Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Everybody saw this coming.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

The willow is too close to the house.

People are complicated. Love is not.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Social Marketing Open Thread: Nike for Kaepernick

Social Marketing Open Thread: Nike for Kaepernick

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Sportswriter Sally Jenkins, at the Washington Post — “Nike knows the future looks something like Colin Kaepernick”:

Kicks have always been political, and Nike has always sought to capture new generations with its use of intense color. This is a company that built itself on chroma-fluorescent blues and acetate volt greens. The Colin Kaepernick campaign falls in that category: It’s a transactional piece of advertising that seeks to hook into the vanguard yearnings and values of its buyers by using a surprising hue. If the campaign is important, it’s not as an act of corporate conscience, but rather as a reflection of coming American demographics, which Nike is always so good at identifying and signifying.

Burning shoes and flaming hashtags are not unwelcome at Nike. The viral images of swooshes on fire won’t bother the marketers who decided to use Kaepernick one bit. This is a company that has been losing ground to Vans and for the first time in a decade didn’t have the most popular shoe in America in 2017, surpassed by Adidas Superstar. What Nike always has been best at is staying ahead, and the risk of employing Kaepernick in a campaign is nothing compared with what it risks by falling behind. Here’s why:

Millennials, those Americans between the ages of 22 and 37, are projected to surpass baby boomers as the nation’s largest living adult generation in 2019, and fully 44 percent of them are of some race other than white. For post-millennials, that number rises to 48 percent, and for post-post-millennials (American children under age 10), it grows to more than 50 percent.

These Americans are “very different than earlier generations” in a variety of ways, according to demographer William Frey, author of “Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics Are Remaking America.” They are more prone to interracial marrying, friendlier to immigration and often want their consumption to have a social component. If Nike is willing to offend its graying buyers in order to court these multiple generations with a racial justice campaign, “it’s a good bet that a lot of younger people will be attracted and go along with that,” Frey said.

Andrew McCaskill, senior vice president of global communications at Nielsen, puts these demographics in stark business terms. “If you don’t have a multicultural strategy, you don’t have a growth strategy,” he says…

Nike’s mentions on social media skyrocketed after news of the Kaepernick ad broke. In 24 hours, there were more than 2.7 million references to the brand, according to the analytic firm Talkwalker. And Kaepernick is just one small piece of what is apparently a much larger millennials strategy: Last year, CEO Mark Parker announced a new 12-city drive, as the company tries to become once again an entity that “obsesses the needs of the evolving consumer.” Among the target cities are Mexico City, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul and Milan, and the company projects 80 percent of its projected growth will come from metropolitan areas. Why? Because that’s where diverse, high-earning, younger people live…

No wonder Trump’s True Heartlanders(tm) are upset — the Great Commerce God has spoken, and its decree is: You rubes are no longer worth our attention.



Jelani Cobb, in the New Yorker:

… Improbably, Colin Kaepernick’s social stature has only grown since his departure from the N.F.L. Last year, he was named GQ’s Citizen of the Year, and, in April, he won Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award. During a time in which he never set foot on the field, his No. 7 jersey outsold those of most active players. Last week, Kaepernick and Eric Reid, his former teammate, who participated in the initial protest with him, and who is also no longer in the league, received an ovation when they attended the U.S. Open. Serena Williams, who was playing her sister Venus at the time, said at a press conference after the game, “I think every athlete, every human, and definitely every African-American should be completely grateful and honored how Colin and Eric are doing so much more for the greater good.” Williams, a woman who has had to face racist and sexist attacks throughout her career, is also featured in the Nike campaign, as is LeBron James, the best basketball player in the world and a man whose intelligence the President of the United States has publicly insulted.

There was once a firewall that, at least in the eyes of the public, divided black athletes from the concerns of being black in the United States. That seemed to be how Michael Jordan felt, and also Charles Barkley, who, in 1993, during the siege years of crack and AIDS, said in a Nike ad that he was “not a role model.” That separation is no longer possible. The shoe burners feel that Nike has elevated a man of questionable motives and suspect patriotism. But their point is undermined by a different set of images and videos, detailing the final moments of Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and the nameless others who have died in similar circumstances. Nike gambled that a greater portion of the world understands where Kaepernick is coming from. At best, giants simply live up to expectations. Heroes need only live to tell the tale.

Reader Interactions

174Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    “It probably won’t take long for us to find out who wrote it,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said almost gleefully as she responded to a question about the bombshell New York Times op-ed at her weekly news conference.

    “The vice president — that was my first thought. Then Coats, Pompeo, they denied that they had written it,” she said, referring to Trump’s director of national intelligence and secretary of state. “I guess by process of elimination, it’ll come down to the butler.”

    Nancy Pelosi is a wicked wicked woman. And we wouldn’t have her any other way.

  6. 6.

    Barbara

    @Annie: LeBron James does things that make you wonder if you actually saw what you saw, and leaves you asking, “how did he do that?” I think Curry is great and really entertaining and fun to watch, mind you, but James is on a level that is not matched by anybody I have ever seen.

  7. 7.

    TenguPhule

    House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) told reporters he viewed the author as “a person who is obviously living in dishonesty.”

    “It doesn’t help the president, so if you’re not interested in helping the president, you shouldn’t work for the president as far as I’m concerned,” Ryan said.

    Precedent now set for purging all Republicans out of the Federal Government.

    It’s the Biden Ryan Rule.

  10. 10.

    Major Major Major Major

    So far, we’ve gotten Nike, Keurig, Harley, Levi’s, Hollywood, football and most celebrities.

    They’ve landed Scott Baio and Papa Johns.

    This is the best divorce mediation ever.

    Any way we can convince them to take Keurig though?

    @Baud: the forces that give liberals taste and spending money (education, cities, and minorities basically) are closely tied to things that our government is awesome at disenfranchising.

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    @schrodingers_cat: Trump makes a really really shitty Poirot. His detective abilities are more along the lines of Captain Queeg trying to solve the mystery of the missing strawberries.

  12. 12.

    TenguPhule

    The subject came up in Trump’s interview with the Daily Caller on Tuesday.

    “Do you think you’re going to be declassifying the FISA documents that have been targeting your campaign?” he was asked by the site’s Vince Coglianese and Saagar Enjeti.

    Trump’s reply was not direct.

    “Well, we’re looking at it very seriously right now because the things that have gone on are so bad, so bad. I mean they were surveilling my campaign. If that happened on the other foot, they would’ve considered that treasonous. They would’ve considered that spying at the highest level. Can you imagine if we were doing that to Obama instead of Obama and his people doing that to us? Everybody would’ve been in jail for the next 500 years. Okay? Can you believe it, where they paid this guy millions of dollars, it turned out? If you look at all of the things that are happening.”

    wut.

  15. 15.

    Kathleen

    Friday night I watched Fists of Freedom, the HBO documentary about Tommy Smith and John Carlos and the 1968 Olympics. Like all HBO sports documentaries, the producers and writers put sports in the context of history and culture of the times. Their story is the prequel to Kaepernick’s .

    Here’s a link to a summary of the film and where you can access it. The film enraged me and uplifted me at the same time.

    https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Exclusive-HBO-Sports-Documentary-Fists-of-Freedom-The-Story-of-the-68-Summer-Games-To-Receive-Special-Encore-Presentation-20180712
    John Legend wants to produce a movie about it.

    I also recommend another stellar HBO doc – Breaking The Huddle, about the integration of the SEC. That is available for purchase on Amazon. This is one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen and I don’t even like college football.

  21. 21.

    lamh36

    Evening peeps…the countdown to London has already begun!

    This time next week…I’ll be in jolly ole England…GAH!

    I’ve got work, and then class up until the day before I fly out…so I’m doing some last minute checklist type stuff.

    So with that in mind, expect me to pick ya’lls brains from here until travel day…in whichever various open threads I see.

    Tonight’s first inquiry…airport travel…

    If ya didn’t know, Australia was only my 2nd international flight. This trip to London be my very first SOLO overseas trip (I mean I travelled to Hawaii solo, which as we know, isn’t international. Part of the Australia trip was solo, the days in Sydney, but I didn’t need to navigate any international travel issue)…so I’m crossing my T’s and dotting my I’s.My flight leave from NOLA to ATL. Then ATL to London (6:08pm to 7:20am)…what do I need to know about the international part? At ATL is there a seperate international part like LA? Or is it just on the other side of the airport? I’m flying Delta for both flights, so at least there is no airline transfer…

    I know I don’t need a VISA, just my passport, but should I bring any other documents?

  23. 23.

    lamh36

    @lamh36: Stilll working with the airport angle…any advice on navigating Heathrow airport? At least I won’t have to worry about language…

    .My flight arrives really early, so I have time to kill before it’s even close to check it. I figured I could ride the tube station to the hotel, and eat up an hour…I’ve already looked at the route, and I have to change at least once…but I read that it’s best to navigate outside of the busy hours (after 9:30 am)…my flight arrives at 7:20am…that’s almost 6 hrs before I want to even try for a early check in…luckily the hotel do let you stow ur bags, so I’d plan to explore a little and return to check in

  26. 26.

    lahke

    @Barbara: So in 1999, I’m in eastern Turkey for the solar eclipse, and on entering the market our group is surrounded by a bunch of local residents, one of whom is wearing a Chicago Bulls cap. “Ah, Michael Jordan?” we ask. “No, no!” he replies. “Scottie Pippen!”

  28. 28.

    geg6

    @Kathleen:

    Saw both, too. Second your recommendation. I remember the moment with Smith and Carlos at the Olympics. It was an amazing moment that even I, a 10 year old at the time, was shocked by even though I didn’t completely understand. Not long after, I understood what a brave act it was.

  31. 31.

    Adam L Silverman

    This, from the WaPo article is very important:

    Millennials, those Americans between the ages of 22 and 37, are projected to surpass baby boomers as the nation’s largest living adult generation in 2019, and fully 44 percent of them are of some race other than white. For post-millennials, that number rises to 48 percent, and for post-post-millennials (American children under age 10), it grows to more than 50 percent.

    These Americans are “very different than earlier generations” in a variety of ways, according to demographer William Frey, author of “Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics Are Remaking America.” They are more prone to interracial marrying, friendlier to immigration and often want their consumption to have a social component. If Nike is willing to offend its graying buyers in order to court these multiple generations with a racial justice campaign, “it’s a good bet that a lot of younger people will be attracted and go along with that,” Frey said.

    Andrew McCaskill, senior vice president of global communications at Nielsen, puts these demographics in stark business terms. “If you don’t have a multicultural strategy, you don’t have a growth strategy,” he says.

    It is important in this way:
    https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151031_art009.pdf

    Civic action is not the construction of privies or the distribution of antimalarial sprays. One can’t fight an
    ideology; one can’t fight a militant doctrine with better privies. Yet this is done constantly. One side says, “land reform,” and the other side says, “better culverts.” One side says, “We are going to kill all those nasty village chiefs and landlords.” The other side says, “Yes, but look, we want to give you prize pigs to improve your strain.” These arguments just do not match. Simple but adequate appeals will have to be found sooner or later.

  32. 32.

    Elizabelle

    @TenguPhule: And — Nancy Pelosi is on the cover of Time Magazine. About damn time.

    Karen Tumulty, WaPost:

    It’s about Time, and it’s about time.

    For all the barriers she has broken, for all the passion she incites on both sides, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has never until today managed to do one thing: make the cover of a national newsmagazine. (Though Ms. magazine featured her on theirs in 2011 as “The Woman TIME & NEWSWEEK Won’t Put on Their Covers.”)

    Finally, Time has put her there, with a headline that says, appropriately enough: The persistence of Nancy Pelosi.

  35. 35.

    Emma

    @lamh36: Heathrow is gigantic but well organized. If you’re taking the train into the city, follow the signs. If you want to have the cab experience, or if you land at the same time as seven planes coming from the Far East (personal experience), locate the nearest cab stand. Pricy but worth it. Unless the rules have changed, all you need is your passport. The equivalent of the TSA are so far advanced in training and ability that it took me five minutes to realize I had been questioned and my luggage searched as thoroughly as possible without a cavity check. On the way back home, stay away from the Heathrow electronic shops but they have fantastic bookstores.

  37. 37.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36: This is a bizarre suggestion, but make a copy of your passport page and hand that over to the hotel clerk.

    I say that because a friend recently lost her US passport, and her working credentials, while checking into a hotel. She thinks the guy wasn’t necessarily a crook, but didn’t want to admit his mistake, so he just stonewalled. And she never got her documents back, and had to deal with the consulate for a temporary passport so she could even get on a plane out of Spain, where it happened.

    My friend is very well traveled, but she was checking in with a group of friends and it was both chaotic and she was not paying as much attention as one would, solo.

    Hand over the copy, and have your original passport on hand, but do not hand it over.

  38. 38.

    lahke

    @Emma: Just make sure that your return trip to Heathrow is during the hours that the Tube goes out there (it stopped pretty early when I was there last). Having to take a cab when you don’t expect the expense is a bummer.

  39. 39.

    gene108

    On a similar note. Will the Mouse and His minions be far behind?

    Warner Bros has become the first major Hollywood studio to adopt a company-wide policy meant to increase diversity on and off screen, expanding the “inclusion rider” concept popularized by actor Frances McDormand earlier this year.

    The initiative announced on Wednesday, which will also apply to sister companies HBO and Turner, will begin with Just Mercy, a film starring Michael B Jordan, who was one of the first actors to commit to the idea in March. Inclusion riders are provisions that actors and others in the industry can add to their contracts to stipulate diversity in the casts and crews of their projects.

    The pledge is a notable step in the ongoing push to diversify the entertainment industry, which has long been dominated by white men, a problem exposed by the #OscarsSoWhite campaign and the recent #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. McDormand introduced the phrase at the end of her best actress speech, giving mainstream attention to an idea legal experts and academics have discussed for years.

    https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/05/warner-bros-adopts-company-wide-inclusion-policy-to-boost-diversity

  40. 40.

    Roger Moore

    @TenguPhule:

    “It doesn’t help the president, so if you’re not interested in helping the president, you shouldn’t work for the president as far as I’m concerned,” Ryan said.

    What Ryan doesn’t acknowledge is that they don’t work for the President, at least not in the sense that they owe their primary loyalty to him. They work for the United States, and that is who is supposed to have their primary loyalty. That wouldn’t ordinarily be a problem; there shouldn’t be a conflict between serving the leader of the country and serving the country. If there is- and the author seems to think there is- this is not something to be handled by giving partial, grudging service to the president. This is something to be handled by doing everything in one’s power to get the president who is demanding his people do things against the best interests of the country out of office ASAP.

  42. 42.

    maeve

    @lamh36:

    I know I don’t need a VISA, just my passport, but should I bring any other documents?

    Make color photocopies of your passport and keep them in a different place from your passport.

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Adam L Silverman: You’ve been reading my son’s diaries. My proudest accomplishment is the fact that I have raised better men than I.

    ps: yes, I am feeling rather maudlin this eve. Why do you ask?

  47. 47.

    Emma

    @lahke: London is like catnip to me and I am usually nonstop. On the way back I am usually tired enough that I take a cab. It’s built into the budget :-)

  48. 48.

    Calouste

    @lamh36: Heathrow is massive, so it’s going to take a while before you even get your luggage and are at the tube station. Indeed best to wait until 9:30 to get on the tube, but there are enough places there to get coffee or breakfast.

  49. 49.

    gwangung

    @gene108: Yeah, a buncha folks was whining about the political correctness of that.

    Unfortunately for them….71% of roles in movies are white. But only 55% of the movie going audience is white. Making those two figures match seems less a matter of political correctness than of simple common sense and survival.

  50. 50.

    hope

    @lamh36: just did this on Delta (from MPLS). We took the Heathrow express to Paddington, and from there you can get most anywhere. Second the post about having a copy of all your documents – passport, DL, credit and debit cards. Lost my purse at Paddington – copies in another bag were a lifesaver. Also, if you get cash at Heathrow, put it in two bags – just in case. Returning, we allowed 2 hours at Heathrow before leaving (on the advice of our concierge) – used every minute of it. If you have a chance, the Hindu Temple at Neasden is a wonder, and easy to get to with tube and bus.

  54. 54.

    gene108

    @Annie:

    LeBron James is the greatest basketball player? What about Steph Curry?

    When Steph Curry can take a team of role players on his back to 4 straight NBA finals, winning once, than we can put him in the same category as Lebron.

    Steph’s had bad shooting nights and the warriors still win, because they have a crazy amount of talent. Kevin Durant’s probably going into the Hall of Fame one day. If Klay Thompson keeps playing like he is, he’ll probably get in as well. And they just added DeMarcus Cousins, who is a beast, and assuming he returns to form after his injury…Steph can probably take a few nights off and he won’t be missed…

    Also, too Steph’s not the best player on his team. Kevin Durant is.

  55. 55.

    Adam L Silverman

    @OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations!

    As for your son’s diaries, I don’t know about that. But there is much wisdom in Fall’s, one of my professional forebears, corpus of work.

  56. 56.

    Juice Box

    @lamh36: Scan the photo page of your passport and email it to yourself so that you can get to a copy should you lose your passport. Also put ID inside your suitcase in case your suitcase, its ID tag, and you all get separated. Check your health insurance to make sure you’re covered abroad. I buy international coverage from GeoBlue for vacation coverage, but fortunately I’ve never had to use it.

    The airport in Atlanta will just be the regular airport, but you will have to show your passport as well as your boarding pass to get onto the plane. You may have to take the train thingy to a different terminal.

    Use your ATM card to get cash out of a bank ATM at Heathrow.

    Look both ways before you cross the street. The brake lights going in the wrong direction are really disorienting. I just returned from a few weeks in Canada. Be prepared for questions about you-know-orange-who.

  58. 58.

    Raoul

    @lamh36: Atlanta is big, but not complicated. You may arrive on any of the A thru E concourses, and most of the time, Delta international flights depart from the E or F concourse. The Plane Train gets you around quickly and with very frequent service.
    If you have a longish layover in ATL, the F concourse has generally the lowest hubub level, so more relaxing.

    Heathrow, well, that’s another level of, umm, fun. But just follow the signs. And the tube is great, definitely don’t rush to get to the center of London on a weekday morning with luggage.
    But, you never know when a hotel might be able to get you early checkin. Sometimes I’ve gotten noon. Sometimes no early checkin at all. Luggage storage is the key, as you note.

    One option if you are (like me) unable to sleep on longhaul, and you want to wait to head in, and also take a shower to feel human on arrival, is to book a ‘day room’ at a Heathrow hotel. between9and5 (dot) com has dayroms for as cheap as 50 British pounds.
    OK, that’s not ‘cheap’ but for a nap of a few hours and a good hot shower, might be a price worth paying to have the energy to traverse London, get your overnight hotel settled, and have the later afternoon and all evening to explore. I’ve not done a day room, but am considering it for my (eghad) 8 am arrival in Madrid about a month from now.

    I had a great time in London. Hope you do too. If you like art and architecture, I recommend the Tate Modern!

  60. 60.

    gene108

    @lamh36:

    I know I don’t need a VISA, just my passport, but should I bring any other documents?

    Passport should be enough. I am not sure what else you can bring that makes sense.

  63. 63.

    AThornton

    @Adam L Silverman:

    With This kind of news:

    The decline in the president’s numbers stems largely from a change among college-educated whites. These voters will have a disproportionate weight in the upcoming midterm elections to the House of Representatives, both because they show up at polling booths and because so many of them live in marginal congressional districts. In the same poll, 49% of college-educated whites support Democratic candidates for the House (the generic ballot), while 40% support the Republicans. These are awful numbers for Republicans: the president is contagious.

    The Senate is definitely in play.

  65. 65.

    frosty

    @lamh36: Take a cab to the hotel. You’ll be beat from the overnight flight and you won’t want to schlep your bags on the tube. We were in London a few years back and that’s what we did. Took the tube on the way out because we had two grown sons to help with the schlepping. We also stayed a hotel next to the airport the night before we left*. One less thing to be anxious about.

    Have fun!!

    *Can’t remember the name, sorry.

  67. 67.

    Mary G

    @lamh36: It was in 1975, so YMMV, but my flight to London was delayed and we got in early a.m. and had to kill the day and it was miserable. We had a huge fight and there was a heat wave, so all the buildings were hot, so we went to one of the parks and rented lounge chairs, where we didn’t sleep but at least rested. It saved the trip. I would love to go back, and am sure you will have a great time.

  69. 69.

    geg6

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I am not familiar with The Editorial Board. But Rothenberg saying it makes me take it seriously. I’m getting a little thrill up my leg, as Chris Matthews would say.

  70. 70.

    gene108

    @Juice Box: @lamh36:

    Look both ways before you cross the street.

    More than this: LOOK RIGHT THAN LEFT before crossing the street. You have to be conscious of this.

    I nearly got ran over, when I went to India, and popped over to a corner shop to get something I forgot. Crossed the street just fine going therr and did as I had been taught when crossing the street, coming back: I looked left than right and nearly got run over.

    Eh…you’ve been to Australia so you probably know this already…

  71. 71.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Adam L Silverman: Yes, it is. But I only speak of it when I am feeling maudlin. I am pretty sure my old man tried to do the same. Truly, when I say my son’s are better men than I? I am bragging.

  72. 72.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: also cromulent

    Nate Silver @ NateSilver538
    Basically, swing voters tend to be non-evangelical whites. In states like Georgia where you have a bifurcated electorate with lots of minority voters but also a lot of evangelical whites, it can be easy for Democrats to get to 47/48% of the vote but never make it up to 50%.

    With that said, the demographics of the South are changing—and Texas in particular shows up as having relatively high swinginess. The white population there is becoming more educated/secular, and Hispanics in TX are purple-ish rather than solid blue.

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    @Adam L Silverman: I think that’s very doable. Talking yaps and most pollsters aren’t picking up the sheer resistance to incipient fascism that is out there. Women, especially, are beyond woke. Young people are ready to vote in the midterms.

    Wouldn’t it be lovely if Turtle lost the Senate because of his beloved tax cut? And then got brought up on legal charges for his malfeasance and financing work? I’d like to see him in federal housing, locked in, for years.

  78. 78.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @lamh36: I have no practical advice except to say almost everything is fixable, though not without pain. The last time we went to Europe, weather in Atlanta made us miss our flight to Paris and there wasn’t another until the next night. We recovered from that. You kind of have to treat it all as part of the adventure.

    As others said, keep copies of all your documents: passport, credit cards, health insurance. We travel in what we call travel clothes: ie, stuff we were going to throw away after one more wearing. I once dumped a glass of tomato juice on my shirt on the plane. When we landed, I went into the ladies room, threw it away, and put on another shirt from my suitcase.

    Have fun. :-)

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Elizabelle: As I wrote last night, and on several other nights and days, the public polling models are designed so they under survey people of color and in many cases religious minorities. I know a number of the better pollsters are aware of this problem, but they don’t seem to have figured out how to fix or have fixed it.

    There’s no guarantees here, but there are a lot of positive indicators. That doesn’t mean slack off or take things for granted, but it does mean that having a bit of hope is okay.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    The globetrotting manager I know at work would echo holly’s recommendation of using the Heathrow Express train if your hotel is anywhere near Paddington Station. You could also take it there and then hail a cab to take you the rest of the way.

    I will be watching with a close eye because G and I are hoping to visit London for the first time next year, and I’ll want to pick up some tips!

  81. 81.

    frosty

    @hope, @lamh36:

    We took the Heathrow express to Paddington.

    Right, I forgot. We did the same, then a cab from Paddington to the Air BnB we stayed in. The combination was an easy schlep.

  82. 82.

    lamh36

    @hope: I’m flying Delta. NOLA to ATL, ATL to LHR.

    I’m not planning to bring a check in bag. I’m bringing a carryon only. It’s only a 6 night trip. On the way back, I may decide to check a bag in, if I’ve bought too many souvenirs, but I’m pretty good with keeping my spending down to a minimum. It helps that I don’t REALLY have too many folks to buy stuff for.

  84. 84.

    Elizabelle

    @Raoul: Thanks for the info re 9 and 5. Would totally use that on another trip, especially to London. I do not sleep well on planes, and a day room sounds luxurious. I’d rather just stay up really late after a good nap and shower and try to get into tune.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    @gwangung: Is that 55% white audience for the US only? Many of the recent big-budget movies have made more money overseas than domestically, with China contributing a large fraction.

  91. 91.

    Adam L Silverman

    @geg6: Here’s the bio he’s put on Twitter:

    Editor & Publisher, the Editorial Board. Contributing writer, @washmonthly. Columnist, @nhregister. Fellow, Yale Journalism Initiative & Ezra Stiles College.

    There are some positive indicators. And not just in the polling. It isn’t a guarantee or a done deal and no one should get complacent, but just watching how GOP Senate candidates, including incumbents like Cruz, are acting, as well as how McConnell is acting tells me the internal polling is not very good. It may not be all that bad, but it certainly seems they’re a bit spooked.

  93. 93.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    one can’t fight a militant doctrine with better privies.

    I beg to differ. The war on toilet paper rolling out from underneath is both clean and glorious! //

  94. 94.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    I imagining he scene in the White House, Dumpf with a glass of coke in his hands, watching that commercial and the glass breaks, just like the scene in V for Vendetta.

  95. 95.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne:

    I will be watching with a close eye because G and I are hoping to visit London for the first time next year, and I’ll want to pick up some tips!

    You may want to rethink that.

    Brexit is next year.

  97. 97.

    bluehill

    @lamh36: Depending on the location of your hotel and your budget, you may want to consider the Heathrow Express vice the tube. The express gets you to Paddington in 15 minutes and has ample room for luggage. You’ll pay more for the time savings but a lot less than a taxi.

    Taking the Piccadilly line is about an hour. You’ll be getting at the start of the line so you should be able to find open seats/space, but there will be more demand as you get closer to the heart of London. It’s cheaper. https://tfl.gov.uk/ has a trip planner so you can compare prices.

    If you can afford it, I would go with the Heathrow Express. You can transfer to tube or a taxi once you get to Paddington Station.

    Once you get settled, I would try to take buses when can and aren’t in a rush. They are a great way to see the city and familiarize yourself with the city. Also, London is a great walking city IMO and some underground lines like the Central line have stops that are pretty close together.

  98. 98.

    Mnemosyne

    @Adam L Silverman:

    As I keep saying, news like this just makes me want to work harder so we can spike the ball in their goddamned faces on Election Night. ?

    But I’m not bitter.
    /Diane Ford

  102. 102.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne: They’re talking about food and medical supply shortages within days of the official date. If you’re planning to go after March 29, plan for it like you’re entering a hostile third world country.

  103. 103.

    jacy

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I’ve been saying for a couple of months (And I think you’ve said it more than once) that the polls and pundits don’t really count women, people of color, and young people. The Massachusetts and Florida results over the last week or two show that there’s a really strong current that they’re not picking up — women, people of color, and youngs. I’m trying not to fall prey to wishful thinking, but I feel like the senate is definitely in play. I feel like we may lose McCaskill and Nelson, but pick up Texas and Tennessee and Arizona and Nevada. And Gillum in Florida has made the Nelson/Scott race more interesting because I think that energizes the previously non-voting or seldom-voting Democratic cohort.

  105. 105.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @Kathleen: If want to talk about sacrifice, talk about Peter Norman, the Australian runner who placed 2nd, and also supported Carlos and Smith. The Australian Olympic committee made his life hell, even snubbing when Sydney held their games in 2000

  107. 107.

    gwangung

    @Ken: Yeah, that’s US only. Which makes the political correctness arguments even lamer. There’s a whole world out there that’s not exactly dominated by white people….

  109. 109.

    Elizabelle

    @jacy:

    And Gillum in Florida has made the Nelson/Scott race more interesting because I think that energizes the previously non-voting or seldom-voting Democratic cohort.

    That’s a great point. Wouldn’t it be something if Gillum dragged Nelson over the finish line?

    Have we heard anything further about whether displaced Puerto Ricans are registering?

  110. 110.

    NotMax

    Haven’t seen it mentioned here, so –

    India’s top court has legalized gay sex in the world’s second-most populous country in a landmark decision that partially struck down a 158-year-old colonial-era law.

    After a decades-long legal battle, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India has diluted Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which was first enacted in 1860 and ranks gay sex alongside bestiality as a crime “against the order of nature.”

    Reading out the judgment in a packed courtroom on Thursday, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said the law violated the right to equality enshrined in the constitution and was being used as a ‘weapon of discrimination’. Source

  115. 115.

    Raoul

    @Elizabelle: I try to book onto the latest evening flight to AMS and have a ~90 minute connection there to wherever I’m wandering next. Usually lands me at around 3 or 4pm in Prague, Stockholm, or similar, and I check in to a hotel and have a short nap, dinner, a longish walk and then conk out. Bingo – reset for the week (hopefully!).
    But a few trips I’ve reached my destination around dawn in Europe, and I dislike it – hard to stay awake till regular 3pm-ish hotel check in time.
    And yes, I’m spoilt. I also have friends who help me find like $550-600 round trip tickets to Europe (from Minneapolis, that’s often not easy! Chicago and NYC get the $99 budget carriers, we don’t). Flash sales and hub attacks (Delta slashes prices via a United hub, for example) and the like. Makes for a quasi-glamorous life! lol

  116. 116.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jacy: I don’t think McCaskill is going anywhere. Gillum winning the Florida Democratic primary for governor actually helps Nelson. The FL senate election will likely be decided by a point or two.

  118. 118.

    SFAW

    @Anotherlurker:

    Dr. J. ;-)

    I’m with you, kid. My memory ain’t what it used to was, but I seem to remember Julius, in the last (I think) ABA Championship series before the merger, leading both teams in scoring, assists, rebounds, blocked shots, and maybe steals.

    My memory ain’t what it used to

  121. 121.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Senator Harris turns a fresh page on her yellow pad…
    Carol Leonnig @ CarolLeonnig
    Update:
    – Kavanaugh acknowledges close friendship with Kasowitz atty Ed McNally
    – White House and Kasowitz firm say McNally neither helped prep…

    Roberto Aram Ferdman Retweeted Carol Leonnig
    Remember when Kavanaugh mouthed out Ka-so-witz like he’d never heard anyone utter the name before?
    Appears that was even more disingenuous than it seemed

  123. 123.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Some more –

    There were cheers, tears and hugs as a wave of joy swept through the LGBT (lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender) community in the country on hearing that Section 377 had been scrapped. Calling it an “unnatural offense” the law made gay sex punishable with up to 10 years in prison.
    [snip]
    The verdict by the five-judge bench was unanimous. One of the judges, Indu Malhotra, said she believed the LGBT community was owed an apology. Source

  125. 125.

    SFAW

    @gene108:

    More than this: LOOK RIGHT THAN LEFT before crossing the street. You have to be conscious of this.

    Anyone who’s lived (or spent time) in Boston does this anyway, because the Beantown drivers are pretty shitty. (Some time ago, I was almost run over by a guy doing about 40 in the Eastbound lane of Beacon Street. The problem is that Beacon is — in that particular area — Westbound-only. Fortunately, I checked both directions before crossing. Well, fortunately for ME, that is. You jackals might have differing opinions, of course.)

  126. 126.

    Elizabelle

    @sixthdoctor: LOL. From the link:

    Bartlesville, OK – A Bartlesville man has been arrested after he accidentally burned down his home by attempting to burn a pair of Nike sneakers in protest of the latest Colin Kaepernick Ad.

    According to authorities, Jason Helms, 26, placed a pair of Nike sneakers in his garage and soaked them in Kerosene before lighting them on fire and filming it with his iPhone. The fire ended up spreading to the garage walls and ceiling before spreading to his actual home. Helms called 911 but by the time firefighters arrived they were unable to save his home.

    People across the country have been setting their Nike shoes of fire in protest against Nike, who recently made an Ad featuring controversial NFL star Colin Kaepernick and reading: “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything… Just do it”. Officer Don Greenstein encourages people, “Don’t burn your Nike gear, just send them over to me”.

    What a tool. And yeah, he’s gonna get insurance funding if he filmed the whole thing on his iPhone.

    (Time for Apple to do something to lose the loser set.)

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    @lamh36:
    Have fun!
    I’ve been to jolly ole, a few decades ago. Destroyer stopped in Plymouth to fuel and I got off the ship to dump the trash. So, shortest trip to the UK in all of recorded history.
    However. I have traveled to other lands, and in this century!, and I just have the merchant send whatever to myself. Saves carting stuff around and I’ve never had an issue.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @SFAW:
    I work on a small industrial street that gets a fair amount of traffic. We have a building on both sides of the street so sometimes one has to cross. Today was such a day. I always look left – right because that’s the normal way. But I’m always suspicious because, well I just am. Today looked left, nothing. Looked right and there is an oncoming van coming, completely on the wrong side of the street, with no one in his normal lane. Trust? Someone behind the wheel? NFW.

  136. 136.

    sgrAstar

    @lamh36: you’re gonna love London. It’s fun, it’s beautiful, it’s crammed with cool historical stuff…and it’s way too big to see on one trip. IMO, you should think of this first visit as the overview which will give you a roadmap for future visits. Among the myriad things to do I’d definitely go to the theatre one night. Keep us posted on your adventures!

  140. 140.

    Ruckus

    @Elizabelle:
    He may be a tool but he for sure isn’t the sharpest one in the tool box.
    People at work are talking about this, can’t believe that there are people stupid enough to do this. Boss asked jokingly yesterday if he should cross off the swish on his socks and shirt. I told him that the moron ideal is to cut the swish out of his socks and shirt. He looked at me like I was insane. (Shut Up! Stop Laughing!)

  142. 142.

    Barbaras

    @lamh36:
    I agree with everyone recommending Heathrow Express to Paddington – then take a cab if you need to. It’s more expensive than taking the tube but it’s very fast and you don’t have to change. (One problem about changing on the tube is that, depending on which station you have to change at, it may require going up and downstairs to the other train.) You can usually buy tickets for the Heathrow Express as you leave the luggage area at the airport- often there’s Heathrow Express clerk standing there who can sell you a ticket.

  143. 143.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @sgrAstar: Last time I was there, friends were trying to suggest a West End show, but I found a candle-lit performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at St. Martin in the Fields. No brainer.

  144. 144.

    Ruckus

    @Elizabelle:
    Took a boat tour of the canals in Amsterdam. It was a hoot. First the tour guides give (at least they did then) the same speech in 5 languages, including the jokes. It was fun to hear the laughter in different parts of the boat when a group could understand the joke. And the canal runs right down the middle of the red light district, with the girls sitting in the windows, looking as bored as I’ve ever seen any human look.

  146. 146.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:
    I like how he said the double wide was lost in the great Keurig purge in 2017 after some one pointed out that the burning trailer was a single wide.

  147. 147.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ruckus: Last time I was there I stayed with friends (ine of whom was a ‘Dam native). It was great to go around the city either with or directed by a native. Drank at a fantastic bar near the edge of the red light district that was virtually untouched by tourists (my ex and I were the exceptions and were there as foreign friends). The Indonesian restaurants were amazing.

  150. 150.

    Elizabelle

    @schrodingers_cat: Tassen Museum of Bags and Purses.

    Didn’t go in, because too close to closing, but making a beeline for it next time. In a 1666 building on the canal.

    7 reasons to visit the Museum of Bags and Purses

    Discover a unique collection of more than 5.000 bags
    See Margaret Thatcher’s iconic bag and Madonna’s Versace bag
    Discover one of the world’s top 10 fashion museums
    Admire the magnificent canal house, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site
    Enjoy High Tea or lunch in one of our special period rooms
    Visit our museum shop, voted the best museum shop in Amsterdam
    Experience a stylish, intimate location for weddings, meetings, receptions or dinner

    I’d be impressed if they scored a QE2 purse.

  152. 152.

    Shana

    @lamh36: It’ll take you a while to get your bag and get through customs so that will eat up some time.

    I read recently that it was suggested to shift your bedtime an hour a day toward what you’ll be at in London, and take melatonin when you get on the plane to help you sleep.

    Once you’re able to check into your hotel take a short nap, hour, hour and a half. It’ll help get you through the day and to a more reasonable bedtime that first night.

  154. 154.

    NotMax

    @sgrAstar

    Day of performance SRO and also last minute regular ticket sales at London theaters used to be a real bargain. Perhaps still are? Also bargains if one can wangle some sort of student I.D.

    I understand the Royal Court Theatre still sells last minute SRO tickets for the bargain basement price of 10p, going on sale an hour before curtain..

  156. 156.

    Doug R

    @frosty:

    We also stayed a hotel next to the airport the night before we left*. One less thing to be anxious about.

    Have fun!!

    *Can’t remember the name, sorry.

    Was it this one?

  157. 157.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @NotMax: it may have been put out of business by the ‘tubes, but I used to go to a big kiosk in Leicester Square– they had available tickets and prices posted. I always travel in the off-season, but I understand the lines can get long.

  158. 158.

    NotMax

    @Ruckus

    Look left-right-left was drilled into our spongy little skulls in elementary school. Has that now too gone the way of cursive writing instruction?

  159. 159.

    Dan B

    @NotMax: Thanks for posting the decriminalization of gay sex in India. I was in India 15 years ago with friends from India, a straight couple. I got propositioned several times with my friends present. One young guy announced that he was Brahmin – a valuable catch. I was ten years into my current relationship and not interested. We also encountered a group of hijira who intimidated my friends but just provoked my curiosity. They had been consudered sacred until the British put a stop to that “primitive” nonsense. They’ve resorted to disruption and intimidation to extort money.

    It’s horrible that colonial British morality has carried on so long past the time that Britain abandoned it. Now I hooe the things that matter, family acceptance, marriage, civil rights, etc. emerge.

  160. 160.

    evap

    @lamh36: Atlanta airport has a separate international terminal, but you will not notice since you just take a train to get to your gate.

  161. 161.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Shana: When I fly US-Europe I never nap when I land. I find it best to just stay up as long as physically possible, preferably to something approaching normal bedtime over there, eat a light dinner at normal dinnertime and go to bed at bedtime. It puts my body almost on normal European time after the first morning.

  162. 162.

    Elizabelle

    Some of the Purse Museum’s treasures:

    BEADED COIN PURSE SHOWING THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST GIRAFFE IN FRANCE, 1827
    The first giraffe in France, Zarafa, was shipped to Marseille in 1826 as a gift from the Egyptian viceroy to the French king Charles X (1757-1836). During her six-week jaunt to Paris, Zarafa’s entourage of two Egyptian caretakers and 100 milk cows attracted immense crowds. After her arrival in Paris, she became the highpoint of the season.

    I love a giraffe being the highpoint of the season.

  163. 163.

    SectionH

    @lamh36: Atlanta has separate concourses, not terminals the way LAX has. So when you arrive at ATL, you’ll change concourses but stay airside. As mentioned above, the int’l flights depart from E or F. You’ll almost certainly be coming into T, A, B, C, or D. The “plane train” is on the lower level below the gates, so head for the center of whatever concourse you’re on and take the escalator down. The signs are pretty clear. ATL is usually a zoo, but the int’l concourses are a bit less insane as a rule.

    All I’ll add about LHR is you can easily spend an hour or more waiting to clear immigration and customs. So after grabbing a coffee or some tea, and finding an ATM, and gettting an Oyster or 7-Day transit card, it may well be past peak time. (And yeah, ATM. Currency exchanges at airports have terrible conversion rates.)

    I wouldn’t bother with the Heathrow Express, given where you’re headed. Maybe if I had more luggage than just a rollaboard and planned to then taxi from Paddington to my hotel? But nah… Now, to be fair, it’s a long haul from LHR to central London, but if you have only one train change and only have a rollaboard (and purse or other “personal item”) it’s perfectly doable. (Yes, I’ve done it. With luggage. Mr S is cheap in odd ways, and he’s converted me on this one.)

    So at the risk of telling you stuff you know, an Oyster Card* is the London transport smartcard you use on the Tube and buses, etc. If you don’t already have one, you can buy them at Heathrow. Probably easiest way to do it – there should be a staffed office. *Or if you’re planning to use Tube/buses every day of your visit, a 7-day travel card might be the better option. They can advise you at the office which is your best bet. But either way, a card will save you £ over buying day passes. And less hassle once you have it.

    I enjoyed reading your reports from Australia, & look forward to more this time. Have a fantastic trip!

  164. 164.

    Gin & Tonic

    @SFAW: I don’t know if this was real life or a movie, but wasn’t there some story about a deep-undercover British spy in Moscow who outed himself (to the detriment of his health) by instinctively looking right at an intersection?

  165. 165.

    gwangung

    @NotMax:

    Look left-right-left was drilled into our spongy little skulls in elementary school. Has that now too gone the way of cursive writing instruction?

    Pretty much. Pedestrians nowadays pretty much step into traffic without even looking up (eyes glued to a phone often). Plays havoc with my reflexes, which are used to pedestrians pausing a bit before stepping out.

  166. 166.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:
    Have no idea. It’s been decades since I was in elementary school.
    However I think that I check both ways, having traveled in places that drive on the left and done it on a motorcycle. I find it easier than driving a car on the wrong side because you had better be looking in all directions no matter what on a bike and you sit in the center of the vehicle so there is no disorientation with all the controls and the visibility is better.

  167. 167.

    frosty

    @Doug R:@lamh36:
    LOL, no. I looked it up. Sofitel, expensive but worth it. We ordered room service for us and the boys. Cost as much as one of the rooms! Spouse got us a great bargain, we definitely didn’t pay the rack rate.

    Another recommendation: On our first day, we toured the Tower, then took a Thames cruise to Westminster. The tour guide (as most of them are) was really funny. A good way to see London from a different perspective.

  169. 169.

    FelonyGovt

    @lamh36: If you expect to use the Tube a lot (and you probably will, it’s really convenient) you might want to get an Oyster Card in advance, pre-loaded with some money. Check with “Transport For London” which sells them and will mail it to you in the US.

    Have fun! I loved London!

  170. 170.

    burnspbesq

    @Barbara:

    James is on a level that is not matched by anybody I have ever seen.

    You must be under 45. It’s hard to imagine anyone who saw the Doctor in his prime would say that.

    I was fortunate to see two games of the last ABA final in person. New York had the Doctor, and Denver had David Thompson and Bobby Jones. The greatest aerial show in the history of basketball. Entire quarters were played two feet above the rim.

  173. 173.

    burnspbesq

    @John Thomson:

    You might want to do a little research before you spout off. NIKE is way ahead of the vast majority of apparel and footwear companies in terms of the standards it imposes on its manufacturing partners.

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