TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: It was only an initial vote and they’ll have to go through it again soon, but after hearing public testimony last night, Clearwater’s city council approved giving Scientology leader David Miscavige the street that will be the centerpiece of his Vatican City in Florida. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Man is subjugated and made afraid, he is made brutal and wicked by basic instincts. In order to be civilized Man must repress those instincts. The moment he represses them he becomes sick. Thus the solution is impossible. Unless Man can reach inside himself and eradicate in some manner the things which make him kill and
steal and make war. Can instincts be eradicated from the mind? They certainly can be and with less trouble than anyone ever suspected. And is Man healthy and better with them gone? He is so much better, so much more reliable, so much healthier, so much happier that one immediately finds in him new hope for Mankind.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1952
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“One time a few years ago in a war that everybody fortunately has forgotten, a submarine appeared on my port bow. We’d been hanging over it for some time and it ran up its periscope. They used to throw up a patch of oil and then run the periscope up through the oil so as not to leave any salt scum or anything like that on their periscope lens, you know. So a blob of oil appeared and the fellow who was running the engine room telegraphs on the bridge was the only fellow looking in that direction. And he saw this blob of oil appear and he thought that was strange and interesting. We were going very slowly, we were almost dead in the water, and then right up through this big blob of brown oil on a blue sea comes a periscope — swswswswhhh — and looks around in every direction but at our ship! If it had turned another ninety degrees it would have read the biggest doggone 422 that you’d ever seen, fully magnified for the skipper. But anyway, the man on the engine room telegraphs is the only person who observed this incident in its various steps. The bridge was absolutely crammed with men because we were at general quarters. But nobody was looking right down there; they were looking out there, you know. And the fellow on the engine room telegraphs would say, ‘Thh.’ I finally noticed this strange performance and I was all set at this moment, you see, the second I saw this — flank speed and drop a depth charge right. Even if it blew our own stern off, that was fine, you see. And I said, ‘Khh!’ That was the awfulest mess of noncommunication! It finally came off all right. We dropped a depth charge and so on, but we were laughing about this for days. Nobody could talk!” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 5, 1955
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“MAYFAIR: Mayfair magazine UK published an article by me as a ‘World Exclusive.’ It may effectively handle a lot of things. It ended off the William Burroughs thing. It said why we’re attacked and attacks hard. It appeared on the stands just before Parliament adjourned. Captain AOUK said it acted like an S&D on the crew there. INJURIES: Those recently injured were not PTS. Survey showed they were exterior and feeling powerful and didn’t watch where they were sending the body.” — The Commodore, June 5, 1970
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“I’ve recently been cogniting on how life is a game. One cog I had was that in confronting and handling certain barriers I was thinking of applying solutions that would have sufficed a couple of hundred years ago, but had no place in today’s society. So on that 3rd dynamic problem I always became stumped. I was playing, or attempting to play, the game out of PT. When I realised what I was doing, a solution presented itself. It was a hell of a win for me on the 3rd dynamic! I got that from studying an ACC. LRH was a friggin genius, and I would thoroughly recommend that people coming out of the church continue up the Bridge because as you say, it’s the only way to learn what life is about and thereby get above it, and play a game that you really want to play, whatever that may be.”
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1999: Keith Henson reported that he lost the appeal of Scientology’s judgment against him. Scientology was awarded $75,000 for copyright violation when Keith posted the secret NOTS 34 level. “Just got word from the 9th after almost three months. Flat lost.”
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“I almost got castrated by an emu when I was a teenager.”
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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] Sad new evidence of how a Scientology dirty trick ripped a family apart
[TWO years ago] Scientology predictably tells judge she’s powerless in today’s Val Haney hearing
[THREE years ago] Mike Rinder: A class act we’re proud to call a friend
[FOUR years ago] The Scientology celebrity exodus from LA to Clearwater continues
[FIVE years ago] Was David Miscavige behind Tom Mesereau’s biggest blunder at Danny Masterson’s prelim?
[SIX years ago] Year after taping ‘Scientology & the Aftermath,’ Victoria Locke is still waiting for justice
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology survey for its members: Why aren’t you giving us more money?
[EIGHT years ago] First person: Four Scientologists have been shot, and you’re being sent to audit the pain away
[NINE years ago] Donna Fiore says Scientology is hounding her for dirt on stepdaughter Leah Remini
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s next big opening — its totally unneeded ‘Advanced Org’ in Australia
[ELEVEN years ago] If the Sea Org doesn’t legally exist, how does it run Scientology?
[TWELVE years ago] 60 years ago and today: Scientology in its heyday, and now not so much
[THIRTEEN years ago] Just What Oklahoma Tornado Victims Need: Scientology to the Rescue!
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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 3,650 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,154 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,660 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,210 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,586 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,081 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,385 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,036 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,254 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,808 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,149 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,720 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,636 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,803 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,389 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,648 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,396 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,965 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,276 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,451 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,133 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,470 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,323 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,439 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,801 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,600 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,484 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,048 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,560 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,820 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,924 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 5, 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
