The Coast Guard working with BP to prevent media from flying over the spill? Homeland Security telling a US Senator he could not bring reporters with him on a tour of the area? Reporters being forced by a local sheriff to deal with BP as they try to visit a public, local beach outside New Orleans? Yes - this is our government at all levels working side by side with an oil giant to control the media spin of this disaster and to limit the freedom of the press. What country is this? The United States of Big Oil. Efforts To Limit The Flow Of Spill News, The New York Times, June 09 2010
That's right kids we've now been entrenched in this misguided post 9-11 debacle for longer than the US military was in Vietnam, which is actually pretty insane if you consider that A) Osama Bin Laden still hasn't been captured and B) we elected a president who ran on ending this war.
By the way if you Google Vietnam + Dubstep you get this crazy guy named DEXTRON - which is also pretty insane.
NY Daily News: Oil and oil sheen are seen off an island, top, in the waters of Chandeleur Sound, La., on May 5. Photo: Gay/AP
A sea turtle tries to swim through oil in the gulf of Mexico. Photo: Handout
Stamford Advocate: A bird covered in oil flails in the surf at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast Thursday, June 3, 2010 Photo: Charlie Riedel/AP
NY Daily News: A bird floats in the water dead with a light oil sheen on it in Chandeleur Sound, La. Photo: Brandon/AP
Huffington Post: An oil covered Brown Pelican sits on the beach at East Grand Terre
Island along the coast of Louisiana, June 3. Photo: AP
Huffington Post: A dead dolphin washes up on a beach on Horn Island, Mississippi, on May
11. Photo: AP
NY Daily News: A bird struggles against the oil-slicked side of the HOS Iron Horse
supply vessel at the site of the Deepwater Horizon on May 9. Photo: Herbert/AP
This is why he makes the big bucks. Tony Hayward, BP's CEO, adds on to his comments from an ABC News interview - in which he said BP was responsible for the oil clean-up but not the accident itself - with statements trying to counter the findings that there are oil plumes beneath the surface of the gulf and then denying claims that the Louisiana fishermen his company is employing to clean-up the oil are getting sick from the hazardous petroleum fumes and the dispersant usage. All these comments are set against the back-drop of BP attempting a media blackout in the region. Do not think that these are just irresponsible statements from another CEO putting his corporate foot in his mouth - this is surely part of the process of building up BP's wall against the lawsuits and possible criminal actions that may come their way.
via Democracy Now, Headlines for June 01 BP CEO: No Underwater Oil Plumes; Workers Sickened by Food Poisoning
BP has vowed to clean up the spill, but is now trying to deny aspects of its environmental damage. On Sunday, BP CEO Tony Hayward was quoted disputing experts’ claims to have discovered oil plumes trapped in large quantities and spreading miles underseas.
Hayward said, "The oil is on the surface. There aren’t any plumes."
Hayward also told reporters he doubts that scores of workers and fishermen have gotten sick from the toxic dispersants used to break up the oil in the water. He instead said the workers had suffered food poisoning.
Tony Hayward: "I’m sure they were genuinely ill, but whether it was anything to do with dispersants and oil, whether it was food poisoning or some other reason for them being ill, you know, there’s a—food poisoning is clearly a big issue when you’ve got a, you know, concentration of this number of people in temporary camps, temporary accommodation. It’s something we have to be very, very mindful of. It’s one of the big issues of keeping the army operating. You know, armies march on their stomachs."
A number of workers involved in the clean-up have been hospitalized. Hayward’s comment came shortly after he publicly complained about the disaster’s impact on his personal life.
Tony Hayward: "We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused to their lives. And, you know, we’re—there’s no one who wants this thing over more than I do. You know, I’d like my life back."
