TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Alex Barnes-Ross let us know he spotted a familiar face in Scientology’s New Year’s event slide show, and then sent us over this fascinating description of who was being celebrated at the party by church leader David Miscavige. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“What the auditor must not miss is his observation of the needle on the dial, that it moves and that it reacts and that it does so because it is connected to the pc. So there is a point of action in there which is observation. An auditor determines to find out something. That is an interrogation. It is followed by an observation, and that is followed by an interpretation. You’ve got to single out the observation as to what it is, and then the interpretation as to what it is, and the causation that makes the meter read as to what it is. You will then have these things unstuck and separated out from each other. There is nothing complicated about any of this unless someone makes it complicated. You can have a million interpretations and one truth. What makes the road hard to travel is that the interpretations (or alter-ises) are, every one of them, liable to be given the same importance as the truth.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1980
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“You look at the basic mechanism of life, and we see this fellow kicks off as Ebenezer Snouzer and gets born as young Billy Jones. And nobody is more convinced when he becomes young Billy Jones that he has never been Ebenezer Snouzer. Does this have any liability to him? It certainly does. Because the inescapable truth of the matter, contained in earlier postulates, is that he was and is Ebenezer Snouzer. And so Ebenezer Snouzer, to some slight degree, goes on living. And we have past lives cropping up, and fellows going around pleading with us to believe that they can’t shoot, can’t ride, girls just begging to be believed that they have no charm, you know? That’s to keep Ebenezer or Betty Schnouzer from living on, don’t you see?” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 4, 1957
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“Above case gain is COMPETENCE. If you want to see a 9 foot tall OT, look at one who is also competent! And knows it. Like our Qual Auditors. They create new people! After case gain comes progressing improvement by new Competence attained. There have never been Thetans who were Clear OT and COMPETENT. Something new has been added.” — The Commodore, January 4, 1971
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“An implanter would be a controller and controllers work outside of this planet. We here have been fooled our whole lives about everything. But this understanding comes from outside of Scientology. One would recognize every mystery when one understands the Matrix rulers, how they operate, and what supreme being they answer to. One must understand that what we see in current time is a playout of a war between an evil and an all good God. The war is almost over and we are reaching the point that LRH referred to as The Markabian Landing and Christians call Christ’s Second Coming. The truth and deception about this Matrix had to remain hidden otherwise they couldn’t control you. It’s ok. Big changes are coming soon.”
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2001: Jeff Jacobsen reported a death announcement from The Auditor. “Andy Simson, who was a veteran Sea Org member. ‘He has been granted a 21
year leave from the Sea Org and we look forward to his return.'”
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“The only thing I want from Disqus is to bring back the downvote, make the AV image bigger and make the YouTube video image much smaller.”
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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 now fully briefed, waiting for 2nd Appellate District court to set a hearing date. Masterson has also submitted a habeas corpus petition.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Pleaded guilty on Nov 10 to a 17-year prison sentence (eligible for parole in two to three more years). Awaiting transfer to state prison.
— Aaron Matthes charged for SA of child under 12 years old: OT Scientologist facing multiple mandatory life sentences. Next pretrial court hearing set for Feb 2.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Judge Hammock’s ruling is on appeal. Leah’s respondent’s brief is due February 11.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 15 days of arbitration completed, Val waiting for further word from the IJC.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike is on appeal. Appeal fully briefed. Motion to replace Jane Does’ AI-tainted brief denied by court. Awaiting a court hearing date.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, gets ruling to depose Jane Doe 1. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028.
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Other links: The prosecution of Danny Masterson. Leah Remini’s Fair Game Podcast. Leah Remini’s A&E Series. Scientology’s Celebrities, from A to Z. Bryan Seymour’s suppressed series, 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] Leaked document: How Scientology plotted to destroy Bruce Hines
[TWO years ago] Here’s our story about big 2023 donors Scientology doesn’t want you to see
[THREE years ago] VIDEO: Scientology’s latest promo to audit away your own space cooties at home!
[FOUR years ago] PI stalking Leah Remini for Scientology was unlicensed, it turns out
[FIVE years ago] Scientology celebrates its pandemic response in latest Impact magazine
[SIX years ago] Scientology, disconnection, and the worst Christmas ever
[SEVEN years ago] Tiponi Grey’s daughter: She knew her life might end at any time
[EIGHT years ago] Even in 2018, Scientology is still selling L. Ron Hubbard like he had the universe figured out
[NINE years ago] Aaron Smith-Levin appears on ‘Leah Remini,’ hours later gets own Scientology attack site
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s appeal on rehab zoning fight in Maryland to be heard today
[ELEVEN years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology now selling the idea it solved the Ferguson crisis
[TWELVE years ago] MONIQUE RATHBUN FILES FOR SANCTIONS, SUBMITS SCIENTOLOGY LEADER’S FOUL-MOUTHED TEXTS
[THIRTEEN years ago] Blogging Dianetics, Part 1: Vance Woodward Helps Us Parse L. Ron Hubbard’s Masterpiece
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Joe Reaiche (1958-2024) did not see his daughter Alanna Masterson in his final 6,999 days.
Mike Rinder (1955-2025) did not see his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in his final 7,589 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 3,498 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,002 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,508 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,058 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,048 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,434 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,929 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,233 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,884 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,102 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,656 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,997 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,568 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,484 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,651 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,233 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,492 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,244 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,809 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,124 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,299 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,981 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,318 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,171 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,287 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,649 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,060 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,448 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,332 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,897 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,408 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,668 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,772 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 4, 2026 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter.
Our book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is 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, 1995-2024 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2024), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
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Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
