Education News
- We start the news this week with a new finding that there are discrepancies in the measurements about food insecurity of college students. Yes, they are still food insecure and hungry. Apparently the agencies measuring it can't quite get their act together to be consistent in how they measure it. Via Inside Higher Ed.
- Meanwhile, across the pond in Great Britain, they found that almost a third (1/3) of college graduates are "overeducated" for their jobs. Via BBC.
Government News
- In new fuckery that you can thank the Pendejo In Chief and the Party of Stupid for: "The bureau will unveil proposed rule changes that are likely to include explicit permission for debt collectors to contact people via text and email (and maybe social media)." The bottom line is this: "In other words, more rights for debt collectors, fewer rights for consumers." Via The Los Angeles Times. You can thank your local MAGA moron for this kind of bullshit. That idiot will likely be hailing this as a way to get those "deadbeats" (until he realizes he likely is one of those "deadbeats"). Keep in mind that payday lenders and debt collectors are already notorious (link from Consumer Reports) for skirting rules, trying to violate consumer rights, and overall unethical bad behavior. The Party Of Stupid is just basically further facilitating the fuckery.
- Meanwhile, how bad are things if you happen to have a medical emergency or catastrophe? Well, did you know that one of every three GoFundMe campaigns go to medical costs? This was one of various revelations when the House Rules Committee had their first hearings on Medicare for All. And that is not all. The story highlighted in the GQ article is just heartbreaking. Not that the Party of Stupid gives a shit about deaths they likely view as lowering the surplus population (as long as it does not affect them).
- Meanwhile, taxpayers like you and me get to pay for Trump staff drink tabs. And that is not all. How does that happen? Read this investigation on that and other shenanigans at Mar-A-Lago and how the Pendejo In Chief and his business interests make money on taxpayer's dime. Via ProPublica.
- So you don't say I just pick on the Party of Stupid. Here is an example of corruption on the Democrats, further proof they are nothing more than Republican Lite. Via ProPublica, the tale of George Norcross and his company grabbing tax breaks left and right in New Jersey. Did we mention he is a big Democratic donor? He is not the only one, but he is the most prominent.
Meanwhile back in the US colony
- Hurricane Maria hit the island in 2017. New study reveals that Puerto Rican students are showing serious PTSD symptoms as a result of the hurricane. Meanwhile, "Congress is at a stalemate in passing an aid bill that would send more resources to Puerto Rico and other areas affected by natural disasters. President Donald Trump has expressed his reluctance to provide more money to the island." Because the racist colonial overlords including the Pendejo In Chief could not care less. Via TruthOut.
- And if the hurricane was not bad enough, another study finds that odds are against students in Puerto Rico going to college, especially if they want to go to college in the states. The reason? Well, there is more than one factor, but a big factor that stands out is incompetent and poor high school counseling. Then there is that pesky college admissions exam in Spanish big in the island that mainland colleges just do not give a shit about and do not accept. Read on for other details. Via Hechinger Report. I still remember having to take "el College Board" (the test is run and made by the College Board, you know, the big racket company that runs basically every admissions test), which while OK to enter a university in Puerto Rico, if you were going to the US like I was it was mostly useless. And while my high school counselor was not too bad, looking back, there were a lot of things I am sure he missed. Oh well. At least I managed to get to college. Many others did not.
In Other News of the Bad Economy
- Speaking of food insecurity, turns out Kentucky is among the top states for food insecurity. In fact, it's food insecurity rate is higher than the national average. Story via WKYT. Yay! Kentucky Proud! For children in Kentucky, gets worse as the study shows "the food-insecurity rate for Kentucky children is 18%." You can see the full report as well as see how your state did on the interactive map and report from Feeding America here.
- The story gets even worse. Forward Kentucky picked up the story, added some more analysis. How much worse? According to their article, "Jamie Sizemore, executive director of Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland, says families working minimum-wage or low-income jobs are struggling the most, because many do not qualify for federal food assistance or SNAP benefits." But hey, Kentucky Proud! Yee haw!
- Here is another example of the fuckery that happens when you privatize something that should be a public service. The dumbasses in a suburb of Toronto decided to eliminate public transportation to save a few bucks. What did they replace it with? Uber. I shit you not. That soon became a disaster. Story via City Lab.
- You may have heard of some recent comics superheroes movie that made billions at the box office and had nerd fans crying because it was the end (well, for now. In comics nothing really ends or dies). Anyhow, while those movies make oodles and oodles of money, comic books shops are struggling to stay open and often closing. Story via The Guardian. A bit from the article, but the full article is worth reading, which also includes some additional links that may be of interest: "So why are so many going out of business? Like other retailers on the high street, comic shops must factor in rents, business rates, staff wages, insurance – but the profit margins on comics are so narrow as to make this a very delicate balancing act."
- Is buying a house overrated? NPR recently posed that question. It often depends on who you ask, but it does seem that very often it is overrated.
- Did you know most restaurant workers don't earn enough to feed their families? Story via Truthout. Meanwhile, privileged assholes who eat out love to whine when someone suggests they should tip their waiters properly due to the low pay they are happy to allow restaurants to keep paying said waiters. If you are not willing or able to tip your waiter, then stay the fuck home and cook your own damn food. Same goes for those who love to eat fast food and look down on fast food workers. If you are not into paying fast food workers a living wage, again, stay the fuck home and cook your own damn food, you lazy bratty bums.Workers like Tucker highlighted in the story ask for something basic, humane, and simple: "Tucker emphasizes that she works extremely hard and believes that she deserves to be compensated fairly and treated with respect, free from the economic exploitation and sexual harassment that are rampant in the industry. And she is not alone in voicing these basic demands." Oh yea, if you are a female worker in food service, you also often have to put up with sexual harassment from chauvinistic assholes.
- An emerging story, or rather a story that has been going on for a while and you notice if you pay attention, is China's economic influence around the world. Unlike U.S. imperialism, Chinese economic power and influence tends to be a bit more subtle at times, patient, and often looking at the very long game. We are getting a few recent stories looking at this economic influence and asking if it is good or not. Well, good depends on who you ask. For example, China's Belt and Road Initiative. This story looks at whether Kenya ended up being a victim or not. Via Africa Stand. Worth a read. This is the kind of story you do not see often in U.S. mainstream media. In addition, when you think about it, the U.S. also owes a lot of money to the Chinese, and they do have investments here. Imagine if they started calling back certain debts and suddenly the U.S. had to surrender, say, a major shipping port to pay off said debt.
- And speaking of long term news, here is news that most people will find happy and reason to rejoice. Demographics show that the U.S. White majority is going to vanish, and it will vanish soon. Via Latino Rebels. OK, maybe White people are not so happy about that, but let's be honest, the real reason they are lashing out, embracing white nationalism, racism, so on is because they are scared as fuck that we, People of Color that is, will do to them the fuckery and oppression they have been doing to us for centuries. They can try to stop it somehow, but the bottom line is this: "White nationalists want America to be white again. But this will never happen. America is on its way to becoming predominantly nonwhite."
- In other words, if this was a Tarot reading for White people, their spread probably has The Wheel of Fortune, Justice, and maybe the Five of Pentacles and/or Ten of Swords. Fortune has turned, Justice is at hand, and consequences are about to be handed out to the oppressors.
How are the uber rich doing this week?
- The budget for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 has gone up in the latest revision. I do not see anyone batting an eye over it much, so I am guessing there is money to burn for that boondoggle. Via USA Today.
- So how is the military industrial complex doing? Well, the United States keeps doing great as it is still the top in the world for defense spending. Meanwhile, Russia fell out of the top 5 in that spending. Tough luck comrades. You still got good vodka, and you did give the world the AK-47, so there is that. Via UPI.
No comments:
Post a Comment