Mardi Gras Madness, Diamondback's Mega Deal, NPR Icon Gone

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Centrist Chronicle
February 14, 2024

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Today, cities globally are gearing up to celebrate Mardi Gras, the festive day that marks the end of the Carnival season and precedes the commencement of Lent, a period of fasting and religious reflection in Christianity. The Carnival season kicks off annually on January 6, the Twelfth Night after Christmas, and wraps up on the eve of Ash Wednesday.

New Orleans is renowned for hosting the most famous Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States, attracting around 1 million visitors each year and generating approximately $1 billion in economic activity. However, Mobile, Alabama, stakes a claim to holding the first Mardi Gras celebrations in the country. The festivities result in the accumulation of thousands of pounds of beads, with New Orleans reporting the removal of over 92,000 pounds of beads from storm drains along a mere five blocks of a parade route in 2018.

The city's unique Mardi Gras social organizations, known as krewes, play a pivotal role in the day's celebrations. They will be concluding the Carnival season with numerous parades, showcasing intricate floats, including those by the renowned krewes of Rex and Zulu.


Diamondback Energy revealed plans yesterday to purchase Endeavor Energy Resources in a transaction valued at $26 billion, incorporating both cash and stock components, with completion anticipated by year's end. This strategic move positions the combined entity as the third-largest oil producer within the Permian Basin, a region known for its extensive shale deposits. This announcement follows in the footsteps of significant acquisitions by energy powerhouses Chevron and ExxonMobil in the previous year.

Spanning 86,000 square miles across West Texas and southeast New Mexico, the Permian Basin stands as the most substantial oil reserve in the United States, boasting an estimated 46 billion barrels of oil equivalent. While traditional drilling methods have been in practice since the 1920s, the advent of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies has revitalized oil extraction in the area, contributing to the United State's status as the leading oil producer globally since 2018. The Permian Basin owes its name to the geological period in which its rich hydrocarbon deposits were formed, approximately 300 million years ago.

This surge in mergers and acquisitions occurs against the backdrop of forecasts suggesting that global oil demand will reach its zenith by 2030, propelled by the growing shift towards renewable energy sources.


Bob Edwards, a distinguished figure in broadcasting and a foundational host for National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," has passed away at the age of 76, as confirmed by NPR on Monday.

A cornerstone of NPR since 1974, Edwards initially joined the organization as a newscaster and subsequently became the familiar morning voice for NPR listeners throughout 24 and a half years, according to NPR CEO John Lansing in a statement released Monday morning.

Edwards passed away "peacefully" on Saturday night, surrounded by his daughters and his wife, NPR anchor Windsor Johnston, as shared by his wife in a statement.