If you’ve ever thrown on a pair of fresh Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers, you might have noticed an unusual feature—felt soles. While Converse might want you to think this odd layer of fabric is for things like “shape retention” and “quieter usage,” the real reason behind it all comes down to exploiting legal loopholes for the bottom line. Converse is part of Nike, which imports its products into the U.S. from China. Back in 2018, the Trump administration imposed large new tariffs on a wide range of US imports from China, but some items had heftier price tags than others. As Nicholas Mortimer of the Strategic Sourceror explained, sneaker imports are subject to a 37.5% tariff.Slippers, on the other hand, have a measly 3% tariff. And lucky enough for Nike, the legal requirement for a shoe to be considered a slipper is having a fuzzy sole. Meaning that by slapping enough felt to the bottom—which eventually deteriorates with a few wears—the company was able to save a ton of money on import taxes. Interestingly enough, if you look at the images associated with the Converse Chuck Taylor patent, they look a lot more slipper-esque than the sneakers you’ll see on their website. A sneaker in slipper's clothing. patentimages.storage.googleapis.com This also kind of explains how Converse can boast of the slip resistance of their shoes, when anyone who’s worn a new pair of Chuck Taylors in the rain—and proceeded to bust their ass—can tell you that is definitely not true. For that issue, GearPatrol suggests using sandpaper to slough off “the hairy bits.”The whole fuzzy sole loophole is a prime example of “tariff engineering,” which, unlike, say, tax evasion, is a legal way of avoiding higher import rates, usually by redesigning a product—like tweaking the materials or structure, or breaking it into smaller values to qualify for a tariff exemption. @let_me_ask_you_this #let #me #ask #you #this #trivia #question #fun #facts #fact #Converse #all #star #Chuck #Taylor #felt #tarrif #taxes #import #slippers #converseallstar ♬ original sound - ScottJCarroll An even stranger example of tariff engineering is brought to you by Disney. As explained in Slash Film, the company, which owns Marvel, had its X-Men action figures classified as toys representing “non-human characters,” since apparently human “dolls” are taxed at a higher rate. A bit of an odd move, considering the entire overarching theme of X-Men. But probably not Disney’s most egregious sin committed in order to make more money.As Donald Trump’s second term approaches, tariff talk, and its potential consequences, has been all a flutter. The President-elect has said the goal would be to impose a 25% tariff on all items imported from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% tariff on imports from China, possibly affecting electronics, clothing, household appliances, furniture, footwear and travel goods. Considering that Jonathan Gold, Vice President for supply chains and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, mentioned tariffs for toys specifically would be going from a "practically 0% tariff rate” to upwards of 36% to 56%, it seems that the X-Men are going to feel a much bigger blow than any sneakers will. Although, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Disney and various other companies finding more clever ways of skirting the system as to not upset their profits. Cause after all, isn’t that what capitalism’s all about?

Musical and cultural mashups can be a blast, with some combos you'd never think to put together creating a whole new and delightful experience. We've seen "Carol of the Bells" mashed up with "Pirates of the Caribbean" on harp, Dr. Seuss mashed up with Dr. Dre beats, Irish step dancing to Beyonce's country music and now, Radiohead's "Creep" with classical Indian music.Avie Sheck has played and sung in bands his whole life while his mother is trained as classical Indian singer. India has a rich musical tradition that goes back some 6,000 years, stemming from sacred Vedic scriptures and chants, and while the pairing of it with Radiohead may be unexpected, the result is quite extraordinary. Check this out: See on Instagram People are raving over the mother-son mashup using words like "stunning," "exquisite" and "sublime," with many people saying it unexpectedly brought them to tears. "As a Creep cover snob, this is the very best cover I’ve ever heard.""I feel like I am floating in space right now while listening to this rendition of creep.""One of those rare covers that I actually welcome that hit right. ?""I can’t even explain it, I got full body chills. Your mom is ?? literally stopped in my tracks.""Bro I’d pay to listen to this live. Amazing!!""Watching this live would melt me.""I am crying … this has tugged at something ????"Clearly, they struck a nerve with this one. Believe it or not, Radiohead's "Creep" wasn't a huge success when it was first released in 1992. It was rarely played on the radio because it was considered too depressing for angsty early 90s musical tastes, and it topped out at #78 U.K. Singles Chart. The BBC even banned it for a while due to the f-bomb lyric, but when that word was changed to "very" and the song re-released in 1993, it found its audience and climbed to No. 7 on the U.K. charts. Since then, it's been covered many times, its sad lyrics about yearning for someone out of your league and feeling like you don't belong hitting people where it hurts (but in the best way) for over 30 years. See on Instagram Sheck's mom shared what her part of the song meant in a follow-up video on Instagram. She explained that it's about a mother waking up her son to take care of the cows because his friends are already up and about and wondering where he is. But the deeper meaning, she explains, is "You belong here. You belong to the Earth, the people around you, the animals around you. Stop that sadness." What a perfect complement to "Creep." Classical Indian music has its own sound, structure and feel that make it unique, but it also blends beautifully with other musical styles when creative people make it happen. For instance, at a wedding blending Indian and Scottish cultures, instruments from both countries—bagpipes and the dhol drum—were combined with a perfectly joyful result. Much like this classical Indian/Radiohead mashup, putting two unexpected musical genres together sometimes works far better than people might imagine. People have asked if the song can be found on Spotify, Apple music, etc., but Sheck explained that he can't share it there because it's an interpolation, not a straight cover, which involves a lot more complicated legal details. The full version can be found on YouTube, however, and he said he may put it on Soundcloud.You can follow Avie Sheck on Instagram for more and find the full version of the "Creep" cover on Sheck's YouTube channel: - YouTube www.youtube.com

In recent years the Land Back Movement has come into public consciousness, it doesn't always necessarily mean physically return the land, but to return the stewardship of the land. Some Indigenous communities work with local government officials to care for the land in a way that will restore lost ecosystems and help the land thrive.But in some recent instances, land has been physically returned to the local Indigenous communities. One example of physically returning land is California's governor Gavin Newsom returning 2,820 acres of ancestral land to the Shasta Indian Nation in Northwestern California. This move will help restore the natural environment to the area and allow the Shasta members to access sacred ceremonial ground. a body of water surrounded by lush green trees Photo by Michael Sanchez on Unsplash In Louisiana a small Indigenous community acquired some of their ancestral lands after the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana started working with the Takapa Ishaq Chawasha tribe to protect the coastline with recycled oyster shells. But in order to move forward with their project they need to know who owns the property. After some searching, the group discovers the coastal area known as Lemon Tree Mound is owned by St. Pauls Episcopal Church. A parishioner willed the land to the church after his death in the 80s and after the discovery that the land previously belonged to the tribe, the church has recently given it back. Indigenous People Thanksgiving GIF by INTO ACTION Giphy "We at the Episcopal church have strong commitments these days to restorative justice and to creation care. Maybe it's been a while in coming but better late than never," St. Paul's vestry member Greg Williams shares with WUVE Fox 8.It's not just the local tribe that is excited for the land to be returned but their sister tribes have been expressing their excitement as well, tribal member Rosina Philippe tells the station, "even some of our sister tribes, you know. I got emails from different people saying, you know, doing that AH YEE YEE YEE YEE YEE in the email, spelling it out knowing that they're rejoicing and dancing with us."The church leaders say they never hesitated to with the thought of giving the church back to the Indigenous tribe, calling the act "a very small thing" for the church. But that small act for the church was a huge thing for the Indigenous community in Louisiana."We're filled with gratitude first of all, and we're rejoicing to be connected to the land, to be tied into the land and you know, to have the land returned to the tribe. It's a rematriation, so connecting the tribe back to mother earth is more significant. You know, in that respect they may think it's a little thing but to us it's one of the best things that the church could ever have done. We're rejoicing. We're so very, very happy. It's a very big thing, a big thing," Phillipe says. While the lemon trees are long gone, the oral history of how the land helped feed their ancestors and served as higher ground during flooding has been a memory passed down for generations. Since the land has been in the hands of the tribe for care, the recycled oysters used to build a barrier to protect the land's edge has grown coral and new oysters are beginning to thrive.

A strange connection. The post The one song that unites John Lennon and Frank Sinatra first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

"He lost it." The post “Wouldn’t work with me again”: The producer Tony Iommi was disappointed working with first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Freezing fish seafood isn't just as simple as plopping a slab of fish in your freezer. You have to consider different factors that could affect the outcome.

The deep state "community noted" my previous post about the possibility that the so-called "earthquake" off the coast of California yesterday was actually a Russian weapon demonstration. Slightly higher ocean radiation levels are already being reported south of the epicenter,… — HealthRanger (@HealthRanger) December 7, 2024

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by Niamh Harris, The Peoples Voice: King Charles’ Foundation has partnered with Arla and Nestle to provide Cravendale Milk and Shreddies for ‘breakfast clubs’ According to the King Charles III Chartible fund: Two of the UK’s biggest food manufacturers, Arla and Nestle, formed an alliance to donate the equivalent of 1.25 million breakfasts to the food charity FareShare. The […]