Signs the economy is bad: September 21, 2018 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.

A bit quiet this week, but we still have some fuckery and signs that the economy is bad. Let's take a look:

In commercial airlines fuckery. Stories via Inc.:

• Turns out being a pilot  is not as glamorous as  people think, especially if you fly for a rinky dink regional commuter airline (a.k.a. semi-unknown brand owned by a big airline). Here is a pilot telling us how bad it can be. 
• In additional American Airlines fuckery, something or other about adding channels to their shitty on-board TVs in the economy class cattle cars. Actually, not really, you may need to bring your own device to use  their shitty "TV service." 
• Meanwhile, over at United, where they break guitars (link to YouTube), is again messing with  economy class? How? With banana bread pudding. 

In higher education news:

•  Boing Boing highlights a new documentary explaining the racket business of paywalls for academic publishing and why "you don't want to have scholars negotiating business contracts for you."
• Being a college professor can be hard, especially if  you are expected to do research. Universities often being stingy, broke, or both usually force a lot of researchers to get grants to pay for research. This is  not an easy thing to do, and sometimes professors have to get "creative" in begging for me, like this professor who gets grants from a "race betterment" foundation (i.e. race supremacists, i.e. white racists) that funds eugenics research. "So far, [University of] Arizona is supporting Figueredo’s right as an academic to seek funding where he sees fit." So it seems the university is cool with  this too as long as the  money flows in. Story via Inside Higher Ed. 
• A new study asks the question: "Is having a chief diversity officer linked to significant gains in faculty diversity?" Well, the basic is answer is no. Read the story via Inside Higher Ed for details. I'd say more, but I do work in a college that has a CDO, and the walls do have ears.  
• And from the student side, another study reveals that students around the world are happy and willing to pay to cheat in classes. Story via Inside Higher Ed. Link to the actual study here.

In assorted signs the economy is bad:

•  Study reveals what is often known: African Americans do face discrimination often, in this case when it comes to renting property, they get charged more. According to the story, "When black renters pay their landlord, a new study says, they have to fork over more cash than a white person living in the same neighborhood." Story via the Lexington Herald-Leader.
• Meanwhile, back in the U.S.colony, rich people are basically turning the island in the their tax haven playground. It is basically a new form of forced gentrification. Story via TruthDig.
• Coming back to the U.S., turns out that 31% of households have difficulty paying for energy bills. Story via NPR.
• And why could that be? There are reasons, but one very possible reason long term are the bailouts the uber rich got and keep getting while the rest of the nation suffers. Story via VICE.