Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He's written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology's harassment of Paulette Cooper titled 'The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.' He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world from an undisclosed location in an underground bunker he shares with four cats and one of them wrinkly Shar Pei dogs. Despite his super-secret security protections, you can still reach him pretty easily by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you'd like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.) [Header image courtesy John Rickard]
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The George Floyd killing: Why it’s hard to imagine a legal defense against murder charges

 Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

The George Floyd video is seriously disturbing and I imagine there will be a murder charge forthcoming, either from Minnesota or the Department of []

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Scientology’s hammy Grant Cardone and the political operator: A significant connection?

[Wakley and Cardone, a match made in Arslycus]

If motivational speaker Grant “10X” Cardone is Scientology’s “professional ham hock,” as we like to call him, then London Org’s Charlie Wakley is surely the movement’s aspirational pork product. Its British banger, as it were.

Their online summit this week felt like some sort of minor cosmic shift in []

Miscavige scores: Ohio Gov. DeWine to send out thousands of Scientology pamphlets

 Our thanks to Rod Keller for spotting this one. He noticed that at a press conference last Thursday, Ohio’s popular governor Mike DeWine announced a new initiative to address Covid-19’s disproportionate effect on minority communities, and showed off a health kit that the state will be handing out which included a pamphlet with coronavirus information.

It []

Tragedy of the assholes: History showed up, and we’re chained to these selfish jerks

 Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

For most of our lives, we Americans have had little to endure, by and large, in the way of collective sacrifice, save the stories of the great depression and World War II, told by our elders to remind us we’ve been spoiled []

Scientology’s rising new anti-vaxx star, coming to a ‘re-open’ protest near you!

[Leigh Dundas, sudden Scientology star]

Last year, the quarantining of Scientology’s private cruise ship the Freewinds for a case of measles had reporters scrambling to find out how the organization felt about vaccinations. Was the outbreak on the ship a sign that Scientology was part of the dumb anti-vaxx hysteria becoming so depressingly epidemic in this []

On Memorial Day, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s ‘stolen valor’: His bogus war injuries

 A big part of Scientology’s allure for its members is their ardent belief in founder L. Ron Hubbard as a man who was larger than life. And part of his legend were the tall tales he told about his experiences in the Second World War. Historian Chris Owen, a regular contributor here at the Bunker, []

VIDEO: Proof Scientology still promotes Hubbard’s bizarre ideas about evolution

[This illustration only makes sense to Scientologists]

We have another leaked video of a webinar that was promoted to European Scientologists this week. In “The Evolution of Life: The True Story” by Barna Gombos we can see the anti-science nature of Scientology. Gombos denies the existence of evolution and the webinar is based on the writings []

AUDIO: Scientology recruiter says wrecked families small price for salvaged planet

[Saint Hill calling!]

Phil Jones has waged war with Scientology since it ripped his family apart with its cruel ‘disconnection’ policy. You’ve read here about his campaign to place billboards in Los Angeles and Florida about disconnection, and about his involvement in a TV series that never aired. He’s a regular contributor here, and he and []

Even more filmmakers who are helping out Scientology with its TV network

 Last year we talked to J.R. Biersmith, one of the filmmakers who had agreed to allow the Church of Scientology to show their movies on the “Documentary Showcase” at the Scientology TV network on []

Scientology so stoked you watched ‘Spread a Smile’ video, it’s trying to cash in tonight

[Chick Corea, twice OT 8 Scientologist]

David Miscavige’s incredibly expensive gambit for mainstream acceptance, the purchase of KCET’s old studios on Sunset Boulevard and then the creation of “Scientology TV” from those studios, has largely been a complete flop. After a day-long spike in interest from the mass media on its opening day in 2018, Scientology []