Refund and Reparation

WILLEMSTAD: During refurbishing and reparatory work, which involved removing the ceiling and panelling on cruise ship Freewinds , blue asbestos was released and ended up in the ventilation system. Freewinds' captain did not report this when it's own personnel were working on the ship on the Mathey warf in Otrobanda. The Curacao Drydock Company (CDM), where the ship was taken for reparatory work on the hull, heard from the surveyor that there may be asbestos on the ship. The captain acknowledged the incident and said that after the incident Freewinds had some investigation done. Keeping the incident quiet became more noticeable when it turned out that the 40-year-old ship contatined blue asbestos.

The question is whether or not the blue asbestos dust, which can cause cancer, can be removed from the ship. The CDM has stopped all work on the ship. The ship was sealed and isolated and experts will investigate and measure the presence of asbestos dust in the hull and surrounding areas. Commissioners Eugene Rhuggenaath (Economic Affairs) and Humphrey Davelaar (Public Health) said on Friday.

CDM interim director Frank Esser, deputy head of the Department of Labour Affairs Christiene van der Biezen were accompanied by two inspectors and head of the health Department Tico Ras. Samples taken from the panelling last week by inspectors that were sent to the Netherlands showed that they contained significant amounts of blue asbestos. After an extraordinary meeting, the Executive Council decided to inform the public in general about the incident to avoid remours and panic.

The CDM personnel were also informed via the media because it was impossible to gather all the workers Friday evening to personally give them the information.

The German branch of the Church of Scientology dropped its legal battle against government surveillance of its operations, according to a statement released by the organization on Tuesday. In an April ruling, the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court in Münster refused to consider an appeal made by the Church of Scientology to a February court decision sanctioning the monitoring of Scientology by Germany's intelligence agencies.

The agency which monitors Scientology in Germany is called the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Germany's domestic intelligence agency), and has had the Church of Scientology under surveillance in Germany since 1997. The February ruling by the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court stated: "There are concrete indications that Scientology's activities are to implement Scientology's program in Germany and to expand more and more Scientology's principles in government, economy and society".

[...]

In a post Wednesday to the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, Scientology critic Raymond Hill commented on Scientology's recent actions, asking: "Scared that too much public awareness would be brought on its internal documents?" Hill runs the website "Scientology Critical Directory" at www.xenu-directory.net .

Complete article: http://www.mister-info.com/...

The daughter of a member of Norway's parliament committed suicide hours after she received what her family claims were "devastating" results from a personality test administered by the Church of Scientology. Police in France, where the young woman was studying, are investigating.

Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported Tuesday evening that French police are checking alleged links between the suicide of Kaja Bordevich Ballo, age 20, and the Scientologists.

Ballo's father, Olav Gunnar Ballo, is a member of the Norwegian Parliament for the Socialist Left (SV), and he's gone public with both his daughter's suicide and the circumstances surrounding it. He's won support from fellow politicians in Norway.

"All indications are that the Scientologist sect has played a direct role in Kaja's choice to take her own life," another member of parliament, Inga Marte Thorkildsen, and an acquaintance of the younger Ballo, told Oslo newspaper Dagbladet.
[...]
Break you down, build you up,' for a fee
Psychologist Rudy Myrvang said a test like the one administered by the Scientologists is not constructive, and rather aimed "at breaking you down, and then they'll offer to build you up again." It's a recruitment tool, he said, and a means of generating future income for the church.

[More... ]

Source: ABC Radio's The Religion Report
16 April 2008

In the wake of Andrew Morton's biography Hollywood actor Tom Cruise we look at how Scientology uses Hollywood celebrities to get what it wants in Washington. With leading sociologist of religious cults, Professor Stephen Kent of the university of Alberta in Canada.

Listen to Stephen Crittenden's interview with Prof. Stephen Kent (mp3)
Transcript