#Bill Procter

[catliketread]

Dod Procter, “Bill and Cat,” c. 1925

#Dod Procter #cats #boys #tabby cats #boys with cats #cats with boys #boys on chairs #armchairs #cats on chairs #boys with cats on chairs #cats with boys on chairs #boys with cats in armchairs #cats with boys in armchairs #boys in socks #socks #boys named Bill #Bill Procter #Procter family #British woman artists #1920s woman artists #British woman painters #1920s woman painters

[robertreich]

The Biggest Economic Lies We’re Told

In America, it’s expensive just to be alive.

And with inflation being driven by price gouging corporations, it’s only getting more expensive for regular Americans who don’t have any more money to spend.

Just look at how Big Oil is raking it in while you pay through the nose at the pump.

That’s on top of the average price of a new non-luxury car — which is now over $44,000. Even accounting for inflation, this is way higher than the average cost when I bought my first car — it’s probably in a museum by now.

Even worse, the median price for a house is now over $440,000. Compare that to 1972, when it was under $200,000.

Work a full-time minimum wage job? You won’t be able to afford rent on a one-bedroom apartment just about anywhere in the U.S.

And when you get back after a long day of work, you’ll likely be met with bills up the wazoo for doctor visits, student loans, and utilities.

So what’s left of a paycheck after basic living expenses? Not much.

You can only reduce spending on food, housing, and other basic necessities so much. Want to try covering the rest of your monthly costs with a credit card? Well now that’s more expensive too, with the Fed continuing to hike interest rates.

All of this comes back to how we measure a successful economy.

What good are more jobs if those jobs barely pay enough to live on?

Over one-third of full time jobs don’t pay enough to cover a basic family budget.

And what good are lots of jobs if they cause so much stress and take up so much time that our lives are miserable?

And don’t tell me a good economy is measured by a roaring stock market if the richest 10 percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of it.

And what good is a large Gross Domestic Product if more and more of the total economy is going to the richest one-tenth of one percent?  

What good is economic growth if the way we grow depends on fossil fuels that cause a climate crisis?

These standard measures – jobs, the stock market, the GDP – don’t show how our economy is really doing, who is doing well, or the quality of our lives.

People who sit at their kitchen tables at night wondering how they’re going to pay the bills don’t say to themselves

“Well, at least corporate profits are at record levels.”

In fact, corporations have record profits and CEOs are paid so much because they’re squeezing more output from workers but paying lower wages. Over the past 40 years, productivity has grown 3.5x as fast as hourly pay.

At the same time, corporations are driving up the costs of everyday items people need.

Because corporations are monopolizing their markets, they don’t have to worry about competitors. A few giant corporations can easily coordinate price hikes and enjoy bigger profits.

Just four firms control 85% of all beef, 66% of all pork, and 54% of all poultry production.

Firms like Tyson have seen their profit margins skyrocket as they jack up prices higher than their costs — forcing consumers who are already stretched thin to pay even more.

It’s not just meat. Weak antitrust enforcement has allowed companies to become powerful enough to raise their prices across the entire food industry.

It’s the same story with household goods. Giant companies like Procter & Gamble blame their price hikes on increased costs – but their profit margins have soared to 25%. Hello? They care more about their bottom line than your bottom, that’s for sure.

Meanwhile, parents – and even grandparents like me – are STILL struggling to feed their babies because of a national formula shortage. Why? Largely because the three companies who control the entire formula industry would rather pump money into stock buybacks than quality control at their factories.

Traditionally, our economy’s health is measured by the unemployment rate. Job growth. The stock market. Overall economic growth. But these don’t reflect the everyday, “kitchen table economics” that affect our lives the most.

These measures don’t show the real economy.

Instead of looking just at the number of jobs, we need to look at the income earned from those jobs. And not the average income.

People at the top always bring up the average.

If Jeff Bezos walked into a bar with 140 other people, the average wealth of each person would be over a billion dollars.

No, look at the median income – half above, half below.

And make sure it accounts for inflation – real purchasing power.

Over the last few decades, the real median income has barely budged. This isn’t economic success.

It's economic failure, with a capital F.

And instead of looking at the stock market or the GDP we need to look at who owns what – where the wealth really is.

Over the last forty years, wealth has concentrated more and more at the very top. Look at this;

This is a problem, folks. Because with wealth comes political power.

Forget trickle-down economics. It’s trickle on.

And instead of looking just at economic growth, we also need to look at what that growth is costing us – subtract the costs of the climate crisis, the costs of bad health, the costs of no paid leave, and all the stresses on our lives that economic growth is demanding.

We need to look at the quality of our lives – all our lives. How many of us are adequately housed and clothed and fed. How many of our kids are getting a good education. How many of us live in safety – or in fear.

You want to measure economic success? Go to the kitchen tables of America.

#youtube #videos #economics #inequality #video #politics #money #cars #housing

[awardseason]

2023 Critics’ Choice Awards — Film WINNERS

Best Picture “Avatar: The Way of Water”  “Babylon” “The Banshees of Inisherin”  “Elvis”  “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — WINNER “The Fabelmans”  “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”  “RRR”  “Tár”  “Top Gun: Maverick”  “Women Talking” 

Best Actor Austin Butler – “Elvis” Tom Cruise – “Top Gun: Maverick” Colin Farrell – “The Banshees of Inisherin”  Brendan Fraser – “The Whale” — WINNER Paul Mescal – “Aftersun”  Bill Nighy – “Living”

Best Actress Cate Blanchett – “Tár” — WINNER Viola Davis – “The Woman King”  Danielle Deadwyler – “Till”  Margot Robbie – “Babylon”  Michelle Williams – “The Fabelmans”  Michelle Yeoh – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” 

Best Supporting Actor Paul Dano – “The Fabelmans”  Brendan Gleeson – “The Banshees of Inisherin” Judd Hirsch – “The Fabelmans”  Barry Keoghan – “The Banshees of Inisherin” Ke Huy Quan – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — WINNER Brian Tyree Henry – “Causeway” 

Best Supporting Actress Angela Bassett – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — WINNER Jessie Buckley – “Women Talking” Kerry Condon – “The Banshees of Inisherin”  Jamie Lee Curtis – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Stephanie Hsu – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”  Janelle Monáe – “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” 

Best Young Actor/Actress Frankie Corio – “Aftersun” Jalyn Hall – “Till”  Gabriel LaBelle – “The Fabelmans” — WINNER Bella Ramsey – “Catherine Called Birdy”  Banks Repeta – “Armageddon Time”  Sadie Sink – “The Whale” 

Best Acting Ensemble “The Banshees of Inisherin” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” “The Fabelmans”  “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” — WINNER “The Woman King” “Women Talking”

Best Director James Cameron – “Avatar: The Way of Water” Damien Chazelle – “Babylon”  Todd Field – “Tár” Baz Luhrmann – “Elvis” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — WINNERS Martin McDonagh – “The Banshees of Inisherin” Sarah Polley – “Women Talking”  Gina Prince-Bythewood – “The Woman King”  S.S. Rajamouli – “RRR”  Steven Spielberg – “The Fabelmans” 

Best Comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” “Bros” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” — WINNER “Triangle of Sadness” “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”

Best Animated Feature “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” — WINNER “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” “Turning Red” “Wendell & Wild”

Best Foreign Language Film “All Quiet on the Western Front” “Argentina, 1985” “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” “Close” “Decision to Leave” “RRR” — WINNER

Best Original Screenplay Charlotte Wells – “Aftersun” Martin McDonagh – “The Banshees of Inisherin”  Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — WINNER Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner – “The Fabelmans” Todd Field – “Tár”

Best Adapted Screenplay Rian Johnson – “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”  Kazuo Ishiguro – “Living”  Rebecca Lenkiewicz – “She Said” Samuel D. Hunter – “The Whale” Sarah Polley – “Women Talking” — WINNER

Best Cinematography Russell Carpenter – “Avatar: The Way of Water” Linus Sandgren – “Babylon”  Roger Deakins – “Empire of Light” Janusz Kaminski – “The Fabelmans” Florian Hoffmeister – “Tár” Claudio Miranda – “Top Gun: Maverick” — WINNER

Best Production Design   Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, Vanessa Cole – “Avatar: The Way of Water” Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino – “Babylon” — WINNER Hannah Beachler, Lisa K. Sessions – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn – “Elvis” Jason Kisvarday, Kelsi Ephraim – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”  Rick Carter, Karen O’Hara – “The Fabelmans” 

Best Editing Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, James Cameron – “Avatar: The Way of Water” Tom Cross – “Babylon”  Matt Villa, Jonathan Redmond – “Elvis”  Paul Rogers – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — WINNER Monika Willi – “Tár” Eddie Hamilton – “Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Costume Design Mary Zophres – “Babylon” Ruth E. Carter – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — WINNER Catherine Martin – “Elvis”  Shirley Kurata – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Jenny Eagan – “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”  Gersha Phillips – “The Woman King”

Best Hair and Makeup “Babylon”  “The Batman”  “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”  “Elvis” — WINNER “Everything Everywhere All at Once”  “The Whale” 

Best Visual Effects “Avatar: The Way of Water” — WINNER “The Batman”  “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”  “Everything Everywhere All at Once”  “RRR” “Top Gun: Maverick” 

Best Song “Lift Me Up” – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” “Ciao Papa” – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” “Naatu Naatu” – “RRR” — WINNER “Hold My Hand” – “Top Gun: Maverick” “Carolina” – “Where the Crawdads Sing”  “New Body Rhumba” – “White Noise”

Best Score Michael Giacchino – “The Batman” Justin Hurwitz – “Babylon” John Williams – “The Fabelmans”  Alexandre Desplat – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”  Hildur Guðnadóttir – “Tár” — WINNER Hildur Guðnadóttir – “Women Talking” 

#critics choice awards #critics choice #critics choice 2023 #cca 2023 #winners

[visual-sandwich]

Dod Procter (1891-1972 ) ' Bill & Cat '

#Dod Procter #art #painting #20th century #portrait

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #244 - Blue Cheer, Vincebus Eruptum, 1968

A San Francisco verso la seconda metà degli anni ‘60 successero delle cose che furono centrali nell’evoluzione della mitologia del rock. Tra i più famosi avvenimenti, ricordo che due DJ di San Francisco, Larry Miller e Tom Donahue, rispettivamente di due radio underground di Old Frisco (il nomignolo di San Francisco), la KMPX e la KSAN, iniziano a trasmettere i nuovi brani acid rock senza porsi problemi di formato, programmando i brani non dai singoli ma dagli album, addirittura trasmettendo registrazioni che non apparivano nemmeno sui dischi. In pratica il DJ diviene protagonista attivo della promozione musicale, e non mero “riproduttore” di dinamiche promotrici delle case editrici, ridefinendo, almeno per un certo periodo, integralmente la struttura dell'industria discografica americana, stimolando la nascita di emittenti radiofoniche dello stesso tipo in tutto il paese; analogo successo ebbero i primi show che oggi definiremmo multimediali, i più famosi erano i "light show" organizzati da Alton Kelley o Bill Ham che segnano la strada dell'effetto speciale nei concerti che dalla baia di San Francisco diverrà centrale in ogni concerto del mondo; Kelley e altri artisti formidabili, come Stanley “Mouse” Miller o Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso e Wes Wilson fanno esplodere la moda delle copertine, e i poster dei concerti, psichedelici, segnando l’arte della grafica discografica in maniera decisiva; nascono i primi impresari "moderni" come Bill Graham con il leggendario teatro Fillmore aperto su Geary Boulevard e la Family Dog Production con l'Avalon Ballroom in Sutter Street. E nasce anche l’heavy metal. Ovviamente questa ultima è una provocazione, ma il disco di oggi è un antesignano del genere e una delle perle sconosciute del grande periodo californiano. I Blue Cheer furono provocatori sin dal nome, che è un famoso tipo di LSD che la leggenda vuole inventato Owsley Stanley, mecenate e tecnico del suono dei Grateful Dead, che a sua volta prende il nome da un famoso detersivo, prodotto dalla Procter & Gamble. Sono stati probabilmente i primi a fare dell’amplificazione e dell’impatto sonoro il motivo dominante della loro musica, distorcendo il blues e il rock in maniera seminale. Nascono verso la fine del 1967, quando il bassista Dick Peterson è in cerca di musicisti per mettere su una band. Si presentano in molti, ma alla fine rimangono in tre, Peterson con Paul Whaley, batterista, e il chitarrista Leigh Stephens. Le ricerche di altri membri finiscono quando vedono la Jimi Hendrix Experience suonare a Monterey e capiscono che in tre si può suonare benissimo. Come manager si trovano un personaggio terrificante, Allen "Gut" Terk, ex componente degli Hell’s Angels. Registrano subito agli Amigo Studios di Los Angeles e verso l’inizio del 1968 danno alle stampe il loro primo disco, dal titolo di latino maccheronico Vincebus Eruptum (che si potrebbe tradurre con Controllo del Disordine). Il primo singolo è una devastante e urticante cover di Summertime Blues di Eddie Cochran, che diventerà universalmente conosciuta grazie alla cover che gli Who faranno più tardi nello storico Live At Leeds (1970): arriva addirittura in classifica e spinge altissimo il loro debutto, un disco che fa della forza sonora e delle distorsioni il perno su cui scrivere la loro versione del rock acido che stava ribollendo nella baia di San Francisco. Mezz’’ora di potenza, che da Summertime Blues si sposta a Rock Me Baby, altra cover dal catalogo del maestro B.B.King, prima della prima “bomba elettrica”, Doctor Please: scritta da Peterson come “una glorificazione delle droghe” sono 8 minuti di impatto sonoro che anticipa il doom, lo stoner, e potrebbe benissimo per passare per un brano dei System Of A Down a chi non li ha mai sentiti. Non è da meno Out Of Focus, che sembra un pezzo mancante dal III del Led Zeppelin, altro gioiello meraviglioso. Parchment Farm è una cover di un famoso blues di Mose Allison, Parchman Farm, che qui viene stravolta e rivoltata come un calzino, con la voce disperata e calda di Peterson. Chiude il disco Second Time Around, scritta sempre da Peterson, che alla brutale potenza rock blues dei nostri affianca dei nuovi percorsi, avviandosi in territori proto progressive, con atmosfere che ricordano quelle dei futuri Yes. Il disco è un successo insperato, e la band in pochi mesi ne pubblica un altro, Outsideinside, registrato in parte indoor e in parte outdoor (da cui il titolo) con simpatica copertina disegnata a caricatura. Altro disco di ottimo livello, con due cover stellari di nientemeno che Satisfaction dei Rolling Stones e di The Hunter di Albert King. Non ottenendo il successo del primo, iniziano dei problemi: Gut Kesh viene arrestato per loschi traffici, Stephens lascia e Bill Graham gli proibisce di suonare ai mitici Teatri Fillmore. Con una nuova formazione pubblicano New! Improved! ma nonostante l’abnegazione di Peterson non rimane nulla di quel suono devastante e intrigante del primo disco: continueranno però a suonare per decenni, fino agli anni 2000, cambiando in tutto ben 20 formazioni. E c’è una curiosità: nel 1985 Peterson, con il fratello Jerry, resuscitando per l’ennesima volta i Blue Cheer, pubblica The Beast Is Back: come singolo, una nuova cover di Summertime Blues, che a differenza di quella di venti anni prima non ha lo stesso clamore, dato che ormai tutti conoscono il seme da loro piantato da cui è cresciuto un robusto album: l’heavy metal.

#blue cheer #vincebus eruptum #1968 #recensione

[boardchairman-blog]

2023 Oscar Predictions

Best Picture

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

The Whale

Women Talking

Best Director

All Quiet on the Western Front- Edward Berger

The Banshees of Inisherin- Martin McDonagh

Everything Everywhere All at Once- Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

The Fabelmans- Steven Spielberg

Tár- Todd Field

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett- Tár

Viola Davis- The Woman King

Danielle Deadwyler- Till

Michelle Williams - The Fabelmans

Michelle Yeoh- Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Actor

Austin Butler- Elvis

Colin Farrell- The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser- The Whale

Paul Mescal- Aftersun

Bill Nighy- Living

Best Supporting Actor

Paul Dano- The Fabelmans

Brendan Gleeson- The Banshees of Inisherin

Barry Keoghan- The Banshees of Inisherin

Ke Huy Quan- Everything Everywhere All at Once

Eddie Redmayne- The Good Nurse

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Kerry Condon- The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis- Everything Everywhere All at Once

Dolly De Leon- Triangle of Sadness

Stephanie Hsu- Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Original Screenplay

The Banshees of Inisherin- Martin McDonagh

Everything Everywhere All at Once- Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

The Fabelmans- Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner

Tár-  Todd Field

Triangle of Sadness- Ruben Östlund

Best Adapted Screenplay

All Quiet on the Western Front-   Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokel

Glass Onion-  Rian Johnson

Living-  Kazuo Ishiguro

The Whale- Samuel D. Hunter

Women Talking- Sarah Polley

Best Animated Feature

Marcell the Shell with Shoes On

Pinocchio

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

Wendell and Wild

Best Documentary Feature

All That Breathes

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Fire of Love

Moonage Daydream

Navalny

Best Foreign Language Film

All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)

Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Mexico)

Decision to Leave (South Korea)

The Quiet Girl (Ireland)

Best Original Score

Carter Burwell- The Banshees of Inisherin

Alexandre Desplat- Pinocchio

Hildur Guðnadóttir- Women Talking

Justin Hurwitz- Babylon

John Williams- The Fabelmans

Best Original Song

“Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman

“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick

“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“Naatu Naatu” from RRR

“Stand Up” from Till

Best Cinematography

Greig Fraser- The Batman

James Friend- All Quiet on the Western Front

Janusz Kaminski- The Fabelmans

Claudio Miranda- Top Gun: Maverick

Mandy Walker- Elvis

Best Film Editing

All Quiet on the Western Front- Sven Budelmann 

The Banshees of Inisherin- Mikkel E. G. Nielsen

Elvis- Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

Everything Everywhere All at Once- Paul Rogers

Top Gun: Maverick- Eddie Hamilton

Best Costume Design

Jenny Beavan- Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Ruth E. Carter- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Catherine Martin- Elvis

Gersha Phillips- The Woman King

Mary Zophres- Babylon

Best Production Design

All Quiet on the Western Front- Christian M. Goldbeck and Ernestine Hipper

Avatar: The Way of Water- Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, and Vanessa Cole

Babylon- Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino

Elvis- Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy and Bev Dunn

The Fabelmans- Rick Carter and Karen O'Hara

Best Sound

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Top Gun: Maverick

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Batman

Crimes of the Future

Elvis

The Whale

Best Visual Effects

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Batman

Thirteen Lives

Top Gun: Maverick

Overall

All Quiet on the Western Front: 10

The Banshees of Inisherin: 9 

Everything Everywhere All at Once: 9

Elvis: 8

The Fabelmans: 8

Top Gun: Maverick: 6

Avatar: The Way of Water: 4

Tár: 4

The Whale: 4

Babylon: 3

The Batman: 3

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: 3

Women Talking: 3

Living: 2

Pinocchio: 2

Till: 2

Triangle of Sadness: 2

The Woman King: 2

#oscars #oscar predictions #2023 oscar predictions #95th oscars #95th academy awards #academy awards #everything everywhere all at once #eeaao #avatar #elvis #the fabelmans #spielberg #austin bustler #colin farrell #brendan fraser #michelle yeoh #stephanie hsu #angela bassett #paul dano #michelle williams #cate blanchett #the batman #lady gaga #top gun: maverick #ke huy quan #paul mescal #babylon #tar #james cameron #john willliams

[reddancer1]

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is responsible for producing some of the most extreme far right state and federal legislation, from Stand Your Ground gun laws and voter ID laws that discriminate against people of color, to laws against reproductive rights, union organizing, and the right to protest.

But who exactly is writing these laws?

ALEC is funded by big corporate interests, but by the time ALEC passes their draft laws along to legislators to implement, ALEC has generally removed its fingerprints -- not to mention the fingerprints of the industries themselves -- so it appears as if the legislators are introducing the bills independently.

Although the industries don’t sign their names to the bills, we do know which corporations fund ALEC, and which -- mainly due to public pressure -- have dropped out.

Thanks to public pressure, since 2011, over 100 major corporations have dropped out of ALEC, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, Walmart, Amazon, Bank of America, General Motors, Visa, Sprint, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, eBay, BP, T-Mobile, ExxonMobil, Verizon, and AT&T.

But many other corporations continue to participate, including Altria, Koch Industries, UPS, FedEx, Pfizer, Duke Energy, Charter Communications, Comcast, and Anheuser-Busch. They need to feel the heat!

ALEC is also fighting off an IRS whistleblower complaint filed by Common Cause, alleging that ALEC claimed to be a charity but actually operates as a political lobby. By claiming this bogus exemption, ALEC’s member corporations are able to take tax deductions on the millions of dollars they spend each year lobbying through ALEC, leaving taxpayers with the short end of the stick.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 10.8

Beer Birthdays

Nicholas Bastendorff (1842)

Jackson Koehler (1851)

Cornelius Antonius Van Ginderachter (1859)

Bryan Kolesar (1971)

Modern Microbrewery (1976)

Garrett W. Marrero (1978)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Chevy Chase; actor, comedian (1943)

Matt Damon; actor (1970)

Frank Herbert; writer (1920)

Harvey Pekar; comic book artist, writer (1939)

Heinrich Schütz; German composer (1585)

Famous Birthdays

Julia Ann; porn actor (1969)

Tommy Armour III; golfer (1959)

Terry Balsamo; American guitarist (1972)

Rona Barrett; gossip columnist (1936)

Steven Bernstein; trumpet player (1961)

Emily Blackwell; physician (1826)

Nick Cannon; actor, rapper (1980)

William Corlett; English author and playwright (1938)

Reed Hastings; Netflix co-founder (1960)

Paul Hogan; Australian actor (1939)

Jesse Jackson; politician, activist (1941)

Kari Korhonen; Finnish cartoonist (1973)

Dennis Kucinich; politician (1946)

Kristanna Loken; model, actor (1979)

Bruno Mars; pop singer (1985)

Harriet Taylor Mill; philosopher, women's rights activist (1807)

Richard Morris; English archaeologist (1947)

Blake Morrison; English poet (1950)

Mark Oliphant; Australian physicist (1901)

Juan Peron; Argentine leader (1895)

Emily Procter; actress (1968)

Eddie Rickenbacker; pilot, World War I Ace (1890)

Johnny Ramone; rock guitarist (1948)

Albert Roux; French-English chef (1935)

R.L. Stine; writer (1943)

Bella Thorne; actress (1997)

Marina Tsvetaeva; Russian poet (1892)

Bill Vaughan; writer (1915)

Sigourney Weaver; actor (1949)

Clarence Williams; pianist and composer (1893)

Stephanie Zimbalist; actor (1956)

Bill Zorn; folk musician (1947)

#Birthdays

[iyelife]

#Rothschild the #snake 🐍 owns

👉🏾PUPPETS #mark & #bill👈🏾

the head leader of all the #banks 🏦 in the world 🗺️ child of the Angel 😇 #death 💀 #Mrburns now you know the reason why #bill gates be pushing the #vaccine 💉 because #Rothschilds is the #owner 💉

The #Rothschild family #owns significant stakes in the following companies:

Facebook

Google

Goldman Sachs

Oracle

Starbucks

Dell

Baskin Robbins

Procter & Gamble

Airbnb

LinkedIn

Uber

Intel

What #companies are owned by Rothschilds?

#Facebook, Chevron, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, #Apple and more.

Who is the current head of Rothschild family?

Lord Rothschild.

[truck-fump]

The Biggest Economic Lies We’re ToldIn America, it’s expensive...

New Post has been published on https://robertreich.org/post/710162153749004288

The Biggest Economic Lies We’re ToldIn America, it’s expensive...

The Biggest Economic Lies We’re Told

In America, it’s expensive just to be alive.

And with inflation being driven by price gouging corporations, it’s only getting more expensive for regular Americans who don’t have any more money to spend.

Just look at how Big Oil is raking it in while you pay through the nose at the pump.

That’s on top of the average price of a new non-luxury car — which is now over $44,000. Even accounting for inflation, this is way higher than the average cost when I bought my first car — it’s probably in a museum by now.

Even worse, the median price for a house is now over $440,000. Compare that to 1972, when it was under $200,000.

Work a full-time minimum wage job? You won’t be able to afford rent on a one-bedroom apartment just about anywhere in the U.S.

And when you get back after a long day of work, you’ll likely be met with bills up the wazoo for doctor visits, student loans, and utilities.

So what’s left of a paycheck after basic living expenses? Not much.

You can only reduce spending on food, housing, and other basic necessities so much. Want to try covering the rest of your monthly costs with a credit card? Well now that’s more expensive too, with the Fed continuing to hike interest rates.

All of this comes back to how we measure a successful economy.

What good are more jobs if those jobs barely pay enough to live on?

Over one-third of full time jobs don’t pay enough to cover a basic family budget.

And what good are lots of jobs if they cause so much stress and take up so much time that our lives are miserable?

And don’t tell me a good economy is measured by a roaring stock market if the richest 10 percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of it.

And what good is a large Gross Domestic Product if more and more of the total economy is going to the richest one-tenth of one percent?  

What good is economic growth if the way we grow depends on fossil fuels that cause a climate crisis?

These standard measures – jobs, the stock market, the GDP – don’t show how our economy is really doing, who is doing well, or the quality of our lives.

People who sit at their kitchen tables at night wondering how they’re going to pay the bills don’t say to themselves

“Well, at least corporate profits are at record levels.”

In fact, corporations have record profits and CEOs are paid so much because they’re squeezing more output from workers but paying lower wages. Over the past 40 years, productivity has grown 3.5x as fast as hourly pay.

At the same time, corporations are driving up the costs of everyday items people need.

Because corporations are monopolizing their markets, they don’t have to worry about competitors. A few giant corporations can easily coordinate price hikes and enjoy bigger profits.

Just four firms control 85% of all beef, 66% of all pork, and 54% of all poultry production.

Firms like Tyson have seen their profit margins skyrocket as they jack up prices higher than their costs — forcing consumers who are already stretched thin to pay even more.

It’s not just meat. Weak antitrust enforcement has allowed companies to become powerful enough to raise their prices across the entire food industry.

It’s the same story with household goods. Giant companies like Procter & Gamble blame their price hikes on increased costs – but their profit margins have soared to 25%. Hello?

They care more about their bottom line than your bottom, that’s for sure.

Meanwhile, parents – and even grandparents like me – are STILL struggling to feed their babies because of a national formula shortage. Why? Largely because the three companies who control the entire formula industry would rather pump money into stock buybacks than quality control at their factories.

Traditionally, our economy’s health is measured by the unemployment rate. Job growth. The stock market. Overall economic growth. But these don’t reflect the everyday, “kitchen table economics” that affect our lives the most.

These measures don’t show the real economy.

Instead of looking just at the number of jobs, we need to look at the income earned from those jobs. And not the average income.

People at the top always bring up the average.

If Jeff Bezos walked into a bar with 140 other people, the average wealth of each person would be over a billion dollars.

No, look at the median income – half above, half below.

And make sure it accounts for inflation – real purchasing power.

Over the last few decades, the real median income has barely budged. This isn’t economic success.

It’s economic failure, with a capital F.

And instead of looking at the stock market or the GDP we need to look at who owns what – where the wealth really is.

Over the last forty years, wealth has concentrated more and more at the very top. Look at this;

This is a problem, folks. Because with wealth comes political power.

Forget trickle-down economics. It’s trickle on.

And instead of looking just at economic growth, we also need to look at what that growth is costing us – subtract the costs of the climate crisis, the costs of bad health, the costs of no paid leave, and all the stresses on our lives that economic growth is demanding.

We need to look at the quality of our lives – all our lives. How many of us are adequately housed and clothed and fed. How many of our kids are getting a good education. How many of us live in safety – or in fear.

You want to measure economic success? Go to the kitchen tables of America.

#Uncategorized

[dominickbviv265]

17 Superstars We'd Love to Recruit for Our Payday Loans Cash Team

Brenda Procter has actually been combating the great battle against payday lending institutions for twenty years, and boy does she have some stories to tell. For beginners, Procter a Missouri state extension expert and professor of individual financial preparation at the University of Missouri can state how a local payday lender really propositioned an undoubtedly cognitively impaired member of her financial therapy group while he was in the drive-through line at Taco Bell, only to be rebuffed by the caseworker being in the motorist's seat next to him.

" And he did go away," Procter recalls, "but I think the ethical of that story is no matter what, they're still going to follow you." She'll likewise inform you about how the shadiness of the Cash Till Payday market drove a former payday providing business worker into the University of Missouri's doctoral program so that he could work to help remedy the injustices he when assisted assist in.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XQ-VClzagxA/hqdefault_496033.jpg

" In my experience, these loans are not created as a short-term, one-time solution as the companies like to say they are however are instead planned to keep individuals trapped in a cycle of debt and to prey upon the elderly, handicapped, poor and minority populations," he told WalletHub. "We were trained to push people towards larger loans and motivate them to pay them back as slowly as possible.

It did not matter if customers had loans out at other payday financing shops or were living off little repaired earnings. Credit worthiness was not really essential." While they're definitely interesting, those of you who are unknown with payday loans may fail to comprehend the significance of these tales. So, let's take a better look.

Payday loans are billed as a short-term option for short-term cash-flow problems, however they're not always marketed or used for that purpose. Part of the issue that contributes to a borrower's ultimate failure to pay back the loan within a brief duration is that lending institutions generally do not examine their customers' credit or ask about a customer's monetary position.

This leads to a continuous cycle of financial obligation. Just consider the following statistics from a recent Bench Charitable Trusts research study: Twelve million people get payday loans each year, investing $7.4 billion at the same time. While the average payday loan requires repayment of more than $400 within two weeks, the typical debtor can just pay for to pay back $50.

The average payday loan is for $375, yet leaves the debtor indebted for five months and on the hook for $520 in interest. "Seven out of 10 payday loan borrowers utilize the loans to pay for things like lease and energies and other recurring expenditures," adds Nick Bourke, the director of Bench's Safe Small-Dollar Loans Research Job.

Ninety-seven percent of payday loan volume goes to people who are repeat users they use 3 or more loans annually." Simply put, we have a product that's seemingly meant to offer a short-term financial bridge, yet whose marketing by loan providers and ultimate use by consumers are typically straight at odds with that intent.

Many on the consumer side of things are likewise calling for increased policy. To date, 15 states have prohibited payday loans while others have passed legislation to considerably restrict their effect. But why stop there? Procter believes payday loan providers simply have excessive at stake and are too effective at both lobbying and skirting the spirit of laws while at the same time adhering to their letter for additional guidelines to move on.

They're likewise well-known for a practice understood as "license leaping," which basically includes tweaking their items simply enough to keep them both legal and just as predatorily successful as before. Payday loan providers are likewise significantly moving operations online in order to prevent regional limitations. A lot of physical stores stay, nevertheless, and they're usually clumped together in low-income urban areas, essentially searching in packs.

" In Missouri, you can just renew one payday loan 6 times. So, if you remain in a store and you have actually type of worked that customer for all you can get out of them and they still can't pay since that usually is what occurs then they'll probably state something like, 'Well, possibly you could get another loan.'" And so, Procter states, "they'll go to the shop across the street, next door, or whatever" to take out yet another in a growing line of payday loans used to pay off responsibilities related to those that preceded it.

It's not uncommon to see individuals with several thousand dollars in payday loan financial obligation, and all they've done is pay interest approximately that point." Most recently, payday lending institutions have begun affiliating their companies with Native American people, which are unsusceptible to certain federal and state regulations, as another strategy to prevent their states' usury laws.

[bonkerlon]

A diarly of witches

22, 1692. I prayd that God would pardon all my Sinfull Wanderings, and direct me for the future. True, Wm Huchins and several other interested persons there, in the affirmative. The season and manner of doing it, us such, that the Court of Oyer and Terminer count themselves thereby dismissed. 26, 1692. A Bill is sent in about calling a Fast, and Convocation of Ministers, that may be led in the right way as to the Witchcrafts. Told me of the womanís coming into his house last Sabbath-day sennight at Even. Danforth, and discoursed with Him about the Witchcraft thinks there cannot be a procedure in the Court except there be some better consent of Ministers and People. Matherís book, as to Cases of Conscience touching Witchcraft. years buried in the new burying place a very good, modest, humble, plain, liberal Matron. Stoughton went away early in the morn so that I saw him not. Has been a plentiful Rain, blessed be God. Stoughton went away and left us, it began to rain and was very dark, so that getting some way beyond the fortification, was fain to come back again, and lodgd here in Capt. John Higginson, with my Brother St., were at our house, speaking about publishing some Trials of the Witches. 22, 1692. William Stoughton, Esqr., John Hathorne, Esqr., Mr. This is the first condemned person who has confessíd. 21. A petition is sent to Town in behalf of Dorcas Hoar, who now confesses: Accordingly an order is sent to the Sheriff to forbear her Execution, notwithstanding her being in the Warrant to die to morrow. Twas not remembered till Anne Putnam was told of it by said Coreyís Spectre the Sabbath-day night before the Execution. 20. Now I hear from Salem that about 18 years agoe, he was suspected to have stampd and pressíd a man to death, but was cleared. Gardner of Nantucket who had been of his acquaintance: but all in vain. 19, 1692. About noon, at Salem, Giles Corey was pressíd to death for standing Mute much pains was used with him two days, one after another, by the Court and Capt. 25. Fast at the old Church, respecting the Witchcraft, Drought, &c. Burrough by his Speech, Prayer, protestation of his Innocence, did much move unthinking persons, which occasions their speaking hardly concerning his being executed.Īugt. Mather says they all died by a Righteous Sentence. All of them said they were innocent, Carrier and all. This day George Burrough, John Willard, Jno Procter, Martha Carrier and George Jacobs were executed at Salem, a very great number of Spectators being present. Many say Whitneyís Hill would be a convenient place. Advisíd the Inhabitants at their Town-Meeting to settle a Minister and if could not otherwise agree, should first have a Town-Meeting to decide where the Meetinghouse should be set. Cary makes her escape out of Cambridge ñPrison, who was Committed for Witchcraft.Īugt. Daniel Gookin sups with us, and bespeaks my marrying of him tomorrow. Sung the first part 103.Ps., concluded about 5. Preston, 1st and 2d Uses of Godís Alsufficiency. July 20th 1692. Fast at the house of Capt. Justices of the Peace were nominated for the Province. May 24th 1692. First general Council, Saltonstall, Major Gedny, Walley, Hutchinson, Lothrop, Alcot, Sewall took their Oaths together, presently after Major Appleton took his. Went to Salem, where, in the Meeting-house, the persons accused of Witchcraft were examined was a very great Assembly it was awfull to see how the afflicted persons were agitated.

#A diarly of witches

[puutterings]

without drive, the hidden terror

        To Bill, Owen was a man without drive, the relaxed savant, the philosopher, the bookworm on whom the struggle for existence made little impact. After a long day in the hard-bitten world of his manufacturing business Bill would drive past the Pollett house and wave to Owen puttering in the garden. Before the pre-dinner bootleg whisky eased his tension, sometimes he would think that Owen’s way of life was the right one and that he, Bill, was a fool to punish himself for the money. Later he would laugh at himself. Business was his existence, and he could not be happy without it. He had one way of life, and Owen had another.

—

ex J. Harvey Howells, The Big Company Look (1958) : 44 : link (borrowable, at archive.org)

on d.j., “A novel of the hidden terror in big business.” and from Ace Giant (G-375) paperback, this interior blurb from the Boston Herald — “It is the story of the major role played by terror in today’s business world. With surgical skill and knowledge, Howells slices away the slough of cordiality, manners, good-fellowship, and false friendships, and exposes what often lies beneath — jealousy, even hatred.”

J. Harvey Howells (1912-1983) —       ...a Scottsman with impressive advertising credentials.       Harvey Howells moved from the advertising department of Procter & Gamble to Standard Brands, and then to Lever Bros. where he was advertising manager. Since resigning in 1955 he has collected an imposing list of literary credits including a novel, The Big Company Look, and a number of TV programs including one network series, Ichabod and Me.... — Broadcasting (May 24, 1965) : 24 : link (pdf)  

#1958 #dowsing #gardening #slough of cordiality #terror #J. Harvey Howells

[mbdailynews]

Dollar-Store Dinners and Vats of Shampoo Help Families Cope With High Prices

More Americans are embracing frugality as they face rising prices at every turn. With energy costs up 41.6% and groceries 12.2% more expensive than they were last year, according to June’s Consumer Price Index, many families say that skipping vacations and restaurant meals is no longer enough. They are now finding ways to cut costs on essentials. One way they are doing so is by relying more on dollar and discount stores for groceries. Average spending on grocery products at discount chains increased 71% from October 2021 to June 2022, according to analytics firm InMarket. Over that time period, spending on the same items in grocery stores decreased by 5%. Many large consumer brands—including Walmart and Unilever—attest that their prices aren’t going down anytime soon. In San Antonio, Lily Penelope is eating mostly canned chicken, vegetables and peanut butter from the Dollar General down the street. Mx. Penelope, who uses gender neutral pronouns and has a disability that makes them unable to drive, says they can no longer afford the cost of groceries plus an Uber to and from the HEB grocery store 3 miles away. Before January, $120 covered a round-trip Uber plus two weeks of fresh ingredients for meals for them and their wife, they say. Now, the same trip costs nearly twice as much. Since Mx. Penelope’s dollar store doesn’t sell fresh produce, they add spices and salt to camouflage canned ingredients. “My health and the quality of my life has gone down,” says Mx. Penelope, 26, who relies on their wife’s call-center income. “I’m in a position where I’m having to choose between making meals I can afford and putting my health on the line.” Get Bloomberg and WSJ Digital Subscription 5 Years Roughly 2,300 Dollar Generals across the country currently stock fresh produce, out of more than 18,000 total locations, according to a Dollar General spokeswoman. “While Dollar General isn’t a full-service grocer, we consider ourselves today’s general store by providing nearby and affordable access to daily household essentials, including the components of a nutritious meal,” she says. The company plans to expand fresh produce to a total of more than 10,000 stores in the next several years. Phoenix Kamlo, 41, has been relying on the Family Dollar for an increasingly large share of groceries for his family of five. “Everything in there is super-duper sweet,” he says, citing the high sugar content of goods from tea to canned fruit. “But it’s nearby, and it’s cheap.” Income from his Wichita, Kan., tailoring and alterations business has gone down in recent months, he says. He suspects his longtime customers are more focused, like he is, on affording enough to eat. A spokeswoman for Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, says the chain aims to complement, not replace, grocery stores. She adds that most of the 16,162 stores offer frozen fruits and vegetables, along with sugar-free options, fruit juices, nuts, beans, whole wheat products, eggs and milk. Other households are buying in bulk or making do without items they never used to think twice about spending money on. Sam’s Club membership income was up 10.5% year-over-year, according to parent company Walmart’s May earnings call. Buy WSJ Print Subscription Sale Consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co. just posted its largest sales gain in 16 years. Still, the company is predicting its slowest sales growth in years as consumers cut back on household staples like the company’s Tide detergent and Pampers diapers. Elayna Fernandez, a 45-year-old single mom of four, has taken on the role of shampoo-and-conditioner police, making sure her longhair daughters don’t use more than they need. “I am very conscious about not using a lot of those products,” says Ms. Fernandez, who runs a digital-marketing company and parenting blog. She recently purchased a Sam’s Club membership to buy more in bulk, and switched to store-brand versions of almond milk and granola bars. After receiving a $300 June electric bill, Ms. Fernandez swapped her 1-year-old daughter’s plug-in night light for glow-in-the-dark stick-on ceiling stars. Ordinarily, electricity for her Fort Worth, Texas, home is under $100 a month. The Department of Commerce said Friday that consumer spending rose 1.1% in June, up from 0.3% in May. Lower-income families are switching brands, saving less and cutting what they can, according to economists. Colleen Carswell, who has four children under age 8, has been cooking more vegetarian meals for her family to save money. Meats, poultry, fish and eggs are up 11.7% year-over-year in price, according to the CPI, while fruits and vegetables are up 8.1%. Subscribe to Bloomberg Digital 5 Years Ms. Carswell and her husband, Charlie Carswell, small-business owners in Waynesville, N.C., have cut out organics but still buy fresh fruit, though it is hard keeping up with the eating habits of young children. “They love to take a bite and then they’re done. We have wounded apples all over the house,” says Ms. Carswell, 36. The family shares what Ms. Carswell calls a “vat” of shampoo and conditioner, and she has been wearing less makeup. She says she has been using some products past their expiration dates. They have also stopped buying paper towels. “People come over to the house and are like, ‘Where are your paper towels?’ and we’re like, ‘Here’s a rag,’” she says. And they purchased a bidet to try to save on toilet paper. “I’m going to be honest…that thing hasn’t gone in yet,” she joked. “My husband and I both keep putting off the install hoping the other one will do it.” Read the full article

[dramanut98]

My thoughts on the West Wing Special (written as I watched it...)

- It’s a bit weird hearing Sterling saying Leo’s lines but he’s doing it so well

- Holy crud this guitar/orchestra rendition of the theme is GORGEOUS!!! Seriously release it please on iTunes!!!

- The whole cast just looks so damn good - like they haven’t changed a moment

- Omigosh Michelle I MISS YOU!! COME BACK MICHELLE!!! 😭

- Ainsely as the narrator is something I didn’t know I needed

- NANCY MCNALLY!!!

- They even got Carol!!

- Dule you age like a DAMN fine bottle of scotch

- “DONNAAAAA?!” ugh, still gives me the feels.

- Janel you age gorgeously

- Loving loving the black box setup for this thing

- Ed and Larry, I’ve missed the stuffing out of you two (though I still don’t know which is which)

- Ok now I really want to learn how to play chess well

- MARLEE!!! MARLEE MARLEE MARLEE!!!

- One of my dreams is to work alongside Marlee Matlin on something

- LIN!!!! YOU BEAUTIFUL PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL OF GENIUS AND LIGHT AND CREATIVITY AND NERDINESS AND PUBLIC DUTY!!!

- LIN YOU’RE ADORBS AND AMAZING and now having seen some of the incredible documentary about your Papi I understand where it comes from 😊

- AP shoutout!! Whoot!!

- Omigish I forgot about Charlie supergluing the phone!

- There’s something so poetic about watching a devout Catholic and a devout Jew playing chess while discussing public policy and right vs wrong

- Oh wow this conversation about how education is vital and the educated shouldn’t be looked down on is SO timely

- I remember why I loved Bartlet so much - he too had a very complicated relationship with his father

- Oh Bill - I do miss you.

- RBG 😢

- Can we get a show with Dule and Sterling playing the President and Chief of Staff respectively?

- Well said gents!!!

- “Presidents aren’t kings..” SAY IT LOUDER PLEASE DONNA FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

- Janel and Brad still have that same palpable chemistry on screen together

- The way Sorkin wrote the relationship between Toby and Bartlet was nothing short of brilliant

- Hello Gail 🐠

- Leo always having to be the long suffering uncle/dad of this merry band of misfits...God love him.

- “Sam you’re gonna run for President some day” - spin-off?!?

- Sing it Avett Brothers!!!!

- WOW. That was BRILLIANT. 😎

#tww #a west wing special #the west wing #lin manuel miranda #michelle obama #bill clinton #martin sheen #sterling k brown #allison janney #rob lowe #bradley whitford #janel maloney #dule hill #anna deavere smith #richard schiff #aaron sorkin #emily procter

[toshootforthestars]

...corporations are not being forced to raise prices to stay afloat. They are choosing to raise prices to maintain large profit margins because they have enough market power to do so without losing customers.

Let's take Procter & Gamble (P&G), one of the largest consumer product companies in the world, as an example. In April 2021, P&G announced that it "will start charging more for household staples from diapers to toilet paper, the latest and biggest consumer-products company to announce price hikes." To justify the increases P&G cited "rising costs for raw materials, such as resin and pulp, and higher expenses to transport goods." The price increases, P&G said, will "be in the mid-to high-single-digit percentage points."

In the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2021, P&G reported an "operating income," or profit, of $3.785 billion. That represented a 20.9% profit margin compared to total sales. In the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2021, after some of P&G's price increases went into effect, the company reported a profit of $5.06 billion. That represented a profit margin of 24.7%. The company spent $3 billion in the quarter buying its own stock.

It's clear that the price of Pampers and Tide cannot be explained by "rising costs for raw materials" or transportation alone. Rather, the price increases were necessary to maintain — and even increase — large profit margins.

But how can P&G get away with selling diapers at a huge margin? Shouldn't competitors in the diaper industry undercut P&G on price and grab market share? Unfortunately, there isn't much competition in the diaper market. "The lion’s share of the market for diapers meanwhile is controlled by just two companies (Kimberly-Clark and P&G), limiting competition for cheaper options," according to a report released this month from the Roosevelt Institute. Kimberly-Clark, which produces Huggies and Pull-Ups, announced similar price increases at the same time as P&G.

*     *     *     *     *

In April, PepsiCo — the parent company of Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Quaker, Tropicana, and other brands — announced it was increasing prices. The company blamed "higher costs for some ingredients, freight and labor." In July, the company announced its "pricing was up about 5% in the North America businesses." Those price increases supported better than expected performance. The company recorded $3 billion in operating profits and increased its projections for the rest of the year. The company expects to send $5.8 billion in dividends to shareholders in 2021.

PepsiCo's chief competitor, Coca-Cola, took a similar approach. The company — which owns Dasani, Powerade, Minute Maid, and Fairlife — announced in July that it "plans to raise prices." These price increases were good for business. The company recorded $10 billion in revenues (up 16% from the previous year) and increased its profit margins to 28.9%. Coca-Cola has over $11 billion in cash reserves.

The trend extends beyond the food industry. Whirlpool — which owns Kitchenaid, Maytag, Amana, and other appliance brands — increased prices 5 to 12% in 2021. The purpose of the increase, announced in July, was purportedly to "compensate for increased raw material costs, including for steel and plastics." In the 3rd quarter, however, Whirlpool announced profits of $608 million and revised its estimates for profit margins moving forward — from 10% to 11-12%. While the price increases were billed as offsetting raw material costs, they ended up increasing profit margins significantly.

Numerous other companies that announced price increases to compensate for increased labor and material costs are reporting large profits, including Conagra, Hasbro, and Chipotle.  In June, two of the nation's largest supermarket chains, Kroger and Albertsons, said "that they expect to benefit from rising prices." According to retail analyst Burt Flickinger, the stores will "mark up the full rate of inflation plus a little bit more."

Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen was quite open about his intention to exploit inflation to increase profits. "A little bit of inflation is always good in our business," McMullen said.

Judd Legum: How concentrated corporate power makes inflation worse 

substack  /  10 Nov 2021

#corporate greed #the united states is a failed state and a failed society #capitalism #unlimited greed #news #america 2021 #stonks #corporate america #active malice