Article by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Michael Wines published by The New York Times:
As Quakes Rattle Oklahoma, Fingers Point to Oil and Gas Industry
A version of this article appears in print on April 4, 2015, on page A1 of the New York edition
PRAGUE, Okla. — Yanked without warning from a deep sleep, Jennifer Lin Cooper, whose family has lived near here for more than a half-century, could think only that the clamor enveloping her house was coming from a helicopter landing on her roof. She was wrong.
A 5.0-magnitude earthquake — the first of three as strong or stronger over several days in November 2011 — had peeled the brick facade from the $117,000 home she bought the year before. Ms. Cooper, 36, could not get out until her father pried a stuck storm door off the front entrance. Repairs have so far cost $12,000 and forced her to take a second job, at night, to pay the bill.
Feds says Shell’s spill containment system works as company seeks Arctic drilling approval
WASHINGTON — Shell has successfully deployed its Arctic containment system in waters near Washington state as it prepares for potential drilling in the Chukchi Sea later this year.
The company didn’t officially need the test, which was conducted over several days in Puget Sound. Its emergency containment system, carried and deployed from the Arctic Challenger barge, already won certification from the American Bureau of Shipping and the U.S. Coast Guard, years ago.
But the exercises gave Shell Oil Co. a chance to demonstrate the equipment for Coast Guard officials and federal regulators at the Interior Department who will decide whether the company gets critical permits enabling a new round of Chukchi Sea oil exploration this summer.
OGA move prompted change at the top for Shell’s UK North Sea business
Shell has a new boss at the helm of its UK North Sea business after Glen Cayley, who was the oil and gas giant’s upstream director for the region, left to join the new Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).
Paul Goodfellow took over as Shell’s upstream vice-president for the UK and Ireland last month in a low-profile change.
One of his first tasks was to oversee last week’s announcement of 250 job cuts and changes to offshore shift patterns.
Mr Goodfellow was previously unconventionals vice-president, US and Canada, for Shell’s upstream business in the Americas.
Jimmy Kimmel's "Celebrities reading mean tweets" is one of his funniest and most parodied segments. But when a Canadian charity asked local homeless folks to read what people had to say about homelessness on Twitter, the result wasn't funny at all.
Homeless people are still people.
One December evening, my husband Patrick and I were stopped outside our building by a homeless man asking for a cigarette. Pat, being the friendly and talkative guy that he is, happily offered him a cigarette and struck up a conversation with him while I tried to hurry us inside away from the cold. It was in those few moments — while Pat and the man laughed about how crappy the winter had been and the price of cigarettes — that a wave of embarrassment washed over me. Here I was feeling put out over a few minutes chatting with this man because I was cold.
Meanwhile, he'd be stuck outside long after our conversation ended. And in talking to him, the man went from being a "homeless guy" to being a guy in our neighborhood who was fed up with city life just like we were, but he was still able to laugh it off with a smile.
And while I consider myself to be a pretty compassionate person with tons of empathy to go around, the lesson here is that it's too easy for many of us to forget that the homeless folks who line our city sidewalks are real people with hopes, dreams, families, and challenges just like everyone else. These people are not inconveniences to our selfish daily lives. They're people.
It's not easy being homeless.
There are tons of reasons people end up on the streets: debt, mental illness, family tragedy, and addiction. There's also a growing population of homeless LBGTQ youth, many of whom were put out by their own families. That's why comments like the ones presented in the video above feel so incredibly heartless.
But if being without a home and dealing with the stigma of being homeless wasn't hard enough, some states are enacting tough laws that leave homeless folks without places to sleep and that even penalize citizens for food sharing.
And while it was heartbreaking watching the folks in the "Homeless reading mean tweets" video confront the nasty misconceptions that too many have about the homeless, here's hoping it helps reframe the way we think about the homeless and the aid they need and deserve.
Interested in helping the homeless in your community? Check out "35 ways to help the homeless" from JustGive.org
This video from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LAWPD) shows the kinds of choices that will be made if California's drought gets any worse. When you're out of water, things get real. Fast.
In the video, a group of thirsty people are waiting for water.A guy finally arrives, dragging a hose behind him. Sweet relief! The water is here!
But then ... wait, what?
He runs right past them. It turns out he brought the water for something else: some guy's plants.
Yeah, really.
And while the video is funny, it's not "ha-ha funny." It's more "sad funny." It's about a very real choice that's been happening across the state for going on four years now.
California's in year four of a brutal drought.
A year after first declaring a state of emergency and begging citizens and businesses to voluntarily cut water use, the time has come.
The state is struggling to meet its basic H2O needs, and now everyone has to think about about how they're using the little water that is available.
Rain barrels, water cisterns, and curb cuts are methods that families and neighborhoods are using for their lawns and gardens, since just an inch of rain can supply thousands of gallons of water for non-drinking uses.
And pro-tip for the guy with the hose in the video who chose to water plants instead of sharing it with the people: You can get water for plants from the sky. Save the safe drinking water for the human beings, OK?
The plan is simple. Everyone needs to do their part to conserve water.
The only way through this is if everyone can trust everyone else to do their part. Here's some guidance from California for how to conserve your precious H2O. And if you're not in California, there are still ways you can help.
SEE BELOW FOR THE 1001STTIME THE REITERATION OF DEMAND PAYMENT OF RETIREMENT PAY WHICH SHELL REFUSED TO HONOR IN THE PRESENCE AND DEEMED APPROVAL OF THE HONORABLE MAGISTRATES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES