Sunny Pereira is back, and she brings us another slice of life (so to speak) from the world of around-the-clock work in Scientology’s Sea Organization. Sign your billion-year contracts and dive in!
It was just after Sept 1991. I was 18 years old. The Time magazine cover story about Scientology had been released and, soon after that, there was an amnesty released by David Miscavige that allowed anyone wanting to get off the Rehabilitation Project Force to do so. We just had to write up our transgressions and be forgiven and we would be off the RPF, the Sea Org’s prison program. I was one of the first to take advantage. I didn’t want to spend another minute on it. I had already been there 2 and a half years.
Once I had been out for a short time I was told I would be a runner for a special project at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre. I needed to report immediately to the trailers at CC and look for Jenny DeVocht or Amy Mortland and report for work. I explained to this person that I had been up for a week. Could I have about 10 hours to sleep and shower please? No, I could have 8 hours and report in the morning. I knew I would not be able to get up if I went to sleep, so I didn’t bother. I showered and got my bike and started riding around LA. It was a freedom I hadn’t had for years, being stuck in the RPF. I loved it.
I reported the next morning as requested. CC Int was still under renovations and not move-in ready. For this reason, all org services were done in trailers outside the building. However, about 100 of the 200 that came off the RPF were assigned to the Manor Hotel to build up the org. Now Amy and Jenny were tasked with setting up the Manor Hotel so it was ready for operation as soon as the building was ready. I was to be their runner. Whatever they needed, I went.
I liked Amy and Jenny right off the bat. They were both kind and respectful to me. Truth be told, after being on the RPF, anything was better than that. The first day went by very fast, running tasks here and there. I was ready to go home when I was told I had to go help with the punch list renovations inside the building. And so, no surprise, I was up all night yet another night. I think about two weeks in it was becoming clear I needed some rest and I was allowed to sleep a night to try to catch up.
One of the many projects at the Manor Hotel was getting the restaurant up to standards. They pulled on guy, Phil Christodoulou, out of the RPF to become the chef. He had to get properly trained up and fast.
One thing to understand about Scientology is that any Scientologist can be tapped to help with anything, and you are expected to do so. Also, any connection you may have may be exploited for any reason, under whatever circumstances, to forward the aims of Scientology.
In this case, we needed Phil to get trained, and fast. It was discovered that there was a CC public who was a waitress at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. She was tapped to get Phil into the restaurant to learn. The restaurant was called Eureka, a popular and always packed restaurant and brewery that existed between 1990 and 1993. The problem was that Phil needed to be learning California Cuisine, and this was not the restaurant to be doing it at. But it was determined that this was our best shot to get him training on the basics.
Phil was introduced to Eureka’s chef Jody Denton by the Scientologist waitress. Jody had no interest in hiring Phil. Phil explained that he wanted to learn and he would work for free. That appeared to be an agreement that was made, as Phil spent the next month or so at Eureka, practicing everything that he could.
Of course Phil, being a Sea Org member, was expected to be more than full time. Phil and I were up several times early in the mornings going to farmers markets all over LA looking for the best and freshest vegetables for the restaurant. Whatever items the chef requested, we were out looking for it. We would load Phil up with everything and send him back into the restaurant with the items. It was made to look like he was on his own, just trying to learn. I don’t know if anyone else in the restaurant knew why he was there.
It came up several times as a problem that Phil was not learning California Cuisine and there was no point keeping him there. He was, however, learning many other basics of cooking that he badly needed such as menu planning, kitchen prep, proper vegetable cuts, etc. Eureka was happy to have the free labor that went from open to close, seven days a week.
Meanwhile, Phil was reporting mostly to me, with the occasional check-in with Amy or Jenny from the mission, to check on his progress. Amy, Jenny and I also had many other assignments to deal with, this was just one of many being juggled at the same time. It was mostly up to Phil to make himself ready.
Phil had other responsibilities outside of the restaurant training as well, and came back to the org daily to do those other actions. The mission was training the staff on many other aspects of the hotel and Phil was expected to keep up with it all. He was also responsible for developing the menu for the Renaissance Restaurant at CC, which he was working on early mornings or late nights. Keeping him up late and early rises in the morning for the vegetable runs made Phil start running on empty in the energy department. This had an unfortunate consequence one day at Eureka when Phil nearly cut off his finger while cutting vegetables. He was exhausted and not paying attention. He cut his finger very deep. The staff were concerned and tried to call 911 to get him help. Of course Phil refused and covered up his hand and told them he would take the rest of that day off. He came back to see me in the middle of the day and showed me his finger. It was a deep cut and needed stiches. I tried to tell him so. He refused and said a little sleep would help and he would be back at it the next day. And that was exactly what happened. He just wrapped up his finger and rested for a bit, then went back to his training.
Phil spent the next couple of weeks continuing his training at Eureka until our restaurant was ready to open, then he just stopped going and came in to open the Renaissance restaurant.
Sea Org members are constantly tested to the limit and expected to make anything and everything go right. The future of the planet depends on what we do here and now in Scientology. Every minute counts. In the first few weeks of anyone being in the Sea Org, they learn this. At first it is forced on them until they understand it. Later into a Sea Org career, the person themselves have had it ingrained in them so hard that they push themselves to the limit without anyone else ever doing or saying anything. This is common with all Sea Org members.
Now Phil was done, and he was clearing the planet, one filet mignon at a time.
— Sunny Pereira
Jon Atack and Karen de la Carriere
“Jon and Karen talk about how language is used to control thought – particularly in Scientology and especially in its paramilitary branch, the Sea Org. They reminisce about dear friends lost to the web of this controlling group, and their hopes for the future.”
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Scientology’s anti-vaxx star keeps rising
Leigh Dundas went on right before Lin Wood yesterday at the Health and Freedom Conference in Oklahoma. “The cattle cars of Auschwitz came rolling into my town wanting my child to get on board,” she said at the outset (regarding vaccinations to help defeat a pandemic), and it just got nuttier after that. If you’re really curious about her speech, you can see it cued up here.
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“I only talk about animal psychologists because I want the beast to be known by his right name. That’s all he is and all he ever pretended to be. Any psychologist is an animal psychologist because the basic theory on which he operates is ‘man is an animal.’ So we call him animal psychologist. And I think that will effectively take care of that as the years roll along. Now, don’t ever use that word psychologist after this. See, just use animal psychologist, always. And you’ll get it around. You’ll find the Times, sooner or later, will be talking about the animal psychologist. And people will be phoning them up to take care of their horses. I wouldn’t let them though. And I don’t even like horses. I wouldn’t let them take care of my horse.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 17, 1962
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“ORG SECURITY: Mail and telex security and personal mail still must maintain security. Now and then an incompetent or false report wipes out security. The object is to make it difficult for an enemy to predict location and activity. We have had several severe upsets traceable to lack of security. You don’t name ports or detail plans in personal letters or org telexes. You carefully obscure them — Halifax becomes ‘our last port.’ ‘We intend to go to the Seychelles’ becomes ‘we’ll soon be in warmer climes.’ Lloyd’s Weekly Shipping Register was rumored to carry us port to port. This is false. We are never listed as we’re a yacht. But there are at least six other commercial Apollos. Scn orgs have taken to advertising the SO. This is silly. The SO is not their product. We are the organization three feet behind the head of Scn orgs. We succeed if we are least noticed.” — The Commodore, April 17, 1970
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“To the degree I am ARCx, I know that logically, however sane I think I am, my own Knowingness is flawed by own my assignments of other-authorship, other-ownership, pan-determinism, other-determinism, self-determinism and valence/circuit per the Responsibility Scale. I also know that sanity is found by differentiating my own assignments and assumptions of other authorship resultant in perfect duplication and as-isness plus total understanding and the vanishment of mechanical conditions of existence resultant in knowingness on the specific items being considered which naturally results in UNDERSTANDING AND ACTION IN THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE DERIVED FROM KNOWINGNESS PER THE SCALE OF RESPONSIBILITY applied from the top down.”
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2000: Mark Ebner reported that a Scientology official visited Mean Magazine with concerns over a recent article on L. Ron Hubbard and Jack Parsons. “LA Scientology PR operative Kat Tebar showed up at the Mean Magazine office today to purchase a copy of the issue featuring journalist Lisa Derrick’s article on Jack Parsons and his relationship with L Ron Hubbard. While at the office, she made every attempt to try and discredit Derrick, calling her a ‘bigot,’ who is out to get Scientology. The editor’s response was priceless: ‘If we published something critical of the Catholic church, I don’t think the Pope would send someone by our office.’ He went on to inform Tebar that she is welcome to buy an ad or write a letter to the magazine, otherwise, she should ‘find something better to do.'”
“It all depends on what the definition of a ‘win’ is. Somebody claiming they were cured of their asthma or allergies is ridiculous. Somebody saying that auditing made them happier is vague BS also. The only thing you ‘win’ in Scientology is the Booby Prize.”
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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. Discovery hearing on April 20, prelim set for May 18.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for May 20 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Charged in Brooklyn federal court on Feb 4. Arraigned on Feb 9. Pretrial conference set for Apr 29.
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. June 7: 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:
— 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] New amended complaint packs a wallop in Miami Scientology child sex assault lawsuit
[TWO years ago] Spyentology: For Scientology, operating as an intelligence agency is a religious mandate
[THREE years ago] More proof that L. Ron Hubbard really did want Scientologists to consider him the Antichrist
[FOUR years ago] Before Scientology’s Xenu was a genocidal galactic overlord, he was a … mountain?
[FIVE years ago] Louis Theroux’s ‘My Scientology Movie’ at Tribeca today, & more in our social media review
[SIX years ago] Is France dropping its anti-Scientology fervor because Tom Cruise is just too délicieux?
[SEVEN years ago] Leah Remini ‘Fair Gamed’ by Scientology? Her sister gets a visit, and Tony Dovolani is tailed
[EIGHT years ago] Love in the Time of Miscavige
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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 2,274 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,778 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,298 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,318 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,209 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,516 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,384 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,158 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,488 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,962 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,278 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,844 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,763 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,931 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,512 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,773 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,811 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,524 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,049 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 404 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,579 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,130 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,279 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,599 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,454 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,573 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,929 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,232 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,338 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,740 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,612 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,195 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,690 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,944 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,053 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 17, 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