Tony Ortega's Blog, page 353
January 15, 2021
Judge denies Scientology’s motion for $160,000 in sanctions against Valerie Haney
We’re still scratching our heads thinking about his January 2020 ruling that derailed Valerie Haney’s lawsuit and directed her to submit her claims to Scientology’s “religious arbitration,” but Judge Richard Burdge Jr at least didn’t add insult to injury by granting Scientology’s request for sanctions.
In a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday, Judge Burdge denied Scientology’s motion for sanctions, and his reasoning was clear and concise.
So why, we wonder, couldn’t he see how unfair it was to send Valerie back to her abuser with his ruling granting religious arbitration?
We’ll never understand that one. But yesterday’s ruling, sure, it made sense.
Advertisement(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Scientology’s attorneys had asked for $160,000 in sanctions because that’s what they say it cost them to respond to the motion for reconsideration that Valerie asked for last March. In that motion Valerie’s attorneys claimed that they had new evidence they wanted Judge Burdge to consider and asked him to overturn his ruling on arbitration.
But Scientology argued that the evidence wasn’t actually new, and they trashed the testimony submitted by former Scientologists Hana Whitfield and Mike Rinder, who tried to convince Judge Burdge that Scientology’s internal arbitration is a sham.
Judge Burdge found that although he was in disagreement with Valerie’s side about the arbitration matter, he didn’t think her asking for reconsideration was done in a frivolous manner.
The court does not find the motion to be so unmeritorious that it should be considered to be frivolous. Also it was not presented primarily for an improper purpose, such as to harass or cause unnecessary delay or needlessly increase the cost of litigation. For these reasons, Moving Defendants’ motion is denied.
Well, that’s a relief. But Judge Burdge is still on the hook for denying Valerie Haney a right to trial and forcing her to take her grievances to an “arbitration” that would be performed by three Scientologists in good standing who, by Scientology policy, would be required to think of Valerie as an evil influence on the church. It’s a joke.
Valerie filed petitions with appellate and the state supreme court asking for a chance to appeal Burdge’s arbitration decision, and was denied both times. She can still appeal his ruling, but she would first have to go through Scientology’s kangaroo court. We’ll try to find out what move she’s going to make next.
——————–
Bonus items from our tipsters
A few items from over the pond…
——————–
“If anybody ever sends you to jail, by all means, go to Alcatraz. They’re tearing it down. I’m just thinking of the Federal government. Even their prisons are going to pieces. Have you, did you know that? We’ve got to audit those people, that’s all there is to it, you know, because they’re in a violent ARC break. Somebody’s missed an item on the US government. I think, personally, they missed it with a no-auditing situation. We haven’t had any plan for auditing the government. We got one president audited. That was Truman. We ain’t had anybody else audited. Now, I just think they’re suffering from no auditing. Course, so of course, that leaves all items missed. And that’s another way of missing items. But it isn’t to a violent state. Somebody must have missed a list or something on the FDA. They must have. They must have. ‘What crumb are you?’ or something like that, something. ‘What type of insect egg did you come out of?’ You know?” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 15, 1963
——————–
“Thank you for answering my questionaire on what we should be doing. I can announce as a result of this that we are now doing what the whole crew wants us to be doing. We’re now getting operational so we can accomplish these things. We had a lot to catch up just so we could begin. All right, we’re obviously in agreement. So let’s get the show on the road and get done what we all want to do. Thank you for your help on the Questionnaire and on the ship.” — The Commodore, January 15, 1969
——————–
“Wonder why there is a forced vaccination agenda, forced lockdowns and the United Nations agenda to reduce the population of Earth? Why there are scienos or ex-scienos voting and supporting Joe Biden and his human enslavement agenda of forced vaccinations, more Income Tax and LGBT perversions? LRH explains it all on the taped lecture: The Free Being. He explains that at the beginning, spiritual beings created their puppet societies. Then those spiritual beings taught their puppet societies how to entrap other spiritual beings. At the end those puppet societies ended up entrapping all the free beings, including the ones that created them (you). And finally LRH describes the method to reverse this cycle of entrapment and recover the Free Beings. He also describes the structure of the new society that is going to incorporate the Free Beings in harmony with the puppet societies.”
——————–
1999: Ron Newman was the target of revenge actions from Scientology following the Boston protest. A Scientologist invaded his workplace to distribute fliers, and he received two threatening emails. “Around 4 pm EST Monday afternoon, a man suddenly barged into a business meeting at my place of work and began handing out the following flyer to everyone in the meeting. I was not at this meeting.
‘Ron Newman
Unmasking a Religious Bigot
[Picture of me] [Picture of Alfred E. Neuman]
Ron Newman / Alfred E. Neuman
Separated at Birth?
…We feel Newman’s religious bigotry against our Church, which he has never been associated with, is Un-American. The United States was founded on religious tolerance and abhors religious persecution. Isn’t it time for Ron Newman to put an end to his bigotry?”
——————–
“You don’t have to go up the Bridge to achieve a position of power in Scientology. All you have to do is be a wily, conniving, ruthless asshole. Just like every other totalitarian organization in history.”
——————–
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to Jan 20.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed to March 2.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for May 20 in Los Angeles
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration; Jan 29, Masterson’s request to stay discovery pending the criminal case
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
Concluded litigation:
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs.
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
——————–
SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks
The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.
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.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
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.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: 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
Woman named in Danny Masterson lawsuit denies she’s smearing his victims for Scientology
[TWO years ago] LEAH REMINI WILL AIR EPISODE WITH DANNY MASTERSON’S ACCUSERS ON FEBRUARY 18
[THREE years ago] Joy Villa’s former manager: ‘Scientology destroyed everything’
[FOUR years ago] On the ‘Leah Remini’ Reddit special this week: A powerful Texas duo
[FIVE years ago] Explain your vote, judge tells Maryland county that denied Scientology rehab
[SIX years ago] Scientology takes out full-page ad in the New York Times to attack Alex Gibney
[SEVEN years ago] Cheese from Scientology’s mecca, raspberries from Éire, and a Puerto Rican dessert!
[EIGHT years ago] Buzzfeed Takes a Close Look at Scientology’s “Ideal Org” Financing
[NINE years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Get Your Harem On!
[NINE years ago] How Not to Protest Scientology
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,182 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,686 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,206 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,226 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,117 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,424 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,292 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,066 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,870 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,186 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,752 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,671 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,839 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,420 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,681 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,719 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,432 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,957 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 312 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,487 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,038 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,187 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,507 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,362 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,481 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,837 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,140 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,246 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,648 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,520 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,103 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,598 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,852 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,961 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on January 15, 2021 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, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), 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
January 14, 2021
Another Trump video causes more QAnon despair as the mass arrests continue
Some links to Q-related items today…
Before Trump’s speech yesterday…
…and after:
But as Trump faces a return to private life, it’s becoming increasingly clear that QAnon won’t simply fade away.
In fact, signs of radicalization and more violence only seem to be increasing.
Politico on one soldier’s plan to target Nancy Pelosi…
Politico: "QAnon believer who plotted to kill Nancy Pelosi came to D.C. ready for war" https://t.co/BTRFjWgxOV
— Evan Kohlmann (@IntelTweet) January 14, 2021
Struggling to understand what the QAnon movement is? We recommend Travis View’s excellent recent article at New York magazine as a place to start.
————-
THE LOWDOWN is our blog for news, the QAnon phenomenon, and other subjects not related to our coverage of the Church of Scientology. If it’s our Scientology coverage you’re looking for, please use this bookmark for our latest stories.
Posted by Tony Ortega on January 14, 2021 at 10:00
Hanan and Rizza Islam get trial date for $4 million Medi-Cal fraud at Scientology rehab
We have numerous legal updates for you today, starting with some news we’ve been waiting a long time to hear: Finally, there is a trial date set for Hanan and Rizza Islam.
At a pretrial conference on Tuesday trial was set for May 20 in the case, which seeks felony convictions against Hanan Islam, 61, and three of her children, including her son Ronnie “Rizza” Islam, 30.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than five years since we broke the news that felony charges had been filed against several Scientologists who had operated a sketchy Narconon rehab out of their “literacy center” in Compton, California. The Islams were charged with ripping off the Medi-Cal insurance program by submitting bogus charges in an elaborate scam that involved unsuspecting high school students who were used as clients in the scheme.
The case also ruined the careers of three prominent African-American high school educators, who faced lesser charges in the scam. They included two local high school principals and the coach of the legendary Dominguez High School football team, who were all fired as a result.
Advertisement(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});And yet, even though this case involves the use of unwitting high school kids, the ruined careers of three local educators, the hiring of “ghost writers” to produce bogus insurance claims, and that it brought together Scientology, the Nation of Islam, and quack drug treatments in a scam that ripped off the state’s health insurance fund of nearly $4 million, not a single word about this criminal prosecution has appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
We figure that’s a big reason why the case has moved at such a glacial pace, with trial now finally scheduled more than five years after these defendants were first charged, and more than a decade since the crime first began taking place, from 2010 to 2013.
What does it take to get the LA Times over its reluctance to cover Scientology stories in its own back yard?
We’ve done our best to keep an eye on it here, thanks to help from Jeffrey Augustine covering some wild days in court for us. After years of inactivity, the case picked up in October 2019 when the Islams faced a preliminary hearing and Hanan tried to pull some bizarre sovereign citizen nonsense on the court. It got her and Rizza arrested, but didn’t prevent the state from putting on devastating testimony about how they had worked the scam. But after the case was bound over for trial it went into another long wait.
With no pressure coming from the local paper of record, Rizza Islam has not shied away from continuing his antics as an anti-vaxx huckster thirsty for publicity. For example, we were stunned to see this photograph that he posted last week at his Instagram account, showing off a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition that he had received from L.A. Congresswoman Karen Bass.
We sent a detailed email to her communications director, asking why she gave Rizza Islam this certificate, and he sent us this statement:
An organization serving girls in the foster care system in South Los Angeles held its annual concert in 2019 and requested certificates for individuals that they were honoring. Rep. Karen Bass is a founder and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth and has fought to protect the vulnerable and abused throughout her career. Our office provided the certificates when they were requested, using standard language on pre-printed Congressional certificates. These certificates did not in any way constitute endorsement of individual honorees. The Office of Rep. Karen Bass was at no time aware of the felony charges against Ronnie Islam. Rep. Bass, who has seen The Aftermath series, in no way supports his poisonous anti-Semitic and pro-Scientology beliefs.
In other legal news, there’s a hearing today in Los Angeles Superior Court to determine whether Scientology can saddle Valerie Haney with $160,000 in sanctions. As we explained on Sunday, Valerie’s “crime” was that she asked Judge Richard Burdge Jr. to reconsider his January 2020 ruling denying her a right to trial and derailing her lawsuit by granting Scientology’s motion that she should have to submit her grievances to its internal “religious arbitration” instead. Valerie’s attorneys told Judge Burdge that they had found new evidence that put his ruling in doubt, but Burdge didn’t see it that way. Scientology complained that the new evidence wasn’t new at all, and asked Judge Burdge to sanction Valerie’s side for what it cost them to answer her motion for reconsideration.
Normally, we’d consider it a long shot for sanctions to be granted, but twice now Judge Burdge has seen things Scientology’s way in important rulings, so who knows. We’ll let you know what we hear from court as soon as we can.
Meanwhile, attorney Jeffrey Riffer filed another gem in the other lawsuit against Scientology at LA Superior Court that was derailed by religious arbitration, the one filed by Danny Masterson’s rape accusers. It’s not entirely clear to us what’s going to happen to that lawsuit now that four of the five plaintiffs (the four who were all former Scientologists) have been denied a right to trial. But one thing is clear: Scientology leader David Miscavige is still fighting tooth and nail against being served as a defendant in this case, whether it’s been crippled or not.In a new filing from Miscavige’s attorney, the always colorful Jeffrey Riffer blasts away at attempts by the plaintiffs to serve Miscavige, including the new attempt we told you about last month.
Probably the most interesting thing in this typically bombastic document from Riffer’s pen is that he repeatedly ridicules the attempts to serve Miscavige at the Hollywood Guaranty Building when it’s plainly obvious, Riffer asserts, that Miscavige has been in Clearwater, Florida all this time.
We’ve been reporting that Miscavige has been attending “graduations” in Clearwater in recent weeks, but this is the first time that we’ve seen an official confirmation that Dave is now a Florida resident.
And more news, this time from federal court, where we’ve been anticipating a special evidentiary hearing in the case of Scientologist donor and Middletown, NY chiropractor Jay Spina which was scheduled for next week.
Spina was arrested along with his brother Jeffrey Spina, their sister, and another employee at their clinic and charged with Medicare fraud. A physician who worked out of their clinic was also charged with fraud.
The Spina brothers were both big-time Scientology donors and actively supported its front groups. They pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing Medicare and using a complex scheme to try and hide what they were up to. But there was a dispute over how much Jay was willing to agree to admit to as far as restitution and forfeiture, and both sides asked the court to hold a “Fatico hearing” to present testimony. It would be sort of a mini-trial, and we were looking forward to it.
But now a new filing in the case reports that the two sides have settled their differences about restitution, and a hearing is no longer required. And they’ve informed the court that Jay insists on being sentenced in person and not via videoconference. With Covid still raging, that will mean putting off the sentencing yet again. We’ll keep an eye on when the court decides to attempt another sentencing date.
——————–
“Putting tickets on the windshield of a car is illegal, according to our own Consititution, which requires personal service. Police get away with it because people don’t want the bother of going down and getting a trial date set. So they send in the amount of an arbitrary fine. This is duress and extortion — so there’s no difference between a criminal and a cop.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 14, 1954
“Spectatorism is very great in our modern society. Because some people cannot conceive of causing anything they just watch it. They don’t do anything. They are not PARTICIPANTS. They are spectators. You see this in magazines. Hee hee hee articles about how odd this is or that is. No understanding of it. It’s just odd and one watches it in a detached sort of way. Below this is somebody who doesn’t even notice. Such a person has to come up scale just to be a spectator. An unfinished cycle of action comes about because (a) The importance of it is not grasped (b) The cycle itself is not fully understood. (c) Non compliance and false reports are given as a method of self-protection wherein are hopes it will not be noticed. What we need are more PARTICIPANTS, more team mates. You belong to the SO or you don’t. If you do you’re at cause over the various situations. So we define an SO Member the way you do an OT — At cause over Life, Thought, Matter, Energy, Space, Time and Form. The degree you can be cause in handling the targets and needs of a group determines right away how far you’ve come up the line. Blaming case is effect, isn’t it? Sex is effect, isn’t it? I don’t care what your grade is, you are alive. Your true ability depends on the degree you can exercise the definition of OT over your post in forwarding the purposes of the group. You are actually insulting yourself to insist that I personally make whatever advances are made on vital actions of the group. If what you are trying to do doesn’t happen its a poor comment on your OTism.” — The Commodore, January 14, 1969
——————–
“We have been looking at things globally and realize that many people have lost jobs or had to take out loans etc to deal with economy fluctuations. We also realize that many of you may be experiencing tougher times given the situation and it is important now more than ever to get up the Bridge! So we have considered everyone and would like to offer everyone the opportunity to go up the Bridge, therefore we are running a MASSIVE sale on our auditing packages! Spots are limited as our organization can only take on so many people, so get in contact TODAY!”
——————–
1998: An unpublished letter to the St. Petersburg Times from Cynthia Kisser was posted this week. The letter was written in response to an article in the Times about the lawsuits from Scientology that destroyed CAN. Cynthia was the Executive Director of the old Cult Awareness Network. “The real Cult Awareness Network never agreed to allow Scientologists as members as a result of the litigation by Scientologists. CAN toughened its local membership requirements, rather than softening them, after Scientologists began suing the local chapters to force the chapters to let them become members. No Scientologist ever won a single lawsuit over membership in CAN at either the local or national level, and CAN never modified its policies after the litigation against it by Scientologists began, and never let any Scientologists join as members who had previously been denied membership. CAN won every one one of the membership lawsuits, or the Scientologists withdrew them themselves before trial. As a face-saving tactic Scientology has made such a claim that CAN did reform its membership policies as a result of all the litigation….I am very proud that CAN was able to make case law supporting the rights of private associations to control their own membership and admittance to attendance at their private meetings. The protection by CAN through case law in federal and California courts of the freedom of association rights of private organizations reflects the true spirit of the true CAN’s work, and is a legacy which Scientology cannot erase, only try to undercut by misrepresenting the truth and hoping that legitimate media repeat this misinformation.”
——————–
“The tech is the meaningless musings of a drug- and alcohol-addled madman who was making it up as he went along. You might as well have been playing hide-and-go-seek for 17 years.”
——————–
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to Jan 20.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed until at least February
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for May 20 in Los Angeles
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration; Jan 29, Masterson’s request to stay discovery pending the criminal case
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
Concluded litigation:
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs.
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
——————–
SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks
The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.
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.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
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.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: 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] Scientology ripped apart his family, but this former member explains why he doesn’t fight it
[TWO years ago] EXCLUSIVE: Scientology tells A&E it has ‘blood on its hands’ for murder in Australia
[THREE years ago] Scientology plans Narconon drug rehab for Ireland, but the locals are not having it
[FOUR years ago] The most incredible lie Scientology attorney Monique Yingling told ABC ’20/20′
[FIVE years ago] Oscar snubs Alex Gibney’s Scientology documentary ‘Going Clear’ despite buzz
[SIX years ago] Scientology reveals a lot more of its lofty plans for the former KCET studios
[SEVEN years ago] Being and nothingness: And now we move on to Scientology’s Operating Thetan Level Four!
[EIGHT years ago] ATLANTIC MAGAZINE SPIKES SCIENTOLOGY ADVERTORIAL AFTER BACKLASH
[NINE years ago] Scientology Recon: Commenters of the Week!
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,181 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,685 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,205 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,225 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,116 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,423 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,291 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,065 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,869 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,185 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,751 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,670 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,838 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,419 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,680 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,718 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,431 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,956 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 311 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,486 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,037 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,186 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,506 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,361 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,480 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,836 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,139 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,245 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,647 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,519 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,102 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,597 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,851 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,960 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on January 14, 2021 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, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), 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
January 13, 2021
Trump mentions ‘Biden administration’ in Alamo speech, sending QAnon into a panic
Some links to Q-related items today…
Even more video emerging from last week’s tea party…
The attack on the Capitol was coordinated and planned.
Here are the insurrectionists talking about the plan, including detailed schematics of the Capitol building.
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) January 13, 2021
Trust the plan! Trump has been secretly re-inaugurated already!
Tha latest conspiracy put forward on 8kun and now being widely promoted by QAnon believers is that President Trump has already been inaugurated at a private ceremony, in which Mike Pence was also present, and the military will be deployed to stop riots after it becomes official. pic.twitter.com/f3WVyhcNvM
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) January 12, 2021
Although his reference to a “Biden administration” in Alamo, Texas yesterday sent some QAnon folks for a loop…
Some devoted Trump supporters were caught off guard by Trump mentioning a "Biden administration" in a speech today. pic.twitter.com/43Me8Wpu5M
— Travis View (@travis_view) January 12, 2021
Hold the line, patriots!
Is the phenomenon in decline? Travis View found this remarkable post.
I saw this post on 8kun's /qresearch/ warning QAnon dead enders about what they might expect going forward. pic.twitter.com/GS1O8gpDSJ
— Travis View (@travis_view) January 12, 2021
Struggling to understand what the QAnon movement is? We recommend Travis View’s excellent recent article at New York magazine as a place to start.
————-
THE LOWDOWN is our blog for news, the QAnon phenomenon, and other subjects not related to our coverage of the Church of Scientology. If it’s our Scientology coverage you’re looking for, please use this bookmark for our latest stories.
Posted by Tony Ortega on January 12, 2021 at 09:00
More social media gold: Post-riot, it’s clear that Scientology is the planet’s only hope!
Scientologists, like the rest of us, couldn’t help noticing that things got a little dicey at the US Capitol last week. But Hubbardites are also very skilled at shielding themselves from the non-Scientology world, and they tend to encourage each other just to press on with the tasks L. Ron Hubbard left behind for them to do.
Once again we’re dipping into their social media streams thanks to our generous source, who marveled at how well Scientologists maintained the status quo at their online gathering places.
Let’s dive in to this week’s selections.
Trust Ron’s plan!
Ignore the news and fall back on the tech…
Meanwhile, the mini-exodus of Scientologists out of Los Angeles continues, in this case with actress Jennifer Aspen, who has decided to ditch Hollywood for going full OT!
Guys, Marsha is on the lookout for a 2D.
Now, let’s get some success stories!
Going Clear after 29 years!
And finally, just in case you were in any doubt that Scientology is still all about the nutty space opera L. Ron Hubbard came up with in Role of Earth and Mission Into Time…
“Orgs are in the very new, for this universe, business of setting people free. SPs will find all manner of reasons not to, for this is what they, with their own crimes, fear. Thus it follows that they cut dissem lines, corrupt tech, suppress and confuse orgs, persuade people to be inactive and resort to other shifts, all quite ‘reasonable’ and ‘logical’ as to why this must be the way it is; so be alert to this and go ahead and set people free. It’s done with org services well delivered, on-policy, with standard tech. So just do it, man, do it!” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 13, 1983
——————–
“Starboard Watch is assigned Non-Existence for slowness in coming to Fire Drill on 9 Jan 69 and treating it as a joke. The F/MAA is to discover who in Starboard considers drills a joke and throw the joker or jokers overboard, which is a very big joke in this cool weather and cold water.” — The Commodore, January 13, 1969
——————–
“Money is what guarantees your survival. With money you can buy a congressman, bribe judges, hire a hitman. Just because a government is run by criminals is no reason to walk away. Ethics needs to be put in. A government that was in ethics and did what was optimum across 8 dynamics would benefit everyone.”
——————–
1997: The Associated Press reported that an Athens court has ordered Scientology to close its doors in Greece. “A copy of the ruling obtained by The Associated Press on Friday accused the church of operating under the cloak of a philosophic society to try to lure, brainwash and exploit members. ‘It is an organization with medical, social and ethical practices that are dangerous and harmful,’ Judge Constandia Angelaki wrote in her ruling. ‘It claims to act freely so as to draw members who subsequently undergo … brainwashing by dictated ways of thinking that limit reaction capabilities.’ Angelaki ruled on the case on Dec. 20 but the verdict was officially issued Thursday. The move followed numerous complaints from relatives of members of the church, which operated here as the Center of Applied Philosophy in Greece. They claimed the center transformed their kin into moody or suicidal automatons. ‘The case is a sham,’ Heber Jentzsch wrote. ‘It is unfortunately reminiscent of the former junta that ruled Greece as a totalitarian state and the assault today is simply because the mission is not ‘orthodox’ according to the prevailing vested interests in Greece.'”
——————–
“I’m still waiting for someone to do the obvious KFC shoop with the KSW and L Ron as the Colonel. Preferably on a bucket.”
——————–
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to Jan 20.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed for ‘Fatico’ hearing on Jan 19.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration; Jan 29, Masterson’s request to stay discovery pending the criminal case
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
Concluded litigation:
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs.
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
——————–
SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks
The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.
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.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
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.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: 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] Scientology auditing, infiltrated and explained: The ‘Reckless Ben’ team’s 4th video
[TWO years ago] How businesses that run on Scientology principles find Scientologist employees
[THREE years ago] Ten years ago, all hell broke loose for Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology
[FOUR years ago] DONE DEAL: Billboard contract signed for site near Scientology’s Los Angeles ‘Big Blue’ HQ
[FIVE years ago] DOX: Government disclosure shows extent of Scientology’s reliance on cheap foreign labor
[SIX years ago] Claire Headley explains her amazing Scientology experience as Tom Cruise’s ‘examiner’
[SEVEN years ago] New criminal case for Scientology in France could shut it down permanently in that country
[EIGHT years ago] Did the Headleys And Their Lawsuit Torpedo the FBI Investigation of Scientology?
[NINE years ago] How Scientology Spied on Tom Cruise
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,180 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,684 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,204 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,224 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,115 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,422 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,290 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,064 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,868 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,184 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,750 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,669 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,837 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,418 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,679 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,717 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,430 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,955 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 310 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,485 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,036 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,185 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,505 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,360 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,479 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,835 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,138 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,244 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,646 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,518 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,101 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,596 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,850 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,959 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on January 13, 2021 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, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), 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
January 12, 2021
It’s a confusing time for Q’s fans, but they urge each other to trust the plan!
Some links to Q-related items today…
Well, this is a relief. Q Shaman will get his organic eats while in custody. Whew.
Trust the plan, people!
The Corrupt Media has their narrative-
I have one of my own.#TrustThePlan
In the coming days, when people are frightened or nervous-
Hopefully this will remind them of what we've been through in the last 4 years, preparing for right now ☺#StayTheCourse#ThePeoplesBridge pic.twitter.com/TTqmXAQQnn
— Veronica P Wolski
Scientology’s anti-mask star Leigh Dundas may have overdone it at Capitol riot
On January 5, a week ago, someone tagged us in a tweet about Leigh Dundas, the Orange County Scientologist anti-vaxx anti-mask “human rights lawyer,” giving another of her unhinged screeds in front of a crowd, but this time it was in Washington DC.
We made sure that people seeing our feed realized that we wrote about her last year, and how she’s an OT Scientologist representing a Scientology front group founded by an OT Scientologist chiropractor which pretends that it’s made up of physicians against vaccination requirements. (Bizarre, we know.)
Advertisement(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Leigh Dundas, making Scientology proud. Here's our first story about her, from last summer: https://t.co/iIU7MKGZbu https://t.co/iOFOMvuNGi
— Tony Ortega (@TonyOrtega94) January 6, 2021
From her screed that day: “We would be well within our rights to take any alleged American who acted in a turncoat fashion and sold us out and committed treason, we would be well within our rights and take them out back and shoot them or hang them because that is what we did when they tried to overthrow our government by way of assassinating Abe Lincoln and it is not too good of an end to the guys who sold out our government on our own soil.”
It’s been interesting to see Leigh pivot from anti-vaxx activist to anti-mask crusader and now, apparently, to QAnon firebrand in this January 5 stemwinder about a stolen election.
But that was the day before President Trump gave his rousing speech and urged his followers to march on the Capitol itself, with tragic consequences, and we had wondered what role Leigh played during Wednesday’s riot.
Since then, some videos featuring Leigh have showed up at Twitter. In this one, she talks about a theft from Nancy Pelosi’s office…
Despite now publicly trying to blame Antifa, it sounds like CA attorney Leigh Dundas has some personal knowledge of theft that took place in the capitol.
January 11, 2021
Is your iPhone charged for the blackouts? And other Q tips for the coming storm
Some links to Q-related items today…
It’s happening!
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Twitter is purging QAnon accounts at a rapid rate.
QAnon doing your background check? Sure, why not.
Meanwhile, in South Carolina…
Those sealed indictments are going to be revealed any day now.
Lin Wood can’t believe people are unable to tell when he’s just joking around…
How it started etc… pic.twitter.com/MdPavlq3kR
— Helen 0️⃣9️⃣ Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) January 11, 2021
Struggling to understand what the QAnon movement is? We recommend Travis View’s excellent recent article at New York magazine as a place to start.
————-
THE LOWDOWN is our blog for news, the QAnon phenomenon, and other subjects not related to our coverage of the Church of Scientology. If it’s our Scientology coverage you’re looking for, please use this bookmark for our latest stories.
Posted by Tony Ortega on January 11, 2021 at 09:15
Scientology celebrates even more wealthy donors, and we’re happy to lend a helping hand
Scientology makes sure that its members have plenty of different ways to fork over big donations. We tend to focus on the really wealthy richies who fund the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) and get big trophies for it, as well as goofy titles like “Silver Meritorious” and “Patron Laureate.”
But there’s an entire separate set of “statuses” for other ways of giving, including for the big donors to the Ideal Org building programs (those million-dollar givers are known as “New Civilization Builders”), as well as other construction projects.
Another thing Scientologists are hit up for is the eternal project to send L. Ron Hubbard books to libraries around the world. Yes, even today in our wired world, Scientology is still completely dedicated to the dead-tree versions of Hubbard’s books, which libraries really, really don’t want, but Scientology sends them anyway.
So church members are constantly hit up for what is known as the “Planetary Dissemination” program, which itself has an entire different set of statuses for the people who contribute to it.
Advertisement(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Unfortunately, we don’t know the exact dollar amounts that go with these status levels the way we do the others. If you happen to have an old pamphlet or magazine that lists the amounts (Scientology is more shy about publishing stuff like that now), please let us know.
We wrote years ago about how libraries hate to be sent these unneeded books, and Jefferson Hawskins more than a decade ago explained at his website that it’s all a scam:
“Of course what they don’t tell their potential donors is that most of those books go in the library front door and right out the back door into resale bins, where they are sold for pennies on the dollar or pulped. They don’t make it onto the shelves.”
But here are the latest marks and their special new status levels, along with the full listing that appeared in a new publication. And thank you to the reader who sent it in!
Evolutionary Ambassadors
Buz & Claire Taylor
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Gabor Lenkei & Dora Szirban
Premier Ambassadors
John & Gerri Golashesky
Stu Sjouwerman & Rebecca Weiss-Sjouwerman
Kevin Andrews
Elite Ambassadors
Chris Estey & Family
Pierre & Alison Denis
Osman Ozsan & Maria Gregori
William Horwich
Senior Ambassadors
Hermann & Armelle Keppler
Thomas Gagnon
Dane & Lisa Doescher
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Ambassadors of Planetary Dissemination
Cheryl Caputo & Gary Camp
Stephen & Megan Epstein
Planetary Disseminators
Andry Andeev
Eric & Shannon Huntington
Hans Peter Klotzli
Imre Morva
Jigar Gandi & Karol Molina
Kim Wang
Mark & Christine Carberry
Philip & Pam Jepsen
Shirley Allison
Tim & Caroline Richardson
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Timothy Melchior
William Wiatt
Senior Disseminators
Alysen & Daniel Tarrant
Artan Gashi
Chris Wiley
Dorri Goldschmidt
Helle Rode
Geoff Gault
Giovanni Zamboni
Jay Kamhi
Jeff & Markie Harris
Matteo Fumagalli Casiraghi
Rainer Fend
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Saila Domani
Steve & Nikki Magnie
Tibor Varga
Will & Elisa Southard
Leading Disseminators
Aramburo & Lisette Nacif
Benno Hurler
Beth Hulbert
Bob Pitts
Calvin & Patsy Lane family
Carly Van Den Berg
Dana Danhoff
Eric Moore
Ernst Haible
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Eva McGinnis
Felix Koella
Frank & Darlene Camuso
Giampaolo Floris
Harry Kunz
Jill Chiappe
Jiri Puncochar
Joe Bleich
Jos Geurts
Kelly & Jimena Layton
Lyndsey Ursini
Marat Nugmanov
Marco Righetti
Mark Leverson
Advertisement
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Martin Stric
Michael & Heather Winters Coleman
Nora Vamos
Oscar Bonetti
Peter Storfer
Ryan & Lissa Dale
Ryan Gross
Sean Duffy
Steve & Gail Paquette
Theresa Williams
Villiam Kocurek
Vincenzo Mazzaferro
Vivienne Reign
Vladimir Valach
Advertisement
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Wai-Kum Wang
Werner Zimmerman
Yauni Morales & Lisette Nacif
Disseminators
Aleksandr Zlobin
Alfred Gonzalez-Fortis
Andre Gutknecht
Andreas Quitt
Angelo Polverini
Aniko Demecs
Axel Rudel
Bas Wolfkamp
Becky Heuston
Bert Haglund
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Brian Ernissee
Brigitta Albrecht
Cedric Chevalley
Charles Law
Claude-Andre Quennod
Colin Culpepper
David Morris
David Zermer
Edina Nagy Andorne
Elisabeth Hablaoetzel
Frederic Fallourd
Gianpaolo Mucci
Giuliana Dalla Pozza & Pierfranco Toniolo
Jan Sztruhar
Advertisement
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Janet Bailey-King
Jean-Louis Solatges
Jose Vicente Barrassa & Maricarmen Galindo Rico
Joyce Griffin
Karen Ramelli
Kim Rasmussen
Lucia Vilardo
Maria Grazia Conciarelli
Matt Gleason
Matteo Trinei
Matthias Bermeitinger
Michael Rubino
Mike Arnold
Peter Hunziker
Advertisement
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Raphael Bader
Renate Helnwein
Romina Bovolini
Serge Tessier
Stefano Colonna
Tim White
Tom Burke
Valerie Grange
Zsanett Bandi
——————–
“And this is what? Eleventh of Jan. The mystic month. And we are finding ourselves in the middle of — no, it’s at the beginning — What cycle are you in? Well, anyhow, it’s on a planet, on a twelfth-rate sun, and it’s the beginning of the, it’s shortly after the winter solstice. Saint Hill Special Briefing Course. Well, if you lived right and if you knew what you were doing and many other unlikely activities, you have it made. But we have to assume, we have to assume that if none of you have grown wings in the last 24 hours and you actually have had a PC on an E-Meter as an auditor and the PC hasn’t grown wings in the last 24 hours with all the tools which you’ve got, we must assume that there is some faint disconnection between what I am trying to teach you and what you are doing. I would say there’s some small gap. Maybe not a large gap. Maybe only a light year or two.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 11, 1962
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
——————–
“The Auditing Completions are starting to roll in. With a wow and a hurrah! Some important people have gotten some lovely gains lately. At the other end of it, 2 of those leaving came through it. We have the planet by the tail.” — The Commodore, January 11, 1971
——————–
“Warning for the true believers, maybe dont read: After someone goes Clear in Scientology they are encouraged to quickly get to OT3. They are warned that they are now vulnerable to problems or something, and that they must get to OT3 as quickly as possible. Now this is a good marketing tool, it encourages one to continue with Scientology even though they have gone Clear. They must for their own safety. Its like the government encouraging us to get vaccinated for our safety, it’s all about scaring someone into behaving how you want them to. Because some people were in the religion just to achieve Clear, this warning makes them think ‘Oh, I’m vulnerable, I must continue doing Scientology.’ So it’s a good way of keeping them around and getting them to buy their next level and do it asap. Which is what salesman always do, ‘you must buy now!’”
——————–
2001: Bob Minton reported that Brian Haney has settled his lawsuit against Scientologist Bryan Zwan. “Brian Haney settled with Zwan, Digital Lightwave and Scientology on 12/21. Haney took the money, he’s now gagged and restricted regarding Scientology and tied in other ways.”
——————–
“If Scientology could, then based solely on the words of L Ron Hubbard they would be gladly killing ‘infidels’ who refused to convert.”
——————–
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to Jan 20.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed for ‘Fatico’ hearing on Jan 19.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration; Jan 29, Masterson’s request to stay discovery pending the criminal case
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
Concluded litigation:
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs.
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
——————–
SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks
The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.
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.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
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.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: 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] Sonya Bianchi, 1927-2020: Hubbard’s first ‘Clear’ who vanished from Scientology history
[TWO years ago] Kansas City: Don’t panic. Your skyline is screwed, but Scientology isn’t taking over.
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s ‘scripture’ includes a thoroughly debunked mammoth-meat hoax
[FOUR years ago] Last night’s family on ‘Leah Remini’ found themselves targeted by Scientology attack site
[FIVE years ago] David Bowie, 1947-2016
[SEVEN years ago] Yes, that was a Scientology ad you saw during the football game — we told you it was coming!
[EIGHT years ago] Paul Haggis and Lawrence Wright on NBC’s Rock Center January 17
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s “Super Power Rundown:” What is it, Anyway?
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,178 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,682 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,202 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,222 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,113 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,420 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,288 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,062 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,866 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,182 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,748 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,667 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,835 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,416 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,677 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,715 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,428 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,953 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 308 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,483 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,034 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,183 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,503 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,358 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,477 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,833 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,136 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,242 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,644 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,516 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,099 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,594 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,848 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,957 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on January 11, 2021 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, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), 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
January 10, 2021
Alex Jones has had enough of Q promises, but Trump is secretly in Colorado! Honest!
Some links to Q-related items today…
Alex Jones has had enough of Q.
Advertisement
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Good example of the factionalization going on in the online right this week.
Alex Jones isn’t a huge Q guy (he’s been on and off the bandwagon), but many who have been predicting Civil War for years, like InfoWars, are sick of QAnon’s magical thinking.pic.twitter.com/BbrgJyTn5b
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) January 9, 2021
Did we say Trump was in Texas? No, he’s in Colorado!
@gapatriot3 thought I would share with you as you have a much bigger following. Please share if you feel the info. Is accurate. pic.twitter.com/3RCqHteJMY
— SPSmith (@EyesAreOpening) January 9, 2021
More opportunities for patriots to share their info on Parler!
The Vatican goes dark? Roll up the paddy wagon for the Pope!
Ashli was a martyr, of course…
Or maybe not…
Babbitt died devoted to—and arguably gave her life for—a cause full of people willing to throw her memory under the bus the moment it was inconvenient for them pic.twitter.com/zExWgqIGzU
— LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH II (@LCRWnews) January 10, 2021
Struggling to understand what the QAnon movement is? We recommend Travis View’s excellent recent article at New York magazine as a place to start.
————-
THE LOWDOWN is our blog for news, the QAnon phenomenon, and other subjects not related to our coverage of the Church of Scientology. If it’s our Scientology coverage you’re looking for, please use this bookmark for our latest stories.
Posted by Tony Ortega on January 9, 2021 at 09:25
Tony Ortega's Blog
- Tony Ortega's profile
- 19 followers
