"A month after the Deepwater Horizon disaster began, scientists from the University of South Florida made a startling announcement. They had found signs that the oil spewing from the well had formed a 6-mile-wide plume snaking along in the deepest recesses of the gulf. The reaction that USF announcement received from the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agencies that sponsored their research: Shut up."

"The government is still keeping crucial information about the extent of the damage a carefully guarded secret--from everyone except BP."

An oil-industry-funded PR 'War Room' stands ready to kill or counter any public discourse unfavorable to the oil industry. The conservative non-profit group running it has been accused of shaking down BP. They are working hard to elect Republiicans to the Senate.

Bloomberg News is gamely standing by a story in which critics say it inaccurately interprets its own polling data -- to imply that most Americans oppose President Obama's temporary deepwater drilling ban.