Inflation? Try Price Gouging

Shell Reports Its Second-Highest Profit, at $9.5 Billion, and Raises Dividend

Gargantuan profits continue to roll in at Europe’s energy giants. London-based Shell reported adjusted earnings of $9.45 billion for the third quarter, its second-highest profit on record. On the same day, Paris-based TotalEnergies reported a profit of $9.9 billion. For both companies, the profits were more than double what they earned in the same period a year ago. As reported by the NY Times, Shell is returning a large chunk of this bounty to shareholders (if you’re one of them, then maybe you don’t mind the price gouging?). The company said that it planned to increase its dividend to shareholders for the fourth quarter by 15 percent, to about 29 cents a share. The company also pledged to buy back $4 billion worth of its shares, bringing total buybacks announced this year to $18.5 billion, or 10 percent of the company’s share capital. So, while consumers complain about gas prices going up, many mistakenly blaming this measure of inflation on the Biden administration’s policies, fossil fuel companies continue to rack up their biggest profits ever.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/business/shell-earnings-profit-oil-gas.html

Florida puts raging MAGA-Moms on book-banning council

In the name of “curriculum transparency,” Florida’s MAGA-Republican-controlled state government has appointed several anti-gay and anti-mask conspiracy theorists to take charge of a new effort at public schools: banning books. As reported by the Daily Beast, “this hastily assembled censorship council—tasked with retraining public school librarians to abide by new restrictions—is the latest ploy in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crusade to upend the state’s education system.” The council was also staffed under suspicious circumstances, with the state Education Department ignoring its own call for official candidates from local school districts and instead filling most of the slots with right-wing activists who have a history of proposing book bans. One was even nominated by a religious activist with close ties to the DeSantis administration a week before the department publicly called for candidates, according to government emails, hinting at secret coordination between them. The MAGA-Republican led efforts, spearheaded by DeSantis, “calls into question the process that the Florida State Board of Education is trying to implement. It raises significant transparency questions,” said Megan Uzzell at Democracy Forward, which obtained those government emails…

https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-puts-raging-maga-moms-on-book-banning-council

The Independent State Legislature Theory, and why it really matters

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade was bad enough, but based on public statements by conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alioto, that decision is just a preview of what the high court has planned (hint: making contraceptions and gay marriage illegal, and a national abortion ban, for starters). Most importantly, decisions like this and others likely to come, will hinge on something called the Independent Legislature Theory, which interprets the U.S. Constitution as giving state legislatures the ability to go around State court decisions, providing partisan legislatures (in this case the new MAGA-Republicans) with a new “legal” ability to overturn the results of any election they don’t agree with. A new interpretation by the high court of Moore V. Harper, would ultimately rob voters of our voice(s) and weakens our democracy. In an excellent article posted by the Independent Voter Network, author/Editor Shawn Griffiths casts important light on this issue, which could end up providing the MAGA-Republicans with their long-desired wish to be able to control election results on a state-by-state basis. The article is not too long and is a “must read”…

https://ivn.us/posts/what-independent-state-legislature-theory?

Signing in with Google or Facebook could put your data at risk

You’ve probably seen it on lots of apps and websites: buttons urging you to sign in with your Google or Facebook account. Sometimes it’s to let you share files, photos or emails. Other times it’s to use Google or Facebook as a quick way to log-in somewhere new. As reported by the Washington Post, “your rule of thumb should be ‘just say no’.” There are too many ways using these buttons can leak personal information or help Big Tech track you. There are some exceptions when it’s useful — but you might be surprised, and a little regretful, if you saw how many random sites have access to your Google or Facebook data. What could go wrong? This month, Facebook warned a million Facebook users their accounts might have been compromised by 400 malicious apps that were designed to trick them into handing over their Facebook log-in information. Criminals were making fake log-in buttons. There’s a lot more detail in this article, including scenarios where your risk is lessened. But blindly saying “yes” when asked to login with Google or Facebook is probably not a good idea. This article will show you how to check and revoke access…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/21/sign-in-google-facebook/?

Marjorie Taylor Greene reportedly in talks with Trump to be his running mate

Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told a New York Times reporter several times that she’s in “continuous” discussions with Donald Trump about being his running mate if he decides to run for the presidency. As reported by Huffington Post, Greene has become “an increasingly dominant presence at Trump’s various rallies across the nation and events,” including the Saudi golf tournament in August at his course in Bedminster, New Jersey. “What Greene possesses that Trump so craves is loyalty,” New York Times Magazine writer Robert Draper told Ali Velshi on MSNBC. “She has always been there for Trump. She has always had his back. After [Trump’s] experience with his last running mate, Mike Pence, it’s clear that he’s going to prize loyalty above all else,” Draper added. Of course, if the DOJ and other prosecutors across the country do their jobs, Trump will likely not even be a candidate in 2024 (despite the enthusiasm of his remaining MAGA-Republican supporters). For that matter, Greene may eventually fade from sight if the MAGA-Republican candidates of the midterms suffer broad enough losses. Nevertheless, it’s good to spot the stench of right-wing extremists ahead of time…

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marjorie-taylor-greene-trump-running-mate-discussions