We know you think David Miscavige is on the ropes, what with Leah Remini and everyone else suing him, and process servers hunting him down, and his Austin Ideal Org grand opening ceremony canceled, and so many questions being asked about his wife, Shelly.
But Scientology’s ruthless ecclesiastical leader is taking this planet by storm and there’s not a thing those pesky Marcabian invaders can do about it.
Let’s take a look at some of his recent accomplishments.
On July 20, Bunker mainstay Phil Jones went by the Canada “Advanced Org” to gaze on its awesome progress.
Scientology boasts at its website, “To dramatically speed progress of parishioners up the Scientology Bridge to the Mecca in Clearwater, Mr. Miscavige has inaugurated a program to establish Advanced Organizations in every continent.” And the AOs in Canada and Latin America have been in the works since 2009.
Sure, 14 years is kind of a long time on the time scale that you puny mortals go by, but to a 76 trillion-year-old Scientologist? The blink of an eye.
After Phil went by to see how things were going up north, another of our readers was good enough to check out how the other project was going, in Mexico City.
The “Latam” AO will serve all of Latin America, an awesome responsibility, and it too has been in the works for 14 years. We found these renderings to show how Scientology expects it to look.
And how is it progressing? Why, awesomely, of course…
Meanwhile, fundraising for even more Ideal Orgs is roaring with success!
These new orgs ought to be open any day now…
In the meantime, while David Miscavige is growing Scientology in leaps and bounds, Karen Pressley’s Los Angeles trip to celebrate 25 years out of Scientology which she told us about on the podcast yesterday continues. She says she was thrilled to see Erin Hodges Plumb, who, if you remember, made a bold exploit of taking Karen’s book to her ex Peter Schless at Int Base when it was having an open house.
They not only met for breakfast yesterday, but also paid a visit to Karen’s old haunt, the Hollywood Celebrity Centre.
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Technology Cocktail
“Giving you advance scoop on a new research win it seems that the most effective and rapid clearing could take place with what we will call Universal Processes. This means running a Comm Process on Universe as follows: ‘From where could you communicate to the physical Universe.’ ‘From where could you communicate to a body.’ ‘From where could you communicate to a mind.’ ‘From where could you communicate to a Thetan.’ This is all experimental at this stage but it would be a separation process from all universes the thetan is anxious about and should be quite successful in general use.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1959
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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 as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?
[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH
— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see
[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf
— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond
[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner
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“This planet is part of an earlier federation and passed out of its control due to losses in war and other such things. Now, this larger confederacy, this isn’t its right name, but we have often called it and referred to it in the past as the Marcab Confederacy. And it has been wrongly or rightly pointed to as one of the tail stars of the Big Dipper, which is the capital planet of which this planet is. Now, all this sounds very Space Opera-ish and that sort of thing, and I’m sorry for it, but I am not one to quibble about the truth. This gets in people’s hair every now and then, and I don’t see any point in lying in order to be acceptable. It just doesn’t seem to be a right way to go about things, particularly in the realm of science.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 6, 1963
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“LIONS: The local Lions Club was entertained aboard with great success. Candlelit dining room, guitar music. Caviar, lobster, salad and cigars and cognac after. 25 came. They cancelled their own first dinner of the season and came to ours. High commendables to Peter Warren, John Bragin and our two magnificent girls Mrs. Jone van Hoecke and Mme Francoise Cugnot, Sven as Chef and Kenilee Moore as Maitre de Hotel, and the waiters Rick, Jesse, Charles, Bob and several others. It was very commendable team work. Very well done! Our PRO Area Control has been greatly advanced with local influential business men.” — The Commodore, August 6, 1971
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“I actually first became interested in the occult, oriental religion and hypnotism due to the pulp author Robert E. Howard through ‘the People of the Black Circle’ or some such story. I very much like the Doc Savage novels, which propose an admixture of mental techniques and physical practices that result in a superhuman physical capacity and a preternatural understanding. I am very much a fan of Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden, though not so much Leonard Peikoff. He is the Miscavige of Objectivism. I have only met a couple of Scientologists for sure, but when I was a child my mother practiced some of the methods and used a Hubbardic pidgin when talking about politics.”
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2001: The American Family Foundation reported this week that Scientology is attempting to infiltrate Re-FOCUS, a support group for ex-members of cults. “Re-FOCUS is an ongoing forum to talk about lingering issues for survivors of cults. These sessions, which are free, are held at undisclosed locations in various cities. It has been reported that active Scientology members have embarked on a plan try to gain access to these Re-FOCUS meetings. The only name disclosed thus far in this apparent Special Affairs operation attempt, is Mr. Andrew Bagley. The message they alleged was something to the effect of ‘Oh we just want to try to help others with this program.'”
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“What kinda nut would think you could listen to Martians on an E-meter? Any sane person knows the only way you could listen to Martians is when you’re at the implant station on Mars, sheesh.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentencing on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Trial scheduled for August 15.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.
Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place at least through sentencing of Masterson on Sep 7.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Next hearing August 1.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.
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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] PODCAST: Checking on our predictions about Scientology celebs with expert Geoff Levin
[TWO years ago] Tom Cruise’s Scientology superpowers, No. 15: Always finding the best parking spot
[THREE years ago] Nazanin Boniadi chides Karen Bass for ‘insufficient’ statement on Scientology speech
[FOUR years ago] Scientology’s secret weapon to get its clutches on your children
[FIVE years ago] If it’s wrong to love Scientology hip-hop, we don’t want to be right
[SIX years ago] Scientology subjects young children to quack therapies — now, someone is taking a stand
[SEVEN years ago] So much for all that: Attempt by Garcias to revive Scientology lawsuit shot down by judge
[EIGHT years ago] Um, about that story claiming Will Smith got a ‘refund’ from his broke-ass shuttered school…
[NINE years ago] Maybe the saddest Scientology promo video ever, and a history lesson from Mark Bunker!
[TEN years ago] Mary Sue Hubbard’s Last Will Fulfilled: Her Dog Bereft of Life, It’s Time to Sell Her House!
[TWELVE years ago] Scientology Delirium: Commenters of the Week!
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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 3,113 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,628 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,178 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,168 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,049 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,353 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,224 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 2,329 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,776 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,118 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,684 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,603 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,770 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,352 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,613 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,649 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,365 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,929 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,244 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,419 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,970 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,101 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,439 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,294 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,413 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,769 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,072 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,178 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,576 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,452 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,017 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,530 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,784 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,893 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 6, 2023 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), 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
