Has Scientology’s cruise ship, the Freewinds, made its last voyage?

 
We want to thank the tipster who sent us some very interesting images. They are a promotion from Scientology that really knocked us for a loop.

First, we want to review what we know about Scientology’s private cruise ship, the Freewinds. It was purchased by Scientology so that it could become the location for the culminating experience of the “Bridge to Total Freedom,” an auditing level known as Operating Thetan Level Eight, or OT 8.

The ship and its first OT 8s had their maiden voyage in June 1988, but the ship was already past middle age by then, having been built in 1968 in Finland as a North Sea car ferry. In the nearly 33 years since its christening as Scientology’s floating cathedral, it has plied the Caribbean, almost always on the move except for annual drydock maintenance in places like Cartagena, Colombia.

For years it’s been pointed out that to us the ship’s hull plates are aging, and Rod Keller last year suggested that David Miscavige might be shopping around for a new vessel.

But then the pandemic hit. And Kestrel, the Bunker reader who keeps an eye on the Freewinds, tells us the ship has been stuck in port in Aruba since last March.

It hasn’t budged since then. But in that time we’ve seen plenty of evidence that Scientologists are still being encouraged to go to the ship for courses — after all, it doesn’t have to be moving while church members use it for seminars and auditing.

And now, take a look at this new pitch from Scientology to its wealthy members who maybe have gotten used to the idea that during a pandemic they can do their work remotely and can work from anywhere. If that’s the case, they say, why not make the Freewinds your office!

 
So given all that we know, and seeing the pitch in this latest promotion, we want to get your thoughts on this: Has the Freewinds made its last voyage?

Will it now become for Scientology what the Queen Mary is for Long Beach, California, a permanently docked floating museum, still a living place but not going anywhere?

Give us your thoughts!

 
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Scientology’s Alternate Reality

The latest from Jon Atack.

 
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Source Code

“The one thing by which the communist profits in Australia and Suid-Afrika are the laws against perversion. The state, of all means, is regulating how you are going to perform the sexual act. I think that’s very interesting. I’ve seldom seen any police officers in my bedroom. And I’m afraid if I did they’d have short shrift. Of course, I have had the people the police officers are supposed to restrain trying to crawl into my bedroom windows and a few things like that, you know, but that, of course, they wouldn’t be interested in. Now, what are they doing? They’re just trying to invent some new withholds, aren’t they? I think that’s fascinating, because the communist uses blackmail of this particular kind as a means of controlling heads of state. In other words, if the state itself lends its weight to punishment of withholds, see, it has just laid itself out to be crazy. Because now, anybody in the state can be blackmailed so as to overthrow the state, because the state will punish the overthrow or the withhold. Do you understand this, or any part of this?” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 20, 1962

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“LOCAL PROPERTY: I rode the motorcycle Mary Sue gave me for Christmas out to see some property we bought. Arthur Hubbard, my test rider and mechanic in chief, acted as guide on his bike. He took me way out in the green countryside on the excuse he didn’t know any other route to the property. We circled back and found the right place right on the edge of town. Anything for a ride. It’s a very nice property. Several apartments, 18 bedrooms on one upper floor, a dozen garages, a big buss garage, four classrooms and a gym, and a lot of other bits. Our sign is up and well lighted at night. Our caretaker is a very nice chap. The place is well built of stone and masonry, quite pretty in fact. We intended it for light manufacturing but have not put it to use as yet. We own quite a bit of property over the world. Will be acquiring more as well as some countries.” — The Commodore, February 20, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Once girl on OT II was sent to me. At one point I was looking downward at the meter when out of my peripheral vision I saw a blinding light right where her head was — obviously I’m talking about a theta perception. And I thought to myself, ‘Good lord, WTF!’ Same kind of white light as from welding but it looked like a ball of intense white fire about the size of a marble and lasted about 2 seconds. When I looked up, her face was bright, BRIGHT red, and she was grinning from ear to ear and obviously shocked and could hardly talk. She said, ‘DID YOU SEE THAT!?!’ Where upon I said, ‘I sure the fuck did!’ And we both had a huge laugh. What I thought was a blush on her part however turned out to be a sunburn because it didn’t go away. Her skin stayed reddish the rest of the day, and when I commented on it, she told me ‘You’re all red too!’ and darned if it wasn’t. The problem was that she had overrun OT II and then gone a bit BIs (bad indicators – indicators in the pc that show something is wrong). We located the point where it started, then when I asked what happened just before that, she located the point where she had released (and subsequently overrun) and the charge that had built up burned off all at once, which can happen. I did some research on this and found that LRH does talk about that happening now and then when he was researching into OT in the early 1950s. Facsimiles can ignite and burn releasing radiation. Anyway, when was the last time you were talking to someone and they thought of something and as a result you got sunburned?”

 
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Past is Prologue

2000: The proceeds from planned Battlefield Earth action figures have been identified as benefiting Author Services, a part of Scientology. From Variety: “The most intriguing aspect of the toy line based on summer sci-fi epic ‘Battlefield Earth’ may not be the ‘Ratbastard’-spouting John Travolta doll. It could just be the millions of dollars the Church of Scientology stands to earn from the playthings. Though the church did not participate in the making of the Warner Bros./Franchise Pictures project, it was included in the merchandising agreement, according to Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder. Any deal for merchandising automatically includes Author Services, the agency that handles all of the works of late writer and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.”

 
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Random Howdy

“All you need to do to strike spiritual gold is to tell the mutant killer apes with the over-developed brain stems that death is not the end and that they’re more than just another species of animal.”

 
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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 arraigned Jan 20. Next conf to set prelim, March 24.

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. March 8: Status conference.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.

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.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

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] Blacks not ready for the vote: L. Ron Hubbard’s damning 1960 harangue supporting apartheid
[TWO years ago] Tony Ortega: Musician, songwriter, and steel executive, 1938-2019
[THREE years ago] How L. Ron Hubbard tried to hoax the FBI, and ‘brainwashed’ politicians of the far right
[FOUR years ago] Louis Farrakhan: Nation of Islam will stand by Scientology as Leah Remini ‘goes in hard’
[FIVE years ago] Why Scientology’s petition to the Texas Supreme Court mentions a dildo, and other surprises
[SIX years ago] Scientology’s Orwellian methods of control explained in a new book by Jefferson Hawkins
[SEVEN years ago] Scott Pilutik helps us evaluate Scientology’s petition to Texas appeals court
[EIGHT years ago] Oklahoma Drug Rehab Bill Passes Senate: Scientology’s Narconon Days Numbered?
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s OT Powers! A Hubbard Holiday Miracle

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 20, 2021 at 07:00

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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, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), 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