TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Building an auditorium named after founder L. Ron Hubbard is a major step to Scientology completing its own Vatican City. And leader David Miscavige put on a lavish display Saturday that left no doubt what it represented: Clearwater, Florida’s utter surrender. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“As a final proof of such matters, there is the behavior of the so-called ‘manic.’ He seems very strong along one line. He is out to supersell, for instance, anything. Nervous, driving, energetic, he attacks problems of selling with an attitude which amounts to violence. He cannot keep it up continuously for he becomes depressed. Then, in the general case, his cycle runs from high enthusiasm to deep depression and back to high enthusiasm again. The society is full of such people who pass for, and indeed are, normal to this period. The surface evidence here appears that he is suffering from a neurosis which makes him a supersalesman. But the periods of high action grow shorter. The periods of depression grow longer. Some call it old age. Some call it getting ‘burned out.’ Some say he needs more recreation. One day his clock, so to speak, runs very thoroughly down.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950
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“The admiral’s office thinks very poorly of a person who gives any understanding to a crew about what they’re about, and who thinks very poorly of a ship that has fairly good morale. To have good morale is a condemnation. Got this? Now, that expediency goes up to a final peak where, man’s walking down the street, he’s picked up, he’s taken down to a spaceship, he’s laid in a bunk, he’s strapped down, given an injection. A speaker-phone starts going yap-yap-yap at him, indoctrinates him as a member of the crew, wipes out all former memory, works him over in general and he’s now part of the navy. Get the idea? It goes down to total no-determinism. Now, you just think I’m showing you a few of my engrams. They’re not my engrams; they’re the engrams of this race, and of all races in all times.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 5, 1958
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“LONG VOYAGES: WE will sail on the 12th on a 450 mile voyage. The radio direction finder must be checked for operation and accuracy. Freight etc must be all in hand in this country. Various ports need notifying of new schedule. MEA will have to be alerted. Should remaining TRCs be brought aboard? The awnings come down. Lot of work to do on all this. The Capt FSO should schedule such cycles and get them done on a realistic basis so its not a last minue flat out. A nice long sea voyage followed by others will get your sea legs working. It’s a calm part of the year.” — The Commodore August 5, 1971
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“Trey Lotz promoted and supported Justin Craig in his claim to be the reincarnation of L. Ronald Hubbard. He even posted a win accompanied by a picture of himself and his wife with Craig, a/k/a Lafayette, to be seen by all in the independent field. Justin Craig is the biggest deceiver; not only does he allege he is Hubbard reincarnated but he plagiarized LRH’s processes and altered them for his convenience. Trey Lotz promoted and supported those squirrel processes, and in return Craig went onto expelling Trey from his squirrel group and declared that Scientology is dead! This created disturbance and disrepute in the independent Scientology field.”
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1997: Lawrence Wollersheim and Joe Harrington posted updates on the Factnet copyright violation case in Colorado. “A Factnet status conference took place before Judge Abram. Scientology said they were filing a Summary Judgment within the next few hours. I believe that Scientology’s new filing is mostly designed to make Factnet spend more money as Judge Kane has already made it VERY clear to Scientology that he does not believe this is a case that will be resolved through Summary Judgment motions. Factnet anticipated this action and will shortly be filing several interesting tiny surprises for Scientology’s litigation team. Our focus remains to get Miscavige on the stand and show that Scientology is not the owner of the copyrights as it has claimed. Bridge Publications’ summary judgment motion was rejected as being improperly served. And I doubt if any knowledgeable attorney would authorize the public release of documents and motions they consider invalid and without standing in court. Judge Kane clearly stated he does not believe this case will be solved by summary judgment yet Scientology jams another Summary judgment motion in his face. He also has warned about burying the court and the case in reams of paper. Then Judge Abram warned against any motion over ten pages will not be welcome. What does Scientology do? They file a 36 page summary judgment motion with about 10 bankers boxes full of exhibits. That’s about 120,000- 140,000 pages. Then to top it off they don’t even serve it correctly on all the attorneys of record. In a premeditated action of extreme bad faith and, after asking the court to dismiss their trade secret claims because they were trying to save everyone litigation costs Scientology now expects us to bear the cost of copying almost 500,000 pages plus shipping cost to two out of state attorneys for what they are required to do in their filings is simply outrageous.”
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“One man’s moonbat is another man’s freedom fighter. Winning is the only thing that truly matters.”
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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, 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.
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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] The Scientology spy with access to the Vatican: A late farewell
[TWO years ago] Scientology’s secret sauce that supposedly booms businesses: What’s actually in it?
[THREE years ago] PODCAST: Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley assess Leah Remini’s damage on Scientology!
[FOUR years ago] Jane Doe 1 makes rare statement: Don’t delay Danny Masterson trial for baseball conflict
[FIVE years ago] John Travolta sells Clearwater house: What are the Scientology ramifications?
[SIX years ago] As Los Angeles schools prepare to reopen, Scientology keeps trying to worm its way in
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology is the coolest religion on earth, video proves
[EIGHT years ago] California is on fire, and Scientology naturally sees a golden recruiting opportunity
[NINE years ago] An unusual Scientology advertisement leads to new intel on secretive ‘Int Base’
[TEN years ago] Florida man sues medical sleep testing company after its dapper CEO forced Scientology on him
[ELEVEN years ago] What really happens at a Scientology rehab? Nick Lister dishes on the Narconon experience
[TWELVE years ago] Mareka Brousseau compares growing up in Scientology to The Hunger Games
[THIRTEEN years ago] Will Shelly Miscavige Be Trotted Out at the Celebrity Centre Gala As a PR Stunt?
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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 3,711 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,215 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,721 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,271 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,647 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,142 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,448 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,097 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,315 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,869 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,210 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,781 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,697 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,864 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,450 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,709 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,457 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,026 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,337 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,512 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,194 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,531 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,384 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,500 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,862 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,661 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,545 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,120 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,621 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,881 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,985 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 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
