TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Thanks to an increased awareness of Scientology’s controversies, the UK government is taking a harder look at the organization and in particular its boarding school there. Now, in a stunning blow to the school, the government has withdrawn its ability to host foreign students. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
——————–
Technology Cocktail
“The failures of universities to make educated and civilized men is because their own professors know nothing of misunderstood words and so lectured happily on and on to a snoring student body. One professor of physics used to open the classroom windows wide in freezing winter ‘to keep his students from going to sleep in HIS class.’ And then stood on the platform and defined nothing as he rambled on. All it did for his class was give them coughs between snores! The handling and use of tape and film in training and administration IS a subject. By failing to know it and use that information, one can block the road for himself and all others to being learned and being free.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1971
——————–
THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.
——————–
THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?
[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH
— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see
[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf
— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond
[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman [55] Mark Bunker [56] Trish and Liz Conley [57] Trish Conley [58] Alex Barnes-Ross [59] Alex Barnes-Ross [60] Alex Barnes-Ross [61] Alex Barnes-Ross [62] Alex Barnes-Ross [63] Alex Barnes-Ross [64] Tory Christman [65] Tammy Synovec [66] Dennis Erlich [67] Alex Barnes-Ross [68] Valerie Ross [69] Kat in Austin [70] Mark Bunker [71] Phil Jones
——————–
“Instead of running him on CCHs or something like this, or trying to straighten up something, nah! let’s go for broke; let’s clear him! Not take too many hours at it, either. All right. Now, that’s possible. That can be done. But, let me call this to your attention, it is — this is the controverting fact. It is not being done. Now, you can’t argue with that, can you? Now, I could get down and scream and howl and beat the floor, and Hitlerize the room. But let me tell you something, that isn’t going to do any good. That isn’t going to do any good at all. That’s in the line of reason, or something like this mounts up. If you looked at it very broadly you could say, ‘Well, nobody can audit.’ I mean, that’s the first thing you’d say. ‘Nobody can run a session in the whole world, except just this little handful or maybe five,’ you know. Something like that. But that’s an unacceptable datum that isn’t true, see. So it must be that there were some great big broad bugs on this, and the biggest bug — and I finally located what it was, a very simple bug — it’s just the fact that the goal and the terminal easily disappear in the face of an out-rudiment.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 24, 1961
——————–
“Any real emergency is chaotic. The drilling of sequences of actions is a stable series of data that prevents the chaos from overwhelming one. Interesting bit of history here. I developed the theory and practice of ‘Battle Conditioning’ used in WW II. I did a paper on it for the Navy before the war and was sent over to the Army G2 with it and Army G2 got it in practice, training by crawling under machine fire and all that. Must have saved a few hundred thousand lives! Nobody even ever said thank you but that’s all right.” — The Commodore, August 24, 1970
——————–
“How come the more we’ve done to make it easier to survive, the harder it has become to survive?”
——————–
2000: Hamburger Morgenpost published an article about Ursula Caberta’s recent visit to Clearwater. “A Hamburg Scientology chief had warned Ursula Caberta against flying to Florida because, she said, it would be unpleasant for her. But the director of the ‘Work group on Scientology’ flew there anyway – and will not quickly forget her trip to the home of the monster cult. About 30 Scientology disciples were waiting at the Tampa, Florida airport for the visitor from Hamburg. Ursula Caberta was wildly mobbed, heckled and spat at. Scientologists screamed over and over at the top of their voices, ‘Nazi go home!’ and ‘Nazi criminal, go back to Germany!’ German Scientologists were also in the ‘Welcoming Committee.’ One German woman shorted, ‘You are a killer, you are. You’re killing people in Germany!’ The courageous combatant also reported that she was hounded and insulted by Scientologists in restaurants and in her hotel. Over and over Scientologists appeared with posters. The cult adherents had written ‘Nazi go Home’ and ‘Take fascism back to Germany!’ Caberta ended up leaving Florida one daily earlier than planned. ‘It was getting too hot for me there. I was happy to get back to Germany,’ she said. What had been especially surprising about the type of treatment she had received, said Caberta, was that the German Scientologists always claim they are being hounded here. Caberta, ‘But no Scientologist in Germany has ever been treated like I was in the USA.'”
——————–
“I’m the Dennis Hopper of the ‘Down with Scientology’ club.”
——————–
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing May 31, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, on hold until appeal over new judge heard.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.
——————–
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: 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] ‘Harass and discourage’: The role of lawyers and journalists in Scientology’s attack plans
[TWO years ago] The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see, Episode 3: Carol Nyburg
[THREE years ago] Leah Remini podcast: Ian Rafalko talks about his father, chiropractor Eric Berg
[FOUR years ago] Danny Masterson changes his tune about criminal case in new civil brief
[FIVE years ago] Paging Graham Berry: Another Scientology horror story of credit fraud targeting retirees
[SIX years ago] The Scientology pamphlet that has finally convinced us this planet is theirs
[SEVEN years ago] What’s at stake in Tuesday’s San Antonio court hearing with Scientology’s former enforcer
[EIGHT years ago] Ken Dandar’s courtroom nightmare is finally over (unless Scientology starts it over from scratch)
[NINE years ago] Tonight, it’s Boston! And that has us thinking about Beantown’s connections to ‘Miss Lovely’
[TEN years ago] Scientology claims credit for solving the crisis in Ferguson, Missouri
[ELEVEN years ago] TONIGHT: LA Sheriff Lee Baca to Grace Scientology Gala, Days after “Celebrity Center” Employee Arrested for Planning to Kill a Cop
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 3,002 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,497 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,012 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,562 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,552 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,433 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,737 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,608 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,160 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,501 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,068 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,987 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,155 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,737 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,997 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,033 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,749 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,313 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,628 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,803 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,354 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,485 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,823 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,676 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,797 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,153 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,456 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,562 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,960 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,836 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,401 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,914 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,168 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,276 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on August 24, 2024 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now 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, 1995-2023 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2023), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
