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 And Scientology insists that its Fair Game policy is no longer in effect.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.

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