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Robin Williams, 1951-2014

News this evening that Robin Williams was found dead in his Marin home is reverberating around the world and we’ll be dealing with the shock for some time. Early reports indicate he may have taken his own life after a long battle with depression.

Our readers began posting remembrances of him this afternoon, and we hope []

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John Joseph, 1955-2014: A Scientologist, and a friend to the Underground Bunker

 We knew him only as “Plain Old Thetan.”

He began communicating with us during our Village Voice days, and quickly became one of our most productive and most trusted sources about what was happening inside the Church of Scientology.

On Thursday, Plain Old Thetan — whose real name was John Joseph — died after suffering complications []

Blogging Dianetics, Part 9: Hubbard and Perversion!

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.

Vance, we thought the demons chapter was something. This next one, on “Psycho-Somatic Illness,” is really over the []

Kima Douglas, 1942-2013

On January 14, Kima Douglas died in Scottsdale, Arizona after fighting a battle with pancreatic necrosis. She was 70 years old.

Nothing was reported in the local media about her passing. And except for some Facebook testaments written by friends and family, there has been little notice online that she is gone.

But Kima Douglas was well []