TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: In June, a group including Alex Barnes-Ross filed a petition about Scientology to 10 Downing Street. Now, the UK government has responded. We have that answer, as well as Alex’s thoughts. ALSO: More evidence of child endangerment at Scientology’s UK headquarters [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Quite often the processing of a child inevitably involves more than working with the child alone. Much of the aberration found in a child will have come from a lack
of dianetic knowledge on the part of the parents and steps other than putting the child on a couch and removing locks and running grief engrams need to be taken in the interests of preventing restimulation. There are three ways of treating a person dianetically, and all of these ways are sometimes necessary in the processing of a child. 1. Standard processing procedures. 2. Dianetic education. 3. Shifting environment.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950
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“Anybody says to you, ‘Well, Scientology is weird because it believes in past lives,’ why, I look at them rather oddly and say, ‘Aren’t you familiar with the subject of psychotherapy?’ Be mean, you know. And they say, ‘Well, yes. Oh, yes. I’m a professor of Uptygup, you know.’ And say, ‘Well, why is it that you didn’t know that one of the primary branches of psychoanalysis and so forth — that of Professor Jung — believed implicitly in returns to druidism? See, we’re not being new at all’.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 25, 1966
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“We had a rather splendid cruise. Summer sea and a water glass. The Cons did great. I had to ballast her bow down a trifle — 2 tons then 10 tons of fresh water into the deep tank. And I had to pull her nose back out of the waves once (to stop pitching you come away from the waves, not further into it). But that was very little to do. You notice its smoother when I’m up than when I’m turned in, still. The landfall and docking was excellent. If you close your window fully you can’t hear the bulldozer on the dock. Your vent gives plenty of air.” — The Commodore, August 25, 1970
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“There is no such thing as a personal first dynamic state of OT. I have seen many people in Scientology who want personal power. A self that wants to preserve itself is doomed. The ‘I’ that wants to be ‘OT’ is an aberration. Scientology will not succeed until it starts working from the top down rather than from the bottom up. First dynamic oriented beings will never create a brighter future.”
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1996: Alvin Brattli reported this week that Scientology is distributing L. Ron Hubbard mouse pads to publicize Scientology’s web sites. “Did you all know that the COS is handing out L. Ron Hubbard mousepads for free? Neither did I, until they gave one to me. My friends in Chicago took me out sightseeing, and asked me whether there were any particular places I wanted to visit. An idea popped into my mind, and I decided that I wanted to visit the local org to ask them if they knew this Xenu guy, just for the hell of it. Being very helpful, my friends drove me to the org (which is located on 3009 N. Lincoln, btw.) and parked nearby. I then strolled over to the org and stopped, looking innocently at their window display. Then this friendly woman started talking to me, asking me if I knew anything about Scientology, if I knew anything about L. Ron Hubbard or not, and so on. [S]he asked if I had access to the Internet. I answered ‘yes’, and then she started running around the whole org, looking for one of their mousepads (with their URLs printed on them). On seeing the mousepad, I get these strange associations with North Korean propaganda. More than half of the area of the mouse pad is dedicated to L. Ron Hubbard, and the rest is divided evenly between the Scientology and Dianetics logos. Also, the three URLs http://www.lronhubbard.org, http://www.dianetics.org, and http://www.scientology.org are printed in their respective part of the pad. The pictures on the mousepad are identical to the ones you will find on those web sites.”
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“At first I thought you were funnin’ me but I hearsayed it and you’re right.”
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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] Take the survey: How can Scientology lure you to its cruise ship for Christmas?
[TWO years ago] Scientology party tents move from Clearwater to Los Angeles
[THREE years ago] Stan Lee* helps Scientology raise money from beyond the grave!
[FOUR years ago] Here are Scientology’s new motions to force arbitration in the Valeska Paris case
[FIVE years ago] Tom Cruise’s Scientology superpowers, No. 7: Pulling in objects with tractor beams
[SIX years ago] Leah Remini podcast: Scientology’s atrocious ‘Fair Game’ campaign against Mike Rinder
[SEVEN years ago] If Scientology’s Ideal Org grand openings are on hold, fundraising steams ahead
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s new ‘STAND’ front unleashes bot army on Twitter — and gets zapped
[TEN years ago] Steven Mango, who appears in Theroux film, calls police to Scientology facility over assault
[ELEVEN years ago] Stop worrying about ISIS and Syria and Iraq — Scientology’s got this, people
[TWELVE years ago] Chris Shelton explains why Scientology is in a management death spiral
[THIRTEEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: The All-Video Version!
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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 3,731 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,235 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,741 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,291 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,667 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,162 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,468 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,117 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,335 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,889 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,230 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,801 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,717 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,884 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,470 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,729 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,477 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,046 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,357 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,532 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,214 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,551 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,404 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,520 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,882 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,681 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,565 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,140 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,641 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,901 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 16,005 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 25, 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, 1995-2025 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
