We’re still reeling from yesterday’s ruling by Judge Steven Kleifield denying three of Danny Masterson’s rape accusers the right to trial in their lawsuit alleging harassment for coming forward with their allegations of sexual assault.
What a messed up way for a messed up year to end.
But to start off 2021, we wanted to step aside from our Scientology coverage for a moment to think about a person we have come to admire greatly for his work exposing the controversies of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Lloyd Evans has been featured here at the Bunker numerous times, and he was also a prominent figure in an episode of Leah Remini’s A&E series, Scientology and the Aftermath. He has a large audience that appreciates his skillfully-edited YouTube videos carving up JW leadership on its obfuscations and hypocrisies.
What not everyone may realize is that although Lloyd is obviously a Brit by origin, he lives in Croatia, where he has a home studio he refers to as “the Bunker.” And he was in his bunker working when a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Tuesday morning and devastated many of the structures in his vicinity.
Lloyd has kept his followers up on the latest at Facebook as he described getting his family out of their shaking house and then off to a town in another district to keep away from aftershocks…
When the 6.4 struck I was in my “bunker.” Everything began shaking violently so I ran outside in my socks without pausing to put on my shoes. From the garden I could see my house jolting violently as the ground moved beneath me – a very distressing experience especially when you know your wife and two children are inside!
I ran to the steps to pick up Jessica as she emerged with her grandfather. At about the same time Dijana came down the stairs holding Julia as the tremors began to subside. We all stood outside stunned for a while before deciding to move over the road to an asphalt communal space – a safe distance from the buildings in case of aftershocks.
We spent the next hour or so camped out in the car trying to assess the situation. A neighbor kindly made a makeshift repair to our chimney, part of which was left hanging precariously. A nearby house was less fortunate as a huge chunk of exterior wall collapsed completely.
Gradually news came through that neighboring Petrinja had been decimated and Sisak severely damaged. We live equidistant to both. It’s stressful to make decisions with the adrenaline still pumping but I asked Dijana to pick a spot anywhere in Croatia where she thought we might be safer. She chose Istria, so I booked us an AirBnB and we drove the 180 km through heavy rain. (Incidentally they felt the quake here too but obviously not as violently.)
We checked in with Lloyd last night. He said that he had convinced his in-laws to join him and his wife and get out of the damaged town. We asked him if there was anything the readers of the Underground Bunker could do, and he gave us a link to his PayPal, if you would like to help the family pay for their AirBnB while they decide what to do.
At 3 pm Eastern Lloyd will be going live to give us some updates. You’ll then be able to see him here…
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“There’s lots been doing lately and there’s lots of road ahead. If there’s ever been a point where we jumped off this is it. You know, we jumped off in 1950 — something on the order of the Christians going into the Roman arena. And those psychiatrists were very hungry lions; they were very hungry, very hungry — very proud, very proud lions, beating their paws against their somewhat mangy chests, saying, ‘We are the bosses of this here arena.’ That’s what they thought. And today I hope that you will get information which will permit, in another year, a Scientologist to say, ‘Scientology processes more psychiatrists in any given year than any other psychotherapy.’ That’d be fun, wouldn’t it? Nice ad in The Saturday Evening Post.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 1, 1960
“OLD 1970: So Good-bye 1970. It was a tough year on the world. But it was a great year for development. Both tech and Admin research results were the greatest since 1950. All the years contributed but the payoff was 1970. So Happy 1971, AD21. Let’s make the new tools take the world.” — The Commodore, January 1, 1971
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“Being aberrated in an aberrated society actually raises your survival potential in the SHORT TERM (not the long term) and that’s what I’m having a hard time overcoming right now in my journey with Dianetics and Scientology. I’ve taken on the valence of a rat who hides and sneaks around trying to use and steal things for his own benefit without being detected and sadly, its working.”
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1999: MSNBC reported on the lawsuit against Scientology by Michael Pattinson: “Former Scientologist Michael Pattinson is claiming that he paid the church $500,000 to ‘cure’ him of his homosexuality. It didn’t work, he says. Among the eye-popping allegations in the suit: that Travolta’s plane was used to ‘kidnap’ a member of Scientology, that Pattinson and others
were forced to work in ‘a robotic slave-like work force’ to service Scientology celebrities like Travolta, Tom Cruise and Kirstie Alley, and that Pattinson ‘reasonably relied upon’ Travolta’s marriage to fellow Scientologist Kelly Preston as proof that ‘Scientology processing and courses would ‘handle’ my own homosexuality.'”
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“In the 1980s Scientology had 100,000+ members. Today, it has 20,000 or less, plus the more competent members have left. In the 70s & 80s there was Operation Snow White, Operations Daniel and Dynamite (Paulette Cooper) etc. Today, It’s Squirrel Busters, Freedumb Magazine and smear sites no one sees. We have THEM running scared. OSA is a joke.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to Jan 6.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed for ‘Fatico’ hearing on Jan 19.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration; Jan 29, Masterson’s request to stay discovery pending the criminal case
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Nov 18: Feshbachs indicated they will enter into consent judgment to pay the debt.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
Concluded litigation:
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs.
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks
The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Mike Rinder: What the Church of Scientology has coming in 2020
[TWO years ago] Tonight, Leah Remini exposes the crazy grift of Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs’
[THREE years ago] Scientology watchers, start making your plans for HowdyCon 2018 in the Windy City!
[FOUR years ago] Five years later: Debbie Cook’s indictment of Scientology under David Miscavige, annotated
[FIVE years ago] Scientology watchers, we’re kicking off the new year by revealing the poster for HowdyCon 2016
[SIX years ago] A Scientology untold history special report: ‘My lunch with Quentin Hubbard’
[SEVEN years ago] BUNKER SPECIAL: David Touretzky on L. Ron Hubbard, Mark Twain, and Mary Baker Eddy
[EIGHT years ago] Another Indie Goes All the Way: Simi Valley Ditches Scientology For Good
[NINE years ago] Scientology Rocked By Allegations of Greed in E-mail to 12,000 Church Members
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,168 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,672 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,192 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,212 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,103 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,410 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,278 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,052 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,856 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,172 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,738 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,657 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,825 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,406 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,667 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,705 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,418 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,943 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 298 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,473 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,024 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,173 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,493 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,348 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,467 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,823 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,126 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,232 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,634 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,506 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,089 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,584 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,838 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,947 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 1, 2021 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
