Signs the economy is bad: September 1, 2015 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.

It has been another crazy week couple of weeks. We had a solar eclipse, and we end it with a hurricane (Hurricane Harvey devastating Houston, and it is not done yet, plus we have Irma gaining strength in the Caribbean). Let's see what has been going on in the bad economy.

• Some items via AlterNet: 
• An interesting piece on how air conditioning, or the lack of it, can be a class divide indicator.
• Being poor is more expensive than you may think, and yes, there is money to be made off the poor.
• And if you think having a full time job will keep you out of poverty, think again. 
• Sadly, we have some Pendejo In Chief news. Turns out his vacations have been so frequent and so lavish he has managed to do what no predecessor has done: put the Secret Service into ruin as they will no longer be able to afford to pay agents to protect him and his family. He is basically bankrupting the agency.
• Starbucks consistently advertises itself as a company that treats its employees well. Well, if you are in the corporate office, probably. If you are front line barista, not so much as seen in their discriminatory parental leave policy. 
• Rural schools continue consolidating at rapid pace. This often has harmful results for local children. I know. I used to teach at one of those mega-consolidated school ages ago, and while you had "options" (bigger sports teams and amenities), learning and teaching were not always optimal. Story via The Daily Yonder.
• If you are a U.S colony, and you maybe want to improve your economy, tourism may be an option. But how do you get more tourists to visit your beautiful island paradise. Well, according to the Pendejo In Chief, getting threats of nuclear bombs should do the trick, which is what he recently told the governor of Guam. Story via The New York Times.
• In college and higher education:
• Amazon is targeting the impulse buying folks. Want a candy bar? If you are at one of the college campuses where Amazon is doing a pilot on pick up spots, you could get it right away. Because having some spare change for a vending machine is apparently too much work for some people. Story via The Christian Science Monitor.  
• Barnes & Noble textbook educational unit is not doing well. Why? Well, in part because students now get their textbooks online, often used. Also, college campuses get their own online options, like we do here on my campus. Another factor, small factor for now, is students using open source textbooks and other less expensive materials. Story via USA Today.
• In fact, there is a new report out saying just that, that students are using more free materials in place of conventional textbooks. Via InfoDocket. 
•  So, let's see what can we blame Millennials for this week? Apparently they are responsible for ending Chuck E. Cheese's animatronic band. Story via Boing Boing.
• In local Kentucky news, the original Logan's Roadhouse restaurant, located in Lexington, closed its doors. The chain was previously based in Kentucky; it is now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Story via Kentucky.com.
• The state of Connecticut is drowning in debt. Story via Reuters. 
• And here is another potential victim of automation: pizza delivery drivers as some companies are testing self-driving cars to deliver pizzas. Story via BBC. 
• Now you may be hearing stories left and right about municipalities taking down Confederate monuments in light of the events in Charlottesville. However, in the bad economy, such little details are not an issue. Turns out the business of making and selling Confederate flags is doing quite well, even booming. Now, some of it is for historical re-enactors, but yes, a big part of sales are for racists and bigots needing flags. Who is gaining from this opportunity? Actually, a lot of those flags are made in China. Story via Reuters. 
• In a bit of a historical note, Argentina's The Buenos Aires Herald, a newspaper that stood up to dictators is a victim of the bad economy. Read about this paper that helped document the Dirty War era other Argentinian newspapers ignored or whitewashed and how in the end changing economic realities drove it to close. Story via The New York Times. 
• And to end, even millionaires are not really feeling it when it comes to the bad economy: 
• Lord Jacob Rothschild and his holdings company are dumping U.S. assets as quick as they can. Story via Counter Current News. 
• And Warren Buffet says the U.S. economy does not really feel like a 3% economy. Find out what that means and why it may be a big deal via USA Today.