Wicked Blue

Wicked Blue's Journal

May 31, 2023

Drones attack Russian oil refineries near major oil port Novorossiisk

Source: Reuters

MOSCOW, May 31 (Reuters) - Drones attacked two oil refineries just 40-50 miles (65-80 km) east of Russia's biggest oil export terminals on Wednesday, sparking a fire at one and causing no damage to the other, according to Russian officials.

Drone attacks deep inside Russia have intensified in recent weeks with strikes on Moscow, oil pipelines and even the Kremlin ahead of a Ukrainian counter-offensive.

At around 0100 GMT a drone struck the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region, causing a fire which was later extinguished, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.

The Afipsky refinery lies 50 miles east of the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, one of Russia's most important oil export gateways. The plant can process around 6 million tonnes (44 million barrels) of oil each year.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/fire-oil-refinery-russias-krasnodar-likely-caused-by-drone-governor-2023-05-31/

May 31, 2023

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to announce his 2024 presidential campaign Tuesday

Source: NBC News

May 31, 2023, 8:50 AM EDT / Updated May 31, 2023, 9:11 AM EDT
By Vaughn Hillyard and Summer Concepcion

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is set to announce his 2024 presidential campaign Tuesday at a town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, a source confirmed to NBC News.

This marks the second presidential campaign for Christie, who stumbled to a sixth-place finish in the 2016 New Hampshire primary.

Axios was the first to report the timing of Christie's 2024 campaign announcement.

After dropping out of the race eight years ago, Christie, in a then-stunning move, endorsed Donald Trump just days before Super Tuesday, lending a credible name to Trump’s momentum at the time.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/former-new-jersey-gov-chris-christie-set-announce-2024-presidential-ca-rcna87004

I can hardly wait for someone to dig out that photo of him lounging on the beach on Long Beach Island after ordering everyone else off the island for a holiday weekend.

May 26, 2023

Friday's weirdness

May 26, 2023

Months after residents sound the alarm, Pennsylvania 'cracks' down on Shell plant

NBC News
May 25, 2023, 7:29 PM EDT
By Katarina Sabados, Kenzi Abou-Sabe and Hannah Rappleye

This story was produced in partnership with the Global Reporting Centre.

MONACA, Pa. — Shell has agreed to pay $10 million to Pennsylvania for exceeding emissions limits during the troubled launch of its massive new plastics plant in Beaver County. The sum includes a nearly $5 million civil penalty and another $5 million to fund local environmental projects.

“With this agreement, the Department of Environmental Protection is taking steps to hold Shell accountable and protect Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to clean air and water while encouraging innovation and economic development in the Commonwealth,” said acting Secretary Rich Negrín.

The “ethane cracker,” as the plant is called, is a 384-acre-wide industrial complex that heats ethane — a byproduct of fracking in the region — and “cracks” it under high pressure into ethylene to produce polyethylene pellets, a building block for plastic.

...

The enforcement action comes three weeks after NBC News and the Global Reporting Centre first started asking Shell and DEP questions about the plant, and not long after environmental advocacy groups sued Shell over its excess emissions. The agency’s consent order details a range of violations. In addition to repeatedly breaching emissions limits for VOCs, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and “hazardous air pollutants” — otherwise known as air toxics — DEP cited a slew of malfunctions at the plant dating back to June 2022.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pennsylvania-cracks-down-shell-plastics-cracker-plant-rcna82750

May 24, 2023

Inside the Florida nonprofit pushing to slash food stamp rolls nationwide

NBC News

By J.J. McCorvey

“We’ve been hiding in plain sight all along,” Tarren Bragdon said of his 12-year-old nonprofit, the Foundation for Government Accountability.

The Naples, Florida-based think tank has been publicly cheerleading GOP efforts to tighten work requirements for food stamps and Medicaid as part of high-wire debt ceiling talks in Washington. But without the clout or funding of major conservative K Street institutions that also support shrinking the federal safety net, the FGA has largely pursued a state-level strategy that has been quietly racking up wins.

As a result, low-income Americans in many states face narrowing access to key benefits programs, regardless of whether the curbs House Republicans passed in their debt ceiling bill last month wind up in a final deal with Democrats and the White House.

In recent interviews, half a dozen hunger relief groups across the country named the FGA as their top adversary in an escalating policy fight over safety net benefits, citing the group more frequently than any other. One aid organization feared drawing attention to its efforts, worried about triggering an FGA lobbying blitz to curb food stamp payments in its home state.

More:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/foundation-government-accountability-debt-ceiling-food-stamps-snap-rcna81369