We recently introduced you to Ted Reinhard and his new “Cult City Tours” in Clearwater, an idea which didn’t go over well with local Scientologists.
Well, with Marc Headley joining Leah Remini and Mike Rinder on this week’s podcast, we thought we’d check in with him for the latest, and we’re glad we did. Here’s what he told us…
As you well know, L Ron Hubbard’s Birthday is coming up. Never wanting to pass up an excuse to party, I thought we’d make an event of it.
I have to zip down to Florida for a few days in March, and I thought I’d stop in and see how Clearwater is doing. As long as I was making the trip, I thought it might be a great idea to give a Cult City Tour now that it is a thing. And because it is LRH’s Birthday on March 13, let’s give out some gifts! We will be giving out BFG books, Mike Rinder Bobbleheads, and SP bracelets to those that attend the tour. Folks might not get all three depending on how many people show up, but you will at least one of the three!
AdvertisementAaron Smith-Levin will be there as well, and between the two of us, I am sure it will be a fun-fact-filled tour with all sorts of excitement. The Super fan Tour with Aaron and me is at 4PM.
Sounds like a lot of fun.
We go way back with Headley. We wrote about the publication of his excellent Scientology escape narrative, Blown For Good, when it came out in 2009, and he’s been entertaining us with his amazing anecdotes of life in Scientology ever since. You don’t want to miss out on a tour with him if you can help it!
And here’s Marc on this week’s podcast…
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“It’s the inability of the Catholic Church, and the inability of the Methodist and Angelican and other faiths, to unravel the why that lay behind human-emotion-and-reaction that convinced them utterly that man was a sinful being and that was born in sin, and he was conceived in sin and born in sin and would die in sin, and that he was evil. You can see them now on the rostrum, on the platform shaking their fingers at their congregations and how they were evil sinners, and they were all sinners. That’s just all, they didn’t have the right why. So, your own future morale pursuing a line as an Establishment Officer actually is greatly dependent on your ability to penetrate a situation and discover a correct why.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 2, 1972
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“Al Bornstein is ordered to thorough daily 2 hour study on his post hat. I have already sent Org Officer FAO a full checksheet on promotion for use in his hat.” — Lt. Cmdr. Diana Hubbard, Distribution Aide, March 2, 1971
“An ‘engram’ is a ‘quantum field’ of attention units, theta quanta of awareness, created by a being, and existing as stored (not in the brain), re-creatable mirrors of a physical universe event. They are not ‘located’ until called up again and recreated by the being, whereupon they can and do impinge on the body its glandular system, its nervous system, its communications and the cells and structures. There are parts of these that are continuously created as ‘automaticities.’ All of them are composed of postulated particles in space, ‘energy.’ DNA isn’t so much the blueprint as the list of materials available. The actual plans exist as memories of the theta, the life that animates the cell. They aren’t traces on cells, until put there, as memory, by life itself, manipulating the MEST. MIT won’t ever find a location, general or specific, in the brain for any engram, except when it is in restimulation. And if it involved the brain in the first place. The repository for engrams as stored re-creatable potentials of energy, is the being. It is life. Theta. With the ability to either recall and recreate, or keep in continuous creation. And, since there is no limit on how many mental energy pictures a being can make, you can ‘store’ an infinity of them, with nary a brain in sight. Consideration takes rank over mechanics. And today, in the study of physics, and now cellular biology, the functions of theta described thoroughly in Dianetics and Scientology has had the structure study just about catch up to it. Physical science and the humanities are coming together. It’s happening on numerous fronts. With a workable technology of the mind, and a means to rehabilitation of the spirit existing in Dianetics and Scientology, we have in our hands the means to a true enlightened age.”
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1996: An anonymous poster provided a list of minors in the Sea Org in Clearwater, Florida in 1992. “In the Sea Org minors are expected to work long hours like the adults. At the Flag Land Base one can easily find several children and minors doing administrative, ‘technical’ and even executive duties. If you are in the SO you shouldn’t be surprised if you get a visit by a ten-year old ‘messenger’ late at night, who gives you an order, which you better reply with a snappy ‘Yes, Sir!’, if you don`t want to get a ‘Court of Ethics’. These were some minors, who worked in the Sea Org at the FLB in 1992 (Name, Age, Post, Org):
Ginger Aguilar, 16, Receptionist, Flag Crew.
Elyssa Alexander, 16, Continental Justice Chief East US, Flag Land Base.
Melanie Burness, 15, Boom Project Staff, Flag Land Base.
Matt Butler, 16, Body Registrar Service Officer, Flag Service Org.
Crystal Campbell, 15, Letter Registrar, Flag Service Org.
Amber Dunham, 15, Body Registrar Service Officer, Flag Service Org.
Eugenie Francoeur, 15, ?, Flag Service Org.
Simon Fuchs, 16, Waiter, Flag Crew.
Cyril Helnwein, 16, Deputy Supercargo, Flag Service Org.
Alex Inzel, 15, ?, Scientology Mission Expansion Office.
Daron Leitchfield, 16, Director of Personnel, Flag Service Org.
Desiree Matlock, 15, Letter Registrar, Flag Service Org.
Nico Roth, 16, Cook, Flag Crew.
Samuel Scelza, 17, Director of Communications, Flag Service Org.
Jo Struthers daughter, 16, Address File Clerk, Flag Service Org.
Monique van der Linde, 17, Master At Arms, Flag Service Org.
Martina Weissenburger, 15, Division 6 A Establishment Officer, Flag.”
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“Even after all this time I’m still shocked at how this ‘religion’ is able to turn people into the biggest bunch of liars, bullies and amoral a-holes I’ve ever come across. I’m use to associating with junkies, prostitutes, and various other sundry shady types, but generally speaking, those people have more of a moral compass than your militant Scientologist.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson arraigned Jan 20. Next conf to set prelim, March 24.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed to April 13.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for May 20 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Charged in Brooklyn federal court on Feb 4. Arraigned on Feb 9. Pretrial conference set for Apr 29.
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration. March 8: Status conference.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.
Concluded litigation:
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks
The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: 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] DRONE FLYOVER: The Gold Country mine where Scientology stores its scriptures
[TWO years ago] Mike Rinder on Scientology’s smears, Miscavige’s fears, and waiting for ‘Aftermath’ news
[THREE years ago] Scientology TV is now installed at the Ideal Orgs — when do the rest of us get to see it?
[FOUR years ago] Leah Remini’s ‘Troublemaker’ finally gets a UK publisher — and you can probably guess who!
[FIVE years ago] APPEALS COURT STRIKES SCIENTOLOGY’S $1 MILLION JUDGMENT AGAINST KEN DANDAR
[SIX years ago] NEW TODAY: Memoir with shocking claims by notorious Scientology spy, Merrell Vannier
[SEVEN years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology nuttiness on Oscar Day!
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: That L. Ron Hubbard TV Ad!
[NINE years ago] Scientology on the High Seas: Three Major Enemies Scalped!
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,228 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,732 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,252 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,272 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,163 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,470 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,338 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,112 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,916 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,232 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,798 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,717 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,885 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,466 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,727 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,765 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,478 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,003 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 358 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,533 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,084 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,233 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,553 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,408 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,527 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,883 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,186 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,292 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,694 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,566 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,149 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,644 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,898 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,007 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 2, 2021 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now 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, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
