BRITISH PETROLEUM: BUYING SILENCE

UPDATE:  VIRUS WARNING FROM OCTOPUS:   Do not open any BP News notices from G-Mail or Twitter. There is an attached virus that will prevent your computer from powering up. Thank you, Libby of The Impolitic for the heads up.  Now, back to my post:

Since the beginning of the Gulf oil spill, several writers of the Swash Zone have posted articles on the disaster, which have apparently been NOTICED! Earlier this week, I received an eel-mail notification from Twitter informing us that British Petroleum is following our postings. Apparently, BP News is bogus (please heed the above virus warning).

In case you haven’t followed the latest news, BP is trying to enlist every marine science researcher, every employee of a marine science ecosystem center, and every academic from a college or university within a THOUSAND MILE RADIUS of the Gulf.  In exchange for money (read: a per diem consulting fee of $250 per day for a brief junket to the Gulf), BP has every chump and stooge sign a strict NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT that subjects them to strict guidelines with respect to information released to the public or the media.  In other words, all information flow is subject to the control of BP!

Three weeks ago, National Public Radio (NPR) reported this story: By Hiring Gulf Scientists, BP May Be Buying Silence

University of South Alabama's Bob Shipp says BP's lawyers tried to hire his whole Department of Marine Sciences to do research for them. Under the deal, the scientists could disclose their results only if BP said so. Otherwise, they'd have to keep it secret for three years.

"They wanted the oversight authority to keep us from publishing things if, for whatever reason, they didn't want them to be published," Shipp says. "People were muzzled as part of the contract. They were muzzled, and certainly it's not something we could live with."

But professors from some universities, like LSU, Texas A&M and the University of Southern Mississippi, did accept BP offers.

This is happening where I live. Recently, several BP representatives contacted employees of the local Marine Science Center of Volusia County. I have friends working there, and this post will piss off a lot of people. I don’t give a damn! What pisses me off more is the sound of BP goosesteps marching in my backyard.

ANOTHER UPDATE: How timely! Here is today’s New York Times Op-Ed on the Gulf oil spill: A Gulf Science Blackout.

I will keep you informed as I learn more.