Historiann: The jaw-dropping stupidity of opinion journalism today
Yes, Arthur: even this Marxist feminist American historian–or anyone else with a copy of the U.S. Constitution and The Federalist Papers–can tell you that this is the original kulturkampf in these United States. Brooks then goes back to quote Thomas Jefferson in 1801 to “prove” that the U.S. has always been about free enterprise. (Because as we’ve already established, many editorialists, especially of the conservative variety, are apparently incapable of recognizing or understanding the fact that there was no such thing as a consensus on anything among the so-called “Founding Fathers.”) Well, yes Arthur: a small federal government was the Antifederalist/Democratic ideal, wasn’t it? Except . . .
Dr. Anderw Wakefield is banned from practicing medicine in the UK.
The doctor who first suggested a link between MMR vaccinations and autism is to be struck off the medical register.
The General Medical Council found Dr Andrew Wakefield guilty of serious professional misconduct over the way he carried out his controversial research.
It follows a GMC ruling earlier this year that he had acted unethically.
tallguywrites: The Facts in the Case of Andrew Wakefield (the whole story – in comic book form!)
Oh joy, not only did they give the Oil Companies waivers, MMS failed in its fiduciary responsibility as well, failing to collect billions in fees.
The obscure federal agency that oversees the offshore drilling industry — second only to the Internal Revenue Service in generating government revenue — has a deeply troubled record of collecting royalties from the $1 trillion-a-year petroleum industry, records show.
That agency, the Minerals Management Service, has two main missions: To enforce drilling safety rules and collect billions in royalties. Since the April 20 BP Gulf rig blowout, scrutiny has focused almost exclusively on MMS’ safety standards.
Yet critics — including former MMS employees — have long accused the agency of going light on the industry in collecting royalties. Government investigators have repeatedly chided the MMS for weak enforcement and loose standards in seeking the fees, potentially costing the government — and taxpayers — billions in unclaimed royalties.
In the meantime, the last ditch effort to stop the Gusher in the Gulf has been pushed out once again.
“It could slip to Wednesday because it has to be a day operation,” said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry at a conference call. Landry added that she visited BP offices in Houston and confirmed that the company is “working around the clock” on implementing the procedure, but there are a series of tests that need to be done, which are likely to be finished by Tuesday evening.
The news comes amid mounting rhetorical pressure from U.S. administration officials who say they are frustrated at the company’s repeated failures in stemming the flow of oil from a deepwater leak.
“Rhetorical pressure.” – yeah, that about describes it. In the meantime, BP CEO Tony Hayward isn’t losing any sleep over it. Rather stunning interview. Read all of it.
Last week Forbes sat down with BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward at the company’s emergency response center in Houston. A well-rested Hayward shared his thoughts on BP’s response to the spill (“extraordinarily successful”), blowout preventers (need more redundancy), what he would have done differently the past three years (nothing), and how there is no limit on what BP will spend to make sure this kind of accident doesn’t happen again. For analysis of Hayward’s thoughts, check out “After the Spill, Big Oil Plots Its Comeback.”
What follows is an edited transcript of the interview.
Forbes: So are you sleeping at night?
Hayward: Yeah, of course. Of course I am.
I’m off to work. See you later.
