• who Two American citizens, Mohamed Hamoud Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 26. The terror suspects were both arrested at JFK Airport late last night.
• what The duo were headed on separate flights to Egypt with the eventual destination of Somalia, where, reportedly, they were going to meet up with a terror cell. source

• Our good friends at Shell seriously have no place to talk. As bad as the Deepwater Horizon disaster has been, Shell has created problems as bad, if not worse (and mostly unreported), in Nigeria. A few quick numbers to throw your way on this, courtesy of The Guardian’s recent exposé on Shell:

• 14,000 tons of oil spilled by Shell in 2009

• 98% Shell’s estimate of spills caused by vandalism, theft or sabotage
• 7,000 number of oil spills Shell had in Nigeria between 1970 and 2000
• 2,000 the number of official spillage sites in Nigeria alone source

Two spills, two responses

• There are more than 300 spills, major and minor, a year. It happens all the year round. The whole environment is devastated. The latest revelations highlight the massive difference in the response to oil spills. In Nigeria, both companies and government have come to treat an extraordinary level of oil spills as the norm.
• Friends of the Earth International’s Nigerian head Nnimo Bassey • Regarding the government’s response to the spill, which seems to only highlight the differences between the American and Nigerian responses to major oil spills. With nearly 1.5 million barrels reportedly spilled in the Niger River’s delta in the last 50 years, it seems that the country has resigned itself to the fate. “In Nigeria, they have been living above the law,” Bassey said. They are now clearly a danger to the planet. The dangers of this happening again and again are high. They must be taken to the international court of justice.” source

• Not to criticize Time two weeks in a row, but COME ON. Why are you letting Shell advertise on pages adjacent to stories about the oil spill? The ads are huge, and there’s more than one style of them (keep reloading). Totally not ethical in light of the spill. Look, this whole situation is awful all around – don’t get us wrong – but this kind of schadenfreude advertising isn’t helping anyone. Least of all Shell, who just a few weeks ago was on the hot seat for after an Amnesty International anti-Shell ad was pulled from an issue of the Financial Times. Bad form, Shell. source

• Modest Mouse is a cool band and all but we think we’re not alone in thinking that this painting of lead singer Isaac Brock currently on Portland Mayor Sam Adams’ wall is more than just a little bizarre. source

• The porn star is reportedly surrounded in a house by a SWAT team. On Wednesday, Driver, whose real name is Stephen Clancy Hill, reportedly killed Dong and injured two others with a machete-like weapon after finding out he was getting fired and kicked out of the DVD production facility where he had been both working and living. Hill had prior convictions. This situation is messed up and we don’t know what to make of it. source

• Ask any officer … You would not believe how many incidents go unreported … even though the law has not gone into effect.
• Tucson police officer Martin Escobar • Regarding the immigration law that he has filed a lawsuit against with another officer. Escobar, who works in an area of Tucson that’s nearly half-Hispanic, says that there are no “race-neutral criteria” to decide who’s an immigrant and who isn’t. And that’s going to affect leads on crimes. “These are the people that are calling in something going on,” he says. source

• 116+ killed in the fire in densely-populated Dhaka source

• 6,000 number of barrels of oil the new cap is allowing BP to transfer per day
• 19k-25k number of barrels that are currently spewing out of the pipe daily source

• » A starting point: This total does not reflect a high point for how much oil they can siphon. To prevent the pressure from causing an explosion, they’re allowing some of the oil to go through vents which they plan to later close. So expect that 6,000 barrel total to go up.

• Anyone want to dig through Elena Kagan’s old documents and take a guess as to how she’d decide major court cases? If so, the New York Times has a couple of papers they want you to read. It’s kinda like reading Sanskrit. source