Hot Topics of the Day
Energy, ESG, and Supreme Court Rulings
Happy Thursday!
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A few items of interest for your consideration… plus, a fun story and a recommendation.
Hot off the press! Justice Stephen Breyer officially retiring at noon today.
Supreme Court Rulings - Oh my! I will briefly say that Roe v Wade was probably the hot topic of the week, maybe of the decade. More on abortion below. The Supreme Court decision that religious schools in Maine could not be denied applicable funding was a win for discrimination against our freedom of religion right. Now, the battle continues as Maine officials say they will fight it on the basis of discrimination about their religious beliefs, no gay or transgender students or teachers. Hm, I bet you can foresee another lawsuit. Similarly, Coach Joe Kennedy and his team of lawyers from FirstLiberty.org (‘America’s Best Lawyers Defending Religious Freedom‘) won the battle about him being fired for praying on the football field after the games. You can read the First Liberty story and the Politico article for some details. My opinion is that these cases were well-decided based on The Constitution of the United States. Here’s a good resource for the Constitution. America’s Constitution is what makes American freedoms the envy of many people all over the planet. The Bill of Rights, those ten amendments, are the most commonly defended. 652 words, the Bill of Rights, including the Preamble, is made up of 652 words. (This paragraph is about 260.) Here’s a fun 3-minute video. Freedom of speech is another right that is being fought for in the courts quite a bit in recent history, but that is a story for another day.
For news on other recent Supreme Court rulings, click here, here, here, and here. Like a fireworks show, lots of action near the end.
Inflation, Biden and Energy - Biden wrote this letter to several oil companies.
After Biden's letter was released, the oil company analyst Patrick De Haan tweeted: ‘White House begs oil companies to improve situation. Can we drill? We'd rather you not. Can we build a refinery? We'd rather you not. Can we build a pipeline? We'd rather you not. Just make it better.’ Here’s a letter response from American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers. And for ExxonMobil’s response statement, click here.
ESG - Environmental, Social, and Governance index. This one is ultra-tricky. Hard to paint a picture without using lots of words. Basically, more digital incursions to your privacy and more government control, possible digital currency on the horizon, which means even more digital incursions to your privacy and more government control. Here’s an article from The Hill. Biden has already signed an executive order in March titled ‘Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets’. If you can translate gobbledygook, let me know. But, for starters, look to Section 4 to see that digital currency is included and to the definitions under Section 9 to see the words ‘central bank digital currency’. Wikipedia says this. What these central banks appear to have in common is that they are all government banks. Take that for what you will. This Hult.edu article is very interesting with some good vs bad points. (I can’t imagine why, but if you want to read the 40-page ‘Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation’ report, click here.)
Texas specific - The overturning of Roe v Wade has caused a lot of commotion - and confusion - and downright untruths. The last thing any of us should listen to is the media hype. You know all about ‘spin’. Texas will have strong pro-life/anti-abortion laws. What that will be is still in question. In addition to the Heartbeat Bill, SB-8, there is the ‘trigger bill’ which has been on the books for a while and takes effect 30 days after the ‘official judgement’ overturning Roe (an approximate total of 60 days). To make matters even more controversial and confusing, on Friday Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton raised the possibilities of abortion laws from the 1920’s perhaps being in effect still as they have not been repealed and, after the ACLU filed suit, a Harris County judge issued a temporary restraining order. I’m sure there will be lots more to come in this soap opera. (Bear in mind that abortion was never a Constitutional right. It was a questionable court decision. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had so much to say on the subject that I can’t point to only one or two sources. It would make a dissertation. :-) Not that she was against abortion, but on the case itself. Side note: Ending an ectopic pregnancy is not abortion. There are exceptions to what will be illegal, and I’m not a lawyer; due diligence is required.) For ‘Myth vs. Fact: SCOTUS Dobbs Decision and America’s Attitude on Abortion’ from Heritage, click here.‘ For in-depth information on the overturning of Roe v Wade, read Dobbs, Abortion, and Stare Decisis by Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, George Mason University. (My thoughts: It’s a very difficult subject, and I could never tell someone what is right for them.)
Extra! Extra!
Do you know this story of the first Social Security recipient? The first person to receive monthly benefits was Ida May Fuller from Vermont, who retired in November 1939 and started collecting benefits in January 1940 at age 65. In the three years that Fuller worked under the program, she contributed a total of $24.75. Her first benefit check was for $22.54, and she went on collecting benefits for 35 years, until 1975, when she died at age 100. She received a total of $22,888.92. If you want to really get in the Social Security history weeds, click here.
Are you familiar with The Great Reset? There are hundreds if not thousands, of articles on the ‘net about it. I like this one from Imprimus for an overview.
Privacy on the Internet - Speaking of the Internet, do you know about the Brave browser? I recommend it, and it’s recommended by Privacy Action Plan. Go_gle may be your go-to and, if so, you may want to do a little research. Allsides.com says this. Forbes’ input here. And Wall Street Journal’s here. (A subscription may be required.) My opinion is that they are too invasive as to my personal information. If the service is free, are you the product? We know many ‘free services’ sell personal info so advertisers can target people…
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