We’ve lost another treasured member of the Bunker.
This week we learned that Molly Kell, known as “Puget Buckeye” here in our comments section, died last Friday after her long battle with breast cancer.
She was a lucid and courageous Scientology watcher who decided to share with us her health ordeal. Two months ago, she left her last comment.
At one point Puget Buckeye — a reference to her being an Ohioan living in Washington state — had reached out to us in an email, so we knew that her name was Molly Kell. With the help of Intergalactic Walrus, we found that Molly had been a longtime office manager at a realty office in Seattle, and the company website now has this notation:
“She’s a very special person and she’s going to be dearly missed,” Bob Johnson told us by telephone last night after we called the realty office. He says that Molly had started working for his father, George Johnson, some 25 years ago. George died at 98 in 2011, and when Bob was taking over the business from his dad a year before that, he leaned heavily on Molly to keep the place running smoothly.
He was unaware that Molly was involved in something called the Underground Bunker, but he laughed heartily when we told him Molly’s screen nick. Yes, she certainly was a Buckeyes fan living in the Pacific Northwest.
We told him how much we all appreciated her sense of compassion and good humor. “I’m very glad to hear she was part of something like that. She was equally funny here, in addition to all the contributions she made.”
We told Bob that except for her involvement at this website, we couldn’t find much of an Internet footprint for her, and we didn’t see any photos of her. He said that he himself had noticed that, but that he was planning to go through some of his father’s albums for photos from office Christmas parties. He said he’d send us something if he could find a good image of Molly.
To help remember her contribution to this enterprise, we chose a sampling of Puget Buckeye’s comments over the past couple of years. We look forward to hearing about your memories of her.
After my diagnosis, I had to go through the list of people I would tell — my sister, my boss, close friends, co-workers, etc. Then the Bunker. One particular close friend doesn’t “get” what happens here. How I can talk with people from all over the world, find community, support simply baffles her. Quite frankly, sometimes it stuns me. But I’m OK with that.
Well, bloody hell. I just checked my upvotes. Down 23 from last evening in spite of all the ones I got today. At this rate, you’re going to be able to find me in the bait bucket.
I lurked for so very long, a year or so, before I had the nerve to comment. (My signed copy of TUML predates my commenting debut.) Never in a million years did I ever imagine that I would find such a supportive, loving and understanding community. During my journey of the last 6 months or so, I’ve found myself buoyed by the words of people I will probably never meet in real life. And I have drawn on those supportive words so often. This Bunker place really is an amazing place.
Marc & Claire, I’m so sorry to hear of Bernie’s passing. I hope your feelings of sadness and loss are assuaged in the knowledge that he got to be a part of your lives for the past 15+ years. And that your sons got to know their grandfather. That’s quality time and memories that no one can take away. My heartfelt condolences, Molly.
I’ve said it before and I will continue to repeat it — it’s amazing to me the strength I get from this online community. I never really understood it before. Never really put much stock in it. I really value this family.
For the life of me, I can’t believe that someone would say the WBM has hate in his heart. From all the videos of his that I’ve seen, he’s been most patient and respectful. I even recall the story he told of his new neighbor in his condo, she turned out to be a Scientologist and he said to her that he hoped they could continue to be friends. That doesn’t come from a person filled with hate.
Facetious question — So if DM has to be served through publication, does a billboard count as publication? We have some Bunkeroos who know a thing or two about billboards. Wouldn’t it be groovy to have his legal woes printed super big, high in the sky on a billboard, for everyone to see? I’m just being silly but I kinda like the thought of this.
I never colored my hair, just let the gray move in. And move in it did. And nicely. I would never have had the nerve to buzz my head. But I had no choice. And now….I’m kinda diggin’ it. It’s liberating. It’s easy. Saves a bucket load of time. And I’ve decided that this fighter needs fighter hair.
What the hell happened to Kirstie who preached “I’m OK, you’re OK”, just wanted everyone to get along, live an let live, blah blah blah? Or else she’s gonna punch you in your private parts. Now it’s all about her. Jesus, I wish she’d pick a lane.
Oh my dear Andrea. We must get you a new pair of glasses. Or better hallucinogens.
Just want to share a bit of a bright spot with my Bunker peeps. I spent a couple of hours yesterday visiting with a friend. Our friendship is one of those multi-leveled ones — work, neighbors, family, etc. I miss her (and she, me) madly. Anyhoo, we met up yesterday at the local beach. We had a nice, long conversation while watching the ferry come and go. And I got a bit of pink on my face from the sun. It was lovely. My friend, the sun and the water. Oh and don’t worry, we sat 5 or 6 feet apart and “air” hugged goodbye. A good day.
This Bunker really is an amazing place, isn’t it? Here we all are, a disparate group, all hanging out and supporting each other. Making each other laugh and cry and disagree and educate. I’ve tried to explain the friendship and energy of the Bunker to other people but they just don’t get it. My words fall short. I understand what you’re saying. I don’t know how I would have survived this past year without the Bunker.
I’m not used to asking for help. I’m always the one helping, fixing, arranging.
I don’t read Source Code either. I think I did once or twice and it took me forever to recover from it. I just skip straight to Random Howdy. (sorry Tony)
Can you imagine what it’s like at DM’s house right now? Those damn SP’s, Leah & Mike have won yet another award (a freakin’ Emmy for Christ’s sake!), ol’ Danny boy is gonna get busted big time and take us down with him, that damn Aussie Seymour’s black ops series has been leaked so everyone can see it, every GD tabloid at the grocery store has CoS on the cover. (BTW, Suri Cruise seems to be growing up just fine without her whacka doodle daddy.) 2020 must really really suck for DM!
Isn’t it amazing? You and I seem to live such different day to day lives. And yet here we are in the Underground Bunker.
I’m doing pretty good. It’s a sunny day, no rain until later this evening. Going to go down to the neighbor’s garden to have a glass of “social distance” wine. We’ll lament the drying and dying vegetation, reminisce about how beautiful everything was this past summer and start to talk about next year. The usual. How have you been Daisy Girl?
Thanks Panny. (can I call you “Panny” or is that too familiar?)
It’s amazing how a little bit of socially distance wine time can turn into lights and sirens. All you Bunker regulars know my routine. Thursday evening I was invited down to my neighbors for a bit of wine and socializing. Since the weather has turned cold, we’ve moved from the garden to inside. We watch the news, discuss the stories during commercials, you get the idea. Sometime toward the end of my visit, my friend looked at me in a different sort of way. I asked her if everything was ok. She shook her head “no” and then tried to express what the problem was. She said she hadn’t felt “right” all day and then she tried to tell me something but could not find her words. Now, I’d been with her for over an hour. Her speech was clear, we’d discussed what we’d seen on the TV, I’d seen her walk. I suggested that we may want to call 911, that she may have had or be having a stroke or TIA. Believe it or not, we talked about this. And she agreed that it was probably the thing to do. I assured her that I would take care of the dog and cat, her home would be secure, and then I dialed the phone. FD arrived, transported her to the hospital and it turns out she did indeed have a TIA. I was able to pick her up from the hospital the next afternoon. She is fine. I got home from her place a bit ago. Everything is back to normal, more or less. The dog and cat look at me a bit differently now. The moral of the story, if you even suspect that someone is having a stroke or TIA, speak up.
That’s one of many things that confuse me about Joy. She would probably describe herself as an entrepreneurial, independent, strong woman of color. And she’s a fan girl of a group of misogynistic white bigots.
I wonder, truly wonder, if those who had contact with Lisa during her final day, weeks, months think of her this time of year. Do they remember her endless work on Winter Wonderland? Or working at the postcard place? Do they remember sharing a soda with her or talking with her about going out country line dancing? (That was one of her past times, right?) Do they remember the sound of her voice, the way she laughed, her scent? Are they haunted? With one little word or simply speaking up, they could’ve changed history. I wonder.
I figure it’s a good thing to never stop learning. Some might call me nerdy or sappy or whatever, but I figure it’s a good day if I’ve learned something new. I’ve even been known to do a “happy dance”.
TO, I know that this is an Underground Bunker “Exclusive” but if some other outlet were to contact you (like Hollywood Reporter, CNN, MSN) would you give them permission to reprint? I would like for the wider world to get schooled by Leah about TC’s tiny tirade.
Good night to you my Daisy. Sometimes wrong turns can turn out to be so right. Lots of love.
Down thread, our proprietor posted a link to an old Bunker discussion from 6/17/16 — howdycon in Cleveland. What fun I’ve had looking at the pics and reading the comments. A great trip down memory lane.
OK dude. Come clean! What the hell is up with these Bonus Source Codes? Are you building up to something or have you gone off the deep end? Or are you trying to drive the rest of us off the deep end? Spill!
Overnight Friday into Saturday morning, the Seattle area got hit with a snow storm. For the record, we don’t do snow real well. Fortunately, this storm came during a holiday weekend and when almost everyone is still working from home. My general feeling about snow is “keep it in the mountains so we have a good snow pack for the summer”. But after watching the news over the weekend, I’ve decided this snow is different. It was needed. All the kids, young and old, needed this…..to get out and play, to sled, to build snow “people” and other childish, fun stuff. OK, fine! I’ll put my grumpy ass on the back burner and admit that I need a reality check every now and then.
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“We used to be tolerant about [the University of] Chicago. Most of us wanted to go there because you only had to go a couple of years before they handed you a sheepskin and we were bored. But this outfit uttered this asinine statement: ‘We have tested all the techniques of Dianetics and found out it didn’t work.’ Well, in the first place it’s asinine because all the techniques of Dianetics didn’t exist in published form and were not available to them to test, see? So right away, that was nonsense. For instance, I know of techniques that were released at the first foundation in Elizabeth which have never seen the light of day; I have never seen them published or anything else. Matter of fact, I saw three or four splinter groups suddenly start up on stuff that was merely designed to take care of one PC or something like that, and then they decided that this would apply to all PCs and so forth. There are several brands of therapy which are adrift today which simply consist of one technique developed for one PC at Elizabeth. So for any outfit to grandly look down its nose and say, ‘We have tested all the techniques of Dianetics,’ you know? Well, what a statement, see? They haven’t got them to test. How would they even know if they had tested all the techniques? Right away they are irresponsible. And then to say they didn’t work would also be asinine because if they had tested even sloppily, they would have gotten some result someplace, unless they were simply uttering a publicity statement to protect the vested interest.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 18, 1964
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“NEW RUNDOWN: The original Rundown of last November variously called and numbered, is now to be exported to eligible orgs as the New-Life Rundown, to be given in their Dept 10s It is a high-priced successful package. It requires Class IX to Supervise it. It must not be confused with a Life Repair. It literally gives one a new life. It does not supplant any grade or OT level. It has been smoothed out and is highly successful. The Rundowns Flag has been doing lately are above it. It will handle any special case. It’s a doll. Our Dept 10 is grooving in on it.” — The Commodore, June 18, 1971
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“The difference between Free Zone Scientologist and (American) Independent Scientologists: Free Zone Scientologists practice Scientology outside the Church since the early 80s as led by Captain Bill Robertson. American Indies left the church mainly 10 years ago (around 2009) and were indoctrinated into believing that Free Zone Scientologists are squirrels.”
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1998: NBC’s news program Dateline aired a story this week on Bob Minton, a critic of Scientology who is funding a variety of cases and opponents of the cult. From a transcript: “BOB MINTON: The more I got involved, the more frightening the organization as a whole became to me. JOHN HOCKENBERRY: Are you nuts? BOB MINTON: A lot of people would question my insanity on that score. HOCKENBERRY: Do you have any evidence that they’re really evil and destructive? BOB MINTON: Yes. Shattered lives, broken families, mental fragility. VOICEOVER: Minton has funded lawsuits, rescued an anti-cult organization, given weary defendants and broken-down activists the means to fight on. To date, he’s handed out more than 1.7 million of his own dollars to some of Scientology’s harshest critics. HOCKENBERRY: That’s a lot of money. BOB MINTON: It is. But keep in mind that in this, in this battle with Scientology, I’m the little guy. Scientology are the big guys.”
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“So Kim shoots the ex-girlfriend and her entire performing ensemble and makes the families watch, and then sends them to labor camps. I bet C.O.B. pleasures himself fantasizing he had that kind of power.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— 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: Pretrial conference August 21 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for June 18.
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 to US Supreme Court submitted on May 26. Scientology has until June 25 to respond.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: California Supreme Court grants review on May 26, asks Second Appellate Division to direct Judge Steven Kleifield to show cause why he granted Scientology’s motion for arbitration.
— 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: Third 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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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
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 BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. 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] How will Scientology react to Danny Masterson being charged with rape?
[TWO years ago] Church of Scientology and David Miscavige sued for abuse by major legal players
[THREE years ago] Another sign Nation of Islam members are moving from Dianetics to full Scientology
[FOUR years ago] Scientology caught red-handed breaking government restrictions — and without penalty
[FIVE years ago] When you postulate upon a star: L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology’s funny made-up words
[SIX years ago] Scientology’s slush fund: Jeffrey Augustine takes apart the fictions of the IAS
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology fires legal salvoes at the Garcias, and Vance Woodward fires back
[EIGHT years ago] What Scientologists at War Left Out: Some Annotations on Channel 4’s Documentary
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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 2,335 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,840 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,360 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,380 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,271 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,578 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,446 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,220 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,550 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,024 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,340 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,906 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,825 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,993 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,574 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,835 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,873 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,586 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,111 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 466 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,641 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,192 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,341 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,661 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,516 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,635 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,991 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,294 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,400 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,802 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,674 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,257 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,752 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,006 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,115 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 18, 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, 1995-2020 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
