Valerie Ross &#8211; The Underground Bunker

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman [55] Mark Bunker [56] Trish and Liz Conley [57] Trish Conley [58] Alex Barnes-Ross [59] Alex Barnes-Ross [60] Alex Barnes-Ross [61] Alex Barnes-Ross [62] Alex Barnes-Ross [63] Alex Barnes-Ross [64] Tory Christman [65] Tammy Synovec [66] Dennis Erlich [67] Alex Barnes-Ross [68] Valerie Ross [69] Kat in Austin [70] Mark Bunker [71] Phil Jones

——————–

“This quarter of the universe, by the way, is suffering from an overdose lousy civilization. See, that’s what it’s suffering from. It apparently has been recently conquered in recent times (in the last few hundred thousand years) but those who were conquered had already been — their governmental action had already been set up for their own failure, see? They’d been set up be conquered by using, themselves, mental technology which made slaves. They implanted their own troops. Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho,
ah-ah-ah-ah-a ah-ah-ah.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 21, 1963

——————–

“I was looking over the schooner just down the dock, a handsome three master. PR-wise their appearance ship wise and crew-wise is ideal. Our crew is not yet poshly uniformed and ship appearance could do with upgrading. But for all its sharp appearance their sailors get drunk ashore and dump rubbish in the harbour. One thing no-one will excell us in is the friendliness of our crew, our orderly behaviours and pride in duty. That’s our PR gem!” — Lt. Cmdr Diana Hubbard, August 21, 1970

——————–

“Justin Craig has initiated from the start a black PR campaign against Captain Bill Robertson’s tech and as such is expected to be an OSA operative at the service of David Miscavige and should be investigated fully.”

——————–

1997: Former Scientologist David Alexander reported on Scientology’s attempt to reclaim him into the cult. “They didn’t call me, but had their private investigator, Ted Banas, call me last Tuesday the 12th, and say nice things to me. Ted’s the same ex-LAPD they sent last September and October. He still insists he’s not a Scientologist, but fills their need for a ‘disinterested party’ to contact people who I guess would jump out of their skin if confronted by a Scientologist. It still causes me much enturbulation every time I relive/review the fear and domination I felt as a very devoted Scientologist. So I guess there is something to hiring non-Scientologists for this work. I guess I disappointed them by telling Ted I was preparing prosecution at the invitation of the Attorney General, and that I was making progress with the help of a forensic Psychiatrist. My favorite Private Investigator called me again today, Tuesday at 5:30pm, with a message to relay to me from OSA. OSA wants to assure me that the door is always open. I think I’ve heard that somewhere before. Well I’m sure ‘into’ the RPF is always open, and I feel there has always been an eagerness to hand out punishments of sorts. Ted, ‘my’ PI, says they want to return my money minus everything that it paid for. What I remember the most is what I’ve learned over the past few years–most notably the truths I’ve learned on ARS, such as, Hubbard is agnostic–in it for the money, the church will stop at nothing to enforce their reality, Hubbard was God and could ‘do no wrong’, larceny by false promise, many deceptions. But most of all I remember the sadistic handling of my children and the poverty they have endured while COS proved to me it was in possession of some balls or something. I remember hobbling on mangled ankles because I blew the money for surgery on holy parlor games or something.”

——————–

“It was speed which was readily available back in his day. When Hubbard talks about ‘Pinks & Grays’ he’s most likely talking about Dexedrine and Phenobarbital or Librium.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing May 31, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, on hold until appeal over new judge heard.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

——————–

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] ‘Ruin them utterly’: how PIs and volunteer members work against Scientology’s enemies
[TWO years ago] Elisabeth Moss declines Valerie Haney’s nomination as arbitrator, says Scientology
[THREE years ago] Why isn’t Scientology promoting the Covid-19 vaccines like it did hand-washing and masks?
[FOUR years ago] The Top 25 People Enabling Scientology, No. 21: Parents who subscribe to ABCMouse
[FIVE years ago] Has Scientology’s leader David Miscavige gone underground in the face of a legal onslaught?
[SIX years ago] See the Scientology-like ad for Scientologist-owned ABCMouse, made by Scientologists!
[SEVEN years ago] DOX: The full FBI file from its 2009-2010 human trafficking investigation of Scientology
[EIGHT years ago] Who are the clergy Scientology convinces to attend its ‘interfaith’ farces?
[NINE years ago] VIDEO: Scientology rehab salesmen — Just exactly the humanitarians you imagined
[TEN years ago] Jon Atack: The games L. Ron Hubbard played
[ELEVEN years ago] MONIQUE RATHBUN FILES SUIT AGAINST SCIENTOLOGY OVER HARASSMENT

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,999 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,494 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,009 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,559 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,549 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,430 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,734 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,605 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,157 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,498 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,065 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,984 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,152 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,734 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,994 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,030 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,746 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,310 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,625 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,800 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,351 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,482 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,820 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,673 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,794 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,150 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,453 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,559 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,957 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,833 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,398 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,911 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,165 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,273 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on August 21, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2023 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2023), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

Scientology’s secret sauce that supposedly booms businesses: What’s actually in it?

Tony Ortega — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 10:00:16 +0000

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Sex? Space aliens? Actually, and we know this might be hard for you to believe, but Scientology’s chief obsession is with… business administration. Say what? Yes, it’s weird. And Val Ross is back to dig into the organizational scheme that’s underneath it all. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

——————–

Technology Cocktail

— L. Ron Hubbard, 1971

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“The admiral’s office thinks very poorly of a person who gives any understanding to a crew about what they’re about, and who thinks very poorly of a ship that has fairly good morale. To have good morale is a condemnation. Got this? Now, that expediency goes up to a final peak where, man’s walking down the street, he’s picked up, he’s taken down to a spaceship, he’s laid in a bunk, he’s strapped down, given an injection. A speaker-phone starts going yap-yap-yap at him, indoctrinates him as a member of the crew, wipes out all former memory, works him over in general and he’s now part of the navy. Get the idea? It goes down to total no-determinism. Now, you just think I’m showing you a few of my engrams. They’re not my engrams; they’re the engrams of this race, and of all races in all times.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 5, 1958

——————–

“LONG VOYAGES: WE will sail on the 12th on a 450 mile voyage. The radio direction finder must be checked for operation and accuracy. Freight etc must be all in hand in this country. Various ports need notifying of new schedule. MEA will have to be alerted. Should remaining TRCs be brought aboard? The awnings come down. Lot of work to do on all this. The Capt FSO should schedule such cycles and get them done on a realistic basis so its not a last minue flat out. A nice long sea voyage followed by others will get your sea legs working. It’s a calm part of the year.” — The Commodore August 5, 1971

——————–

“Trey Lotz promoted and supported Justin Craig in his claim to be the reincarnation of L. Ronald Hubbard. He even posted a win accompanied by a picture of himself and his wife with Craig, a/k/a Lafayette, to be seen by all in the independent field. Justin Craig is the biggest deceiver; not only does he allege he is Hubbard reincarnated but he plagiarized LRH’s processes and altered them for his convenience. Trey Lotz promoted and supported those squirrel processes, and in return Craig went onto expelling Trey from his squirrel group and declared that Scientology is dead! This created disturbance and disrepute in the independent Scientology field.”

——————–

1995: Ted Mayett, former Scientologist, has been attempting to get a refund from the Las Vegas org, and has taken the unusual step of attempting to picket their location. “The picket reads ‘They Lie About Money.’ When I arrived at the building there were 5 cars parked there. I park across the street and through the glass storefront I look at them and they look at me as I approach. And now I’m right in front of the glass, on the property, as I proceed to unsling and untie the picket. Before I get off the property. You may find this hard to believe. The door opens and one of them comes flying out. And it’s the DSA Las Vegas. She happened to be there. Well, the picket never happened. We stood in the heat for an hour, this woman and I. I do not mention her name because I am not sure of the legality of it. Ted, what is the problem? ______ you are being fed lies, this entire church is built on lies. She wants to know what lies. These people are truly brain dead. I tell her the people in this building alone have lied to me five times regarding this money. One of the boys comes out with a check for $500.00. I had already declined another partial payment, told them it was no big deal. That when they had the full amount I would be right out here and they could give it to me. Now I have two of them asking me to take the five hundred and not picket. I said yes and that I would be back Tue. for the balance. The said they would not have the balance by then. I said no problem, five hundred a day would keep me from picketing. But not less.”

——————–

“One man’s moonbat is another man’s freedom fighter. Winning is the only thing that truly matters.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] PODCAST: Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley assess Leah Remini’s damage on Scientology!
[TWO years ago] Jane Doe 1 makes rare statement: Don’t delay Danny Masterson trial for baseball conflict
[THREE years ago] John Travolta sells Clearwater house: What are the Scientology ramifications?
[FOUR years ago] As Los Angeles schools prepare to reopen, Scientology keeps trying to worm its way in
[FIVE years ago] Scientology is the coolest religion on earth, video proves
[SIX years ago] California is on fire, and Scientology naturally sees a golden recruiting opportunity
[SEVEN years ago] An unusual Scientology advertisement leads to new intel on secretive ‘Int Base’
[EIGHT years ago] Florida man sues medical sleep testing company after its dapper CEO forced Scientology on him
[NINE years ago] What really happens at a Scientology rehab? Nick Lister dishes on the Narconon experience
[TEN years ago] Mareka Brousseau compares growing up in Scientology to The Hunger Games
[ELEVEN years ago] Will Shelly Miscavige Be Trotted Out at the Celebrity Centre Gala As a PR Stunt?

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,983 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,478 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,993 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,543 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,533 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,414 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,718 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,589 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,141 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,482 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,049 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,968 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,136 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,718 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,978 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,014 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,730 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,294 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,609 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,784 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,335 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,466 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,804 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,657 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,778 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,134 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,437 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,543 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,941 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,817 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,382 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,895 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,149 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,257 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on August 5, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Scientology predictably tells judge she’s powerless in today’s Val Haney hearing

Tony Ortega — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 11:00:09 +0000

[Valerie Haney and Scientology attorney William Forman]

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: After Val Haney’s attorney complained that #Scientology’s ‘arbitration’ is a joke and is subjecting Valerie to even more abuse, the church responded with a filing that says the real scandal is that Val’s attorney said anything at all about it. Wow. Today’s hearing should be lit. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

——————–

Technology Cocktail

“Sooner or later a pc will go Exterior. The Interiorization Rundown must be ordered as the next action or you will have a pc with a high TA. 2-way comm Ext-Int must be given in a following session (not the same one) so the full cognitions will occur. After this the pc is less subject to the body and his ability to confront force will improve. Do not be too worried or surprised if after this the pc has some minor accident with the body. Exterior he forgets its frailty. However, such things are minor. He is ‘learning how to walk’ a new way and will run into chairs! He gets this figured out after a while.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1970

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“One time a few years ago in a war that everybody fortunately has forgotten, a submarine appeared on my port bow. We’d been hanging over it for some time and it ran up its periscope. They used to throw up a patch of oil and then run the periscope up through the oil so as not to leave any salt scum or anything like that on their periscope lens, you know. So a blob of oil appeared and the fellow who was running the engine room telegraphs on the bridge was the only fellow looking in that direction. And he saw this blob of oil appear and he thought that was strange and interesting. We were going very slowly, we were almost dead in the water, and then right up through this big blob of brown oil on a blue sea comes a periscope — swswswswhhh — and looks around in every direction but at our ship! If it had turned another ninety degrees it would have read the biggest doggone 422 that you’d ever seen, fully magnified for the skipper. But anyway, the man on the engine room telegraphs is the only person who observed this incident in its various steps. The bridge was absolutely crammed with men because we were at general quarters. But nobody was looking right down there; they were looking out there, you know. And the fellow on the engine room telegraphs would say, ‘Thh.’ I finally noticed this strange performance and I was all set at this moment, you see, the second I saw this — flank speed and drop a depth charge right. Even if it blew our own stern off, that was fine, you see. And I said, ‘Khh!’ That was the awfulest mess of noncommunication! It finally came off all right. We dropped a depth charge and so on, but we were laughing about this for days. Nobody could talk!” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 5, 1955

——————–

“MAYFAIR: Mayfair magazine UK published an article by me as a ‘World Exclusive.’ It may effectively handle a lot of things. It ended off the William Burroughs thing. It said why we’re attacked and attacks hard. It appeared on the stands just before Parliament adjourned. Captain AOUK said it acted like an S&D on the crew there. INJURIES: Those recently injured were not PTS. Survey showed they were exterior and feeling powerful and didn’t watch where they were sending the body.” — The Commodore, June 5, 1970

——————–

“I’ve recently been cogniting on how life is a game. One cog I had was that in confronting and handling certain barriers I was thinking of applying solutions that would have sufficed a couple of hundred years ago, but had no place in today’s society. So on that 3rd dynamic problem I always became stumped. I was playing, or attempting to play, the game out of PT. When I realised what I was doing, a solution presented itself. It was a hell of a win for me on the 3rd dynamic! I got that from studying an ACC. LRH was a friggin genius, and I would thoroughly recommend that people coming out of the church continue up the Bridge because as you say, it’s the only way to learn what life is about and thereby get above it, and play a game that you really want to play, whatever that may be.”

——————–

1997: The Tampa Tribune this week published an article on the worldwide attention being given to the Lisa McPherson investigation. Lisa died in the care of Scientology’s Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida. “Since December, people around the world have been intrigued by reports of the death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson. In Australia, Canada and England, critics of the Church of Scientology have invoked McPherson’s name during protests. Arizona critic Jeff Jacobsen designed a Web site devoted to McPherson that has been duplicated to 18 different sites around the world. He and others protested against Scientology in downtown Clearwater in March. Some in the group carried signs with McPherson’s photo or her name. Ken Dandar, the Tampa attorney for McPherson’s family, said he is ‘constantly getting e-mail’ from people around the world interested in the lawsuit. Clearwater police Detective Sgt. Wayne Andrews, who is investigating the death, has received Internet mail from Germany, Greece, England, Australia, Mexico and Switzerland from people asking about the investigation or wanting to relate tales about Scientology. Interest is particularly high in Germany, where the government has concluded Scientology is not a church but a dangerous business. ‘After having conducted thorough studies on the Scientology organization, the [German] government has come to the conclusion that the organization’s pseudo-scientific courses can seriously jeopardize individuals’ mental and physical health and that it exploits its members,’ the German government said in a statement through its embassy in Washington, D.C. In the United States, McPherson’s death has attracted the attention of the Tampa Bay media, as well as The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and ‘Inside Edition’ and ‘Hard Copy’ television shows. In Clearwater, investigators say their efforts to gather information in the case have been slowed because all of the church-affiliated people they’ve sought to interview have attorneys. That includes McPherson’s former co-workers at AMC Publishing, which is owned by Scientologists. All in all, some 50 to 60 people who have been interviewed have been represented by up to 21 attorneys, police say. Subpoenas have been issued for 30 to 40 of those people. The clients have not disclosed who is paying for the attorneys. In response to a subpoena, the church has provided some records relating to McPherson. ‘I consider them significant,’ Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe said. Investigators will not discuss the documents. McPherson’s family members are suing the church, claiming its members are responsible for her death. Dandar, their attorney, says he also has the subpoenaed documents, which he describes as an incomplete set of church ‘medical records’ that ‘support all of our allegations.'”

——————–

“I almost got castrated by an emu when I was a teenager.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Mike Rinder: A class act we’re proud to call a friend
[TWO years ago] The Scientology celebrity exodus from LA to Clearwater continues
[THREE years ago] Was David Miscavige behind Tom Mesereau’s biggest blunder at Danny Masterson’s prelim?
[FOUR years ago] Year after taping ‘Scientology & the Aftermath,’ Victoria Locke is still waiting for justice
[FIVE years ago] Scientology survey for its members: Why aren’t you giving us more money?
[SIX years ago] First person: Four Scientologists have been shot, and you’re being sent to audit the pain away
[SEVEN years ago] Donna Fiore says Scientology is hounding her for dirt on stepdaughter Leah Remini
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s next big opening — its totally unneeded ‘Advanced Org’ in Australia
[NINE years ago] If the Sea Org doesn’t legally exist, how does it run Scientology?
[TEN years ago] 60 years ago and today: Scientology in its heyday, and now not so much
[ELEVEN years ago] Just What Oklahoma Tornado Victims Need: Scientology to the Rescue!

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,922 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,417 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,932 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,482 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,472 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,353 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,657 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,528 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,080 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,421 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,988 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,907 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,075 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,656 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,917 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,953 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,669 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,233 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,548 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,723 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,274 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,405 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,743 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,596 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,717 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,073 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,376 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,482 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,880 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,756 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,321 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,834 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,088 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,196 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on June 5, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Val Ross: When you’re a Scientology OT, and you have to fight cancer

Tony Ortega — Tue, 14 May 2024 11:00:47 +0000

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: OK, we screwed up. What we did was publish Val Ross’s final installment out of order, skipping this, her penultimate chapter. Please accept our apologies and try to keep in mind that the following amazing episode was supposed to go before the one you already read on Saturday. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

——————–

Technology Cocktail

“Processes run best MUZZLED. By muzzled is meant using ONLY TR 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 by the text. A pc’s results will go to HELL on an additive comm cycle. There are a hundred thousand tricks that could be added to the Auditing Comm Cycle. EVERY ONE of them is a GOOF. The ONLY time you ever ask for a repeat is when you couldn’t hear it. Since 1950, I’ve known that all auditors talk too much in a session. The maximum talk is the standard model session and the TR 0 to 4 Auditing Comm Cycle ONLY. It is a serious matter to get a pc to ‘clarify his answer.’ It is in fact an Ethics matter and if done habitually is a Suppressive Act, for it will wipe out all gains.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1965

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“You ever been on the Pacific Ocean? You look an awful long distance on the Pacific Ocean and you’ll find space, you know. The speculative horizon is like that. It’s way out, man. Boy, I mean we’ve collided with data which is highly debatable as to whether it will be popular or unpopular. And I’m afraid I have to go along with the first foundation decision I made, back in 1950 when they had that board meeting and told me I wasn’t to research on any more past lives. I don’t think they ever did get that end of the building back together again. The bricks are still cracked. And I said, well, psychology and other activities in the field of the mind have always had a large eye on popularity. And they would actually throw away materials which didn’t agree with things. They’d throw away the things which didn’t agree. And that’s why they’ve not come up with any answers. They consult this thing of the popularity of a datum, the acceptability of a datum and have therefore compromised truth. So you either accept truth or popularity.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 14, 1963

——————–

“Smersh operates on false data and has not changed his Situation Analysis in a whole score of years and does not vary tactics to fit new situations. That is valuable information. A general who fought that way would be busy fighting the 151st Bavarian Light Infantry as they were deployed at Niems in 1870! Since then they’ve been disbanded, forgotten, and that trench has been empty for 80 years. Yet such a general would have his whole army concentrating on it! Viewing national governments through this developed logic tech applied to their data and their idea of the situation reveals them to be crazy. And gives one the reason for both war and failing societies. No wonder they end up shooting people.” — The Commodore, May 14, 1970

——————–

“After the last session on ENERGY, an hour ago, I started working in the Physical Universe with OT IX technology and I am amazed at how it works. For the first time I stopped giving my dog verbal commands. Just telepathically and it works much better. I have the perception of the flow of energy coming in, how it interacts and how it translates into action. Then I started to ‘see’ the energy that makes up the bodies of the people I meet.”

——————–

1996: Mark Ebner, who briefly joined the cult and wrote an article in Spy magazine about his experience, posted a brief description of the response following the article. “I have saved the threatening letters from Scieno lawyers that arrived prior to the publication of my Spy expose. Claiming to be me, they also called the magazine’s printer in Kentucky trying to get advance copies. My credit card was fucked with in a big way.”

——————–

“The FDA could have busted Scientology a thousand times over for medical fraud if they simply sent in undercover agents wired for sound and vision to sign up for courses. Scientology registrars will promise any and all medical cures as long as you show them the money. The government is an ass.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] PODCAST: Kate Bornstein is plugged into our Danny Masterson retrial coverage
[TWO years ago] ‘Aftermath’ subject Liz Gale is sharing her Scientology experiences on TikTok
[THREE years ago] Why is Scientology desperate for a tiny plot in Clearwater? Let us draw you a picture.
[FOUR years ago] A look inside a Scientology org as it prepares to reopen for the public
[FIVE years ago] Why the quarantine is such a fail: Scientology ship was set up as an interrogation factory
[SIX years ago] Scientology’s reclusive ‘president,’ 82-year-old Heber Jentzsch, tells a niece he’s doing fine
[SEVEN years ago] With its Mexico City project halted, Scientology fans out across town to promote its pablum
[EIGHT years ago] Ron Miscavige shakes off Scientology smears, rockets to #1 in ebooks
[NINE years ago] Guest post: Five extreme examples of hypocrisy in Scientology’s ‘Freedom’ magazine
[TEN years ago] Falling death of a Russian Scientologist in Clearwater: The police investigation
[ELEVEN years ago] How to Confront and Shatter Suppression, Scientology Style!

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,900 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,395 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,910 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,460 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,450 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,331 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,635 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,506 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,058 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,399 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,966 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,885 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,053 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,634 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,895 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,931 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,647 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,211 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,526 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,701 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,252 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,383 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,721 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,574 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,695 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,051 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,354 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,460 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,858 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,734 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,299 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,812 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,066 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,174 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on May 14, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Val Ross: Stopping Scientology’s plans for a vault in Wyoming, and the future

Tony Ortega — Sat, 11 May 2024 11:00:37 +0000

[A drone shot of the interrupted vault construction at Sweeney Ranch.]

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Val Ross, who spied on the FBI for Scientology, and endured so much as a believer, brings us to present time as she finishes her astonishing series. And it turns out, her post-Scientology experience, including stopping a new CST vault in its tracks, is also fascinating. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

——————–

Technology Cocktail

“A communication cycle consists of just cause, distance, effect with intention, attention, duplication and understanding. How many of these are there in one auditing cycle? You’d have to answer that with how many principal ones there are because some auditing cycles contain a few more. If a Pc indicates that he didn’t get the command (cause, distance, effect), the Auditor would give a repeat of it (cause, distance, effect) and that would add 2 more communication cycles to the auditing cycle, so you’ve got 9 — because there was a flub. So anything unusual that happens in a session adds to the number of communication cycles in the auditing cycle, but they are still all part of the auditing cycle.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1963

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“The situation internationally, also, has improved enormously; I might make a little bulletin on that effect. The attack on Scientology in the United States has disintegrated into a rout for the government. They are now being attacked — not mildly put — by the United States Senate, and very shortly the House is going to open the ball on the FDA. Australia, their report from the inquiry has been delayed so long, the usual course of those reports and inquiries they have down there. They seem to do this quite routinely. In Victoria, they have inquiries, and then they forget about them. And the last three inquiries, as desperate as they were in progress and so forth, all wound up in no legislation. And so that one will undoubtedly dead-end too. Because its report isn’t even due in Parliament for months. And Parliament is recessing. And all of that kind of thing is happening. And if we can find Victoria, why we will set it to rights, one way or the other If we can find it. You know, you’re only dealing with a tiny little postage stamp on the face of the earth and what seems to be bowling everybody over, down in-in Australia is this fantastic news which keeps coming in to them from the United States, you see. Government runs up white flag, you see.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 11, 1965

——————–

“Dir I&R and MAA are to conduct a full investigation of insecurity of materials of confidential materials on board. They are to steal any they can and lock them up. List to the D/CO. Beginning at 1200 hrs today. Offenders are to be listed and handled appropriately.” — A. Jessup, C/O FAO, May 11, 1971

——————–

“Trump is no doubt out to end the power of the deep state and he is by some accounts making good progress. But Scientology is nowhere in sight as part of that fight. Or am I wrong?”

——————–

2000: From the Sunday Times: “By taking an estimated $24 million at American box offices in its second week, Gladiator skewered the competition easily to hang on to the No 1 spot. But then, the competition is not exactly fighting fit material. In second place is Battlefield Earth, an $80 million adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard’s science-fiction novel, starring John Travolta. It took $12 million and will disappear fast. This is the Showgirls of science-fiction. Fears that Scientology’s reputation for intimidation has affected the critics can be quickly allayed. ‘It may be a bit early to make such judgments,’ says The New York Times, ‘but Battlefield Earth may well turn out to be the worst movie of this century.’ The whole project reeks of superstar indulgence.”

——————–

“The sixties counterculture turned a lot of people into Baba Dumbasses and Shirley MacLaines. People use to be a lot tougher and more levelheaded back in the day.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on April 16.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] When it was revealed that Scientology has the DA’s documents in the Masterson trial
[TWO years ago] Tom Cruise pal Simon Pegg set to make film with rising star Scientologist director
[THREE years ago] Don’t congratulate Tom Cruise until he gives back the award that really matters
[FOUR years ago] Scientology ekes out small victories as the world goes to coronavirus hell
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s mental whammy is like taking one too many pucks to the head
[SIX years ago] Scientology’s bizarre international base and its near-prison life: A Marc Headley classic
[SEVEN years ago] On probation and his house of horrors shut down, Tennessee Scientologist talks up Mexico
[EIGHT years ago] ‘Freedom’ magazine is back after a six-month absence, and it arrived with a surprise!
[NINE years ago] As seen in the Daily Beast: ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ is on sale and ready to startle you
[TEN years ago] Sunday Funnies: What part of ‘rebel’ doesn’t Scientology understand?
[ELEVEN years ago] Jon Atack Helps Us Remember Scientology’s “Religious Freedom Crusade”

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,897 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,392 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,907 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,457 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,447 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,328 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,632 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,503 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,055 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,396 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,963 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,882 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,050 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,631 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,892 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,928 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,644 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,208 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,523 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,698 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,249 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,380 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,718 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,571 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,692 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,048 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,351 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,457 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,855 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,731 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,296 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,809 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,063 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,171 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on May 11, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Val Ross: How Scientology kept me from fleeing abuse until it was almost too late

Tony Ortega — Mon, 06 May 2024 11:00:43 +0000

[Wedding day, 1977]

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: She spied on the FBI for Scientology, she submitted to its quack medical cures. But Val Ross’s ultimate moment of danger involved a butcher knife. Another devastating installment in Val’s lookback at a Scientology life. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

——————–

Technology Cocktail

“Obtaining excellent case results is an ADMINISTRATIVE not a wholly technical function. Auditors and C/Ses are often weak on Administrative. They think general tech results improve only by more tech study. If they continue to think this way they wind up squirreling. For they are working on a wrong target for improvement, a wrong WHY or reason. Auditing is a team activity. The day of the individual country doctor is dead.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1969

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“In order to understand the third dynamic completely, you would have to understand that a thetan is confused about who is who. His basic confusion, who is who, is manifest under this: He can duplicate himself. He can put himself out there in space and be as alive out there and where he is too, at the same time, as where he is. He can duplicate himself; in other words. One thetan that can be, then, two thetans. And each one of these thetans have all the characteristics of the original thetan. And then these two thetans can duplicate themselves and have all the original characteristics of themselves but be somebody else too. So we get into valence trouble. This is one of the basic capabilities. The second we introduce duplication, however, we introduce space. So the second a thetan began to be somebody else and himself; too, there was space in the matter.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 6, 1954

——————–

“The gradual improvement of world stats is done by constant attention to DATA and gradually putting things right. Any breakdown occurs when it does because of failed or unrun missions, failure to observe and report, failure to carry out overall Flag intention. The important point is that we are gradually winning on all fronts in a world that ought to have a fence around it and seems to be dedicated to self-destruction. When you can advance into that you really have to be somebody! Any you have to know what you’re doing.” — The Commodore, May 6, 1970

——————–

“I want to talk about Mars and the implant operation going on there. I’ve audited this implant so it no longer affects me personally, but this to me seems to be of great importance in addressing (i.e. neutralizing) for others, especially in helping those beings newly arriving from elsewhere in the galaxy who get ensnared in that theta trap. Once a being has reached this solar system, it’s common to use other planets as navigation points and anchor points on the way to Earth.”

——————–

1995: About 100,000 copies of the new Freedom Magazine were distributed in the Clearwater area recently. Here are some highlights.
“In a two-page spread, Clearwater officials are taken to task for failing to settle Scientology’s demand for $1.5-million it says it spent in legal fees fighting a city ordinance that was overturned last year. The ordinance, which never was enforced because of the court fight, required religious groups and other charitable organizations to keep records on their solicitations, and opened the way for city investigations. A separate article in Freedom questions the [St. Petersburg] Times’ hiring and promotion policies for minorities and women. Another article criticizes HRS, comparing it to the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. It says the agency has destroyed families with the help of psychiatrists. Scientology has long been a critic of psychiatry.”

——————–

“Scientologists are the Kings and Queens of semantic pedantic literalistic obfuscating weasel word games.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on April 16.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology PI comes forward: I was stalking Mike Rinder, Amy Scobee and many others
[TWO years ago] Danny Masterson’s new moves in rape case: Asks to dismiss one victim, separate the other two
[THREE years ago] Can’t someone ask Erika Christensen a real question about Scientology?
[FOUR years ago] Scientology has thrown millions at Ireland in recent years, and here’s the amazing result
[FIVE years ago] Scientology and Nation of Islam figure picks worst week to rail against measles vaccine
[SIX years ago] In Hollywood and in Italy, Scientology is making all your dreams come true!
[SEVEN years ago] Ah, the reveries of 1950: When Dianetics was in full bloom
[EIGHT years ago] When Anonymous had Scientology in a panic: A new document has us nostalgic for 2008
[NINE years ago] Bob Duggan, the richest Scientologist in the world, is going to love our nifty new drawings!
[TEN years ago] Leaked footage of Scientology leader David Miscavige in Sydney
[ELEVEN years ago] Lawsuit Alleges Church of Scientology in Utah Involved in Ponzi Scheme

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,892 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,387 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,902 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,452 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,442 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,323 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,627 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,498 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,050 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,391 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,958 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,877 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,045 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,626 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,887 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,923 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,639 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,203 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,518 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,693 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,244 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,375 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,713 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,566 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,687 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,043 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,346 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,452 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,850 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,726 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,291 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,804 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,058 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,166 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on May 6, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Val Ross: From Scientology spy to extreme drug withdrawal guinea pig

Tony Ortega — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 11:00:33 +0000

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Valerie Ross continues her deeply personal series about her Scientology past, from spying on the FBI to, this time, serving as a test subject for L. Ron Hubbard’s quack ideas about drug detoxification. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

——————–

Technology Cocktail

“Dianetics is the first development since the days of Rome that changes and improves the RATE OF HEALING. Dianetics is also the first development that removes traumatic barriers from the path of healing. Medicines and endocrine compounds quite often are effective in the presence of Dianetic auditing which were once inexplicably ineffective in many cases. The barrier to healing was the engram. With that removed, healing can occur.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1969

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“In the final analysis, everything is a postulate. Everything came about by postulates. We just could make postulates the end-all of everything, and we’re very safe on it. Everything rationalizes out very nicely. And postulates if treated as a topflight goal bring about a very, very fine condition on the part of the preclear. What are you trying to get him to do, in essence? Change his mind. He has a bad leg, he’s crippled; you won’t get that leg well unless he changes his mind about having to have a bad leg. Believe me, you won’t. The doctors can saw and hew and use axes and materia medica and Morris Fishbeins and everything else on him, and by George, his leg will not get well until he has made up his mind for his leg to get well.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 28, 1954

——————–

“UK is in the mystic band. That’s the last stop this side of Hades, when an empire decides to go, Man. The basic law on this is: When dealing with unknown dangers over which he has no control and against which he has no defense, Man becomes mystic as to cause and effect. Reaching a population in that condition is quite a problem. It can be done, but only on the gradient of tiny cause and effect. By coaxing small reaches and giving very light effects it can be done.” — The Commodore, April 28, 1970

——————–

“I’ve decided to leave the other Scientology groups I belong to or have been added into. What I’ve been observing and why I’m actively leaving those other groups is while this group has seemed to come together out of common interest for the betterment of ourselves and other members with Ron 2.0 at the head, and now seems to be forming a high-level group, those other groups are filled with snakes in the grass luring people in on a pretext in order to influence and actively put people off doing not just new processes but any form of auditing.”

——————–

2001: From Wired News: “A California jury has convicted Keith Henson, a prominent critic of Scientology, of terrorizing the group
through Usenet posts and by picketing one of its offices. Henson, a computer engineer who has been involved in prior legal skirmishes with Scientology, was found guilty on Thursday of interfering with Scientologists’ civil rights and now faces a prison sentence of up to one year and a fine of up to $5,000. The charges revolved around posts Henson made in the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup about targeting a nuclear missile at Scientologists, and Henson’s picketing of the group’s Golden Era Productions in Riverside, California. The jury rejected Henson’s claim that he was exercising his First Amendment right to criticize a dangerous cult, and convicted him of interfering with a religion, one of three counts against him. Henson’s supporters have created a website, freehenson.tripod.com, to rally support for Henson during his legal battle. The site says that Scientology has a suspiciously close relationship with the prosecutor: ‘What kind of Alice-in-Wonderland Court is it that allows organized criminals to sit in the prosecutor’s chair bringing charges against the honest citizens, in which a heavily-armed cult has Mafia lawyers direct the activities of the District Attorney?’ Henson seems undeterred. ‘After court today, my wife Arel and I picketed outside the court with signs about the women killed out at the cult’s place last summer,’ he said in an e-mail. ‘We also gave away about 200 flyers about how Scientology is hurting people and breaking the law.’ Henson was convicted of violating a hate crimes statute, section 422.6 of the California Penal Code. It says: ‘No person, whether or not acting under color of law, shall by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate, interfere with, oppress or threaten any other person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege.'”

——————–

“‘Malcolm In The Middle’ was so good I broke my rule for watching TV shows with Scientologists in them.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on April 16.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Defense opened the door to hacking allegations in Danny Masterson retrial
[TWO years ago] How a decaying landmark became Scientology’s legendary Hollywood Celebrity Centre
[THREE years ago] Two Scientologists win seats on Los Angeles neighborhood council
[FOUR years ago] Scientology admits that it numbers ‘tens of thousands’ not millions, as we’ve been saying
[FIVE years ago] Leah Remini and Mike Rinder dare Scientology defenders to go on camera
[SIX years ago] A new ex-Scientologist memoir provides a journey through extortion in the rank-and-file
[SEVEN years ago] With Scientology at war in Clearwater, religious studies types still seeking its warm & fuzzy side
[EIGHT years ago] MONIQUE RATHBUN BLAMES FORMER ATTORNEYS AS SHE PLANS TO DROP LAWSUIT
[NINE years ago] Secretly taped Scientology executive complains about cheating on the ‘Survival Rundown’
[TEN years ago] Chris Shelton on the origins of Scientology’s notorious ‘Fair Game’ policy
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Baby We’re Amazed!

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,884 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,379 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,894 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,444 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,434 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,315 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,619 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,490 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,042 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,383 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,950 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,869 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,037 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,618 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,879 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,915 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,631 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,195 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,510 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,685 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,236 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,367 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,705 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,558 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,679 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,035 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,338 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,444 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,842 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,718 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,283 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,796 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,050 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,158 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on April 28, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Val Ross: Midnight terror in the career of a Scientology spy

Tony Ortega — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:00:45 +0000

[Natalie Cole was a top target for Val’s Scientology recruitment efforts]

[Valerie Ross continues her series about working for the ‘Guardian’s Office,’ which included her infiltration of the FBI. Now, after the 1977 FBI raid of the church, she’s getting used to a new role in Scientology.]

A Guardian’s Office “celebrity liaison” was a catch-all title. I was the face of Scientology for anyone who was even slightly famous and who needed some TLC. I helped plan events, and I was a quasi-recruiter for getting new celebrities into Scientology.

This meant that I spent a lot of time carrying my daughter around in her Gerry aluminum frame backpack (cool for the time) that was given to me at my baby shower thrown by my FBI coworkers. (You can see the top of the backpack and a piece of the aluminum frame in the photo where I’m picketing the FBI.)

Part of my job included organizing celebrity events for the public to attend, and part of it included going places where there were celebrities and checking to see if any of them expressed an interest in Scientology and, if so, herding them subtly in the right direction. I was also the person who ran random errands for celebrities who were busy on course or in session so they wouldn’t be distracted,

I can’t imagine recruiting celebrities these days, but back then, with Milton Katselas one of the main acting teachers at the time and a Scientologist himself, celebrities were more apt to at least poke their heads in the door of a Scientology building. It also helped that there was no Internet to spread the word if someone was disaffected.

My husband was becoming increasingly jealous of every moment I spent out of the home. He was drinking every night and he loved his Scotch, never one for just a beer.

Mary Sue Hubbard was not in great shape, spending more and more time behind closed doors. I took in typing at home to supplement our meager income, and I was lucky enough to have an IBM Selectric typewriter. So with a choice of fonts, I built up quite a clientele. This gave Mark all the reason he needed to become a full time student during the day, though I never understood how he could get blackout drunk at night then show up on course in the morning.

Rather than being upset that he did that, it was a relief. It meant that there were hours every day when my time was my own. Since I was a fast typist and my rate was by the word or the page depending on the job, I could whip out my work in no time flat and still have time to clean, cook, and do my Guardian’s Office duties, and even get a solo auditing session in during my daughter’s nap time.

The Operating Thetan (“OT”) levels were a huge disappointment to me. I got through OT I and OT II and was not even sure I wanted to go on, but the hype was so big I jumped into OT III. Opening the briefcase and reading the material was a real what-the-hell moment for me. The first thing I wanted to do was talk to someone, anyone, about what I had read. But founder L. Ron Hubbard had that covered two ways. He made sure your case wasn’t supposed to be discussed with anyone, and he emphasized that the OT materials were highly confidential. So I started auditing on them, but I certainly wasn’t thrilled with it.

Being in the OT levels meant in Scientology terminology that I was in the middle of “the non interference zone.” That meant I was to be treated with kid gloves and have the least amount of distraction in my life possible. This zone applies from Clear through OT III. During that time in my life, I was spied on the FBI, the FBI raided Scientology, I had a baby, and now my life was descending into barely controlled chaos. I audited quietly, turned in my sessions to the case supervisor (“C/S”) and continued with the hell that was my life.

The basement at the Manor (the Hollywood Celebrity Centre) was no longer fun. It was a place where I spent as little time as possible. For most people who have worked anywhere, you know who your co-workers were. You have developed a relationship of sorts with most of them. Scientology workplaces are different. You may not know the names of people in the same department as you. You know nothing of their families, they probably don’t know much about their own family. Their dreams? The common dream was clearing the planet. No one was allowed to have any other dream than that.

There were a few high-profile people I knew by name, like Arte Maren, but for every face I recognized, there were two dozen faces that were now foreign to me. I would type my mission reports at home and spend the few minutes necessary to drop them off, and get new orders then book it out of there.

I missed my friend Diana Hubbard, daughter of the founder, but as Leah Remini later learned you don’t ask after people who disappear in Scientology. I would have loved to talk to her again, to play piano duets, to see how she felt, but it was not in my very limited purview to ask questions about people who weren’t there.

I didn’t even realize it until 2012 when Mark Plummer told me about it, but the extreme irony of what I was doing — dealing with the founder’s wife (Mary Sue), the president of the Church of Scientology (Heber Jentzsch), and high-profile celebrities — was that I had a Suppressive Person declare sitting there in the files at ASHO under my maiden name. I had not been told I was declared, but my students and former co-workers thought I was. It shows just how much secrecy the entire organization is shrouded in that I was in the same town as I had been, just another department, and I was a high level Scientologist while a few miles away it was believed I was a disgrace. And those two worlds did not collide.

Meanwhile, in my high-profile not declared life, Midnight Special was in full swing, and by early 1978 I had been given a permanent backstage pass to the tapings. It sounds like kind of a glam life and to be honest, I’m not sure who got that for me, but it was my only ticket to sanity during those dark days.

I became really close with a girl named Marda. She was not a Scientologist and I didn’t ever tell her I was one. I met her at a taping. She was funny and outspoken. She was also blind. Her mother had instilled a sense of independence in her that was breathtaking to observe. With her cane and her attitude, she took on the world. I would call her and pick her up to take her with me to the tapings. I learned early on how important self esteem was in her house. One day I told her mom “it’s just Val” when I called to talk to Marda. Her mother responded. “No one is just anything. Do not do that to yourself.”

The problem was that this woman didn’t realize I was no longer looking for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I had been beaten down by both Scientology and my husband to the point where my goal was to just escape each encounter with the world with the fewest scars possible.

Mark’s twin sisters were home from Delphi by then. At 16 they were old enough to drop out of school, and they joined the rest of their brothers and sisters in not getting a high school education. With his mom going back and forth between Flag on her upper OT levels, it became my responsibility to take care of two belligerent teenagers for months at a time. I managed to get one of them to get a job in fast food, so I chauffeured her to and from her job as well. Her other sister would accompany me on shopping trips.

I was breastfeeding and wow, I had never been endowed before but I was while breastfeeding. I kept getting leers while I was out even when carrying my child in my arms. I had a T-shirt that I wore a lot, with really fancy script embroidered right across the chest. It said Phuque U. It embodied my feelings on life at the time.

We learned to work with a minuscule budget for celebrity events. Mark’s little sister became my right hand shopper. After a crash course in creative bargaining from Amanda Ambrose, Mark’s sister and I would shop at the farmers market and use fruits vegetables and cheese in creative ways to make it look posh. We came up with ways to set up the Shrine Auditorium for each event in a unique way that put a different spotlight on that celebrity. The Shrine, balconies and all, was packed in those days for Stanley Clarke, Chick Correa, Amanda Ambrose, and half a dozen others.

Hubbard had grand ideas for a new record as well, and we were advertising in the Auditor for musicians.

As long as one of sisters was with me when I did things, Mark was fine. However I couldn’t take them to the tapings, they were underage, so they stayed home in our crowded two bedroom apartment with the baby. Mark was not the type to babysit even if he was available.

In early February, 1978 I went to a taping with Marda. Natalie Cole was the host and she was my target for the night. KC & The Sunshine Band were back performing again, either their second or third appearance.

During the taping, as KC & the Sunshine Band were performing, I told Marda the lead singer was really cute. We were right there on the front row. She said “mess with them,” so I hollered out, “hey, my friend is making eyes at you” all the guys looked at me, I pointed at Marda with her cane and dark glasses laughing hysterically. It was a moment of pure joy. After it was over that night, I dropped Marda off and went home. The present me really wishes I knew where she was now. I’d love for her to be in my life again.

Arriving home, Mark was waiting for me in the dark when I walked in the door. He immediately accused me of cheating on him, told me I was screwing around, called me a whore, and began pummeling me. Welp. There went that joy. His rage woke up his sister, who called the police. They showed up about the time I lost consciousness. My next memory is waking up in the emergency room. The cops were there and people from the GO walked in the door towards me. The cops saw them and left. I was convinced to sign out AMA with no pain pills. This was the first time he broke my nose, and I’m fairly certain a rib or two, though I didn’t get x-ray confirmation and continued to carry my baby, because no one else was there to depend on.

The next morning I was called to appear in front of the Sergeant-at-Arms to write up my overts for enturbulating Mark. Yes, I got in trouble for him beating me up. This despite the fact that I was auditing on OT III and Hubbard specifically stated: “A pre-OT who is running well and making case gain should not be interrupted. And, where a person in the Non-interference Zone does need O/Ws pulled, the auditor must first obtain a C/S OK”

I just had to deal with it. I had no way of appealing to logic, either with the ethics officer or Mark. I was on a job assignment for the GO at the taping, and Natalie Cole was on the top 10 list at that time of people targeted for recruiting into Scientology. With a three-month-old child I was certainly not out looking for someone to screw. But I had a choice. I could make up some “crimes” and get through it, or I could stomp and yell and get punished worse. In Scientology you learn to breathe deep and surrender if you want to stay in. At that point I guess I still did.

As soon as the black eyes had healed, Mark snapped this photo of me (or as he put it “your fat bitchy ass”) doing dishes. I weighed 120 lbs. at 5’10” in that photo. I was not allowed even aspirin for the pain. We didn’t have it in the house. I just had to soldier on.

I felt as empty as that photo looked. Even my blue eyes had gone grey.

The next few months were pure chaos, I went where I was told when I was told, wrote up my reports, and did my best to avoid Mark’s wrath. Midnight Special was the place to be back then. No matter who was scheduled to appear, there were various artists who would show up just to chat, jam, or warm up the audience. Willie Nelson came by three times in the eight months I was there. I got a photo of him once and he autographed it on his next fly-by. I learned that if I took my camera gear, Mark was less likely to explode.

Since I was still baking bread and Art the landlord was a regular customer, I worked a deal with him to turn one of the studio apartments on the first floor into my darkroom. I would take my 8-year-old goddaughter Tracey in with me to develop the photos and she’d hold the baby and learn techniques. Seriously. No one cared if their children were in school. School was for wogs.

I got really good at traversing LA. With my trusty Thomas Brothers map in hand and usually one or both of Mark’s sisters and sometimes my goddaughter in the car too, I grew very acquainted with LA County as I ran errands for the rich and famous or scouted venues. I got so acquainted with LA that in 1987 when I took my kids and then foster daughter on a vacation to Disney, Universal Studios, Sea World, and San Diego Wild Animal Park, I was napping, my foster daughter was driving, she woke me from a dead sleep and said “I’m lost.” I looked around and said “we are in Venice Beach, PCH is 2 blocks that way, turn left and head for San Diego.”

During this chaos, I finished up OT III, OT IV and OT V, I was really trying to think of excuses not to go on because I really couldn’t figure out how any of this was helping me. The decision was made for me in an avalanche of events.

First, the indictments came down. The day they came down, Heber was on my doorstep. It was August 15, 1978 and he needed my help organizing a protest. In the real world, if you see someone for the first time just over six months after their wife’s death, the first order of business is condolences, sympathy, and then business. Yvonne’s name was not mentioned. That’s not how you do it in Scientology. She had ceased to exist.

We quickly organized a protest, and there I was protesting the same building and the same people who had given me a baby shower several months earlier. Yes, it had come to that. I had turned on the ones who had treated me with kindness at the order of my group. I do not recall feeling remorse at the time. I still felt like I was helping the good guys. The protest went off without a hitch. This was back in the day when Heber had a large group of pastors and preachers eating out of his hands. Several religious leaders showed up and we spent the day protesting. Then we packed up and went home.

The next day Mark’s sister and I went shopping for the next celebrity event at the Shrine. While we were out I told her I was pregnant again. She asked if I wanted to be. I said “does it matter?”

We came back to the apartment to find Mark in bed with a girl around his sister’s age. He went ballistic. Of course it was our fault for coming back and finding him committing statutory rape. The girl grabbed her clothes and ran out, his sister grabbed the baby and barricaded herself in a bedroom to call the police and I was left there with him.

The floor was covered in blood and I was unconscious by the time the cops arrived. This time I was admitted because I was miscarrying and hemorrhaging, and all of my fingers in my right hand and my right wrist were broken. I actually got pain meds while I was in the hospital, despite my GO handler stating “if she was conscious she would tell you not to give her those.” I heard that, but did not let on that I did as my care provider protected me.

Mark’s sister told her mother what had happened. His mother responded, “well, she must have done something to deserve it.”

My GO handler checked me out as soon as they got the hemorrhaging under control, once again with no pain meds, and a promise (a lie) that I would get follow-up care. I had a cast that a guy at the Bellevue Mission cut off with a hacksaw a few weeks later. That was the extent of my follow-up care. No police report was filed, but I was in ethics trouble again. This time, I was considered a liability to the organization because my husband kept getting me hospitalized and that was bad PR for Scientology. It was decided that we should move on.

Heber brought my ethics and pc files over and we burned them in the hibachi on the balcony. That’s how they destroyed evidence back then. This has worked out well for me because Scientology only has trace records of me in their files. They have my clear number but don’t have evidence that I was in the Sea Org although I have ex-students and ex-co-workers who know I was there. Their secrecy works both ways. They destroyed their blackmail files on me years ago in their attempt to conceal just how huge Snow White was. The government really didn’t arrest the majority of the players, but they did shut down the operation. And, Scientology pretended to dismantle their spy ring too. That was when we were sent “on extended mission.” I was still unofficially GO, but the GO was in tatters, so I’m not sure it mattered.

I was only one of the people in the organization who were let go at that time. I was given $2,500 in what I considered hush money, though no one came right out and said that. I understood that I was still at their beck and call if needed, but no longer would I receive a weekly paycheck. Basically I got just under a years’ pay to get out of their sight.

Looking back, I find it horrifying that no one even attempted to offer me an escape from Mark. But then it got worse because no Scientologist would believe me over him … ever. But we were now on our road trip to our destination. First stop: Bellevue Mission Washington.

— Valerie Ross

——————–

Technology Cocktail

“The new auditor does not realize how serious it is to flub a command. The pc is “down the track” and not in present time. He looks like he is there. When he fails to get the next command or gets a wrong command he becomes alarmed, comes into Present Time as best he can and the auditor loses control. Anytime a pc is made to wait, whether by a wrong command or no command or an auditor writing too much on his work sheet, a Dianetic session crashes.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1969

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“We find our people, as we process them, further and further along on this curve of create, through survive, to destroy. And when we get well past survive, we get to an individual who can think in no terms but suicide. He tries to kill himself and those around him. He would not even dream of getting, you might say, out of the body. All he can think of is being in the body and destroying things. He has bought the physical universe. Well, we try to process this individual. We normally find him in sanitariums, and so forth, because he’s no longer able to promote the biological line; and we find his anxiety on the subject of sex very, very great, but it’s very destructive. It’s not the type of sexual activity that would lead to an unending stream of protoplasm. Quite on the contrary, it would be a type of sexual activity which said ‘The unending stream of protoplasm must now end,’ which is to say homosexuality, other misconducts. And we’d find him over on the physical universe side of the ledger over here. And he would be very involved with rocks and solid masses of various things. He’s really left the biological line.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 22, 1954

——————–

“The VIP Party was a huge success, Governor, Lord Mayor and all. Div VI must receive full cooperation on set ups and drills, however. We are at our best in Billing and Drilling. It’s been an awful long time since I heard the rush and pound of feet getting a drill drilled. Guest drill is just another drill. The Supercargo is reponsible for having a well drilled ship. The smartest ships ever were the heavily drilled Enchanter, Avon River and the pre-Melilla RSM! So WE DRILL 1700 to 1800 DAILY HEREAFTER, at sea or in port Supercargo and Ship LRH Comm Take note please.” — The Commodore, April 22, 1970

——————–

“Over the last 10 years I have been on a structured, methodical, examination of my past. I do positive work as well to stay well and fully in PT, but discovering and understanding my experiences has been the bulk of my activity. With over 10,000 hours of looking, I have built up a fair understanding of my timeline with a pretty good knowledge of the key eras of our existence. These major eras seem to have the greatest affect on who we have become, with additional various incidents acting as locks, solidifying the primary postulates, decisions. For example, most recently the rise of large, common universes and how we were drawn into, then locked into this system of existence.”

——————–

1995: Bob Penny distributed a monograph, “Things That Can Be Said To Work…”. It’s a description of the tactics and internal logic of Scientology. An excerpt: “The wonder is that I wasted 13 years of my life and more than $100,000 before learning to handle the false loyalties and other tricks in which I was enmeshed for so long. Clearly, something was going on that my basic “street education” had not prepared me to deal with. Rationalizations such as, “it’s the best thing we’ve got,” and “at least it’s moving in the right direction” (neither of which is true) helped perpetuate the stasis. Even afterwards, it was hard to avoid rationalizations like “but I learned a lot,” or “the organization sucks but the tech is good” which were attempts to minimize and not really face the harm which had occurred and from which I had yet to recover. The habits of self-censorship, loaded language, avoidance of contrary data, and other thought-stopping mechanisms took a long time to go away if, indeed, they are gone even now. Scientology was not a beneficial experience for me. I avoid the word fraud because it connotes a deliberate and knowing deception which is rare among the misled, but I do believe the organizations practices are based on fraud. The “tech” is certainly fraudulent. But as regards most individual Scientologists, I suggest instead the word trip, in the sense of a self-justifying system of thought which, once entered, leads only into itself.”

——————–

“At least two thirds of the people who showed up on the top five anti-Scientology vids on YouTube from 2008-2010 representing themselves as Scientologists were in fact FAKE. And I was usually the person who busted them.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on April 16.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] A warrior’s journey in and out of Scientology
[TWO years ago] When L. Ron Hubbard assigns you to the deep: A slice of Scientology in new book
[THREE years ago] Why Danny Masterson’s attacks on Leah Remini aren’t helping him in court
[FOUR years ago] Even a pandemic can’t stop Scientology from tracking you down, apostate!
[FIVE years ago] Where is Scientology dying most Ideally? Could it be our neighbor to the north?
[SIX years ago] Everything — even Scientology — is up to date in Kansas City, and here’s who’s responsible!
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology denied twice in wrongful death lawsuit as parents grieve for Tabatha Fauteux
[EIGHT years ago] Another depressing piece of evidence that Scientology advocates splitting apart families
[NINE years ago] Scientology: Making fools of your local elected lunkheads since 1952
[TEN years ago] The Garcias take one more shot at Scientology before their fraud suit will live or die
[ELEVEN years ago] GARCIAS RESPOND TO SCIENTOLOGY: YOU’RE A BIG RIPOFF

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,878 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,373 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,888 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,438 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,428 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,309 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,613 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,484 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,036 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,377 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,944 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,863 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,031 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,612 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,873 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,909 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,625 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,189 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,504 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,679 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,230 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,361 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,699 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,552 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,673 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,029 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,332 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,438 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,836 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,712 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,277 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,790 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,044 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,152 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on April 22, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

What awaits you at the end of Scientology’s long, arduous journey

Valerie Ross — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 11:00:54 +0000

[Last time, Val Ross told us about working as a spy at the FBI after its raid on Scientology in 1977. She’s working on a subsequent installment in her tale, but in the meantime sent us this fascinating look at what she’s going through right now.]

Since 2013 I’ve been working with an attorney who is also a state legislator. In July 2020, at the height of Covid, I retired. After Covid, when the work picked up again in mid-2021, the attorney got a new assistant who worked really hard at running his business into the ground.

He came by my house in 2022 and asked me to please rescue him. I came back at an increased salary and decreased schedule. He had an assistant who was supposed to be getting groomed to be my replacement. However, it was obvious that his heart wasn’t in getting me replaced, and the new assistant wasn’t up to the task, so I found and hired a qualified person and trained her to take over the high paced high stress business. I am confident that this person, with hundreds of pages of instructions as well as some very intense one-on-one training will make the cut and I can actually re retire for real this time.

What does this have to do with Scientology?

It’s a stark contrast actually. When you leave a Scientology position, you are supposed to find and train your replacement. I did that in this case, but it wasn’t required. I did it because I actually cared about the baby I had built and didn’t want it to fail, and I wanted to make sure I left with the best possible all around feeling, on my terms.

Also, in Scientology, leaving is a secret, you don’t tell anyone because that would cause upset. You’re supposed to just disappear and your new replacement is there. How that doesn’t cause upset is a mystery to me.

As for retirement in the Scientology world, there is no such prospect for staff or Sea Org members. Back in the day, a staff member who was too old to be of use was simply offloaded to family, if any existed, if not they were unceremoniously kicked to the curb.

These days, it is my understanding that this is no longer done, now they are hidden in a nursing home where their non-Scientology family is not allowed to visit them if they do manage to figure out where they are. They die alone with strangers. Scientology does its best to hide the fact that this person has died. Annie Broeker died in June 2011. Even her sisters who were looking for her were not told of her death. Heber Jentzsch is rumored to be in a nursing home.

What a sad lonely isolated life. They gave all day and all night of their entire life to what they were told was the noble goal of saving the planet, yet at the end of their lives, when they deserve to rest, when they deserve praise and accolades for a job well done, they are hidden and isolated and they die in what Scientology considers ignominy.

Here I’ve not only told my treasured clients I’m leaving but some of them have my contact information to keep in touch with me outside of work. I’ve received flowers and other well wishes and cried as I said goodbye to some clients I’ve worked closely with all these years. I’ve gotten to hear what a difference I made in their lives at a very hard time for them.

Another huge difference is the client data dump. I have told my replacement about which clients have lost a child or a spouse recently. We treat our clients with respect. That’s something that doesn’t happen in Scientology.

There are clients who are deeply embarrassed that they come to us. That is understandable. We listen to them and do what we can, if possible, to help them. Scientology, which claims to be saving the world, treats everyone as a pocketbook. They do not want to hear who you are or what your fears are. When taking over a new post as a Scientologist, you are not told about your co-workers’ quirks, or which clients need TLC. You are taught the relevant policy for your post. You are taught that you must always be on task, that there is no time in the world for Dev-T (Developed and Unnecessary Traffic) or misemotion.

I beg to differ. You need the time to treat people as people. If not, it’s a bleak world.

I am able to tell my replacement about the candy bowl and what candy each client and the boss (with ordering links) likes. I can tell her about the stickers and multi colored pens and rainbow pencils) I have in my purse to give to clients’ children so they have their own paperwork to do while their parents fill out theirs.

As I have been phasing out, if a client asks to speak to me, I put them on speaker so the new girl can listen in and learn how to answer the questions. One client was thanking me for what I did and the gift I gave their daughter. My replacement said “Gifts? You didn’t tell me I got to give gifts! That’s my favorite thing.” I knew then I had chosen the right replacement.

I’m not going to disappear. I am not going to hide away in a nursing home. I have no plans to channel surf in a darkened living room. My cameras and my pickleball gear are
ready to go. The travel trailer is going to be our home away from home. We will stay connected via Starlink, though we will sometimes choose to go off grid on purpose. The canoe will get a workout, I will spend time with friends and relatives. I will enjoy this new phase of my life because I’ve been working at one job or the other now for 55 years. It’s someone else’s turn.

But contrary to Scientology preaching that you have to isolate yourself to save the planet, I disagree. It’s not hard to make the world a better place. You don’t do it by hiding people from the ones they love. You don’t do it by forcing them to do repetitive busywork day in and day out until their mind and body give in. You do it one kindness at a time.

— Valerie Ross

——————–

Technology Cocktail

“The most awful thing I think that can happen to a Class VIII Case Supervisor is to have to try to do his job with no competent Review Auditor. The lack of a Review Auditor ends the trail. If the HGC squirrels and then Review goofs up too and there’s no good auditor in Review to catch that, an VIII Case Supervisor feels licked.
Therefore the proper procedure is to take up the case with himself as auditor, straighten it out. And demand someone is sent to an VIII Course to be trained.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1969

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“There are three classes of universes. There’s your universe and that class of universe known as the other fellow’s universe and the physical universe — universes of the type of the physical universe. Now, these in essence are three types of universe. Now, there’s a law back of all this, and that is to say that a universe is subject to the postulates of the god of that universe. Let’s take the physical universe. Everybody agrees that there’s a God someplace and that the physical universe obeys His law, so forth. It’s an interesting aberration in itself. Now, it’s a little more important, however, when we apply it to Mama. Mama is the god of Mama’s universe. Everybody concedes this. Maybe she isn’t in her own mind but everybody concedes that she is.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 12, 1954

——————–

“PENALTIES: Those absent from drills — no next meal. Those absent from study — 10 s per offense logged by supervisors and deducted from allowance and paid by Purser to 2 Div for facilities fund. False report — one week’s allowance. Outness or irresponsibility in admin or on post or watch — 3 days pay. REWARDS: When the ship is out of Non Existence and up to Emergency a reward schedule will be posted. MUSIC: No music while the ship is below Emergency.” — April 12, 1969

——————–

“My Christian friends want me to stop studying Scientology. I think it’s a loyalty thing. I have to choose between Christ and L. Ron Hubbard, apparently.”

——————–

2000: The St. Petersburg Times published a column by Mary Jo Melone on the criminal and civil cases being heard in the Tampa area. “Do you think it’s possible that those Scientologists, those believers in e-meters and psychological audits and goose-stepping group-think, are transmitting weird radio signals that have addled some of the best minds in Pinellas County? How else to explain the mental nose dives of the medical examiner and the chief circuit judge when they were confronted with the story of the slow, miserable death in 1995 of Scientologist Lisa McPherson at the Fort Harrison Hotel? Last week, Judge Susan Schaeffer, who is presiding over the criminal case, dropped hints heavy as bricks that she may throw out the criminal charges against the church, for negligence and practicing medicine without a license. She even said she ‘felt sad’ that members of the so-called church had to see pickets in Clearwater protesting McPherson’s death. Did Schaeffer have any concern for the feelings, confused, depressed and psychotic though they may have been, once possessed by Lisa McPherson? Apparently not. She even said McPherson went to the hotel, after a car accident and a bizarre episode in which she took off her clothes, quite willingly. Schaeffer said she was troubled by the state attorney’s decision to prosecute the church, and not individuals, because this could be taken as an infringement on the right to practice religion. If what they do at Scientology headquarters in Clearwater is a religion, then I’m a planet. Saturn, say, rings and all. Hillsborough Circuit Judge James Moody has the civil case, a wrongful death suit filed by McPherson’s estate. On Friday, church lawyers asked him to throw out the suit, based on some of the nonsense Judge Schaeffer had swallowed. They again said Lisa McPherson was not out of her mind and made a free and independent decision after her car wreck to go to the hotel. Moody refused. He said whether McPherson had acted freely was in dispute. The judge also said he would do everything possible to keep religion out of the case. Is it the differences between two judges and their personalities? Or are the politics of placating Scientology in play? Clearwater’s city manager, Mike Roberto, spends half his time making nice with the e-meter crowd. Worry that some of the best minds in Pinellas County have been cowed by Scientology.”

——————–

“Believe it or not, ‘Wichita Lineman’ is one of my all time favorite songs. I’m usually in tears by the end of it.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:

— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing May 17, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on April 16.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology quietly acquires $13.5 million converted church near Big Blue: But why?
[TWO years ago] Scientology holds its ‘Writers of the Future’ awards back on schedule, same garish display
[THREE years ago] Scientology answers Danny Masterson accusers at California Supreme Court, and it’s ugly
[FOUR years ago] Scientology continues to see the pandemic as a public relations opportunity
[FIVE years ago] Scientology deception and financial fraud spelled out in incredible legal letter
[SIX years ago] Why Scientology has no business pontificating on mental health — a discussion
[SEVEN years ago] Need a boost to your superpowers? Scientology has a (pricey) solution for that!
[EIGHT years ago] Astra Woodcraft, ex-Scientology kid, wants you to read a short essay
[NINE years ago] How Scientology broke up Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers: The story you haven’t heard
[TEN years ago] Why is Scientology’s cruise ship caught up in a lawsuit about human slavery?
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Lavish Annual Party for Pampered Sci-Fi Writers, This Sunday!

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,868 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,363 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,878 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,428 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,418 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,299 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,603 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,474 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,026 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,367 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,934 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,853 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,021 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,602 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,863 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,899 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,615 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,179 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,494 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,669 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,220 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,351 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,689 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,542 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,663 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,019 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,322 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,428 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,826 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,702 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,267 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,780 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,034 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,143 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on April 12, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Val Ross: What it was like to infiltrate the FBI for Scientology

Tony Ortega — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 11:00:44 +0000

This is important to know: A lot of what I’m telling here is because I did something most people in my position didn’t do — I never stopped writing letters home.

My parents never stopped answering. My mother saved all those letters. I didn’t tell them most of what I’m saying here, but those letters with their “acceptable truths” and the photos I sent home allow me to get myself back in the headspace I was in back then. Let’s just say I’m able to “read between my lies.” Otherwise, I’d not remember most of this.

Now back to the story: May 16, 1977, I started my job at the FBI building. I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. I envisioned a Pink Pantheresque workplace with people in dark suits and glasses sneaking around corners. L. Ron Hubbard had drilled into our heads that these guys were our sworn enemies.

I walked into a bright, well-lit, and clean office space with plants and photographs. I was welcomed by the receptionist and cheerily offered a cup of coffee or water. I took the water: no caffeine for this pregnant mama. Bear in mind that at this point, at 5-10 and starting from 120 lbs., I was throwing up all the time and fighting to gain weight in my pregnancy, so at about four and a half months pregnant I had gained a total of 10 lbs. I thought I was huge, but I didn’t even look pregnant in the photos I see of me back then.

I was taken on a tour of the offices, then to a conference room with a snack and some water where I met my bosses. I was shaking inside but I “kept my TRS in.”

I worked for three different men. They introduced themselves by their first names, they were all in shirtsleeves no ties. We discussed what I would be doing and they asked if I knew Dictaphone. I said, yes I had used one (once) but was better at shorthand. They all looked at each other. Even back then shorthand was a lost art. I ended up using shorthand more than the Dictaphone but got really good at that too.

My job was a simply clerical one. I went in an office with my steno pad and took dictation or one of “my guys” would drop a tape on my desk. I’d type it and store it to a
mag card, they’d make corrections and I’d feed the cards in, line by line, and make corrections. I was making a whopping $4.30 an hour, and I was taking home more
than $600 a month. However, I had to buy my own breakfast, lunch, and usually dinner, because my hours didn’t coincide with the Manor cafeteria, so it wasn’t all gravy. But I knew how to cook and I packed a lunch.

I bought baby clothes, a crib, a high chair, cloth diapers, arranged for a diaper service, and then splurged when Paul offered to sell me a Minolta SRT 101 for $150, including a 50 mm lens and a 100 mm zoom lens so we would have a way to photograph the baby. I still have them. They aren’t worth anything, but I laugh at the fact that that 100mm zoom weighs three times what my 600 mm zoom lens does these days.

Having a baby, even with the physician coming to our home for a home delivery, was dirt cheap in 1977. From start to finish, office visits to delivery and the follow up appointment, it cost $800 to have my daughter. I had paid that in full before she was born. It was the 1970s, and we were hippies. I carried a huge brown macrame tote bag to work with me every day. It had my lunch, along with various other items, including, but not limited to, if I remember correctly, the kitchen sink.

My bag became a pivotal part of my life during the time I spent at the FBI because it was this big old black hole. I got teased about it, but no one would have considered looking in it. And I rummaged through it on a regular enough basis that it was the perfect way to hide in plain site. No one looked twice if I put something in or took something out of my bag.

There is so much that was never brought up in the court cases for Snow White. I wish I could say what was happening behind the scenes, but the layers of secrecy were such that I only knew the bare minimum that I needed to know to get what I needed. I was told there were certain files that I was supposed to locate and that I was to copy them, return the original files to the drawers and bring the other files home with me. I don’t know how they knew what to ask for, but I do I know there were secrets in every room, and that we were taught that to spill our secrets was to besmirch our honor. The programming is hard to break through. Even telling this, I feel like I am betraying the people who put me in this position.

It was not uncommon for me to have to dig through the filing cabinets while I was working there. I had full access to the “common files” in the central area, and all I had to do to get to the more confidential files was ask one of my guys to unlock the door. Since part of my job was to attach copies of documents to the letters or memoranda I sent out for them, it was easier for them to have me dig the attachment out, copy it, and refile it than to take the time to do it themselves.

While I was in the back file room I was the most vulnerable. I had to be prepared with a ready lie if someone came in and found me in the wrong cabinet. But I had to have the room locked while I was in there, so I had a few seconds notice at least. No one even came in the room while I was there, but I was always scared. My baby always got the hiccups after I exited the file room.

I would get the files with documents I needed to attach, bring a file or two of Scientology-related documents mixed in with the files, pull the door to the file room shut, making sure I wiggled the handle in a show if ensuring it was locked and head for the copy machine. I’d make all the copies and bring the files back to my desk, conscientiously stapling each memo back and putting it back in its correct file. “My guys” were prone to stop by my desk to chit chat, and this seemed to be their favorite time to stop. My desk had a carrel and a shelf where I would put outgoing documents when completed. I got really good at keeping my hands below the carrel while talking to them. I’d get the files all collated, bend down with an armload of papers and rummage for a banana or apple while dropping the extra copies in my bag, then sit up, stack the rest nicely and get the key to the file room again.

I was also ordered to be on high alert for any talk of Scientology. It may have been discussed behind closed doors, but I did not once hear the word Scientology even whispered in my vicinity.

Just in case I haven’t made this clear, to the best of my knowledge, my husband did not have any idea I was with the Guardian’s Office, or what I did during the day at work. This was what my day consisted of. It was actually quite stress-free compared to what I would have to deal with when I went home at night.

Now that I had what Mark considered to be a full time job and he was getting a hundred or so dollars in an oil lease stipend from land his grandparents owned, he decided he needed to be on course full time.

When he got home, it was “my job” to make him a healthy dinner. I enjoyed cooking, but being pregnant and nauseous it wasn’t so much fun. Even back then, Mark was a picky eater. He had a good start on a bleeding ulcer which he “treated” with handfuls of Tums. The night I cooked Beef Bourgogne (my current husband and my children love it when I cook it), he took one bite and threw the plate in my face. That is not an alliteration, it is a fact. It was accompanied by “How can I eat this slop? Fucking mushrooms? How many damn spices did you add anyway? I have to be on course, does this have booze in it?”

I fried him a hamburger with no spices in the frying pan, and that calmed him down. But he got angry again immediately because I had to go across the street. I just took my bag and ran out with no dinner. I had to get the papers out of there.

After that night, I would leave work, go drop off the papers, race to the farmers market, get some innocuous vegetables, then race home, cook a bland meal and wait to see what I had done wrong. And there was always something wrong. “Why the fuck are you wearing heels, you slut?” “You’re pregnant, why did you carry those groceries up?” “Why do I have to go down and get the groceries out of the car, are you an invalid?” “Can’t you be more creative with your meals?” And so on. There was always a “good excuse” for him to fly off the handle and put me in my place, even if I did the exact opposite of what he complained about the day before.

And when he was angry, he hit me. He was very careful to hit me where it wouldn’t show; my ribs and upper chest, (no lower than that while I was pregnant), between my shoulder blades, up and down my shins (he would kick me with the steel covers on the toes of his cowboy boots). Then he’d cry and say he was sorry and tell me he loved me. I never felt so loved or so hated as when I was married to him. Sometimes both in the same minute.

This see-saw went back and forth like this until the morning of July 8, 1977. It was a Friday. I had taken the day off because I had a doctor’s appointment in the Valley at 10:30. Our phone rang at 5:45 am. It was Mark’s brother, Darryl, who lived with his wife in Cedars (now known as Big Blue). They were part of the live-in renos crew that was there 24/7. Cedars of Lebanon had just been purchased for just under $5 million that February. Although there were rumors spread through back channels it was $13 million, the tax assessor’s site shows it sold for $4,968,075.

Darryl was frantic, calling from a pay phone. The staff had been woken by an FBI raid at 5:15, and they were all sent out of the building in their pajamas. The rumor mill was in high swing. He wanted to know if we knew anything. He called 15 minutes later and said he must have had a bad dream, forget the earlier call, he was going to get breakfast and start cleaning. By that time I had gotten dressed and was on the balcony shooting photos of men in suits scurrying in and out of the Manor. They had already been told to zip it over at Cedars. Mark said “something is up.” I most certainly did not say “and I think I’m in it up to my ears.” TRs have never come in so handy. I was the picture of calm while wondering when they would show up on my doorstep and take me away in handcuffs.

I went to my appointment and came home as a panel truck was pulling away from the Manor. Mark said he was going to go on course at 1. I waited until I knew for sure he was in the course room and went across the street myself and down to the basement. Diana Hubbard was nowhere to be found. After discussing it with Diana’s mother Mary Sue, we decided it would look more suspicious if I quit than if I stayed, so we decided I would stay at the FBI until the end of October to see if I could find anything out.

She also asked me to make a 2 a.m. run to the newspaper stands near all the orgs and pull all the papers so the students coming on course Saturday morning wouldn’t be enturbulated. I couldn’t think of a way to do that without including Mark so I pretended I had a great idea to steal all the newspapers we could so no one would know about the raid. He enthusiastically participated. We’d go to the news stand, put in the money for a paper and take them all. He wouldn’t quit until no more papers would fit in my car. Then we took them and dumped them in the Celebrity Centre dumpster.

I called over to let Mary Sue know where they were, then went to bed, wondering what Monday at work would be like.

— Valerie Ross

——————–

Technology Cocktail

“In Dianetics you erase the session or incident in which they occurred…The thetan, scales, ARC, exteriorization, ability, freedom, the grades, clearing, and OT levels are
the sole province of Scientology. Earlier writings tend to overlap and intermingle the two subjects. Because one was not permitted to heal, that being frowned on in some countries, Dianetics tended to be suppressed and was lost sight of. Scientology began to be made to try to do Dianetic work. We can now cleanly separate the two and so obtain enormously increased case gains.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1969

——————–

——————–

THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

——————–

“The person who is suppressing thetans has an invisible field. He has a total nothingness involved and other types of suppression. So you’ll have suppression of visible things, suppression of invisible things, suppression of matter, energy, space, time. You get suppression of almost anything you can think of. And anytime you suppress anything in a certain time stream, you, of course, are also suppressing time. So time becomes the primary suppression. And therefore, you get the instantaneous quality of the reactive bank, so that all time is now in the reactive bank because of the suppression of the reactive bank. And that is simply not-isness in the reactive bank.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 19, 1962

——————–

“THIS PORT: The Charterers play this port in lower key without press as press is restrained here. Otherwise it’s all as in PRO cruise.” — The Commodore, March 19, 1970

——————–

“I have trouble sometimes wondering why many people who became Scientologists did so. LRH observed on the Apollo that most of the people there had little understanding of Scientology and ordered everyone to go to the courseroom and study 2 basic books. The ranks of such cesspits as ESMB are filled with people who barely knew anything about the subject who became disillusioned when they didn’t suddenly become magically all-powerful. For a vast portion of the population, TRs are far too steep a gradient. ARC straitwire is too arduous for them. It is a work for many lifetimes.”

——————–

1997: The Inside Edition TV show aired another segment, with new evidence in the Lisa McPherson case and video of the vigil held in Clearwater in Lisa’s memory. Martin Hunt provided a summary. “Several familiar faces of Scientology observers were in the footage of the picket; I’m sure I saw Dave Touretzky, Ron Newman, Rod Keller, and others in it. The show mentioned something I hadn’t heard before, the name of a different medical officer, a former doctor who lost her license, who was there at the time of Lisa’s death, in contradiction to Ableson’s proclamations about the ignorance of all involved.”

——————–

“I love a good yodel. I think I’m going to have to upload some yodeling vids here shortly. I found some good ones by Nina Hagen and Jewel. I’ll let the people decide democratically.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on March 20.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on March 26.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology fundraising goes down the rabbit hole in the most oblivious flier ever!
[TWO years ago] Scientology just sent its celebs the longest email in history. It’s an orgy of propaganda!
[THREE years ago] It’s wedding bells for Scientology celeb and ‘The Walking Dead’ alum Alanna Masterson
[FOUR years ago] David Miscavige deposition in sex abuse lawsuit canceled after Scientology pushes back
[FIVE years ago] Cops, soft porn, and psychiatry: The curious origin of Scientology’s Snow White Program
[SIX years ago] Not-ready-for-Scientology TV: L. Ron Hubbard’s fortune telling tricks still being sold today
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s pitch to Clearwater: Let us buy land for hotel, and we’ll gussy up downtown
[EIGHT years ago] A Scientology spy comes forward: Now he’s ready for ‘war’ with David Miscavige
[NINE years ago] ‘Going Clear’ fallout: Imagining the fate of Scientology and David Miscavige
[TEN years ago] Finally, a last stand against space cooties: It’s Scientology’s New Operating Thetan Level 7!
[ELEVEN years ago] Early On, Scientology Turns You Into a Snitch

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,844 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,339 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,854 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,404 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,394 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,275 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,579 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,450 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,002 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,343 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,910 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,829 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,997 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,578 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,839 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,875 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,591 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,155 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,470 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,645 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,196 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,327 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,665 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,520 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,638 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,995 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,298 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,404 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,802 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,678 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,243 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,756 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,010 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,119 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on March 19, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.