Signs that the economy is bad, November 12 edition

Just a few small items this week. Welcome to another edition of "Signs that the economy is bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is where I do extensive research (ok, I look at a lot of news sources) to find those oh-so-subtle hints that the economy is bad. Any major pundit can tell you that the housing market stinks, that the unemployment rates are horrible, etc. These days the one sign I worry about is libraries being closed left and right because people think they are unessential. I try to avoid posting those stories because I can only handle so many depressing news stories, and writing reasonable arguments about why a library needs to stay open takes more effort than I want to put in (ok, let me be honest, for every decent argument you get 20 or so asshat anti-tax teabaggers whining about how the library is some socialist institution and/or tool of the devil, and after a while, I just refuse trying to reason with the unreasonable, but I digress). So, here are some small signs that the economy is bad for this week. I found the Madoff piece particularly amusing:

• Thanksgiving celebration is toned down. Sorry, no freeloading second and third cousins anymore. Via our local CSB station. 
• Rich people who give to higher education are giving less (ok, this is kind of "duh"). Via Inside Higher Ed, which links to a study by BOA/Merrill Lynch.  
• When you have sold everything, and all you have left to sell to settle your debts are your underpants. That is exactly what is happening to Bernie Madoff, and it could not happen to a nicer guy.Via UPI.