July 25 in Scientology history

We told you previously that Scientology is now only listing five US locations for its Narconon rehab network, down from dozens in past years. In particular, we've been watching the demise of its 'Fresh Start' clinics in Southern California. Longtime reader Science Doc has been keeping tabs on Fresh Start's Warner Springs location in San Diego County for years, and sent us this surprising new report. I bought the first of a series of secondary residences in rural Southern California in 2014, and from that point until moving to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico immediately before Covid I drove past Narconon Warner Springs at least twice a week. Usually I drove slowly, and I payed attention. Narconon Warner Springs is on CA 79 South in the hamlet of Sunshine Summit, about 8 miles from Warner Springs. It is a small and eclectic community. Other residents include several excellent wineries, two immediately across the highway from Narconon. There is a retirement community of well-kept manufactured homes. Less well known, and perhaps ironically, there is a simulated North Korean POW camp operated by the US Navy. Newly minted aviators and special forces spend a week there being hunted down in the woods and then placed in cages while not being water boarded. Several friends went through that in the late 70s. It's been there a while. What became Narconon Warner Springs has been there a long time too. The Main Campus of Narconon was originally a fishing camp. There was a shallow lake on the property. Guests would drive out from the big city for a few days of relaxation in remote San Diego County. That sort of thing went out of fashion at some point. Narconon Southern California (a registered fictitious name for Narconon Fresh Start) first appears in the San Diego County Recorder's property records in 2001, with the purchase of the former fish camp. In a few years they also purchased the former JLB Ranch property about two miles up 79 in the direction of Temecula. Both properties were licensed by the State of California as rehabs. In a major expansion they also bought a large property in rural Lincoln County Nevada that became Narconon Rainbow Canyon.

Tags: 1958, 1969, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2019, 2020, Anonymous, Bernie McCabe, Caliente, California, David Dees, David Miscavige, Filmmaker, Florida, Harlingen, Karen de la Carriere, L. Ron Hubbard, Lisa McPherson Trust, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Mark Bunker, Mexico, Narconon, Narconon Fresh Start, Narconon Warner Springs, Nevada, North Korea, OCA, Orange County, OT, Quicky, Richard Bernard, San Diego County, Temecula, Texas, US Navy, Vimeo, Warner Springs, Xenu

Lisa Marie Presley and her ex-husband, music producer Michael Lockwood, are scheduled to begin their divorce trial on August 3, and Lockwood has filed a trial brief in which he accuses Presley of using Scientology "Fair Game" tactics against him in the grueling war between the two. The Blast today posted news of the document, but we thought you'd want to go through it yourself. Much of it is dealing with the details of how the custody-sharing guidelines have been set down; Lockwood is asking the court to award 50-50 custody after a six month increase from the 21 hours a week of time with his twin 11-year-old daughters Harper and Finley that he's getting now. We reported in 2016 that Lisa Marie Presley had left Scientology in 2014 after attempting to have a showdown with Scientology leader David Miscavige, something that was reported also by David's father, Ron Miscavige, in his 2016 book Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me.

Tags: 1958, 2014, 2016, 2018, Australia, David Miscavige, DC, Ethics, Fair Game, Introduction to Scientology Ethics, Leah Remini, Lisa Marie Presley, Michael Lockwood, Potential Trouble Source, Private investigator, Quicky, Ron Miscavige, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, Suppressive Person, Trial, Wikipedia, Xenu

Anyone who almost sheds a tear when studying Introduction to Scientology Ethics is either completely delusional or more likely has been abused with the application of this "tech" and the memories are so raw they bring tears. Let's take a look at some of the "incredibly sane" stuff in this book? For example, here are some of the specific "Crimes" and "High Crimes" that are listed. These are things for which you can be declared Suppressive:

Tags: Facebook, High Crime, Introduction to Scientology Ethics, Quicky, Twitter

On September 26, 2012, Sons of Anarchy actor Johnny Lewis went on a rampage, killing his 81-year-old landlord Cathy Davis and her cat, then attacking a gardener and a neighbor before either falling or jumping to his death at the Los Feliz home where he'd been living for a few days. It was the sad culmination to a series of violent incidents since he'd left the FX show after the 2009 season. Lewis was the son of two OT 8 Scientologists, Michael and Divona Lewis, and over the years Michael's advertisements as a Scientology field disseminator have appeared here at the Bunker on occasion. Michael Lewis told Los Angeles magazine that Scientology's famous hatred for psychiatry had not been at fault in his son's death. "[Michael] discounts that assumption, claiming that he pursued and encouraged psychiatric treatment for his son. It was Johnny who refused to comply."

Tags: 1958, 2009, 2012, Australia, Bridge to Total Freedom, Cause Resurgence Rundown, Clearwater, Divona Tyrrell, Ethics, Flag Land Base, Flag Service Organization, Florida, Freewinds, Introduction to Scientology Ethics, Johnny Lewis, Jon Atack, Kelly Preston, Los Angeles, Los Feliz, Michael Lewis, OT 8, Potential Trouble Source, Psychiatric treatment, Super Power, Xenu

One thing Scientology counts on is that if you puff up your local police, politicians, and public advocates with enough praise, they will gladly pose for photos and accept small trophies and other trinkets. It's one of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's key strategies that he called "safepointing," and we've documented it pretty heavily here at the Bunker, especially with the help of Rod Keller. In one recent example, Scientology front group maven Mary Shuttleworth gave a "Human Rights Hero Award" from the group she created, Youth for Human Rights, at a recent event that took place at the United Nations. And the result? A photo of recipient Rev. Travis Ellis, a Washington DC pastor, smiling with his new tchotchke. Mission accomplished.

Tags: 20/20, 2016, ABC, California, Canada, CCHR, Christian, Clay Bock, DC, Facebook, Ideal Org, Leah Remini, Mary Shuttleworth, Mission, Nelson Mandela, Orange County, Patricia Adelekan, Paulien Lombard, Rod Keller, Safe Point, Santa Ana, South Coast Mission, Travis Ellis, United for Human Rights, United Nations, Washington, Youth for Human Rights International

The president of McMaster University's students union has revoked a recently ratified club's privileges, citing information that points to possible connections with outside groups or people who promote "white supremacist and xenophobic attitudes and activities." For its part, a representative of the Dominion Society says it has no links to other organizations, especially extremist groups. McMaster Students Union (MSU) president Josh Marando released a statement on Wednesday saying the union has suspended the rights of the society. He wrote that when applying to become a club, members of the Dominion Society said they were not affiliated with any outside organizations.

Tags: 2020, Alt-Right, Canada, Dominion Society, McMaster University, White supremacist

July 25, 2019 Season 1 Episode 3 Programmers note: Light swearing in this episode Jerry, Tony and Jim discuss finances and high control groups, more specifically how members' finances are often tied to the group. Plus, 16:58 - A happy Scientology story, getting people out/Activism, 34:00 Tulsi Gabbard's guru and the Science Identity Foundation.

Tags: Jason Lee, Quicky, Science of Identity Foundation, Tulsi Gabbard

Hate crimes were reported relatively more frequently in Hamilton last year than in any other city in the country, according to new data from Statistics Canada. As in previous years, the city outpaced Quebec City and Ottawa when it came to the 1,798 incidents reported to police across Canada last year. Following a 47 per cent surge in 2017, the number of police-reported hate crimes in Canada dipped 13 per cent last year, Statistics Canada reported. Despite the slight decline, the number of hate crimes in 2018 aligns with the upward trend observed since 2014. Hamilton, however, saw no decline last year, climbing 6.6 per cent in 2018 after a 30 per cent jump in 2017.

Tags: 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, Alt-Right, Canada, Fred Eisenberger, Hamilton, Hamilton Centre, Jewish, LGBTQ, McMaster University, Neo-Nazi, Ottawa, Quebec City, Statistics Canada, White supremacist

OT VIII confront and shatter Unless it's an actual SP. Then it's "run and hide" tech. But the real question is, why would a master o&the universe have to REDO a course like this? Surely she was not PTS?

Tags: Amber Skjelset, AOSHUK, Brainwashing Manual, Clear, Clearwater, Disconnection, Facebook, Fraud, Freedom Medal Winner, Int Base, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Malmo, Objectives, OT, OT VIII, Pasadena, Potential Trouble Source, Quicky, Super Power, Thursday Funnies, Tom Cruise, Twitter

Fifty years ago today on 25 July 1968, the United Kingdom became the first country in the world to introduce nationwide restrictions on Scientology. Foreign Scientologists were banned from entering the country, and Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard was classified as an "undesirable alien". The British Health Minister, Kenneth Robinson, addressed the House of Commons to issue one of the strongest condemnations of Scientology ever made by a member of a government. "The Government is satisfied," he said, "having reviewed all the available evidence, that Scientology is socially harmful. It alienates members of families from each other and attributes squalid and disgraceful motives to all who oppose it. Its authoritarian principles and practices are a potential menace to the personality and well-being of those so deluded as to become its followers; above all, its methods can be a serious danger to the health of those who submit to them." Robinson declared that Scientology was "so objectionable that it would be right to take all step … to curb its growth." The ban lasted twelve years before it was repealed. Fifty years on, it's worth looking again at this episode to see how it came about, whether the British government did manage to curb Scientology's growth and what lessons can be drawn from the affair.

Tags: 1959, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, Anderson Report, Australia, BBC, Chris Owen, David Gaiman, Disconnection, East Grinstead, Europe, Facebook, Fair Game, FBI, Foster Report, Guardian's Office, Hare Krishna, Jane Kember, John Foster, Kenneth Robinson, Legal, London, Margaret Thatcher, Mary Sue Hubbard, Mental breakdown, Mental Health, Moonies, National Association of Mental Health, New York, Norman Lewis, Rajneeshee, Richard Crossman, Roy Jenkins, Saint Hill, Saint Hill Manor, Snow White Program, Sussex, UK, Victoria, Washington, West Sussex

The Church of Scientology is wealthy because it knows how to separate people from their money with great speed — and this by using every trick in the book. David Sonenfild was an extremely successful Church of Scientology "Reg" for many years. A "Reg" is a highly trained high-pressure Scientology salesperson who will use every form of flattery, apparent concern, tricks, connivance, dissimulation, threats, promises, or whatever else is needed to part a person from their money as quickly as possible. David did a "hat write up" of the techniques he used — scroll down to the bottom of this post for a PDF copy. In Scientology-speak a job is called a "hat." Instead of saying "do your job!" Scientology says, "wear your hat!" Strange talk, but Scientology's insular language is part of its core cultic construction. This "hat write up" was intended for use in training new regges in the techniques of selling Scientology where the focus is on urgency. Scientology has always used extreme urgency, emergency, and time pressure to create a sense that some horrible disaster is lurking just around the corner unless people act right now! Time pressure is the essence of hard sales and Scientology constantly uses time pressure against its own membership.

Tags: Cincinnati, Quicky, Registrar, Sea Org, Tony Ortega

You might remember we earlier made mention of the Foothill Mission GoFundMe page (That's Some Ideal Mission) to raise money to replace their ceiling and thus become "ideal." It seems that might have created a problem. Publicly begging for money to replace your ceiling is not the hallmark of a flourishing and prospering mission.

Tags: GoFundMe, Mission, Mission Network, Quicky

Based on recent reports we've been hearing from inside the Church of Scientology, there are some superficial actions being taken to improve the lot of Sea Org members and Scientologists but none of these are very significant or require any sacrifices on the part of Church leadership. In other words, it's all about improving the optics instead of making substantial changes. In this video, I talk about some of these and lay out what measures the Church of Scientology would really need to take to not be such a destructive cult. SHOP FOR CRITICAL MERCHANDISE http://shop.spreadshirt.com/chrisshelton

Tags: Audio, Cult, Quicky, Scientology: A to Xenu, Sea Org

For some time, we've been following the hijinks at Nxivm, the upstate New York cult selling personal success seminars. We have published a few articles comparing Nxivm to Scientology. In March 2018, Nxivm cult founder Keith Raniere was arrested in Mexico and returned to the US to face charges of sex slavery and human trafficking. Nxivm cult leader Keith Raniere. Source: TimesUnion.com In a June 12 court hearing, Raniere was denied bail, after offering an elaborate package of $10 million in cash plus offering to provide his own force of armed guards around the clock to keep him from violating any of the bail conditions. In the hearing, the prosecution remarked that a superseding indictment would be issued with additional charges against Raniere and with charges against additional defendants.

Tags: 1980, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2014, 2017, Albany, Allison Mack, Brooklyn, Clare Bronfman, Cult, Daily Mail, FBI, Fiji, First Amendment, France, Human trafficking, Identity Theft, Independent, IRS, Jewish, Keith Raniere, Long Island, Mexico, Money laundering, Muslim, Nancy Salzman, New York, NXIVM, Quebec, Queens, Quicky, Rick Ross, RICO, Sara Bronfman, Switzerland, Trial

As the statistics on socialblade.com make clear, the Church of Scientology gained no new followers on Twitter in the period April 2018 — July 2018. With the exception of adding about 1,800 followers in the period November 2017 — February 2018, Scientology on Twitter flatlined and has been dead since January 2017. However, the ~1800 the Twitter followers Scientology added were all lost on July 17, 2018 when Twitter stripped Scientology of 1,882 fake followers.

Tags: 2017, David Miscavige, Quicky, Scientology TV, Twitter

July 24, 2017: As reported today by Tony Ortega, attorney Ray Jeffrey has filed a petition with the District Court of Bexar County, Texas to examine the financial records Mark & Monique Rathbun. This is a matter arising from Monique Rathbun's sudden and unexpected firing of her legal team and dropping her legal case against David Miscavige et. al. The poster TX Lawyer commented on the Underground Bunker today: Just to put this in context, this is what's known in Texas civil litigation as a Rule 202 petition, which allows a potential plaintiff to obtain a court order to take a deposition even where a lawsuit is not pending, so long as you are doing it to investigate a potential claim or suit (or to preserve the witness's testimony for use in an anticipated suit). They're a pretty common procedure here in Texas, and most judges routinely grant them when requested. I do note that those document requests are awfully broad, so I would not be surprised if the judge pares them back if the Rathbuns object.

Tags: Bexar County, David Miscavige, Marty Rathbun, Monique Rathbun, Quicky, Ray Jeffrey, Texas, Tony Ortega, TX Lawyer, Underground Bunker

Another story from the early years of the Sea Org aboard the Apollo by Gary Reisdorf. Stores Party Gone Wild - Sled breaking One of the functions of being a deckhand is when the ship was at anchor, we had the privilege of running people and goods from the shore to the ship. Boat runs are normally quite fun and took us away from our usual mundane jobs of painting that bucket of rust, sanding and varnishing the railings or re-caulking the wooden decks.

Tags: 1972, Apollo, Committee of Evidence, Derek Cusworth, Gary Reisdorf, Iowa, Mission Into Time, Norman Starkey, Pat McCullough, Portugal, Quicky, Riggs Eckelberry, Sea Org

We spoke to Ray Jeffrey yesterday about the petition he filed on July 5 along with Elliott Cappuccio and Marc Wiegand, asking the Bexar County District Court to order that their former clients, Mark "Marty" Rathbun and Monique Rathbun, sit for depositions and turn over financial records. In January 2016, Monique fired the three lawyers "without cause" and then dropped her 2013 harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. Since that time her husband Marty (who had also personally been represented by Jeffrey, Cappuccio, and Wiegand) has used his website to attack many of his former friends and supporters and has defended the church in a bewildering turnaround. According to the petition Jeffrey filed, he and his colleagues want to question the Rathbuns to investigate possible legal claims, suspecting that the Rathbuns may have entered some kind of secret agreement with the church. In their petition, the attorneys asked for a hearing on July 25, but we noticed that it had been pushed back to August 29. We asked Jeffrey why the hearing had been postponed. "We were contacted by an attorney, Rich Reynolds, who said he was retained to represent the Rathbuns, and he said he had scheduling conflicts. August 29 was the first date that all of us had available on our calendars," he told us.

Tags: 2013, 2016, Bexar County, David Miscavige, Elliott Cappuccio, Marc Wiegand, Mark Bunker, Marty Rathbun, Monique Rathbun, Ray Jeffrey, Rich Reynolds, San Antonio, Texas, Wise Beard Man

In the wee hours of June 14, the Washington Post revealed that "Russian government hackers" had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee. Foreign spies, the Post claimed, had gained access to the DNC's entire database of opposition research on the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, just weeks before the Republican Convention. Hillary Clinton said the attack was "troubling." It began ominously. Nearly two months earlier, in April, the Democrats had noticed that something was wrong in their networks. Then, in early May, the DNC called in CrowdStrike, a security firm that specializes in countering advanced network threats. After deploying their tools on the DNC's machines, and after about two hours of work, CrowdStrike found "two sophisticated adversaries" on the Committee's network. The two groups were well-known in the security industry as "APT 28" and "APT 29." APT stands for Advanced Persistent Threat—usually jargon for spies. CrowdStrike linked both groups to "the Russian government's powerful and highly capable intelligence services." APT 29, suspected to be the FSB, had been on the DNC's network since at least summer 2015. APT 28, identified as Russia's military intelligence agency GRU, had breached the Democrats only in April 2016, and probably tipped off the investigation. CrowdStrike found no evidence of collaboration between the two intelligence agencies inside the DNC's networks, "or even an awareness of one by the other," the firm wrote.

Tags: 2015, Alt-Right, Berlin, Burglary, Chinese, Congress, CrowdStrike, Democratic National Committee, Donald Trump, Europe, FBI, France, Gawker, Germany, Guccifer, Hillary Clinton, Iran, Israel, Julian Assange, London, Motherboard, North Korea, Police, Quicky, Republican, Russia, Switzerland, The Smoking Gun, Twitter, UK, US Department of Justice, US Secretary of State, Washington, Washington Post, White House, WikiLeaks

Alex sought treatment and was clean after going to Serenity Point Recovery in Michigan for 60 days. She came home Jan. 15. Alex had made previous attempts with occasional success. During Alex's last time in rehab, Tammy and John said they prayed everything would be better. Alex took weekly drug tests her parents bought at a local store, which she passed. It was part of the ground rules for living at their home. She even had a job.

Tags: Alexandria Sienkiewicz, Narconon death, Per Wickstrom, Schuylkill County, Serenity Point

An amusing adventure to nowhere.

Tags: California, Mission, Quicky

Here is the final report on the "week of events" to celebrate Maiden Voyage 2016. Miscavige was feeling overworked for the week, having to deliver that opening night address and then the IAS pitch-a-thon, so he dished this one off to a bunch of nobodies. Anyone these days apparently qualifies as "International Church executives" - the headliner for this event was the CO PAC? Wow.... There is some fascinating information here.

Tags: Atlanta, Cape Town, Dan Sherman, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Erin Banks, International Association of Scientologists, Los Angeles, Maiden Voyage, Pope, Puerto Rico, Purification Rundown, Quicky

We're in transit again, and so we're grateful that frequent contributor Jeffrey Augustine came through with another fun look at Scientology's underlying policies. This one really needs no more explanation than that... L. Ron Hubbard had absolutely no sense of humor and hated what he called "Joking and Degrading." Hubbard formalized this into a policy outlawing Joking and Degrading (J&D'ing) in the Church of Scientology. One of the first things Scientology does to a person is to outlaw and destroy their sense of humor. As Hubbard wrote in the Keeping Scientology Working (KSW) policy:

Tags: 1977, 2011, Apostate, Celebrity Centre, Chairman of the Board, Committee of Evidence, David Miscavige, Ethics, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Hollywood, Jeffrey Augustine, Keep Scientology Working, Lawrence Wright, New Yorker, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Sec Check, Tommy Davis, War of the Worlds

Things keep getting stranger and stranger here in the Underground Bunker — and we love it! A couple of days ago, we posted a video of Scientology celebrities Jenna and Bodhi Elfman which was the latest in their series of what they call "Kicking and Screaming," a series of short videos with the two of them talking about their lives. Our readers were somewhat stunned by how open the two of them were about sex, and with how Jenna spoke about her husband and her kids. Obviously, the two of them were going for humor, but it came off strangely, and it was not hard to see a lot of animosity below the surface between the two of them, not only for each other but also for pretty much everyone else. Was this really how Scientologists saw the world? Two former Scientologists who had an opinion about it were Mareka Brousseau and her sister Katrina James. They tell us that the Elfmans illustrated perfectly how celebrity Scientologists get away with things that would get non-celebrity Scientologists sent to ethics for interrogations. Like for talking publicly about how flaccid Bodhi's member was as he and Jenna attempted to have sex in the bathroom with their kids pounding on the door.

Tags: Bodhi Elfman, Katrina James, Mareka Brousseau, Quicky

Well, there was more to it than just a "new, improved" CCRD launched by the splendidly uniformed Captain Miscavige ("don't call him Captain, it is insulting") at the recent secret briefing at Flag (See It's Epic, It's Monumental) The Chairman of the Pompadour took it right over the top with this monumentally epic milestone briefing, releasing the new, standard tech OT Levels through OT III. With the understated tag-line "This is the guarantee that every being will make it to OT — with unprecedented ease and speed" the latest edition of the International Scientology News trumpeted this revelation across 3 double page spreads. Though oddly, 4 of the 6 pages were pictures of the crowd in the auditorium, happy audience reaction shots and lights on the outside of the Ft Harrison.

Tags: 1986, Basel, CIA, Clear, Clear Certainty Rundown, David Miscavige, Freewinds, Golden Age of Tech, International Scientology News, L. Ron Hubbard, Lisa McPherson, Maiden Voyage, NASA, OT, OT III, Quicky, Religious Technology Center

French prosecutors are investigating a complaint filed by 12 employees of a building firm who say their employer forced them to take part in Scientology courses. The case is only in its early stages and may never make it to court. But one of France's top lawyers, Olivier Morice - a veteran of court battles with the movement - is representing the workers who filed the complaint.

Tags: 2009, 2011, Arcadia, Bridge to Total Freedom, Celebrity Centre, Cyril Pincanon, France, Frederic Langlois, Freewinds, Jeffrey Augustine, Jesse Prince, Jonny Jacobsen, Kristi Wachter, Lawyer, Mat Pesch, Mike Rinder, Olivier Morice, Paris, Religious harassment, Scientology organization, Stacy Brooks, Training Routines, UNADFI, Versailles

Luis and Rocio Garcia's federal fraud lawsuit against the Church of Scientology has survived another challenge as Judge James Whittemore denied the church's latest motion to dismiss. The Garcias say they were defrauded by Scientology when it pressured them to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars in building projects, but since their lawsuit was first filed in January last year, it's run into numerous technical roadblocks. The Garcias first had to win a mini-trial in Tampa when Scientology tried to disqualify their attorneys. They then had to deal with a jurisdictional challenge that put the case on hold for months and eventually resulted in the Garcias dismissing three of Scientology's entities from the lawsuit.

Tags: Judge James Whittemore, Luis and Rocio Garcia, Quicky, Tampa

I often put up postings that are tongue in cheek and poke fun at Miscavige and his Merry Band of Minions. This however is NOT one of those. It highlights a systemic problem in Scientology, in some ways similar to the Catholic Church. The comparison is both apt (as the interest is in society's right to protect children and the well being of the children themselves) and somewhat strained (because child molesting is not generally widespread in scientology organizations and certainly not among its "priesthood"). But what is completely parallel is the desire of the church to keep these incidents secret at all costs. To hide the perpetrators and facts from authorities and to "deal with it internally" which usually results in NOTHING being done.

Tags: 1996, 2001, Catholic, Catholic Church, Class V, Commodore's Messenger Organization, David Miscavige, FBI, Freeloader Debt, IRS, Jeff Quiros, L. Ron Hubbard, Mountain View, Office of Special Affairs, OSA Int, OT, OT VIII, Potential Trouble Source, Quicky, Robyn Capella, San Francisco, Sea Org, Steve Hall, Suppressive Person

Mat Pesch, 30 year veteran discusses working conditions at Scientology's Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida. Topics include hard sales tactics used by the sales people to Scientology public, Listen to the Intelligence gathering done on a target to extort maximum money. What are his buttons ? How much is his net worth ? Does he have a boat ? What investments ? The "FSMs" are the feeders that make 10% of money they extorts. The Church with frenzied shark feeding at the smell of blood.

Tags: Clearwater, Facebook, Field Staff Member, Flag Land Base, Florida, Freewinds, Google, Mat Pesch, Quicky, Twitter

Operators of a drug rehabilitation center in Hernando County, which uses Scientology-affiliated Narconon treatments under intense scrutiny in several states, plan to open a 60-bed halfway house in Clearwater. And they won't say why.

Tags: 1966, 1980, 1990, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, Arizona, Atlanta, Barbara Behrendt, California, Canada, Clearwater, Colorado, Falcon Research, Feshbach, Feshbach Brothers, Florida, Georgia, Hernando County, Kurt Feshbach, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Narconon, Nevada, New Port Richey, Novus Medical Detox Center, Oklahoma, Palo Alto, Quebec, Ryan Hamilton, Sauna, Sean Strickling, Spring Hill, Success rate, Suncoast Rehabilitation Center, Tammy Strickling, Thomas C. Tobin, Toucan Partners

Jeff Harris Last week, we reported that Scientology's drug rehab network, Narconon, had removed a class-action lawsuit filed against it in Georgia to federal court, and had filed multiple motions to dismiss it. Now, the plaintiffs in that suit, led by their attorney, Jeff Harris, have hit back with a detailed briefing explaining why they're suing not only Narconon, but the Religious Technology Center — Scientology's controlling entity, which is led by the church's top official, David Miscavige. Harris attached 31 exhibits of Scientology's own publications and internal documents in an attempt to show that Miscavige wields total control of the Scientology empire, down to local drug rehab centers like the one in the Atlanta area, Narconon Georgia, that is the focus of this suit.

Tags: 1972, 1974, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, ABLE, Africa, Amy Scobee, ANZO, Atlanta, Auditor's Day, AVC, Bridge to Total Freedom, Canada, Chairman of the Board, Clear, David Miscavige, Epilepsy, Eric Tenorio, Europe, Flag Land Base, Freedom magazine, Freedom Medal of Valor, Georgia, Guardian's Office, Haydn James, Heber Jentzsch, Heribert Pfaff, Ideal Org, International Association of Scientologists, International Scientology News, IRS, Jeff Harris, Jonny Jacobsen, Judge Steve Jones, Lucas Catton, Mary Rieser, Narconon, Narconon Georgia, Narconon International, Office of Special Affairs, Paris, Patrick Desmond, Quicky, Religious Technology Center, Sue Wilhere, Tom Cruise, Tory Christman, UK, Watchdog Committee

Run away! Leah Remini's in your Facebook! Oh, this is rich. One of our tipsters forwarded to us a message that has been sent to Scientologists about how to avoid all the "entheta" — negative press — that has enveloped Scientology, especially since the departure of Leah Remini. Since the news of Remini's defection broke on July 8, Scientologists — who are obsessed with rules and regulations and can hardly put on their shoes in the morning without instructions from the church — have been asking for help understanding what's going on. The problem is, how do you warn your fellow church members about being exposed to online entheta without running into it yourself? And how do you find out which of your so-called friends is actually in contact with evil "Suppressive Persons" that you've now been ordered to cut out of your lives? These are the kinds of questions that haunt the members of Tom Cruise's congregation.

Tags: Disconnection, Facebook, Leah Remini, Los Angeles, Office of Special Affairs, Quicky, Shelly Miscavige, Suppressive Person, Tom Cruise

Scientology has lost famous member Leah Remini, and we look at what went into her decision to leave, along with the downward spiral of the church and David Miscavige's reign of terror with writer Tony Ortega. From the aggressive psychology of "sec checks," to the way celebrities are treated, and how Jennifer Lopez sparked Remini's exodus from the church, we go in GUEST BIO: Tony Ortega is a former editor of The Village Voice who is working on a book on Scientology and blogs at tonyortega.org. He lives in New York.

Tags: David Miscavige, Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, New York, Quicky, Sec Check, Shelly Miscavige, Tony Ortega, Village Voice

When Heribert Pfaff died in 1988 of an epileptic seizure in Clearwater Florida, he was using Scientology processing to try to wean himself off his medication. "Victim face down" Heribert Pfaff had suffered major epileptic seizures for 10 years after being injured in a serious car accident. In normal circumstances, the right medication would have helped him manage his condition. But Pfaff was a Scientologist, and so was his doctor.

Tags: 1963, 1975, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2008, 2010, 2011, Ben Shaw, Case Supervisor, Clearwater, Clearwater Police Department, Dianetics, Engrams, Epilepsy, Flag Land Base, Florida, Fort Harrison, France, Fred Oxaal, Germany, Heribert Pfaff, Hospital, Jeff Jacobsen, Jocelyne Dorfmann, Klaus Ballin, Lisa McPherson, Lucy Morgan, Markus Stuckenbrock, Martin Ottmann, Mexico, Mona Botros, Narconon, Netherlands, Office of Special Affairs, OT, OT VII, Planetary Dissemination, Police, Purification Rundown, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Sea Org, St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Bay Times, The Way to Happiness, Uwe Stuckenbrock

"After looking at the OSBI report and additional witness statements, the District Attorney's Office has requested the Sheriff's Office to further investigate," said Richard Hull, assistant district attorney. "The District Attorney's Office requested all reports on all three victims," said Sheriff Joel Kerns, referring to two other deaths that also occurred at the Narconon facility in the past nine months. Hillary Holten, 21, of Carrollton, Texas, died April 11, and Gabriel Graves, 32, of Owasso, died Oct. 26.

Tags: Death, Gabriel Graves, Gary Smith, Hillary Holten, Joel Kerns, Kaysie Werninck, Narconon, Narconon Arrowhead, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Pittsburg County, Richard Hull, Robert Murphy, Stacy Murphy

(dailypicksandflicks.com) Southampton, England-based P&O Cruises put this advertisement in a newspaper somewhere, and it was naturally posted to the web. We can't decide, however, if P&O understood just how brilliant its advertisement is, as it not only riffs on Tom Cruise's name, but it also recalls one of Scientology's biggest controversies of 2011, and a big favorite here at our blog -- the Scientology cruise that would never end! We're talking, of course, of Valeska Paris, whose shocking story of being kept against her will from 1996 to 2007 on Scientology's private cruise ship the Freewinds was voted the best of 2011 by our readers.

Tags: 1944, 1968, 1971, 1996, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, Abortion, Aleister Crowley, Alexander Jentzsch, Amy Scobee, Ann Tidman, Annie Broeker, Atlanta, Australia, BBC, Belgium, Canada, Chill EB, Church of Spiritual Technology, Claire Headley, Clearwater, David Love, David Miscavige, Debbie Cook, Derek Bloch, Disconnection, Eddie Frencher, England, FBI, Flo Barnett, Florida, Freewinds, Haifa, Heber Jentzsch, Hollywood, Holocaust, Hugh Urban, Ideal Org, Int Base, Isabella Cruise, Israel, Jaffa, Janet Reitman, John Brousseau, Karin Pouw, Katie Holmes, Keith Relkin, Laura DeCrescenzo, Lawrence Wright, Lisa Marie Presley, Lloyd Kaufman, Lori Hodgson, Los Angeles, Marc Headley, Marty Rathbun, Matt Stone, Maureen Orth, Mike Rinder, Mimi Faust, Missouri, Narconon, Nazanin Boniadi, Neil Gaiman, New Year's Eve, New Yorker, Office of Special Affairs, Ohio, Oklahoma, OT, Patty Moher, Paul Haggis, Paul Thomas Anderson, Paulette Cooper, Placido Domingo, Quicky, Ramana Dienes-Browning, Roanne Horwich, Ron Miscavige Sr, Sam Domingo, San Francisco, Scientology executive, Sea Org, Sinar Parman, South Park, Southampton, Squirrel Busters, Super Power Building, The Hole, The Master, The Scandal of Scientology, Tom Cruise, Tommy Davis, Tommy Gorman, Trey Parker, UK, Valeska Paris, Vanity Fair, Writers of the Future, Xenu

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — After three deaths in nine months at an eastern Oklahoma drug rehab center with ties to the Church of Scientology, the local sheriff confirmed Wednesday that he has launched an investigation. Pittsburg County Sheriff Joel Kerns said his office is looking into three deaths at Narconon Arrowhead. The most recent occurred Thursday, when the center's staff found 20-year-old Stacy Dawn Murphy dead in her room. "She was found with no apparent abrasions or anything of that sort," Kerns said. "No apparent medical conditions."

Tags: 2000, 2009, ABLE, Amy Elliott, Choctaw Nation, Gabriel Graves, Gary Smith, Hillary Holten, Joel Kerns, Kaysie Werninck, McAlester News-Capital, Mental Health, Narconon, Narconon Arrowhead, Narconon International, Narconon staff, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma City, Pittsburg County Sheriff, Quicky, Stacy Murphy, Tulsa

We've been a bit distracted of late dealing with David Miscavige's robots carrying out his orders to run us out of our home and town. Part of the program includes defaming us with lies both on his 28 anti-Marty sites and individually to officials and citizens of our home town and region. I have been remiss lately in not keeping the vacuum filled on what goes on at Casablanca that causes the waves of cult members and PI's swirling about attempting our demise. I began the process yesterday and continue it today with the inimitable Samantha Domingo. Sam likes to joust with Minerva (handle for Miscavige's oracle of entheta – vicious lies). Sam wrote the following recently to put the lie to one of Minerva's oft-repeated propaganda lines. It tends to fill the vacuum of what goes on here while all the noise goes on in the streets. The Nerve of Minerva By Samantha Domingo

Tags: alibi, Auditing, Brian Culkin, Corpus Christi, Cult, David Miscavige, E-meter, Marriage, Master at Arms, Mexico, Office of Special Affairs, OT, OT III, Potential Trouble Source, Quicky, Samantha Domingo, Sec Check, Squirrel, Suppressive Person, Texas

They speak in "lolcats" terminology. They use terms like "lulz" and "epic win." They claim that members who have been found out have had their pets killed. They wear "V for Vendetta" Guy Fawkes masks. They are Anonymous, and they're gathering in Millennium Park this weekend for a gathering that's one part protest, one part flash mob, two parts performance art. Who are they really? Who knows. That's the point.

Tags: Anonymous, Chicago

The Church of Scientology says it is considering proposals to sell its headquarters in the central business district, in its move to the suburbs. The controversial religious denomination can expect to make about $8 million in today's market for the historic four-level building, on the corner of Russell Street and Flinders Lane.

Tags: Australia, Melbourne, Real estate

The 911 Chronicles - Truth Rising , New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project Cures Rescue Workers By Tom Cruise

Tags: 9/11, Detox, FDNY, Japan, Joe Higgins, NASA, New York City, New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, Ooze towel, Purification Rundown, Study Tech, Tom Cruise, Video

WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for teens with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder -- adding to treatment options but also highlighting the debate over psychiatric medication for minors. The drug, Adderall, was already approved by the FDA for children 12 and under and for people over 18. But approving it for teens greatly increases its reach, because an estimated 2 million U.S. school-age youngsters suffer from ADHD. Adderall, marketed by Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, was criticized by name in a recent television interview by actor Tom Cruise, who belongs to the Church of Scientology and rejects psychiatric medicine.

Tags: Adderall, ADHD, Food and Drug Administration, Hospital, Massachusetts, Matt Lauer, National Mental Health Association, NBC, Quicky, Ritalin, Tom Cruise, United Press International

As previously reported by CNET News.com, the measure would dramatically rewrite federal law to permit nearly unchecked electronic disruptions if a copyright holder has a "reasonable basis" to believe that piracy is occurring. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C., would immunize groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) from all state and federal laws if they disable, block or otherwise impair a "publicly accessible peer-to-peer file-trading network."

Tags: Howard Berman, Howard Coble, MPAA, RIAA

State mental health board members have been asked to postpone a decision on whether to certify a drug treatment center that uses methods of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Lawyers with Narconon Chilocco New Life Center say they need the additional time to appeal a recent decision by an Oklahoma County judge that involves the state mental health department in the certification process. Narconon Chilocco lawyers successfully argued last year before another Oklahoma County judge that the mental health department's staff was prejudiced against the 75-bed facility located north of Newkirk.

Tags: John Chelf, Judge John Amick, Lawyer, Narconon, Narconon Chilocco, Newkirk, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Supreme Court, Tulsa

They also are well-guarded and secretive. Overlooking the Petrolia vault, according to an electrical contractor quoted by Cempa, is an 8,000-square-foot bunker with "closed circuit TV cameras in almost every room and alarm systems all over." The Petrolia vault is on 3,600 acres bought since 1984 by the Los Angeles-based Church of Spiritual Technology. Cempa says it is a Scientology splinter group set up to preserve the religious and philosophical writings of Hubbard.

Tags: 1984, Bent Corydon, California, Church of Spiritual Technology, Clearwater, Cult, Gray Moss Inn, Humboldt County, Joe Cempa, L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?, Los Angeles, Michel Ouelette, New Mexico, North Coast Journal, Oregon, Petrolia, San Francisco, Time magazine, Vault

Alain Priouzeau, who police said was in his mid-20s, was flown by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg and died an hour and a half later of head injuries, police said. Police said Priouzeau lived at 210 S Fort Harrison Ave. in Clearwater, headquarters for the Church of Scientology.

Tags: 1977, Alain Priouzeau, Clearwater, Death, Dunedin, Fort Harrison, Pinellas County, Police, St. Petersburg

Dawn Raid. Last week it appeared that Scientologist methods had aroused a half-sleeping giant: the U.S. Government. Federal prosecutors began parading Scientology officials before a Washington grand jury following a door-busting dawn raid by FBI agents on church offices in Hollywood and the District of Columbia. Cartons of documents were seized, including dossiers on the private lives of federal judges hearing the church's suits, data on agency personnel, and other material that originated in Government files. Authorities charged that the Scientologists had pilfered scores of confidential documents after infiltrating the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service.

Tags: DEA, FBI, Food and Drug Administration, IRS, Michael Meisner, Nazi labelling, Robert Vaughn Young, Snow White Program