, October 9, 2014
Daily Bafflements
Photo from a previous Tube strike in London, by CGP Grey
• Today in Labor Strikes: teachers in Texas, Foxconn workers in China, airline cabin crews in New York who fear exposure to Ebola, and (maybe) Tube workers in London next week.
• USA Discounters, a retailer that gained some less than favorable attention this summer for its practice of targeting (and then suing-in-absentia) members of the military with its financing program, has decided to change its name, reports Paul Kiel at ProPublica. The company’s new name is USA Living. Its methods are the same.
• “Why are Teach for America and a Minnesota Billionaire Investing in a Minnesota School Board Race?” asks Sarah Lahm in a piece for In These Times. “The answer may lie in the well-documented, billionaire-led push by education reform proponents to privatize the nation’s public school system.” And Minnesota isn’t alone: similar campaigns have played out in states like Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and New Jersey, to name a few.
• Very Silly Article of the Day, from the inimitable New York Times Style section: “For Luxury Watch Buyers, One Just Isn’t Enough.” Oh no?