TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: What they don’t tell you in Scientology: When founder L. Ron Hubbard’s legal battle with his second wife blew up 75 years ago this summer, it attracted the attention of his first wife, and his bigamy finally started to catch up with him. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
——————–
Technology Cocktail
“What happened to this man? What caused him to be manic? All cases to hand of this, a numerous number, show it to have been caused by an engram in which he was ‘fixed.’ The engram said he was a wonderful salesman, but it contained physical pain. As he went on living he was “dramatizing” or acting out being a supersalesman. But sometimes he didn’t sell. Every time he didn’t, physical pain forced him to try. But he kept failing because his health was deteriorating. And then one day he didn’t resurge. He just felt the pain. And he wasn’t a supersalesman any more. Deintensifying that engram in every such case brought about an immediate rebalancing. If the engram had actually made him a supersalesman then he was competent, analytically, to be a supersalesman. And he became a better supersalesman than before!” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950
——————–
“This planet is part of an earlier federation and passed out of its control due to losses in war and other such things. Now, this larger confederacy, this isn’t its right name, but we have often called it and referred to it in the past as the Marcab Confederacy. And it has been wrongly or rightly pointed to as one of the tail stars of the Big Dipper, which is the capital planet of which this planet is. Now, all this sounds very Space Opera-ish and that sort of thing, and I’m sorry for it, but I am not one to quibble about the truth. This gets in people’s hair every now and then, and I don’t see any point in lying in order to be acceptable. It just doesn’t seem to be a right way to go about things, particularly in the realm of science.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 6, 1963
——————–
“LIONS: The local Lions Club was entertained aboard with great success. Candlelit dining room, guitar music. Caviar, lobster, salad and cigars and cognac after. 25 came. They cancelled their own first dinner of the season and came to ours. High commendables to Peter Warren, John Bragin and our two magnificent girls Mrs. Jone van Hoecke and Mme Francoise Cugnot, Sven as Chef and Kenilee Moore as Maitre de Hotel, and the waiters Rick, Jesse, Charles, Bob and several others. It was very commendable team work. Very well done! Our PRO Area Control has been greatly advanced with local influential business men.” — The Commodore, August 6, 1971
——————–
“As I continued getting auditing — most recently N.E.D. — and studying, I became increasingly more certain that I was Clear. I began having rapid-fire cognitions that not only was I Clear, but a past life Clear, at that. THAT made a LOT of sense. I hadn’t ‘recreated’ Scientology on my own, I had ‘remembered’ it. The funny thing to me is that many times when I heard other past-lifers talk about their feelings of not quite ‘fitting in’ and some of their cognitions, I’d thought, ‘yeah, right. I have that too.’ It never occurred to me that I had that too because I was that too.”
——————–
1998: Celebrity Center, International held its 29th anniversary celebration this week. “At a Hollywood gala celebration television and film stars Kirstie Alley, Jenna Elfman, Giovanni Ribisi, Catherine Bell, Anne Archer, Isaac Hayes, Leah Remini, Jennifer Aspen and Danny Masterson, along with community leaders and thousands more, joined together at the 29th Anniversary of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre to celebrate and acknowledge the hundreds of thousands who have been helped through the civic accomplishments this past year, and the continued growth, of the Scientology religion internationally. Elfman, who is about to start filming her second season of ‘Dharma and Greg,’ expressed how happy she was to hear about all the positive results being achieved by her Church in the community.”
——————–
“What kinda nut would think you could listen to Martians on an E-meter? Any sane person knows the only way you could listen to Martians is when you’re at the implant station on Mars, sheesh.”
——————–
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.
——————–
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?
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Scientology teases new fundraising strategy to speed up building projects
[TWO years ago] Inventing the wickedest cult of all to keep people out of them
[THREE years ago] More proof that Scientology is taking over the planet, you doubters
[FOUR years ago] PODCAST: Checking on our predictions about Scientology celebs with expert Geoff Levin
[FIVE years ago] Tom Cruise’s Scientology superpowers, No. 15: Always finding the best parking spot
[SIX years ago] Nazanin Boniadi chides Karen Bass for ‘insufficient’ statement on Scientology speech
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s secret weapon to get its clutches on your children
[EIGHT years ago] If it’s wrong to love Scientology hip-hop, we don’t want to be right
[NINE years ago] Scientology subjects young children to quack therapies — now, someone is taking a stand
[TEN years ago] So much for all that: Attempt by Garcias to revive Scientology lawsuit shot down by judge
[ELEVEN years ago] Um, about that story claiming Will Smith got a ‘refund’ from his broke-ass shuttered school…
[TWELVE years ago] Maybe the saddest Scientology promo video ever, and a history lesson from Mark Bunker!
[THIRTEEN years ago] Mary Sue Hubbard’s Last Will Fulfilled: Her Dog Bereft of Life, It’s Time to Sell Her House!
——————–
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 3,712 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,216 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,722 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,272 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,648 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,143 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,449 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,098 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,316 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,870 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,211 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,782 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,698 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,865 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,451 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,710 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,458 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,027 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,338 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,513 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,195 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,532 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,385 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,501 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,863 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,662 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,546 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,121 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,622 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,882 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,986 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on August 6, 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)
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates.
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
