The story so far: the cult of Scientology complained to the police about Anonymous using the word “Cult” in chants and placards (previously on D’n'C). Police in some areas listened and treated it as a public order or “religious hate” issue. A More4 item last week went into more detail. Though they failed to ban it, it became clear they did not want that word on signs outside their buildings.
Worst of all from this point of view are those more uncivilized forms of eating, like licking an ice cream cone–a catlike activity that has been made acceptable in informal America but that still offends those who know eating in public is offensive. … Eating on the street–even when undertaken, say, because one is between appointments and has no other time to eat–displays [a] lack of self-control: It beckons enslavement to the belly.
Though it seems like it’s from The Chap magazine, in reality this was said by the GW Bush aide who was put in charge of the Council of Bioethics. The report uses similar social-engineering nonsense to advise against medical research that could save the lives or ease the suffering of millions. Stephen “How the Mind Works” Pinker takes them to task. The republican war on science continues.
Via the Guardian, the Register and a bunch of other media outlets including BBC London local news (below), the story of how City of London Police are trying to ban the word “cult” from anti-Scientology protests. UPDATE: there will be no court hearing - Total failure for the cult of Scientology! More details below the fold.
Politicians including Jack Straw had remarked on the absurdity of legal protections for one faith in a multi-cultural society, and one solution that was discussed was extending the law to cover other religions. Taken to its conclusion, this would have criminalised defecating towards Mecca (blasphemous in Islam). Fortunately, sanity has prevailed.
I’ve thought about how to celebrate this event and, since the effect of censorship laws is usually to restrict our access to art, here’s the poem “The Love That Dares To Speak Its Name” (in tribute to the public figures including Iain Banks, Ludovic Kennedy, Claire Rayner and Philip Pullman who protested against the blasphemy law). I couldn’t find the banned film “Visions of Ecstasy” online, but Google Video offers this film student’s animated tribute.
I always enjoy Mr. Fry and this 40 minute gallop through his experience of the BBC as viewer / listener, employee and now freelance producer is entertaining, thought provoking and never dull. While I am not a fan of everything the Beeb does, I suppose that on reflection I would rather pay my TV Tax via the license fee, than go down the US purely commercial road or the European model of state owned broadcasters. It’s a shame that the Beeb doesn’t fully embrace the 2.0 world and let us embed videos such as this … and while this is presented as a video, it is a lecture in the old fashioned sense so you can just hit play, get on with your day and listen to Mr. Fry’s mellifluous tones … for once I was glad that my rampant insomnia had me up at 1 in the morning flicking onto BBC Parliament.
Two of my favourite topics are British satire and fundamental physics. In a surreal move, physicist Brian Cox has brought them both together by giving Chris Morris (of The Day Today, Blue Jam and Brass Eye fame) a tour of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and interviewing him for the CERN podcast. Familiar faces from the world of comedy and popular science (including Simon Munnery AKA the League Against Tedium) are shown around in other episodes. “Pics or it didn’t happen”? There’s even a Flickr stream.
Thanks Shelly for forwarding the link to The Forgiveness Project. Founded by Anita Roddick, it collects dozens of perspectives on reconciliation and forgiveness, showing how people find the power (or don’t) to forgive terrorism, murder, rape and injustice. Some of the most touching stories deal with the difficulty of self-forgiveness.
Some of the contributors are people who have been in the news (Desmond Tutu, Mariane Pearl, Peter Tatchell, Norman Kember) but in general the strength of the site is in revealing astonishing stories that you wouldn’t otherwise have heard of.
For those who are asking what Damian and I got up to in Birmingham last Saturday:
We joined the Birmingham protest which was part of Operation Reconnect: the third global protest organised by Anonymous, who turned out in force with wonderful costumes and delicious cake.
From Pelvidar, maker of the Road to February 10th video, comes “Onward”, a 17-minute video that explains some of the criminal history of the Church of Scientology, illustrates the unique legal status of Scientology in the US tax system, shows why ten thousand people around the world protested against it in March, and why thousands will protest again this coming weekend for “Operation Reconnect”. (Coverage of the March protests begins half-way through this video).
Like Pelvidar’s previous effort, this used source material from around the world, shared online (the Dublin photo was taken by yours truly). It’s an example of the decentralised global collaboration that makes the Anonymous protests so unstoppable.
