The Internet Declares War on Scientology

A group calling itself Anonymous has declared war on the Church of Scientology following the forced removal of a Youtube video showing Tom Cruise acting crazy again.

The group has launched a number of denial of service attacks against Scientology websites and has carried on other pranks in the last few days; last night they leaked supposedly secret documents from the church that show just how insidious Scientology really is, as if anyone had any doubts about that (I have not looked at the docs myself, for fear of retaliation, but a list of the contents shows a section entitled "Child Dianetics").

Anonymous promises a new attack on Scientology will occur today at 6 pm, so keep your eyes pealed.

Gawker has a rundown on the developments here.

Update: The UK's Sky News has a report:

My Friend Meredith

It has now been several weeks since the brutal slaying of Meredith Emerson, the University of Georgia graduate who was killed while hiking on Blood Mountain New Year's Day.

I have known Meredith for many years. She lived with my sister for a year, we had classes together in the French Department, and we both enjoyed a pint or two at Copper Creek on Tuesday nights. There really isn't much that I can add to what has already been said: Meredith really was a great person, usually (if not always) chipper, always friendly, possessed of a wicked sense of sarcasm and irony which never failed to amuse, willing and able to carry on an intelligent conversation on nearly any subject, and as sweet as the days are long. Truly, I am better off for having known her, and truly we are all worse off now that she's gone.

My sister has already done a better job memorializing her than I could hope to do. Her tragic and untimely death will always stick with me, and Tuesday nights over a cool pint at Copper Creek will, for me, be forever linked with her memory.

Bonehead Comment of the Week: St. Louis basketball coach Rick Majerus

Apparently, working for a Catholic University precludes you from expounding on your pro-choice take on abortion: who knew?

However, Rick Majerus (not to be confused with Mark Mangino, who is pictured to the right — both men challenge for the most overweight coach in his respective NCAA Division I sport) has done just that.


While speaking to a local St. Louis television station at a pro-choice rally, Majerus publicly supported stem cell research and the pro-choice position on abortion.

"It's not possible to be a Catholic and hold those positions," [St. Louis Archbiship Raymond] Burke said. "When you take a position in a Catholic university, you don't have to embrace everything the Catholic church teaches. But you can't make statements which call into question the identity and mission of the Catholic church."

Ok. A couple things — first, I disagree with the first statement Burke makes, but that's neither here nor there; the Church can call whomever it wants "Catholic" or "not Catholic," and individuals can call themselves whatever they want; I'm pretty sure Catholics can be pro-choice and support stem cell research. Maybe God would disagree — I wouldn't know, but I doubt Burke does either.

Secondly, although I'd like to get off on some sort of "who cares what he says, he's a basketball coach, not a 'beacon for the Lord'" rant, what exactly did Majerus think was going to happen??

However, in an interesting development mentioned further in the article:

"Last year, St. Louis U. celebrated a legal victory that affirmed it is not controlled by the Catholic church or by its Catholic beliefs. . . In a 6-1 decision, the court said SLU 'is not controlled by a religious creed.'"

In addition, University spokesman Jeff Fowler supported Majerus, saying that "Rick's comments were his own personal view. They were made at an event he did not attend as a university representative."

So, in the end, it appears that Archbishop Burke was just shooting off his mouth, as the University doesn't seem to be terribly concerned. Looks like Majerus will be able to coach incredibly potent team another day. But it's still not great publicity, for the University or the Catholics.