Nike

Tuesday

Jennifer Sey

Sports are defying Trump’s trans ban

I was present when President Trump signed the executive order to protect women’s sports. But I knew the fight wasn’t over. In fact, it seems to be getting even uglier.  The American “progressive” faction is digging its heels in to allow men to keep stealing women’s trophies and opportunities – turning hard-won female spaces into political battlegrounds.   This Monday, for the first time, a man ran in the Boston Marathon in the women’s category – and a female athlete who disagreed with his inclusion was sent violent threats, highlighting the farcical state of American athletics.  The rule change means that now it is possible for a man to win the men’s category, the non-binary category and the women’s category.

Thursday

Ross Anderson

Does Nike hate the military?

Nike — named after the Greek goddess of victory — is seemingly too scared to be associated with US armed forces; or more aptly, too frightened to offend someone. Their famous Military Blue sneakers have been renamed: as the “Industrial Blue” Jordan 4. I was watching Nike’s “Jordan Retro Preview” event on the Nike Sneakers app, tempting my urge to buy yet more sneakers (at more than sixty pairs, I desperately need some more). In most ways, it was like every other Sneakers Live stream. There was good releases (the Jordan 1 “Artisanal Red”), some very bad ones (dear God, the green Jordan 1s) and many, many, many more that I expect to see on clearance shelves across America.

nike

Sunday

Amber Duke

Why conservative boycotts should terrify corporations

Nike. Ulta. Bud Light. Anthropologie. Target. My boycott list is growing larger by the day. For the record, I’m pretty darn good at shopping according to my values. I haven’t purchased a single Nike product since the company pulled a planned shoe line featuring the Betsy Ross American flag because anthem-kneeler Colin Kaepernick convinced them it was racist. I quickly pivoted to purchasing Adidas products instead. Well, that is until Adidas started advertising women’s swimsuits using male models. Sigh. This boycotting business can be tough, especially when it means forgoing otherwise quality products or paying a higher price for alternatives.

boycotts

Wednesday

Ross Anderson

The $1,250 ‘replica’ Jordans that are better than the real thing

These shoes aren’t real. They’re not NFTs or AI-generated. They’re actual shoes. They look like Nikes but, for the most part, they weren’t made by Nike. They’re the work of Hvnd Studio, a small team of Korean cobblers who work in a legally-dubious cottage industry, recreating the original, 1985 Jordan 1 with top-quality leather and classic techniques. They’re fakes. They’re beautiful. And they cost $1,250. If Nike is the sneaker brand, then the 1985 Jordan 1 is the sneaker. It’s a classic of twentieth-century product and a pop-culture icon, tied to the mythos of Michael Jordan. These days, an unworn original pair with its box can sell for more than $20,000. Adding to the allure is the shoe’s messy path to cultural reverence.

hvnd jordans

Sunday

Michael R. Auslin

Ending our corporate dependence on China

In the toxic world of American politics, the bipartisanship showed by the House of Representatives last week in overwhelmingly passing a bill to stop the import of Chinese products made with forced labor from Xinjiang is a rarity. The 428-1 vote on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the second in as many years, is the clearest indicator yet of how a new era in American relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is developing. It's one where national security and moral concerns find common ground in opposing the oppressive and predatory policies of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

taiwan china

Tuesday

Daniel McCarthy

This riot is brought to you by Nike

In Chicago last weekend 82 people were shot, 22 of them fatally. Between May 2019 and late May 2020, homicide claimed the lives of over 300 black men in the city. That’s not a police brutality problem, that’s a problem of insufficient police power being deployed to stop violent criminals. If the death of one man, George Floyd, while under arrest in Minneapolis is cause for nationwide protests, why don’t the deaths of hundreds of George Floyds every year prick the conscience of protesters that much more?Better yet, why don’t the antifa kids who are mighty bold with the police go and toss bricks at the gangbangers in Chicago? Because unlike the police, the gangs will shoot them dead.

nike

Tuesday

Jacob Heilbrunn

Michael Avenatti’s delusions of grandeur

His fans are relieved. He’s getting off scot-free. I’m referring of course to Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor whose charges were dropped today in Chicago. It’s a good week if you’re in the crosshairs of the law — unless, of course, you’re Michael Avenatti, the quondam lawyer for Stormy Daniels who got busted, if that’s the appropriate word, for trying to shake down Nike for a cool $25 million. In Greek, Nike means ‘victory’ but Avenatti looks to be going down to a nasty defeat. The slick talking lawyer had delusions of grandeur all along, reckoning first that he could bring down Trump with a lawsuit, then viewing himself as presidential timber. He’s the one that got felled by law enforcement.

’michael avenatti’s