TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Media coverage of Suri Noelle’s name change has been a frenzy over the last couple of days. We just wanted to emphasize something that tends to get lost when these stories review Scientology rules about Tom Cruise cutting his own daughter out of his life. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“The distortion worked upon the Mankind dynamic need not, however, result in world conquering. Any dynamic may be so impinged and unsettled by engrams that some very weird aspects occur. It is very common to find, in an insane asylum, a patient who claims to have a secret which will save all Mankind. This has been considered very bad, pre-dianetically. The same psychiatrist who would hammer a psychotic into believing everything that had happened to him was imaginary — and psychiatry has long been listening and calling ‘imaginary’ actual prenatal engrams just because ‘Authorities,’ with no data and clumsy research, had said such things were imaginary, all the while holding forth about ‘memories of the womb’ — would and does pound hard against any patient who says he wants to ‘save Mankind.’ It is a peculiarity that this is a particularly condemning point, that anybody wants to do anything but be a sheep and very tractably and ‘well-adjustedly’ eat grass.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950
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“You’re going up against a problem here, if you deal with the medico, of a person who monkeys. He doesn’t have any very precise answers. When he immediately gets out of the field of the broken leg, when he gets out of the field of putting on a tourniquet or some other type of action and he gets into a field where he himself does not have very good answers and so he monkeys. And they will do some very interesting and wild things. They will get some kind of a suspicion that there might be a growth in somebody’s chest and start removing tissue. And they’ll do exploratories and they will do all kinds of wild things. They will go into a tumor and take a small slice of it and so forth, thus activating it and aggravating it so that now the person practically is dying whereas before they weren’t bad off. In other words there’s a lot of monkey business. And I say that very advisedly. I could think of much more high school words than monkey business, but I think it rather fits, so forth. Man descended from monkeys and those that didn’t descend much became doctors. Bitter, huh?” — L. Ron Hubbard, July 30, 1964
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“LOCAL ARC: On arrival we were met with much local ARC here. Officials and people were offended we were only staying a week so we have extended to two. Townspeople do know of ‘the incident’ in last port and are sympathetic to us. No reason to discuss it further. Just ack and thank them. Don’t try to deny it. Recent political events have left this area untouched.” — The Commodore, July 30, 1971
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“We’re not here to have a fun time as if that’s all that mattered. Many of us have a long track record of disappointment and worse on this road, and so our friends are utterly priceless beyond measure; we want to do our best for them because we don’t want to lose them again. It’s hard to imagine any other group anywhere with a higher ARC than the Scientologists. For those folk who fear ethics and justice there are LRH’s beautiful repairs and remedies. And perhaps they might be gently reminded that without ethics they would have no bread on their table, or even a table. Presently, the Church bears the name Scientology, but only by fraudulent means, and its members are charlatans. They have the same tools as us (or did once) but don’t apply them, instead, they’re into off-beat practices like MEST-worship. Maybe they’ll evolve into a flea, or something. We on the other hand, have nothing to fear, but everything to look forward to.”
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1998: Chris Owen reported on the archive of Scientology NOTS materials in Sweden. “I visited the Swedish Central Archives in Nrrmalm, Stockholm, where government documents are stored for public access under their admirable offentlighetsprincip. It was no great surprise to find a solitary, very bored-looking clam sitting in the tiny reading room of the Central Archive building. He had a well-thumbed copy of the NOTS with him, but he was not reading it: instead, he was just sitting at his desk, working on several rather tatty pieces of notepaper. I went into the archivist’s private office, where he explained that the Scientologists were working shifts to prevent anyone from looking at the NOTS. When the building opened, one was always waiting outside first in the line to enter; he was relieved later during the day, with other Scientologists sitting on the NOTS through to closing time. The archivist made it clear that he and his department took a pretty dim view of this, and he rang a colleague in the Justice Department who also had a copy of the NOTS – it seems that there are no less than three separate departments holding the thing. You can obtain it from any of these three departments, but it’s on public display only at the Central Archive. So I went across the street to the Justice Department, where I was asked if I wanted to ‘sell the NOTS’ [sic] for 400 Swedish Kroner (about GBP 31). I said yes and handed over the money; shortly a bound and covered copy was delivered to me. Evidently they receive a fair number of requests for it, as this must have been one of a pile of pre-copied NOTS.”
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“The trigger for the OT 8 cognition is the line ‘the Pilot says: I’m mocking this up.’ The desired End Phenomena is ‘Now that I know what I am not, I am ready to find out what I am’.”
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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] Scientology warns Clearwater that delay of Hubbard Hall project is a ‘spiritual burden’
[TWO years ago] Tom Cruise: The politics behind the Scientology celeb’s French knighthood
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s Austin grand opening finally set for sizzling August afternoon
[FOUR years ago] PODCAST: Pete Griffiths, the SP who ran a Scientology mission
[FIVE years ago] What kind of technical perfection can you expect at Scientology’s mecca, space pilgrim?
[SIX years ago] The Church of Scientology wants feedback about starting a podcast. Oh, pretty please?
[SEVEN years ago] Miscavige changes course: All remaining Scientology orgs to go ‘Ideal’ at the same time
[EIGHT years ago] Here it is, your passport to Scientology godhood: Next stop, infinity!
[NINE years ago] Scientology ‘dead agents’ our own Rod Keller as it pursues more illegal activity in Mexico City
[TEN years ago] L. Ron Hubbard as sad, oversexed schlub: The very personal writings his admirers never discuss
[ELEVEN years ago] The Church of Scientology’s forgotten president: Karen de la Carriere on Heber Jentzsch
[TWELVE years ago] Arlene Cordova needs your help: Where is Scientology keeping her daughter Barbara?
[THIRTEEN years ago] Scientology’s Needle Exchange: When David Miscavige Got Technical
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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 3,705 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,209 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,715 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,265 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,641 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,136 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,442 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,091 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,309 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,863 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,204 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,775 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,691 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,858 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,444 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,703 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,451 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,020 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,331 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,506 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,188 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,525 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,378 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,494 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,856 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,655 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,539 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,114 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,615 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,875 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,979 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 30, 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
