Before we get to the fun news about Scientology’s big gala in England, you have to see this slick new Scientology video that Apostate Alex forwarded to us.
We’ve seen many hype videos from Scientology before, but this one is remarkable for a few different reasons. The focus on getting trained as an auditor, for the first thing. Creating new auditors was the key goal under founder L. Ron Hubbard, but since David Miscavige took over, the focus has been more on fundraising and new buildings. So it’s interesting to see some attention paid again to getting people to dedicate themselves to learning the meter.
There’s also something really odd about the animated segments in this video too, isn’t there? Like, what kind of loser are you that you’re not a Scientology auditor!
Anyway, give it a look and let us know what you think, particularly those of you who were auditors yourselves…
OK, now to the big news coming out of England. We finally have a date for the big IAS 40th anniversary gala at Saint Hill Manor, and it will be the weekend of October 25-27.
That doesn’t give Scientologists a lot of time to make travel plans, but you can bet that they’re scrambling now to get their flights and accommodations. Which celebrities will show up this time? Last year Tom Cruise, Jenna Elfman, and Nancy Cartwright made the scene. Will they be back?
One person who is definitely returning is Alex Barnes-Ross. Last year Apostate Alex put on a three-day demonstration at the event that he carefully coordinated with local officials, and which protested the event with creativity and a strong focus.
Alex announced yesterday that he has a website, https://iasprotest.com, where you can get information about joining this year’s demonstrations.
“We are not protesting Scientology’s belief system and we don’t want to cause disruption to their event. But we do want to do what we can to raise awareness of what’s going on behind closed doors. People are free to believe in whatever they choose, but Scientology cannot continue treating people the way it does,” Alex says.
And here’s another hype video for you, Scientology’s own announcement for the IAS date. Mark your calendars!
Muppet story too good to be true?
Yesterday, we told you that we’d heard from a number of readers who were excited about a story that appeared to report that the Church of Scientology was the buyer for the Jim Henson Company Lot at La Brea and Sunset, which would make Scientology the landlord for the Muppets.
But we pointed out that the story had originated from a less certain claim by film critic Jeff Sneider, who said that “the word on La Brea Ave. is that the Church of Scientology is the lucky buyer,” but admitted that there was no official word yet.
Well, we’re glad that we were cautious, because now our old friend Dominic Patten at Deadline is reporting that the story isn’t true, and that the Henson Company denies that it’s in escrow with anyone.
“In regards to recent rumors about the sale of the La Brea studio lot, the Henson family is not in any business dealings with the Church of Scientology, and that organization is not in consideration as a potential buyer of the property,” the company said.
As we pointed out yesterday, Scientology leader David Miscavige has already snagged the former KCET studios further east on Sunset, for his “Scientology Media Productions,” and it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for him to buy even more studio space. But again, with his penchant for purchasing white elephants as monuments to his ego, you never know.
In this case, however, Kermit the Frog is apparently safe from paying rent to Scientology.
A special treat for our subscribers
Today subscribers will receive episode 86 of our special podcast series, “Group Therapy.”
We discuss the week’s revelations with our gang of jokers and degraders, including our transoceanic friend Alex Barnes-Ross. And in Colorado, the genial Bruce Hines!
It’s all the enturbulation you could want!
We’re offering this series as thanks to our subscribers for helping to support the work we do here at the Underground Bunker!
Want to help?
Please consider joining the Underground Bunker as a paid subscriber. Your $7 a month will go a long way to helping this news project stay independent, and you’ll get access to our special material for subscribers. Or, you can support the Underground Bunker with a Paypal contribution to bunkerfund@tonyortega.org, an account administered by the Bunker’s attorney, Scott Pilutik. And by request, this is our Venmo link, and for Zelle, please use (tonyo94 AT gmail). E-mail tips to tonyo94@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:
Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology
Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain
Here’s the link to today’s post at tonyortega.org
And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning.
Paid subscribers get access to a special podcast series…
Group Therapy: Our round table of rowdy regulars on the week’s news
So, people who get trained become young white men with a nice car? LOL. The video really shows their judgement of people who are not them. The few places that showed women - the untrained housewife, the trained sectretary, the head of a woman's group. Clearly they need some training in PR and inclusivity for one thing. :P As an old auditor and C/S, I do think that training, was a key piece of the bridge, but this did not really capture it at all. Kind of made me cringe for them.
Have a great, peaceful and informative protest, people. Don’t forget to video tape all the time. In all of the little groups.