As Dollar Stores Proliferate, Some Communities Say No by Michael Corkery

Reporting for The New York Times, Michael Corkery writes about local governments rejecting the incursion of predatory discount shops that underpay employees and strategically drain the local economy, by not only harming competing retailers but also resolutely refusing to keep their revenues in the community. There’s a telling story shared in the article about a Dollar General’s construction in a small town resulting in the purchase of exactly one minor item from the neighboring locally owned hardware store. These businesses are a blight, and they deserve the determined rejection.

Fake Bands, Real Songs: The 50 Best Tunes by Made-Up Musicians by Alan Sepinwall and other Rolling Stone writers

Kinda-sorta inspired by the premiere of a new streaming series about a nineteen-seventies rock band, a team at Rolling Stone cooked up a ranked list of great songs by fictional music acts. It’s a fun exercise, requiring no real commentary in response, save maybe an enthusiastic endorsement of their pick for the top slot. I’m also going to pretend that “Hate the Spot,” the brash punk pounder from Lukas Moodysson’s We Are the Best!, is included in there somewhere, like a hidden track.