« April 13, 2014 - April 19, 2014 | Main | April 27, 2014 - May 03, 2014 »
April 24, 2014
In Texas: Dallas County jury awards family $2.9 million in "intentional" nuisance fracking case.
In Parr v. Aruba Petroleum, Inc. (Dallas County, TX 2011), a Texas family sued an oil company for health problems and loss of property value arising from wells drilled in the Barnett Shale Formation near their 40 acre ranch. For some details plus a copy of the plaintiffs' complaint in Tuesday's "Earth Day" verdict, see the blog post of the Parrs' attorney, David Matthews in "$3 Million Verdict in Texas Fracking Case". The jury apparently found 5-1 that defendant Aruba had "intentionally" created a private nuisance despite Aruba's contentions "that it had complied with air quality and drilling safety guidelines set by the Texas Railroad Commission and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TDECQ)". Aruba will appeal.
Drilling in Barnett Shale Formation near Alvarado, Texas
Posted by JD Hull at 07:43 PM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2014
Happy 450th, Mr. Shakespeare.
.jpg)
Posted by JD Hull at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)
April 21, 2014
England's most famous Etonian suffers a lapse in class.
Did the British PM blow a few "dog-whistles" at cranky devout Christian voters last week? Though almost a week old, this story has legs--in and beyond Old Blighty--because it's so, well, appalling. It is also cringe-worthy for any American, with or without an understanding of English constitutional law, who stayed awake during high school civics back in Indiana. David Cameron, Britain's Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, apparently decided to tap the ever-dwindling Church of England "cultural" vote. The Guardian was one of the first to report it in "Prime Minister David Cameron: I am evangelical about Christian faith". To make matters worse, Cameron also said that England was a "Christian" country. A day later, the Guardian's Polly Toynbee wrote her own piece, "David Cameron won't win votes by calling Britain a Christian country", and asked
So why God now?
His core message, "This is a Christian country", dog-whistles to key voters. Ostensibly, it soothes the noisy but electorally few affronted folk in the pews angry about gay marriage, whose fury he had underestimated. For them Cameron ladled out syrupy retro-visions of the C of E [Church of England] of his Oxfordshire upbringing, its liturgy and heritage, his love of early morning eucharist at his children's school's church. But his "Christian country" message is really whistling to the errant flock fled to Ukip. They may never attend, but the C of E is a cultural identity marker for those sharing Nigel Farage's distaste for foreign tongues on his commuter train.
Naturally, Cameron is careful to say "this is not somehow doing down other faiths". But those who feel threatened on account of their non-Christian faith won't find Christian branding reassuring. This week, an article on this site described how the far right is using pork to persecute Jews and Muslims, as Marine Le Pen stops schools serving non-pork options in the French towns she now controls. More horrible still, members of the Flemish Vlaams Belang party reportedly stormed into a school and forced pork sausages into children's mouths.
Can I get an amen?
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)