I’m investigating the history of the phallic video game controller and its clitoral cousins, the trackpad and mouse, and I stumbled across this fun Video Game Controller Family Tree. Neat!
No, you read that right. I’m so speechless that the only thing I can add is, “It’s not a cult. It’s a ranch and it’s our home.” Snip:
A teenager is facing prosecution for using the word “cult” to describe the Church of Scientology.
The unnamed 15-year-old was served the summons by City of London police when he took part in a peaceful demonstration opposite the London headquarters of the controversial religion.
Officers confiscated a placard with the word “cult” on it from the youth, who is under 18, and a case file has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.
A date has not yet been set for him to appear in court.
The decision to issue the summons has angered human rights activists and support groups for the victims of cults.
The incident happened during a protest against the Church of Scientology on May 10. Demonstrators from the anti-Scientology group, Anonymous, who were outside the church’s £23m headquarters near St Paul’s cathedral, were banned by police from describing Scientology as a cult by police because it was “abusive and insulting”. (…) Link.
Update 05.23: The courts decided that boy will avoid prosecution! Turns out, the high courts had already called the Church of Scientology a cult on the record, and they think — unlike the CoS — that the boy was expressing his opinion, prompting his mother to proclaim it a “victory for free speech.” Two salient bits from the piece include “Police said they had “strongly advised” him to stop displaying the sign but he refused, citing a high court judgment from 1984 in which the organisation was described as a cult.” Why would London police be, er, policing public speech about the CoS? The article goes on to reveal, “Two years ago, the City of London police attracted criticism when it emerged more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology. The City of London chief superintendent, Kevin Hurley, praised Scientology for “raising the spiritual wealth of society” during the opening of its headquarters in 2006.”
Wasn’t there a scene in “The Professional” where a body was disposed of with lye? Well, it looks like you can now opt to have your corpse disposed of in just the way a serial killer or a psychotic hit man in a pinch for time might. You can now have your body turned into a “brown, syrupy residue”. Um, yay? Here’s a snip from Slate’s wonderful Human Nature blog post, Human Liquid:
(…) “It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers. … In addition to the liquid, the process leaves a dry bone residue similar in appearance and volume to cremated remains. It could be returned to the family in an urn or buried in a cemetery. The coffee-colored liquid has the consistency of motor oil and a strong ammonia smell. But proponents say it is sterile and can, in most cases, be safely poured down the drain, provided the operation has the necessary permits.”
I know it sounds bad. Lye is what we use to dissolve dead animals, and, over the years, mass-murdering dictators have given it a bad name, using it to torture people and get rid of bodies. But think of the benefits: “Alkaline hydrolysis doesn’t take up as much space in cemeteries as burial. And the process could ease concerns about crematorium emissions, including carbon dioxide as well as mercury from silver dental fillings.” Link.
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