TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Over the past week we’ve taken a couple of looks at California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra’s past as an enthusiastic Scientology booster. But we wondered, how does he feel about Scientology today? Now we have an answer, and David Miscavige isn’t going to like it. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“They say poverty makes crime. They say if one improved education there would be less crime. They say if one cured the lot of the underprivileged one would have
solved crime. All these «remedies» have proven blatantly false. In very poor countries there is little crime. The ‘improving’ education, it was tailored to ‘social reform,’ not teaching skills. And it is a total failure. The fact that rewarding the underprivileged has simply wrecked schools and neighborhoods and cost billions is missing. So who is ‘they’? The psychologist and psychiatrist of course. These were their crackpot remedies for crime. And it’s wrecked a civilization. So what IS the cause of crime? The treatment of course! Electric shocks, behavior modification, abuse of the soul. These are the causes of crime. There would be no criminals at all if the psychs had not begun to oppress beings into vengeance against society. There’s only one remedy for crime—get rid of the psychs! They are causing it!” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1982
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“We are the only science of mind that has ever come up the line and sat back on its haunches and proved itself across the board, we can also undo that. If we want to take enough trouble we can also save Gracey Zilch. One auditor sits on her head and the other straps the cans to her feet and a third, as she’s being held down, locates what she has been doing on an E-Meter, you see something like a Joburg or something like this, you see, and actually gets the thing taped out and then finally says, ‘Well, Gracey, we’ve got the goods on you. And now why don’t you go off someplace and realize that if you don’t do something decent about this, you’re sunk.’ And I don’t care it might take two hours, two years or two lifetimes; sooner or later she’s going to come in and tell all. Fascinating, huh? We can undo it. So, in a little, tiny, microscopic way, not accepting a half a million dollars from the Communist Party of America to do in a Central Organization; that of course killed a man. I bet you right now he’s tagging around in a schoolroom someplace or another, wondering what is wrong with him and why he feels so spinny. Fellow by the name of Don Purcell. He died. He did this, and for three years he just went on a toboggan and died. One of the reasons was is nobody was interested enough to even try to do anything for him. And the other thing was he had made it impossible to arrive at that data earlier by causing such a tremendous disturbance that he slowed up research.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 19, 1961
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“The technical material I developed from ’68 to ’71 on Flag is published here, trained on here and applied here. We have the best auditors in the world. They are very few. While the Flag Ship Org keeps a ship here, keeps ports here and services those abroad, so that these activities can take place. The Flag Bureaux pushes the Administrative planning and programming which forms up the Continental Liaison Offices which hold the orgs there for FEBCs to return to. Everyone on Flag contributes to these successes, no matter what his post is. We are all operating directly on the VFP of a Cleared Planet. Sometimes this may not be as visible as it might be to someone with his head down into some routine job. But you can measure the success of what you’re doing. Look at the sky-rocketing rise of stats over the world. That’s my stat and Yours. It is in Power.” — The Commodore, May 19, 1971
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“Running anything other than composite case after Clear — utilizing New Era Scientology processing and NOT (NOTS) — which only leads one to endlessly run circuits and entities without a subjective reality on actual case factors. Doing so has been shown to be almost fatal at times to one’s health and sanity — and the probable reason why so many have passed away from cancer after having run NOTS.”
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1996: Mark Ebner, who briefly joined the cult and wrote an article in Spy magazine about his experience, posted a brief description of the response following the article. “I have saved the threatening letters from Scieno lawyers that arrived prior to the publication of my Spy expose. Claiming to be me, they also called the magazine’s printer in Kentucky trying to get advance copies. My credit card was fucked with in a big way.”
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“Thank god I didn’t have to go to confession. It would have taken a team of priests working in shifts to cover my multitude of sins.”
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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] What’s it really like at L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology home?
[TWO years ago] Most damaging Scientology defectors? A case could be made for this Las Vegas couple
[THREE years ago] As the jury deliberates, there’s plenty it didn’t hear about Danny Masterson
[FOUR years ago] Endorsed by the Oregonian, Scientology school is full steam ahead with its real purpose
[FIVE years ago] Day two of the Danny Masterson prelim: Jane Doe 1’s cross-examination continues
[SIX years ago] Mark Bunker wants to get the FBI looking at Scientology in Clearwater
[SEVEN years ago] Free of measles, Scientology’s cruise ship gets back to separating OTs from their money
[EIGHT years ago] When Scientology leader David Miscavige targets you for a beatdown: A Jefferson Hawkins classic
[NINE years ago] Elisabeth Moss in this week’s ‘Handmaid’ sure sounded like FBI testimony about Scientology
[TEN years ago] Here are the instructions Scientologists are getting for the May 28 media center opening!
[ELEVEN years ago] Leah Remini helps us celebrate our book in Los Angeles with a gang of Scientology ‘SPs’
[TWELVE years ago] Scientology’s drug rehab network sued for conspiring to misuse counseling credentials
[THIRTEEN years ago] How Not to Protest Scientology
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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 3,633 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,137 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,643 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,193 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,183 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,569 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,064 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,368 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,019 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,237 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,791 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,132 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,703 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,619 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,786 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,372 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,631 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,379 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,948 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,259 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,434 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,116 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,453 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,306 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,422 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,784 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,198 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,583 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,467 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,031 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,543 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,803 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,907 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 19, 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
