More Controversy with Scientology

This notorious religion of that has been sensationalized for it's celebrity controversy now has another public relations crisis on it's hands, first dealing with rumors spread by a former high ranking official eventually leading to a lawsuit. Debbie Cook has been thoroughly invested in the church for 17 years, leading the churches in spiritual mecca and ultimately rising to captain. But this past month she testified against the church, claiming that "[she] witnessed Mr. Miscavige (current church leader) physically punching in the face and wrestling to the ground another very senior executive at Scientology International Level" and that Miscavige ordered his assistant to slap her as well, hitting her so hard it knocked her out. She also testifies that while doing work at the Scientology International Base in Southern California, she was taken to "the hole" for 7 weeks. "The hole", she describes, is a pair of double wide ant infested trailers with bars on the windows and security guards at every door. She claims that they slept in sleeping bags on the floor and when the electricity cut out the trailers sometimes reached 106 degrees, and that they ate leftovers that were barely edible. She testifies that at "the hole" she was made to stand in a trash can as water was poured over her and people screamed at her to admit "bad things". ABC news received a letter from the lawyer for the Church Scientology flat out denying that these any of these events happened and that "the hole" does not exist. They claim the Cook, among other Scientology executives, participated willingly in a religious discipline program as part of their religious observances, but no one was there involuntarily. When Cook and her husband decided to leave the church in October 2007, they received $50,000 each to sign a lengthy contract that confirmed that neither of them would publicly criticize the church or it's leaders. Cook sent out an e-mail to fellow Scientologists questioning Miscagive's leadership of the Church last New Years Eve, which lead to the Church suing her for allegedly breaching her confidentially agreement.Cook still stands by the church, claiming that she never lost her love or passion for the belief and what it stand for, but it is because of that love and passion that she wants to bring to attention the situation with the current leadership. No Scientology Churches are allowing her to attend any services.
Another PR Crisis for Scientology

Teenage Atheists vs. Rhode Island Public School

16 year Jessica Ahlquist recently won the battle against her school in Rhode Island to remove a prayer banner hanging in the auditorium of her public school. Ahlquist claimed in her lawsuit that the banner addressed to "Our Heavenly Father" made her feel "ostracized and out of place". The school committee argued that the mural had been in the school since 1963 was "a historical piece of art". However, on January 12, Judge Ronald Legueux still ruled that "no amount of debate can make the school prayer anything other than a school prayer". Since then, Ahlquist has been criticized and ridiculed by her school and her community for her unpopular stance on the prayer banner. She must now be accompanied by a body guard at school to avoid physical bullying by fellow students and even teachers, all the florists in the community have refused to send flowers to her house by any request, and the state representative referred to her as "an evil little thing" during a public radio interview. Atheist organizations who supported her efforts (and tried to send her flowers) have started a scholarship fund for Ahlquist to show her that even through all of the discrimination from her school and her community, she does have support somewhere. The scholarship fund has raised over $40,000 dollars so far. All of Ahlquists supporters collectively agree that it is violating the constitution to promote any kind of religion through a public organisation, such as a school, no matter what or how the message is presented. That's the bottom line.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/rhode-island-teen-atheist-40k-scholarship/story?id=15751701#.T0MaHcWmh2D

Rolling in the Grammy's

In the wake of the loss of one of music's greatest female voices (Whitney Houston), a new big voice emerged as the top winner at Sunday's Grammy Awards. Adele, the girl that stole America's hearts with her heart-wrenching album about a broken romance, received the top honor for her sophomore album 21 as well as best pop vocal album for 21, best pop vocal performance for "Someone Like You", and record of the year, song of the year, and best short form video for her number one hit "Rolling in the Deep". A total of 6 awards, tying her with the incomparable Beyonce for most wins by a woman in one evening. Adele went on to deliver a heartbreaking performance on the Grammy Stage which was the highly anticipated event of the evening because of her recent recovery from vocal surgery. Bon Iver landed best new artist as well as best alternative album, which along with Adele, was a major leap in the music industry. These artists who write from the heart were up against showy, manipulated music such as Skrillex, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj. But as David Grohl of the Foo Fighters so eloquently put: "It's not about being perfect. It's not about sounding absolutely correct. It'son in here (your heart) and what goes on in here (your head)". As "Party Rock Anthem", ironically, played him out.
Adele tops Grammy Award; Ties with Beyonce's Record of 6

Prop 8 Found Unconstitutional

On Tuesday, the The Federal Appeals Court officially found Proposition 8, California's 2008 law that limited marriage to one man and one woman in California, unconstitutional. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Prop 8 violated the 14th Amendment's equal-protection clause in a 2-1 vote. It “serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples” wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt. The U.S. Supreme Court can now weigh in on Gay Marriage as soon as next year, but the issue of whether other states and/or the federal government recognize same-sex marriage or not was not addressed. This is “because California had already extended to committed same-sex couples both the incidents of marriage and the official designation of ‘marriage,’ and Proposition 8’s only effect was to take away that important and legally significant designation, while leaving in place all of its incidents. This unique and strictly limited effect of Proposition 8 allows us to address the amendment’s constitutionality on narrow grounds,” Reinhardt wrote. The question now is is whether or not the Supreme Court will agree to hear the case. 
Above: Celebs get involved, using their popularity to make their voices heard.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/proposition_8_what_happens_next.php

Demi Moore's Public Private Life

American households have been ringing with the sound of Demi Moore's frantic friend's voice telling paramedics that Demi is "burning up" and "convulsing" from inhaling too much nitrous-oxide. This is due to News Stations obtaining the actual 911 call that Demi's friend made and freely playing it for the world to hear, redacting only a few portions for privacy issues. However, no actual consent has been given by Demi to allow this call to play. Demi's private life has been common household knowledge long before this incident thanks to her recent split with her much younger husband Ashton Kutcher has taken over the twitter feeds. (Demi is one of the most active celebrity twitter users). But is playing the 911 call revealing that she has been smoking too much and is convulsing on the news really at the same level as the tabloids that gossip about her relationships? This exploitation of her life seems to be mimicking the video that went viral a couple years ago showing the death of a luge slider which horrified his family when it was played on the national news. We need to ask ourselves if it makes it OK to exploit people's personal lives just because they are  a celebrity and they choose live in the public eye. While some things are important for the public to know, such as morals of possible presidential candidates being (or not being) acted upon, some celebrities simply wish to share their talent with the world and nothing else. We cannot assume that they are automatically "narcissistic" and "insecure" and "live off of the adoration of their fans" simply because they are a celebrity as they do in Good Morning America's report. And finally we should ask ourselves "why should we care?". Why should we spend all day analyzing how healthy these people's relationship's are and what their motives of self-destruction seem to be when it's clear that few of us have our own lives under complete control. Who are they to us? They provide a service of entertainment and art for our own enjoyment. They are not our friends and they don't effect our life.
Demi Moore was sent to the hospital on a possible overdoes. I hope she gets better because I respect her work as an actress.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/demi-moores-911-call-released/story?id=15456594#.Tyl6e8Wmh2A