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 We spoke yesterday with Beatriz Biscardi, the EEOC attorney who filed a lawsuit on May 8 against Dynamic Medical Services, Inc., a Miami chiropractic business run by a Scientologist named Dennis Nobbe.
On May 9, we reported that the EEOC had put out a press release announcing that it was suing Nobbe’s business for forcing his employees to take Scientology courses that had them “screaming at ashtrays or staring at someone for eight hours without moving.” As press releases put out by federal agencies go, it was a weird one. Within the week, the story had been picked up by major news organizations, each of them imparting little more than what was known from the press release or the legal complaint. But we wanted to know, how did Nobbe and the government get to this point? Continue reading Meet Dennis Nobbe, Miami Chiropractor and Scientologist!
 Claire Headley is taking us on our journey to train as Scientologists. She and her husband Marc were Sea Org workers who escaped from Scientology’s International Base in 2005. She spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. Go here to see the first part in this series.
Last week, Claire began taking us through the PTS/SP Course (for Potential Trouble Source/Suppressive Person). It’s a crucial course for Scientologists, laying in some of the most important conditioning that produces an “us vs. them” way of thinking. Rather than move on to the next course, we’ve asked Claire to spend some more time on one of the key ideas that is introduced in the PTS/SP experience — the policy of disconnection. Continue reading Disconnection: Scientology’s Most Toxic Sacrament
 We have several really big stories brewing here in the Underground Bunker, but they require a lot of reporting and aren’t ready to pop yet.
In the meantime, we wanted to give our wonderful commenting community something to chew on, and we realized there’s a great little event happening tonight in Los Angeles! If you can attend, we’d love a report. Continue reading Your Hot Scientology Event in Los Angeles Tonight
 ALSO, CCHR IN SAN FRANCISCO
Last night, New York City’s chapter of Anonymous conducted its 63rd consecutive monthly “raid” of the Church of Scientology on 46th Street near Times Square. We’ve been to several of these demonstrations, and we can tell you they are foul-mouthed, chaotic fun. Our hats are off to the NY anons for their longevity and continued good humor. Having said that, we were recently made aware of a very different situation going on in Tucson, Arizona. Someone down there, apparently, is a little unclear on the concept. Continue reading How Not to Protest Scientology
 Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He now has a new edition of the book out, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.
Jon, we recently pointed out in our reading of a first-edition copy of Dianetics that L. Ron Hubbard’s description of a “dianetic reverie” sounded an awful lot like hypnosis. We got an earful from independent Scientologists who didn’t appreciate that comparison — Hubbard himself insisted that auditing was not hypnosis. You’ve done some research on the relationship of the two. What can you tell us? Continue reading Jon Atack on the Hypnotic History of Scientology Auditing
On Sunday, we reported that the Church of Scientology had put on its main website a photograph of last Saturday’s Portland “Ideal Org” grand opening.
The photo was posted along with a church press release which claimed that 2,500 people had attended the event. Our own eyewitnesses on the scene, counting people in images they had taken, estimated the crowd at more like 450 to 750. Continue reading About that Scientology “Photoshopped” Image…
 You just have to hand it to the folks in the San Fernando Valley. They’ve tried raising money for an Ideal Org with bowling nights and by selling doorknobs. And now, well, apparently it’s time for a little old-fashioned show biz.
For those just joining us, the Church of Scientology is in the grips of crisis, and is losing members in part from the endless rounds of fundraising to purchase new buildings dubbed “Ideal Orgs.” Church leader David Miscavige has made these projects a priority even though they’re replacing facilities that weren’t full to begin with. So local members, like the trio in this video, have to come up with creative new ways to convince wary parishioners to come on down for another round of heavy fundraising pressure. In the Valley, that means trotting out reliable Nancy Cartwright and Jim Meskimen for a night of hilarity! Continue reading And Now For Something Completely Different: Scientology Stand Up!
 With its California Supreme Court petition shot down, Scientology learned in Los Angeles Superior Court today that it has a little more than six more weeks before it has to turn over thousands of pages of evidence that Laura DeCrescenzo (right) believes will bolster her lawsuit against the church. In her lawsuit, DeCrescenzo alleges that she experienced brutal treatment after starting to work for the church at only 9 years old and then joined the Sea Organization at 12. At 17, she alleges, she was forced to have an abortion in order to continue working 100-hour weeks.
After four years of complex fighting over whether DeCrescenzo had filed her lawsuit in time, Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sohigian recently ordered the church to turn over thousands of pages of evidence that was contained in her “pc folders” — confessional material that DeCrescenzo believed would help prove her case. In recent weeks, the church petitioned California’s appeals and supreme courts in an attempt to fight Sohigian’s order, but as of this morning they had run out of appeals. Continue reading Scientology Now Has Until July 2 to Turn Over Evidence in Forced-Abortion Lawsuit
 Welcome to our ongoing project, where we blog a 1950 first edition of Scientology’s bible, Dianetics, with the help of ex-Scientologist, lawyer, and author Vance Woodward. Go here for the first post in the series.
Vance, we’ve now reached the longest chapter so far in this book, “Emotion and the Life Force.” We have to admit to being rather disappointed that L. Ron Hubbard, after finally tantalizing us with some specifics about dianetic therapy in the previous two chapters, chooses at this point to go back into theory with such a long digression. Continue reading Babylon Surmising: Dianetics Rights an Ancient Wrong
 Scientology strikes out again as it fights a court order to turn over thousands of pages of evidence to former Sea Org worker Laura DeCrescenzo.
This evening, without explanation or a written order, the California Supreme Court denied Scientology’s petition to hold up DeCrescenzo’s lawsuit. The church argued that forcing it to turn over DeCrescenzo’s confessional “pc folders” was a violation of its rights because California’s priest-penitent law itself was unconstitutional. A similar petition had already been denied without written order at the state appeals level, now it’s struck out with the state supreme court, and the church has missed this session of the US Supreme Court. Tomorrow, there’s a status hearing on the case in state court, and we’ll see what the church does this time to try and get out of turning over Laura’s own information to her. Continue reading CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT DENIES SCIENTOLOGY PETITION IN FORCED-ABORTION CASE
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We spoke yesterday with Beatriz Biscardi, the EEOC attorney who filed a lawsuit on May 8 against Dynamic Medical Services, Inc., a Miami chiropractic business run by a Scientologist named Dennis Nobbe.
