November 27 in Scientology history

After two "special" episodes — one about Jehovah's Witnesses and one about the emotional pain of leaving Scientology — A&E's Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath officially kicks off its third season tonight with an absolute blockbuster of an episode. Valerie Haney's story is one that we've been waiting to hear for a long time. We actually wrote about Valerie five years ago, but we didn't tell you her name at that time. In fact, Valerie was still confined to Int Base then, working as a casting agent for Scientology films, and we learned her story from a close friend who was an eyewitness to what had happened to her — that she had suffered some of the blowback when Shelly Miscavige fell afoul of her husband, Scientology leader David Miscavige. Valerie didn't escape from the base until 2016, and now she is telling her story for the first time on tonight's bombshell episode.

Tags: 2004, 2005, 2007, 2016, A&E, Amy Scobee, Anderson Cooper, California, Church of Scientology International, Church of Spiritual Technology, David Miscavige, Heber Jentzsch, Int Base, Jefferson Hawkins, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lake Arrowhead, Leah Remini, Marc Headley, Mike Rinder, Scientology and the Aftermath, Sea Org, Shelly Miscavige, Tampa Bay Times, The Hole, Valerie Haney

Please join us for the Aftermath Season 3 premiere. A&E TV at 9pm EST Tuesday 27 November. Also note that Tuesday is #GivingTuesday.

Tags: A&E, Aftermath Foundation, Facebook, Paypal, Quicky, Scientology and the Aftermath

You can't really begin to understand why it's so difficult for Scientologists to rejoin the outside world unless you keep in mind that throughout their time in the church, they've had it pounded into their heads that Scientologists are superior to the rest of us, who are considered "degraded beings." Founder L. Ron Hubbard promised his followers that his ideas would literally transform them into a new, superior species which he called homo novi, or "new man." And along with that came a sneering disregard for what he called "wogs," Hubbard's word for non-Scientologists which has racist origins in British slang. The promise of "evolving" to a new sort of creature is a common feature of New Age charlatanism, of course, but Scientology takes it to the extreme. Not only do Scientologists believe that they go to a higher, superhuman state as "Operating Thetans," but they are led to believe they will eventually reach a godlike state giving them the power to crush whole planets between their thumb and forefinger.

Tags: 1950, 1966, Christian, Clear, Clearwater, Dianetics, Jesus, L. Ron Hubbard, Nashville, Operating Thetan, Phil Jones, Quicky, Willy Rice

SFO is one of the first ideal orgs (the "originals" were Buffalo, Joburg, NY and SFO)... The email accompanying this said "San Francisco is going SH Size". This "ideal org" had it's ribbon yanked by the Chairman of the Bored on 29 Nov 2003. That is almost exactly 14 years ago.

Tags: 2003, Buffalo, Chairman of the Board, Ideal Org, Johannesburg, New York, Quicky, Rachel Arauz, San Francisco

Scientology Drug Free Marshals Event (26th Nov 2017) at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto.

Tags: Drug Free Marshals, Dundas, Quicky, Toronto

Drug Free Marshals Event (26th Nov 2017) at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto.

Tags: Drug Free Marshals, Dundas, Quicky, Toronto

The weekly show where I answer questions from viewers left in the comments section of my Q&A shows or sent by email to AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. This week, the questions I answer are: (1) If (according to Scientology) the state of Clear persists into future lives, would the same happen with the OT levels? Has the church (or would the church) ever recognise someone as a past-life OT? If I joined and started 'recalling' the Xenu story in an auditing session, what do you think would happen (presumably if the auditor hasn't reached OT 3 they couldn't react to that without admitting they have read the OT materials)? (2) I was curious about what is happening behind the scenes here at the Sacramento Ideal Org. After months of being in the middle of a major construction zone, the ideal org is now luckily placed right next to the brand spanking new Golden 1 Arena where there is now plenty of opportunity to body route concert goers and sports fans. At the same time, there has a recent glut of Dianetics billboards in the Sacramento metropolitan area (I seriously cannot turn a corner without seeing one). My question is, was Sacramento Ideal org staff placed in a constant condition of liability for the inability to keep stats up during construction, and how much trouble will they be in if the stats don't go straight up and vertical now that the arena is open and the billboards are ubiquitous?

Tags: 1986, 1993, Catholic, Christian, Clear, Copyright, Critic, Cult, Dianetics, Facebook, Freedom magazine, Ideal Org, L. Ron Hubbard, OT, Quicky, Sacramento, Sea Org, Trademark, Xenu

A character from L. Ron Hubbard's 'Battlefield Earth' marches down Hollywood Boulevard during the 85th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California on November 27, 2016.

Tags: Battlefield Earth

Getting Emotional The concept that people operate at different emotional levels is nothing new, both to the layman, the social scientist, and to leaders of major religions. Joe is depressed. Sally is cheerful. John is perpetually angry. And David loves controlling bodies. The Scientology Tone Scale is a hierarchy of human emotions ranging from Serenity of Beingness down to Total Failure. The scale is divided into two parts. The top half is comprised of those emotions displayed by a spirit plus their body. The bottom half encompasses those emotions below body death; essentially, emotions manifested by the spirit alone. LRH assigned each tone level a numeric value from 40.0 (Serenity of Beingness) to 0.0 (Body Death), and -0.01 (Failure) to -40.0 (Total Failure). LRH wrote that this numerical classification "…is not arbitrary but will be found to approximate some actual governing law of nature." The concept that people operate at different emotional levels is nothing new, both to the layman, the social scientist, and to leaders of major religions. Joe is depressed. Sally is cheerful. John is perpetually angry. And David loves controlling bodies.

Tags: Auditing, Clear, Condition of Doubt, Conditions, E-meter, Field Staff Member, Hemet, Int Base, Knowledge Report, L. Ron Hubbard, Mission, Scam, Science of Survival, Scientology staff, Sea Org, Suppressive Person, Survival Rundown, Terra Cognita, The Hole, Tone Scale, Wogs

Rod Keller is back to help us by examining Scientology's footprint on the web… David Minkoff is one of the few medical doctors who is currently a member of Scientology. (With the death of Megan Shields, perhaps he's the only one.) The organization is well known for being hostile towards psychiatry, but that extends to traditional medicine in general. The book Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard set the precedent that most illnesses are to be considered psychosomatic in nature, and should be treated using Hubbard's brand of counseling, called "auditing." Pharmaceuticals are viewed with suspicion. Many members do not visit a doctor, preferring instead the services of one the many chiropractors who are Scientologists, but these are not authorized to prescribe medicine. If you are a Scientologist living in Clearwater, Florida and need a doctor, Minkoff may be your only choice. He is a medical doctor who can prescribe, but a look at his website shows that he also offers an arsenal of alternative therapies to patients so that drugs can be avoided as much as possible.

Tags: 1995, 2002, 2006, Biggi Reichert, California, Canada, Clearwater, David Minkoff, David Patrick, DC, Dianetics, Facebook, Flag Land Base, Florida, Food and Drug Administration, Fort Harrison, Germany, LifeWorks Wellness Center, Lisa McPherson, Markus Thoess, Megan Shields, Morton Plant Hospital, OCA, Panos Pappas, Purification Rundown, Rod Keller, Scientology staff, University of British Columbia

We have an interesting document for you today. It's the response from Frederick County, Maryland, to Scientology's appeal of a zoning decision that is preventing its drug rehab network, Narconon, from building a boutique rehab center with 20 beds in a fishing camp known as Trout Run. Quick recap: We've been reporting that Scientology leader David Miscavige has responded to Narconon's ongoing legal problems by relaunching the network, which includes opening up a new set of smaller rehab centers that seem to be more about public relations than about solving the scourge of illegal drug use. He's rapidly opened a number of new centers in places like Mexico, Denmark, and California. But Miscavige has been stopped in other locations where local residents have fought back in zoning fights — in Australia, Canada, and in Maryland. The Maryland situation is particularly odd. Trout Run is an old fishing camp that stood in for Camp David for some scenes in The West Wing. It's not zoned for a rehab center. But Scientology learned that if Trout Run could be designated as a historic place by Frederick County, a drug rehab "group home" would then be allowed to operate on it. So Scientology bought the parcel through one of its subsidiaries — Social Betterment Properties International (SBPI) — and then set out to convince the officials of Frederick County that its fish camp was a gem of historic significance.

Tags: 1945, 1995, Allison Hope Weiner, Australia, Benadryl, California, Canada, David Houghton, David Miscavige, Denmark, Frederick County, Frederick County Register of Historic Places, John Mathias, Jonny Jacobsen, Lisa McPherson, Maryland, Mexico, Narconon, Quicky, Room 174, Sea Org, Social Betterment Properties International, Trout Run, Valerie Demange, West Coast Property Investments

Thursday Funnies will be published tomorrow. I wanted to take a moment on Thanksgiving to reflect on what I believe is important in life and what we should be truly thankful for: 1. Family — except in rare circumstances (unfortunately not so rare for readers here) they are always there for you. Don't ever take them for granted.

Tags: Quicky, Thursday Funnies

Thanks to Angry Gay Pope for this latest tip involving a building that goes by several different names. The building's location, 6724 Hollywood Boulevard at McCadden Place, is a block east of the 'Hollywood & Highland' complex and it's long been a Scientology facility, most recognizable for the vertical "Scientology" signs along its corners. Originally, the 1922 eight-story structure was known as the Christie Hotel. In 1945 it changed hands and was named the Drake Hotel and then later became the Hollywood Inn. Scientologists call it "the test center," or "Hollywood Test Center," and one of its most notable functions was to host the annual Winter Wonderland display in its parking lot each Fall to (sort of) celebrate Christmas. (It has always been curious that Scientology puts on a quasi-Christmas celebration when founder L. Ron Hubbard very clearly told his most devoted followers - and it's on tape - that "there was no Christ," and he explained that the world's religions were the result of mental image pictures implanted in the minds of thetans - our immortal souls - by an invading alien force some 75 million years ago. In 1999 or 2000, at a lunch at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre, we quizzed Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw about this to the point that she finally burst out, "So we think Jesus is a figment of the imagination! So what!" It was a memorable meal. See our update, below.)

Tags: 1945, 1983, 1986, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2010, 2011, Angry Gay Pope, Australia, California, Canada, Celebrity Centre, Chicago, Chicago Fire, Chile, Christian, Christian Stolte, Christie Hotel, Clear, Clearwater, Creston, David Miscavige, Europe, Facebook, Florida, Graham Berry, Hollywood, Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood Guaranty Building, Hollywood Inn, Hollywood Life Improvement Center, Hollywood Test Center, Ideal Org, Jason Beghe, Jeffrey Augustine, Jesse Prince, Jesus, Karin Pouw, Life Improvement Center, Los Angeles, Mark Bunker, Mike Rinder, New Times Los Angeles, New Zealand, Pope, Portland, Raul Lopez, Ron Russell, San Luis Obispo, Sea Org, SEC, South Africa, Squirrel, Tory Christman, UK, Winter Wonderland

Rebecca Swanson, a spokeswoman for L&I, said the Church of Scientology has obtained no permits for construction on the property and has been in violation of the city's "doors-and-windows" ordinance since January for having "multiple boarded windows." As a result of the outstanding violation, Swanson said, the city is sending Scientology to Blight Court, a municipal-court hearing that could result in fines of up to $300 per day for each boarded opening.

Tags: Blight Court, David Miscavige, Ideal Org, Karin Pouw, Paul Levy, Philadelphia, Rebecca Swanson

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- The city of Philadelphia and the Church of Scientology are having trouble seeing eye to eye about a tall, vacant building that has sat empty since the church bought it more than six years ago for $7.85 million. Philadelphia's Department of Licenses & Inspections plans on taking the church to Blight Court over the 15-story structure since, despite the promise to renovate and occupy the building, no work has ever been done and it has fallen into disrepair. According to the website for the "Philadelphia Freedom Org," that certainly wasn't the plan:

Tags: Blight Court, License, Paul Levy, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Daily News, Quicky, Rebecca Swanson

L&I spokeswoman Rebecca Swanson said the church has been in violation of Philly's "doors-and-windows" ordinance since January for having "multiple boarded windows." Further, the church has obtained no permits for construction on the building. After a trip to Blight Court, the violations could result in fines of up to $300 per day for each boarded opening.

Tags: Blight Court, License, Paul Levy, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Daily News, Rebecca Swanson

This just in from a Taiwan Special Correspondent: Today the 26th of November in Taiwan Miscarriage managed to achieved what no other SP has been able to achieve in any other part of the world. As of today all Missions in Taiwan have closed their Technical Divisions entirely and have sent them all to Kaoshiung for re-training on the new GAT II data.

Tags: Mission, Quicky, Taiwan

The Underground Bunker hopes you are about to enjoy a wonderful holiday weekend, and we offer you this treat as you prepare for family, food, and fun. (We'll assume that our non-U.S. readers know that this is a big four-day weekend here.) We couldn't think of a better way to send you on your holiday than with a video that came to our attention last night. It's from last week's brutal display of police misconduct when some peaceful protesters found themselves on the receiving end of shocking government atrocities in the city of Dallas. Wait, you didn't hear about that?

Tags: 1999, 2009, Alex Jones, Angry Gay Pope, Austin, California, Christian, Dallas, Disconnection, J. Swift, John F. Kennedy, Karen de la Carriere, Mark Bunker, Muslim, Quicky, Stanley Kubrick, Tom Cruise, Vivian Kubrick, White House

There is no update. It's what is known as a "No Report." Let's not forget, this is one of the largest, most devastating natural disasters in a long time.

Tags: 1949, Australia, Ayal Lindeman, David Miscavige, Donation, International Association of Scientologists, Japan, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Marion Whitta, Mission, OT, Philippines, Quicky, Taiwan, USA, Volunteer Ministers

Professor Stephen Kent is one of our favorite voices on Scientology. The University of Alberta scholar has one of the deepest archives of material known to exist, he is unafraid to speak truth about such subjects as the Sea Org's RPF prison program, and he has regularly testified in court cases about his research. He let us know that he's published a new article with one of his graduate students, Terra Manca, about Scientology's long war against psychiatry in the journal Mental Health, Religion & Culture. As you'd expect, the scholarly work is weighty and rich, and we expect to be gleaning information from it for some time. And we're happy here at the Bunker to make it available to our readers in its entirety, with permission from the good professor.

Tags: Cult, Mental Health, Quicky, Rehabilitation Project Force, Sea Org, Stephen Kent, University of Alberta

During protests of Scientology, I have a cheap always-on DVR hanging from my neck, capturing what's going on in case of trouble. This is a sample where Wiseman of the Watchtower is talking to a passerby about his personal experience with Disconnection.

Tags: Adam Holland, Disconnection, Sea Org, Toronto, Video

It's time for another set of Sunday Funnies here at the underground bunker! We hope you enjoy the set of wacky Scientology mailers we've put together this week. The idea is to inspire you to write about whatever you feel like in our open thread. To get you thinking, we've assembled a very disparate group of three images after the jump. Take a look at them, and then hit us with whatever is on your mind.

Tags: CCHR, Filmmaker, Freewinds, Quicky, San Diego, Sunday Funnies, Sunday service

Follow up discussion on Tiziano's Stages of Disconnection:

Tags: Disconnection, Quicky

Scientology's Disconnect - and Enforced Connect

Tags: Quicky

David Lee, now 39, knew nothing about the field when his family -- in what amounted to a makeshift intervention -- gave him an ultimatum in 2001 to make a trip to rehab or hit the streets. He chose rehab. And while he was at the Canadian treatment center his family had selected for him, his therapist asked him to talk to another patient who was thinking of leaving. He did, and the person stayed.

Tags: David S. Lee, Intervention Services & Technologies, Kevin Lee

From the state that gave us Roswell, the epicenter of UFO lore since 1947, comes a report from an Albuquerque TV station about its discovery of strange landscape markings in the remote desert. They're etched in New Mexico's barren northern reaches, resemble crop circles and are recognizable only from a high altitude.

Tags: Bruce Hines, Chuck Beatty, Church of Spiritual Technology, Jane McNairn, New Mexico, Sea Org, Trementina, Vault

The Reader's Digest Association Inc. said yesterday that an injunction barring distribution of its October issue in Switzerland was lifted by a court in Lausanne. The injunction had been obtained Sept. 18 by the Church of Scientology in an attempt to prevent distribution of an article entitled "Scientology: A Dangerous Cult Goes Mainstream." The article was excerpted from a longer one that originally appeared in Time magazine.

Tags: Lausanne, Reader's Digest, Switzerland

A book logo linked to the Church of Scientology has been removed from the car of racer Mario Andretti, who said he did not want to be associated with the book when he drives in the GTE World Challenge of Tampa. A logo for the best-selling book, Dianetics, was taken off Andretti's high-performance Porsche on Friday night. But the veteran driver said Saturday he "had nothing to do with (the Dianetics sponsorship) in the first place. It's not something I believe in, so I don't want to make it appear like I'm endorsing it."

Tags: 1950, Bridge Publications, Church of Scientology International, Clearwater, Dianetics, Europe, Germany, Heber Jentzsch, Los Angeles, Mario Andretti, Pretoria, Scott Welch, South Africa, Spain, Tampa

A federal appeals court has upheld a $220,000 verdict against Straight, Inc., a Florida-based drug rehabilitation program charged with holding a Northern Virginia man against his will. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in an opinion released yesterday, affirmed an Alexandria jury's finding last year that Straight had falsely imprisoned Fred Collins, Jr., a former Fairfax resident, for more than four months. Collins had alleged he was kept against his will in a Straight facility in St. Petersburg, Fla., as well as in a newer facility in Springfield.

Tags: Alexandria, Appeal, Bill Oliver, Drug Free America, Florida, Fred Collins, Imprisonment, Judge James Miller, Quicky, Ronald Goldfarb, St. Petersburg, US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Virginia

WASHINGTON -- Two top-ranking members of the Church of Scientology, convicted of charges arising from a conspiracy to steal government documents, say they were prosecuted because they challenged the government. Jane Kember, 43, and Morris Budlong, 32, extradited from Britain to face trial, said Wednesday they will appeal their conviction for aiding and abetting other church members in the theft of documents from government offices. A federal jury returned guilty verdicts against the two church officials after deliberating for six hours at the close of a four-week trial. They face up to 15 years in jail on each of nine counts when they are sentenced Dec. 19 by U.S. District Judge Aubrey Robinson.

Tags: 1976, 1978, 1979, Burglary, England, FBI, Internal Revenue Service, Jane Kember, Judge Aubrey Robinson, Lawyer, Los Angeles, Mary Sue Hubbard, Mo Budlong, Quicky, Raymond Banoun, US Department of Justice

He is called Balyogeshwar Param Hans Satgurudev Shri Sant Ji Maharaj -- hardly a name likely to become a household word. A little over a year ago only a handful of people outside India knew who he was. But last fortnight, when Guru Maharaj Ji (as he is short-titled) flew from the U.S. to New Delhi to celebrate a three-day festival in honor of his late guru father, he was accompanied by seven jumbo jets filled with new followers from the West. They were only a fraction of the number he had left behind.

Tags: Prem Rawat