Tourism In Gulf Coast Suffering. Is Media To Blame?

Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee today that he likely will not pay out funds to support ads that promote tourism to the Gulf.

Keith Overton, senior vice president and COO of Tradewinds Resort and chairman of the Florida Restraunt and Lodging Association, blamed the media today for hurting tourism in the Gulf Coast region.

- Brandon Kosters

Kerry: Best Not To Overhype Wikileaks Scandal, Though It Does Endanger Americans

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) said today that it is important to not overhype the WikiLeaks story, and said the leaks have “no relation whatsoever” to the Pentagon Papers.

Kerry also said that the release of classified documents “breaks the law, undermines the job being done by our troops, and potentially puts people in harms way.” 

- Brandon Kosters

U.S Must Not Abandon Women And Minorities In Afghanistan, Says Former Ambassador

Ryan Crocker, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq under President Bush and current dean and executive professor at Texas A & M University’s George Bush School of Government and Public Service, testified before a Senate hearing today on “Perspectives on Reconciliation Options in Afghanistan.”

He said the U.S. “can’t abandon women and minorities” in Afghanistan. “We would be held responsible,” he said.

- Brandon Kosters

BP To Sell $30 Billion In Assets

According to an article published today by the New York Times, BP has announced that it will sell $30 billion in assets by 2012 to pay for cleanup costs in the Gulf of Mexico.

The article said that while BP enjoyed a second-quarter profit of $4.4 billion last year, it has suffered a loss of $17 billion this second-quarter.

Also, the oil giant confirmed today that outgoing CEO Tony Hayward will be replaced by Bob Dudley, an American-born executive at the company…

- Brandon Kosters

WikiLeaks Release Has Top Pentagon Official Outraged

An article released by American Forces Press Service today says that Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has told the press that he is upset about the release of roughly 90,000 classified documents through WikiLeaks, saying that the leak endangers Americans.

Mullen did say, however, that the documents were written between 2004 and 2009, many of them field reports which documented events in Pakistan. 

Mullen said that he is determined to help prevent further leaks of this nature in the future.

- Brandon Kosters