Democracy Now!: Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009

We speak to New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg about the latest in his investigative series “Toxic Waters,” which examines the worsening pollution in the nation’s water systems. Wired magazine revealed the investment arm of the CIA has invested in a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media sites, including blogs, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon. University of Alaska professor Rick Steiner says he’s lost his federal grant funding for being a critic of the oil industry. Last week, a university lawyer rejected a claim to overturn a decision to pull Steiner’s $10,000 grant from NOAA, writing that if a recipient of grant funding “uses his position and his time to, for example, advocate for or against a particular development project, the funding agency may have a legitimate concern.” "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.