Daily Bafflements

• Here is a blog post about a custom T-shirt startup company, presented without comment or context: “Karl Marx Would Have Liked Teespring.” (Via Zachary Davis.)

• Read Baffler blog contributor Alana Massey’s excellent salvo about the hours and hours of creative labor that job searches often require, for no pay. Of her search for a full-time staff writing job, she writes, “I’ve produced more than 30,000 words of original and highly job-specific material without pay in an effort to prove myself a capable and good sport to the handful of companies that have reached back out to me from the black hole of resume inboxes to give me a chance.” Not only that, but job seekers usually have no recourse if their creative work is misused or stolen.

• “Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu is presenting herself as a leading voice for Louisiana on energy issues in the U.S. Capitol,” write Lisa Lerer and Annie Linskey for Bloomberg. But it might be hard to take this seriously, because “Between January 2009 and this week, Landrieu didn’t speak or submit written testimony or questions at almost 70 percent of the energy committee hearings.”

• You’ve probably seen Too Many Cooks, but have you seen Smart Pipe? It’s an Adult Swim infomercial that’s both incredibly disgusting and eminently believable. Be sure to watch the whole thing. You’re welcome!