Tracklist: Mass Media mentions of Freewinds situation

Originally Posted by orly

Bear in mind that the most well-researched pieces about us and our "war" against Scientology came out a month or so after the Feb 10th protests--and by this, I mean, really well-researched, with interviews, comments from both sides, background, explanation, etc.

It takes time to do that kind of fact-checking and research, even though some magazines expressed interest in us right after Feb 10th. Anyone who wants a good article about the asbestos will have to research, contact the drydock, check out the previous disposition about it, contact the church (and we all know how long it took Nightline to contact the CoS, amirite?), etc. And, if possible, they'd probably want to send a guy over to where the Freewinds IS, to give it a looksee.

^^^THIS.

Not mass-media, but better than nothing:

Scientology Asbestos Ship Hazard - Coverup Exposed, Thousands At Risk | Sydney Indymedia

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Digg - Scientology Asbestos Ship Hazard - Thousands At Risk

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

I have NO idea who insurancenewsnet is, or "Thomson Business Intelligence Service", and they are about as far from "major media" as you can get, but its at least SOMEONE new posting this story. Which otherwise seems to be non-existent or dead to the mass media.

Curacao Dry dock Company: Scientology's Cruise Ship Sealed Due To Asbestos Danger - - insurancenewsnet.com

Thomson Business Intelligence Service is actually HUGE -- it's a sub-company of Thomson Learning (one of the largest publishers of academic textbooks and journals); it is partnered with Reuters and all the business-type mucky-mucks read their online rag.

It we wanted people who could actually do something about this to know about it, this was a really good start.

win for sure, I'd say.

It's still "just us chickens" talking about this, and the major media is still (it has to be intentional at this point) out to sea. (heh, naval analogy)

So here's some of us chickens (except um... they're not):

GlossLip Glosslip Radio: Astra and Lawrence Woodcraft, Monday, May 5th, 9:00pm EDT

Although I suppose we need a better analogy since honestly its the big media outlets that are "chicken", not the folks like Dawn, Astra and Lawrence Woodcraft WHO ARE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT IT. But I love that "just us chickens" phrase, and that use doesn't infer cowardice but rather inclusion, so I used it. So sue me! Okay, you aren't Scientologists, so that won't happen...

I just submitted to Drudge. I submitted to CNN last night. It's driving me crazy that no one is talking about this. I would think that the public interest outweighs any fear of litigation. Since when do news outlets not want to get a scoop that another news outlet isn't discussing?

With Drudge the best angle may actually to point out that very fact--that nobody has the balls to talk about it.

LA_SCN on ESMB did some sleuthing and found that the first report about the Freewinds situation was not the Daily Herald article, it was a Dutch article here:
Amigoe.com

AND they are doing an update article, expected to be released today.

Ex Scientologist Message Board - View Single Post - Freewinds Asbestos discovered ..finally

Think one of the reasons MSM hasn't been picked up is that there has been no press release from official level.

The Amigoe article mentiones that more research will be conducted by experts on board of the ship. I can imagine authorities await these results to determine what tone their press release should be, in particular the danger of exposure for those traveling on the ship over the years.

Hopefully, a press release by authorities at a later stage will get some attention on this.

Whoever is the first msm to cover, we have to make a vid covering their story to ACDC's BIG BALLS, amirite?

The OCMB thread has a picture of the result of an asbestos inspection done in 2007. This was requested by a Dutch OG and performed by outside parties under supervision of Dutch authorities. They found no asbestos presence in ventilation shafts, living quarters etc. It could be that the asbestos was contained fairly OK and the danger to those travelling on the ship indeed is limited.

Operation Clambake Message Board :: View topic - New article about abestos on the Freewinds.

I couldn't help noticing the letter sent on behalf of the Island's minister of transprort is extremely sloppy; it has a number of grammar mistakes a 10-year old would be ashamed of. But let's not put on a tin-foiled hat.

Originally Posted by lermanet_com

i just remembered something scientology's scientologist lawyer Earle Cooley mentioned
during a break during a depostion in RTC vs Lerma, the lawyers were chit chatting and he mentioned that
he used to represent Johns Manville (a manufacturer of the stuff) in asbestos litigation...

Interesting, and noted. They know who to call when it hits the fan.

Originally Posted by foodforthought

The OCMB thread has a picture of the result of an asbestos inspection done in 2007. This was requested by a Dutch OG and performed by outside parties under supervision of Dutch authorities. They found no asbestos presence in ventilation shafts, living quarters etc. It could be that the asbestos was contained fairly OK and the danger to those travelling on the ship indeed is limited.

Operation Clambake Message Board :: View topic - New article about abestos on the Freewinds.

I couldn't help noticing the letter sent on behalf of the Island's minister of transprort is extremely sloppy; it has a number of grammar mistakes a 10-year old would be ashamed of. But let's not put on a tin-foiled hat.

Any chance money has creatively changed hands or disappeared under a table in any of this?

for those interested, the freewinds isn't poisoning scientolgists exclusively, or passengers on charter cruises; raw sewage is dumped right on the islands where it puts to port, hundreds of tons of it, four times a day, into fragile carribbean ecosystems. one british expat in curacao or tobago (forget) has been documenting it and trying to get it stopped. i believe he is working with or at least in contact with greenpeace. there is footage on the internet of the trucks pulling up to ponds and dumping DM's sewage right into fresh water ponds and wetlands, saw it but didn't note the link, probably youtube. oops, here he is, in bonaire i guess:
http://forums.enturbulation.org/15-b...-sunday-12251/

I am SO hoping that this is being slowly but surely investigated by the MSM, because if and when it does eventually break, the sheer awesomeness of the FOOTNUKE to scilons will be so awe-inspiring that I may have to watch it through one of those special solar eclipse viewing boxes.

They're taking asbestos out!

Amigoe.com

Special team strips Freewinds of asbestos

WILLEMSTAD – A special team from the United States is working on removing the asbestos from the cruise ship Freewinds. The team is being supervised by an independent bureau from the Netherlands.

Head of Environmental Service, Tico Ras confirms the above, but doesn’t say much. The seriousness of asbestos being released during work is according to him ‘a matter of interpretation’. He nevertheless admits that readings are constantly being done that indicate the amount of asbestos, but that he does not know what the results of the readings are, and that he is busy finishing up a report.

It is in any case safe around the ship in the dry-dock. The Environmental Service is also supervising the removing of the asbestos and is making sure that this is done according to the rules. The asbestos is taken to the landfill of Selikor that has a special dump place for this.

Freewinds promised last week to give an official declaration, which they didn’t. Harbour captain Ludwig Alpes is now referring everybody to the dock company (CDM) for comments. PR-director Karin Pouw of Scientology in Los Angeles gave a reaction on the internet: “The Freewinds on a regular basis checks the air quality on board of the ship and always meets the American standards. Inspections on April 15 and 28 confirm that the air quality is safe, in accordance with the standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and US Clean Air Act.”

The Freewinds is undergoing a complete touchup in the dry dock. All the cabins and other accommodations are being upgraded. To comply with the tight maritime rules that become effective in 2010, also the navigation- and safety equipment is being replaced. “The true and accurate story is that the Freewinds is being restored to better than new.” The restoration is on schedule.

CDM-director Frank Esser indicated last week that the ship had till yesterday to be in dry-docking. Aside from the disputable exceeding of the asbestos standards in the air, the CDM–director blamed the Freewinds for not complying with the different procedures. A ship in dry-dock that is going to work on asbestos is required to do this with qualified people.

{post moved voluntarily to general discussion topic for Freewinds.}