TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: It’s been obvious for several years that Scientology leader David Miscavige was dealing with lagging recruitment by convincing wealthy donors to give more, and to spend that money on buildings. And this year, Dave seems to have picked up the pace. Here’s the latest. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“A comparison between Dianetics and Scientology and psychology and psychiatry is nonsense. The two 19th century subjects, psychology and psychiatry, do not achieve ANY good results. On the contrary they are destructive beyond belief. They make crackpots, sexpots and vegetables when they do not outright kill. The greatest crime of our times is the use of psychology and psychiatry to teach little children in schools with them and manufacture crime and a whole world of immorality and unhappiness.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1981
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“In the final analysis, everything is a postulate. Everything came about by postulates. We just could make postulates the end-all of everything, and we’re very safe on it. Everything rationalizes out very nicely. And postulates if treated as a topflight goal bring about a very, very fine condition on the part of the preclear. What are you trying to get him to do, in essence? Change his mind. He has a bad leg, he’s crippled; you won’t get that leg well unless he changes his mind about having to have a bad leg. Believe me, you won’t. The doctors can saw and hew and use axes and materia medica and Morris Fishbeins and everything else on him, and by George, his leg will not get well until he has made up his mind for his leg to get well.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 28, 1954
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“UK is in the mystic band. That’s the last stop this side of Hades, when an empire decides to go, Man. The basic law on this is: When dealing with unknown dangers over which he has no control and against which he has no defense, Man becomes mystic as to cause and effect. Reaching a population in that condition is quite a problem. It can be done, but only on the gradient of tiny cause and effect. By coaxing small reaches and giving very light effects it can be done.” — The Commodore, April 28, 1970
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“I’ve decided to leave the other Scientology groups I belong to or have been added into. What I’ve been observing and why I’m actively leaving those other groups is while this group has seemed to come together out of common interest for the betterment of ourselves and other members with Ron 2.0 at the head, and now seems to be forming a high-level group, those other groups are filled with snakes in the grass luring people in on a pretext in order to influence and actively put people off doing not just new processes but any form of auditing.”
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1996: An update was posted concerning Bonnie Woods and Ron Lawley, both UK critics under legal attack from the cult. “Bonnie Woods now has 1 libel suit from Narconon, 1 counter suit from COSRECI, 1 libel suit against COSRECI and now COSRECI have brought another libel suit against Bonnie and Richard for the distribution of the FUSS leaflet. This was the leaflet handed out outside orgs around the UK in July of last year, asking people to watch the Big Story TV programme. I [Lawley] am still waiting for my hearing before the Court of Appeal regarding whether I have ‘locus standi’ which will decide whether I, as a bankrupt, have the right to defend the appeal against me being given the NOTs materials, as was ordered by Judge Sumner. The hearing date could be any time now so we just sit and wait. I am helping Bonnie and Richard get through these 4 libel actions. Sometimes I spend 30 hours a week on the paperwork and the hardship fund covers expenses for all our cases. So please thank people once again for the assistance which will enable all these cases to come to court. At the moment I see no reason why we should lose. So thanks again to all SPs everywhere.”
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“‘Malcolm In The Middle’ was so good I broke my rule for watching TV shows with Scientologists in them.”
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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 March 9.
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. Awaiting the setting of an oral arguments hearing.
— 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. Oral arguments hearing on March 3.
— 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] Elisabeth Moss front row again for Scientology celebration of founder L. Ron Hubbard
[TWO years ago] Val Ross: From Scientology spy to extreme drug withdrawal guinea pig
[THREE years ago] Defense opened the door to hacking allegations in Danny Masterson retrial
[FOUR years ago] Here’s the new labor trafficking lawsuit against Scientology: Dive in!
[FIVE years ago] Two Scientologists win seats on Los Angeles neighborhood council
[SIX years ago] Scientology admits that it numbers ‘tens of thousands’ not millions, as we’ve been saying
[SEVEN years ago] Leah Remini and Mike Rinder dare Scientology defenders to go on camera
[EIGHT years ago] A new ex-Scientologist memoir provides a journey through extortion in the rank-and-file
[NINE years ago] With Scientology at war in Clearwater, religious studies types still seeking its warm & fuzzy side
[TEN years ago] MONIQUE RATHBUN BLAMES FORMER ATTORNEYS AS SHE PLANS TO DROP LAWSUIT
[ELEVEN years ago] Secretly taped Scientology executive complains about cheating on the ‘Survival Rundown’
[TWELVE years ago] Chris Shelton on the origins of Scientology’s notorious ‘Fair Game’ policy
[THIRTEEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Baby We’re Amazed!
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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 3,612 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,116 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,622 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,172 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,162 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,548 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,043 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,347 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,998 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,216 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,770 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,111 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,682 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,598 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,765 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,351 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,610 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,358 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,927 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,238 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,413 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,095 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,432 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,285 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,401 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,763 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,177 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,562 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,446 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,010 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,522 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,782 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,886 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 28, 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
