TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Leah Remini’s 2023 ‘Fair Game’ lawsuit against Scientology got derailed when both sides didn’t like a preliminary ruling. After more than a year of briefing at the appellate level, there’s finally an oral arguments hearing date. And lucky for all of us, we can watch it live! [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
——————–
Technology Cocktail
“A man falls into a crevasse and is knocked out. His companions haul him forth. One is angry and comments over the unconscious man that he was always a clumsy fool and that the party would be better off without him. Another member defends the unconscious man, saying he is a good fellow. The unconscious man received a blow on the head in his fall and his arm was slightly injured in the recovery. After regaining consciousness the injured man has no ‘memory’ of the incident, which is to say, he cannot recall it consciously. The incident may lie dormant and never become active. But, for our example, the man who criticized him one day says, at the moment when the formerly injured man is weary, that somebody is a clumsy fool. Unreasonably, the formerly injured man will become intensely antagonistic. He will also feel an unreasonable friendship for the man who spoke up for him. Now the comanome is ‘keyed in’ or has become a part of the subject’s ‘behavior pattern.’ The
next time the injured man is on ice, the sight of it makes his head ache and his arm hurt in dwindling ratio to how tired he gets. Further, he may pick up a chronic headache or arthritis in his arm, the injuries being continually restimulated by such things as the smell of his parka, the presence of the other members, etc., etc. That is a comanome at work.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950
——————–
“The individual is in contest with his environment. We’ll just take off from that point. Now, that’s a very true observation. Particularly, if we qualify that observation just a little bit further and we say that a contest is not necessarily a battle of fisticuffs….Once umpty-skillion years ago I got swatted, and sat there very, very immobile, being right. I went on being right for quite a little while. See, by permitting myself to be immobilized, it made the other fellow wrong. It wasn’t really doing anything to him, taking no action, absolutely no forward thrust of any kind whatsoever, no outward motion, no outward flow of any kind, not even a thought of an outward flow and yet that was the method of handling the environment. So the way we qualify this is the method is not necessarily smart.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 16, 1964
——————–
“A Comm Ev was ordered by Telex on the non-SO auditor at Asho (Sheila Aldrich) for evaluating and feeding cognitions and all but destroying tech. Pokras and Eltringham on the US Station Ship were ordered transferred to deck for 6 months for neglecting to report or put right area out tech. Another Comm Ev has been ordered on the Broadbents for fostering the situation. This was what had Asho stats down so long! So it’s time we got sharp and drilled up and put our own house in good order.” — The Commodore, June 16, 1970
——————–
“I have screenshots of this stuff, so there’s all the proof I need. You have played this game for far too long and when I put my intention and attention on something, I win. Believe me, I will put an end to your suppressive actions and this suppressive group. This is NOT Scientology, this is PURE ENTHETA.”
——————–
1996: Ron Newman’s web site at http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/scientology/home.html has been awarded an honorable mention in the Prix Ars Electronica, the world’s most prestigious prize for computer arts. The award is in the category of New Documentary Form. From the judges: “The fight between Internet and Scientology has already made it to net-history. Scientology tried to remove the discussion group devoted to debating them (alt.religion.scientology), has tried to kill the newsgroup by endless bouts of spams, has investigated people who use pseudonyms and posted their personalia to the net, used a private detective to observe posters from this newsgroup, has raided anon.penet.fi, Dutch ISP XS4all and the homes of various (US) citizens. Some of these actions are inspired by what Scientology calls copyright violation. The fight between a.r.s. and Scientology is in many ways formative for what one in the very near future can and cannot do on the net: for rules and regulations, for law and netiquette. Ron Newman’s home page is devoted to this fight. Beginning in early 1995, he keeps a home page on this Internet fight. The page is updated nearly every day, for fourteen months at a stretch, and now contains 5,5 Mb of data. It fulfills the needs of many who what to know what _exactly_ is going on.”
——————–
“There are no theologians in Scientology. No one is allowed to interpret or tell a student what they think L. Ron Hubbard meant.”
——————–
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, oral arguments scheduled for June 25. 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. Now serving time in 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 June 19.
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. Oral arguments hearing set for July 23.
— 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 upheld on appeal. Scientology expected to file additional petitions before case can return to Kalra’s court.
— 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.
——————–
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?
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Scientology is still buying up properties to create its Florida ‘Vatican’
[TWO years ago] When Father’s Day 2024 reminds you that Scientology ripped apart your family
[THREE years ago] THE WITNESS: Damian Perkins opens up about how the case against Danny Masterson began
[FOUR years ago] Valerie Haney facing new court hearing: why hasn’t Scientology ‘arbitration’ happened yet?
[FIVE years ago] Scientology has been desperate to produce results in Texas for a very long time
[SIX years ago] Buffy goes Clear, and other signs that Scientology has survived the coronavirus
[SEVEN years ago] Final testimony concludes in Nxivm trial. Judge calls it a most unusual case.
[EIGHT years ago] The trauma of leaving Scientology: ‘Who wants to believe they’ve thrown away their best years?’
[NINE years ago] Marty Rathbun’s project becomes clear: Someone’s worried about Scientology & the IRS
[TEN years ago] Our money maverick dives into Scientology’s latest financial house of horrors
[ELEVEN years ago] O Canada! All eyes in the Scientology-watching world will be looking north next week
[TWELVE years ago] LEAKED: The slick campaign Scientology had planned for UK expansion!
[THIRTEEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: When David Miscavige Made RTC Look Like The Matrix
——————–
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 3,661 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,165 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,671 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,221 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,597 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,092 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,396 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,047 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,265 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,819 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,160 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,731 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,647 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,814 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,400 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,659 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,407 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,976 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,287 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,462 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,144 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,481 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,334 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,450 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,812 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,611 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,495 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,059 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,571 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,831 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,935 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on June 16, 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)
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates.
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
