a post Black Friday open thread

by liberal japonicus

This is the year that Japanese started to take to the idea of Black Friday, though, as is usual with the Japanese, they don't quite understand it. This article from 2016 suggested that it was being considered:

We are now approaching the end of the nenmatsu shosen (year-end sales war), arguably Japan’s most tumultuous period of consumer activity. The question arises: Is there room in the calendar for another slice of commerce?

Maybe. An article in the Shukan Shincho magazine of 1 December looks enviously at the popularity of Black Friday in the United States. Taking place the day after Thanksgiving, when the Christmas shopping season begins in earnest, the term “black” is said to refer to the fact that many US retailers operate at a deficit for much of the year, and so count on the frenzy of year-end shopping to move them out of the red and into the black.

The red ink/black ink explanation seems to be a just-so story, Wikipedia has it as actually arising from police complaints about shoppers in Philadelphia.

It has apparently been floating around here in Japan, and primarily for online shopping, but this year, it seems to have become actual rather than virtual. However, as Japanese are wont to do, they haven't really gotten the concept, as my local grocery store had items like chesnuts and mochi (Japanese rice cakes) marked with Black Friday stickers.

Anyway, an open post black Friday thread.

Comments

[Fraud Guy]

I don't know; I kind of like the idea of various foods on sale for Black Friday, as opposed to yet more electronics that I already have enough of, thank you.

[wj]

I would have thought that Cyber Monday would be a more natural fit for Japan. ;-)

[Michael Cain]

Why does so much of the rest of the world insist on adopting/pursuing the worst parts of American culture?

[wj]

Because they get advertised so much more...?

[Snarki, child of Loki]

"Why does so much of the rest of the world insist on adopting/pursuing the worst parts of American culture?"

Okay, my theory, which is mine, is that ALL cultures come up with a mix of "good ideas" and "bad ideas", and some fraction of these ideas get adopted by other cultures.

Where American culture really stands out? Marketing the ideas.

That's how the world found out that investing in hyper-capitalistic credit default swaps was a BAD idea.

Still hoping the French idea of "the cheese course" in meals catches on more.

[wj]

Still hoping the French idea of "the cheese course" in meals catches on more.

Only if it comes with decent cheeses! (The very idea of a "cheese course" featuring "American Processed Cheese Food" makes me shudder.)

[Girl from the North Country]

Elon Musk voiced support Tuesday for Pizzagate, the long-debunked conspiracy theory that led a man to fire a rifle inside a Washington, D.C., restaurant in 2016.

The far-right theory, a predecessor to QAnon, alleged that the Clintons and Democratic Party leaders ran a secret satanic child sex ring in a D.C. pizzeria known as Comet Ping Pong.

The theory, a mainstay of fringe Donald Trump supporters during the 2016 presidential campaign, was labeled “fictitious” by D.C. police investigators.

Musk’s post was the latest in what has become a string of tweets in which Musk boosted debunked theories and comes just one day after he visited Israel to try to tamp down anger over an explosion of antisemitism on X that has caused a growing number of advertisers to flee.

***

Musk, who bought the social network formerly known as Twitter last year for $44 billion, posted a meme on Tuesday implying that the expert who debunked Pizzagate “went to jail for child porn.” Musk said that “does seem at least a little suspicious.”

The post was viewed more than 15 million times before being deleted at around 2 p.m., less than an hour after this story was published.

The meme itself is based on a fabricated headline that suggests Pizzagate was debunked by one person, the disgraced former ABC reporter James Gordon Meek, who pleaded guilty last year to possessing child sexual abuse images and was sentenced to six years in federal prison.

Meek covered national security and appeared to have mentioned Pizzagate only once, in a 2017 report about Russian disinformation, according to a Reuters fact-check article in August. And a different James Meek, a British journalist, briefly discussed Pizzagate in a London Review of Books article in 2020.

From today's WaPo. I know I've said this before, but I really wonder if Elon Musk is going mad. I mean, I know if you are a) the richest person in the world and b) an arsehole, you must feel untouchable, but still, the things he chooses to say, or publicise, really make me wonder....

[Snarki, child of Loki]

Only if it comes with decent cheeses! (The very idea of a "cheese course" featuring "American Processed Cheese Food" makes me shudder.)

Not sure if it is still in operation, and it aways seemed a bit iffy in terms of customs rules, but I've had cheeses from "fromage.com" a couple of times. A bit pricey, so not an everyday thing, but very good.

One of the best uses of the internet.

[GftNC]

I know from other sources that this chap, Rob Kaufelt, takes his cheese very seriously (detailed trips through rural France, Italy etc to find the best artisan cheeses etc), and that Murray's Cheese was truly excellent. I see from Wikipedia that he has gone into partnership with Kroger's so that there are now 800 branches of Murray's Cheese across the country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kaufelt

[hairshirthedonist]

I now have a perverse desire to refer to Rob Kaufelt as "Mayor McCheese."

[Girl from the North Country]

hsh: or, possibly, Cheesy McCheeseface.

[hairshirthedonist]

I'm sure Boaty was at least part of my inspiration.

[Michael Cain]

The city has finally lit the fiber for their symmetric gigabit service in my area. I have an appointment next week for them to make the service call for the final installation at the townhouse.

[wj]

Congrats, Michael! (This is me turning green with envy.)

[hairshirthedonist]

Michael, what do you mean by "The city"? I'm not asking what city, rather is this a municipal service and not a Verizon, Comcast, Cox, ATT, or some such thing?

[wj]

From the inimitable Alexandra Petri (sorry for the paywall, but the title says it well):
BLACK FRIDAY DEALS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES