November 5 in Scientology history

We hope you have some time for a trip into the past. Because it's going to take a while to get through everything we've posted here this morning. Being a Scientology watcher means diving into the history of L. Ron Hubbard's nutty movement, and one of the major milestones in that history took place in a San Francisco hotel on October 17, 1982. Yes, we're talking about the infamous Mission Holders' Conference of that year, when a new generation of leadership announced its ruthless new direction, and while Hubbard himself was in hiding.

Tags: 1945, 1950, 1956, 1960, 1969, 1970, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1998, 2004, 2014, A Piece of Blue Sky, Advanced Org, Alan Walter, AOLA, Appeal, Arlington, ASHO, Atlanta, Atomic Energy Commission, Australia, Battlefield Earth, Beck Hansen, Bellevue, Bent Corydon, Bill Franks, Bob Thomas, Body routing, Boston, Boulder, Brown McKee, Burglary, Cadet Org, California, Cambridge, Chicago, Chico Mission, Church of Scientology International, Church of Scientology of California, Class IV, Clear, Clearwater, Cleveland, CMO Int, Colorado Springs, Committee of Evidence, Commodore's Messenger Organization, Course Supervisor, Critic, Daily News, David Miscavige, DC, Dean Stokes, Denver, Detroit, Dianetics, Ethics Officer, Europe, Executive Director International, FBI, Field Staff Member, Finance Police, First Amendment, Flag Service Organization, FOLO, Fort Harrison, Gab, Gerry Armstrong, Golden Era Studios, Google, Grade Chart, Guardian's Office, Guillaume Lesevre, Hollywood, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Houston, Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin, Inspector General, Inspector General Network, International Finance Dictator, IRS, Italy, Jack Horner, Japan, John Clark, Jon Atack, Julie Titchbourne, Keep Scientology Working, Kingsley Wimbush, Knowledge Report, Knowledge Reports, L. Ron Hubbard, Larry Heller, Legal, Los Angeles, Los Gatos, Lyman Spurlock, Lynwood, Marc Yager, Margaret Singer, Mary Sue Hubbard, Master at Arms, Michael Flynn, Milwaukee, Mission, Mission Holder, Mission Network, Mountain View, Nancy Cartwright, New York, Norman Starkey, Office of Special Affairs, Omaha, Orange County, Oregon, OT, OT 3, OT 8, OT 9, Palo Alto, PC folders, Peter Gillham, Phoenix, Portland, Potential Trouble Source, Private investigator, Publisher, Puerto Rico, Quicky, Ray Mithoff, Reader's Digest, Religious Technology Center, Reno, RICO, Riverside, Roger Barnes, Ruth Minshull, Sacramento, Saint Hill, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Scientology celebrity, Scientology Missions International, Sea Org, Seattle, Sec Check, Simon Bolivar, Snow White Program, Solo NOTs, Squirrel, Steve Marlowe, Stevens Creek, Stockton, Suppressive Person, Tonja Burden, Trademark, Tucson, UK, Ventura, Washington, DC, Wendell Reynolds

Four viral TikTok videos pushing this unfounded election conspiracy theory have drawn over 237,400 views in just hours, and a number of smaller accounts are beginning to spread the same misinformation. This content explicitly violates both TikTok's misinformation policy and QAnon policy. The claim being peddled is that President Donald Trump (with the help of the Department of Homeland Security) has set up Democrats to be caught committing voter fraud by secretly watermarking all official ballots so that when Democrats allegedly produce fake ballots to "steal" the election, they won't be counted. Users are framing this supposed move as a "military sting operation" and claiming Democrats will be arrested once the plan unfolds. The conspiracy theory originated from a Q drop posted in February 2018 that said "watch the water." "Q drops" are messages the central figure of the QAnon conspiracy theory, known as "Q," posts on an internet message board for followers.

Tags: 2018, Alt-Right, Big Lie, California, Department of Homeland Security, Donald Trump, QAnon, Republican, TikTok, Watermark

Despite the Hubbard policy forbidding this, apparently the desperation for money overcomes all restraints. Though, as CCHR delivers no "services" I supposed they have somewhat of an excuse. But where is the IAS? The IAS repeatedly uses the fact they support CCHR, and announces their "wins" as a reason people should give money to the IAS to "eradicate psychiatry." It is a mainstay of the IAS mantra. So, how come CCHR has to hold raffles to raise money?

Tags: CCHR, Class V, Clear, Facebook, International Association of Scientologists, L. Ron Hubbard, Quicky, Twitter

Where is Shelly? That's one of the most frequent questions we get about the Church of Scientology, referring to Michele "Shelly" Miscavige, the wife of church leader David Miscavige, who has not been seen at a Scientology function in a little more than 15 years. We've written extensively about her disappearance since 2012, and through multiple lines of evidence we have come to believe that during that entire time, since the late summer 2005, she's been held at a secretive small compound owned by a Scientology subsidiary known as the Church of Spiritual Technology which is in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles.

Tags: 1956, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, ABCmouse, Adam Cervantes, Andre Dawson, Annie Broeker, Atomic Energy Commission, Australia, California, Church of Spiritual Technology, Clearwater, Crestline, David Miscavige, DirecTV, Florida, Gary Soter, Gensler, Google, Graham Norton, Hollywood, James Packer, Jeffrey Riffer, John Kerry, Lake Arrowhead, LAPD, Leah Remini, Long Island, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Louis Farrakhan, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, New York, New York Daily News, Police, Private investigator, Quicky, Rebecca Dobkin, San Bernardino, San Bernardino County, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, Shelly Miscavige, Tom Cruise, Twin Peaks, Wally Pope

We've kept a pretty close watch over many of Scientology's 'Ideal Org' opening ceremonies, but there's one that will always have a special place in our hearts. That's when Mark Bunker had such a wild day trying to film the Portland Ideal Org grand opening in May 2013, and became the focus of furious action by various Scientology goons, aided by the local police force, to try and keep him away. We're thinking about that now, more than six years later, for a couple of reasons. First, because this weekend in Kansas City there was a new Ideal Org grand opening for the first time in more than a year, and reports from people on the scene keep coming in about the lengths that Scientology went to in order to keep the curious away. It's bad enough that David Miscavige finds local shills to participate in the ceremony, but Scientology also spends a lot of time in the weeks leading up to the event filling the local police force with a lot of nonsense about the ceremony coming under attack from terrorists, or something.

Tags: 1956, 2011, 2013, Alan Hollander, Atomic Energy Commission, California, Canada, Commodore's Messenger Organization, David Miscavige, Ideal Org, John Allender, Kansas City, Lori Hodgson, Mark Bunker, Mike Rinder, Portland, San Diego, Scientology TV, Something Can Be Done About It, Squirrel Busters, Texas

Even before EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified I pointed out that he appeared to be positioning himself to Have It Both Ways, a strategy that is almost always doomed, in all areas of life, but especially so when you're as far out of your league as Gordon Sondland is. Then his testimony was followed up by a parade of career officials contradicting him, officials whose qualifications went beyond merely paying $1 million to the Trump campaign, as Sondland had done. So today Sondland issued "updates" to his testimony after his "recollection" was "refreshed" by the testimony of a steady stream of non-liars, to avoid a potential contempt of Congress scenario.

Tags: 2016, Congress, Donald Trump, Gordon Sondland, Jay Sekulow, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Russia, Ukraine, White House (Trump)

The Republican National Committee may not yet realize it, but it just caught a federal criminal case by boasting about jamming Democratic congressional office phone lines. I know, because I served three months in Loretto Federal Correctional Institution for doing the same thing in 2002 on behalf of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee at the behest of an RNC representative. So I was aghast to read Tuesday that the RNC paid for phone calls to Democratic congressional offices with the intent of "tying up the phone lines of the elected officials," according to The New York Times. I'd advise the RNC to again set aside $5 million for its legal defense—the same amount it spent in 2002 defending its own in a phone-jamming case.

Tags: 2002, New Hampshire, New York Times, Quicky, Republican, Republican National Committee

Ex-JW activist Lloyd Evans debunks another Jehovah's Witnesses pamphlet in only seven minutes in an entertaining new video. Here's his description: A Jehovah's Witness leaflet about the future tries to promote the religion with reassuring claims of a promised earthly paradise, but prospective recruits would do well to ask: "What's buried beneath the lawn?"

Tags: Ex-JW, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lloyd Evans, Quicky

The first blog post on mikerindersblog.org was on 5 November 2009. It's been 10 years but it sure doesn't seem that long! It's been a lot of fun along the way. I have met many wonderful people here (and quite a number subsequently IRL which has been especially gratifying). Hopefully I have opened a window to discovering the truth about scientology for many.

Tags: 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, Aaron Smith-Levin, Black Propaganda, Brian Lambert, Chris Shelton, Christi Gordon, Christian, Critic, David Miscavige, Disconnection, Facebook, Fair Game, Gary Reisdorf, Google, Harvey Weinstein, Homophobia, Ideal Org, International Association of Scientologists, Jeffrey Augustine, Karen de la Carriere, Leah Remini, Marty Rathbun, Nathan Rich, Niacin, OT, Purification Rundown, Quicky, Regraded Being, Ron Miscavige, Shelly Miscavige, Shermanspeak, Super Power, Terra Cognita, Tom Cruise, Tony Ortega, Tory Christman, Twitter, Whistleblower

This time of year, campers, we spend considerable time on our excursions outside our underground hidey hole in long walks in the woods looking for fungus. It's an amazingly relaxing way to take advantage of the fall weather, although this year, with a lack of much rain, our fungal foraging has been a bit lacking. We've had to go on long treks into the woods to find much this year. But then, on a long ride through some backwoods territory this morning, we happened to spot the mother of all puffball mushrooms just off the side of the road.

Tags: Quicky

The Republican Party hired an outside group to conduct surveys with voters, and if those voters said they didn't support impeachment, they were given the option to be patched through to Congressional Democrats. This was an effort to jam the phone lines of Democrats in Congress, as the Republican Party grows desperate to stop the impeachment of Donald Trump. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this. The Republican party has come up with a new plan to fight back against the impeachment probe by the Democrats in the house of representatives. But it doesn't involve, you know, actually countering their points legally. You know, they're, they're not out there using legal arguments to say that, no, this claim is false. Here's why they're not presenting evidence that shows that the impeachment inquiry is a scam. No. Instead, they have hired an outside group to find individuals to call Democrats in Congress to jam their phone lines with anti impeachment rants. This was an effort that was in fact paid for by the Republican national committee.

Tags: Adam Schiff, Alt-Right, Congress, Donald Trump, Impeachment, New York, Ratfucking, Republican, Republican National Committee, Ring of Fire, Ukraine

The Republican Party hired an outside group to conduct surveys with voters, and if those voters said they didn't support impeachment, they were given the option to be patched through to Congressional Democrats. This was an effort to jam the phone lines of Democrats in Congress, as the Republican Party grows desperate to stop the impeachment of Donald Trump. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.

Tags: 1956, Congress, Donald Trump, Facebook, Google, New York, Patreon, Ratfucking, Republican, Ring of Fire, Twitter, Ukraine

There are so many things wrong here it is hard to grasp them all. This woman was in the SO — the LRH Host on the Freewinds. She had to leave "temporarily" to take care of her dying mother? If she is temporarily taking care of her dying mother then why isn't the Sea Org helping her to stay alive? Hey, Sea Org, what about the quote she is using? "Never desert a comrade in need, in danger or in trouble" .... Apparently the SO has completely deserted her. Dying Sea Org members are invariably seen as "out- exchange" distractions to the humanitarians of the Sea Org.

Tags: Colombia, Dorys Khouri, Freewinds, Harriet Schock, International Association of Scientologists, L. Ron Hubbard, OT, Paola Sanz, Patron Meritorious, Quicky, Sea Org, Venezuela

A highly-anticipated summit between Leah Remini and Jada Pinkett Smith took place on Jada's Facebook series, "Red Table Talk," which was released this afternoon. The 20-minute episode was billed in pre-show publicity as a way for the two women to reconcile after a public spat between them over Scientology. Well, come on, it wasn't much of a spat to begin with, and we were just glad to see that Leah took advantage of another opportunity to expose an audience to Scientology's abuses, specifically its "Fair Game" harassment of people who speak out after leaving the church. "Scientology has policies, called Fair Game. And that's to discredit and attack anyone speaking out about Scientology," Leah explained. She also got in several mentions of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology's leader who vanished more than 13 years ago.

Tags: 2008, 2011, 2015, California, Facebook, Fair Game, Jacqueline Olivier, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lawrence Wright, Leah Remini, Lori Hodgson, Marty Rathbun, Quicky, Shelly Miscavige, Study Tech, Suppressive Person, Sylvia DeWall

Casey Kasem's children from the late radio personality's first marriage won a round in court when a judge ruled their lawyers can depose two Washington state physicians as part of their wrongful death lawsuit against their stepmother and stepsister, court papers obtained Monday show. Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Nancy Newman ruled Wednesday that a related pending action that normally would put a temporary halt to discovery does not involve the plaintiffs. She also said the depositions of the doctors, Donald Sharman and Eric Kiesel, have been difficult for the plaintiffs' attorneys to schedule and that getting them done is vital for their trial preparation and could be valuable in any mediation opportunities. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in November 2015 are Kerri, Julie and Michael Kasem and their uncle, Mouner. They fought their stepmother, Jean Kasem, over visitation with their father before he died.

Tags: 2014, 2015, Casey Kasem, Donald Sharman, Eric Kiesel, Jean Kasem, Judge Nancy Newman, Julie Kasem, Kerri Kasem, Liberty Kasem, Mike Kasem, Mouner Kasem, Santa Monica Superior Court, Washington

It's scary how much each candidate in the upcoming midterm elections knows about you. And it's all information you've willingly given up over time. The trove of data goes beyond voter registration information like your name, home address and date of birth. Thanks to an army of data crunchers who marry that information with data you drop at a clothing or automobile site, many candidates often have intimate knowledge of who you are and whether you're likely to support them. The increasingly effective use of big data to create targeted political ads is one of the main causes for the climbing costs of running a campaign. Spending on this year's midterms is about to pass $5 billion, making it a billion dollars more expensive than the 2016 presidential election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Tags: 1983, 2014, 2016, 2017, Alabama, Alaska, Alt-Right, Amazon, Arizona, Arkansas, Brexit, California, Cambridge Analytica, Canada, Center for Responsive Politics, Congress, Daily News, Devin Nunes, DirectTV, Donald Trump, Facebook, Federal Election Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Florida, i360, Massachusetts, Mississippi, NationBuilder, Nebraska, New York, New York Times, Northeastern University, Republican, Tennessee, Texas, Twitter, University of Victoria, Virginia, Wall Street Journal, ZDNet

Like the rest of the country, voters in Riverside County, California will be going to the polls tomorrow for a highly anticipated midterm election. But besides governors and members of Congress on the ballot, there will be local elections going on. And in Riverside County, that includes a contest for sheriff. Scientology generally keeps a low profile about elections — no candidate in their right mind would seek an endorsement by Scientology leader David Miscavige or his minions — but we learned that the officials at Scientology's international management compound in Riverside County, known as Int Base or Gold Base, do have a preference in the contest for local sheriff. The 10-year incumbent, Stan Sniff, is facing a stiff challenge from a fellow Republican on his own staff, Lt. Chris Bianco, who actually beat him in the primary and the two are now in a runoff for the general election.

Tags: 2014, 2016, Alex Gibney, California, Catherine Fraser, Chris Bianco, Congress, David Miscavige, FBI, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, HBO, Human trafficking, Int Base, Leah Remini, Louis Theroux, Miss Lovely, Muriel Dufresne, My Scientology Movie, Paulette Cooper, Republican, Riverside County, Riverside County Sheriff, Ron Miscavige, Safe Point, San Jacinto, Sea Org, Stan Sniff, The Hole, Washington, Xenu

The weekly show where I answer viewer questions. This week, the questions I answer are: (1) Do you have anything to say about the possible guilt that follows, if somebody has worked as a cult recruiter for a long time, and then at some point, understands that has only been causing harm to other people? (2) How does the Sea Org define "worker oriented" and why is that considered a bad thing?

Tags: 1950, 1980, 1988, Battlefield Earth, Buddha, Christian, Critic, David Miscavige, Dianetics, Jesus Christ, Jonestown, L. Ron Hubbard, Leah Remini, Marty Rathbun, Mission Earth, OT, OT VIII, Quicky, Scientology and the Aftermath, Sea Org, Stacy Brooks, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker

The show where I answer your questions. Please leave any comments or feedback in the comments section here below. I see everything and want to hear from you. Link to UB: https://goo.gl/QrG3UT SHOP FOR CRITICAL MERCHANDISE

Tags: Audio, Critic, Patreon, PayPal, Quicky, Scientology: A to Xenu

An Australian woman who worked alongside Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard for years is set to release a second tell-all account of her experiences. Janis Gillham Grady, 61, who was born in Melbourne and now lives in Las Vegas, has revealed that as a child, she spent about six hours a day for almost eleven years serving Hubbard. Ms Grady told 7NEWS that friends and families are being 'forced to disconnect' as people who have left the church are 'cut off from those trapped inside'.

Tags: 1986, 1988, 1990, 2018, 7 News, Apollo, Australia, Celebrity Centre, Commodore's Messenger: A Child Adrift in the Scientology Sea Organization, David Miscavige, Facebook, Freewinds, Jada Pinkett Smith, Janis Gillham, Jefferson Hawkins, John Travolta, L. Ron Hubbard, Las Vegas, Leah Remini, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Quicky, Tom Cruise, Yahoo7 News, Yvonne Jentzsch

Twelve years after becoming "Ideal" and combining two orgs into one (London and CC London) London is STILL not SH Size. The building IS magnificent. And they have a separate Test Center on an enormously busy street (the former London Org premises). If you took all the times they have announced their "highest ever expansion" and "bigger," "better" and "faster" over those years it would be more words than are found in DMSMH. But nobody seems to notice that despite them claiming all this incredible expansion they have not even achieved the "make-break point" of an org. St Hill size. L. Ron Hubbard said this is when the staff earn a living wage — which is the purpose of "St Hill Size"...

Tags: 2005, Atlanta, Boston, David Miscavige, London, OT, Quicky

Mike Laws and I discuss what it takes to help people in their transition of leaving the Sea Org & Scientology. Twitter: @GrowingUpInSCN Instagram: asmithlevin

Tags: Chris Shelton, Facebook, Mike Laws, Quicky, Sea Org, Twitter

Rod Keller has a dynamite new report on big changes that have been happening at Scientology's flagship drug rehab facility in Oklahoma, where three deaths happened in a nine-month period about five years ago. Narconon Arrowhead, the "flagship" of Scientology's drug rehab centers in Canadian, Oklahoma is under new management, but the center has done little to improve the conditions that led to the death of four patients in 2011 and 2012. Former Arrowhead employee Amy Ince was there on October 26, 2011 - the day Gabriel Graves was found dead in his room after complaining of headaches and nausea. "I remember the day they found him and being up the hill from all the police and ambulances at the front door. It was a sad day." The incident left Ince shaken, and she left Narconon, only to return to staff this year with the promise that conditions have changed. Ince says there are fewer patients, called "students" in Narconon, but little else about the program has changed in six years. In 2011 Arrowhead Lodge was full, with more than 150 patients. Now there are only 10 to 12, and Scientology's plan to revitalize the facility has been to remove Executive Director Gary Smith, Ince was told that Narconon International did a "hostile takeover" in July, bringing in about five Narconon International staff and installing new leadership. David Justice is the CEO and Les Starkey is Executive Director, his deputy. Rubina Qureshi, the president of the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) is there as well. Ironically, as the number of patients has decreased, the staff-to-patient ratio is better than ever. Including Narconon International there are about 30 staff at the facility. Ince was shocked to find that a few are on staff at a Scientology Class V org on loan to Arrowhead, and earn only $50 per week.

Tags: 1965, 2011, 2012, ABLE, Amy Ince, Arrowhead Lodge, Ashtrays, Bobby Wiggins, Case Supervisor, Class V, David Justice, Detox, Fair Game, Gabriel Graves, Gary Smith, Les Starkey, Narconon, Narconon Arrowhead, Narconon International, Narconon Los Molinos, Oklahoma, Rhonda Spencer, Rod Keller, Rubina Qureshi, Spain, Suppressive Person, Training Routines

An excellent article in Forbes by Jay D. Adkisson concerns Scientologists Matt and Kathy Feshbach. Adkisson's article was the feature subject of a recent column Tony Ortega's Underground Bunker. The community commentary was fascinating. Essentially, the US Bankruptcy Court refused to allow the Fessbach's to discharge $3.8 million in their Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In her 40 page ruling, US Bankruptcy Judge Catherine McEwen cited both the Fessbach's refusal to curb their lavish spending and large donations to their church (Scientology) as among the reasons for refusing to discharge their substantial tax debt via bankruptcy.

Tags: 2001, 2008, 2011, Bankruptcy, Child labor, eBay, Feshbach, Forbes, International Association of Scientologists, IRS, Judge Catherine McEwen, Kathy Feshbach, Matt Feshbach, Quicky, Richard Acunto, Survival Insurance, Taxes, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker, US Bankruptcy Court

Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and for more than three years he's been helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet. Standing Order #1 is one of the enduring myths of Scientology. In 1961, Hubbard wrote: "Standing Order No.1 'All mail addressed to me shall be received by me'." He added: "I am always willing to help. By my own creed, a being is only as valuable as he can serve others." In reality, letters to Hubbard had long been outsourced, as seen in a memorandum of March 9, 1953, and reissued in a bulletin of 24 January 1958. This apportioned certain responsibilities to the "Hubbard Communications Office Office of L. Ron Hubbard" [whole statement sic and rendered as written]. The first task of this office was: "The receipt and answering of correspondence addressed to myself, some of which is personal, much of which is to the interest of the general operation."

Tags: 1953, 1958, 1961, 1965, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1990, 1993, A Piece of Blue Sky, AMA, Annie Broeker, California, Chris Shelton, Clear, Creston, David Miscavige, E-meter, First Independent Church of Scientology, Hana Whitfield, Hubbard Communications Office, IRS, John Brousseau, Jon Atack, L. Ron Hubbard, Laurel Sullivan, Leah Remini, Mediterranean, Merrell Vannier, Mike Rinder, Music, Newport Beach, Open Minds Foundation, Pat Broeker, Quicky, Riverside, Scott Pilutik, Toronto

If you read this blog, you are likely aware of Leah Remini's upcoming A&E show. I have had the pleasure of working with Leah on this show as a consultant and participant, a cause of great distress for the church. So I thought I might weigh in with some information I feel is pertinent to events now and into the future. As a reader here you are likely also aware of the "church" reaction to the announcement of the show and the first trailer being released - the usual name-calling, smearing and foot stomping that does not RESPOND in any fashion to the abuses being exposed. There is much more of that to come. Tony Ortega already broke down the first scientology smear. Of course, the church refused to participate in or cooperate with the show, despite repeated requests by Leah, the production company and A&E. They were asked to provide various people to be interviewed, or in the end, anyone they wished. But of course, that didn't happen. You can predict them to soon begin whining "the show is bigoted, they didn't even include our side of the story" once they are certain the deadline has passed for their participation.

Tags: 1955, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, A&E, ABLE, Bomb threat, Case Officer, Clearwater, Company, Criminal, Critic, David Miscavige, DEA, Dianetics, Dissemination, Environmental Protection Agency, Fair Game, First Amendment, Guardian's Office, High Crime, Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin, IRS, L. Ron Hubbard, Leah Remini, Legal, Manual of Justice, Office of Special Affairs, OT, Paulette Cooper, Private investigator, Quicky, Squirrel, Suppressive Person, Tony Ortega

So why would Rupert Murdoch tempt fate and brazenly bait Scientology and its golden boy Tom Cruise? Murdoch wasn't just a media proprietor; he also ran a movie studio, which could financially benefit from keeping one of Hollywood's most bankable stars onside. What wasn't reported at the time was that Murdoch had a long history of going after Scientology. His views on what he called a "very weird cult" were formed more than 50 years previously, and can be found inside the fading pages of a muckraking Australian scandal sheet he published long before he became a global media player.

Tags: 1959, 1961, 1972, Australia, Blackmail, David Miscavige, E-meter, Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia, James Packer, Kevin Anderson, Lachlan Murdoch, Leslie Rumble, Lionel Murphy, Manual of Justice, Martin Bentley, Marty Rathbun, New South Wales, Private investigator, Rex Beaver, Richard Behar, Rupert Murdoch, Sec Check, South Australia, Sydney, Tom Cruise, Victoria, Western Australia

Tags: Clear, Joy Villa, Quicky

Scientology is always worse than you think. Probably one of the best examples of this in action is something in Scientology called the Truth Rundown or TRD. When actress Leah Remini was getting out of line and dared to question what Scientology leader David Miscavige was doing, she was given the Truth Rundown. Leah talks about this in her book, Troublemaker, and gives a good description of what happened to her. Having both received and delivered the Truth Rundown to others, I thought now would be a good time to actually lay out what the Truth Rundown is and how it's done. First off, if you talk to any public Scientologists, they won't be able to tell you about it because they've never heard of the Truth Rundown. It is one of Scientology's most closely guarded secrets. In the 27 years that I was involved in Scientology, I only know of two people outside of the Sea Org who received it. One of those is Leah Remini. You can find their most confidential, upper level scriptures plastered all over mirror sites around the world, but you won't find anything about this. None of the written instructions or issues on how to do it have ever been leaked out of the Church, so you can only find people's descriptions of it such as this video you're watching.

Tags: 1997, Academic, Catholic, David Miscavige, E-meter, Ethics Officer, Leah Remini, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Scientology executive, Scientology staff, Sea Org, Sec Check, The Truth Rundown, Truth Rundown

Yet another photo of Tom Cruise at the recent Scientology annual IAS gala in England hit social media today, and this is the best one yet that unambiguously shows the actor making the scene under the big tent in East Grinstead, England. We've been pointing out repeatedly that there's plenty of evidence that Cruise is just as dedicated to Scientology as ever, despite what some tabloids ardently seem to wish, that Tom is on his way out of the group. Star magazine is so determined to convince its readers that Cruise is no longer a Scientologist, it fibbed and said that Cruise had skipped last year's IAS event in England — even after we had posted a photograph proving that he was there.

Tags: 2004, Colombia, David Miscavige, East Grinstead, England, Foundation for a Drug-Free World, Freedom Medal, Freedom Medal of Valor, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Ideal Org, International Association of Scientologists, Leah Remini, Mario Chirinos, New Delhi, New Zealand, Patrons Ball, Quicky, Rohit Sharma, Steve Green, The Way to Happiness, Tom Cruise, Venezuela

Bill Franks shares a remarkable incident when L Ron Hubbard tells David Mayo and himself that people depart Scientology Inc because of upsets *NOT* because of transgressions or harmful acts "overts" which is absolutely backbone theory of all of Scientology. There are more stories, more important history. Follow me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/karendelac

Tags: Bill Franks, David Mayo, Facebook, L. Ron Hubbard, OT, Quicky, Twitter

(Leah Remini, Lt. Andre Dawson, Shelly Miscavige) "Hurricane Leah," former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder has dubbed it, and as the Leah Remini media storm continues, we're just trying to keep up with all of the reactions to her landmark book, Troublemaker. Fortunately for us, our readers are up to the task and the comments section of this website has been the best place to keep up on all of the latest developments. We thank you for keeping so vigilant with links and videos.

Tags: 1999, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2016, Andre Dawson, Australia, Bruce Hines, California, Celebrity Centre, Chris Shelton, Church of Spiritual Technology, David Miscavige, Derek Bloch, Hemet, Hollywood, Int Base, Jenna Miscavige Hill, Knowledge Report, Lake Arrowhead, LAPD, Laura DeCrescenzo, Leah Remini, Los Angeles, Mark Bunker, Mike Rinder, Police, Private investigator, Scientology executive, Sea Org, Shelly Miscavige, Sydney, The Hole, Truth Rundown

A gay man, who is the centre of a defamation action against a member of the Church of Scientology, has told the Circuit Civil Court he allowed a picture to be taken of himself naked with his genitals covered only with a Guy Fawkes mask, "to support Prince Harry." Jobless Co Mayo-man Pete Griffiths, who is suing scientologist Zabrina Collins for €50,000 damages for defamation, said he did not expect the picture to have been shared around the world by scientologists. He said the picture of him had been taken by his boyfriend to support Prince Harry following the naked romp by the third in line to the British throne in a Las Vegas Hotel in August 2012.

Tags: 1995, 2007, 2012, 2013, Anonymous, Cormac O'Ceallaigh, Director of Special Affairs, Donegal, Dublin, Ethics Officer, Frank Beatty, Frank Shortt, Guy Fawkes, High Court, Ireland, John McGhee, John Travolta, Las Vegas, Michael O'Donnell, Pete Griffiths, Quicky, Tom Cruise, Zabrina Collins

Alors que la Ville de Montréal menaçait de prendre possession à des fins de vente aux enchères d'un immeuble propriété de l'Église de Scientologie, cette dernière a finalement acquitté sa facture. L'été dernier, l'Église de Scientologie faisait la manchette parce qu'elle devait près de 52 000$ en taxes non-payées pour les exercices 2014 et 2015, pour l'édifice La Patrie situé au 176-182 Sainte-Catherine Est. «Vérification faite au Service des finances, considérant que les taxes foncières pour 2014 ont été payées en totalité, l'immeuble a donc été retiré de la liste des immeubles à vendre», a confirmé en soirée Gonzalo Nunez, porte-parole de la Ville de Montréal.

Tags: 2014, Montreal, Patrie building, Rotting building, Taxes

In her new book, Troublemaker, Leah Remini talks about her experiences with Scientology including a heavy psychological reconditioning procedure called The Truth Rundown. In this video, I detail exactly what this procedure is for and how it is done. This is one of the most secret procedures in Scientology. Subscribe to my podcast at http://sensiblyspeaking.com The podcast is now up on iTunes so if you use that program, look us up and subscribe there and rate it too!

Tags: Leah Remini, Quicky, The Truth Rundown

Ideal Emptiness They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Big empty "studio" is the perfect venue to disseminate about big, empty orgs... Oh Dear...

Tags: 2013, Andres Rodriguez, AOSH Canada, Bob Bledsoe, Cambridge, Charter Committee, Flag Service Organization, Freewinds, Golden Age of Tech, Harlem, International Association of Scientologists, Mariteres Suter, Meagan Tucker, Miami, Mick Davies, OT, OT IX, OT V, OT VII, OT VIII, PAC Base, Purification, Purification Rundown, Quicky, San Diego, Scotland, Seattle, Sharron Weber, Squirrel, Stephane Kundert, Student Hat, Susan Moore, Thursday Funnies, Toronto, Travis Desmeules, Twin Cities, WISE

For a religion that some experts estimate includes only 30,000 members worldwide, Scientology attracts an extraordinary amount of media attention. There's one group of people, however, who seem resistant to Scientology's charms: academics.

Tags: 2000, 2004, Apostate, Baylor University, Bryan Wilson, Donald Westbrook, Douglas Cowan, Fair Game, Germany, Gordon Melton, Hare Krishna, Hugh Urban, Institute for Studies of Religion, John Travolta, L. Ron Hubbard, Moonies, Ohio State University, Princeton University Press, Richard Behar, Roy Wallis, Stephen Kent, The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion, Tom Cruise, University of California, University of Stirling, University of Waterloo, Will Smith

Sussex Police confirmed they received two complaints from members of the public regarding the annual charity gala concert held at Saint Hill Manor in Saint Hill Road between Friday, October 17, and Sunday, October 19. The complaints referred specifically to noise from a licensed dinner and music event which began on October 18 and continued into the early hours of the following morning.

Tags: East Grinstead, Graeme Wilson, Saint Hill Manor, Sussex, UK

Let's keep one thing in mind as we review, once again, why Tampa attorney Ken Dandar is facing ruination. The only reason his bizarre legal situation exists is because two people died on Scientology's watch. One was a young church member named Lisa McPherson, who died in 1995 of severe dehydration, several experts say who examined her autopsy records, though the church managed to wriggle out of a criminal conviction when it put so much pressure on the local medical examiner she caved and changed the cause of death.

Tags: 1955, 1993, 1995, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012, Advanced Org, Appeal, Australia, Bryan Seymour, Census, Chatswood, Clearwater, Continental Liaison Office, Drug Free Ambassadors, Florida, Florida State University, Fort Harrison, Gabriel Graves, Hillary Holten, Judge Crockett Farnell, Ken Dandar, Kyle Brennan, L. Ron Hubbard, Lisa McPherson, Mike Rinder, Narconon, Narconon Arrowhead, Oklahoma, Pinellas County, Police, Quicky, Something Can Be Done About It, Stacy Murphy, Sunday service, Sydney, Tampa, The Way to Happiness, Tom Brennan, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, USA, Victoria Britton, Virginia, Virginia Stewart, Volunteer Ministers, Youth for Human Rights International

There has been considerable media attention to the church opposition to the Clearwater Aquarium development on the site right behind the Fort Harrison. Fox News weighed in. Then the Tampa Bay Times and then the TBT wrote an editorial. The church cites a Florida State University (FSU) study showing the economic impact they have in the local community and somehow "reason" that the Aquarium would be a bad idea. They also cite to an Urban Land Institute (ULI) study commissioned by the city to puff up their importance (as they said the city and the church should "work together") though it is a little curious as the ULI were VERY much in favor of the downtown aquarium development. Frankly, it is hard to imagine ANYTHING that Clearwater could do to help revitalize the downtown, and change it's image OTHER than highlight this aquarium. The ONLY thing Clearwater is known for apart from being the cult headquarters of scientology is Winter and the aquarium, made famous by the movie Dolphin Tale and its sequel.

Tags: 1999, 2007, 2009, 2013, 9/11, Africa, Australia, Ben Shaw, California, Canada, City of Clearwater, Clear, Clearwater, Clearwater Academy, Coachman, David Miscavige, Delphi Academy, Economist, Europe, Flag Building, Flag Service Organization, Florida, Florida State University, Fort Harrison, Fox News, Freedom magazine, International Association of Scientologists, Lisa McPherson, Los Angeles, Mexico, Oak Cove, OT, Pat Harney, Postcard Mania, Quicky, St. Louis, Super Power, Tampa, Tampa Bay Times, TIME, Urban Land Institute, Washington

Jim and Gayle Smith My name is Jim Fonda. I recently started auditing Solo NOTs, am having great wins, and wanted to acknowledge some of the people who helped make this happen. I certainly want others to have the same wins that I am having, so part of my purpose in writing this is to show others that it is possible to get standard tech and to get on with the next step of their bridge. I got into Scientology in spring of 1976 at Stevens Creek Mission. I learned about Scientology from my girlfriend (later wife), Mary-Ann Acosta (later Mary-Ann Fonda). She had been on the communications course in 1974, but quickly blew. Even so, she liked Scientology a lot, and told me enough to get me interested. Later, I got her back into Scientology.

Tags: 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2012, AOLA, Code of Honor, Dianetics, Drug Rundown, Gayle Smith, Georgia, Heber Jentzsch, Ingrid Smith, Jim Fonda, Kingsley Wimbush, Life Repair, Los Angeles, Mike Eldredge, Mission, New York, Office of Special Affairs, OT, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Spain, Stevens Creek, Suppressive Person

Yesterday, Luis and Rocio Garcia of Irvine, California filed their response to Scientology's latest attempt to derail their federal fraud lawsuit in Florida. Attorney Scott Pilutik took pains to help us all understand the basic (if lesser known) legal concept of "diversity jurisdiction" that Scientology had put into question with its latest motion. Scientology argued, nearly ten months after the Garcias filed their lawsuit against five Scientology corporate entities in January, that the Garcias had erred by filing in a federal court in Tampa. Three of the church's entities are trusts with trustees in California, and since the Garcias are also in California, a federal court in Florida was not the correct place for the lawsuit. One of the three entities, CSRT, is particularly key to the suit because of the amount of money the Garcias had given it, and its dismissal might cripple the lawsuit. Now, the Garcias are responding, and angrily point out that it's awfully late for the church to be discovering the location of its own corporate officers.

Tags: Angry Gay Pope, California, Charlie Frago, Church of Scientology Religious Trust, Clearwater, David Miscavige, Florida, Fort Harrison, George Cretekos, International Association of Scientologists, Irvine, J. Swift, Karen de la Carriere, Luis and Rocio Garcia, Luis Garcia, Mark Bunker, New York, Quicky, Scott Pilutik, Super Power, Super Power Building, Tampa, Tampa Bay Times, Ted Babbitt, Wise Beard Man

Long time Church of Scientology investigator, videographer and television journalist Mark Bunker explains how he accidentally triggered the Anonymous war against Scientology. It stemmed from the removal of the Tom Cruise videos which angered free speech advocates and Chanology. Suddenly in February 2008 global protests erupted outside their "Churches". Scientology Inc has been an war with one at all for a very long time. It is a warfare internally and externally. You get glimpses of this in this video. I explains what it was like to be inside behind cult lines when protests happened.

Tags: 2008, Anonymous, Mark Bunker, Tom Cruise

Leah Needs Your Votes A number of people have emailed me about reminding everyone they can vote for Leah Remini on Dancing With The Stars until 8pm tonight. Go to Dancing With The Stars home page and click on "Vote". You can vote up to 7 times.

Tags: Bill Horne, City of Clearwater, Clearwater, Clearwater Citizen, David Miscavige, George Cretekos, Leah Remini, Michael Delk, Quicky, Sheldon Goldberg

Editor's note: This is the first post of what I hope will be daily summaries of news from around the Scientology universe. Initially, I'll focus on the three key blogs: Tony Ortega, Mike Rinder and Marty Rathbun. Over time, particularly if some people can help me, I'd like to include a roundup of key Scientology-related posts on WWP, ESMB and other forum boards. I'll typically try, schedule permitting to get this out around 10pm US Eastern Time, though I can't guarantee this. I need feedback to determine what would make this document maximally useful to you; this is an evolving document and I'm very flexible on what to do with it, or even whether it's necessary. Tony Ortega's Underground Bunker

Tags: 2008, A History of Man, Big Blue, Bruce Hines, Chuck Beatty, Claire Headley, Hollywood, J. Swift, Julian Assange, Karin Pouw, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Office of Special Affairs, OT, Patty Moher, Quicky, Tampa Bay Times, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker, WhyWeProtest, WikiLeaks

See the story just published in the Tampa Bay Times about the plans the church just filed with the city concerning the upcoming events. Of course, in typical fashion they submit them two weeks before the scheduled events, demanding over-the-top special treatment. The usual time for applications such as these is 30 days. They are asking for Ft Harrison Ave to be closed entirely from Friday to Sunday evening. And all sorts of sidewalk closures. If the city doesnt bow to their demands there will be squeals of "discrimination" echoing through the empty halls of the SP building. Chopping down those trees without approval and generally ignoring the requirements of the city to the point where the Mayor asked Scientologists to plead to the church "leadership" to set a better example in the community may not have been such a great idea. A lot of the RCS requests are more about having time to erect fences and barricades to keep the outside world at bay than to actually perform a ribbon cutting (and removing unsightly traffic lights that may mar His image).

Tags: ABLE, Clearwater, Command Intention, OT, OT Committee, Quicky, Tampa Bay Times, WISE

The actor's two-page description of his relationship with his daughter was filed Tuesday in a case against Bauer Publishing Co. The actor is suing Bauer over a pair of 2012 tabloid stories that claimed he had "abandoned" his daughter. The stories in Life & Style and In Touch magazines cited Cruise's absence from Suri's life due to overseas film shoots.

Tags: Bauer Publishing, Bert Fields, Tom Cruise

Lots going on here at the underground bunker this morning, and we didn't have time for a regular Monday post. While we check up on other developing stories, we'll share with you this entertaining homage to L. Ron Hubbard's masterpiece, Dianetics.

Tags: Dianetics, Quicky, WhyWeProtest

By Maya Angelou A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall. They are very negative people to say the least. Nothing is ever good enough! When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters…That's why you have to be careful with whom you share your blessings and your dreams, because some folk can't handle seeing you blessed… It's dangerous to be like somebody else…

Tags: Quicky

Cheezburger.com We're feeling a bit woozy after this week of Scientology watching here in the underground bunker. Not sure if it was something we ate, or just the thought of Tom Cruise hurling at Gold Base that has us a bit dizzy. Anyway, Mr. Cruise was very much on our minds this week, as he featured in most of our stories. On Monday, we had some fun with an Australian supermarket tabloid, which claimed that Katie Holmes ran out on Mr. Scientology after she'd heard about our penetrating series on Scientology's retaliatory investigation of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But then, early Wednesday morning, we learned that we were big Down Under!

Tags: 2006, Australia, Bryan Seymour, California, Chuck Beatty, David Miscavige, France, Int Base, IRS, Katie Holmes, L. Ron Hubbard, Lana Mitchell, Mark Fisher, Matt Stone, Medicaid, New York Post, Office of Special Affairs, Page Six, Quicky, Sea Org, South Park, Tom Cruise, Trey Parker

Here is David Miscavige's view of himself in his own words. These are April 2007 instructions to Tommy on what to tell the BBC in response to their repeated requests for his interview. When you go to ask an organization for an interview, you don't get the top guy just because you ask. Especially when it comes to me. My perspective is, I'm responsible for the Church, that's who I go see, I am the most public figure there is, and if and when I do a show, I do it on my sweet time. Larry King wants to interview me—to him, he'll wait because that's ratings. Cooper Anderson is the hottest thing on CNN, not that that means anything. He'll wait because that's a coup. This guy thinks he gets the interview.

Tags: 1982, 2007, Anderson Cooper, BBC, CNN, David Miscavige, International Finance Dictator, John Sweeney, Larry King, Quicky

Of course, that's one of the slogans of the Church of Scientology. I ought to know – I was very much involved in its development and implementation. Here's some of the back story. In the late 1980s and early 1990's, we did a lot of surveys on the subject of Scientology, in preparation for the launch of a major campaign. Our surveys showed that Scientology was vastly unpopular. In order to handle this negative public image, I started digging in with more surveys. I found that people considered Scientology to be a cult. And so I had further surveys done to find out what people thought a cult was. The top "cult" item was that one could not disagree with the cult leader or the cult doctrine. In this, public perception of what constitutes a cult was pretty accurate. In a cult, one may never, never, never challenge the cult doctrines or the cult leader (guru, prophet, founder). Here's Steve Hassan again, from Combatting Cult Mind Control:

Tags: 1950, 1959, 1960, 1980, 1990, Combatting Cult Mind Control, Dianetics, Ethics, Keep Scientology Working, L. Ron Hubbard, Quicky, Steven Hassan, Study Tech

And then there's this: The private developers who have proposed the land swap are Scientologists. That has led some people to speculate that Triangle Development's real plan is to secure the current PSTA site on Park Street for Church of Scientology expansion. Three of Scientology's key holdings in downtown Clearwater - its massive and unfinished Super Power Building, the Fort Harrison Hotel and the Coachman Building - ring the PSTA site.

Tags: Bill Horne, Clearwater, Coachman, Fort Harrison, Frank Hibbard, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, Real estate, Roger Sweeney, Ron Pollack, Super Power Building, Triangle Development