TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: While he was in Las Vegas, ‘Apostate Alex’ Barnes-Ross made contact with a source at the Scientology ‘Ideal Org’ there. What Alex received was a snapshot of how the org is performing, and it confirms a lot of what we’ve been hearing about the state of David Miscavige’s cabal. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Look well at psychs and anti-religious campaigners. They are speaking from their own blackened souls, and they speak from terror. That people when they grow saner are less inclined to vengeance is an argument they cannot assimilate. They know if they had the power to torture and kill everyone they would do so. Thus the psychs with their rantings and electric shocks wear their own brand clearly marked on them by their own conduct in life. Recognize them for what they are: psychotic criminals—and handle them accordingly. Don’t let them stop Man from going free.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1982
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“I could read in this life when I was about three and a half years old. And then I went to school and they kept insisting that I learn how to read. And you know, I never learned how to read in school. I could read, only nobody ever heard that…You can read so then if anybody tries to teach you how to read and you won’t learn how to read and you can read, why nobody ever finds out about that. See? So you’ve had it. So, let’s say we were teaching a course on how to be a rocket jockey. How to fly a Mark 14 interplanetary scout ship. See, and we’re running a course on this. And we’ve got somebody and they had Mark 18s in their system and he knows all about flying one of these things, you know. Well, that’s fine you know. Here’s this, here’s that, and the instructor keeps saying, ‘Now just a minute. Hold it down now. Now, that is your circumlocutor.’ And the fellow says, ‘Yes, I know. And you pull it like this, and you go like this, and so forth; and it’s for vertical takeoff, see. Yeah, well now, what I do want to know is, you’ve got a couple of dials here that were taken off the later?’ And the instructor says, ‘Now just a minute, just a minute, that’s the circumlocutor.’ See. That guy has a hell of a time, see.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 22, 1962
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“Annabelle Buchanan is ordered back to the FSO Service Dept to properly turn over her desserts hat and regain the standard. This will assist already improved meals.” — The Commodore, May 22, 1971
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“The problem is that ‘thetans’ are more than ‘single viewpoint in space’ beings. The Time Track of Theta tapes speak of that. Buddhists are more aware of those issues. They must be laughing at us over this ‘Hunt for the Reincarnated LRH.’ In short, they know that there can be several reincarnated LRHs.”
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1999: Web book store amazon.com this week removed Jon Atack’s book A Piece of Blue Sky from its offerings. Amazon later announced that it would reverse the decision, but the book is still missing from Amazon, despite continued availability on other bookstore sites. From Wired News: “Amazon.com has removed a controversial book from its listings, a book well known for angering the Church of Scientology. A Piece of Blue Sky, by UK writer Jon Atack, is an expose of the Scientology movement from its creation in 1959 until the death of founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1986. The book disappeared from Amazon’s site only recently. Amazon spokeswoman Lizzie Allen would only say that ‘under certain circumstances, for legal reasons, we need to stop selling a book. I really just can’t comment any further.’ Officials at the Church of Scientology said they have had nothing to do with the removal of the book from Amazon’s site. One woman told Wired News that the book was illegal to sell in the United Kingdom, and that was why Amazon had removed the book. ‘It was declared defamatory because it contained false statements,’ said church spokeswoman Linda Peters. ‘Amazon didn’t know about it. We don’t really know who alerted them. There are a lot of Scientologists around the planet.’ Peters said the ruling took place ‘four or five years ago.’ Amazon’s Allen said she was surprised that the church would speak for Amazon, but she still couldn’t say what had prompted the bookseller to remove the book. But the ‘legal reasons’ can’t be very far-reaching, since both barnesandnoble.com and Books.com still offer it for sale. ‘We haven’t been contacted by anyone to remove this book,’ said Lisa Lanspery, manager of external communications for barnesandnoble.com. ‘It’s on our site and it’s going to stay there.'”
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“I was attacked by an angry goose once. I still have that engram.”
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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 pushes back in LA with 20 of their own billboards
[TWO years ago] Riley Keough’s bizarre fight to keep Graceland from being auctioned off
[THREE years ago] Scientology salutes ‘humanitarian’ couple for donating $33.8 million to building fund
[FOUR years ago] When Scientology says it will ‘Clear the Planet,’ here’s what it means
[FIVE years ago] Holy Xenu, even we didn’t expect Scientology to be this big in Danny Masterson’s hearing
[SIX years ago] Even more filmmakers who are helping out Scientology with its TV network
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology loses a whale: Major donor Michael Baybak dead at 77
[EIGHT years ago] Jack Parsons is getting his star-turn next month, but we’ll have to wait for L. Ron Hubbard
[NINE years ago] Google helps Scientology censor two more of our stories — maybe you can help us figure out why
[TEN years ago] Scientology makes you a god who can heal this horse just with your finger
[ELEVEN years ago] DOX: How Scientology ensnares the unsuspecting in a series of binding contracts
[TWELVE years ago] Scientology Hip Hop: Is there anything better in the world?
[THIRTEEN years ago] Meet Dennis Nobbe, Miami Chiropractor and Scientologist!
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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 3,636 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,140 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,646 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,196 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,186 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,572 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,067 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,371 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,022 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,240 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,794 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,135 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,706 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,622 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,789 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,375 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,634 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,382 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,951 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,262 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,437 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,119 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,456 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,309 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,425 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,787 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,201 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,586 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,470 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,034 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,546 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,806 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,910 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 22, 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
