Book Review: Puerto Rico: a National History

Jorell A. Meléndez Badillo, Puerto Rico: A National History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2024.  ISBN: 9780691231273. 

Genre: History

Subgenre: Puerto Rico, colonialism, imperialism 

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College  

 

"Colonialism has shaped the ways Puerto Ricans conceptualize themselves, their politics, and their idea of nation. This book argues that we cannot understand Puerto Rico's current fiscal, political, and social crises without recognizing its colonial reality" (xiii).  

 

At a bit over 210 pages, this book tells you the basics of Puerto Rican history. Historians can write multiple volumes on the topic, and I am sure armchair historians will still complain this book is too short, not comprehensive enough, leaves some details out, etc. This book may not be for them. This book is a more general history for folks who want to get an overview and get the basics. 

If you are an American, this is a good book to learn the history and conditions of the U.S. colony. 

If you are like me, born on the island but now living in the diaspora, the book may provide a good refresher on the history taking us to the current time. 

If you were born and raised in the diaspora, this may be a good book to read as well. 

The book is arranged into 15 chapters, and it includes a prologue, acknowledgements, notes, a selected thematic bibliography, and an index. The prologue sets the context and gives a bit of the author's and his family's experience. After that the history starts with Puerto Rico's first native/indigenous populations then goes through the Spanish colonial era to the American invasion to the future after Hurricane Maria.  

A strength of the book is in the narrative. Unlike so many academic textbooks, the author weaves the history as a narrative that is accessible and easy to read. I found myself reading the book at a speedy pace. It was not easy to put it down as I was engaged. Once I got to the late 20th century, I found myself remembering the events he writes about. The text often triggered my memories. Yes, this is an academic book, but it is accessible for the non-academic reader. 

Another strength of the book is that it is well documented; you can check the notes as needed to verify facts. Some of the notes can be interesting too. 

If you want to learn more, the selected thematic bibliography can provide some suggestions for further reading. 

I'm glad I read the book. It gave me a refresher on the history. I also learned some new things, and it was an easy and interesting book. 

I recommend the book for public and academic libraries. It works well for readers of popular works as well as academic readers. In academia, programs in history, political science, peace and social justice, and Latino studies may find it of interest. I'd consider adding a copy to my personal collection. If you prefer, a Spanish edition is also available at this time. 

5 out of 5 stars. 

 

Book qualifies for the following 2026 Reading Challenge: 

 

 

 

Signs the economy is bad: June 6, 2025 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.


My goodness. It has been a while since I wrote one of these, really, since 2023. What can I say? I've been busy with a few other things, reading and reviewing some good books, and just overall trying to stay alive in the Hard Times. Anyhow, I decided to keep an eye out this week for possible stories and see if I could get enough to make a post. The RSS feeds and social media did not disappoint. So let's have a look at some of the signs the economy is bad this week.

Education News

• AI seems to be coming for more jobs as computer science majors, including all those people told to "learn to code," are finding lower employment options. Story via Futurism. Not only that, but if they manage to get hired, their odds of getting laid off or getting replaced by AI technology are also high. One of the reasons, according to a business consultant cited in the article: "Entry-level roles are vanishing, unpaid internships are still rampant, and companies are offshoring or automating the very jobs these grads trained for." So exploitation is the story of the day  pretty much. 
• Adding salt to the wound, an "expert" states that artificial intelligence (AI) will bring massive job losses in the United States. Who is the expert? Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Now, a shit ton of people will be losing jobs within five years, according to his vision, but think of the positives. Amodei states: “'Cancer is cured, the economy grows at 10% a year, the budget is balanced — and 20% of people don’t have jobs,' said Amodei, describing one potential scenario." Hmm, curing cancer may sound pretty good; it also sounds like serious self-interested hype. 

 

 

Rural News 

 

 

 

• The Kentucky Lantern reports that GOP cutting funds to food assistance would be seriously bad for rural America. Gee, imagine that. Why is that an issue for rural people? Well, for one, they "are more dependent on food stamps, the largest anti-hunger program in the nation."
• And speaking of poor rural areas that may be affected by those funding cuts, Kentucky would be one of them. The state, according to a recent study, is in the top ten of poorest states in the U.S. Story via Fox56. You mean all those wonderful GOP supporters here who helped elect the Pendejo In Chief might have some economic issues as a result? Say it ain't so. 

Meanwhile back in the US colony 

(Puerto Rico news)

• Via Periodico La Perla (PR, Spanish language news),monthly costs of food, housing, and transportation are going up for the general population. 
• The story is based on MIDA's (The Chamber of Food Marketing, Industry and Distribution (MIDA by its acronym in Spanish) report on consumer report for 2025 (link to press release, Spanish language); they released a preview of the report, which is not due until middle of June 2025.  The study also reveals concerns over cuts to federal programs like SNAP (PAN by its Spanish acronym) and Medicare. 
• For an English language account, the San Juan Daily Star also picked up the story. 
• Meanwhile, the University of Puerto Rico publishes a research based profile of PAN (SNAP in English) recipients on the island. Story via the San Juan Daily Star. The profile of households "shows that most include an older adult, while half include a member with a disability." 

The Bad Economy Around the World

• Across the pond in Great Britain, via the BBC an account of a working person who is homeless. The man works full time, and is "lucky" he sleeps on his mother's living room floor. As often happens, it does not help that rents are high and if you lack a credit score, landlords just outright refuse to rent. 
• Meanwhile in Canada we get the story of a family who lived in a hotel for a year after losing their home. Story via CBC. Often, all it takes in a family is for one family member to lose a job, thus losing an income stream, and off to the streets they go. As I often say to my four readers, there but for the amusement of the Cosmic Joker go you and me. 

 

 

 

•  Speaking of AI, this headline from The Walrus says it all: "Companies Are Outsourcing Job Interviews to AI. What Could Go Wrong?" The issue, well, for one: "Critics warn that hiring algorithms can be biased, opaque in their goals, or just plain junk, causing real harm to candidates and preventing qualified people from getting jobs." But corporate greed and making sure the stakeholders and investors get paid means cutting jobs and letting the bot do your hiring. Indeed, what could go wrong? 
• In the U.S. where foreign tourists are not welcomed as the official rule, and they risk being deported to an El Salvadoran gulag, tourist destinations in the U.S. are finding that business is a little short. Things may be getting a little desperate as these tourism operators are giving a variety of discounts to entice travelers, especially Canadian travelers. Story via CBC. Maybe the Pendejo In Chief saying he wants to annex Canada is not a good idea. Just saying. 

 

 

 

Uber Rich

• Apparently some of the uber rich are having some cash flow issues as they are not purchasing as many second home and/or vacation homes as they used to buy. Story via Axios. This observation is based on mortgages data that found there are less mortgages being written for second and/or vacation homes. Apparently in the Hard Times "even wealthy cash buyers are watching their wallets." 
• The United States has recently acquired a reputation of not welcoming immigrants anymore. That is far from the truth as there is at least one type of immigrant that is welcomed with open arms: the wealthy immigrant willing and able to spend some serious money to get a golden visa.  Story via NPR. For $5 million dollars you can get in the express lane to enter the United States. For that price you can get the gold card, which is "a glorified green card that would allow them to live and work in the U.S. without going through the usual hassle or red tape. Apparently, the card's $5 million price tag is not scaring off the jet-setters looking to make the U.S. home. Or at least one of their homes." We all know the uber rich are special and so they should not suffer the indignities of having to apply for a green card or visa like the rest of the peons. So if you got the money, America says, "come on over, we got a place for you." 
• Overall, the United States is not doing as bad as some naysayers say. After all, according to a new report, the U.S. had a massive rise in the number of millionaires in the nation.  Story via Quartz. 
• If you are curious, here is the Capgemini report the story is based on (link to press release, which includes link to the report's download). 
• Meanwhile, regarding the hoi polloi "according to the latest Census Bureau data, nearly 37 million people in the U.S. were living in poverty in 2023."  

Book Review: The Puerto Rican War: A Graphic History

John Vasquez Mejias, The Puerto Rican War: a Graphic History. New York: Union & Square Company, 2024.  ISBN: 9781454952466.

Genre: Puerto Rico history, art

Subgenre: U.S. history, graphic novels

Format: e-book galley

Source: Edelweiss Plus 

 This graphic novel is both a work of history and a work of art. The book looks at the 1950 Nationalist armed insurrection in Puerto Rico, including an assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry Truman. This is a piece of history that is not always taught. I know it is not taught in the U.S. for the most part. Anecdotally, I taught social studies for a while in high school, and this story was not included in any U.S. History units. It certainly was not taught back in Puerto Rico when I was going to school there, and I am not sure if it is taught in schools now. This book provides a relatively easy way to learn about this crucial piece of history. 

The art is very good. The story is told in carved woodblock images done by the author. This book reprints the comic that now resides in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in their Thomas J. Watson Library. There may be one or two images that are not as clear, but overall the woodblock medium tells the story well. The art is expressive and can be moving at times. 

The book also includes a Puerto Rico Timeline and an insightful interview with the author where he discusses his art as well as some of the sources he used to create the narrative. At one point he talks about how he balanced two differing versions of an event to create the story he tells. 

Overall, I really liked this one. I definitely recommend it for all libraries with graphic novel and comics collections. This is one I would order for our library. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

This book qualifies for the following 2024 Reading Challenges: 

Holiday Post 2022: What the heck happened?

Welcome to the last post in my series of holiday posts for 2022. This is the post where I take a look back at the year to see what the heck happened. If you are wondering why I am posting this a few days into January, hey, I am Puerto Rican. We are still in holiday mood for at least another week and a half or so. As I am typing this, last Friday was Dia de Reyes (Three Kings Day) in Puerto Rico, and that is followed by "las octavitas." So I am still on schedule. I will say upfront, and I probably mentioned this before, that 2022 was not exactly an improvement over 2021, which was not an improvement over the clusterfuck that was 2020. I am not holding much optimism for 2023, but I am willing to wait and see. Meanwhile, let's have a look at what the heck happened in 2022. 

 

The top news event of the year

Oh, I saved this story halfway into the year the moment I saw it. We all know, or so many say, that cockroaches may well be the only survivors when human beings are long gone. Well, here is a bit more proof of that. Turns out. according to this report from Salon, that they are evolving now to prefer low sugar diets. Read on to find out why that is not good news. 

What the heck happened? 

(The big news overviews)

 

 

• If you want a quick overview, the BBC has a video that gives it to you in 74 seconds.
  
• UPI has their year in review. 
• Al Jazeera looks at 2022 in pictures. From the photos, the empty chairs memorial from Uvalde, Texas is silent yet powerful, well, at least to people who value lives more than their guns. 
• Big Think has a list of their top 10 science stories. 
• Higher Ed Dive has the year's biggest stories in higher education.
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has their 2022 Year in Review. A big bit of fuckery from 2022 is the Big Four publishers suing Internet Archive. EFF is among those representing the Internet Archive in the case. 
• In a different approach, the reporters from The 19th offer their end of year reflections on the year and what happened.
• Mother Jones offers their picks for heroes and monsters of 2022. 
• Yes! Magazine offers their best stories, their readers' favorites for the year.
  

A bit from Around the World

• El Nuevo Dia (PR-Spanish language) newspaper has 11 photos that summarize the year in Latin America.
• The Progressive looks at 10 surprisingly good things that happened in 2022, many of them abroad.
• Claridad newspaper (Spanish language) from Puerto Rico looks at the economic condition of the island for 2022. They also look at the overall condition of the island moving forward.
  

 

Film and Television

 

I do this section in part to keep the information for myself as well as sharing with others. I just do the basics to keep up with new film and television every year, which is often reading about it since much of the new material is on streaming services I do not have. Anyhow, for reference, and maybe to get some ideas of what to watch down the road.  

Film: 

• Here is Rolling Stone's list of best movies of the year. The site also has a link for their review of the year for other articles that may be of interest.
• Here is GQ's list of best movies of the year.
• Here is The Beat's best movies list.
• Sounds and Colours has a list of best movies for 2022. This list has a bit more Latin American interest.
   

Television: 

• Rolling Stone lists 20 best TV shows. Out of 20 there are 13 shows on streamers. 
• Latino Rebels lists their top 10 Latino TV shows. 
• Reality Blurred lists their best of reality TV for the year. If you cannot get enough reality TV, they also got 22 favorite reality TV stories.
   

Music

 

• Here is Rolling Stone's list of best songs of 2022.
• Sounds and Colours lists their best albums of 2022. List has a Latin American and Caribbean focus.
  

 

Books and reading

This part includes some best of lists I may have missed plus some other trivia things.

• A big bit of news in 2023 was the constant book challenges and bans all over the United States. PEN America takes a look at the absurd year in educational censorship. They also have a list of the 10 most banned books. 
• InfoDocket looks at some library lists of most borrowed books for the year.
• Literary Hub lists their most scathing book reviews for the year.
• The Beat offers their list of 30 Best Comics for the year. There are some titles here I would add to my TBR list. 

 

Adult and risque

Feel free to scroll down if this is not your thing. Otherwise, let's have a bit of a sexy look. 

• Dr. Dick's Sex Advice looks at five lessons in love and sex learned in 2022.
• For folks who do resolutions, Kinkly has a list of new year's resolutions for good sex.
• What is an end of year summary without some penis mishaps and accidents? Here is a list via Defector. Hat tip to Boing Boing.
  

 

Miscellaneous

These are stories and trivia that for me did not fit in the other categories:

• Oxford English Dictionary names their 2022 Word of the Year, via UPI.
• Inside Higher Ed, on the other hand, offers words and phrases to banish in 2023.
  
• Time Magazine named their 2022 Person of the Year, via BBC. 
• Meanwhile, Publishers Weekly's names their people of 2022.
  
• Cosmopolitan has their 50 wildest celebrity moments of 2022. 
• Reprobate offers their roundup for 2022. 
• Smithsonian Libraries shares some of their most popular stories.
• J-Stor Daily also shares their most popular stories of the year. I often enjoy their stories as they find all kinds of interesting topics.
• End of year summaries often look at who died in the previous year. For something different, Mashable has a list of the tech that died in 2022.
  
• Peste Magazine has the Snowzzies Awards, for public health disservice. A hat tip to Boing Boing.
• Like poetry and haiku, The Rude Pundit has haikus about 2023 submitted by his readers. We get haikus about worst persons, speaking no evil, and barbarian prey. I always look forward to these at the end of the year.
  

2023 Predictions

 

This is a new category I am adding this year. All sorts of folks make all kinds of predictions as a new year arrives, so here is a sampling.  I am including a bit of esoterica and other predictions.

• The Hustle brings together a list of predictions for 2023 from various news sources. Among the predictions they found: Disney will spin off ABC and ESPN, and Netflix will merge with another big streamer.
• NPR also lined up some experts to make some predictions for 2023. The twist here is the experts made predictions for 2023 back in 1923. This is an interesting article to see what they got right or not.
  
• Verge offers 13 predictions for tech platforms. They also look back at the predictions they made for 2022. 
• Nieman Lab offers their predictions for journalism in 2023.
  
• UPI reports that Americans are expecting a troubled year in 2023. I can't imagine why.
• Back in Puerto Rico, Claridad (Spanish language news) looks at what the island can expect in 2023.
• People tend to panic a bit when Mercury Retrogrades come around. VICE explains what the retrograde is and gives you the dates for Mercury Retrogrades happening in 2023, so you can be better prepared.
• Need a bit more help with the retrograde? OM Magazine offers a survival guide to the Mercury Retrograde. I think this article offers a bit more detail. 
• For the folks who do Tarot, OM Magazine has their Tarot forecast for 2023.
  

 

 

Signs the economy is bad: October 2, 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.


Once more, it is Friday, and it is a new month. My four readers know it is time once again to see how bad the economy is doing. This week it is mostly miscellaneous news, but we do have some interesting individual things also, so let's get on with it.

Rural News

• Out in rural Nebraska, food insecurity is getting worse due to the pandemic. Story via NPR.
  

 

Meanwhile back in the US colony

• There is some serious gentrification going on in Rincón, Puerto Rico. Story via Latino Rebels. To be honest, I have heard the theory before that overall the U.S. plan is to gentrify the island so as to make it unaffordable to the locals, then turn it into a rich white people playground. This story just seems to exemplify that.

 

The Bad Economy  Around the World

• There are more than six million unemployed in Peru due to the pandemic. Story via Telesur.
• In Ireland, 114,00 or so jobs in hospitality are at risk. The hope is the government stepping in to help. Story via Spirits Business.
  

In Other News of the Bad Economy

•  Parents who have lost jobs in the pandemic are struggling also with child care. Story via NPR. Can the U.S. help these people? Probably. Will it choose to do so? Signs point to no. 
• Food insecurity in the United States is getting worse, and NPR has a look at the numbers. 
• A recent survey in Arkansas finds that any gains from declines in poverty are lost now due to the pandemic. Story via Public News Service. 
• Meanwhile in the leisure and hospitality industries: 
• Disney is laying off 28,000 or so workers from its park in California. Story via Al Jazeera.
• NPR reports on other layoffs in the hospitality industry where the workers are losing what little job security they thought they had. 
• Movie theaters are reducing hours or just flat out closing for days at a time due to the bad economy and the pandemic. Story via JoBlo. This is one that I have a hard time having sympathy. Movie theaters have pretty much become obnoxious places where people are allowed to behave like animals in a living room, so to be honest, if they all went bankrupt tomorrow and closed permanently I would not shed a tear. I gave up going to movie theaters years ago because of that bullshit they casually allow. COVID is not making me anymore sympathetic. Just put the movies on some films on demand model and put them out of their misery. 
•  Another bunch of motherfuckers I have little sympathy for is publishers, who again are whining that libraries are taking sales from them, story via Publishers Weekly, this time e-books. One, libraries do buy their merchandise, and for e-books it is often highly overpriced because of said whining (no, we cannot buy e-books for 99 cents from Amazon like regular people do; publishers basically gouge libraries on price then have the gall to bitch when we still buy their stuff and lend it as libraries do), and two, they conveniently forget that library users are often their best customers. 
• The approach of the winter season is not good for small businesses. Story via Al Jazeera. The big deal in the U.S. is that many small businesses like mom and pop restaurants, music teachers, and others could do things like outside seating to keep business going. With winter approaching, outside seating option is lost. 
• If you gringo thought you had it bad, consider yourself lucky if you can still go see a doctor if you get sick, or heaven forbid, get COVID-19. Mexican migrants in the U.S. often cannot afford to see a doctor (or they may not be willing to do so out of fear), so they are turning to home remedies to treat COVID-19 symptoms. Story via Telesur.
• Via The OASG, an interesting piece predicting that the 2020 holiday shopping season is going to be very unusual. For instance, Halloween candy came out much earlier, and Black Friday may not quite be the same. As the old saying goes, we live in interesting times.
  

 

Uber Rich

•  The Pendejo In Chief has had a rough week between the revelation that he is basically a tax cheat (or at least a very unethical tax avoider) and the clusterfuck of the debate thingie this past week. Have you ever wondered how a guy who has declared bankruptcy multiple times and is in debt up to his eyeballs manages to still be wealthy? Well, Al Jazeera has an explainer article detailing how his tax stunts do not change his billionaire status. By the way, Trump is not the only billionaire who does this sort of thing. 
• Being affluent does not mean you could not go hungry as people in rich Bethesda, Maryland are facing serious food security issues. Story via NPR. Yea, those wealthy people driving the fancy cars are having to drive over to the food banks. 
• On the other hand, if you have some money to burn, you could consider investing in your own whiskey collection (story via Maxim), or if you want a pre-made collection, the largest private whiskey collection is about to go on auction, and it could fetch up to $5 million (story via Spirits Business). Meanwhile, I will be over here sipping my cheap whiskey.
  

 

Signs the economy is bad: July 31, 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.


Welcome to another edition. This week I found a good amount of miscellaneous news, so let's have a look. 

Education News

•  In what can only be described as some serious classist and possibly racist fuckery, a new survey reveals broad differences in remote teaching for low income children versus high income children. Via Hechinger Report. In a nutshell: "Instead of hours per day, the survey revealed that it was how students were being taught that clearly varied by income. Low-income schools spent considerably more time reviewing old content. Wealthier schools were more likely to teach new material. " And that is not all. 
• Meanwhile, college towns, which depend on college students for a lot of their economy despite bitching about college students, are having to adapt and make do with less students (or none if a college completely shut down for the fall). Story via Inc.

Rural News

•  In West Virginia, a new report finds that due to tight town budgets and summer activities closing down due to COVID-19 that more children are eating poorly. Furthermore, "According to Save the Children, one in five children in West Virginia are food insecure, Knisely reports." Story via The Rural Blog

Meanwhile back in the US colony

• Back in Puerto Rico, thousands are STILL without housing since Hurricane Maria. Via Latino Rebels. For the record, it has been almost three years since Hurricane Maria hit the island. How bad is it? The recently appointed local housing secretary admits, “We’re not going to be finished for years."

In Other News of the Bad Economy

•  As if children going hungry due to the pandemic and closures was not bad enough, stress over child care is also causing problems for parents. Story via UPI. In sum, ""The pandemic exposes how fractured the safety net is for American families." Not that the Party of Stupid and their current leader would care about something like that. 
• The Atlantic reports that more people are postponing marriage due to the pandemic. It is just not economically viable for many. 
• At home cooking is messing up U.S. farms. Story via Boing Boing. You would think that cooking at home would be a good and desirable thing. People eat at home, make their own meals, perhaps eat healthier even. The issue is that many farms are geared to sell their produce to restaurants and food service. When restaurants and food service closed down due to the pandemic, they could not easily switch gears to cater to at home cooks. When you think about it, that is a bit of a sad comment about U.S. farming as well as consumers. 
• After Walmart announced it is not opening for Thanksgiving this year, due to the pandemic, a few other retailers are following. Story via Inc. Let's be honest, aside from the fact that they are extending sales longer and sooner than Black Friday is to get people to keep on shopping. They will get people's money one way or another. 
• In culture and the bad economy because, who needs culture anyhow in the United States?
• NPR reports on a new survey showing that 1/3 of museums in the U.S. may not survive the pandemic. 
• Publishers Weekly reports that bookstore sales in May went further down.
• In rural towns, may be harder to see the local production of Little Orphan Annie or whatever as community theaters are struggling to survive in the pandemic. Via The Daily Yonder. We have a small community theater here that to be honest I have no idea if it will survive the pandemic or not. 
• In a different track, read via Latino Rebels how Mexican remittances, the money Mexican immigrants here in the U.S. send back home to Mexico, are also affected by the pandemic. The problem is that they are sending less money back home, but that is not the only issue, so check the story out. 
• This is not so much a bad sign, though it could be, as it is something I found interesting. Hard seltzer sales are going up and up. Story via Spirits Business. There is a desire among some folks for low alcohol proof drinks, and these hard seltzers seem to do the trick.

Uber Rich

• Jeff Bezos has the gall to claim that he has no idea how often or how bad his company Amazon rips off third party sellers. Via VICE. I think we need to make a clear distinction here. It is not that he does not know. It is that he does not want to know since he still profits from it. Big difference.

Signs the economy is bad: November 15, 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.


Here we go again. . .

We start this week with

Education News

•  Higher education costs keep going up, and the University of Chicago is making sure to stay right on top of that. They are poised to become the first university to charge $100,000 a year. Via Hechinger Report. Holy shit! People, seriously, a small pro tip: fancy university does not mean better, so if you can afford to go to some state school (assuming you do want to go to college) instead, preferably in-state, do that. 
• As if cost was not bad enough, getting into college or university may get harder for some given poor skills. The most recent NAEP (National Assessment of Education Progress) shows a decline in U.S. educational achievement. Via Hechinger Report. 
• On a positive, college athletes may be getting a break as the NCAA finally voted to let players get paid for sponsorship deals. Via Inside Higher Ed. Granted, the NCAA and the colleges and universities will keep exploiting those student athletes, but at least now the students may get some compensation. 
• However, not all colleges have big football and/or basketball programs to bring in big money to the campuses. In fact, some smaller colleges struggle financially and have to find ingenious ways to make ends meet. In other words, they need to hustle in the Bad Economy (this story could have gone under "Hustlin' in the Bad Economy). One way is to serve as wedding venues and charge for such service. Via The Atlantic. I will tell you this much. When the Better Half and I got married (some years ago now), we did get married on campus at our university, and it was a bit more affordable than some private venue. However, do keep in mind cost can vary based on things like, for example, if the campus you are looking at is a serious tourist attraction (this can drive up costs) versus a lesser known place or a big state university.

Next, we go over to the farmlands in

Rural News

• For starters, farm bankruptcies are up. Via The Rural Blog. Sure, the weather has been bad in recent months, and the Pendejo In Chief's trade wars with places like China have not been good for them (even though so many of them enthusiastically voted for him and keep supporting him. You really can't fix stupid). However, the bankruptcy story has more: "Growers are also becoming increasingly dependent on trade aid and other federal programs for income, figures showed in a report by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the nation’s largest general farm organization." Farmers taking a "handout" or help from the government? Really? Say it ain't so. . .
  
  
  

•  Some farmers are trying to put up the good fight, but finding financing is not easy, and it is getting more difficult. As a result of traditional banks not being so generous in providing farmers with loans, some farmers are turning to some "nontraditional" loan options to make ends meet. Story via The Rural Blog. Among the reasons this is an issue: "While such high-interest loan providers can be a lifesaver for farmers in the short term, their interest rates are double those of traditional farm lenders." It's been described as "shadow financing." 
• On a different issue, via Forward Kentucky, a report where "Appalachian communities say prison jobs are a 'phantom promise.'" In a nutshell, rural communities with little options either attract the attention of some big prison project, or they hope to attract one in hopes of generating a lot of local jobs. However, that hope rarely happens, and the reality is a lot more complicated than these communities think. This article is worth reading. 

Meanwhile back in the US colony 

U.S. troops invading Puerto Rico during Spanish American War, 1898.

• The Daily Beast looks at how the U.S. screwed up Detroit, and now they will screw up Puerto Rico (even more than they have fucked it up already).
• And if the above is not bad enough, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was happily allowing  all sorts of fraud in Puerto Rico's power grid repair contracts. Via Latino Rebels. The article highlights findings from an audit of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' oversight of contracts in Puerto Rico by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (link to the audit report, which is included in the article).

The Bad Economy  Around the World

• In Latin American news, the coup that ousted Evo Morales in Bolivia is a big deal. However, once you look closely, you see the often common pattern of outside interference and the Real Owners safeguarding their interests (i.e. Morales was not too friendly to big corporations seeking to exploit his country, imagine that). It boils down to one very valuable mineral. Read this story out of Truthdig to learn more. 

In Other News of the Bad Economy

•  We recently celebrated Halloween here in the United States. It is all fun, costumes, candy, so on. However, there are signs things may be going a bit too far. How far? How about half a billion dollars. . . for pet costumes? Seriously. Story via Salon.
• In another sign things are going too far, here is the latest fuckery out of Google: they now plan to offer checking accounts. As if them invading your privacy and selling it off was not bad enough, now they want your banking too. And if that was not bad enough, they are partnering up with Citibank, notorious for their shadiness to put it mildly.  Story via Inc.
•  In First World Problems, Disney+ streaming service debuted this month, albeit with glitches. So now suddenly people are realizing the irony of leaving cable, because it has way too many channels, in favor of a la carte service, and now, we got, lo and behold, too many separate streaming services. Story via VICE.

Once more, we look at ingenuity in making a buck or two with folks. . .

Hustlin' in the Bad Economy

•  I am sure some folks have heard that there are fetishists out there who will buy used women's underwear. So an enterprising woman could make some bucks selling a few soiled undies. Now, with a renewed interest in any and all things retro, grandma is raiding her closet for her old lingerie as folks want to buy vintage lingerie. It is becoming quite a business to seek the stuff out in second hand stores and then resell it online for profit. Story via The Daily Beast. 
•  Meanwhile, people making a living for no other reason than having some fame are raking it in as "influencers." Story via BBC. I will be honest: I find the whole idea of social media influencers vapid and shallow, but hey, more power to ya if you can make money at it. 
• Via Remezcla, this was my favorite story of "Hustlin' in the Bad Economy" this week. This Latino Twitter user will post "yikes" under your ex's selfies on social media, and he does it for $5 each. This is one of those stories where I go, "why did I not think of that?" 
• Now this one I admire. A luxury hotel offers Tarot card readings as part of the amenities at their restaurant. Story via Departures. That is the kind of gig I'd love to do, so hey, any high end restaurants or hotels out there, or even hey, medium tier, want a Tarot/oracle card reader, let me know.

And finally this week, the wealthy have been suffering a little but still mostly living it up. . .

Uber Rich

• Aww, poor Bill Gates is a little worried he may not have enough money to live on if the rich are taxed a bit more to help out with things like public services and schools (things he does benefit from too by the way). How worried is he? The man, who is worth about $107 billion (yep, you read that right) worries that he could be forced to live on $7 billion instead. Story via VICE. One that is seriously exaggerated in the sense any tax plan would not just do that. And two, let's be honest, no one is crying over a guy who would STILL have $7 billion in that scenario. As the kids say, hey Bill, "OK Boomer!"
• The real estate market for the uber rich continues to suffer from the challenge of trying to get those tightwads to buy a property. So sellers keep tossing perks into the deal. The latest deal this week is offering travel services with your purchase, such as private jet amenities. Story via Departures.

Signs the economy is bad: August 30, 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.


It is another Friday, and my four blog readers know it is time to look at the signs of the bad economy. Let's see what we got this week.

Education News

•  As if the testing companies' racket was not bad enough, now a company has a way of detecting when students are not making effort on standardized tests, i.e. when they are just doing "rapid guessing", i.e. just marking answers to get it over with. Story via The Hechinger Report. Here is a radical suggestion: maybe educational institutions should cut back on their obsession with assessment and multiple choice tests that do not really mean anything.

Rural News

•  The headline pretty much says it all: "21 states have no local newspaper with dedicated reporter to cover their representatives and senators in D.C." Story via The Rural Blog.Not that newspapers overall get read that much anyhow, but there you have it. They can barely keep track of the shenanigans in D.C.

Health and Medical News

•  This week, another story of seniors not being able to afford their prescriptions, so they are skimping or outright just not taking their needed medications, this time out of Oregon. Story via Public News Service.

Meanwhile back in the US colony

•  Two years later, Puerto Rico is still struggling to recuperate from Hurricane Maria. Story via Mother Jones.

The Bad Economy  Around the World

•  I always pay attention to economic news out of the African continent, specially ones about foreign investors because often they  just reflect a new version of the big colonial game. This time, we have news that Japan is one of the top investors to expand solar power there. From the story, "Mitsubishi joins a host of top investors, including European power utilities, that are exploring off-grid technology as a way of expanding their exposure to renewables and tapping new pools of customers." Story via African Stand.

In Other News of the Bad Economy

•  The Atlantic has an expose article on the immigrants in the United States who really do the meatpacking. The article is by Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. Here is one of the article's quotes by the author: "Over the years, I’ve spent time with countless farmworkers and meatpacking workers who entered the United States without proper documentation. Almost all of them were hardworking and deeply religious. They had taken enormous risks and suffered great hardships on behalf of their families. Today workers like them are the bedrock of our food system. And they are now being scapegoated, hunted down, and terrorized at the direction of a president who inherited about $400 million from his father, watches television all day, and employs undocumented immigrants at his golf resorts." A hat tip to Food Politics blog. On a side note, I read Fast Food Nation a while back; no review on the blog since I did it before I started reviewing books formally.
• Inc. noticed that Facebook did a subtle change that could suggest they may (or not) charge for their social media site down the road. So naturally the magazine asked "would you pay for Facebook?" After a laugh, I said fuck no, which I get the impression many would also say. As I have said before, were it not for the fact I have some family there that are not likely to move elsewhere if I move, plus the fact my library has a Facebook page I help maintain, I would have deleted Facebook a long time ago. Who knows? Day can still come I do delete them and forget them. 
• So a question for readers out there: would YOU pay for Facebook if they decided to start charging you for it? Even if, maybe for example, they charge and you get no advertising.
• Meanwhile, Google is yet again shutting down another product that does relatively well because, well, fuck you, because they can mostly. By their own admission, "While Hire has been successful, we're focusing our resources on other products in the Google Cloud portfolio." Story via UPI. For me, I am reminded of when they shut down Google Reader, which was a good product, but again, they were "focusing [their] resources on other products. . . ". Hire was basically one of those things Google bought with other products of a small start up, and I guess now they are done playing with it, so shut it down. Oh well. 

Hustlin' in the Bad Economy

•  "Hustlin' in the Bad Economy" is meant to highlight folks who have to get creative somehow to make a buck in the bad economy. So this story, via HBS Working Knowledge, about influencers in the beauty market would qualify. However, I have mixed feelings since, to be honest, I find the whole "influencer" stuff  (not just for makeup, but for just about anything) on YouTube and Instagram to be mostly a crock. But hey, you gotta give the devil their credit, if they can make something more than just getting some product for compensation and exposure, if they can actually make a buck or two, hey, that is hustlin' in the bad economy. The article does note the brands do pay (no specifics on numbers, i.e. what they would pay an individual, but they do mention how much is spent overall). By the way, in the case of this makeup and beauty market, it is mainly a women's market, and a powerful market it is if you look at the numbers.

Hold My Beer (Serious fuckery in the bad economy)

• And in some more tech company fuckery, Amazon is opening one of their retail stores right across the street from the venerable and independent Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN. Story via LitHub. Why? Again, because fuck them and fuck you, that is why. 

Uber Rich

• P.Z. Myers of Pharyngula sums up well the issue of relying on the uber rich for funding good things like education, science research, and services.  This is specially evident in places like higher education. He writes in part, "Look around your university. See all those fancy buildings named after well-off alumni? That’s the problem, that we rely on the whims of assholes who inherited or stumbled into or stole great wealth, and they use science as Epstein did, as a cosmetic to cover up their crimes and make themselves look better than they are." This reminds me of the old quote attributed to Balzac, that also serves as the epigraph opening Mario Puzo novel The Godfather: "Behind every great fortune, there is a crime."

Finally, this week we have one of the

Great Debates of Our Time

• Via the BBC, do you dip or smother your food in ketchup? Feel free to comment on this great issue of significance (or anything else in this weeks post).