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Augustine: How Scientology changes its story to fit what it’s trying to get away with

[David Miscavige, captain of a legal fiction]

 Frequent contributor Jeffrey Augustine is back, and this time he digs into the way Scientology changes its story, depending on who it’s trying to threaten or hoodwink. Take it away, []

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Hey, Legoland: A former Scientology youth explains what your money will buy

 On Monday, the Legoland California theme park invited actress Jenna Elfman to preside over its annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony and thanked her by donating $10,000 to the charity of her choice. Elfman, a longtime and ardent Scientologist, asked Legoland to donate the money to Youth for Human Rights, a Scientology front group that uses []

Legoland theme park donates $10,000 to Scientology front on behalf of Jenna Elfman

 Our friend and fellow journalist Mark Ebner alerted us last night to a fairly mindblowing statement posted on Twitter on Monday afternoon. The Legoland theme park in Carlsbad, California announced that it is donating $10,000 to the Scientology front group Youth for Human Rights, and in the name of actress Jenna []

Where it all began for us: Rick Ross, David Koresh, and the Church of Scientology

 Twenty years ago today, the new weekly edition of the Phoenix New Times featured a man named Rick Ross on its cover, and a byline that was printed there for the first time: “By Tony []

Scientology’s apocalyptic ‘expansion’: A hint at the real story in a Brighton shiny moment

 A number of our readers noticed that Scientology has been putting out gushing news about its unstoppable “expansion” in press releases that show up in the oddest places, like in a piece masquerading as a story that showed up in Digital Journal and in Jim Cramer’s news website The Street. We have to wonder at []

Scientology wants to force a drug rehab center on Maryland: Here’s the local county’s response

 We have an interesting document for you today. It’s the response from Frederick County, Maryland, to Scientology’s appeal of a zoning decision that is preventing its drug rehab network, Narconon, from building a boutique rehab center with 20 beds in a fishing camp known as Trout []

We’re giving thanks here in the Underground Bunker, and we hope you’ll help us out

 Here in the United States, today is the biggest Thursday of the year. It’s the day we give thanks, and the Underground Bunker certainly has a lot to be thankful for this []

Lisa McPherson and the doctors: Hamstrung by the ‘spiritual’ needs of a thetan

 Lisa McPherson’s first week under confinement at the Fort Harrison Hotel ended twenty years ago []

Strange scenes from the Moscow hearing that banned Scientology yesterday

 Yesterday, some of our commenters seemed confused that your proprietor wasn’t celebrating the news coming out of Russia that a Moscow city court had called for Scientology to be banned and its Ideal Org in that city to be shut down within six months. (Scientology vowed to []

Another Scientology rehab death — and why this one is particularly bad for David Miscavige

 Just a couple of weeks ago, we were telling you that Scientology leader David Miscavige was responding to the difficulties faced by the church’s drug rehab network, Narconon, by relaunching it. While numerous Narconon facilities have been hit with lawsuits over patient deaths and other claims of harm and dishonest dealing, Miscavige was opening new []