TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: With Americans going to the polls tomorrow, we’re watching Clearwater, Florida. That’s where our old friend Mark Bunker is running again to get back on the city council. And looking at early voting numbers, Scientology may have reason to be concerned. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
——————–
Technology Cocktail
“It sometimes happens that a preclear does not know he was adopted until it becomes evident that the dramatizations of his foster parents are not found in his prenatal bank. If a child is without his original parents, one of two things must have happened: the parents have been killed sometime after birth, too early for the person to remember, or it is what is called a moral turpitude or poverty case. There is something wrong in that person’s life, to cause his adoption after his birth. Upon this factor exist the racketeers who trade in children.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1951
——————–
“I, one time, asked a bunch of mothers why they didn’t shorten the school hours and so forth and make it a little bit easier on the kids and so forth. And they were shocked. And I very carefully cross-questioned them and discovered that uniformly these ladies had no idea whatsoever of their child being educated — that there was any advantage whatsoever in learning how to read or write or do things in school, but boy, you sure had a lot of free time there with no kids underfoot! Now, that’s a brutal statement, but that’s why they put the kids in school; school is a wonderful method. These people, by the way, had children in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth grades. And they were — they were flabbergasted that I would be interested in whether or, what the child was being taught and what good it was doing the child.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 2, 1953
——————–
“WEATHER: It was a lovely day yesterday. It was quite warm and sunny. A cable, however, came in from ‘Sublime Headquarters,’ very garbled. ‘You were supposed to move SOUTH not to the south SIDE of the island. On the (illegible) of (illegible) spread (blank) jellybeans.’ I put this through our code machine but could make nothing of it at all. It is very aggravating to be hit when we have already obeyed the order. Miscommunication or something. They haven’t got all the facts. On the other hand our own intelligence agents have uncovered a conspiracy campaign put out by Nelson Killafeller, Head Vulture of Smersh to knock out all the Duck beams and disrupt the entire migration. Killafeller originated the ‘Vultures for World Conquest’ movement. This evidently requires, according to a long, long report that came in on lines that all other birds must be stockaded and implanted to make the world safe for vultures. I don’t know but I don’t think Webspread ought to be off post at this time.” — The Commodore, November 2, 1970
——————–
“The answer you’re looking for is Incident 2 programming. This planet dodged a future of unimaginable darkness when that Whole Track SP Clinton lost to Trump. It was literally the only chance for a miracle. Now the satanists who have controlled Earth for millennia are totally fucked. Be thankful you are here to witness this event, the liberation of a prison planet.”
——————–
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.”
——————–
“Miscavige became Emperor through the Hubbard-approved Roman rules of ascension, which he achieved by his control of the Praetorian guard of the Sea Org, the CMO. Once becoming Caesar, how could he smash his name into the history books of his hermit kingdom? He can’t add to the ‘tech’ so all that is left for him to do is BUILD BUILD BUILD. It’s all about the ruinous runt’s ego.”
——————–
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.
——————–
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] Isabella Cruise spotted at last night’s Scientology gala for major donors
[TWO years ago] More glimpses of Scientology’s big UK party that really swung!
[THREE years ago] PODCAST: Has Scientology nixed the protest’s road closure? Alex has the update
[FOUR years ago] Scientology propaganda even more tone deaf than usual with trial going on
[FIVE years ago] ELEVENTH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS SCIENTOLOGY ARBITRATION, DENIES GARCIA APPEAL
[SIX years ago] Can Danny Masterson’s attorneys delay his arraignment on rape charges again today?
[SEVEN years ago] VIDEO LEAK: Late-stage Scientology is even more depressing than we thought
[EIGHT years ago] Freewinds, part 3: How the cruise ship fits Scientology’s methods of obfuscation and lies
[NINE years ago] Read the threatening letter Danny Masterson’s attorney Marty Singer sent a victim’s husband
[TEN years ago] What the first trailer for Leah Remini’s Scientology series tells us about her show
[ELEVEN years ago] Chapter by chapter, the best parts of Leah Remini’s book ‘Troublemaker’
[TWELVE years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology is finger lickin’ good!
[THIRTEEN years ago] Dates for Scientology Events Announced Last Night: Super Power in Two Weeks!
——————–
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 3,800 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,304 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,810 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,360 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,736 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,231 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,537 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,186 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,404 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,958 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,299 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,869 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,786 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,953 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,539 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,798 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,546 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,115 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,426 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,601 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,283 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,620 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,473 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,589 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,951 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,750 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,594 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,209 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,710 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,970 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 16,074 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on November 2, 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)
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates.
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
