Censureship 13 Jan 2008 Lawyers shouldn’t determine who gets to read what. Religions shouldn’t determine who gets to think what. But the worst combination is when religions use lawyers to stop criticism of their actions and beliefs. Scientology, the money making scam purveyed by the mentally deficient (I can’t think of a nicer way to say it), has prevented Andrew Morton’s biography of Tom Cruise, the couch and shark jumping actor, from being sold in Australia. This follows similar moves made, by threats of litigation as usual, in the UK. Now, I don’t know whether Morton’s biography is a piece of crap or a meticulously researched and authoritative study, but I am minded to buy a copy by the internet just to spite the Scientologists. Freedom Politics Religion FreedomReligion
Education Drama, journalism and science 17 Feb 201317 Feb 2013 Recently the Jonah Lehrer scandal was raised again when he was paid $20,000 to speak on his journalistic dishonesty by the Knight Foundation. I cynically noted on Twitter that being honest and as accurate as I could be netted me exactly nothing in the way of honoraria (I think I… Read More
Politics Reflections on the inauguration 21 Jan 2009 It’s nearly 4 am here so a quick note: The whole thing looked and sounded like a very twee Protestant church service, including the “Lord of the Dance” crapola barely redeemed by the performers.I was waiting for the puppet show for the kids… [Later note] Okay, maybe I was a… Read More
Evolution The World According to Genesis: Other peoples 8 Jun 200724 Nov 2022 This is the last section I will discuss in detail. It is, of course, the story of Cain and Abel. Cain is a farmer, and Abel is a herdsman. Both of these are agrarian pursuits, in the new agricultural period. But YHWH (just the single name now) seems to value… Read More
This has been a pretty standard Scientology tact for some time. They’re a religion until someone publishes a critical book, and then it becomes a copyright issue. They did an attempted purge on the Internet about six or seven years ago. What seems very sad is that the courts let this crooked organization get away with it. I can’t support Germany’s attempts to outright ban them, but I certainly understand the underlying sentiment.
This has been a pretty standard Scientology tact for some time. They’re a religion until someone publishes a critical book, and then it becomes a copyright issue. They did an attempted purge on the Internet about six or seven years ago. What seems very sad is that the courts let this crooked organization get away with it. I can’t support Germany’s attempts to outright ban them, but I certainly understand the underlying sentiment.