Ball of Fluff :
"Cruise is an actor. He was also in Interview with the Vampire. He wasn't a vampire either. Go figure."
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Quote of the Day - Cruise the Vampire
Ball of Fluff :
Jonathan Ross and... Tom Cruise
johnalexwood: Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and... Tom Cruise
Funny this Scientologist had ticket for Ross' show but could not attend because it ended up being canceled after the BBC suspended Ross' show for three months in the wake of his antics together with Russel Brand. And now his ticket will be valid for the new show, opening up with... Tom Cruise! Now that's an OT win :-)
Ironically Russel Brand's new UK show - titled Scandalous - is starting to tour the country in the same week that Ross resumes his BBC shows after his suspension.
Now something telling me we will be hearing more from those two... and, to start with, the Ross/Cruise combination may be an explosive one... hold on to your seat this Jan 23!
Real Self Help Web Site
Real Self Help
This is a web site done by a Scientologist going by the name of "Fred Hare". Here is his bio. I found it through a page claiming miracle helping to heal a broken leg.The practical self help orientation of the web site, using Scientology, of course, could be interesting for people to have a practical idea of what Scientology is. However, most pages just refers to books. Did not read it in detail, though, so there may be a thing or two of interest there.
This is a web site done by a Scientologist going by the name of "Fred Hare". Here is his bio. I found it through a page claiming miracle helping to heal a broken leg.The practical self help orientation of the web site, using Scientology, of course, could be interesting for people to have a practical idea of what Scientology is. However, most pages just refers to books. Did not read it in detail, though, so there may be a thing or two of interest there.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Is Close-in Pictures of Passer-By Legal?
YouTube - Clearwater Anonymous Protest – January 17th – Bullbaiting Failtroll Angle 1
This video shows an incident where a passer-by objects to being photographed and filmed. He smashes the camera, not the people. Unfortunately, what happens before the incident is not shown.
I don't know whether the guy is a Scientologist or not. Jeff Jacobsen seems to think he is not.
But anyway, would you like if masked people would take your picture and film you a few inches away from your face as you are walking the street? They were probably hurling offensive statements as well, as they usually do.
I do not know the legality of taking pictures of people against their will, and much less publishing them on the Internet. I believe in Europe that would be illegal.
However, I really do think that there ought to be some ordinance restricting people at least from coming that close in taking pictures.
Independently from any Scientology issue, do you think it is not harassment doing so to passer-by in the street? It seems to me it is.
On the whole, Scientologists have been remarkably cool in face of such behavior. I don't know if this guy is a Scientologist or not, but I can perfectly understand why he would think that this is harassment and even illegal.
I know Scientology handlers have also been doing this towards protesters. I think it also is wrong and harassment, but then we are also in a different situation here. They are filming people who are in front of their own building and who are directly addressing them. Whereas it seems to me that this guy was just a passer-by, Scientologist or not.
Requiring the protesters to be on the other side of the sidewalk in such circumstances seems to be a reasonable request, and would avoid this kind of incidents. The line between peaceful protests and stalking is easily crossed, as we have seen before. Turning this line into a street seems to make sense.
Update Feb. 1: The same video is show on this other youtube channel. However, it claims that the Scientologist was "detained by the police". This simply is not true.
It also calls the Scientologist a "bull-baiting" Scientologist (like the initial channel above). In fact, it is just the reverse. The Scientologists (if he is a Scientologist in the first place) is only trying to defend himself from in-your-face cameras. The masked anons surrounding him are the one doing the bull-baiting. Ask yourself if you would like to be surrounded by a flock of masked anons waving signs insulting your religion and holding camera to your face to film you against your will while trying to provoke a reaction as you peacefully walk in the street.
I am sorry but this has nothing to do with "peaceful protests". To me is simply is stalking and religious hate.
Related Links:
This video shows an incident where a passer-by objects to being photographed and filmed. He smashes the camera, not the people. Unfortunately, what happens before the incident is not shown.
I don't know whether the guy is a Scientologist or not. Jeff Jacobsen seems to think he is not.
But anyway, would you like if masked people would take your picture and film you a few inches away from your face as you are walking the street? They were probably hurling offensive statements as well, as they usually do.
I do not know the legality of taking pictures of people against their will, and much less publishing them on the Internet. I believe in Europe that would be illegal.
However, I really do think that there ought to be some ordinance restricting people at least from coming that close in taking pictures.
Independently from any Scientology issue, do you think it is not harassment doing so to passer-by in the street? It seems to me it is.
On the whole, Scientologists have been remarkably cool in face of such behavior. I don't know if this guy is a Scientologist or not, but I can perfectly understand why he would think that this is harassment and even illegal.
I know Scientology handlers have also been doing this towards protesters. I think it also is wrong and harassment, but then we are also in a different situation here. They are filming people who are in front of their own building and who are directly addressing them. Whereas it seems to me that this guy was just a passer-by, Scientologist or not.
Requiring the protesters to be on the other side of the sidewalk in such circumstances seems to be a reasonable request, and would avoid this kind of incidents. The line between peaceful protests and stalking is easily crossed, as we have seen before. Turning this line into a street seems to make sense.
Update Feb. 1: The same video is show on this other youtube channel. However, it claims that the Scientologist was "detained by the police". This simply is not true.
It also calls the Scientologist a "bull-baiting" Scientologist (like the initial channel above). In fact, it is just the reverse. The Scientologists (if he is a Scientologist in the first place) is only trying to defend himself from in-your-face cameras. The masked anons surrounding him are the one doing the bull-baiting. Ask yourself if you would like to be surrounded by a flock of masked anons waving signs insulting your religion and holding camera to your face to film you against your will while trying to provoke a reaction as you peacefully walk in the street.
I am sorry but this has nothing to do with "peaceful protests". To me is simply is stalking and religious hate.
Related Links:
Steve Hassan Supports Magoo's Lies
Monica Pignotti, MSW: Inaccurate statements by Steve Hassan to CNN:"Hassan went on to say: "I have a friend, Tory Chrisman (ph), who was a member for 30 years and was OT-7, which is one of the highest levels, which John Travolta is OT-7, as well, who had -- has epilepsy and continually had seizures during her membership and kept appealing for help. And they kept giving her more and more auditing. And finally, she just went on medication and said, "Screw it," and eventually left the group. "
Monica Pignotti posts on her blog about a transcript from CNN in which Hassan, among other things, forwards Tory Christman's demonstrably false claims about her seizures.
Monica also mentions the fact that "Hassan also offers "reasonably priced" counseling at $100 for a half-hour phone session as well as other options that include people traveling to Boston to do "intense, deep work" with him for 6-8 hours per day for a period of a 3-4 days which he claims (without empirical basis) is the fastest most effective way to recover"
At this rate, Hassan may even be more expensive than Scientology who, like him, claims that psychologists are incompetent compared to their own method. By all means, that's twice what my lawyer charges, and he at least provides me with useful legal advices, not quack pop psychology based on the long debunked myth of "mind-control".
Monica Pignotti posts on her blog about a transcript from CNN in which Hassan, among other things, forwards Tory Christman's demonstrably false claims about her seizures.
Monica also mentions the fact that "Hassan also offers "reasonably priced" counseling at $100 for a half-hour phone session as well as other options that include people traveling to Boston to do "intense, deep work" with him for 6-8 hours per day for a period of a 3-4 days which he claims (without empirical basis) is the fastest most effective way to recover"
At this rate, Hassan may even be more expensive than Scientology who, like him, claims that psychologists are incompetent compared to their own method. By all means, that's twice what my lawyer charges, and he at least provides me with useful legal advices, not quack pop psychology based on the long debunked myth of "mind-control".
Scientology Never Convicted for Practicing Medicine without a License
Danièle Gounord » Blog Archive » Jett Travolta : une polémique indécente: "Enfin, il convient de souligner que la Scientologie n’a jamais été condamnée pour exercice illégal de la médecine, ni en France, ni dans aucun pays dans le monde."
Daniele Gounord, spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology in France, claims in this blog entry that "Scientology has never been convicted for practicing medicine without a license, either in France or any part of the world".
I don't know if true or not but guess she would not report such a thing if it could be proven false.
Daniele Gounord, spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology in France, claims in this blog entry that "Scientology has never been convicted for practicing medicine without a license, either in France or any part of the world".
I don't know if true or not but guess she would not report such a thing if it could be proven false.
Anonymous Attacks a 15-Years Old Boy and His Family
You may remember the incident reported by wired.com one year ago in which Anonymous posted the home address, phone number and cell numbers of a Stockton 59-years-old man who barely knew anything about computers, claiming he was a member of the hacker group who targeted them in retaliation of Anonymous hacking of Scientology sites. The poor man then started to receive daily obscene and threatening phone calls. After receiving a death treat, he and his wife got really scared because their address was posted as well.
Now this is happening again, this time towards a 15-years old boy who dares make a decency campaign, which Anonymous has decided is "threatening free speech". Here is the article in full, which of course you can also read through the link.
'No cussing' teen faces net hate campaign:
'No cussing' teen faces net hate campaign
07:00 AEST Sun Jan 18 2009
2 hours ago
By Shaun Davies, ninemsn
A boy's crusade to stop swearing has drawn the unwanted attention from notorious internet group Anonymous.
McKay Hatch's No Cussing Club, which encourages teens to "chill on the profanity", claims to have over 20,000 members worldwide.
Hatch, a 15-year-old from South Pasadena in California, garnered wide media coverage for his anti-swearing campaign, including a appearance on Dr Phil.
But at the beginning of the year, Hatch's email inbox began clogging up with hate mail from an unknown source.
Pizza and porn deliveries became commonplace for his family, who eventually called in the FBI after numerous receiving death threats and obscene phone calls.
Anonymous appears to be behind the attacks, with threads on sites such as 4chan.org and 711chan.org identifying their members as the culprits.
And the pain may not yet be over for the Hatch family — Anonymous appears to be planning future raids and has threatened to "wipe this cancer [the No Cussing Club] from the face of the internet".
In one 4chan thread, a number of users boasted about sending bogus pizza deliveries and even prostitutes to the Hatch's house, although it was impossible to verify if these claims were genuine.
The same thread also contained a credit card number purported to be stolen from Hatch's father, phone numbers, the family's home address and Hatch's instant messenger address.
In an interview with US network ABC, Hatch's father said the boy had been reduced to tears by the flood of messages from "bullies".
Hatch himself defended his anti-swearing campaign, which his enemies were deriding as an attack on freedom of speech. "A lot of people were saying I was taking away their freedom of speech … All I was trying to do was raise awareness," the teen said.
It appears that the earnestness of Hatch's campaign, including his faux-gangster rap video “No Cussing Club Song”, may have drawn Anonymous's ire.
A line has since been posted on the No Cussing Club website, claiming that Hatch is the "most bullied boy on the internet".
Anonymous is perhaps best known for its extended campaign against Scientology and has been embroiled in a number of other controversies.
It was a 4chan user who hacked Sarah Palin's email and posted it to the site's "random" section, otherwise known as /b/, during the US election.
Anonymous is difficult to define — less an organised group than a loose affiliation of certain websites.
When enough of these users decide to take action against something or someone, they will do so in the name of Anonymous.
The group has no leaders, no set agenda and has a tendency to focus on soft targets for its own amusement.
Related Posts:
Now this is happening again, this time towards a 15-years old boy who dares make a decency campaign, which Anonymous has decided is "threatening free speech". Here is the article in full, which of course you can also read through the link.
'No cussing' teen faces net hate campaign:
'No cussing' teen faces net hate campaign
07:00 AEST Sun Jan 18 2009
2 hours ago
By Shaun Davies, ninemsn
A boy's crusade to stop swearing has drawn the unwanted attention from notorious internet group Anonymous.
McKay Hatch's No Cussing Club, which encourages teens to "chill on the profanity", claims to have over 20,000 members worldwide.
Hatch, a 15-year-old from South Pasadena in California, garnered wide media coverage for his anti-swearing campaign, including a appearance on Dr Phil.
But at the beginning of the year, Hatch's email inbox began clogging up with hate mail from an unknown source.
Pizza and porn deliveries became commonplace for his family, who eventually called in the FBI after numerous receiving death threats and obscene phone calls.
Anonymous appears to be behind the attacks, with threads on sites such as 4chan.org and 711chan.org identifying their members as the culprits.
And the pain may not yet be over for the Hatch family — Anonymous appears to be planning future raids and has threatened to "wipe this cancer [the No Cussing Club] from the face of the internet".
In one 4chan thread, a number of users boasted about sending bogus pizza deliveries and even prostitutes to the Hatch's house, although it was impossible to verify if these claims were genuine.
The same thread also contained a credit card number purported to be stolen from Hatch's father, phone numbers, the family's home address and Hatch's instant messenger address.
In an interview with US network ABC, Hatch's father said the boy had been reduced to tears by the flood of messages from "bullies".
Hatch himself defended his anti-swearing campaign, which his enemies were deriding as an attack on freedom of speech. "A lot of people were saying I was taking away their freedom of speech … All I was trying to do was raise awareness," the teen said.
It appears that the earnestness of Hatch's campaign, including his faux-gangster rap video “No Cussing Club Song”, may have drawn Anonymous's ire.
A line has since been posted on the No Cussing Club website, claiming that Hatch is the "most bullied boy on the internet".
Anonymous is perhaps best known for its extended campaign against Scientology and has been embroiled in a number of other controversies.
It was a 4chan user who hacked Sarah Palin's email and posted it to the site's "random" section, otherwise known as /b/, during the US election.
Anonymous is difficult to define — less an organised group than a loose affiliation of certain websites.
When enough of these users decide to take action against something or someone, they will do so in the name of Anonymous.
The group has no leaders, no set agenda and has a tendency to focus on soft targets for its own amusement.
Related Posts:
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Magoo's Message to Travolta Now Gets Its Own Page
I now split my Magoo page to give the Message to Travolta episode it's own page. The series now looks as follow:
http://bernie.cncfamily.com/sc/Tory_Christman.htm
General entry page
http://bernie.cncfamily.com/sc/Tory_Christman_2003_Affidavit.htm
The full 2003 affidavit with my comments
http://bernie.cncfamily.com/sc/tory_christman_Jett_Travolta.htm
The Message to Travolta page with the details of her lies and censorship, as well as their justification, other testimonies regarding seizure medication, the details of what she says to the press, and the reaction of critics.
These pages are still under construction but overall already usable.
http://bernie.cncfamily.com/sc/Tory_Christman.htm
General entry page
http://bernie.cncfamily.com/sc/Tory_Christman_2003_Affidavit.htm
The full 2003 affidavit with my comments
http://bernie.cncfamily.com/sc/tory_christman_Jett_Travolta.htm
The Message to Travolta page with the details of her lies and censorship, as well as their justification, other testimonies regarding seizure medication, the details of what she says to the press, and the reaction of critics.
These pages are still under construction but overall already usable.
Dox or STFU
"Dox or STFU" is a motto used by Anonymous that is supposed to mean that if someone makes a claim, he owes to back it up or shut up.
While they certainly do require Scientologists to abide by this moto, I have rarely if ever seen them abiding by it themselves. OTOH, I have seen them not doing it, just not long time ago for example when they were claiming that the COS does not recognize autism or does not allow medication for seizures.
Now here is the latest example, and I think it is quite an illustrative one.
Check this post from WhyWeBWAAAAAAAAA.
The claim being made there (that ""Scientology had obtained and distributed personal medical information from the private health records of AGP and Happy Smurf") is not supported by any valid evidence at all (see the related blog entries below). This does not prevent them from actively spreading that rumor, and declare that people like me who say nothing else than "where are the dox?" engage in "Sclion Spin-control".
What better proof do we need that although Anonymous brags about "dox or STFU" they don't apply it to themselves?
Is there even a single anon in this thread questioning the claim?
As you can see, their aim in trying to get this rumor to go "viral" (pun pun), is not just to spread the rumor but also to "bury the scilon propaganda as well".
So there you have it, "dox or STFU" is "propaganda" when applied to them...
PS - BTW they don't seem very good at trying to bury dissent. I type "Scientology HIV+" and my blog entry is right there at the Nr1 spot in the Google web search. How it works I don't know but I learned over the years that the best way to deal with Google is just to be honest and not try to fiddle with ranking. Google algorithms are damn smart! They may even have something that offsets the many dishonest Anonymous strategies. Anonymous having messed up Google trend in the past certainly must have given Google second thought about them Anonymous...
Blog entries in this series:
While they certainly do require Scientologists to abide by this moto, I have rarely if ever seen them abiding by it themselves. OTOH, I have seen them not doing it, just not long time ago for example when they were claiming that the COS does not recognize autism or does not allow medication for seizures.
Now here is the latest example, and I think it is quite an illustrative one.
Check this post from WhyWeBWAAAAAAAAA.
The claim being made there (that ""Scientology had obtained and distributed personal medical information from the private health records of AGP and Happy Smurf") is not supported by any valid evidence at all (see the related blog entries below). This does not prevent them from actively spreading that rumor, and declare that people like me who say nothing else than "where are the dox?" engage in "Sclion Spin-control".
What better proof do we need that although Anonymous brags about "dox or STFU" they don't apply it to themselves?
Is there even a single anon in this thread questioning the claim?
As you can see, their aim in trying to get this rumor to go "viral" (pun pun), is not just to spread the rumor but also to "bury the scilon propaganda as well".
So there you have it, "dox or STFU" is "propaganda" when applied to them...
PS - BTW they don't seem very good at trying to bury dissent. I type "Scientology HIV+" and my blog entry is right there at the Nr1 spot in the Google web search. How it works I don't know but I learned over the years that the best way to deal with Google is just to be honest and not try to fiddle with ranking. Google algorithms are damn smart! They may even have something that offsets the many dishonest Anonymous strategies. Anonymous having messed up Google trend in the past certainly must have given Google second thought about them Anonymous...
Blog entries in this series:
- Jan 16: dox or STFU
- Jan15: Jason Beghe Message to Anonymous - Grow Up!
- Jan 14: More Speculations About the HIV+ Claim
- Jan 13: HIV+ Rumor Only a Rumor
Was Aleister Crowley a Satanist?
LilyTears: Wasn't Aleister Crowley a Satanist?: "The devil does not exist. It is a false name invented by the Black Brothers to imply a Unity in their ignorant muddle of dispersions. A devil who had unity would be a God."
It is commonly assumed that Aleister Crowley was a Satanist. Well, this seems to be yet another myth. Read the article above. How can one worship an entity he claims does not exist?
It is commonly assumed that Aleister Crowley was a Satanist. Well, this seems to be yet another myth. Read the article above. How can one worship an entity he claims does not exist?
Juliette Lewis Promotes Scientology
Orange is not a complete fruit | Holy Moly | Latest Index | News | News | Orange is not a complete fruit: "Upon finishing filming, Juliette sidled up to the funny American dude, Brennan, as he was getting on his motorbike.Big luvvie hugs ensued and she pressed a DVD into his palm and swanned off. He drove off presuming it was her new album or something, only to get home and realize it was called 'Welcome to Scientology'.
She did the same for all the cast and crew."
William Burroughs Attacks Scientology
William Burroughs, by Royal Appointment :: Mick Brown: "In 1972 Burroughs decided that his dissatisfaction with Scientology merited an attack on the organisation's premises, which were then located at 37 Fitzroy Street in Bloomsbury. Over a period of some weeks he haunted the premises, taking photographs and making tape-recordings. Sure enough, Miles recounts, within a couple of months the Scientologists had packed their bags and moved to 68 Tottenham Court Road."
Isaak Hayes in Truck Turner
Minneapolis/st. Paul - City Pages - Gimme Noise - The Popstream: Truck Turner: "I know it's been a few months since he's passed away, but it still irritates me that everyone thinks his turn as Chef in South Park was his peak as an actor. This is grotesquely inaccurate and demands correction immediately: Truck Turner is Hayes at the peak of his powers, and if this is the kind of thing Scientology made possible then the inexhaustible crappiness of Battlefield Earth is pretty much canceled out right there."
Will Smith Set to Play Obama
Obama and Will Smith share more than just the ears:
"Will and I have talked about this," exclaimed Obama last year in an interview on “Entertainment Tonight”, referring to actor Will Smith. “Because he has the ears, he might have an inside track on the role.” [...]Regarding Smith's plans to play Obama in a movie adaptation of his life, the actor did say he'd be up to it when asked by British media.
“If I am ordered by my commander in chief to star in a film about him, I will do my duty as an American," responded Smith at the London premiere of his new film, “Seven Pounds”.
Hold on to your seat for the inauguration on Tuesday. Something tell me it's going to be BIG!
Success of 'Valkyrie' Proves Critics Wrong
SHOWCASE :: Erie's Entertainment Web Site!
Thinking back at the risk of getting this movie out in Christmas and all it involved, I continue to be stunned by the success it has on the contrary encountered. I mean, compare what I wrote back in Dec. 1 and this kind of article:
It's already earned more than $72 million in the United States, which means "Valkyrie" is far from the flop many critics predicted it would become.
The film, which cost a reported $90 million to produce (director Bryan Singer has pegged it at closer to $75 million) and perhaps more than half that to market it, has performed solidly if not quite spectacularly at the box office.
"The fact that it's still attracting filmgoers totally robs the naysayers of their ability to deem it a flop, because it's not," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "It does show the renewed star power of Tom Cruise."
And it's only starting. Believe me, because I do know a thing or two on this topic, the star power of cruise in Asian and other foreign continent is tremendous. And doesn't he look just amazing? I know my friend Rebecca is not going to agree with me on this one but I think at 46 he almost looks better than he ever did. The photo above was taken during his very recent visit to Seoul, Korea, promoting the movie. His look alone will be reason enough for 80% of Asean to go and see the film. As to whether or not they will get into the historical intricacies of the film, I am not sure. Often times I find myself having to explain where Europe is, and that no, Brussels is not very far from Belgium!
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