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 It’s that time of the week again, when we share with you the wacky fundraising mailers that the Church of Scientology sends out to its members around the world.
Our longtime readers have seen plenty of appeals for Ideal Org fundraising, and fliers urging Scientologists to hurry up and do their next course. But there are subtle differences in these advertisements, and we can’t help perceiving a distinct sense of panic and desperation as the weeks go by. Scientology is dying, and the forced tone of excitement is getting pretty obvious. Continue reading Scientology Sunday Funnies: More scenes from the End of Days
 We have a couple of really complex and lengthy stories working, but they take a lot of time to put together. In the meantime, we have some strange odds and ends that have been building up here in the Bunker and we thought we’d share some of them.
For example, a couple of weeks ago, we received this e-mail, recreated here in its entirety: “You sell-out!!!!!!! You are not posting anything I wrote, but instead are posting what THEY want you to post. SELL-OUT!!” Continue reading Selling out, and other strange side-effects of Scientology watching
 Our video source came through again this week with another “quote video,” and this one goes way back, enticing you to buy an L. Ron Hubbard lecture from 1953 — Universe Processes Congress!
For only $150 from Bridge Publications, the full lecture series can be yours. As with our previous videos in this series, you normally have to go into a Scientology ‘org’ to see these. Once you hear L. Ron Hubbard discuss his ideas, you’ll get some sense of why Scientology keeps this stuff under wraps. Does that famous charisma of his come through for you? Continue reading Video Vault: The universe is yours to duplicate, Mr. Hubbard!
 Ryan Hamilton We’re trying to catch up with all of the Scientology legal news happening around the country. Ryan Hamilton, the Las Vegas attorney who is turning suing Scientology’s drug rehab network into a cottage industry, filed his fifth federal fraud lawsuit this week with another complaint against Narconon Fresh Start/Rainbow Canyon Retreat in Caliente, Nevada. Meanwhile, Laura DeCrescenzo learned that Scientology is trying to get its hands on a computer stored in her garage, and we have numerous other filings regarding Hamilton’s other Narconon lawsuits. Let’s dig in. Continue reading Scientology’s drug rehab hit with another lawsuit; Laura D asked to turn over computer
 The Underground Bunker has obtained internal financial records from Scientology’s flagship drug rehab facility in Oklahoma — known as Narconon Arrowhead — which show the toll that recent deaths, multiple lawsuits, and a drumbeat of bad press has taken on the treatment center.
At its website, Scientology says that the Narconon network has 155 centers and groups in 46 countries, but it calls Narconon Arrowhead its “premier” facility, with a 230-patient capacity. In the late 1980s, Scientology chose Oklahoma as the place where it wanted to set up its largest drug rehab center as a model for the rest of the world. Located originally on an Indian reservation in Chilocco, the center took over a former conference center on Eufaula Lake in Southeastern Oklahoma in 2001 and was renamed Narconon Arrowhead. Continue reading NARCONON EXPOSED: Scientology’s flagship drug rehab facility is struggling, records show
 We’ve been telling you that Luis and Rocio Garcia are nearing another important date in the life of their federal fraud lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. They’ve asked to drop three Scientology entities as defendants in the case, and they’ve asked Judge James Whittemore permission to file an amended complaint (which they have submitted, and we previously posted).
In other words, they’re asking for a do-over, after it turned out that the two California residents had erred in suing in Florida three corporate trusts that had trustees in California. (The Garcias are suing in Florida because that’s where they gave most of their donations.) Continue reading The Garcias take one more shot at Scientology before their fraud suit will live or die
 Our man in Paris, Jonny Jacobsen, has another dispatch for us about developments with Scientology in France. Take it away, Jonny…
In the interest of tying up loose ends, here are a couple of items, both fall-out from France’s definitive conviction of Scientology for organised fraud last year. The first deals with Scientology’s latest attempt to persuade people that the French state was the prime mover behind its recent fraud convictions, rather than the courts that actually judged them. Continue reading Convicted of fraud by France’s highest court, Scientology still pursues creative appeals
 Hey kids, happy Easter Sunday! We have a selection of treats for you to hunt down this morning, and we’re starting off with another surprising tax document that shows the astounding wealth of the Church of Scientology!
Jeffrey Augustine has been helping us find these gems, and he tells us this one is hot off the presses — it’s the 2012 return by the Church of Scientology International, the mother church as it were. This is again a 990-T form, which reflects “unrelated business income” that since 2006 even churches have been required to submit if they’re taking in money unrelated to their main purpose. We’re less interested in the relatively small amounts of revenue listed on these documents than we are a single figure that appears on the first page — the entity’s “book value.” This is an estimate based on CSI’s total assets, including real estate. Continue reading Easter Sunday Funnies: David Miscavige has risen, & Scientology has more money than ever!
 We contacted Google’s media relations as soon as we saw what former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder posted to his blog yesterday. It was a mailer from the Orange County chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), the Scientology front group that advocates against the psychiatric profession.
The mailer claimed that CCHR Orange County had secured a “grant” from Google and would be receiving $10,000 in advertising each month, which would be used in the organization’s “anti-psych campaigns.” Continue reading Is Google aiding a Scientology front group that claims the Holocaust was caused by psychiatry?
On April 1, a story at Forbes.com caught us by surprise. It was about a man named Aaron Smith-Levin, who made a living in an unusual way. Forbes writer Nathan Vardi explained that Smith-Levin was becoming known for the complex and deep research he did for hedge fund managers who desire intelligence about companies they might want to invest in. And it was how Smith-Levin developed his skills that was particularly interesting. Though he never went to college, Smith-Levin learned his craft working for Kurt Feshbach, a prominent Scientologist and formerly the manager, with his two brothers, of a billion-dollar hedge fund in the 1980s and early 1990s. Learning the ropes at Feshbach’s Falcon Research, Smith-Levin had led investigations of multilevel-marketing enterprises, warning investors that they were scams. One investigation had even led to a crackdown by the Chinese government. Continue reading The rising business star, his mother, and Scientology’s attempt to rip them apart
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It’s that time of the week again, when we share with you the wacky fundraising mailers that the Church of Scientology sends out to its members around the world.
