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
Humor Sunday sermon: part of the in-crowd 10 Jun 200724 Nov 2022 The world is divided, runs the old joke (which I heard when it wasn’t so old), into two kinds: those who divided the world into two kinds, and those who don’t. [There’s actually an interesting feature of the history of logic here that… never mind. Later.] We all, or very… Read More
Philosophy The basis for civil society 11 Aug 2009 Argument: On the other hand, I’ll take a barbaric yawp over cold silence any day. There is no margin in pretending that substantial differences do not exist in our society or our politics. Entering into conversation around those differences does not lessen their power, necessarily. Nor does it mean that… Read More
Administrative Australian internet filter dead in water 6 Aug 2010 Forners may not be aware of an extremely boring federal election in Australia right now. Indeed, few Australians seem aware of this. This is as it should be. Elections that are Interesting usually turn out to be Dangerous. But there is one good that has come out of this. The… 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.