A new sighting of former Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis is always a delight

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: We’re often asked about former Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis, who is such a source of fascination for many. We want to thank the reader who pointed us to a new sighting of this ever-popular figure, and we’ll bring you up to date if you’re behind on your Tommy Davis news. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

 
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Technology Cocktail

“The difference between a Degraded Being and an OT is simply that the DB can’t put out a postulate or intention in a direct line or way and make it hold good. The insane are a great example of this. They are insane because they have evil intentions. But they can’t even make these stick. They may intend to burn down the house but they usually wind up watering the rug or do some other non sequitur thing. It’s not that they don’t mess things up. The whole point here is that they can’t even properly destroy what they intend to destroy. Even their evil intentions wobble, poor things.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1972

 
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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 [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman [55] Mark Bunker [56] Trish and Liz Conley [57] Trish Conley [58] Alex Barnes-Ross [59] Alex Barnes-Ross [60] Alex Barnes-Ross [61] Alex Barnes-Ross [62] Alex Barnes-Ross [63] Alex Barnes-Ross [64] Tory Christman [65] Tammy Synovec [66] Dennis Erlich [67] Alex Barnes-Ross [68] Valerie Ross [69] Kat in Austin [70] Mark Bunker [71] Phil Jones

 
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Source Code

“If you did it, you can undid it. How do you like that? You can! You can undo it. Anything you’ve done, you can undo one way or the other — somewhere on the track, given enough time. Even without processing, you could undo it. A lot of you are going forward in life right now, just hoping you will get an opportunity to undo, oh, Lord knows what, killing blondes or something. Hoping you get enough opportunity to unkill battleships or something. Of course, some of you are out of luck entirely because maybe your overt acts are against heavy hussars — heavy cavalry, heavy horse cavalry — and you’re trying to undo overt acts against heavy horse cavalry in an age that doesn’t have any. So you have to become an historical writer.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 3, 1960

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“CRUISE: We rapped out the mileage and as I write this we apparently will have our day’s stats at the end. One day and two nights at sea compared to two days and two nights. It was a fairly comfortable run. I like this port we’ll be in as you read this. The officials have always been pleasant and obliging, the people great, and they don’t push people around. Some aboard don’t like it. Smells of fish they say. Well, I prefer the smell of fish and saw dust to the smell of tourists. I’ll never forget the relief and cheer we once felt when driven by the sea and the height of the Smersh campaign this port welcomed us. It always has been friendly and decent. Not being shoved out to anchor ‘to make room for the great Tourist Liner BUNKO and the Tanker SS Stinko.’ We’re off the beaten track here. The Phoenicians, Carthoginians and Portuguese have left their traces. And these people still go on. I’am changing our scheduling after the next port after this. Be nice to these people, they’re your friends. Be nice to this port. I consider it an Affinity haven.” — The Commodore, January 3, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“In 2008 at the last broad Freezone Convention held in Europe near Magdeburg, Germany, a young man by the name of Andreas Buttler presented himself as the reincarnation of LRH. It was on the 9th of May that year, that he presented his book SPIRITOLOGIE. Spiritology he defined as the science of the origin, infinite potential and the full rehabilitation of the spiritual being. In his book he announced the great breakthrough that Scientology now is going to be run from the 8th dynamic INFINITY. And all techniques are run from that viewpoint and incidentally doing away with the need for the pre-OT levels altogether. In 2013 however Andreas Buttler had gotten physically ill and as he himself could not have overlooked any adverse ‘causative thoughts’ he concluded that his belief that ‘there was always the thought, the concept or the idea, before anything would manifest’ must have been wrong. He then promptly withdrew the book, the subject and everything connected — including his own past identity — and that was the demise of ‘Spiritologie’ as far as he was concerned.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1999: The Miami Herald published an article this week on the status of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida. “The city buses chugging past downtown crowds three weeks ago bore strange and startling messages on the sides: ‘Think for Yourself. Quit Scientology,’ said one. ‘Doubt is Not a Crime,’ said another. ‘Run, don’t walk — Quit Scientology.’ In almost any other town in America, the advertisements would have been puzzling and meaningless. But in Clearwater, where the population of 110,000 includes perhaps as many as 10,000 adherents to the Church of Scientology, they were fighting words. ‘That’s like saying, ‘Blacks, get out of town,” says Scientology spokeswoman Pat Jones, who also is African American. Scientologists deluged the homes of City Council and Transit Authority members with complaints. Within a day, the ads were gone. Tampa attorney Kennan Dandar is representing Lisa McPherson’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. He claims McPherson was trying to leave the church after 19 years, and they wanted to stop her. ‘In her final days, she was virtually begging for help,’ Dandar said. ‘What happened to Lisa was disgusting.’ Scientologists say McPherson was happy in the church, and wasn’t planning to leave. If the church is found guilty of the charges — abuse or neglect of a disabled adult, a second-degree felony, and unauthorized practice of medicine, a third-degree felony — it will face a fine of no more than $15,000. No individual would face a jail sentence. The downtown demonstrations by anti-Scientologists every year on the anniversary of McPherson’s death, the bus ads earlier this month and the publicity given to the criminal charges have put the church under scrutiny again. There’s no good reason for it, Scientologists say. ‘If it were any other church, this would have been damped out within weeks,’ spokesman Anderson said. ‘The story would have died.’ The St. Petersburg Times printed a letter from Scientology’s head of investigations and public relations, Mike Rinder, in response to last week’s editorial is support of the right for critics to run bus ads. Blumner cites the First Amendment to the Constitution for the proposition that anonymous anti-Scientologists have the right to post religious hate slogans on county-sponsored buses. She conveniently ignores that the first provision of the First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. That amendment prohibits governmental agencies from taking an action that could in any fashion establish or disestablish a particular religion. It is ironic that it appeared in the editorial column of the St. Petersburg Times, as if expressing the Times’ views. The Times, as a matter of policy, will accept no advertising of any kind from the Church of Scientology. For years, the church has attempted to purchase advertising space for book advertisements, statements on social issues, and even equal space to respond to Times articles. In every instance, the Times has refused to accept advertisements.”

 
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Random Howdy

“There seems to be a reluctance even among some exes to understand that all the E-meter is physically capable of doing is measuring galvanic skin response. It is incapable of reading one’s emotional state.”

 
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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. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7, 2023. Appeal brief due by December 23.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing January 13, 2025.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, convicted of fraud, awaiting sentencing.

Civil litigation:

 
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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 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] Andreas Heldal-Lund, 1964-2024: Our original story about Scientology’s ‘Lucifer’
[TWO year ago] Jerry Whitfield, longtime Scientology exit counselor, dies at 77
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s global conquest: Founder L. Ron Hubbard stressed ‘put in ethics’ to foil enemies
[FOUR years ago] Scientology social media: Stop being afraid to turn over all your hard earned cash!
[FIVE years ago] In the Sea Org, it’s difficult to see Scientology’s incompetence — until you escape
[SIX years ago] We asked Marc Headley about NXIVM’s Allison Mack using his Scientology lawsuit as a defense
[SEVEN years ago] Conan O’Brien to Danny Masterson in ’04, after rape claim was settled: ‘I’ve heard about you’
[EIGHT years ago] Tonight on ‘Leah Remini’: Aaron Smith-Levin on how families get so screwed up in Scientology
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s state of the union, 2016: Former spokesman Mike Rinder predicts ‘more pain’
[TEN years ago] Jon Atack: What it’s like for the Scientologist who gives up the dream of being superhuman
[ELEVEN years ago] Another Scientology video you aren’t supposed to see: ‘The Command of Theta’

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 3, 2025 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, 1995-2023 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2023), 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

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone