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I haven't been back in awhile (been busy @ work), but here is a story that I thought you might find interesting. It's a little article from the NY Times about the news coverage of the BP oil spill. Or actually, about how hard it is for news organizations to get access just to cover the spill. The article starts out with this...
It gets even better...
I think I see a pattern forming here.
Why would your government do this? Maybe this headline from Zero Hedge should answer that question:
SEC Associate Director King To Join High-Frequency Trader And "Supplementary Liquidity Provider" GETCO
Why enforce the law when you can get a nice cushy payoff/job later from the very industry your supposed to be regulating?
We've seen this very problem with finance, the military (generals getting jobs with defense contractors at retirement), and lobbyists (Congressmen/staffers becoming lobbyists). The problem, folks, is that pure unadulterated fraud permeates every level and corner of government and the powers that be are using increasingly draconian measures to prevent the magnitude of the fraud from being exposed. Some are even talking about licensing journalists (WTF???) to prevent the spread of "disinformation."
Like the damage done by big banks to our economy, the BP oil spill is likely several orders of magnitude worse than anyone is admitting (hence the news "blackout"). With a very active hurricane season coming up, the spill could saturate thousands of miles of coastline and inland communities with toxic sludge. I just hope FEMA has its act together this time (unlike Katrina). Mike Ruppert came out with a column not too long ago saying that the BP oil spill could develop into rallying point against the Obama presidency if the damage is extensive enough. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
When the operators of Southern Seaplane in Belle Chasse, La., called the local Coast Guard-Federal Aviation Administration command center for permission to fly over restricted airspace in Gulf of Mexico, they made what they thought was a simple and routine request.
A pilot wanted to take a photographer from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans to snap photographs of the oil slicks blackening the water. The response from a BP contractor who answered the phone late last month at the command center was swift and absolute: Permission denied.
“We were questioned extensively. Who was on the aircraft? Who did they work for?” recalled Rhonda Panepinto, who owns Southern Seaplane with her husband, Lyle. “The minute we mentioned media, the answer was: ‘Not allowed.’ ”
Can someone please explain why a BP contractor was answering the phone at an FAA command center?A pilot wanted to take a photographer from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans to snap photographs of the oil slicks blackening the water. The response from a BP contractor who answered the phone late last month at the command center was swift and absolute: Permission denied.
“We were questioned extensively. Who was on the aircraft? Who did they work for?” recalled Rhonda Panepinto, who owns Southern Seaplane with her husband, Lyle. “The minute we mentioned media, the answer was: ‘Not allowed.’ ”
It gets even better...
In a separate incident last week, a reporter and photographer from The Daily News of New York were told by a BP contractor they could not access a public beach on Grand Isle, La., one of the areas most heavily affected by the oil spill. The contractor summoned a local sheriff, who then told the reporter, Matthew Lysiak, that news media had to fill out paperwork and then be escorted by a BP official to get access to the beach.
BP did not respond to requests for comment about the incident.
"For the police to tell me I needed to sign paperwork with BP to go to a public beach?" Mr. Lysiak said. "It's just irrational."
Or how about this?BP did not respond to requests for comment about the incident.
"For the police to tell me I needed to sign paperwork with BP to go to a public beach?" Mr. Lysiak said. "It's just irrational."
But the incident with Southern Seaplane is not the only example of journalists being told they cannot go somewhere simply because they are journalists. CBS News reported last month that one of its news crews was threatened with arrest for trying to film a public beach where oil had washed ashore. The Coast Guard said later that it was disappointed to learn of the incident.
Uh, huh. I think I see a pattern forming here.
- Lie about the magnitude of the disaster
- Continuously "revise" the magnitude upwards as the disaster becomes increasingly hard to hide
- Clamp down on journalistic free speech by denying access to public areas with the threat of arrest/prison
- Stick your head up your ass and hope that the problem goes away
Why would your government do this? Maybe this headline from Zero Hedge should answer that question:
SEC Associate Director King To Join High-Frequency Trader And "Supplementary Liquidity Provider" GETCO
Why enforce the law when you can get a nice cushy payoff/job later from the very industry your supposed to be regulating?
We've seen this very problem with finance, the military (generals getting jobs with defense contractors at retirement), and lobbyists (Congressmen/staffers becoming lobbyists). The problem, folks, is that pure unadulterated fraud permeates every level and corner of government and the powers that be are using increasingly draconian measures to prevent the magnitude of the fraud from being exposed. Some are even talking about licensing journalists (WTF???) to prevent the spread of "disinformation."
Like the damage done by big banks to our economy, the BP oil spill is likely several orders of magnitude worse than anyone is admitting (hence the news "blackout"). With a very active hurricane season coming up, the spill could saturate thousands of miles of coastline and inland communities with toxic sludge. I just hope FEMA has its act together this time (unlike Katrina). Mike Ruppert came out with a column not too long ago saying that the BP oil spill could develop into rallying point against the Obama presidency if the damage is extensive enough. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
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