I've been wondering when this would happen. I've known for years that Scientology was an oppressive, totalitarian, greedy cult, and I've been wondering why it didn't seem to light teh internet's youthful fire.

I picketed once outside the San Diego Comic Convention, where Galaxy Press had a booth. Galaxy Press publishes one author's fiction. That author was L. Ron Hubbard.
"Galaxy Press Is Scientology!" my sign said. "Ask them about Xenu!'

Of course, this is silly. You have to be an Operating Thetan III to even reach that stage in your programming. And you will have spent the price of a small yacht to get there.

But nearly everyone who passed us on their way in seemed extremely well informed about the information Scientology would prefer you not see.

Spook Country is a William Gibson science fiction novel that takes place now.  It is broken up into short chapters following three different protagonists - Hollis, a former rock musician who is now working as a freelance journalist;  Milgrim - a tranquilizer addict dragooned into translating Volapuk, a Russian dialect for what may or may not be a US government operative; and Tito, a Cuban exile trained in spycraft, the family business, and protected by the gods of Santeria.

The plot involves the second coming of virtual reality as locative art, a mysterious cargo container, and an old man who may have been in the CIA now fighting with all his might against the stupidity of the War on Terror®.  

Gibson sees our world as augmented reality without the need for a wifi headset or computer connection.  He has a scout's eyes and explains the future that is happening now.  You can keep up with him on his blog at
http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/...

Spook Country by William Gibson
NY:  GP Putnam's Sons, 2007
ISBN 978-0-399-15430-0

No, I'm not with the Board of Trade. :)

The Vancouver Institute has provided a series of free lectures on Saturday Nights for nearly the last 100 years (even the parking is free).  Before the start of tonight's lecture they introduced the lineup of speakers for the upcoming Winter 2007/Spring 2008 and they've come up with an absolutely stellar lineup.

This is the website for the Vancouver Institute: http://www.psg.com/...

Each lecture is about 1 hour long, after which the speaker takes questions for another 20-30 minutes.  Most also make themselves available afterwood for additional private questions.