TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Some of the stories about Chuck Lorre’s new memoir not only mention that he dishes on his years in Scientology, but also that his Scientology past was first made public in 2019. Hey, that’s a reference to us at the Underground Bunker! Here’s the record. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Napoleon used to choose his generals on the basis of all their qualifications and one final factor, ‘Is he lucky?’ We are possibly looking at the anatomy of luck when we look at an individual’s position on the tone scale. Theta will attract MEST to it. And what do we mean by luck except an x factor by which an individual or group obtains MEST with minimal effort. An investigation, not yet made, might demonstrate that even in gambling a man’s luckiness could be forecast by his psychometry. As the accident prone collects accidents, so does the 2.0 and below individual collect bad luck. Those things with which he associates break or become involved as to ownership.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1951
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“Why do people get so upset with a toothache, and why do they have this big nerve? The reason is that this happened again and again and again, and every time this happened, the theta facsimile would be used for new design. The things that appeared around the lips of these shells evidently appeared on the top side first, because there was more shelter, and then they appeared on the bottom lip. Every time these things would get disrupted they would say, ‘Next time we have got to have a tougher outer skin!’ And the next time they would make one, but in the meantime they got this sand — engram after engram after engram. Somewhere along the line you occasionally find a worm boring in there. Dentists are actually in the valence of these worms!” — L. Ron Hubbard, October 15, 1951
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“SAILING: Evidently we sail at about 1500. Glass is up again.” — The Commodore, October 15, 1970
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“The three songs that always struck me as straight off the Whole Track were Van Halen’s Running with the Devil, Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein and Led Zep’s Kashmir.”
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1998: David Alexander reported an attempt by Scientology to buy his silence this week. “My personal P.I., Ted Banas, sent an associate, Monte Drake, to deliver a $10,000.00 check to me today. To get the $10,000.00, all I had to do was to sign an agreement that I would never again say anything ‘not-good’ about Scientology. The agreement stated the purpose of the money was to purchase my silence, but that I could never discuss this to anyone. I didn’t learn the amount of the check until I got to the restaurant. The insulting amount, plus the suppressive agreement, and the labeling of the money as payment for silence, instead of a ‘refund’, led me to immediately refuse. The agreement would force me to pay $10,000.00 for each instance of saying or writing anything negative about Scientology. Also I would never be permitted to report this to anyone. This was one more criminal act by OSA, trying to pay me to keep silent after they defrauded me of $112,822.26.”
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“Scientology may be circling the drain but there’s no shortage of crazy waiting in the wings. It’s going to be a long uphill battle to get to the top and stop the billions of minds waiting in line to go down that slippery slope called ‘magical thinking’.”
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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 heard and submitted, waiting for ruling. 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. Scientology’s attempt to gut the case failed, and appeals court upheld. Back to trial court in December.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 17 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. Case returning 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. Hearing on arbitration motion set for March, 2027.
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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’s ham hock Grant Gardone slapped down by UK ad council
[TWO years ago] Swiss trial pitting two Scientology mega-donors against each other opens today
[THREE years ago] When Scientology’s founder admitted he didn’t write the most famous line in ‘Dianetics’
[FOUR years ago] Scientology’s deposed queen: What it was like to ‘audit’ Mary Sue Hubbard in exile
[FIVE years ago] Our story about Scientology front group in Broward Schools kicks up a fuss
[SIX years ago] Scientology rehab: A new Narconon horror story that will remind you of all the others
[SEVEN years ago] Xenu-giving: We check the crowd at Scientology’s biggest org on a day of thanks
[EIGHT years ago] US Sheriffs, dead or alive — Scientology is happy to use them for self-promotion
[NINE years ago] David Miscavige is gambling on Birmingham for Scientology success, and who knows why
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s latest drama in Russia: The mystery woman who infiltrated an org
[ELEVEN years ago] Louis Theroux’s ‘My Scientology Movie’: A hilarious take on an unfunny bunch
[TWELVE years ago] A perplexing tale about Bob Duggan, the richest Scientologist in the world
[THIRTEEN years ago] Chicago’s On Fire: Jason Beghe and Christian Stolte Send Their Regards to the Bunker
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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 3,782 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,286 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,792 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,342 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,718 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,213 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,519 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,168 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,386 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,940 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,281 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,851 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,768 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,935 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,521 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,780 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,528 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,097 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,408 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,583 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,265 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,602 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,455 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,571 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,933 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,732 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,576 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,191 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,692 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,952 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 16,056 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 15, 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
