We want to thank reader Richard for sending in some really fun material from Scientology in one of its most recent publications. It’s the kind of happy propaganda that we can never get enough of.
In this case, in order to sell members on the expensive proposition of flying to Clearwater, Florida to the Flag Land Base, Scientology’s spiritual mecca, the latest Source magazine has put together a photo essay of sorts, and we think it’s precious.
It features Katty Huang, a cake designer and owner of a patisserie in Taiwan, who has spent a boatload on Scientology recently. Just look at all those certificates! Every single one represents an investment of anywhere from about $5,000 to $75,000 each, so you know she’s got to be practically glowing with Scientology superpowers by this point!
Anyway, in order to help Scientologists make up their minds about flying in for a fleecing, we get to see what it’s like for Katty on a visit that involves staying at the Oak Cove, the “resort” behind the Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater. A two-week quarantine is mandatory, but the photos here show what an enjoyable time you’ll have during your isolation! Ready for the trip of a lifetime? (And yes, these captions are from ‘Source’ itself. We haven’t changed them.)
1) WELCOME TO FLAG
Katty arrives at the scintillating Oak Cove, the relaxed retreat that looks over the Bay of Clearwater, which will be her home for the next two weeks of her stay.
2) A SAFE HARBOUR PAR EXCELLENCE
Katty’s rooms – and all the rooms – are disinfected every day with the eco-friendly D7, to eliminate all germs.
3) ROOM WITH A VIEW
Like all the rooms at Oak Cove, Katty’s suite with sitting room has full length windows that offer a panoramic view of the bay.
4) ENJOY THE SETTING
5) TO WORK
Quarantine offers Katty the possibility to virtually stay in touch with her employees in Taiwan, so that she can keep her flourishing activity running.
6) HANDY
Katty uses our app to order meals and snacks from the on-site Terrace Restaurant. The meals are promptly served to her room.
7) GLOBAL MENU
The Terrace offers world wide cuisine including this Ahi Tuna with sesame, from Japan.
8) OUTDOOR MUSIC
Katty and other guests can listen to the Flag Band shows with a multifaceted musical medley.
9) READY TO WIN
Katty arrives at the Flag Reception, rested, refreshed and ready to start the L Rundowns.
10) UNSTOPPABLE NOW
Together with her Class XII Taiwanese Auditor, Katty makes all barriers vanish with the L Rundowns. As she says: “Now, nothing can stop me.”
11) BRIDGE THRUSTER
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Another story about pre-Ideal buildings rotting
There’s a very good story today at inews which summarizes the situation with three buildings in England — in Plymouth, Gateshead, and Manchester — rotting away since they were purchased by Scientology to turn into “Ideal Orgs.”
The article competently goes over the basics about the ownership of the buildings, their rotting state, and the concern of local officials, as well as promises from Karin Pouw that Scientology will soon turn them into gleaming cathedrals.
Really, the article only leaves out an explanation for what is, you know, actually going on. As in, the “Ideal” program that David Miscavige came up with in 2003, the long lead times for projects around the world, and how before a building gets turned Ideal it can sit rotting for many years, as we saw in places like Detroit, Chicago, and Kansas City.
We’ll say it once again: David Miscavige doesn’t care what you think about his rotting buildings. They will stay blighted until he’s ready to turn them ideal, and on his schedule. Once he’s decided he wants a place lined up for a grand opening, it will quickly go through a renovation and then will be turned into a monument to his ego. After a brief rush of activity, the spruced up shanty will then quickly fall into disuse again, but with fancier surfaces.
It’s a shame inews didn’t talk to someone who could have explained this.
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“The matter of communication is a very serious one. People who are wearing glasses have a break in communication — the communication between the outside world and their minds. It is something which makes it hard for them to see. Myopic astigmatism, unless caused by an accident, is a psychosomatic affair caused by the mind. There is a communication break relating to sight. Those breaks culminate in glasses. Statements in engrams like ‘You just can’t see anything’ will cause the command power to shut off vision. Those people who have achieved optimum personality often drop off the need for glasses.” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 14, 1951
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“MOLLY McBRIDE and CLARISSE BARNETT are appointed Commodore’s Messengers. They are cadets in rank and wear a blue lanyard. When they have done their AB, Mission School 2nd Class, SSI and SSII, if they perform duty well, they will be made midshipmen. Anne Tidman as Cmdr’s Messenger I/C will assign their watches and groove them in (Terri Gillham is on Mission). Molly McBride and Clarisse Barnett should turn over any duties they have to the next in line on their posts and groove them in so as not to leave a hole. A poor turnover of former post can drag one back into it as Mr. Warren has learned lately to his sorrow!” — The Commodore, February 14, 1971
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“So there is this static potential we call theta. It has no mass, no motion, no space, no time, no wavelength but it has the ability to postulate and perceive. It is a life potential creator that all things you see have been created out of. So from this theta, pieces broke off and pieces of the pieces broke off these pieces, and they became the spirit beings that created this ‘agreed upon universe.’ It is agree upon because we agreed to the laws that it operates, by like for example gravity. Now imagine creating a block of space the size of a swimming pool. This space is NOT a nothing. It appears to be a nothing but it’s NOT. Some of these UFOs travel from one part of the universe to the other by just swapping space. That means take the coordinates of a block of space here and an identical size of space say 10 light years from here and swap spaces. Whatever is in this block of space, (like a space ship), goes to the other block of space and whatever is in that block of space comes to this block of space. The space will vanish the second time we look at it because looking at it twice violates a law that ‘no two identical objects can occupy the same space.’ So we have to trick it somehow to make it persist. We do this by creating another space in the exact same space in an instant later and DON’t LOOK AT THE ORIGINAL SPACE YOU CREATED. In fact lie about it and say someone else created it. By the continuous creation of new space in a new time we have space that persists, a space time continuum. Now we are creating this from the static called theta so we now have to create a viewpoint from the broken pieces (spirits, thetans) to go into this block of space the size of a swimming pool to create and view what we create. We try many different creations over and over again until we got the idea of creating atoms. These atoms are just a new particle created in each new space that is create and had its position in space moved so it can manifest a particle moving in a circle. Over a period of time we make all these combinations of atoms and give them properties we add so eventually over millions of years of experimentation we have finally got a workable model with suns, moons, planets. That is the most basic simple model I can think of.”
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2002: The Los Angeles Independent reported that Scientology may have property seized for non-payment of property taxes. “According to officials with the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor’s Office, the Church of Scientology is in danger of having at least one of its Hollywood properties repossessed for failure to pay property taxes. The Scientology property at the corner of McCadden Place and Hollywood Boulevard, which the church uses as an ‘testing center’ and residence for some of its members, is nearing the five-year mark for failure to pay property taxes, and as a result, could be subject to county auction in July of this year, if the taxes owed are not brought current, officials say. The back taxes owed on the properties are now in the millions of dollars. Scientology has filed for exemptions on property taxes owed to the county on the basis of their being a nonprofit organization. In the meantime, the county expects the property owner to pay all relevant taxes, which would then be reimbursed should the county find in favor of the property owner’s exemption.”
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“The idiots show up like clockwork on a Thursday, leave a couple of barely comprehensible comments and scurry away, and they’ve done their job for the week! I think Miscavige is overpaying them.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next pretrial conference May 31. Trial scheduled for August 29.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Last hearing was on January 18, referred to grand jury.
— 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 March 25 in Los Angeles
— Joseph ‘Ben’ Barton, Medicare fraud: Pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Next hearing February 15.
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ US Supreme Court denied Valerie’s petition Oct 4.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Scientology has said it will file an anti-SLAPP motion.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for June 28.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Appeal hearing held Aug 23-27. Awaiting a ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
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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] Post-Super Bowl, Scientology is on fire and will soon clear the planet
[TWO years ago] Masterson accusers in court today seek changes to deal with Scientology ‘arbitration’ motions
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s street theater in New York: A bid to head off a 4th ‘Aftermath’ season?
[FOUR years ago] PROSECUTORS PREPARE CHARGES CARRYING LIFE SENTENCE FOR DANNY MASTERSON
[FIVE years ago] 25 years ago today: Scientology leader David Miscavige’s ‘Nightline’ appearance
[SIX years ago] Karen de la Carriere: Scientology is smearing me again, and this time is hitting below the belt
[SEVEN years ago] More secrets from Scientology’s vanished entity, Narconon International
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s $100,000 girl records a video promoting a fundraising event in California
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s Spiffy Golden Era Studios Has Its Own Dentist!
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s Shocking Treatment of Children Held in a Suburban Labor Camp
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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 2,575 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,080 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,600 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,620 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,511 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,818 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,686 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,460 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,791 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,264 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,580 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,146 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,065 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,233 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,814 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,075 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,111 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,826 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,351 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 706 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,881 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,432 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,581 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,901 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,756 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,875 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,231 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,534 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,640 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,038 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,914 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,497 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,992 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,246 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,355 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 14, 2022 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, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), 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
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
