TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: The new OT Phenomena are here! For years we’ve enjoyed reading the ghost stories Scientology passes off as evidence of superpowers gained on the ‘Operating Thetan’ levels, which take years to complete and hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for. It’s mind over money! [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“The theory of rehabs is based on the following stable datum: This particular universe is built by twos. One cannot know a datum unless there is another datum to
compare it to. This fact can also be seen to operate in the field of the mind. (Ref: Logic 8, Scientology 0-8, THE BOOK OF BASICS.) Thus, in rehabbing a release point one is getting the pc to view one datum (a time of release from a mass) as compared to another datum (a time he was stuck in the mass) and when this is done the pc moves out of the mass once again. That is the simplicity of what occurs.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1980
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“Look at the laudable withholds of a lady. She withholds herself from drinking. She withholds herself from swearing. She withholds herself from rowdy companions. She withholds herself from dirt, you know, and getting dirty. Withholds herself from getting sweaty. See, all the things a lady withholds herself from. Withholds herself from sex, from pleasure, from pleasurable excitement. This starts to look like a very interesting series of withholds. And we finally find out that a lady’s primary mission was to hold herself from living. Not that that’s — things I have mentioned are the total composite of living.” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 27, 1962
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“The trick in books is the ‘stock book.’ Whenever a title in stock gets low through sales you reorder before you are out. You don’t just sell it all the way out of stock before reordering. Once youve let a title vanish off the shelves you’re in trouble as it takes a while to reprint. Meanwhile backorders and complaints swamp the comm lines and there goes the old ball game. A pubs activity can’t remain solvent on paperbacks or bulk discount sales! Theres a special skill to the mail order book business. The keynotes are promote, have them on hand, deliver within 24 hours and order receipt. It will take a lot of work by the SO to get this back in.” — The Commodore, February 27, 1971
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“I have much track with Ron, as I’ve run out in my prior auditing, including my participation in what Ron called the OT III incident. It is good to search out a matter, and also good to be aware of the technology that can produce what is colloquially called a ‘chiphead,’ which is of course a degrade of the mind after it is scanned and copied onto a chip. Has anyone come across this?”
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2000: Former Scientologist and writer Robert Vaughn Young posted a good-bye message to a.r.s this week as he prepares to work on anti-cancer causes
and to fight his own terminal prostate cancer. “I haven’t posted to ARS for awhile and am choosing this moment to say hello and goodbye. To those who don’t know me, I was in Scientology for about 21 years. Until Jesse Prince stepped forward, I was the highest-ranking Scientology executive to speak about the organization without its approval. I served in and saw virtually every echelon of the organization, from a franchise where I started in 1969 to working directly with David Miscavige. About 18 of those years was spent in or senior to Dept. 20 (now called the Office the Special Affairs or OSA), the section that deals with the ‘enemies’ of the organization, which comes to mean anyone who disagrees with or criticizes any aspect of Scientology, Hubbard or ‘management. I was diagnosed on 11/23/99 with an ‘advanced and aggressive’ prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bones. It is called Phase D or ‘end stage’ or just plain old ‘terminal.’ No prognosis has been given or is really possible and when metastasized, surgery is out of the question. There is no ‘cure’ at Phase D. So what I’m going to do is retire as an ‘expert’ in legal cases or in giving media interviews. Being diagnosed with a terminal disease can be devastating or a blessing. For me, it’s been both but it’s moved on to the blessing. It produces a better sense of one’s priorities. When you realizes that your time is truly limited, you don’t waste it with hate and rancor. I’ve had a good
chance to look back on my life and what I’ve done and what’s been done to me and I don’t have time for either regret or bitterness. What I’ve decided to do is to dedicate my time, interest and talent to the issue of prostate cancer. It is such a devastating disease that one can fully grasp it – like any disease and disaster – only by the experience. I wish you all well, especially the ones who have to excerpt this and report soonest with a ‘recommended handling.’ I already have mine, thank you.”
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“The ‘church’ had to admit to TR-L in the Canadian trial when they questioned the veracity of the prosecution’s ex-Scientologist witnesses by stating to the judge their testimony couldn’t be trusted because they had been specifically trained to lie while in the church.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: 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 March 9.
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, which is now fully briefed. Awaiting the setting of an oral arguments hearing.
— 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. Oral arguments hearing on March 3.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration. 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] Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is turning 114, and here’s the date of his party!
[TWO years ago] Scientology in the ‘good’ old days: Prison of belief just as confining as today
[THREE years ago] David Miscavige insists he was still not served, asks court for time to object to ruling
[FOUR years ago] Clark Carr, 75, who gave up comedy dreams to become Scientology’s drug rehab mouthpiece
[FIVE years ago] Another Scientology OT jumps from a tall building
[SIX years ago] Balloons? Here’s what Scientology should really be apologizing for
[SEVEN years ago] A letter of surrender, written from the basement of Scientology’s ‘Big Blue’ HQ
[EIGHT years ago] New memoir ‘Flunk. Start.’ richly illuminates the appeal — and betrayal — of Scientology
[NINE years ago] Keep your Oscars, we won a Scientology ‘bigot’ award!
[TEN years ago] Augustine: How Scientology makes it so hard to get your money back
[ELEVEN years ago] Gerry Armstrong’s full 1997 ‘Secret Lives’ interview about L. Ron Hubbard
[TWELVE years ago] Is Ukraine’s proposed new prime minister a Scientologist? Says his niece: ‘That’s crap’
[THIRTEEN years ago] Lori Hodgson Appeals to Scientology’s “Spin Doctor,” Michael Sitrick
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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 3,552 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,056 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,562 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,112 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,102 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,488 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,983 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,287 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,938 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,156 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,710 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,051 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,622 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,538 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,705 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,287 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,546 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,298 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,863 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,178 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,353 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,035 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,372 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,225 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,341 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,703 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,114 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,502 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,386 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,950 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,462 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,722 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,826 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 27, 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
