Fun New Video, But Is This IndieGogo Project Headed for Legal Trouble?

This new video by two people who call themselves “Pete” and “Hannah” popped up yesterday. It’s an awfully fun mashup of Scientology and old school video gaming, and the production values are very high.

The Church of Scientology is very clearly mentioned in it, and the church’s practices are solidly parodied.

But are Pete and Hannah pushing their little project a bit too far?

Continue reading Fun New Video, But Is This IndieGogo Project Headed for Legal Trouble?

More McPherson Cover-Up Corroboration: “I Watched Them Drain $20 Million In Reserves”

New revelations in the 17-year Lisa McPherson saga keep coming as evidence mounts that the Church of Scientology spent tens of millions of dollars in an attempt to corrupt the investigative and judicial systems in the state of Florida.

Now, we have found more evidence from inside Scientology that tends to corroborate testimony given by Marty Rathbun, formerly the second-highest ranking official in the church.

Rathbun testified to Scientology’s huge expenditures that were used to influence attorneys and judges as the church tried to undermine a criminal investigation and then a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the McPherson estate and attorney Ken Dandar.

Now, another former Scientology official says he watched that money drain from Scientology’s accounts from his position as a treasury secretary inside the church.

We talked with Mat Pesch (pictured), a former longtime member of Scientology’s elite “Sea Org,” who was the treasury secretary of the Flag Service Organization (FSO), which operated Scientology’s spiritual mecca in Clearwater, Florida (known as the “Flag Land Base”).

“I watched them drain $20 million in reserves for the Lisa McPherson fight,” Pesch tells us.

Continue reading More McPherson Cover-Up Corroboration: “I Watched Them Drain $20 Million In Reserves”

David Miscavige Tried to Meet with Judge in Lisa McPherson Case: Affidavit

“Hey, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by…”

Ken Dandar continues on his quest to convince federal Judge Virginia Covington that he was the victim of a conspiracy by the Church of Scientology to corrupt Florida’s state court system.

On Sunday, Dandar filed an affidavit by Sue Rudd, the former clerk of the late Susan Schaeffer, a Florida state judge who presided for two years over the contentious Lisa McPherson wrongful death civil lawsuit, from 2001 to 2003. (The case was settled in 2004.)

While the case was still before Schaeffer, Rudd says in the affidavit, she remembers getting an unusual visitor.

“To my surprise, David Miscavige, head of the Church of Scientology, appeared at my office at the courthouse located in St. Petersburg, Florida, and requested to see Judge Schaeffer,” she says. But Schaeffer was in Tallahassee. “I further advised Mr. Miscavige that it would be improper for him to meet with Judge Schaeffer without the presence of opposing counsel.”

Continue reading David Miscavige Tried to Meet with Judge in Lisa McPherson Case: Affidavit

Stephen Kent’s New Article on Scientology’s War With Psychiatry

Professor Stephen Kent is one of our favorite voices on Scientology. The University of Alberta scholar has one of the deepest archives of material known to exist, he is unafraid to speak truth about such subjects as the Sea Org’s RPF prison program, and he has regularly testified in court cases about his research.

He let us know that he’s published a new article with one of his graduate students, Terra Manca, about Scientology’s long war against psychiatry in the journal Mental Health, Religion & Culture.

As you’d expect, the scholarly work is weighty and rich, and we expect to be gleaning information from it for some time. And we’re happy here at the Bunker to make it available to our readers in its entirety, with permission from the good professor.

Continue reading Stephen Kent’s New Article on Scientology’s War With Psychiatry

Florida Court Hears Scientology Testimony in Strict Secrecy

After a long day of testimony in a Clearwater, Florida courtroom, Ken Dandar tells us that retired Judge Crockett Farnell has scheduled written closing arguments in his secret trial to be submitted by December 27.

Today’s proceedings, which involved Scientology submitting evidence to bolster its claim that it deserves to be awarded more than $1.1 million in sanctions against Dandar, were closed to the public and press, and Scientology even requested that windows in the court doors be covered to prevent anyone from seeing inside (see photo above).

Continue reading Florida Court Hears Scientology Testimony in Strict Secrecy

Sunday Funnies: Scientology Braces for the Holidays!

With Thanksgiving behind us, the rest of the year will, as usual, fly by with alacrity.

Scientologists, like the rest of us, are bracing for the final mad weeks of 2012, and we have some of their most recent fundraising mailers and other come-ons that have arrived in the inboxes of members.

As you ponder all the things you need to get done before 2013 starts, take a moment and join us for our weekly dose of Sunday Funnies!

Continue reading Sunday Funnies: Scientology Braces for the Holidays!

Scientology Leader David Miscavige Added as Defendant in Ken Dandar’s Federal Lawsuit

David Miscavige

Florida attorney Ken Dandar has added David Miscavige as a defendant in his federal lawsuit, a case that has already resulted in stunning new allegations that the Church of Scientology spent millions to cover up the 1995 death of church member Lisa McPherson.

Dandar represented McPherson’s estate in a wrongful death lawsuit that was settled in 2004, but Scientology is suing him for taking on another case against the church in 2009, and on Monday, in a hearing closed to the press or public, Dandar expects a state judge to award Scientology more than a million dollars in sanctions against him.

Dandar was unable to stop that hearing with his federal lawsuit, which he filed on October 31. But now he’s filed an amended complaint in that suit, added Miscavige as a defendant, and put in more detail about what he claims was a conspiracy between Scientology and Florida state Judge Robert Beach to violate his civil rights. We have obtained a copy of that amended complaint, which we have posted below.

Continue reading Scientology Leader David Miscavige Added as Defendant in Ken Dandar’s Federal Lawsuit

Radio Daze: Talking Scientology with John Hines of WCCO

We’re tracking down some interesting stories on this holiday weekend, and should be able to post some fascinating dox very soon. In the meantime, we thought we’d plague you with our latest radio appearance.

Continue reading Radio Daze: Talking Scientology with John Hines of WCCO

Scientology Interviews John Travolta: Oddly, Massage Therapy Not Discussed

Boy, could actor John Travolta use some good publicity about now.

Scientology’s Celebrity magazine obliges with a particularly friendly look at the Pulp Fiction star in a new issue our tipsters passed along to us.

The magazine reviews Travolta’s film-making career, calling him an “icon of the silver screen,” and in a six-page piece manages to avoid anything remotely redolent of rubdowns going terribly awry, or other revelations that have been the stuff of lawsuits, news stories, and endless Internet sniggering.

Celebrity, in fact, managed to come up with just about the safest question possible to put to Scientology’s troubled icon. Asked several different ways, the story’s unnamed author tries to pin down Travolta and get out of him just which of L. Ron Hubbard’s many books is his absolute favorite.

The suspense, we know, must be killing you right about now.

Continue reading Scientology Interviews John Travolta: Oddly, Massage Therapy Not Discussed

Thanksgiving? Pshaw! The Scientology Begin-A-Boom Bookathon Starts TODAY!

Breaking news! One of our tipsters forwarded to us an internal Scientology video urging church members to take part in a big push to sell copies of Dianetics around the world!

We’ve taken some stills from the video to give you some idea of just how persuasive it is. It’s so infectious, we suspect it may be difficult in the coming days to go anywhere without running into pushy Scientologists demanding that we buy a copy of L. Ron Hubbard’s masterpiece!

Continue reading Thanksgiving? Pshaw! The Scientology Begin-A-Boom Bookathon Starts TODAY!

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