In Eagle Ford shale play, a changing role for South Texas, residents

By Asher Price

GONZALES ? To the naked eye, life here, in the heart of a historic, innovative energy boom, appears little different from what it might have been even a half-dozen years ago. But in ways small and large, the influx of money and people mostly men is changing life in Gonzales.

This is the face of a central portion of the Eagle Ford shale play, which stretches roughly 50 miles wide and 400 miles long in a sweep across some of South Texas' historically poorest counties. The last drilling boom-and-bust in these parts ended in the 1980s. Now, with the innovation of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the natural gas fields are reopened.

The gas boom could not have been better timed, saving many in these rural counties from the harsh drought that choked much of Texas. The land in Gonzales, long the setting for hard lives tending cattle and poultry, has given rise to stories of ranchers getting rich as quickly as it has given rise to the natural gas flares that illuminate a clear Texas night. There's the tale of the elderly woman who made her way to a bank in nearby Shiner to cash her first royalty check from the company drilling beneath her land.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the teller told her after inspecting the check. "I can't cash that."

"Well, let me see the bank manager then," she said.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, we can't cash that," the bank president then repeated.

"But surely you have the $15,000 on hand," she said.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but that check's for $1.5 million," he told her.

The central courthouse square, like so many Texas towns, remains sleepy. But a steady stream of landmen pour in and out of the Gonzales County clerk's annex to inspect title records.

Another sign of changed times: The merchandise on sale at Indie's Southern Style, a boutique specializing in women's cosmetics and zebra-striped purses, now includes the $64 fire-retardant Wrangler shirts popular among the roughneck set.

Working for wealth

The first drilling of Eagle Ford wells was in 2008 in La Salle County, and since then, energy companies have poured in resources and manpower to mine the gas, trapped in a layer of shale 250 feet thick and 65 million years old. In fracking, millions of gallons of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, are injected into rock to extract natural gas. The Eagle Ford shale is 4,000 to 12,000 feet below ground.

Like a vortex, the opportunity to make cash has pulled workers from other sectors and other regions.

In DeWitt County, just south of Gonzales County, the county judge reports a dip in jail staffers, and more sheriff's deputies are unwilling to work overtime because of more lucrative employment in the gas fields. A billboard on U.S. 183 South in Luling advertises gas companies seeking drivers with commercial driver's licenses. Starting pay for those jobs has jumped in South Texas from $37,000 a year to $50,000 a year, said Noel Smith, director of the St. Philip's Truck Driving Training School in San Antonio.

RV parks, proliferating like wildflowers on the edges of shale towns, are now home to welders, pipe fitters and drivers from as far away as the Dakotas.

Despite concerns about fracking's potential for groundwater contamination and the pollution of skies above rig operations, hydraulic fracturing in Texas is unlikely to go away even as a booming gas economy could go bust, just as previous booms have rocked this and other parts of the state.

For now, though, the industry and the state are flush with cash. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs reported earlier this month that for fiscal year 2012, which ended Aug. 31, the state collected more than $44 billion in tax revenue, $3.7 billion more than she had projected in December. A big boost came from oil and natural gas production taxes, the result of feverish drilling and fracking activity in West Texas' Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford shale.

Combs' office reported that oil and gas production taxes together came in about $1 billion, or 39 percent, higher than projected, and the industry also contributed heavily to strong sales tax collections, which were up 12.6 percent from the previous year.

In a further signal of the influence of the wealth created by the boom, Texas environmentalists have set only modest goals for the regulation of drilling. In other states, environmentalists have had more success in stymieing natural gas drilling, drawing links between the practice and underground water contamination. New York state has gone so far as to put a drilling moratorium in place.

Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/in-eagle-ford-shale-play-a-changing-role-2465366.html?cxtype=rss_texas

mumford and sons space shuttle chase cam newton awkward awkward big brother

US Postal Service Losing up to $25 Million Per Day | Bankruptcy ...

New York, NY (PRWEB) May 08, 2012

RoadFish.com mens lifestyle and finance magazine today turned its attention to a critical financial situation occurring within the United States Postal Service. The USPS is reportedly losing up to $ 25 million per day, and the Postmaster General is proposing to close up to 3,700 post offices around the nation which would mean elimination 28,000 jobs for postal workers.

William La Jeunesse reported for Fox News that as it stands, the USPS has lost over $ 25 billion on the past five years and already, are facing a projected loss of $ 14.1 billion for 2012 alone. There are several opinions about how such a critical issue should be solved. The Senate recently approved a bill known as The 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2011, which would set aside $ 34 billion in federal funds to go towards the USPS and helping them to trim costs. The bill would go against what the Postmaster General is proposing however, which is to close 3,700 post offices around the country and to eliminate around 28,000 jobs. The USPS is also pushing to end overnight delivery for first-class mail and to do away with Saturday mail delivery. The bill would prevent these proposed delivery changes and would effectively disable the Postmaster General from closing the proposed post offices.

The article includes a quote from Republican Representative Dennis Ross of Florida, who stated, If the post office was a business, it would be in bankruptcy. Its insolvent. La Jeunesse reports that the USPS has been asking Congress to allow them to make budget cuts through office closings and laying off employees for years, and Congress has been denying these requests. La Jeunesse writes that the USPS has a timeline on their inability to close post offices and make other cuts, and the deadline is May 15th. So without a compromise between the House and the Senate, the USPS could be announcing office closings as early as May 16th when their moratorium ends. Ross is quoted as saying, Over the last six years, the Postal Service lost 25 percent of their revenues. We as a Congress have to look at the fact that the post office is not in the 21st century. It?s still 50 years behind and we have to bring it up, modernize it and allow it to take advantage of market trends.?

RoadFish.coms Senior staff writer is quoted as saying, I always knew this day would come. Its the age of technology, and a lot of it eliminates the need for snail mail. People are able to accomplish most of what they need to do faster by means of computers and cell phones. I pay all my bills online, I bank electronically, I even have an app on my phone that takes a picture of something, converts it into PDF, and then allows me to email or text that document. Its both sad and revolutionary, but its seeming that we are becoming too technologically advanced to need quite so many US Postal services.

According to the above-mentioned Fox News article, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe states that the Senates moratorium and bill are preventing him from saving approximately $ 20 billion. A political blog posted on the Washington Post by Joe Davidson likewise disagrees with the Senate legislation surrounding the USPS financial issues. The USPS Board of Governors Chairman Thurgood Marshall Jr. stated at a board meeting on Friday, When we ask whether the legislation puts the Postal Service back on a path to financial stability, the bottom line is that the Senate bill does not provide the Postal Service with the flexibility and speed that it needs to have a sustainable business model.

RoadFish.com is torn between sparing millions of taxpayers dollars in the proposed Senate bill, and laying off thousands of American postal workers through closing hundreds of postal offices. RoadFish.coms Senior staff writer is quoted saying, I believe that in looking at what is the greatest good for the greatest number of people, it would be scaling back on USPS services and some offices. I wish there could be a compromise, so that fewer offices could be closed and more jobs could be spared. But if the Senates bill goes through, taxpayers all over the country will feel the pinch. Many of these are people who are struggling to pay down debt, whose credit scores have taken a blow from the recession, and a tax increase would not fare them well. It is a sad situation, but it is reflective of where we as a nation stand from a technology viewpoint.

The above-mentioned Washington Post blog includes a statement made by Postmaster General Donahoe at Fridays board meeting stating, We need to eliminate excess mail processing capacity. We need to rethink how we manage our retail footprint. We need to manage our health-care costs better. If we can gain the flexibility to move quickly in these areas, we can return to profitability. The above Fox News article reports that Donahue has a news conference scheduled for Wednesday to address the May 15th moratorium and the various options for the USPS.

About RoadFish

RoadFish.com is an online men?s lifestyle and finance magazine targeted toward men in their 30s and 40s that have already attained a moderate level of success in life, and are striving toward more. It goes over current events of interest to this group, such things as exciting adventures, making money, consumer interests, and hot chicks as well as ways to make more and save more money. It is a publication owned by Purpose Inc.

Source: http://www.bankruptcy-software.com/us-postal-service-losing-up-to-25-million-per-day.php?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=us-postal-service-losing-up-to-25-million-per-day

mohamed sanu chris polk chicago bulls st louis blues rueben randle mike trout ryan broyles

Video: Paul Ryan booed at AARP conference (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/250180118?client_source=feed&format=rss

apple live blog ohio primary cell phone jammer g8 summit netanyahu aipac vanessa minnillo

Q&A: I have to write and deliver a 5-8 minute speech on anything for ...

Posted by Free Article on September 21, 2012

Query by Nicky S: I have to create and supply a 5-8 moment speech on something for my manifeste talking course.?
I have no thought what to talk about, any concepts?

Greatest response:

Response by Kyouchou
Do it on a thing you know a great deal about and are involved in, it will make it less difficult for you to talk about it. For example, if you enjoy professional basketball, chat about the sport, your preferred group/people, and so forth. Or if you truly like vehicles, talk about automobiles, or racing, or engines. Or if you enjoy astronomy, speak about some of the excellent advances that have been produced in the very last 20 several years and how our knowledge of the universe has expanded.

Writers are usually advised to ?compose what you know?, and when you are presented total liberty more than a speech you really should follow the exact same advice: speak about what you know a thing about.

Know greater? Leave your possess response in the feedback!

Source: http://www.zhaojiyu.net/qa-i-have-to-write-and-deliver-a-5-8-minute-speech-on-anything-for-my-public-speaking-class/

x factor finale pro bowl voting kindle fire update pasco county rooney mara solstice x factor results

Advantage of taking advanced drum techniques online

All you need to become a drummer is an elegant drum set and a computer with Internet access. Buy music equipment and take drum lessons online. There are websites that provide free music teaching. Find a credible website and start taking music lessons at home. Starting from basics, you can graduate to advanced drum techniques and get the confidence to play drum before large audience.

Learning music can give you hours of unlimited fun and entertainment. Keep focused on learning instead of looking for applause from your family members and friends. By practicing hard, you could certainly master the art of drumming and also develop your own style of drumming. It might take some time but it is certain that your music would improve.

Online learning is like taking private tuition at home. Music website is your tutor that would be available with a click of the mouse. Good thing is that you would pay nothing to the website. Your only expenditure would the electricity and Internet bill.

Another advantage of home tuition is that you would get audiences at home. Your wife, children, maid and other family members would be first to praise your music skills. After learning some lessons, you can play drum before your friends and neighbors. Applauds and praises, you would get, would inspire you to play music before a larger audiences like the annual function of your club and society.

The greatest advantage of taking your advanced drum techniques online is that it would save you time. You can take lessons, when you are in the mood to play drums. For instance you can devote your weekends to learning music or enjoy drumming after coming from office. A one hour practice is more than enough to make you a perfect drummer in a few months.

Music is a great stress buster. It would drive away negative energy from your body and mind. Playing drum for an hour after coming from office would make you feel happy, healthy and ready to interact with your family members. There is no need to go to an expensive music school when you can learn advanced drum techniques online. Take advantage of the free learning and save your money and time.

Hundreds of learning music videos are available on the web and the good thing is that new videos are uploaded everyday by online music coaching websites. You want to learn advanced drum techniques and you can learn drumming online in a hassle free manner.

Source: http://www.artipot.com/articles/1382903/advantage-of-taking-advanced-drum-techniques-online.htm

knicks vs heat ash wednesday kate walsh cnn debate equatorial guinea marine helicopter crash chicago weather

Bernanke wants you to buy stocks, but risk is high

Ben Bernanke hopes his latest plan to stimulate the economy will get you to buy stocks and other risky assets. Maybe you should. People who did that after two similar Federal Reserve efforts are sitting on big gains today.

But the odds of fat profits aren't looking as good this time, and seem to be getting worse.

Stocks rose sharply before the Fed chairman announced his plans Sept. 13 instead of falling, as they did before the two previous efforts, suggesting less room for gains now.

Meanwhile, the world economy is slowing and Wall Street analysts are cutting estimates for future corporate profits. They expect them to fall this quarter from a year earlier, the first drop since just after the Great Recession ended 3? years ago.

"The market seems like it's climbing on central bank intervention rather than fundamentals," says Gary Flam, chief stock manager at Bel Air Investment Advisors. "I'm not a buyer right now."

The outlook for other risky assets like high-yield bonds is darkening, too.

The highly indebted companies that issue these bonds, popularly known as junk bonds, usually offer fat interest payments to compensate investors for the risk that the companies will default.

Not now. In response to previous Fed stimulus plans, investors have poured money into these bonds, driving prices up and yields, which move in the opposite direction, down to 6 percent, the lowest on record. In the boom years before the recession, the lowest yield was more than two points higher.

"We have a high-yield bond market without yield, and the Fed's fingerprints are on this," says James Grant, editor of the newsletter Grant's Interest Rate Observer. "If debt prices turn out grossly overvalued, won't it owe an explanation for people who lost money?"

Earlier this month, the Fed chairman said the central bank would spend $40 billion each month buying mortgage bonds until the economy strengthens, and maybe even after. In its two previous programs, called quantitative easing, the Fed bought $2 trillion worth of Treasury and mortgage bonds.

The idea is to frustrate holders of conservative assets, like Treasurys, so they'll have no choice but to shift money into riskier fare. As they do, prices will rise, making people richer and willing to spend more money. And that, at least in theory, will speed economic growth.

Some critics argue the Fed has failed, noting that the U.S. economy grew at just 1.7 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. But you can't deny it's been successful at least in part: People have moved money into riskier assets, and prices have jumped.

Since the Federal Reserve launched its first bond-buying program in November 2008, high-yield bonds have gained 68 percent, or 14.5 percent annually, 1.5 times their typical return, according to Martin Fridson of FridsonVision, a high-yield research firm. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's 500 index, in price alone, has gained 85 percent.

In 2012, the S&P 500 has risen 16 percent, almost all of it since June in anticipation of the Fed's new stimulus.

It's possible stocks will continue to climb. The S&P 500 is trading at 14 times its expected per-share earnings for the next 12 months, which doesn't appear expensive. This earnings multiple was lower ? meaning stocks were cheaper ? at the start of the first Fed stimulus, in November 2008, but only slightly: It was 12.9, according to S&P Capital IQ, a research firm. At the start of the Fed's second round of bond-buying, in November 2010, the S&P traded at 14 times, the same as today.

But stocks seemed just as expensive then as they do now because expectations for earnings then were low. Since the recovery began, Wall Street analysts have mostly been scrambling to raise their expectations, not cutting them, as they are now. They were surprised how much companies were able to sell abroad, slash expenses and get more work out of smaller staffs.

Last year, companies in the S&P 500 squeezed a record $8.80 in profit out of every $100 in sales, up from $5.90 after the first Fed program, according to Goldman Sachs. But now these profit margins are falling for the first time in the recovery, and revenue growth is dropping as Europe slips into recession and many developing countries slow.

And the bad news keeps coming. On Tuesday, FedEx, considered a bellwether because its shipping operations span the globe, said that trading volumes had slowed to recession levels. On Thursday, railroad giant Norfolk Southern dropped 9 percent after reporting a steep fall in shipments.

If the economy continues to slow, or falls into a recession, investors in high-yield bonds will get hurt, too. They appear to be reassured by the low number of bonds defaulting now, about 3 percent. But defaults could rise fast. In 2008, defaults peaked at 13 percent, clobbering investors in high-yield. Investors in mutual funds holding so-called junk lost 26 percent that year, according to Morningstar, a fund tracker.

"If you need income, you don't have much choice but to go to riskier assets," says Fridson, the junk bond expert. But he adds, "If the country falls back into recession, people will face losses."

Should junk tumble, Grant, the newsletter editor, quips that Bernanke should consider a "handwritten apology" to investors or possibly a spoken one on "60 Minutes." But he holds out the possibility prices will continue to rise, noting that the Fed's efforts to stimulate the economy, as well as similar bond-buying plans by central banks in Europe and Japan, are unprecedented.

"One can't be dogmatic about likely outcomes of an untried, worldwide experiment," Grant says. "We're all lab rats. Investors are lab rats."

Count George Cipolloni, former bull, among the worrywarts.

Last year, when other investors were selling stocks and junk because of fear the U.S. was about to fall into another recession, Cipolloni, co-manager of the Berwyn Income Fund, bought by the armload, just as he did in previous market dips. Since 2009, his fund has returned 54 percent.

But he's selling now, and piling up cash. It now accounts for 24 percent of the fund's holdings, up from 7 percent about a year ago.

"We're trying to be as risk-averse as possible," Cipolloni says. "We don't want to lose money."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bernanke-wants-buy-stocks-risk-high-183314007--finance.html

boxing news Coptic Christian saturday night live julio cesar chavez jr Topless Kate university of texas UT Austin

PFT: No talks scheduled between NFL, officials

AP

The Wall Street Journal recently rattled off a variety of statistics regarding the performance of the replacement officials.? The metrics chosen, however, are grossly superficial, inherently misleading, and in one instance factually incorrect.

(Please, Florio, tell us what you really think.)

First, the ?audit? reviews the issue of replay review.? Coaches have thrown the red flag 29 times, an 11 percent increase over last year.? But only 31 percent of the calls have been overturned ? down from 52 percent in 2011 and 42 percent in 2010.? The article then claims that a ?challenge call sends the play to an upstairs booth, where it?s reviewed by an official who isn?t a replacement.?

With that statement alone, the entire article should be ignored.? Anyone who watches any amount of NFL football knows that, when the red challenge flag is thrown, the decision is made on the field by a referee.? And since the referee is now a replacement, the ?audit? ignores the reality that the percentage of calls overturned could be skewed by the fact that the replacement referee who reviews the call may be getting it wrong, too.? (The ?audit? also offers no stats at all regarding replays initiated by the booth, a procedure that applies in the final two minutes of each half, after any scoring play, and after any turnover.)

Second, the ?audit? says that, on average, the games are six minutes slower.? While explaining that the difference is not ?apocalyptic? (what a relief), it ignores the reality that one or two games that last a ridiculously long time make the entire system look bad.? That?s happening this year, all too often.

Third, the ?audit? looks at the number of flags thrown.? Through two weeks, the yellow flag has flown 470 times.? It?s a difference of 11 from last year.? (The article doesn?t say whether it?s 11 more or 11 less.)? Throwing around terms like ?consistency,? this portion of the ?audit? creates the false impression that, if the total number of flags are the same, the replacements must be doing an equivalent job.

Anyone with a functioning brain should be offended by that one.? Comparing raw data on the number of penalties sheds no light on whether the right decisions are being made.? The ?audit? tells us nothing about flags that were mistakenly thrown ? or about penalties that mistakenly weren?t called.

Fourth, the ?audit? claims that the replacements ?punish,? with an increase in pass interference and holding calls, along with a spike in personal fouls from four to 21.? (It?s a little hard to believe that through two weeks of the 2011 season there were only four personal fouls called.)? This glosses over the fact that the replacements aren?t calling illegal contact with receivers (a rule that doesn?t exist at lower levels of the sport), and that defensive backs apparently are continuing the forbidden pushing, pulling, and/or shoving after the ball is in the air ? which is when pass interference can be called.

Also, the increase in holding penalties could be a product of the fact that holding can be called on every play.? Astute officials call holding only when it occurs in the vicinity of the ball carrier; stuff away from the play doesn?t matter, and rarely is called by the regular officials.? Replacements may be calling it beyond the area of the man with the football.

Fifth, the ?audit? claims that the replacements are ignoring certain types of penalties, like illegal shift and illegal man downfield.? Again, this kind of basic ?analysis? tells us nothing.? Maybe teams are engaged in fewer illegal shifts.? Or maybe they?re sending fewer illegal linemen down the field.

All told, it was a useless exercise that makes the replacements look better than they really are.? And it?s hard not to wonder whether the Wall Street Journal came up with the various categories on their own, or whether the NFL instigated the exercise.? (Indeed, unless someone at the Journal did all of the counting of penalties by hand, the raw data could have come from only one place.)

Here are the two primary truths that this trumped-up ?audit? ignores.? First, the only way to know how the replacements are performing is to review the play-by-play grades that are generated by the league based on a review of coaching tape, and to compare those grade to the grades from the first two weeks of 2011.? After the first week of games, during which the replacements looked the part, acted the part, and sounded the part, the aftermath resulted in multiple sources telling PFT that the average officiating errors per game exceeded 30.? In contrast, the regular officials had average mistakes in the single digits.

Second, the replacement officials in Week Two failed the eyeball test.? So regardless of meaningless stats like those in the Journal article or relevant numbers like the actual grades generated by the league office, when the product coming through the TV looks and sounds different, people notice.

Then again, people still don?t care.? And until the NFL feels a pinch to the bottom line, the NFL won?t care, either.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/20/no-further-talks-scheduled-between-nfl-officials/related/

indy 500 angelina jolie leg