Did you catch the video of the private party hosted by Shell Oil in Seattle at the Seattle Space Needle last week? The party was to be a celebration of the impending offshore drilling operations into the Arctic, complete with a replica of the Kulluk oil rig that will be doing the drilling, and inviting the widow of the man who designed the rig to symbolically tap the arctic and fill her glass with some alcoholic drink pouring from the top of the miniature rig. But lo and behold the rig's pump malfunctions and spews all over the elderly widow! Epic PR Fail!

What ensued therein was a marvel to behold, people frantically trying to stop the spewing "oil rig," only to find that nothing was working as it should. Pure comedy gold that was way to good to be true, which can only mean...The Yes Men!

But who was the charming elderly widow? Also, I didn't think the Yes Men had delved into ecological issues before, so was there another accomplice? Watch the video up at the top and find out how this delicious hoax that fooled several mainstream media news outlets and went viral was pulled off and who the cast of characters were.

Watch the video below to see the original spoof Shell Oil party video in full:

Last week I wrote about the California couple whose home had been foreclosed on by their mortgage holder, Wells Fargo Bank. The case is a tragic reminder of how hopeless homeowners have been pushed to the brink in the wake of an economic downturn where some view death as a better alternative to fighting a bank or the law. Two days before the couple's eviction date, Norman Rousseau shot himself in the family's home.

“I lost my husband and it hurts me like hell,” Oriane Rousseau told CBS 2 Los Angeles. “I don’t want this to happen to anybody. This is horrible. I lost my husband. I lose my pets, I lose my house, I lose my furniture, everything... for nothing.”

Now the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) has stepped up to try to help Oriane, and to try to stop this sort of tragedy from happening again. There is a page online here to read more about the Rousseau's tragedy, and to make donations for Oriane to make new living arrangements, as she is currently staying in a donated hotel room and her time there is limited.

Oriane has to start living on her own completely from scratch, and while grieving the loss of her husband. If you're able to contribute anything at all, I hope you'll consider doing so.

There is also an online petition urging the CA Legislature to pass the Homeowner Bill of Rights, which would provide a minimum level of due process and fairness for struggling homeowners.

You can also help by helping this story spread far and wide.The more people aware of the petition the better, and the more people who read and decide to help Oriane make a new beginning after this tragedy the better.

I was literally just about to write an update on a widow from Atlanta who would soon be facing eviction from her home after being turned down for a home loan modification recently, when the above livestream went "live." If you've never attended an "Occupy our Homes" action, or done any sort of community outreach work that put you in contact with a family about to go through an eviction - or faced eviction yourself - get yourself a box of kleenex before you get too comfortable.

But don't be too upset, I've got something that you can do to help the very people you're about to see kicked out of a home that has been in their family for four generations.

How you can help:

“Mrs. Christine Frazer, a 62 yr old widow, and four generations of the Frazer family are being kicked out of the place they have called home since 1994. Mrs. Frazer refinanced her home in 2001; but after losing her husband in 2002, taking in her elderly mother in 2003, losing her job in 2009 due to a “no-fault, one-minute-late tardy policy,” and being denied unemployment after two appeals, she was left with no way to pay her mortgage. Her attempts to re-modify her loan due to excessive financial hardship outside of her control were outright denied by the lender. Mrs. Frazer’s home was foreclosed on in October of 2011 after faithfully paying her mortgage for over 15 years! Investors One Corporation sent her a statement claiming she had to pay $176,000 on a house that the very same document stated is only worth $40,000. The very same crumbling economy that caused the value of Chris’ home to depreciate left her hopeless in today’s highly competitive job market. Upon further investigation of all the mortgage paperwork it was discovered that Investors One Corporation never had the power to foreclose on this home and definitely doesn't have the power to evict this family. A lawsuit is currently being filed against all parties that took part in the fraudulent actions that took place with this property. We need your help to try and cover the costs of serving these lawsuits which cost about $50 per individual. It's going to amount to $350. Whatever you can contribute is greatly appreciated and is going to bring us closer to our goal.”

I can see the donations are already streaming into wepay, so it's looking as if Mrs. Frazer will get the legal help that she needs. Anything above that goal may help her with alternate living arrangements through this crisis. It may be one home saved at a time, but it's a family's life that will be spared a life on the streets and searching for shelter.