TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Another IAS weekend has come and gone. This Scientology blowout has become one of the things we most look forward to on the calendar — in part because it will keep on giving for weeks, as official and unofficial images of what went on continue to come out. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“We are educated into the belief that when someone comes in and says, ‘Your mother is dead,’ the person replies, ‘Boo-hoo-hoo. I loved my mother very much,’ and thereafter goes into a sharp decline. One could feel very sad about mother being dead and yet, if he had no basic engram, after the funeral be in excellent shape. The painful emotion engram depends upon the physical pain engram for its action; it cannot take form if there is no basic engram on which it could append.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1951
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“Now, you will find that a rape or sexual attack may result in glasses, because this is refusal to communicate. And after all, what is a dental operation but a sort of rape, if you really think about it that way? Somebody is trying to take something away from an only partially reasoning individual who is under drugs. And what does the patient want? He wants to get away — not communicate. Do you get the idea? ‘Don’t communicate with me, don’t touch me, don’t hurt me.’ So you start up and down the track and you will find incidents here and there, and particularly locks are what you want; you don’t want to process a thousand engrams just to get off a pair of glasses. You get the times when the individual didn’t want to touch, feel, see, hear, or any of the rest of the package of communication, because that is what you are looking for.” — L. Ron Hubbard, October 26, 1951
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“FAIR GAME for the current week for NO REPORT of stats are: Dave James, Gilbert Black, Donna Tidman, John Stevens, Adele Vonnie, Doreen Smith, Murdock McBride.” — Lt. Jeff Walker, I&R, October 26, 1970
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“I tried but I had a hard time trying to open an independent Academy close to Clearwater. I supervised and word cleared for 20 years but OSA has a heavy presence here.”
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1995: Merchant of Chaos provided a synopsis of the CAN Conference, taking place this weekend. “Steve Hassan did a mind control seminar in which he explained ‘thought control,’ ‘behavior control,’ ’emotional control,’ and ‘information control,’ while former cult members gave examples from their personal experiences. The former members were Monica Pignotti (ex-Scientologist), Adam Mali (ex-Asthetic Realism), John Knapp (ex-TM), and Candy Anderson (I don’t remember what group she was in.) I made a brief appearance as well. One video contained the ‘Today Show’ from November 8, 1993, a piece which slam-dunks the Moonies BIG TIME, another contained video footage of a picket, in which members of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (a Scientology front group) were protesting outside a psychiatric hospital. A woman told us, at one of the FOCUS workshops, how she as cornered by clams at last year’s conference, in Cleveland, when she found herself alone in an elevator with them. She said they started grabbing her arms and laughing at her. Everyone was warned to beware of who they get into elevators with.”
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“Seeing as how the Church of Scientology has publicly stated that they are not a turn-the-other-cheek religion, how is any of this a shock to anyone?”
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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 heard and submitted, waiting for ruling. 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. Scientology’s attempt to gut the case failed, and appeals court upheld. Back to trial court in December.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 17 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. Case returning 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. Hearing on arbitration motion set for March, 2027.
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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] Bijou Phillips files to have daughter’s last name changed from ex Danny Masterson’s
[TWO years ago] Day 1 of protesting Scientology’s UK shindig goes off without a hitch
[THREE years ago] Leah Remini submits proof she’s served David Miscavige, and it looks very familiar!
[FOUR years ago] Jane Doe 3’s cross-examination interrupted as the Danny Masterson trial takes a day off
[FIVE years ago] What’s happening right now in Scientology’s independent ‘Freezone’
[SIX years ago] Scientology continues its ‘Fair Game’ of Gerry Armstrong with court hearing today
[SEVEN years ago] Full court press: Scientologists have been busy in the halls of justice lately
[EIGHT years ago] What the Australian press can’t say about James Packer and his Scientology adventure
[NINE years ago] Mirriam Francis: Picturing Scientology parents who abandon their children to abuse
[TEN years ago] Trump supporter arrested for threatening to kill Muslims at L.A. Islamic center is a Scientologist
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology cries religious discrimination in appeal brief filed in Maryland zoning fight
[TWELVE years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology needs your money more than ever!
[THIRTEEN years ago] Jon Atack Considers L. Ron Hubbard’s Tangled Relationship With Mind-Altering Substances
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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 3,793 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,297 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,803 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,353 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,729 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,224 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,530 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,179 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,397 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,951 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,292 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,862 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,779 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,946 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,532 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,791 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,539 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,108 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,419 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,594 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,276 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,613 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,466 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,582 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,944 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,743 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,587 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,202 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,703 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,963 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 16,067 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 26, 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
