TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Scientology is showing off its new re-trained staffs at several of its ‘Ideal Orgs’ around the world. But we thought these photos might have another purpose: Helping families find the church lifers they may not have seen in a while. Recognize anyone? [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Whether or not a Prepared List reads depends upon the auditor’s TRs and Metering. At one time or another Case Supervisors have had a great deal of trouble with this. Accuracy as to what really read was greatly in question. This came to view on Flag in the early 70s when Prepared Lists that had been assessed by Class IV trainees were then reassessed, same list, sane pc shortly after the first list assessment, by Class XIIs. Totally different results were found — lists on which few or no reads were obtained by the Class Class IV trainees were found to be very live by the Class XIIs. The difference of quality of TRs and metering were what made the difference with the prepared list response.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1980
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“And this is what? Eleventh of Jan. The mystic month. And we are finding ourselves in the middle of — no, it’s at the beginning — What cycle are you in? Well, anyhow, it’s on a planet, on a twelfth-rate sun, and it’s the beginning of the, it’s shortly after the winter solstice. Saint Hill Special Briefing Course. Well, if you lived right and if you knew what you were doing and many other unlikely activities, you have it made. But we have to assume, we have to assume that if none of you have grown wings in the last 24 hours and you actually have had a PC on an E-Meter as an auditor and the PC hasn’t grown wings in the last 24 hours with all the tools which you’ve got, we must assume that there is some faint disconnection between what I am trying to teach you and what you are doing. I would say there’s some small gap. Maybe not a large gap. Maybe only a light year or two.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 11, 1962
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“The Auditing Completions are starting to roll in. With a wow and a hurrah! Some important people have gotten some lovely gains lately. At the other end of it, 2 of those leaving came through it. We have the planet by the tail.” — The Commodore, January 11, 1971
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“It’s a choice or at least a potential choice to introvert or interiorise into an alternative theta line at a particular point in time, or to view the past from the future, future from.the past and to zone in on a specific concurrent moment in an alternative universe. Perhaps if the person is OT 30, then OT1 — when they are actually trying to get their case handled — acts like an interiorisation. As far as I am concerned the entire phenomena reduces to unresolved theta programming as Static which is only aligned with the rehabilitation of Spiritual Reality and Native State. If instead the person chooses to plummet back into MEST, that’s their choice. In doing so they also plummet back into MEST case factors and automaticities which are only resolved at a theta level exterior to both MEST and Static.”
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2002: The Evening Standard published an article on Scientology celebrity John Travolta and hiss new movie, Domestic Disturbance. “When Tonight Show host Jay Leno asked John Travolta to appear as a guest to discuss Ground Zero, he felt the request merited a trip to view the devastation and rescue effort for himself. ‘I had to know what I’d be talking about,’ said Travolta. ‘I hadn’t been to Ground Zero. And when I got there, the reality really hit me, especially the fact that those firemen and rescue workers were prepared to give their lives for those of complete strangers.’ His new film, Domestic Disturbance, racked up a reasonable $44 million in the US last year, while Swordfish, which he terms now ‘an anti-terrorism movie,’ fared even better with a whisker under $70 million. He dropped his fee to $10 million for the roundly panned Battlefield Earth, adapted from a novel by L Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology. Ask him if there’s a film he regrets making and one might hope he’d cite the latter. But not a bit of it. The endlessly upbeat Travolta says he ‘loved it.’ He claims the film ‘made 100 million bucks,’ though its US run made only $21.5 million. ‘And it was the first Hubbard film to make it to the screen. He’s a great science fiction writer. There’s still the second part of the same book we might do.’ He worries more these days about issues like the ‘drugging of children in school – Ritalin and other drugs they put kids on which seem really unnecessary. A drug like Ritalin will quieten down a child and make them less of a problem, but it will only lead to a bigger problem. That drug simply connects them to the next thing they’re presented with, be it cocaine or whatever.'”
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“If Scientology could, then based solely on the words of L Ron Hubbard they would be gladly killing ‘infidels’ who refused to convert.”
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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, waiting for 2nd Appellate District court to set a hearing date. 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 (eligible for parole in two to three more years). Awaiting transfer to 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 Feb 2.
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. Leah’s respondent’s brief is due February 11.
— 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 is on appeal. Appeal fully briefed. Motion to replace Jane Does’ AI-tainted brief denied by court. Awaiting a court hearing date.
— 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. 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] Scientology’s ‘Volunteer Ministers’ getting roasted online for LA fire photo opps
[TWO years ago] Mark ‘Warrior’ Plummer, Scientology critic and archivist, 1951-2024
[THREE years ago] Why the Golden Globes is joking about Tom Cruise, Shelly Miscavige, and Scientology
[FOUR years ago] Scientology’s Los Angeles center is rumbling again, and we’re here for it!
[FIVE years ago] Scientology celebrates even more wealthy donors, and we’re happy to lend a helping hand
[SIX years ago] Sonya Bianchi, 1927-2020: Hubbard’s first ‘Clear’ who vanished from Scientology history
[SEVEN years ago] Kansas City: Don’t panic. Your skyline is screwed, but Scientology isn’t taking over.
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s ‘scripture’ includes a thoroughly debunked mammoth-meat hoax
[NINE years ago] Last night’s family on ‘Leah Remini’ found themselves targeted by Scientology attack site
[TEN years ago] David Bowie, 1947-2016
[TWELVE years ago] Yes, that was a Scientology ad you saw during the football game — we told you it was coming!
[THIRTEEN years ago] Blogging Dianetics, Part 2: The State of Clear!
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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 3,505 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,009 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,515 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,065 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,055 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,441 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,936 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,240 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,891 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,109 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,663 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,004 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,575 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,491 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,658 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,240 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,499 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,251 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,816 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,131 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,306 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,988 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,325 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,178 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,294 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,656 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,067 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,455 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,339 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,904 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,415 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,675 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,779 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 11, 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
