Misc. News Round-Up

Here's some interesting random news (hat tip to Agenda Inc.) and images:

Schools in Boston, New York and California are instituting school dress codes that ban hoodies. I don't know what to say here. I really don't except that it stinks like sour milk:

Hoodies pose a safety threat, area school officials say, for several reasons. Students, perhaps after doing something wrong, can make a quick, anonymous exit from school by shielding their faces from security cameras. Nonstudents can blend in and sneak in and out of the school. Also, students can hide contraband more easily.

"We've got kids who may be up to something and avoid the cameras by crouching down, pulling their hoods up, and scooting by," said Maureen C. Kenney, a Randolph School Committee member who helped devise the proposed guidelines.

For similar reasons, numerous other Massachusetts communities as well as schools in California and New York have also set limits on hoodies, a wardrobe staple among teenagers . Policies range from requiring students to keep hoods off their heads and away from their faces to leaving them in their lockers. Schools that ban hoodies also often ban pajamas, midriff-baring tops, and flip-flops.

Rocawear is launching a new label that goes "beyond hip-hop."

Rocawear hopes to target men who didn't wear urban brands in the past and might have been turned off by their extreme looks. The line is also aimed at 30-something men who grew up with hip hop but are now defecting to other brands as they seek more mature looks.

Mr. Carter, the 35-year-old Grammy Award-winning rapper is also chief executive of Def Jam Recordings and part owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, is a walking advertisement for the new slim silhouette. "Once I hit 30, I can't wear jeans showing my underpants anymore," he says.

What was ever "extreme" about Rocawear? And "underpants"?

Anyway, good luck, Jay. The clock is ticking fast on this one. Not to mention you're probably in serious karmic debt due to the way you pulled the rug out from under the partnership with your former buddy/partner. Granted, we all knew what a mess you were dealing with once his kid was found with weed in his coat pocket at school, but still, life dictates that you pay a price when you choose money over friendship, no matter how screwed up the guy might be. Not that it matters. In the scheme of things, Jay can safely handle the loss of a few mil.

And then some sneaker on celeb spottings (from WireImages.com):


^^Is Lupe still working with Reebok? (AKA, I have no idea what brand his shoes are and am hoping someone will chime in!)


^^I am so not suprised that Big Boi is a Nike man and that Andre is into Chucks, but I must admit, Big Boi's knickers are bringing to mind....


^^....one of those switcheroo movies. You know, when two people are simultaneously electrocuted under some farfetched scenario and the kid ends up with the mom's brain and vice versa.