TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Another Scientology party to celebrate big donors? Did Christmas come early in the Bunker or something? Check out this flier asking for a donation to the planned L. Ron Hubbard Hall at the Flag Land Base, something church leader David Miscavige has spent years raising money for. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“While the medical doctor and his psychiatry branch flood out the useless and destructive ‘tranquilizers,’ the nutritionist hands out a couple tablets of magnesium which actually cool a person off beautifully and far more effectively without the physical damage carried by the tranquilizer. The medical doctor and his psychiatry branch gave the world its greatest wave of drug addiction. Their friend the German-oriented psychologist, with his man-is-animal teaching of the young and destruction of orthodox religion, has given the world its greatest period of crime. They are on their way out even though they are fighting a dirty and violent rearguard action. So why bet on losers? They won’t make it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1972
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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.
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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
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“Every language has a basic word for ‘accept’ and a basic word for ‘reject’ which allows for no argument. Whereas they do have differences on such a thing as ‘associate.’ Look what Freud did with ‘associate.’ I’m being awfully hard on the old man this morning. There’s no reason to be hard on the guy, he actually was the entering wedge into psychotherapy. But I’m young and cocky and I didn’t have to write ‘Psychoanalysis: Terminable and Interminable.’ I didn’t have to write that. I will never have to write something, now, I know very well, called ‘Dianetics: Terminable or Interminable.’ Apathy, apathy. Imagine a guy beating the drum, beating the drum all those years, having to sit down and write that essay. This was one of the last essays he wrote. He knew he had failed before he died, which is the saddest thing that can happen to any man.” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 23, 1954
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“The boot top and hull need squaring up. The gold stripe and the gold name should be handled quickly. She should be prettied up for Christmas and the New Year. She is a very nice ship. Almost any other ship would leap about madly in the seas in which we run. She is also a very pretty ship and looks more like a yacht than most yachts do.” — The Commodore, December 23, 1970
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“Honestly, Hubbard was borderline a con artist. But at least he wasn’t a lefty or communist, and if we were all brainwashed by him that would make a better world than being brainwashed by the New World Order. They are some serious evil. Nothing is worse than the communist world order, lefties are seriously perverted and therefore I support Hubbard’s attempt to save Earth via a takeover of it using his Sea Org. Even though all the harm caused, it was still worth breaking those eggs to make the omelette.”
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1995: A first person account was posted to a.r.s this week by Stanley Richards. He claims to have known Hubbard in 1952. “To tell the truth, though, I always knew that his genius contained an element of the charlatan or magician – perhaps shaman’ would be a better word, because the shaman recognises the necessary element of illusion or fiction required by his work. For example, there were theories in scientology about our progress toward a near perfect emotional and mental state called clear’ which I always knew to be a fiction, but which I supported because I thought it was a way of keeping people going in the process (therapy) – giving them hope and a future: hope as a necessary fantasy. Then there was the time, too, when he got everybody worked up about the threat of communism to scientology: that the big boys in the Kremlin were out to destroy scientology because it was a danger to them. Hubbard was the instigator of this scare. Every student was put through a lie detector test to ensure that there were no communist agents amongst us. Again, I knew that this was a fiction and that the Kremlin had never heard of scientology, let alone thought it a danger to them. I went along with this, too, because I thought it was a political move which would boost the prestige of scientology, making it more important in high places as well as giving scientology students a greater sense of their importance in the world. I am sure this was Hubbards motive, at least in part, so I forgave Hubbard all these deceptions because of what I thought were his overall good intentions. And that’s the thing you see: Hubbard was so sure that his intentions and his subject were for the good of mankind that he convinced everyone else – but that is what a good magician does: makes everyone believe in his illusions.”
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“One of the few things I appreciate about the cult is their retro-ness.”
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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, 2023. Appeal brief due by December 23.
— ‘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 January 13, 2025.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, convicted of fraud, awaiting sentencing.
Civil litigation:
— 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. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike is on appeal.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, gets ruling to depose Jane Doe 1.
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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?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] PODCAST: Apostate Alex helps us deconstruct David Miscavige’s recent speeches
[TWO years ago] Need last-minute gifts for the Scientologists on your list? We got your back, Santa!
[THREE years ago] INSIDER: How Scientology’s ‘Ideal Org’ scam works, and how members are victimized by it
[FOUR years ago] Political dupe of the day: KC councilman helps Scientology front group with ‘murder’ signs
[FIVE years ago] Bernie Headley, 1952-2019: A man who fought against Scientology’s ‘disconnection’
[SIX years ago] Scientology’s smear machine hurting your reputation? For $1,500 they can help with that.
[SEVEN years ago] A look back at the month when all hell broke loose for Scientology and Danny Masterson
[EIGHT years ago] LAPD needs two more weeks to respond to Leah Remini about missing wife of Scientology leader
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s 2015 in review: In March, HBO went Clear while we eavesdropped on Flag
[TEN years ago] Scientology hit with 25th lawsuit by Las Vegas attorney as he goes after Florida rehab
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology’s mecca wants you to come to Florida and run circles around a pole
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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.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 3,122 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,617 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,132 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,682 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,672 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,058 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,553 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,857 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,728 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,280 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,621 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,188 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,107 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,275 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,857 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,117 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,153 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,869 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,433 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,748 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,923 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,605 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,942 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,796 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,911 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,273 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,576 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,682 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,080 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,956 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,521 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,032 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,288 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,396 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 23, 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
