TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Pinellas Commissioner Chris Latvala has posted another statement complaining about Clearwater Councilmember Mike Mannino and records requests being made by Scientology. Juicy! We’ve asked former council member Mark Bunker for his thoughts. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“It could be said with accuracy that the personality is the analytical mind individualities, and physical characteristics. And it could be said that neuroses could not manifest without an analytical mind to subvert. And it could be said that the personality plus the neuroses of a human being make up his manifested personality. And it could be said that no neurosis could manifest without usurping the circuits and abilities of the analytical mind and cutting down its power. And it could further be stated that a neurosis is without any characteristics or power unless it has an analytical mind upon which to impinge itself. Clearing away the aberrations intensifies all the strong points of the analytical mind and deintensifies all the weak points of the aberrated personality and such clearing intensifies the individuality and the personality.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950
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“I took a hard-boiled, hardheaded, sonic shut-off, somatic shut-off, reality shut-off case and had him pretend he was dead, in the hope that he would swing into the dead person in whose valence he was, and then he could tell us all about the funeral. So I said, ‘Go to the time when you were dead.’ So he obligingly went to 1797 in Sicily, when he was in a farmhouse dying. He died with full somatics. I thought this was very interesting, so I brought him up to present time and thought about it a little more, and took another case….We are discovering incidents back there. I never investigated them before, although I probably should have. We don’t currently know much about them except that people feel better when they are run. This is not part of the standard technique of Dianetics at present although I have known this material was there for some time.” — L. Ron Hubbard, July 22, 1950
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“NOTICE: Any FEBC student who arrived here before April 20th is overdue for completion. Your Orgs need you; therefore, you should do everything in your power to complete all your outstanding cycles quickly and thoroughly so that you can be fired. As per HCO PL of Feb 22, 1968, ‘The secret of any executive success is the ability to COMPLETE cycles of action QUICKLY.’” — Mary Sue Hubbard, Controller, July 22, 1971
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“Never in history have I seen a religion so attacked and so maligned as Scientology, and mainly by its own ex-members and especially by its ex-executives. Look at all the people writing — for years and years — about how bad Scientology is. Well, they aren’t nuts per definition, they just have overts and especially missed withholds.”
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1997: A deposition of Robert Friend, brother of Scientologist Roxanne Friend was posted this week. He describer Roxanne’s treatment by Scientology, including imprisonment. “A: There was a period of about six or so days prior to leaving for Florida where we made every effort to protect Roxanne from herself. That she had gotten herself into such a state that she was, in my opinion and her friend’s opinion, was in serious jeopardy, both from her seeming uncanny ability at that time to create confrontation with people she didn’t even know, and also because of her erratic behavior of getting picked up by the police, or institutionalized or getting in a car accident. Q: During that – For what period of time was Roxanne not allowed to make telephone calls? A: I would say about a six, seven day period prior to leaving for Florida. [snip] Q: During that time, during the watch prior to the trip was Roxanne ever physically restrained from leaving the apartment? A: I know for sure I restrained her on one occasion. Q: Did anyone else restrain her from leaving the apartment? A: I remember Jim, I believe, Jim Sydejko blocking the door on one occasion. Q: Did the other male staff member from Flag ever physically restrain her from leaving the apartment? A: My recollection is that he was, Roxanne wasn’t aware of his presence until we actually made the trip. [snip] A: After, I believe it was about after two weeks, I was led to understand that Roxanne had been complaining that she didn’t want to be there. And there was a last sort of effort to get her to try and have auditing to handle the psychosis. Q: Who told you that she didn’t want to be there? A: A staff member whose responsibility deals with ethics.”
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“My opinion is that the ‘true believer’ type personality is as much, if not more, the reason why some people end up in cults, than the ‘mind control’ explanation.”
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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, oral arguments scheduled for June 25. 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. Now serving time in 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 June 19.
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. Oral arguments hearing set for July 23.
— 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 upheld on appeal. Scientology expected to file additional petitions before case can return to Kalra’s court.
— 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] Why Scientology is not a likely avenue for finding Amy Bradley
[TWO years ago] When Scientology sent out its baddie to ‘handle’ the Lisa McPherson protests
[THREE years ago] PODCAST: ‘Oppenheimer’ and Scientology, with physicist Bruce Hines
[FOUR years ago] Is Scientology key to solving a young woman’s disappearance? Police want to know.
[FIVE years ago] Here’s our motion to quash the subpoena Danny Masterson’s attorney slapped us with
[SIX years ago] Scientology is a special hell for the ‘staff’ who work at your local ‘org’
[SEVEN years ago] Sudden change in Maiden Voyage events in Los Angeles a clue to Ideal Org problems?
[EIGHT years ago] A tale of two cities: Scientology courts pols and police in one place, acts sneaky in another
[NINE years ago] Janis Grady’s new book on life in Scientology: Jon Atack’s take, and an excerpt
[TEN years ago] Was it something we said? Scientology wants Cindy Plahuta’s letter in fraud lawsuit struck
[ELEVEN years ago] How Scientology is Tom Cruise? How he put ethics ‘ruthlessly’ in on his own family
[TWELVE years ago] More trouble for Scientology fundraising and recruitment in Europe
[THIRTEEN years ago] DISCONNECTION: A Double Dose of Scientology’s Toxic Use of “Leverage”
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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 3,697 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,201 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,707 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,257 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,633 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,128 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,434 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,083 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,301 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,855 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,196 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,767 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,683 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,850 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,436 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,695 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,443 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,012 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,323 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,498 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,180 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,517 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,370 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,486 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,848 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,647 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,531 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,104 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,607 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,867 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,971 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 22, 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
