monitor.

In Clearwater:

“It causes us to make sure we have enough resources to plan for different scenarios, which I am not crazy about in this tight budgetary climate,” [Clearwater Mayor Frank] Hibbard said. “But they have a right to peacefully protest.”

Clearwater police spent $5,665 on overtime expenses and other additional resources to handle the first protest by Anonymous on Feb. 10.

Now, if you could tax Scientology, that alone may cover the expense of police overtime… right?

Even more people spoke out against the cult this time around and another round of pleas from families who have been torn apart by Scientology’s practice of Disconnection were made, including this powerful interview in Manchester, England.  Also, this Father is still hoping to hear from his son, Zack.

It is stories like these that are core of the next planned protest on April 12, 2008 - Operation Reconnect.

There was one reported incident this time around.  This was in Atlanta.  The police showed up in full riot gear looking for the “organizers” of the protest.  They were also ticketing drivers who passed by and honked their horns in support of the anonymous protesters.  The current reasoning is that it is suspected the Mayor of Atlanta has donated some thousands of dollars to Scientology and potentially influenced the bulk of the police presence.    This still needs to be confirmed, but it would not surprise Me in the least.

Also, if you click the link below to continue reading, I snagged a compiled list of video from the Something Awful forums.  There’s probably much, much more.  But it’s a start.

Continue Reading »

In some Scientology news: Its second suit for a temporary restraining order was denied by the courts again.  Thankfully some common sense is raining down upon Florida for a change.  The legal system sees through the Scientology claim that Anonymous is actually a group.  It is not and is only a group in the sense that it is a collection of non-bound individuals (decentralized) who may come and go as they please.  Beautiful.  The legal system understands Anonymous, Scientology has had two months to figure it out.  They still haven’t.  The Judge ruled:

[T]here appears to be a number of individuals who more or less refer to their cause as “Anonymous”, but there is no allegation of the existence of any organization or hierarchy of command that exercises any form of collective or coordinated action that results in the systematic deprivation of the Petitioner’s rights … THEREFORE ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Petition for Temporary Injunction without Notice be and the same is hereby DENIED.

Awesome.  Coincidentally, a suspicious package arrived on Scientology’s doorstep around the same time of the ruling (My guess is AFTER).

The package and threat were most likely made by the “Church” itself.  The cult loves to play victim and has a long history of fabricating sob stories against itself to attain its goals.  This is exactly the same thing they did to Paulette Cooper.  Hell it near worked against her.  But now We, Anonymous and hopefully the general public are in-the-know.

Arnie Lerma was tipped off that the “Church” of Scientology would like very much to incite a riot at any of the protests.  This, again, should come as no surprise.

From Enturbulation: “This is from my telephone notes regarding what the OT Committe members were told during the super duper secret OSA briefing. Dont ask me questions cause Im telling you all I know.

“This will be no surprise, my source is certain that Scientology is planning to choreograph an incident of violence, using their children. this was implied, I don’t have the exact words just the summation, that Scientology wants and desires a confrontation.. they would LIKE to create a riot” [sic]

As I mentioned yesterday, when backed against the wall most people show their true colors or fall into the one response that may have worked for them in the past.  They have the policy of always attacking.  This is exactly it.  First through the courts then trying to incite violence to try and prove that the false claims they made were, in fact, correct all along.

The sad part is, this is done by the higher-ups to not only attempt to sway the courts and public opinion but also to scare the plebs that work their ass off, and think they are doing so for their greater good.  They are further telling them how and what to think giving the lower ones - who most likely will be o nthe front lines to try and bait the protesters a sense of fear; that their lives may be in danger.  This may increase the chance of an incident happening IF (that’s a big IF) things were to get out of hand.  It’s propoganda at its finest and when aimed directly at someone who takes another’s word as gospel it can be disasterous.

Think of it on the same level and the “clerics” sending out their followers to be suicide bombers. The clerics use the same rhetoric to control and use those underneath them.  It is pathetic and it is sickening.

The chance of something major happening tomorrow in Pittsburgh is probably low.  The location is not even a full church, just a book store.  But do not let that fool you or anyone else.  They may even have shipped people in from out of town just to cause trouble.  It is St. Patrick’s Day, there will be drunks around - maybe even the Scilons themselves will be drunk on green beer and Guinness.  Hell, a few beers in them and they may even open up to listen and reason (talk about irony).  Stranger things have happened.

In the wake of the February 10th protests against the cult that calls itself the Church of Scientology, there has been a storm of praise by critics and the newly converted for the group that exists but does not exist called Anonymous.

It has sparked more planned protests and picketing world-wide this Saturday, March 15 at 11am local time.  For those of You in Pittsburgh - it will be held across the street from the Scientology center at 1906 East Carson St.  Yes, it is St. Patty’s day and Yes, it will be insane and most likely because of the drunken people walking the sidewalks, it will be very surreal.  If you are not from Pittsburgh, you may be near one of these other locations.

Websites like Enturbulation.org, ExScientologyKids.com and YouFoundtheCard.com have sprung up both before and in the wake of the last protest with those who used to live in fear of Scientology to speak out or speak out louder than ever before.

Scientology doesn’t know what the fuck or how to deal with this.  What is their plan?  What has worked so well for them in the past?  The U.S. court system!

Last night Scientology filed an injunction requesting a temporary restraining order in hopes of stopping the protests in Clearwater, Florida this weekend as they also will be having celebration for their psychopath founder, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard.  Most likely this directive came from the top.  But they had to find a poor sap who wanted better status, so who files it?  Why, the gentleman pictured to the right: Roger Akiyama.

After last month’s protest went peacefully with not one incident - except in LA where one Scientologist screamed at and kicked a protester on her way to spill her guts to her auditor - they think people are going to suddenly turn into the Marcab Confederacy and attack their clams with machine guns and grenades. The whole injunction is laughable, you can read it on the SPTimes website.  The Valentine’s Box is a nice touch.

So, why was this request for a temporary restraining order so futile and misguided?  Simple.  Scientology does not and cannot understand what they are up against.

Quite simply, they have curled back into the fetal position and are gurgling the one word they know. They’ve just reverted to the very tactics that have raised their profile and turned them into a huge target.

The Internet… well, I’m sure the response will be spectacular.  This is what it lives for, moments like this.

It’s nice to see one of our enemies is coming unglued:

Radio silence was broken from within Scientology as one of my friends inside contacted me:

1. Brutal sec checking is going on.

1A. David Miscavige is using Anonymous to do some more house cleaning inside of Scientology. There is a renewed push to get all of the old Lafayette Ronald Hubbard books out of circulation. The informal rule was that LRH signed books or editions sold as collectibles could be kept, but apparently Miscavige wants it all purged. [CL note: Miscavige is apparently re-writing the "sacred texts" of Lafayette (something that was worthy of excommunication) so he can sell more books.]

1C. A Scieno NetNanny program will not come back. The PR would be too gruesome.

1D. Lawsuits are under discussion, but are a two way street: If CoS sues someone, or a group, CoS is subject to hostile cross-examination in open court. I remind everyone of Hubbard’s Dictum on attack lawsuits:

The DEFENSE of anything is UNTENABLE. The only way to defend anything is to ATTACK, and if you ever forget that then you will lose every battle you are ever in engaged in…

The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than win.

The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.

ref: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/…ion/exhibg.html

2. Anonymous did go all the way to the top and get into [Miscavige]’s head. Anonymous needs to continue to press its attack and never get into a defensive mode. When you defend, you are playing Scientology’s game. Do what Hubbard did: Attack and never defend. Tell reporters that you welcome an investigation into Scientology. I will write more on this later, but for now: Do not talk about Anonymous per se. Simply say that Anonymous welcomes an investigation into Scientology by the media and law enforcement.

3. The Cult had to call in the FBI and had to disclose information about its OSA Intel Ops on Scientology critics. This is where we as critics need to file FOIA requests on these FBI reports. This is not a fast process, but the door is now open. IMO, the FBI does not know the full extent of OSA’s Intel Op. If you have any information you want me to send to the FBI on your behalf, simply send me a note: scienowriter@gmail.com

I do not need to know who you are. We can make arrangements that protect you.

4. My source said that everyone in CoS is writing KR’s [sic] because they are afraid of their own shadows. There is a big culture of “Cover Your Ass” so that you don’t lose your Bridge. [CL note: KRs are Knowledge Reports]

5. CoS is using the Anonymous Psych Threat and the “Cover Your Ass” atmosphere to sell Basics. Again, if you have not purchased the Basics, you are not a Scientologist. CoS wants that $4,000 or $5,000 from everyone who is in. If you are not in, you are out and that means Disconnection. OSA is using the Anonymous Psych Threat to its own advantage. Look for people who are PTS to be Declared in the next few weeks if they do not pay for and get into a handling or repair action. DM looks like he wants to spike earnings and stats based on the Anonymous Psych Threat: Fear sells.

6. I am told that the teenagers in CoS are bearing the brunt of OSA’s anger. Parents are being told to take their kids off the net and keep them off the net. Chances are that any Scienokids on the net are OSA Invest volunteers phishing for information.

7. The Jenna Miscavige statement to the press was huge. That statement is what OSA fears most that Scientologists will read and have begun to discredit Jenna. Jenna’s statement needs to be a hand out on March 15.

8. Expect a new wave of hate attacks from the Cult on Arnie, Tory, [Wise Beard Man], Andreas, etc.

9. The Anonymous attacks globally had a huge negative impact on Scientology and need to be continued.

10. Keep your eye on Will Smith. As LRH said of celebs:

‘These celebrities are well-guarded, well-barricaded, over-worked, aloof quarry. If you bring one of them home you will get a small plaque as your reward,’ Hubbard wrote to his followers

Heard around Hollywood is the rumor that Will Smith is being pushed extremely hard by Scientology to come out in its defense and to attack Anonymous and CoS critics as being “ignorant and dangerous” in reprisal of his December role. Will has apparently dug in his feet and said “enough” in a reasonable fear of his career.

11. Look for [African American] Scientologists to be brought in once again to play the race card. This is a usual CoS PR tactic.

12. A pleasant surprise will happen for the critics in the next few weeks. I can’t say more right now.

At the Columbus protest of Scientology, not one, but two people were hit by a bus. One was wounded pretty severely. This woman at the Columbus cult office when first mentioning the incident began to laugh as if it was hysterical. When she’s told it was the person on the phone, she changes her tone and then says that five of them wanted to go out and help, but was advised against it.  The video includes footage of one of the victims of the accident getting hit by the bus.

She went onto claim that she called the hospital to make sure those hit by the bus were alright. She says that Xenu is wacky and doesn’t know what Computer Science III is. How do you not know what Computer Science III is?

Here’s a video recap of the last month and how all this picketing came together.