Signs the economy is bad: March 18, 2022 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.

 

Once again, it has been a while since I did one of these posts. This week I found enough things, including one or two ridiculous one to put a post together, so without any more fuss. . . 

 

 

The Big News This Week

• The big and continuing news this week is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In situations like this, it often pays off to see who benefits, and the clear winner is the U.S. military industrial complex. TeleSur covers that story as they define and explain the Military Industrial Congressional Complex. How does it work? Franklin Spiney, a former Pentagon analyst explains: "...the conflict and the ensuing fear would be permanently politicized to justify more weapon sales. The Pentagon has been rushing new weapon programs and their engineering and manufacturing. Since contracts will spread to hundreds of congressional districts, weapon production becomes virtually unstoppable. Moreover, because manufacturers routinely over-promise performance and understate costs, the demands for more military spending beget further demands for even greater spending."
• Meanwhile, the other big story this week is the March Madness sportsball thing, which as I understand started this week. The Hustle explains a bit of the economics behind the big event.  For a so-called amateur college athletic event, there is a lot money in play. 

 

 

Rural News

• The Daily Yonder reports that skyrocketing fertilizer prices are making things difficult for farmers. Part of the issue is that fertilizer makers have been consolidating, so there are only two or three brands less. That of course means little competition in prices and leads to exploitation.
• Meanwhile, the firing on an editor of The Athens News in Ohio, who denounced some seriously sketchy ads the newspaper was accepting (OK, they are outright scams) has led to other workers leaving (in support of the editor) or fired (because they will not toe the line). Story via The Rural Blog. What was the newspaper's owners' answer? Did they do the ethical thing? Fuck no. Their answer was that "management told her they needed the revenue from the ads." Because in the end, money talks.
  

 

In Other News of the Bad Economy

 

•  The gas prices have been going up in recent weeks. Stories via NPR.
  
• With higher prices, it makes people who were working from home very reluctant to go back to work in their offices, etc. Think of the cost of gas and commuting. At this point, many folks in the job market are NOT considering any job they cannot do from home.
• And if you are thinking about using car shares, well, companies like Uber and Lyft are already adding fuel surcharges to their prices. 
• You ever wonder why the uber rich rarely get audited by the IRS? Well, part of it could be because the agency actually devotes more time and resources to auditing the poorest households in the U.S.  The difference? The poor do not have high powered expensive lawyers with resources to tackle and win against the IRS. Basically, the poor are easy pickings for the IRS. Story via The Los Angeles Times. Hat tip to Boing Boing, which also includes a link to the study (PDF) documenting the situation.
• And in a last minute addition (I found this story yesterday afternoon), company towns may be making a comeback as some employers are also becoming landlords to their employees. Story via Bloomberg. Fuck, what could go wrong? Next they will be opening company stores and paying their employees in scrip they can only use at the company stores. Who says history does not repeat itself? 

Hold My Beer 

(Serious fuckery in the bad economy)

 

 

•  In some serious fuckery out of Texas, a state that has decided to make things a living hell for trans children and their families, some of those families are now raising money in places like GoFundMe so they can flee the state. Story via VICE.
• In fuckery that is more of a damn annoyance from greedy retailers, Walgreens is now testing and installing video screens on freezer doors to feed you more advertising. So before you can reach in and get that gallon of milk on the way home, you may be stuck having to watch an ad for something else that may or not be in that freezer. Story via CNN. This is just spamming and annoying your customers in a level of fuckery that goes above and beyond. Way to go Walgreens. Anyone willing to bet how long before other retailers and grocery stores decide to follow on Walgreens' steps? 

News of the Uber Rich

• If you have some serious money to burn, and you need a place to live in the United States, the US just hit a record number of $1 million and above homes.Via The Hustle.
• And once you buy your high priced home, you might be hungry. You may want to go eat out. If you are in New York City, and you like sushi, you can visit Masa's Sushi Bar, which is America's priciest sushi bar in the nation. Story via Eater.com. This is not just any old sushi, at least according to them. The price per person, without wine, sake, or anything else, stands at about $1,000 per person.
  

Signs the economy is bad: July 16, 2021 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.

It is not often I do this feature two weeks in a row, but we have plenty of stories to tell us the economy is bad. So let's get on with it.
 

 Rural News

•  Via The Rural Blog, a report that the U.S. birth rate is declining due to young women doing things like going to school and getting their educations and/or focusing on jobs and careers. However, there is an exception to that trend: rural areas. I may say that I can't imagine why, but the article provides a hint: "Fertility tends to be higher in economically stagnant areas, and childbearing often has more cultural importance for women." I do not think I need to say anything more. 

Government News

• Not all areas of the economy are bad. Gun sales are going up and up as more people are buying guns. As a result, many of them are doing so without a background check because the FBI's background check system has been overwhelmed. Why is that possible? The Rolling Stone article explains that: "If an FBI background check is delayed by more than three business days, gun dealers can legally sell a firearm without a completed background check." 
• Suddenly I am reminded of that scene in the film Casino where Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro's character) is worried about his application to work in casinos, and he is told not to worry because there was a serious backlog, and the background checkers were overwhelmed (link to YouTube for the scene's clip). That's about how it works for buying a gun but with the difference that if they do not get to you in a "timely" fashion you can go right ahead and buy that gun without a check. 
• Speaking of guns, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has a new report out "Firearm Injuries: Health Care Service Needs and Costs."  While they admit that "there is no complete information on the health care costs of gun injuries," they still managed to find out enough to make a pretty good picture of the costs of gun shot injuries in the United States. For example, they found out "using hospital data from 2016 and 2017—the most recent that were available—GAO estimated that the initial hospital costs of firearm injuries were just over $1 billion annually." You can read summary as well as the full report. 

 

The Bad Economy  Around the World

•  Via Al Jazeera, a report that the Australian music scene has gotten massive economic losses due to COVID-19. According to the article, "economic modelling by consultancy firm PwC Australia indicates that the Australian music industry was worth 1.82 billion Australian dollars ($1.36m) in 2019 – a figure expected to plunge as much as 90 percent in 2020." I am sure this is not just Australia and music scenes around the world have suffered as well.
  

In Other News of the Bad Economy

•  In news about Amazon: 
• Back in June, the Big A had their "Prime Day." If you went shopping, I hope you got what you wanted because if you returned it, odds are it is getting destroyed. Story via VICE. According to the article: "As millions of shoppers flock to Amazon's website for Prime Day deals, an ITV investigation has revealed that a single Amazon fulfillment center in the UK is destroying millions of products a year instead of reselling or donating them." And that is just one fulfillment center. Amazon has such centers all over the world. We can only imagine how much is destroyed rather than reselling it or just donating. 
• Amazon as it turns out gets some help in their business from The New York Times of all places. Story via FAIR. According to the investigation, in essence, the NYT presents "articles" that are really just promotions to shop at Amazon. It is worth a read. 
• In addition, as if Amazon having excessive control of how you shop online, it also has excessive control of what you stream online to watch as well as other web services. In essence, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the back end provider for pretty much every major streaming service such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, etc. The significance? "
  If you are watching a filmed piece of entertainment on any screen—at a theater, at home or on your phone through a digital direct-to-customer stream, on a television network, or on a streaming service, the odds are extremely likely that you’re making use of AWS. It has become the backbone of Hollywood." When it comes to online streaming, you really can't get away from Amazon. It's a damn monopoly. 
• News about McDonald's. 
• Via UPI, the company reports that for the first time ever they are launching a loyalty program. Turns out they do this in other parts of the world, and they are finally implementing it in the U.S.
• The company is also work to replace drive-thru workers with AI (artificial intelligence). Story via Big Think. Because there is nothing worse than the drive-thru attendant messing up your order. Oh yes, there is, the robot that will mess up your order. 
• On a side note, this is part of the growing trend of companies to try to automate every process possible so they do not have to pay employees to do those jobs. The result of this is often less efficiency to be perfectly honest because when you DO need to find a human being to solve your problem, and sooner or later you will, there is not a human being to be found. This is how you get shit like endless phone trees when you are trying to contact a company due to an issue. 
• The company that does card grading (as in assessing value and quality of trading cards and other collectibles) for Pokemon was recently acquired by a private equity firm. Story via VICE. Right now, due to the pandemic, collectible trading card markets, including for Pokemon cards, is pretty hot at the moment. By the way, this equity firm also sells and rents houses and properties around the world. Thing is it is an equity firm, which often means the kiss of death for whatever it was they acquired once they finish loading it up with debt, cannibalizing it, and dumping it. So we'll have to see where this goes. Story caught my eye because I have family members who work in trading card stores who report that Pokemon cards are quite a hot commodity at the moment, and grading them has become a big deal. 
• A bit of trivia and explanations: 
• No, you cannot recycle bowling balls. Via Curbed. It turns out that "breaking bowling balls apart and selling the individual components for scrap isn’t logistically or economically feasible.' 
• The Hustle explains the economics of dollar stores. 
• NPR explains what you really need to know about those hiring bonuses you keep hearing about. They do not come as easy as people may think. As the old saying goes, there is always a catch.
•  Did you know $40 billion in wages are lost every year due to "brain waste" of immigrants? Story via Public News Service. What does "brain waste" mean? Basically it is highly educated people such as lawyers, doctors, etc. who are unemployed or underemployed in basic jobs such as taxi drivers, baristas, etc. There is nothing wrong with those more basic jobs, but there is a loss when a medical doctor ends up making your coffee because he is an immigrant having a hard time finding a professional job in the U.S., not to mention the U.S. is losing on that much needed talent. 
  
• For family caregivers, out of pockets costs are getting worse overall. Story via Public News Service. This is based on a new AARP study. The pandemic is not helping. For instance, according the AARP article, "not surprisingly, the coronavirus made life more difficult for caregivers and care recipients. More than 4 in 10 caregivers report spending more time per week and more money on caregiving because of the pandemic."
• In bad news for renters: 
• NPR points out once more the obvious: that rents are out of reach for most folks earning minimum wage. 
• And if by some miracle you do find an apartment to rent, it may turn out the landlord refuses you? Why? Because they now use "screening companies" that rank you based on an AI score that may or not be accurate. Even if you have a good credit rating, the AI may rate you lower for other reasons that may or not be relevant, and may also be racist. As of this post, Pro Publica is doing an investigation on this, so if you have been turned down for an apartment that you thought you should have gotten, consider sharing your story with them. 
• In jobs that suck: 
• Via the Dallas Observer, waiters and baristas tell why they are leaving the food service business. It is not that the job sucks per se. It is the lousy work conditions and poor pay from owners and managers that basically exploit them, plus then there are the self entitled ill behaved customers. I've worked food service in the past, including being a waiter, so yes, I can certainly relate as it is not a job I would take now if I could avoid it. One reason for those folks leaving: "The younger workforce on which this industry has historically relied now appears to have more options and less patience for toxicity." Same here. I do not have patience for workplace toxicity. In fact, I've left workplaces precisely to get away from toxic environments. I do not think anyone should have to put up with that, so either employers get their act together and fix that, or they can go out of business if need be due to lack of workers. I have zero sympathy for toxic employers. As for you asshole customers, either behave and tip well, or stay home and cook your own damn food. 
• On the other hand, gig work does suck, and in this VICE article Uber and Lyft drivers explain why. This is another case of lousy poor pay and badly toxic work conditions that the companies often enable or conveniently ignore. Things are so bad for the companies that even with cash bonuses, they are having a hard time finding workers. As for passengers, a lot of whom are inconsiderate assholes adding to the work toxicity, they are finding prices for rides have gotten higher. I'd add since these gig companies often have driven cab companies out of business, well, less competition, but that is another issue. Overall, driving for Uber and Lyft and similar companies is not worth it. 
• A lot more public libraries are serving as food distribution hubs. Story via The Conversation. Food insecurity is always a sign of the bad economy. Our public library here often does free lunch for children during the summer along with the local school district (even though it is something the local Party of Stupid city mofos have wanted to cut back because heaven forbid you feed children in need). 

 

Hold My Beer 

(Serious fuckery in the bad economy)

• Well, Patreon is doing pretty well in the bad economy as they provide a platform for climate change deniers and other hucksters to monetize their conspiracies and misinformation. Story from VICE. From the article: "'The spread of climate misinformation is prolific on social media, as well as on sites like Patreon, where users are actually financially compensated through the platform for spreading falsehoods,' Daniel Jones, president of Advance Democracy, told VICE News." So yea, it does pay to spread falsehoods and conspiracies as Patreon shows. 
• Some small unknown online advertising and data companies are getting a broad range of data and information from Americans and then selling it to bidders all over the world, and odds are you have no idea. Story via VICE.
  

Uber Rich

• Mother Jones explains that yes, there IS an aristocracy in the United States, and it is thriving. 
• And how does that aristocracy stay in power for what appears to be an eternity? Well, they employ a whole industry of bankers, accountants, and other assorted financial wolves that spend millions in order to preserve and grow the trillions. Read about it in this story from Rolling Stone. 

Signs the Economy is Bad: July 9, 2021 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.

 

 

Let's have a look at what we found this week. Among other things featuring wee woo wagons, payola, and snow leopard poo this week.  

Education News

•  In a moment of "I can't imagine why" it turns out that a lot more superintendents are quitting their jobs. Via The Rural Blog. I am willing to bet that pressures of keeping things in some degree of stability in the hellscape that has become the U.S. under the pandemic is driving this situation. As it often happens in the field of school education, one factor driving the superintendents to quit are the whiny often self entitled parents making their work more difficult. That is something superintendents share in common with classroom teachers: the often pain in the ass parents who love to whine but would never dream of stepping into a classroom to teach themselves. I know; I was a school teacher once. Another issue is that once those superintendents leave, it is extremely hard to find a replacement. 
• Ithaka S+R has a new report out on the "Big Deal." For folks outside academia and especially academic libraries, "big deal" often refers to the deals libraries have to make with the monopolistic publishing pillagers who own the journals needed for research where faculty (unpaid) also need to publish (that is another story). For folks who need a quick overview: Big deals "enabled academic libraries of all sizes to license bundled access to a publisher’s journal at a significant discount off the list prices. Over the years, as Big Deal spending has come to occupy a greater and greater share of materials budgets, libraries have come to question the value of their Big Deal subscriptions, with some opting to cancel or significantly alter their existing arrangements." 
• In a nutshell, costs of these subscriptions have grown obscenely to the point they are become unsustainable, and publishing companies could not care less as they keep basically pricing themselves out. In my small campus, for the most part, we are looking at anything and everything we can cut in order to save money, we are buying less books and media because we have to sustain the damn periodical subscriptions, and well, something has to give. This is not something I often talk about, and to be honest, talking about it would be better suited for my professional blog, but it is an important issue and concern. That is why it qualifies as one of the signs the economy is bad. Then again, higher education media mostly focuses on large R-1's (that is Research-1 institutions in the Carnegie scale for those of you not in academia, i.e. "the big boys") when one of them finally does a massive cancellation. A small place like mine is really under their radar. I am highlighting the Ithaka S+R report now, but it is one I need to read deeper, and I think others in academia, especially in academic libraries, need to read as well. 
• In what is a given that many took for granted, CNN noticed that yes, many people did turn to public libraries during the pandemic. They then ask if said libraries will get some credit. Let me save you a click on that: the answer is no. People either take public libraries for granted, thinking they will always be there, or they constantly bitch and moan about how they do not want their taxes to pay for public libraries that deadbeats and homeless bums inhabit. Those latter folks are the ones who usually brag they just buy their books from the Big A. At any rate, libraries often were declared essential services and remained open to the best of their ability despite the pandemic. Librarians and library staff often risked their lives while self entitled COVIDIOTS refused to wear masks or socially distance or show any consideration while using said libraries. When the library buildings did close in some places, those libraries still offered curbside services and online options. Overall, libraries went and continue to go above and beyond the call of duty serving both appreciative people as well as ungrateful assholes who brag they'd love to burn the library down on social media while using their local library's free wifi. 
• On a side note, I was declared essential at my library, so I worked through the pandemic. We did offer and continue to offer an array of virtual services for our students and academic community. I will say that yes, very often I did feel very much taken for granted (but again, that is another story). 
• On another side note, science fiction writer John Scalzi, who is very well off, wrote his personal history of libraries and towards the end of the essay he makes the point of why he, as a wealthy person, wants public libraries to still exist even as he himself might not need them anymore (or need them less than he used to). It is worth reading. By the way, one of these days I should write my own personal history of libraries, but that is another time. 
• In the Library With a Lead Pipe has a piece on "Service Ceiling: the High Cost of Professional Development for Academic Librarians." This is one I wanted to highlight, but I admit have not had time to reflect on it as much as I would like. I can tell you though as an academic librarian myself that said cost is often high and often obscenely prohibitive. I feel bad for academic librarians with service requirements that force them to go to expensive conferences and such with little or no institutional support, which means they often have to pay out of their meager pay to keep their jobs. That is just wrong. This is another of those things I could write a bit more about in the professional blog, but I just do not have the time now. But it is a sign of the bad economy, even if most people outside academia have no idea. Although this is not unlike public schools that force their teachers to also do professional development out of pocket and buy their own school supplies out of pocket, but that is another story. 
• Via the Chronicle of Higher Education, a concern about MIT and Harvard selling out edX, a course management platform, to private interests. The edX company was nonprofit, well, those days will be gone. This falls under one of those things that was possibly a public good being privatized, which means most likely the emphasis now shifts from serving students online to maximizing shareholder value, whatever that is.
  

 

 

 

Rural News

•  Via NPR, a report that "rural emergency medical services are at risk as volunteers age and expenses mount." They may be volunteers, but rest assured, if I need a wee woo wagon, they are certainly going to bill me an obscene price for that ride. Odds are that money goes anywhere in the insurance bureaucracy and nowhere near the ambulance service. Anyhow, the big issues is EMT retirements with no replacements in sight and for many rural small areas the service is too expensive to operate.
  

Government News

•  If you wonder what the U.S. Government does with your taxes, well, the Biden administration is proposing to spend 1.3 trillion (yes, that is trillion with a "t") on defense and nuclear weaponry. Story via Scheerpost. Because the president of the party that is, allegedly (LOL) supposed to care for things in the common good is basically proposing the largest historically speaking budget for defense. We have a pandemic, a literal bad economy, all sorts of social issues but the milquetoast Republican Lite centrist is laying it on thick for defense, military, and nuclear weapons spending. Well, at least it keeps the military industrial complex employed. 
• On a side note, I am reminded of this quote from Joe Haldeman's The Forever War:“The most important fact about the war to most people was that if it ended suddenly, Earth’s economy would collapse.”
•  Meanwhile, Medicare might not be able to do basic things like negotiate for decent drug prescription pricing for the people it covers, but it is spending quite a bit on drugs that do direct to consumer advertising. Report via the GAO (Government Accountability Office).
  

 

 

 Health and Medical News

•  Via Al Jazeera, reports that Walmart is launching a "low-priced" in house brand of analog insulin. "Low price" is used loosely given their proposal for "analog insulin vials that sell for $72.88 and a FlexPen priced at $85.88." It may be cheaper than corporate options now, but affordable for many not really no matter how they spin it. 
• In news that are not really surprising, device makers are engaged in some serious payola to orthopedic surgeons to get them to use their products when doing surgeries. Via Salon. This is the kind of thing seen before with pharmaceutical companies and their drug reps "visiting" doctors to promote their drugs and get them to prescribe them. In an extreme, that was one way the opioid epidemic got so bad: certain companies aggressively pushing for doctors to prescribe their products. So this new story is just another variant on that. How do some of the payments work? "These payments come in various forms, from royalties for helping to design implants to speakers' fees for promoting devices at medical meetings to stock holdings in exchange for consulting work, according to government data." So if you need a hip replacement, you may want to inquire deeper if your surgeon is using a reasonably priced product or just whatever he is paid to put in you.
• In other medical rip offs, 1 in 5 families report getting surprise bills after childbirth. Story via UPI. This can happen, for instance, if you go to you in insurance network hospital, but say your little lady needs (or really wants her epidural/anesthesia, and you are not about to tell her to go natural because you want to walk out of the hospital alive), and they bring in some doctor from outside the network to do it, and the mofo hospital does not put it in the bill, so the doctor bills you separately, and surprise. You had no fucking idea this was going to cost you more, and you thought your insurance picked it up in network. Surprise.
  

 

 

The Bad Economy Around the World

 

•  The United Nations reports that COVID-19's impact on tourism around the world could be upwards of $4 trillion in losses. 
• Speaking of hospital fuckery (oops, entrepreneurial initiatives), The Guardian reports on how U.S. private hospitals, dens of expensive medical for profit fuckery (yea, I am saying it now) are eyeing opening locations abroad, this time in Great Britain. Because that is just what a country with relatively decent national universal care needs: private hospitals trying to gauge people for medical services. 
• In some places, senior citizens bag groceries in order to make a few extra bucks. Well, not happening anymore in Mexico's Walmarts as they basically told their senior baggers, who by the way work on tips, i.e. Walmart does not employ nor pay them, to take a hike. Story via Al Jazeera. Walmart is spinning it as blaming the pandemic and "consumer's changing shopping habits." Uh huh. 
• Meanwhile in Venice the locals struggle with the tourist economy. Story via Hyperallergic. The big conflict is that the city is seriously dependent on tourism, but the problem is tourism related jobs pay little, to the point that locals are barely able to afford living there. 
• Out in Japan, here is another way to tell the economy is bad and the world is in trouble due to things like climate change: look at snow leopards' poo. Story via UPI. In Japan, researchers have found an easier way to measure snow leopard stress by analyzing their fecal matter with an new quicker analysis technology. Why is this important? "Environmental stressors, like rising temperatures, disappearing glaciers and poaching, can negatively impact snow leopard health."
  

 

Book Review: The Mueller Report Illustrated

Robert S. Mueller, Washington Post Company, et.al., The Mueller Report Illustrated: the Obstruction Investigation. New York: Scribner, 2019. ISBN: 978-1-9821-4927-7.

 

Genre: graphic novels and comics

Subgenre: U.S. history, U.S. politics, U.S. government documents

Format: trade paperback

Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

 

If you want to find out what the big deal about the Mueller Report (Wikipedia entry for quick reference) (link to the actual report, PDF) is but you do not want to read 400+ pages, this may be the next best thing. Mueller did find that yes, Russia did interfere in the 2016 elections in a "sweeping and systematic" way. It also found that neither Trump nor his campaign collaborated with Russia, at least directly. However, Mueller pretty much punted on the question of whether Trump tried to block the probe, or rather did he break the law in doing so. I will leave readers to decide on that question. 

In addition to the report's material Mueller exposed a seriously dysfunctional executive branch starting with an incompetent egotistical president obsessed with his ego and image. His underlings ranged from sycophants to not quite honest people getting caught in the corruption to those who could not take it anymore and resigned. The Washington Post, authors of this book used the report plus additional research such as Trump's own tweets on Twitter. Dialogue in the book is taken from the report itself and includes materials like text messages, notes, and interviews as well as public comments. A strength of this book is that, unlike other stories, no "artistic liberties" are taken. All material comes from the report. Even the excellent illustration work is based on press photographs. 

The result is a story that not only explains the report. It reveals a dramatic story that reads like a combination of soap opera and playground story.. I say playground story because Trump often behaves like a bratty child. Also, like in elementary school, it turns out that government functionaries often play a form of the old game "telephone." For instance, Trump wanted someone fired. Rather than do it himself, he tells a lackey to send a message to fire the person. If that lackey, for whatever reason does not want to convey the message, he calls a different lackey to do it. Oh, and if the other lackey decides not to do it, it turns out Trump would likely forget about it two days later or so. To call the situation a clusterfuck would be polite. 

At times, reading this is highly amusing. This is not meant to be a funny book, but the story gets so ridiculous at times you need to laugh. Then you remember this was a serious issue. You did have a United States President obstructing justice, and he pretty much got away with it (at least as of this post). Some of his lackeys were not so lucky. "Mueller would ultimately indict or convict 6 Trump associates for a wide variety of crimes-- through none were charged with conspiracy with Russia to interfere in the 2016 campaign" (186). 

Overall, this is a pretty good and compelling read. It is very accessible, and it is hard to put down once you start reading it. It is well documented; all sources are listed in the back of the book. The art is solid, and the realistic style based on photos enhances the work. I really liked this one. It was a lot better than I expected a "serious" comic to be. 

I definitely recommend this for public libraries as well as academic libraries with or without a graphic novels collection. It captures this part of  U.S. history very well. Best I can say is this book makes things clear and accessible for everyone. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

This book qualifies for the following 2021 Reading Challenges: 

Signs the Economy is Bad: March 7, 2020 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.




This week the big news is pretty much anything related to the Coronavirus/COVID-19. So naturally there are some stories related to the coronavirus this week. However, I did manage to find some things that have nothing to do with the virus. Let's see what's going on.

Education News

• San José, California is one of those seriously expensive places in California, part of the Silicon Valley. Homelessness there has been on the increase, and this includes students of the California State University System, that includes San José State. How bad? Well, for example, "early last year a student group asked the San José State administration, among other requests, to set aside 10 parking spots for students who sleep in their cars." This gives a new definition to campus housing, maybe we call it mobile campus housing. It is also bad for faculty and staff, which I am sure also makes it difficult for the school to recruit new workers. So, one option they are trying is "investing heavily in building subsidized housing for faculty and staff." Story via Inside Higher Ed. On a side note, my current workplace used to have a somewhat robust faculty housing set up that has mostly declined to three or four houses or so used mainly as transitional housing to attract new faculty (you can rent the house for up to three  years while you get your own place). Not a bad deal but certainly not what it used to be. The rationale back then, according to old timers I have spoken to, for having good faculty housing was to encourage more faculty to live in town (instead of commuting) and thus integrate to the community. I can only imagine how bad it can be if you have to commute two hours or more to get to your campus on a daily basis. 
• You know things are bad in a workplace when others warn you to stay far far away from said workplace. That is what just happened at Texas Southern University, which recently fired their college president. The situation is so bad that the college president of a neighboring school is warning potential job candidates to stay away. Story via Inside Higher Ed. I admire this gesture because I think if you are fortunate enough to escape a toxic workplace, or they fire you, it is more than fair to warn others way from said toxic place. If you can do not let anyone walk into the hell hole that you just left.

Government News

•  The hysteria about the coronavirus is in full swing. People are rushing supermarkets and grocery stores like it's hurricane season in the Caribbean. People are hoarding basics like toilet paper and hand sanitizer. This behavior is getting some government officials worried, and one legislator has gone so far as to urge Amazon to tamp down on price gouging for things like hand sanitizer. Story via Reuters. LOL. Like Amazon would honestly give a shit; they probably figure the more money they can make off those hoarding suckers the better. 
• When people in the U.S. love to whine and bitch that we cannot get Medicare for All or any form of universal care, it's interesting to note that they never once question how much the Pentagon and the Department of Defense love to waste money. Story via TruthDig. It is so bad that you need to "keep in mind that the Defense Department remains the only major federal agency that has proven itself incapable of even passing an audit." But I guess Americans prefer to make sure their military has the latest doohickeys in the quest to kill more people rather than making sure Americans can be healthy and alive. It's a matter of priorities. 
• Meanwhile, the government also failed their job to keep coal companies accountable, and as those companies went bankrupt they also conveniently abandoned their responsibilities to their workers. They just shifted the workers disability claims for things like black lung to taxpayers (i.e. most of you and me).  Story via The Lexington Herald Leader based on a GAO report. Here is a link to the actual GAO report if interested.

The Bad Economy  Around the World

• Speaking of the Caribbean, area nations are increasingly concerned the coronavirus may affect tourism. Story via Global Voices.
• Down under, the Australian Associated Press, the country's main wire service is going out of business and closing. Story via Nieman Lab.

In Other News of the Bad Economy

•  In more travel news, the International Air Transport Association, which is the major trade group for the commercial airlines, is already claiming they will lose as much as $133 billion as a result of the coronavirus. Story via UPI.
• However, not all trade groups feel the coronavirus may bad for business. Learn how funeral directors are preparing for coronavirus  in this article out of VICE.
• Over at Juanita Jean's, they explain how barely literate books by politicians reach the bestseller list. Often, it is because a political party, in this case the Party of Stupid, buys a lot of copies of a book like Donald Trump's Jr. book to give away at events and so on. Those sales do elevate the numbers, but is anyone reading those books? LOL, highly unlikely. This is a pretty common practice when it comes to those mostly ghost written screeds that politicians "write" and often put out around campaign time. To say the practice is shady is to speak mildly. This is the nice thing about public records; you can find out shady details like this, and the post includes a list of such sales. 
• Apparently, there are more and more old people in the U.S., and that is becoming a serious problem, especially in rural areas. Story via Route Fifty. For example, "the South was one of the region’s hardest hit by the last recession. Should another downturn strike and drive up unemployment, the report adds, it could present budget difficulties for states in the region with higher populations of seniors." They also tend to have a higher population of geriatric voters who keep voting for the Party of Stupid even as said party's platform includes cutting things like Medicare and Social Security. I guess that can be a problem too. 
• As if you did not have enough reason to hate Amazon, let's be honest, the company is mainly focused on eliminating as many jobs as possible to enrich their billionaire asshole owner. Story via Forward Kentucky. Enjoy your packages and prime two day shipping, well, as long as you still have a job that pays you enough to buy said packages.
• Oh, and also feel free to enjoy your coffee at Starbucks or if you buy Nespresso. Those 8 year old kids picking it barely make a living so you can overpay for your coffee. Story via Telesur. According to the story, "The investigation found that the children spend eight hours a day and six days per week picking coffee in backbreaking conditions for wages depending on the weight of beans they manage to gather. A child earns less than US$6 a day on a good day, though much of the time the wage is much lower. " 

And finally for this week, today's public service announcement

• Tito's Homemade Vodka, that fine Texan vodka, would like to inform their customers and friends that you CANNOT use their product to make hand sanitizer. Story via CNN. Yes, they are aware that with people hoarding hand sanitizer due to the coronavirus hysteria that some folks may want to make their own at home. And you can make your own at home as long as you are using ethyl alcohol of at least 96% alcohol to work according to the World Health Organization (link to their recipe and guidelines, PDF). Here is another simpler recipe via 12 Tomatoes (the recipe comes from a PhD in biomedical sciences). Bottom line is to wash your hands with soap and water as your best option, then a good alcohol based hand sanitizer if you must. Feel free to drink the vodka if you need to calm your nerves a bit.

 

Signs the economy is bad: May 10, 2019 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 have a lot of stories this week. Very often I have to keep looking to find a few things. For this post, things practically fell on my lap, so let's get it on.

We start this week with:

Education News

•  Another cheating asshole plead guilty to bribery charges in the now infamous college cheating scandal. This one paid $400K at least. Via USA Today.
• Meanwhile, a former college admissions counselor spills the beans on how elite college admissions "really" works. Some of this is basically obvious, and some of it seems more like a guy getting a pang of conscience late  in life and trying to justify his actions, some of which can be seen as questionable at least, or, you know, it is not illegal but. . . . Via Vox.
• In broader news, the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) reports that in a decade the federal student loan program will be running a deficit. Story via Inside Higher Ed.
• Here is the CBO report document  if you really want to dig in.
• Above the Law has a story and list of the law schools with the most unemployed graduates in 2018. Three of Puerto Rico's law schools are among the top. Now, unlike other schools in the US mainland that may or may not be of questionable quality, Puerto Rico's law schools may have a very important reason they got on this list: "For what it’s worth, we suspect that all three Puerto Rico law schools landed on the list due to the fact that the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria and has since been in 'recovery.' You apply to jobs without electricity." And before any of you gringos whine that the hurricane is long gone, keep in mind your president, The Pendejo In Chief, is still throwing tantrums and denying federal assistance to the US colony for hurricane relief and recovery.

Rural News

•  The Sage of Omaha recently said that rural newspapers are "toast." Naturally, some editors from small local news rags newspapers took exception in the pages of their barely read distinguished publications. Buffet's rationale is "due to the internet sucking away advertising revenue." Story via The Rural Blog. That scenario is not inaccurate. The editors went with the usual pap about how "rural newspapers provide a service to communities unmatched by any other resource" even as major newspapers are abandoning rural areas in droves making them vulnerable to fake news and partisan influence, at least 1/5 of newspapers have closed down nationwide (which makes it worse for rural areas, many of which are basically news deserts), and even newsprint tariffs are hurting the newspapers that are left. By the way, those other stories I presented in previous editions of "Signs the economy is bad" here on this blog. The tariff story is so bad it even got one of our local rags recently when the newspaper in the town over made a big deal that they were significantly reducing pages and content due to high costs, including costs of news print paper. So let us be perfectly honest here: Warren Buffet is not so much a genius; he just sees what the rest of us willing to see reality and pay attention already see, and then has an uncanny ability to make a shit ton of money out of it. Rural newspapers are not just toast: they are BURNT toast. Regular toast you can at least put butter on it and consume. Burnt toast gets tossed out for the most part. 
• In fact, in another story I found for this week, again, here we have a piece on small towns without a local newspaper. Those news deserts just keep getting bigger. Via The Daily Yonder.
• Meanwhile, as if things weren't bad enough for the press in rural regions, turns out the locals don't even want to talk to the press most of the time. They don't trust them. I wonder why. Story via The Rural Blog.
• According to a new poll, farmers are seriously stressed and have to deal with mental health issues. Story via The Rural Blog.
• Part of what stress may come because they are having difficulty finding workers to pick the actual crops because they refuse to pay decent wages for the hard work (not to mention consumers who want cheap fruit no matter what, but that is another story). One example is in Pennsylvania, where the farmers are so desperate they are basically turning to any cheap and (almost) slave labor they can find just to not have to pay a decent wage and so their crops don't rot. Such "creative" ideas to replace the immigrants they so gladly exploit include: ". . .inmate work-release programs, organizations that help the visually impaired find employment, and others that help veterans find work. . .". That story via The Rural Blog. So they are hoping to find a new pool of (barely) slave labor with  prison inmates, the visually impaired (who may already struggle to get employed to these farmers are hoping desperation will get them to pick crops), and veterans (hey,  they are not working send them to the farm. Better than that other farm). But hey, as long as those fruit stay cheap in  the grocery store. . . 
•  In rural health, the signs of the bad economy are there too. The diabetes mortality gap is widening in rural areas. Story via The Daily Yonder. They are basing the story on a new study in an article from the Journal of Rural Health (pay article but you can see abstract and conclusions. If you really want to see the full text, your local library may have access to it or the ability to do an Interlibrary Loan request for you). So you may be asking what is the big deal? The big deal is this: “'Rural America in general, and the rural South in particular, has seen little improvement in its diabetes mortality rate over the past two decades,' according to the report."
• Meanwhile, what started with  good intentions in Kentucky to build one of those "information superhighways" has become a serious boondoggle of lost money, incompetence, inefficiency, and nothing delivered. Via Pro Publica.  
• In the end, rural areas are pretty much fucked, for various reasons, including a good amount of reasons that boil down to them shooting themselves in the foot regularly. So, no matter how often those butt kissing candidates go to Iowa first every four years or so, rural areas like Iowa are just on the way down. Story via UPI. It boils down to this, as the story states: "The facts are clear and unarguable. Most of the nation's smaller urban and rural counties are not growing and will not grow." The news piece looks at various analysis resources including Department of Commerce data (resources linked in the article).

Government News

•  The Pendejo In Chief always provides signs that the economy is bad. No, I do not mean he does so by losing millions of dollars as a business man and then claiming it was a stroke of genius.  Oh no no. We got a couple of good ones this week from his Royal Orangeness: 
• He launched a new assault on the poor. . . again. Story via TruthDig. So what did Cheetolini do this time? "The Trump administration on Monday moved to change the definition of 'poverty' in the United States in a proposal which combines the president’s attempts to portray the U.S. economy as strong with his repeated attacks on the working poor and their access to government services." 
• And he just said he'd be fine if military academy graduates who play football put off their actual military careers (you know, the actual shit they got a coveted appointment to and a US service academy and a free education and that they agreed to serve upon graduation) so they can go play sportsball. By the way, while you may be struggling to pay off college loans because you did not want to or could not get into a service academy, you still pay taxes for those kids who DO go to a service academy only to go slack off and go play sportsball instead of doing the military duty they agreed to by contract when they accepted said free education. Story via USA Today. Feel free to queue up the patriotic sportsball enthusiasts who will be happy with Mar-A-Lago's Caudillo statement (bonus if they are gung ho Party of Stupid military vets who themselves would have never been able to get into a military academy or better yet local militia guys).
• The military industrial complex in the United States keeps marching on. Their latest budget request  (as of this post) is almost a trillion dollars. According to the story from TruthDig, "If passed by Congress, it will, in fact, be one of the largest military budgets in American  history, topping peak levels reached during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. And keep one thing in mind: that $750 billion represents only part of the actual annual cost of our national security state."
• And how is the US military often able to secure such obscene amounts of money? Well, fearmongering is one way. And these days, raising fears about rising Chinese power works really well to get Congress to approve money for defense fast. A former U.S. army colonel looks at a new Department of Defense report on Chinese military power and explains why it is fearmongering more than accuracy. Story via The Canary. If interested, you can see the actual Department of Defense document on the Chinese military in 2019 here (PDF document).
• In regulatory news, apparently the administration of the Pendejo In Chief, in their zeal to deregulate anything and everything no matter how silly or seriously dangerous is now targeting cherries in your frozen pie. I am not making this up. See the story, including link to the actual FDA report, at Food Politics. Not even Ace Rothstein was this anal about regulating fruit in a pastry.

Health and Medical News

This week, in Health and Medical News, let's play: "Did you know?" By the way, this week's edition of Health and Medical News here at the Itinerant Librarian is brought to you by Wilford Brimley. 

• Did you know that over 137 million people in the United States are stressed seriously over medical bills?  Story via Big Think. I am sure that has nothing to do with the shitty for profit exploitative health care and insurance system this  shithole country has that is a shame compared to what most civilized countries have. No siree, no way, no how, right? 
• Did you know that pregnancy deaths are up in the U.S.? It is specially bad for minorities. Story via TruthDig. 
• Did you know that diabetes hospitalizations are going up among young teens in the United States? Story via UPI.
• Did you know that U.S. citizens are actually driving up to Canada in caravans so they can buy insulin at a cheaper price because U.S. Big Pharma and insurance companies keep ripping them off on price preferring profits over the health of people? Story via Boing Boing. Seriously, they can save around 90% on the price by buying their insulin, which  is an essential drug (if you are a diabetic on  insulin you need it or die, it is that simple), up in Canada.
• Did you know that hackers are helping diabetics in need by hacking a  discontinued insulin pump model that can be reprogrammed by the hack to make an artificial pancreas? Story via Boing Boing. This is a fucking  big deal, and it is something that Big Pharma could probably make, but again, since they choose to fleece vulnerable sick people because profit is the only value they know, patients need to do what they can. I know that I often say if the Revolution comes, and I am in charge, that hackers along with scam artists, spammers, phone bank scammer and their ilk are first against the wall, but these heroic hackers will get an immediate pardon and put to work on behalf of citizens' health. 

The Bad Economy Around the World

•  In the Philippines, they are turning to China to help build infrastructure. This is part of the continuing story about the Chinese Belt and Road initiative we have written about here in the blog before (see last week's edition of "Signs the economy is bad"). This week's story via The Atlantic.
• India: economic inequality is an issue as the richest, in a country known worldwide for its poverty, are the beneficiaries of local growing economy. Story via Al Jazeera. On the one hand, "India is home to the third-highest number of billionaires in the world, including Asia’s richest person." But on  the other  hand, India has "some of the poorest people in the world"
• Great Britain: Things are so bad that many parents who have a baby in the hospital can't afford to take it home (or at least take it home right away). Why? They can't afford things as basic as a car seat to be able to carry the baby home. Story via The Canary. 
• The World: According to a new United Nations report, 1 million animals and plants are in imminent risk of extinction due to human activity. Story via NPR. Keep in mind that is 1 million of an estimated 8 million, and a lot of those could be lost within a decade.

In Other News of the Bad Economy

• If you work at a company that says you can have unlimited vacation, beware. It is a scam basically. Read the details over at Inc.
• Pew Research reports that even though adoption of tech among low income Americans is up the digital divide is STILL a problem.  Hat tip to Infodocket.
• In local neighborhood news, want to buy a house? Apparently now a lot of people check Facebook to see if they find groups and pages of local neighborhoods, subdivisions, etc. People tend to speak freely, for good or ill and sometimes way too freely, on said forums. For some home sellers it can be a problem if their neighbors air all the dirty laundry when potential buyers are coming around. Story via WKYT.
• In something to actually help folks out, here is a piece on 6 items you need to be prepared to replace over time. Basically things like your car (it ain't going to last forever no matter how much you love it) and how to plan for when you need to replace. Via Wise Bread.

Sometimes you need to up your game, use a little ingenuity and creativity in the bad economy to make a buck or two. So that's why we look at. . .

Hustlin' in the Bad Economy

•  Food waste is a huge problem. However, three Stanford University graduates figured how to make an opportunity out of it that can make them money and help reduce food waste. Story via Inc.
• If you enjoy adult entertainment, specially cam girls, you can likely find a cam girl that will cater to pretty much any fetish as long as you got the currency to pay for her services. In a field where it can be very competitive, cam girls need to get creative to stand out. Well, one cam girl over in Florida noticed there was a serious need to serve a special clientele that few people even consider when it comes to adult entertainment: the deaf and hard of hearing. So our entrepreneur got herself a good education in ASL, and now she can sign dirty talk and communicate with deaf and hard of hearing people. That is just genius. We tip our pimp hat here at The Itinerant Librarian to this young creative entrepreneur who saw a need and moved to serve it and make a buck or two. Story via Metro (UK). 
• Speaking of the Internet, maybe you cannot make a living as a cam girl. But you still want to make a living working on the Internet. After all, you can do flexible hours, mostly in front of your computer, you got good computer skills, effort can be minimal, and you still get paid without having to take your clothes off. Well, you may to consider becoming a professional internet troll. If your politics are very flexible or lean right wing, the Russian government is willing to pay for your services doing things like posing as pro-Trump Americans on social media, websites, so on. Story via Business Insider.
• Jacob Silverman, in The New Republic, writes a good piece worth a read about the plight of the freelance journalist. Freelance journalists and writers do share common plights and pain with adjunct professors and even adjunct librarians (yes, those do exist, and I am fortunate not to be one of them so far).

This week, we open a new regular feature here in "Signs the economy is bad." There are stories I come across that are honestly the lowest of the low. They are so low in things like overall stupidity, cruelty, viciousness, insensitivity, indifference, negligence, and just plain fuckery that I decided to give them their own feature. I hope not to bring this feature out often, but in this bad economy, you never know. So. . .

Hold My Beer 

(Serious fuckery in the bad economy)

•  Delta Airlines, often known for their overall fuckery as an airline, decided to do some union busting. It did not go well for them. Story via The Washington Post. Additional commentary via P.Z. Myers at Pharyngula.
• In fuckery that you just have to read, read the tale of a school district that sent a kid's lunch bill to a collections agency. By the way, we need to mention the reason the bill came to life is because the school royally fucked up, what they called "a clerical error", and they STILL fucked over the poor parent anyhow. Because heaven forbid they admit their mistake. And there is more. Story via Yes! Magazine.

This week we get to award another award. This week's award goes to Warren Buffet who stated not one but two statements of the obvious:

• One, the statement above that rural newspapers are "toast." 
• Two, a statement that college is not for all, and it may even be a terrible decision for some people. Via Inc.

Thus, this week, we award

The "No Shit, Sherlock" Award for Stating the Obvious

To Warren Buffet, the Sage of Omaha. 

Congratulations.