Friday, May 19, 2017

Signs the economy is bad: May 19, 2017 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.




Well, we made it through another week. A lot of stories this week, so let's get started.


Next, let's have a look at how the uber rich are doing. They've their ups and downs this week:
  • The big story this week is avocado toast. Some Australian millionaire who while rich is fairly clueless decided to tell Millennials to stop buying fancy avocado toast so they could maybe save some money and buy a home eventually. Apparently, avocado toast in his view is for just the wealthy like him, so the peons need to stop it already. Story via The Guardian. Naturally, the story has drawn a few responses: 
    • This nice young Millennial lady responded in The Guardian. No, her generation did not invent or become oh so enamored of avocados. 
    • Here is another open letter responding from GQ Magazine
    • And since the economy  is bad, GQ has decided to be helpful by providing a recipe on how to make your own avocado toast. That way you can save some money, put some away for that house, AND still eat your avocado toast. 
  •  The US naval and military industrial complex should do well under the administration of the Pendejo In Chief. They would be looking at a $400 billion cost to expand over 30 years. Knowing the Party of Stupid, this likely means cuts in social safety nets, education, health care, domestic infrastructure, you name it. Hey, think positive. That means jobs for ship builders, weapons systems makers, etc. so Americans can have the best and latest to keep bombing other nations. Via Reuters.
  • On the other hand, the militaries in other parts of the world might not be so fortunate to have money for big expansions Heck, even Americans want to do their military on the cheap. Funding the biggest and latest in aircraft carriers is  good. Paying for ground troops in out of the way places like Iraq and Afghanistan is not so good. So Americans and some others outsource with private military contractors (a.k.a. mercenaries). Mercenaries, being a business, want to recruit and get employees (a.k.a. soldiers) on the cheap, and they are finding that former child soldiers make great recruits. Hey, they started learning the trade of war early on, and now as adults they have desirable skills, and the companies can pay them less. Via Al Jazeera. 
  • In fashion world news: 
    • You can pay $425 dollars to get some fake mud jeans. Any old poor schmuck can get a pair of jeans muddy while working hard.  But you gotta pay if you want to be rich and get that fake, fancy look of pseudo worker with dirty jeans. Story via Boing Boing
    • You can also buy a very fancy boomerang from Chanel so you can play while wearing your nice pseudo-muddy jeans. Also via Boing Boing
    • The Pendeja Princess's (Ivanka) clothing line has not been doing as well as some anticipated. In fact, to move it, the company that sells and distributes the brand has been relabeling it hoping to trick people into buying it in discount retailers. Via Crooks and Liars
  • The two major dialysis companies are raking in millions while barely providing decent conditions for the patients who use their services. John Oliver did an excellent expose on this. Story, with video, via TruthDig.  
  • Wedding planners and the wedding industry will continue to do well. Weddings have gotten more expensive and extravagant in the last decade, and people keep paying for them. Story via USA Today.
  • Like drinking cold coffee, but not want to brew it like a common plebeian? Need to do it on the go? Here is a $24 portable iced coffee maker. Via Kinja
  • And finally, millionaires are once again whining how hard they have it, and they got Wise Bread to explain why being a millionaire is overrated. Oh boo hoo, cry me a river. I will be happy to take some of their money so they do not feel so burdened.





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