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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 []

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Moscow orders banning of Scientology in ongoing dispute, church vows to appeal

 We asked our man in Europe, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen, to make some sense of the news coming out of Russia today, where the government has repeatedly tried to ban or dissolve Scientology. But if anything, Scientology is dying less slowly in Russia than it is arguably anywhere in the world, and the government’s tactics []

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 []

Scientology drug rehab policy: Get the sexual assaulter out of state before police arrive

 In the many lawsuits filed against Scientology’s drug rehab network Narconon in recent years, the allegation is often made that the facilities are not as safe as advertised. Not only have sexual assaults been reported, but some lawsuits have alleged that Narconon staff — who are often just recent “graduates” of the program themselves — []

Scenes from the divorce of the second marriage that L. Ron Hubbard never had

 As you can probably imagine, things here in the Underground Bunker are rather hectic, and in order for a new story to pop up every day, a lot happens behind the scenes that doesn’t necessarily get reflected in what we present to our []

Five months later, Ponzi schemer and Scientologist Reed Slatkin is still dead

 In 2008, the website Business Pundit listed Scientologist Reed Slatkin’s Ponzi scheme as the 8th worst in all []

‘Babywatch,’ day one: Lisa McPherson raves out by Scientology’s holiest swimming pool

[The cabanas of the Fort Harrison Hotel facing Osceola Avenue]

After spending several hours at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Florida, Lisa McPherson arrived at the Fort Harrison Hotel late on a Saturday night, and already some questionable decisions were being made about her care. []

Lisa McPherson’s last opportunity for standard care ended 20 years ago today

 Joe McDonald was angry. A paramedic tried to calm him down, but he looked at the damage done to his boat’s motor and he stared menacingly at the woman who had been so oblivious that she’d driven her red Jeep right into it. []

Our Scientology tech experts review Lisa McPherson’s grim cycle of guilt and self-blame

Twenty years ago today, at three in the morning, Brenda Hubert woke up in her Orlando hotel room to find her roommate, Lisa McPherson, sitting on her, holding her arms []

Lisa McPherson in Orlando: What her hotel roommate witnessed, and the Slaughter rule

 Lisa McPherson woke up the morning of November 16, 1995 looking like hell. She had hardly got any sleep overnight in her Orlando hotel room, which she was sharing with her friend and fellow AMC Publishing employee, Brenda Hubert. []