Daily Bafflements

• In a past issue of The Baffler, David Graeber asked, where are all the flying cars? This week Elon Musk (he of autopilot electric car fame) expressed ambivalence about the idea: “If the sky was full of cars flying all over the place, it would affect how things look,” he said. “It would affect the skyline. And it would be noisier and there would be a greater probability of something falling on your head. Those are not good things.” But going to Mars? That’s what gets him up in the morning.

• A minimum wage increase is on the ballot in four states next month: Arkansas, Alaska, Nebraska and South Dakota. According to CBS News, “if all four pass, an estimated 419,000 people could benefit from higher wages.” As in previous years, the AFL-CIO is using today (10/10) to push for a federal minimum wage of $10.10.

• In an interview with Capital, Andrew Sullivan (who runs a site supported by reader revenue) rejects the idea that “sponsored content” or “native advertising” could ever be good for news: “Nope. There’s really no way to disguise ads as journalism and not sell your soul. And the word brand is misleading. We’re talking about corporations trying to persuade customers to like them. The only way to do this ethically is really very simple. It would be to put the word ‘advertisement’ clearly on the top of every ‘sponsored content’ page. It tells you a huge amount that these alleged newspapers refuse to do that.”

• Today in Bespoke: Following the discovery of an ancient wooden toilet seat in an excavation side in Northumberland, bespoke toilet seat manufacturers Tosca & Willoughby have pledged their financial support towards its preservation, reports Heritage Daily. The company “will be producing a special edition version of their most popular Thunderbox seat” for the occasion, with proceeds going to the cause.