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 David Miscavige Another exclusive for the Underground Bunker: One of our tipsters dared to conceal an audio recording device while watching David Miscavige deliver the annual L. Ron Hubbard birthday event, which took place at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida on March 16. This is one of Scientology’s biggest events of the year, and much of it involves presenting vignettes about the life of Hubbard to a large audience of church members wearing their finest. Miscavige talked for hours about the church’s supposed advances in the past year as well as upcoming plans. The audio we received doesn’t sound great, but we’ve managed to transcribe it, giving us a brief slice of the three-hour event and an idea of what Miscavige revealed to pump up the troops. Continue reading LEAKED AUDIO: David Miscavige Declares Scientology’s Golden Age at LRH Birthday Event
 Claire Headley is taking us on our journey to train as Scientologists. In 2005, Claire and her husband Marc escaped from Scientology’s International Base after many years as “Sea Org” workers. She spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. Go here to see the first part in this series.
Claire, you’ve taken us through Scientology’s staring contests and the beginning of its snitch culture — when you were asked to turn in, at only 10 years of age, people who might be disloyal to the church. So what’s next? CLAIRE: Next for me was the Personal Values & Integrity course, which included “overts and withholds” and The Way to Happiness. Continue reading Scientology’s Version of Family Values: The Group is Everything
 It’s a Cinderella story in the NCAA Men’s Basketball national championship tournament as Florida Gulf Coast University has become the first 15-seed to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.
In our own tournament, SMERSH Madness, we’ve seen plenty of upsets and tight showdowns as one winner will emerge who will represent the Church of Scientology’s biggest current nemesis. And now we begin to determine regional bracket champs who will compete in the Final Four. We’ve been enjoying the comments readers have left as they described how they voted and why. We know some of the matchups have been very tough, and they’re only going to get tougher. So let’s see who has reached the bracket finals… Continue reading A SMERSH Madness Update: Time for the Bracket Finals to Begin!
 Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard would have been 102 years old on March 13, but the church he left behind has been celebrating his 102nd for a couple of weeks now.
Last night, the Shrine Auditorium filled up with eager Los Angeles-area Scientologists for this year’s big Birthday Event. But we’re already getting some reports from last week’s shindig which was held in Clearwater, Florida. What’s this year’s big reveal? Well, it looks like church leader David Miscavige is finally rolling the dice on the big new project we’ve been telling you about since last summer, which will give church members even more ways to turn over their every last dime on the way to total freedom! Continue reading It’s Ron’s Birthday, And Your Present is More Scientology Stuff to Spend Money On!
 In 1990, author Jon Atack published what is still one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, A Piece of Blue Sky. Atack now has a new edition of the book out, and it reminded us what an encyclopedic resource he is. So join us as we rely on Jon’s expertise to sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.
Jon, one of the more memorable parts of the L. Ron Hubbard legend has him becoming a blood brother of the Montana Blackfoot tribe as a small child. We thought this legend was debunked long ago, but something in Lawrence Wright’s book concerns you. What is it? Continue reading Blood Brother Ron: Starting Out Life on the Wrong Blackfoot
 City Councilman Dan Halloran, flanked by Bernard and Meghan Fialkoff For several years, New York City public schools have been targeted by Scientology front groups that put on drug abuse education and “human rights” seminars without revealing their ties to the church. A Bayside dentist behind the effort was recently honored by New York’s City Council for his efforts, which have involved disseminating literature produced by the Church of Scientology at hundreds of city schools. And now, we’ve obtained a church document which shows that the “Truth About Drugs” and human rights campaigns — although they take pains to hide their connections to the church — are, in fact, part of a concerted effort by Scientology to spread its influence. Continue reading Scientology’s Sneaky Infiltration of New York City Schools
 Narconon Arrowhead Scientology’s troubled flagship drug rehab facility in Oklahoma — Narconon Arrowhead — was hit with five additional lawsuits today, all filed by Gary Richardson, the attorney who is handling four other wrongful death and fraud suits against the center. Three deaths at the facility in nine months (the last in July 2012) has resulted in local and state investigations, the Oklahoma legislature is this week considering a new bill to tighten regulation of the facility, and earlier this month Narconon Arrowhead’s CEO, Gary Smith, had his drug counselor certification permanently revoked. And today, Gary Richardson filed five additional lawsuits against the facility, each of which is alleging that Narconon is a fraudulent business that advertises bogus success rates. Each of the suits names Narconon Arrowhead, Narconon International, and Scientology’s “good works” umbrella non-profit, the Association for Better Living and Education. “If all that I have been hearing for the past few months is true, these suits are only an example of what goes on at this facility and the deceptive methods used by Narconon to get new people into the facility,” Richardson tells us. Continue reading SCIENTOLOGY DRUG REHAB CENTER HIT WITH FIVE MORE LAWSUITS
 Welcome to our ongoing project, where we blog a 1950 first edition of Scientology’s bible, Dianetics, with the help of ex-Scientologist, Bay Area lawyer, blogger, and author Vance Woodward. Go here for the first post in the series.
We’re finally getting near the middle of this book, Vance, and L. Ron Hubbard is pretty well unhinged at this point. Did you notice how, as we move into the chapter “Contagion of Aberration” that the word “unconscious” is suddenly showing up in quote marks? We’d earlier pointed out that in Hubbard’s 1950, people seemed to get knocked cold more frequently than they do now. But at this point in the book, people are also picking up engrams when they’re “unconscious” — which is to say, not unconscious at all. This kind of rule-changing is shot through the next couple of chapters. For instance, now Hubbard tells us that engrams are contagious, and can be spread around like they were the flu virus. Continue reading The Mother and Child Reunion: Another Dianetics Nightmare Advertisement
 Laura DeCrescenzo let us know there’s been an interesting break in her years-long lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. She’s suing because during the time she was a worker in the Sea Org — which prohibits its members from having children — she says she was forced to have an abortion, a claim that numerous other former Sea Org workers have also made. (See our previous story about her complex lawsuit.)
The church has argued back that DeCrescenzo took too long to bring her lawsuit after she left the Sea Org, and it has also fought every request to turn over her confidential “pc folders,” which contain detailed information about her time in the church. But now Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sohigian has put the case on hold until Scientology finally forks over those files, and he’s given the church a deadline of May 6. It’s potentially a huge new development in a case that has dragged on for years. Continue reading Scientology Ordered to Turn Over Confidential Files in Forced-Abortion Lawsuit
 Ah, the good old days… Claire, after the introductory Communication Course, there are apparently a number of different paths that a beginning Scientologist can take as they begin a trip up the Bridge to Total Freedom. For you, the next step was a course called “Overcoming the Ups and Downs of Life,” and you estimate its price at between $100 to $200. Can you set the scene for us? How did “Ups and Downs” unfold for you? Continue reading Early On, Scientology Turns You Into a Snitch
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