Signs the Economy is Bad: December 11, 2015 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.  

We are in the midst of the holidays season; yes, you know that pretty much starts on Black Friday (or the Thursday of Thanksgiving for the greedy folks). Stay tuned in the coming days for my annual holidays posts. In the meantime, let's see what's been happening.

• A new report finds that 50 percent of community college students risk hunger and homelessness. Story via Crooks and Liars. That whole thing about go to college, get a degree and a well-paying job? Not always as easy as those folks spouting that line claim it is. The report comes from Wisconsin HOPE Lab. You can read it (in PDF form) here.
• Many Americans face a future of not being able to retire. The line of "I plan to work until I die" (a line that most likely applies to myself. Sure, I may get a little educator's retirement and social security, if I am lucky) is extremely common in the United States. Story via TruthDig.
• In the bad economy, predatory lenders often thrive. Those rent-to-own places are definite examples of predatory and exploitative lending. If you really need to get a big screen tv or furniture, pretty much every other option is cheaper than going to one of those stores. Read a bit about how much a "rent-to-own" television really costs via Wise Bread.
• However, not all is negative in the bad economy. Recently, a series of mass shootings have made the news in the United States. Aside from the fact that gun sales often go up as a result of mass shootings, mass shootings and gun violence have spawned a series of ancillary businesses if you will. Via AlterNet, here are ten products in you can buy as a result of mass shootings and concern for risk in the United States. From bulletproof blankets in schools to bedside gun holders, concern and hysteria over getting shot by some "responsible gun owner" or some wacko is very good for business in the bad economy.
• And in further news in the bad economy, our friend over at Poor as Folk has a roundup of SNAP News. Some good news, others, well not so good.