Wikipedia Has Banned Scientology's More Vocal Friends and Foes

I guess I would be in a good position to edit Wikipedia articles on the basis that I am somewhere on the middle ground, except that I never got the time to get into that, and now with their banning of both sides I really don't feel like working on it at all.

I find Wikipedia stance outrageous and unbearable. It will probably change nothing to the situation. How will they control who edit what? It will only shed a bad light on them and the suspicions that their article are not balanced after all, plus it clearly is an infringement on free speech and as such is frankly objectionable and a real shame.

Hopefully they'll realize they are on the wrong path and lift this shameful and stupid ban.

The Associated Press: Religion news in brief

Carrie Prejean Fired

I was supportive of Carrie Prejean for her right to express her opinion in the contest and not be penalized for it. However, when I watched on YT a press conference she gave, it was not just an opinion anymore, it was outright campaigning. I found it out of place. I don't have time to follow all this in details but based on that impression, I suspect Trump took the right decision again.

I usually like to have pretty babes pics on my blog but every time I see her picture I am reminded of her campaigning and that removes the attraction. Plus anyway I find her plastic with no real sex appeal.

Carrie Prejean fires back after losing Miss California crown | TV, movie and music news | News | EW.com

John Brodie

Deadspin - Whither The Scientologist Athlete? - Athletes and scientology: "San Francisco 49er quarterback John Brodie, who was featured in an SI cover story in 1971, was a practicing Scientologist for 12 years, yet there haven't been anymore popular athletes that have come forward since then. It's kind of odd."

Alexander Rybak

I hate the Eurovision, that show that I remember back from my childhood when it had much fewer countries than at present. I really do hate it. But then, when you see a nuclear explosion of talent such as Alexander Rybak, you tend to revise your idee-fixes about it...

Another revelation. Susan Boyle then Alexander Rybak... Where will it end?

YouTube - Norway - Points: 387 - Place: 1st - "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak

PS - also here in a splendid, hitherto anonymous, rendition of Foolin'

Susan Boyle Lost Due to YouTube Scam'?

I don't have a TV and after checking with my happy TV-owning friends, they did not have the British channel ITV, so I was left with the Internet to follow the Britain's Got Talent final. Luckily I did find a stream and could follow the whole amazing thing.

Of course it did not surprise me that Diversity came first. But what surprised me was why the third place came to that saxophonist or what. There clearly were much better contenders.

Now I may start to understand the reason if the article below is right. Indeed, after the stream, I followed the news on Youtube and I remember people who through comments urged people to vote for Susan at a certain number,and that number was probably fake. It supposedly directed to Diversity and that saxophonist. That's what I think the complain of the Pro-Susan is, not that it was wrongly posted on an edited photo of the TV screen.

Well, here's for the conspiracy aficionados - thought it may not be that far fetched this time:

Susan Boyle 'lost Britain's Got Talent votes due to YouTube scam' - Telegraph

From an Earthly Vessel Comes Music from Heaven

Magnificent article that translates best of all those I read why Susan Boyle has become such a phenomenon. For once, one of my off-topic blog entry is remotely related to what articles on this blog should be about, i.e. Scientology - and "that's transcendence. That's the assurance of things not seen":

"Sermons are hit or miss. Theology, though intriguing, can get messy, confusing and contradictory. People fight over it. But music can bring us together and raise us up in some mystical manner that defies explanation."

From an earthly vessel comes music from heaven - Kalamazoo, Michigan Living News - The Kalamazoo Gazette – MLive.com

Some excerpt:

I'm sitting at my home computer in tears -- I've just watched Susan Boyle's first performance on "Britain's Got Talent."

I know the whole world's been talking about her for weeks, but I just hadn't made time to listen to her sing.

[...] I google her name, and there she is, in all her dowdiness. I know, from news reports and conversations, that something magnificent is about to break forth. Still, when she opens her mouth to sing "I Dreamed a Dream," and that rich, resonant voice comes pouring out, I'm overwhelmed.

From this antithesis of a superstar comes music straight from heaven.

I begin to cry. Not a lone tear sneaking down my cheek. But a torrent. A deep-hearted weeping that rises up and spills over like a river in springtime.

What's causing this? Is it the lyrics, the melody, the voice, or the fact that this simple 47-year-old woman from a village in Scotland has been given this amazing gift that she's finally sharing with the world? Or is it the fact that she's overcoming all of the world's petty prejudices about her? Is it her triumph over our ignorant idea that only the beautiful and the model-thin have the right to share their talents onstage? Or is it all of these things?

I suspect it's all of them. But it's the music, I think, that pushes my emotions over into tears.

What is it about music that is so intense? That can throw us to the depths or take us to the gates of God?

[...] Music has always been the most direct route to God for me. Maybe it was for my father too.

Sermons are hit or miss. Theology, though intriguing, can get messy, confusing and contradictory. People fight over it. But music can bring us together and raise us up in some mystical manner that defies explanation.

Just look at the faces of the judges as Boyle begins to sing. Or the audience members as they rise to their feet when she's done.

Moments ago they'd been jeering and mocking her when she came onstage. Trivial human concerns about clothes, hairstyle, body shape, sophistication were all that mattered.

Then music broke through. Shattered Earth's illusions. And struck all of us with awe.

For me, that's transcendence. That's the assurance of things not seen.

PS - on the more humorous side, two great videos from the Corrigan Brothers:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcAkmxlEe0U
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpEk5VirxH0
  

David Carradine’s Scientology Connections

Glosslip rag article on david Carradine's death and its connection to Scientology. Lot's of quick blunt judgments and crass ignorance typical of rag-style Glosslip articles, but nevertheless some interesting information about Carradine's Scientology connections in the mix:

GlossLip » New Details Emerge About David Carradine’s Death, Including His Scientology Connections: "”I’m no kind of Scientologist, but I’ve been around it enough to know it’s a very intelligent thing.”"

Diversity Saves the Day

YouTube - Diversity - Britains Got Talent 2009 The Final

The dance group Diversity put up a stunning performance tonight and well deserved the Britain's Got Talent crown! Fantastic!

Now Susan Boyle... the moment she started singing the very same song that got her famous during the audition I knew that she blew it. It didn't evoke in me anything else but disappointment. Everybody was waiting for a new performance, on a new song, and certainly not on the same very song she so brilliantly performed initially. Even though the final rendition was "better" in a way, it was almost perfect with a lot of nice add ins to it, it will never come up to the quality of the audition version, because it completely lacks the package... Anyway, I also find the audition version better, because though she final version stressed the high notes, the low notes in the audition version were incomparably better.

So, sorry, Susan, but whoever gave you the advise to make a "polished" version of "I Got a Dream" again, should be shot. Or hanged. That was a terrible mistake, and I am almost sure it cost you the title. With the voice you have, you could have given a go at Celine Dion's "Surrender". That would have blown the audience apart - with no chance whatsoever of any competitor to come everywhere near...

Ah, well... In a way, it's better like that. Susan is already famous and on the way, for sure, of a multi-million record to come out soon. I'll certainly be looking forward to that, as that voice really has no equals, especially in the low notes, IMHO. It will also help to lessen a bit the pressure on her shoulder. And then, last but not least, it gives something to a runner up, as Susan had it all already...

Well done Britain's Got Talent - one of the best show, including the final, I have ever witnessed - with a great winner, and a fantastic runner up!

Banning Scientology Doesn't Make Wikipedia More Credible | Education IT | ZDNet.com

Banning Scientology doesn't make Wikipedia more credible | Education IT | ZDNet.com: "Even I quoted the Register, above; the Reg is quite newsy but puts a biting, sarcastic spin on just about everything within its pages. This doesn’t make it invalid, but how skilled are our students at sorting out even satire or sarcasm from a source?"

That's Why I Like Him - That's Why I Don't Like Him

That's why I like him:
YouTube - Raw Video: Obama Stops for Cheeseburgers


That's why I don't like him:
Schwarzenegger proposes closing 80 percent of California state parks - San Jose Mercury News

Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology • The Register

Wikipedia bans Church of Scientology • The Register: "In an unprecedented effort to crack down on self-serving edits, the Wikipedia supreme court has banned contributions from all IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates.

Closing out the longest-running court case in Wikiland history, the site’s Arbitration Committee voted 10 to 0 (with one abstention) in favor of the move, which takes effect immediately.

[...] This is the fourth Scientology-related Wikicourtcase in as many years, and in addition to an outright ban on Scientology IPs, the court has barred a host of anti-Scientology editors from editing topics related to the Church.

Many Wikifiddlers have vehemently criticized this sweeping crackdown. Historically, the site's cult-like inner circle has aspired to some sort of Web 2.0 utopia in which everyone has an unfettered voice. An organization editing Wikipedia articles where it has a conflict of interest is hardly unusual, and in the past such behavior typically went unpunished."

Germany's Battle Against Scientology - TIME

Germany's Battle Against Scientology - TIME: "bringing the full weight of the Federal government to bear on an organization that officials say has only 6,000 members in Germany would be seen as a disproportionate response given the political cost — Germany has been criticized by the U.S. State Department for restrictions it already places on Scientology. As one official put it, 'We have other things to worry about.'"

The Biggest Wake-Up Call Ever!

YouTube - Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)

This sandwich-eating lady has made one of the biggest impression on the net ever. A typical anti-hero, old-fashioned provincial British (Scottish actually) lady, with a supremely bad-taste (hair) style and frumpy manners, who made a total fool of herself, twisting her hips during the preliminary interview for "Britains Got Talent" - all of a sudden wiped the whole audience down their knee in just three seconds after she opened her mouth to sing - so fabulous (absolutely stunning) her voice was!

As one of the judges said: "the biggest wake-up call ever" - don't judge the package on its cover!

Because of her incredible talent, that makes one wonder how she could remained hidden for the past years of her 47 years life, in spite of her best effort to pierce through, even her mannerism have become, of sort, a fashion!

Her second appearance was more polished already, but her singing still remained breathtaking, especially on the second part where she literally "took off" switching on a higher pitch! Susan Boyle was back, and stronger than ever! I'll try to squat some TV-owning friends' place to watch the final, like, I am sure, millions of people around the world!

WOW... now that is truly inspirational... and somewhere there really is a strong message in all this, both in her incredible voice and the package it comes up with!

GlossLip's "fun" about Jenna Elfman

Rag type article dashing Jenna Elfman mostly because she's a Scientologist, full of other rag type "fun" at an unpopular religion:

GlossLip » Scientology Ditz, Jenna Elfman’s New Fall Show… A CBS Accident For Sure: "Just when things are looking up and NBC drops Scientologist Jason Lee’s show, “My Name is Earl,” (the dumbest show ever…right up there next to My Mother The Car) CBS says they are coming out with a new comedy this Fall called “Accidentally on Purpose”, and will star Jenna Elfman. Thanks CBS, thanks A LOT!"

Roberta Armani on the Cruises

Life as Giorgio Armani's niece - Telegraph: "‘They’re some of the best people I’ve ever met in my life,’ says Roberta of the couple. ‘When I’m with Tom, afterwards I always get inspired – I want to be more like him. He’s very at ease with himself.’ And has he ever tried to sell her on Scientology? No, she says, ‘But if that’s the effect, then everyone should be Scientologist.’ It’s not so much his religion that’s alienated so much of the public, she says, but something else. ‘It’s too much,’ she theorises. ‘People are jealous. Pure envy. I really get upset.’"