NY Times: Scientists Fault U.S. Response in Assessing Gulf Oil Spill

May 20th, 2010 | Environment | | Leave a comment

Prominent oceanographers have accused the government of allowing BP to mask the true scope of the oil spill and of failing to perform a sufficient scientific analysis of the spill’s impact.

The scientists are most concerned about getting a clear understanding of the large oil plumes that are spreading beneath the ocean’s surface. They have also criticized the government for failing to make public a single test result on the water in the deep ocean. Scientists also say that the government has not been willing to demand an accurate calculation of how many gallons of crude the leak is expelling.

Rick Steiner, a marine biologist and veteran of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, attacked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in an interview, saying that the large plumes of oil droplets beneath the surface should have been expected from the start.

READ THIS STORY AT NYTIMES.COM

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Anwar Al-Awlaki: An American Citizen, A CIA Target

May 19th, 2010 | National Security | | Leave a comment

Faisal Shahzad, Times Square bombing suspect, told investigators that his act was inspired in part by online lectures from Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Awlaki also traded emails with Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas.

Once seen as a leader of moderate Islam, Awlaki is now considered so dangerous that he has been targeted for killing by the CIA. U.S. authorities are troubled about his online lectures because they are in English and they reach young British and American muslims.

In this excerpt from NPR’s Fresh Air, Dave Davies interviews Scott Shane, national security reporter for the New York Times, who has written extensively about Anwar al-Awlaki.

LISTEN TO THIS STORY AT NPR.ORG

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CBS News: Coast Guard Threatens CBS Journalists with Arrest for Filming Oil Spill

May 19th, 2010 | Environment | | Leave a comment


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In a CBS news report, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said, “This wasn’t just sheen. We were seeing heavy oil out there. This wasn’t just tar balls. It shows you how quickly that oil showed up.”

When a CBS crew tried to reach the beach to film the oil washing up on shore, they were approached by a boat containing eight BP contractors and two Coast Guard officers. The journalists were told to turn around under threat of arrest.

CBS spoke to Coast Guard officials following the incident. They say they are looking into it.

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Global Post: Special Report: How the White House learned to love the drone

May 19th, 2010 | National Security | | Leave a comment
800px-MQ-1_Predator
800px-MQ-1_Predator
Unmanned predator and reaper drones have become commonplace in the mountains of western Pakistan. U.S. counterterrorism and defense officials say that they are no longer aimed solely at high-value targets. The Central Intelligence Agency expanded its “target set” under a secret directive issued by former President George W. Bush and continued by President Obama.

One official claimed that killing wanted militants is easier than capturing them while another added, “It is an increasingly preferred option.”

The growing reliance on drone strikes could be due in part to the ban on secret CIA detention centers and the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison. Some former and current terrorism officials say that this decision may have made capturing wanted militants a less viable option, with one official saying, “There is nowhere to put them.”

READ THIS STORY AT GLOBALPOST.COM

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