Sorry, Glenda, the reports of denial of access even hit PBS this week when the reporter for Need To Know (new on their schedule) was refused entrance to sensitive areas on camera and we even heard comments from an official such as, "It's not our rules; it's BP's." This is not an isolated incident.

Frankly, from the moment I heard of the gush (this is no "leak" or "spill") nothing that has occurred has surprised me but, on the other hand, even as an avid environmentalist (avid not rabid) I realize that jets and prop planes do not run on coal, wind, solar, or geothermal and I pray they don't try to power them with nuclear. (What a disaster!) Just a few days of volcanic disruption cost us tons of money in commerce, so what'll we do? Ground the world to a halt? Not gona happen.

I do not think that all of the Times-Picayune reporters complaints about lack of access were valid. Before leasing a helicopter to take photos, why not call the appropriate authorities FIRST and find out what the flying level is for that day?

Someone needs to remind rank-and-file Coast Guard personnel (and sheriff's deputies who have closed off public access to the Louisiana shore) that they do not take orders from a foreign-owned company.
Reporters should not back down. An arrest or two of news crews would tell a lot of truth about BP's power to control their story.
And BP has absolutely NO business running air traffic control over the Gulf of Mexico.

To me the most disturbing thing about the media coverage is that no one asks those who call for more government intervention and condemn Obama for failing to do more, "why are you calling for a government takeover of this crisis when you attack Obama for a government takeover of health care which is a financial crisis that has been plaguing the US public and private budgets for more than a decade, or for intervening in the financial crisis which has threatened and actually cost millions of Americans large parts or all of their saving, assets, and jobs?"

But I suppose that when it comes to bailing out people in other regions of the nation, that is big government socialism, but when it comes to bailing out your community, that is merely the Constitution requirement on the President.