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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Sunday Funnies: Scientology nuttiness on Oscar Day!

On Sundays, we enjoy sharing with you some of the Scientology fliers that our network of tipsters forward to us from around the world.

We have another fun collection of items today, but we also wanted to recognize the special day that it is. It’s that time again when the film industry gives away statuettes to []

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Jon Atack: The harassment of independent Scientologists didn’t begin with David Miscavige

Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and []

AOLA’s grand re-opening — a look at the last time Scientology cut the ribbon at Big Blue!

On Sunday, Scientology will have a ceremony to celebrate the re-opening of the Advanced Organization of Los Angeles (AOLA), where wealthy church members go to receive high-level “Operating Thetan” courses and auditing on their way up L. Ron Hubbard’s “Bridge to Total Freedom.” But this isn’t the first time the church has had a grand []

Is Ukraine’s proposed new prime minister a Scientologist? Says his niece: ‘That’s crap’

Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Yesterday evening, Arseniy Yatsenyuk was nominated to be Ukraine’s new prime minister in the wake of President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster.

Yatsenyuk is a former speaker of parliament and foreign minister, and led one of the factions of the opposition movement.

However, last week, when it looked like Yatsenyuk was likely to end up in []

Ryan Hamilton files another lawsuit against Scientology’s Nevada drug rehab facility

Ryan Hamilton

Less than a month after he filed a lawsuit against Scientology’s Nevada drug rehab unit, Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton has filed a very similar federal lawsuit on behalf of another plaintiff who says she was defrauded by “Narconon Fresh Start” and its deceptive practices.

Virginia resident Cathy Tarr and her son, Michael []

Telepathic space-age exorcism — Let’s do Scientology’s New Operating Thetan Level Six!

Claire Headley and Bruce Hines are taking us on our journey to train as Scientologists. Claire spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. Bruce was in Scientology for 31 years and spent about half that time as a senior case supervisor. Go here to see the []

Monique Rathbun files motion for contempt against Scientology defendants

On Friday, Monique Rathbun upped the ante on her objections about Scientology’s legal behavior by filing a motion for contempt in her harassment lawsuit against the church and its leader, David Miscavige.

Previously, she had filed a motion for sanctions, complaining that Scientology was holding back evidence that she was entitled to. Now, she’s gathered more []

Five things to watch for in today’s first Scientology wedding in the UK

The Church of Scientology is naturally very excited that Alessandro Calcioli and Louisa Hodkin (pictured right) will marry today after winning a landmark court victory allowing Scientology “religious” weddings to be held in England for the first time.

Scientology may be dwindling, but it can use every bit of good publicity it can get, so today’s []

Sunday Funnies: There’s a new contract for Scientology staff workers, and we have a copy

On Sundays we enjoy showing you the Scientology mailers and fliers that our tipsters have forwarded to us. And this week, we have a real treat.

Besides a nice collection of fundraising come-ons from around the world, we also received an e-mail from a tipster who tells us that he was a member of org staff. []

Jon Atack puts it to Scientologists — did L. Ron Hubbard have the qualities of a leader?

Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and []