TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: In March Scientology leader David Miscavige revealed a new initiative aimed at kids to an ovation from Tom Cruise and John Travolta, who were in the front row. And now, there’s a new wrinkle on this earnest effort by the church for you oldtimers! [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“In one respect the auditor can perform a very important function in the education of the child. A child is almost always confused about the world around him because of the labels which have been placed on objects by adults who do not understand the serious nature of incorrectly labelling an object for a child. Consider the case of a child who has had no previous data concerning death who is read a poem about little tin soldiers and angels with golden hair. If this is his first. understanding of the word ‘death’ it must be very puzzling to observe the adult reaction to death. The impression made by this first misconception about the meaning of death must somehow be obliterated before any accurate communication on the subject can be made to the child. The divergence between this first conception of death and all future conceptions forms a troubled area in the filing system of the analyzer which will tie up some of the available attention of the child until the tension is resolved. The technique for accomplishing this is simply to treat the original incorrect labelling as a lock incident and to lift the tension from it by close present-time contact with it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950
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“Let’s return to the earliest moment that we can contact on the sperm sequence. The earliest moment. The earliest moment you can contact there. The first phrase that you get there will flash into your mind when I count from one to five. One-two-three-four-five. You are doing just fine, by the way. What was the phrase you got? No phrase? All right. Is there somebody there who says ‘Shut up’ or ‘hush’ or something? All right. Let’s shift over on the ovum sequence. Let’s contact the first phrase we get in the ovum sequence, the first phrase. When I count from one to five, it will flash into your mind. One-two-three-four-five. All right. Let’s contact now the earliest moment of pain or unconsciousness that you can reach, either sperm, ovum, preconception, wherever it is, the earliest phrase that we can reach. When I count from one to five, it will flash into your mind. One-twothree-four-five.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 31, 1950
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“Hey PAC recruited 15 SO members in the last 2 weeks! So Pers SO is working. And Action Bu is just a blur of fast moving missions. We’re having to catch up with all the dropped balls and sloth of the last year or two. So that’s what I’m into. When balls get dropped I have to pick them up fast.” — The Commodore, August 31, 1970
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“Clearing this planet is going to take thousands of years and many lifetimes. There is no instant solution involving paying tens of thousands of dollars for ridiculously overpriced auditing from an egotistical self-styled guru or an organization composed of slave cultists. Anyone who really wants to make it will wade their way through the thousands of hours of study needed to understand the tech.”
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1995: Judge Hill this week collected his libel award from Scientology. “The Toronto media is mostly abuzz with the verdict in the Paul Bernardo
case, but there is a small blurb in the Toronto Star today about the Scientology case. “Scientologists pay giant libel debt on time By Wendy Darroch: The Church of Scientology handed over almost $3 million yesterday, before the noon deadline, to pay off the largest libel award in Canadian history. The total award, including damages, interest and costs, was $2,953,624.”
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“The reason I started watching Game of Thrones is because I thought it was going to be the Deadwood of medieval shows and show how dirty and brutal the times actually were like Deadwood did and there wouldn’t be a whole lot of Lord of the Rings type shit. Which aside from the white walkers and the dragons there really wasn’t. But I’m starting to notice more plausibility gaps and irrational character motivation.”
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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] Cambridge University is lending its credibility to a Scientology front
[TWO years ago] New details have emerged of mass Scientology fraud, the ‘Chase Wave’
[THREE years ago] Liz Gale: How she grew up in Scientology, and then smartly traded it for being a pothead
[FOUR years ago] The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see, Episode 4: Katrina Reyes
[FIVE years ago] Tom Cruise’s Scientology superpowers, No. 3: Resisting between-life amnesia
[SIX years ago] LEAKED: ‘SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS’ EPISODE THAT WAS SPIKED BY AUSSIE NETWORK
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology ecstasy: ‘I have no idea where I would be right now without NED’
[EIGHT years ago] Sheriff’s Office report spells out tragic details of Scientology ‘Clear’ who took her own life
[NINE years ago] As Leah Remini’s second season hammers away, Scientology is losing its mind
[TEN years ago] Vance Woodward’s appeal fails as Scientology has the L.A. attorney on the hook for $90,000
[ELEVEN years ago] Home, sweet ‘Freewinds’! We get a rare look inside a Scientology promotional seminar
[TWELVE years ago] Sunday Funnies: Oops, Scientology reveals a key fact about the size of its membership
[THIRTEEN years ago] The History of Scientology’s Weird Vaults — The Bizarre Battlefield Earth Connection!
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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 3,737 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,241 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,747 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,297 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,673 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,168 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,474 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,123 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,341 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,895 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,236 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,807 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,723 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,890 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,476 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,735 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,483 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,052 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,363 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,538 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,220 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,557 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,410 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,526 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,888 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,687 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,571 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,146 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,647 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,907 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 16,011 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 31, 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, 1995-2025 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
