TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: We lost Mike Rinder a year ago today, and we’re still coming to grips with it. We thought it might be best to remind people of the good work that Mike did by reprinting one of our favorite stories that he ever did at his blog: How Scientology lies about other religions. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“If you’re disturbed by having to sit on a hard chair as an auditor, it will color your beingness. It will color your attitude. If your confront of evil is very low it will show up especially on your TR 0 and will cause you to do all sorts of odd-ball things with your TRs. What does confront of evil have to do with beingness? Well, what being can confront evil? It is not necessarily an evil being. Let us say a pc comes in and says, ‘I have just strangled a dog and took a great deal of pleasure in it,’ and you say ‘WHAT???!!!’ You are never going to get him in the kind of shape where he doesn’t go around strangling dogs. Why? Because he has just learned that he shouldn’t talk to the auditor.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1980
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“You can, by the way — it’s quite curious — if you were sailing down the street exteriorized and you take a look at somebody, you look over his anchor points, you’ll find those big wing anchor points. They’re way out there, great big gold balls way out in front. You can take one of these, one of this guy’s anchor points, you know, in front and pull it sideways and he’ll start to walk in a circle without knowing why he’s walking in a circle. And you push it out of position and he’ll start to lean. Oh, it’s a very obvious sort of structure.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 5, 1955
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“VISITORS: Only 250 Greek visitors came to the ship today. I am sure they were well handled. But it shows, (a) a lapse of advertising in Div VI and (b) insufficiently interesting ship tour. We should do better next time.” — The Commodore, January 5, 1969
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“There is really no more satanism in Scientology than there is actually in the Catholic church. Only the protestant Christians tried to get away from symbol and ritual and authoritarianism — all elements of satanism — but even they did not do nearly well enough….The slavemasters of the planet (Vatican & British nobility — ‘Priests & Kings shall rule’ — the double-headed eagle) have pushed only extremes in order to divide & conquer.”
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1996: The identity of Fusedon606, a frequent critic of Larry Wollersheim, was revealed this week. Joe Harrington wrote: “FUSEDon606 is a guy by the name of Dennis Brodsky. Lawrence Wollersheim has lectured at meetings of Urantia book readers to caution them about the nature of cults and his view that some aspects of the Urantia movement were becoming cultic in nature. Wollersheim’s activities regarding Urantia were discovered from the OSA search of the files following the August 95 raid. This is apparently how they came across Brodsky’s name and recruited him for his current black propaganda campaign. Brodsky is not a Scientologist and reportedly he has alienated many Urantia people in his area. Should Brodsky fail to respond to my questions about OSA connections, I will consider posting his earlier replies to me, and the response I received from Wollersheim about who Dennis really is.”
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“Well, Hubbard did say that the thetans created the MEST universe so that they would have a place to play, but that eventually they forgot they had done so. The idea that Hubbard saw this whole thing as a game has always seemed pretty obvious to me.”
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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] If Scientology ads told the truth: Mark Bunker’s new AI version is must-see TV!
[TWO years ago] Check out the Scientology propaganda handed out at Saint Hill on New Year’s Eve!
[THREE years ago] While dodging process servers, Scientology leader asserts that all is well
[FOUR years ago] Here’s proof that David Miscavige’s real estate approach to Scientology leadership pays
[FIVE years ago] The wealthy people getting Scientology through the lockdown with their donations
[SIX years ago] Does Mexico really need a Scientology ‘Advanced Org’? We’ll soon find out.
[SEVEN years ago] A Scientologist murdered: Our experts try to make sense of Australia’s ‘Advanced Org’
[EIGHT years ago] Court magician? Scientology attorney can now affect matter with thought, levitate, read minds
[NINE years ago] Scientology cash-in! Top church attorney puts her beach bungalow on market for $2.4 million
[TEN years ago] Scientology posts the new ad that will likely be its Super Bowl entry this year
[ELEVEN years ago] Former spokesman Mike Rinder describes Scientology’s dismal options in 2015
[TWELVE years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology charges into the new year!
[THIRTEEN years ago] Scientology Drug Rehab Program’s Newest Victim: A New York 15-Year-Old
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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 3,499 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,003 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,509 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,059 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,049 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,435 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,930 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,234 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,885 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,103 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,657 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,998 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,569 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,485 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,652 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,234 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,493 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,245 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,810 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,125 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,300 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,982 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,319 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,172 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,288 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,650 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,061 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,449 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,333 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,898 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,409 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,669 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,773 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 5, 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
