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One of my long time themes has been that our culture is drifting away from grown-up thinking toward more childish thinking: e.g., Who? Whom? thinking basically depends upon a 6-year-old’s confidence in know who are the Good Guys and who are the Bad Guys?
And now, we are seeing the spread of grown-ups having extremely intense My Favorite Color opinions.
From Complex.com, which is not an Onion/Babylon Bee-like parody site:
Adidas Removes Black History Month Shoe Following Backlash
Mike DeStefanoFEB 01, 2019
Black History Month collections from major sneaker brands like Nike and Adidas have become rather commonplace over the past few years. … One such model slated to release from Adidas this year has been withdrawn from the collection amid backlash.
Official Look at the adidas Ultra Boost “Celebrating Black Culture” releasing soon pic.twitter.com/DIiFOKEELT
— JustFreshKicks (@JustFreshKicks) January 20, 2019
The design in question was dubbed the “Celebrating Black Culture” Ultra Boost Uncaged. It featured a cream white upper devoid of any of the usual colors and patterns usually seen on many “BHM” releases.
In other words, it’s an all white shoe.
… When images of the pair first surfaced last month, social media users expressed confusion over how the shoe’s design represented its supposed theme.
Sooooo…. “Black Culture” huh? Explain where the culture of black/African is represented here by an all white shoe? I need answers.
Following the backlash, Adidas has decided to remove the pair from this year’s “Black History Month” collection.
… “Toward the latter stages of the design process, we added a running shoe to the collection that we later felt did not reflect the spirit or philosophy of how adidas believes we should recognize and honor Black History Month. After careful consideration, we have decided to withdraw the product from the collection.”
In other news, the NFL has banned former star Billie “White Shoes” Johnson from talking to schoolchildren during Black History Month:
Just before announcing this decision, NFL supremo Roger Goodell asked his speechwriter for a little more amplification to use in his press conference.
“Sorry, boss, this is what they pay you the big bucks for,” replied the flack, holding up his hands.
Guys.
I can’t believe I need to say this.
But animals with white fur are not the “white people” of animals.
They’re just animals. pic.twitter.com/KdZM9gPwcX
— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) July 22, 2019
Gotta wonder if the Nike analysts deduced that even this kind of brand attention somehow ultimately translates into more sales.
Black folks must remove their white teeth. Or paint them black.
Just keep the shoes and call them a salute to WHITE culture. Problem solved,er,right?
I don’t think that there’s a truly African-inspired shoe style. Barefoot was probably the norm.
African footwear, even sandals, likely resulted from trade with predatory, European shoe salesmen.
When the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, then an unknown, entered the Olympic stadium in Rome in 1960 to run the final lap and win the marathon, there was a collective gasp as people noticed that he was running barefoot. In Tokyo, in 1964, when he won the marathon gold a second time, he was wearing shoes.In the 1980s, white South African middle-distance runner Zola Budd would run barefoot. Apparently, some white South Africans walk around barefoot. I know some rural Australians do.
Might I suggest some Bruno Maglis?
The childishness on display here is not so much the kerfuffle over the Melville-esque Whiteness of the Sneaker, it’s in the valorization of sneakers — which are, let’s face it, when off the athletic field, a kind of children’s clothing — as if they were serious objects, and associating them with some sort of ponderous fulminating about somebody’s sacred history. It’s as if there were a special-edition Mr. Potato Head issued to commemorate the 1916 Easter rebellion in Dublin.
If I were black I’d be pissed off not that the sneaker was the wrong color, but that my culture was being trivialized through an association with something so paltry and teenage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu8TqmC4lQc
Maybe this is a dog whistle by Adidas for their black customers to act more like YT!
Hey, they’re pretty comfortable on and off the field. They might even save lives.
https://youtu.be/B1JpOSz4lnI
Bad example, as it just shows that even wokeness doesn’t result in black/white-blindness – any claims to the contrary notwithstanding.
There was a better one in the NYRB (last year, I think). That article dwelt on shades of black – specifically “blue black” – and their representation in art. (“Blue black” = West African black, as opposed to East African black. Which reminds me that Leni Riefenstahl’s post-WWII African photographic subjects were from East/Northeast Africa, just like everybody’s favorite mixed-race politician’s black parent.)
So be careful in applying the Pantone palette to different segments of the totem pole.
Why do you think Blacks wear grills?
How much longer until some white genius (or sociopath) starts selling jars of his magic dirt on Twitter? That gamer girl sold her bathwater and made a killing. Seems like an idea waiting to happen in this climate.
A while ago I was looking at tuxedos, I went with a black tux, but I looked at some white ones, they looked good on the black models. White can look classy with black skin, I bet there would have been a lot of back guys who would have liked those all white shoes.
My guess is that someone at Adidas had had enough and put out the shoe as a joke. They should release them again next June during Pride Month and shame anyone who complains for their Philistine aesthetics.
There’s some African guy who has a web page up about how “barefoot African” is a stereotype. He’s posted two pictures of century-old Arabic sandals as an attempt at refutation. But he’s also got this delightful picture of kids in the Congo.
When the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, then an unknown, entered the Olympic stadium in Rome in 1960 to run the final lap and win the marathon, there was a collective gasp as people noticed that he was running barefoot. In Tokyo, in 1964, when he won the marathon gold a second time, he was wearing shoes.
In the 1980s, white South African middle-distance runner Zola Budd would run barefoot. Apparently, some white South Africans walk around barefoot. I know some rural Australians do.
It was a safety issue.
This gives problems for YT with large feet though. Blisters and sprained toes and cracking skin, oh my.
It's sad that nowadays one can't even walk barefoot in the park due to needles or weird insects out for good blood poisoning.
Speaking of weird insects:
Here comes the Obama Worm (named after the Brazilian Tupi words for leaf (oba) and animal (ma) ... how weird)
Time for bioweapons research to make itself useful for once.
Indeed, the standard African footwear is a pair of flip flops cut from an old car tire. So Michelin, Goodyear or Bridgestone are the unacknowledged brand leaders in Africa.
Across the U. S. A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californi-a
You'd seem 'em wearing their baggies
Huarache sandals too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U. S. A.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIonJttg-jU
That’s why they get “grills” and/or replace all their “teef” with gold.
Why do so many black guys favor the gangsta uniform, consisting of an oversized spotless white T-shirt?
When the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, then an unknown, entered the Olympic stadium in Rome in 1960 to run the final lap and win the marathon, there was a collective gasp as people noticed that he was running barefoot. In Tokyo, in 1964, when he won the marathon gold a second time, he was wearing shoes.In the 1980s, white South African middle-distance runner Zola Budd would run barefoot. Apparently, some white South Africans walk around barefoot. I know some rural Australians do.
If I could get away with being barefoot all of the time I’d do it in a second. Unfortunately, it’s too painful because of all of the debris out there. I used to wear those $0.99 flip flops that you could get at Thrifty Drugs all summer long.
Don’t you mean ‘Blacklash’ ?
When the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, then an unknown, entered the Olympic stadium in Rome in 1960 to run the final lap and win the marathon, there was a collective gasp as people noticed that he was running barefoot. In Tokyo, in 1964, when he won the marathon gold a second time, he was wearing shoes.In the 1980s, white South African middle-distance runner Zola Budd would run barefoot. Apparently, some white South Africans walk around barefoot. I know some rural Australians do.
They look so very happy, there in their homeland. I’m just sure there’s a lesson in that for everyone, but I’ll be danged if I can figure out what it might be.
If I were black I'd be pissed off not that the sneaker was the wrong color, but that my culture was being trivialized through an association with something so paltry and teenage.
ROFL! …. Of course, the Internet would deliver…
Would you believe, that most famous of all precious metals looks better on dark skin too? I mentioned this to a black friend once (she was modeling jewelry) and our relationship was never the same again.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4f/b1/a0/4fb1a0ef83d55af295980ea6c39f095e--ashanti-people-africa-people.jpg
Paulie Walnuts on The Sopranos always wore white shoes.
When the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, then an unknown, entered the Olympic stadium in Rome in 1960 to run the final lap and win the marathon, there was a collective gasp as people noticed that he was running barefoot. In Tokyo, in 1964, when he won the marathon gold a second time, he was wearing shoes.In the 1980s, white South African middle-distance runner Zola Budd would run barefoot. Apparently, some white South Africans walk around barefoot. I know some rural Australians do.
In Honolulu in the 1960s, “flip flops” (I forget what we called them then) were banned from school. But coming barefoot was fine.
It was a safety issue.
So Adidas now joins the ranks of white shoe firms?
https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/white-shoe-firm-definition-meaning/
Not surprisingly, gold was big on the Gold Coast.
Steezers do likewise. They’re called huaraches.
If everybody had an ocean
Across the U. S. A.
Then everybody’d be surfin’
Like Californi-a
You’d seem ’em wearing their baggies
Huarache sandals too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin’ U. S. A.
The skankier the creature the whiter the trainers/sneakers is my contribution to people watching in the UK.
It won’t be serious until the surviving members of Run-DMC apologize for their racist hit “My Adidas”.
Across the U. S. A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californi-a
You'd seem 'em wearing their baggies
Huarache sandals too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U. S. A.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIonJttg-jU
Well I learn something new every day!
https://twitter.com/LordoftheFrogs5/status/1153873178311233537
The other day I read in a BBC article that the white spacesuits of the Apollo astronauts were ‘not inclusive’.
I’m sure that there were profound technical reasons for the white color of the spacesuits.
This from NASA's site..
Why are EVA suits white?
Astronauts use white spacesuits when they go on spacewalks to do work outside the space shuttle or International Space Station. White was chosen for a few reasons. One of the most important reasons is that white reflects heat so that the astronaut doesn't get too warm. Astronauts can get too cold as well, but that is usually in their hands. Therefore, the spacesuits have heaters in their gloves.
Another reason spacewalkers use white spacesuits is that white is visible against the black background of space, so other astronauts can easily see the spacewalker. In addition, since spacewalking astronauts always go out in pairs, one of the suits always has red stripes in four places so the other astronauts can tell one spacewalker from the other.
Inside the spaceship, astronauts get to wear clothes more like those you wear every day, and they can even help pick the colors.
This is why TWGH will only wear silver or dark grey watches.
Also, white shoes and socks are a horrible look for anyone.
Sneakers were and probably still are important status symbols in black communities. Because they could be a little spendy, but nowhere near what a car costs, which would be out of reach to many.
White shoes are especially difficult to keep clean, for obvious reasons.
I misread the title of this post as “The Increasing Childlessness of Woke Thinking.” It was on my mind because of this:
Six Figure Deal for Economist Claudia Goldin, Princeton University Press
https://blog.press.princeton.edu/2019/07/16/six-figure-deal-for-economist-claudia-goldin-jill-kneerim-princeton-university-press/
Does she have children? That often offers insight into the gender earnings gap.
Wikipedia says … 73-year-old childless spinster.
But! Her sometimes collalborator, 59-year-old Harvard economics professor Lawrence Katz is her “personal as well as research partner.” Wiki has nothing about children or prior spouses for Katz. More weirdness in academic romance (vd. Hay). You’d think Katz could score a nubile 45-year-old. Or even a IVF-certified 40-year-old.
So, 73-year-old childless spinster who has a weird relationship with childless bachelor 14 years her junior had insights into why women get paid less than men, overall average (not for the same job). I’m sure her insights are fascinating.
Speaking for myself, I can attest that my own, intuitive grasp of trigonometry was stunted by the ready availability of Texas Instruments graphing calculators in my early 90s high school trig class.
Arab community backlash forces out BurgerIM franchise for ties to Israel
“One of my long time themes has been that our culture is drifting away from grown-up thinking toward more childish thinking: e.g., Who? Whom? thinking basically depends upon a 6-year-old’s confidence in know who are the Good Guys and who are the Bad Guys?”
For those who may not be quite persuaded that this assertion is correct, think about the wild popularity of comic books among adults. Think about the hundreds of millions of dollars Hollywood spends making movies and TV shows based on comic books. Think about the comic book gatherings that draw fans in the tens of thousands. Think about colleges creating courses to teach the value of comic books. Think about Neocons like Jonah Goldberg promoting comic books and films made from them as a key part of focusing on pop culture to learn how ‘conservatives’ should live and think.
Then think about old time racist/sexist TV – say, The Andy Griffith Show and Leave it to Beaver – in which comic books are linked directly to younger boys and the immature and those with lower IQ.
What happened between the two time periods? Liberalism won total control of every aspect of society.
If I were black I'd be pissed off not that the sneaker was the wrong color, but that my culture was being trivialized through an association with something so paltry and teenage.
In the community that this sneaker is marketed to, they shoot each other over these shoes.
Maybe this is a dog whistle by Adidas for their black customers to act more like YT!
You’d think the left getting dumber would be a good thing for the right, but that doesn’t seem to be the case…a manifestation of one of democracy’s failings (though I’m not anti-democracy like some white advocates.) Dumb ideas are also gaining traction because the center left is afraid to distance itself from the far left (mostly because both the far left and dumb ideas have deep roots in black America.) This is true both politically and socially.
Regardless, I like it when feigned social justice efforts from business fail. Business has latched onto this type of morality because it’s a facile morality that’s easily entered into and backed away from. (Back in the 90’s, Adidas made shoes in sweat shops. Now they’re saints.) It’s fun seeing big business jump through hoops for today’s most powerful priestly class – the far left – but you have to wonder how long it can last.
What about Uncaged? No issues with that?
The shoes had to go…
White tops oppressing black soles.
Apparently teeth blackening is a tradition in East Asia?
A new market opens!
Next: Pupil blueing as if you were a Fremen of Dune.
The above wikipedia link via:
The Lady who Loved Insects
via
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: A New Kind of Action Hero (this is not the german Umlaut, but the sound-extension Umlaut btw)
which contains this interesting anecdote:
When the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, then an unknown, entered the Olympic stadium in Rome in 1960 to run the final lap and win the marathon, there was a collective gasp as people noticed that he was running barefoot. In Tokyo, in 1964, when he won the marathon gold a second time, he was wearing shoes.In the 1980s, white South African middle-distance runner Zola Budd would run barefoot. Apparently, some white South Africans walk around barefoot. I know some rural Australians do.
Martial arts is always barefoot, and there is a reason for that.
This gives problems for YT with large feet though. Blisters and sprained toes and cracking skin, oh my.
It’s sad that nowadays one can’t even walk barefoot in the park due to needles or weird insects out for good blood poisoning.
Speaking of weird insects:
Here comes the Obama Worm (named after the Brazilian Tupi words for leaf (oba) and animal (ma) … how weird)
Time for bioweapons research to make itself useful for once.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu8TqmC4lQc
Maybe this is a dog whistle by Adidas for their black customers to act more like YT!
Adidas is a shorthand for “a did his ass”, so no, that’s not it.
https://youtu.be/ZiXT3osysjQ
Sorry to be a nomenclature nazi, but the proper word is “teefis”.
It was a safety issue.
The name for flip flops among cullut folks when I was a kid was “Go ‘heads”, because if you tried to walk backwards in them, they came off.
I suppose that’s why we can’t cruise around on these either, because racism or something:
If I were black I'd be pissed off not that the sneaker was the wrong color, but that my culture was being trivialized through an association with something so paltry and teenage.
LOL
This is merely a continuation of the temper tantrum begun in the Sixties by dumb-ass college students and other miscreants and is being perpetuated by their offspring, actual and philosophical.
It was a safety issue.
Isn’t Hawaiian Pidgin for sandals/flip flops “Slippah(s)” (slippers)?
The politics of shoes would have made a decent recurring story arc on Married . . . with Children.
I'm sure that there were profound technical reasons for the white color of the spacesuits.
Hardly profound and certainly not racist…But people will always try and find a race angle to anything. And I mean anything.
This from NASA’s site..
Why are EVA suits white?
Astronauts use white spacesuits when they go on spacewalks to do work outside the space shuttle or International Space Station. White was chosen for a few reasons. One of the most important reasons is that white reflects heat so that the astronaut doesn’t get too warm. Astronauts can get too cold as well, but that is usually in their hands. Therefore, the spacesuits have heaters in their gloves.
Another reason spacewalkers use white spacesuits is that white is visible against the black background of space, so other astronauts can easily see the spacewalker. In addition, since spacewalking astronauts always go out in pairs, one of the suits always has red stripes in four places so the other astronauts can tell one spacewalker from the other.
Inside the spaceship, astronauts get to wear clothes more like those you wear every day, and they can even help pick the colors.
I still do. They’re 98 cents at Walmart and I have them on right now. In fact, I’ll wear them on 3 miles walks and feel great.
I remember the days when the sneakers I got were whatever was on sale at JCPenney. The black guys called them “Bubble Gums”.
If I were black I'd be pissed off not that the sneaker was the wrong color, but that my culture was being trivialized through an association with something so paltry and teenage.
“let’s face it, when off the athletic field, a kind of children’s clothing[.]”
Hey, they’re pretty comfortable on and off the field. They might even save lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu8TqmC4lQc
Maybe this is a dog whistle by Adidas for their black customers to act more like YT!
The news crew seemed to be slightly enjoying it. They appear well versed in black people killing black people over stupid shit. “Hey, your son was shot to death over a pair of shoes. He died like a bitch in a pool of his own blood crying for God. What do you think of it?”
Do the woke realise that black people are not, literally, black?
This from NASA's site..
Why are EVA suits white?
Astronauts use white spacesuits when they go on spacewalks to do work outside the space shuttle or International Space Station. White was chosen for a few reasons. One of the most important reasons is that white reflects heat so that the astronaut doesn't get too warm. Astronauts can get too cold as well, but that is usually in their hands. Therefore, the spacesuits have heaters in their gloves.
Another reason spacewalkers use white spacesuits is that white is visible against the black background of space, so other astronauts can easily see the spacewalker. In addition, since spacewalking astronauts always go out in pairs, one of the suits always has red stripes in four places so the other astronauts can tell one spacewalker from the other.
Inside the spaceship, astronauts get to wear clothes more like those you wear every day, and they can even help pick the colors.
Geewhiz, maybe when I’m grown up and have a couple of degrees and years of astronaut training I might get to help pick what I wear too!!?
(Yes, Lt. Uhura wore red, but having the privilege of being a bridge bunny means you are spared the fate of dying horribly in an accident in the airlock or during miscommunication with an alien lifeforce)
White men wearing shiny black shoes: cultural appropriation … and guess which boys they made shine them black skins at their feet?
As a person of color, turn me red with embarrassment.
Just don’t choose red.
(Yes, Lt. Uhura wore red, but having the privilege of being a bridge bunny means you are spared the fate of dying horribly in an accident in the airlock or during miscommunication with an alien lifeforce)
When the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, then an unknown, entered the Olympic stadium in Rome in 1960 to run the final lap and win the marathon, there was a collective gasp as people noticed that he was running barefoot. In Tokyo, in 1964, when he won the marathon gold a second time, he was wearing shoes.In the 1980s, white South African middle-distance runner Zola Budd would run barefoot. Apparently, some white South Africans walk around barefoot. I know some rural Australians do.
Absolutely nothing wrong with walking barefoot-in your own home. It’s what I did growing up in Suburban Ontario, and it surely helped my mom with her daily cleaning, because we left the shoes at the door. Plus, it’s more comfortable
There’s money in them Nikes, racist or not.
Wow, is that your ‘friend’? Impressed.
It’s rather doubtful that it resulted in any more sales, but the executives probably don’t even care. In the age of QE, you don’t need sales (Tesla); you don’t need profits (Amazon); you don’t even need a product (Facebook). All you need is political connections and the ability to borrow below the market rate of interest. Everything you need to know about the true state of the economy can be summed up in the astonishing fact that some $12 trillion of sovereign debt is trading at negative yields. They’re all zombies now.
I should have clarified, perhaps. I was referring to South Africans and rural Australians being barefoot when away from their homes, like at the supermarket.
Not in Bakersfield….
It might make them look bigger. Like a bird puffing out its feathers. Also, might make hiding guns a bit easier as well. The “bulge” of a 1996 Glock 9mm isn’t as notable compared to someone wearing spandex.
But having half your ass hanging out is a mystery. It makes running away from rival gangs and cops more difficult.
Rhodium?
Actually, in summer it’s not uncommon to see even an urban Aussie park the car, and get out and enter the nearby store barefoot.
Adidas cannot now reissue the white sneakers for some other phony holiday. That would constitute cultural appropriation.
Could you explain the significance of this?
The interest rate, the price of money, is the primum mobile of the whole financial system. When that is manipulated, there no longer exists a free market in anything. This is followed inevitably by capital misallocation and unpayable debt, all of which will have to be liquidated in a future economic depression.
The act of manipulating interest rates is one method of Financial Repression. The article is a good place to start.
I would enjoy doing so at great length, but the underlying concept is very basic. It means that investors are paying a premium for the privilege of loaning money to the government. Negative yields are obviously something that would never occur in the absence of manipulation. It is confiscatory, and it sends a massively distorted price signal throughout the entire credit market (which is much larger and much more important than the ballyhooed equities market).
The interest rate, the price of money, is the primum mobile of the whole financial system. When that is manipulated, there no longer exists a free market in anything. This is followed inevitably by capital misallocation and unpayable debt, all of which will have to be liquidated in a future economic depression.
The act of manipulating interest rates is one method of Financial Repression. The article is a good place to start.
The interest rate, the price of money, is the primum mobile of the whole financial system. When that is manipulated, there no longer exists a free market in anything. This is followed inevitably by capital misallocation and unpayable debt, all of which will have to be liquidated in a future economic depression.
The act of manipulating interest rates is one method of Financial Repression. The article is a good place to start.
Thank you. Food for thought.
The universe of negative-yielding bonds grew about $1.2 trillion this week after dovish messages from central banks in Europe and the U.S., pushing the total past $13 trillion for the first time.
The financial world is truly upside down, more investors are willing to accept negative returns.
25% of bonds in the world make lenders pay for the privilege of owning them.
The German 10-year government bond yield pushed deeper into subzero territory to trade at a record low negative yield of 33 basis points.
A 100-Year Austrian Bond at 1.2%. What sort of madness is this?
Not only is there some $13 trillion of government debt globally that now carries negative yields, there is also $600 billion of corporate debt. It’s a shift from the start of the year, when there was virtually no negative-yielding corporate debt.
Perhaps this is a bail in by institutional investors to prop up European governments whose ultra-loose monetary policies have turned debt investing into a choice about how to lose the least amount of money.(?)
Perhaps investors are interested in negative yielding (safe?) government bonds fearing larger losses elsewhere in the economy.(?) Hyperinflation? Currency collapse?
I read that a pension fund manager in a European country was told by his regulator not to hold too much cash because it is risky and was told to invest in negative yielding bonds instead.
Is this for real?
Has the fictional economy reached a point where it’s unsustainability and illegitimacy can no longer be ignored?
I’m going to go play in my garden. I have veggies to pick.
Clown world boggles my mind.