Way, way, waaaaay back (nope, keep going – ack! too far!) on March 6th Steph Rogers nominated my unshittiness™ for an award. Being the excellent and masterful procrastinater that I am, I’m just now getting to it. I may even publish it…eventually.
Steph is fucking awesome. She’s smart and a very talented writer. As such, she’s certainly qualified to recognize this blog for its unshittiness™ and award it with an epic award. No, it really is an epic award. See for yourself…
I didn’t know who Luis V. Gutierrez was before I read this article (he’s a Democratic senator representative from Illinois), but in addition to now knowing who he is I know an additional fact about him: he’s stupid.
Per the linked article, Gutierrez is using idiotic commentary to voice his displeasure with the Arizona immigration law. He used Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez as his defense. Seriously. Here’s what he had to say:
“I’m sure Justin helped Gomez learn American customs and feel more at home in her adopted country. Oh, wait a minute, I’m sorry. Because I’m not a trained Arizona official, I somehow got that backwards. Actually, Ms. Gomez of Texas has helped Mr. Bieber of Canada learn about his adopted country. Justin, when you perform in Phoenix, remember to bring your papers.”
Yes, Justin, remember to bring your papers. Seriously. You’re required by Federal law, not state law, to do so.
Dear, Mr. Gutierrez, no one is training Arizona officials or police officers to be able to look at a person and tell whether or not they’re in this country illegally. That’s one of the dumbest rebuttals to this law I’ve heard to date. All they’ve been given is the ability to ask for proof of citizenship. That’s it. If you’re a citizen or legal immigrant this law will only inconvenience you for the two seconds it takes to whip out your wallet and pull out your ID or green card.
I’m baffled by all of the people who oppose this law that turn it into a racial profiling issue. Nowhere does it state that this law applies only to Latinos. The law gives police officers the right to ask anybody for proof of citizenship during routine police business. Routine being if you’re pulled over for speeding. Or you’re involved in a bar fight. Or the cops are called to your house for some reason or another. Or you’ve witnessed an accident. Or whatever other routine things cops do on a daily basis.
This does not give police carte blanche to just start pulling over Latinos and asking for papers. They must be there for some other legitimate reason first before they can ask for them.
This law does not specify that only Latinos can be asked for their papers, and I’m kind of tired of people, Latinos in particular, thinking that this law is directed at them. Plenty of people from plenty of other countries try to sneak into our country as well. Mostly using the same paths that immigrants from Mexico use.
Honestly, the only people that need to worry about this law are the people who are in this country illegally. Everybody else will just show the cop their ID, green card, or driver’s license and will have a nice rest of the afternoon.
Tony Lucca(Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
I don’t watch The Voice. I can’t stand these “reality” shows. My wife, however, is following The Voice this season because one of her favorite artists, a currently independent artist, is on the show. Tony Lucca.
Last night was apparently a showdown between the final four contestants. Tony Lucca and his coach, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, selected the song 99 Problems by Jay-Z. I’m not sure this was quite the right selection for a white, hipster artist, but it was a different take on the song and didn’t sound too bad. Give it a watch.
Like I said, it’s an interesting take on the song. Not too bad, but not that great either. In my lowly esteem anyhow.
As you can see there’s not much left to the imagination. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
You may have noticed at the end of the clip that Christina Aguilera is a bit miffed by the song selection and perceives the song to be derogatory towards women. Unfortunately, a lot of women felt the same way. They assumed the line “I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one” is some kind of shot against women. Christina proved her ignorance by calling out Tony for the song. The lyrics can be found here, for anyone interested to see them. This song has nothing to do with women.
Never mind the perceived slight against women that Christina believes Tony made with his song selection. Who is Christina Aguilera to criticize anyone for being derogatory towards women? In the early 2000′s, that woman embraced the same attitude she assumed Jay-Z’s song had. She recorded sexually provocative songs and videos. She posed for several photo shoots nude. She barely wore any clothing when performing. She’s largely abandoned those types of behaviors in the last few years but still dresses in a somewhat revealing manner often times.
That’s totally not demeaning to women. Right? Right?? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Many people perceive her behavior starting about a decade ago to be detrimental to women. They believe that by posing nude and singing sexually themed songs negatively impact women everywhere. As for myself, I don’t care one way or the other. Sex sells. But Christina knows what she’s done in the past and she knows that people have accused her of the same thing she was accusing Tony of last night. And that makes her a hypocrite.
Furthermore, she’s there to critique Tony’s performance as a singer, not provide unwanted commentary on what a song’s lyrics do or do not mean. She is a judge, not a social commentator. I’ve seen a couple of clips where she’s just been a total, uh, bitch to Tony after his performances. I’ll be the first to admit, despite my wife’s obsession with this guy, that he’s not the most talented singer. He is good at what he does, though. He has a pretty decent voice. He is not deserving of the scorn lobbed his way like a grenade from Christina after damn near every performance.
I’m not, and never have been, a fan of Christina Aguilera. I will concede that she has an incredible singing voice and is extremely talented, but she needs to get off her high horse when it comes to Tony. I don’t know if she acts that way towards other contestants because I have not, and will not, watch that show, but she needs to get over herself.
Also, I still haven’t forgiven her for fucking up the National Anthem at the Superbowl. They display the words on the damn jumbotron, Christina!! How could you not know them?
EDIT: According to some of the articles linked below, it appears that Tony’s song selection (aided by coach Adam) was aimed to be a clever way to get back at Christina for all of the unjust criticism she has heaped upon him this year.
I had a few minutes at work to peruse the news in between working on the computer I have today. I click on yahoo.com and my eyes and sensibility are assaulted with stories about Justin Bieber taking a paternity test and even more stories about Kim Kardashian’s divorce/72 day marriage.
As an aside, I really, really would like to know why Justin Bieber is even a celebrity. I never hear his music played on the radio and have never met anyone who will admit to liking his “music.” There are countless teenage and tween boys who have a Bieber-styled haircut, but if you tell them that they get pissed and offended. The twins were among that group for a while.
Back on topic now, why is this news? Who cares about Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian and why? Bob and Tom have played a clip at least twice since the “news” broke that Kardashian has left her husband (whose name I cannot recall and don’t care to remember or look up) in which a fake Larry King and fake Kim Kardashian have an interview. In the interview, the fake Larry King asks the fake Kim Kardashian why she’s famous. The fake Kim has no answer at all.
That kind of sums up my feelings on the matter. Neither of these two clowns have done anything worthy of making them celebrities. Celebrity news annoys me anyhow because it drives me nuts that people pay more attention to celebrity news than things happening in their lives. It’s even sadder that clowns like these make the news. Clowns that have done nothing in their lives to justify their “celebrity.”
I would yell at Yahoo for posting this kind of garbage, but really, they’re doing it because people are reading the garbage. And that’s what’s really pathetic. People get so wrapped up in all this celebrity drama and it’s senseless to me. These people are no better than you or I. Why would you care so much about someone you’ve never met?
In closing, doesn’t Justin look like a lesbian to you? He does to me. I apologize to any lesbians who are offended by the comparison, but look at him. He has a feminine face and the short haircut that lesbians often sport. You all should kick his ass so he’s not mistaken for one of you.
Since Saturday, the interwebs have been inundated with stories about Amy Winehouse’s death. The “singer” was found dead in her home, and though no cause of death has been determined, most are speculating a drug overdose given Winehouse’s apparent history as an addict.
The sad thing is, I had never heard about Amy Winehouse before Saturday. I haven’t read any stories about her death, either. Everything I know about this woman I’ve learned in the last couple of days from story titles and the endless tripe on Facebook about her life, addiction, and death.
I just have one question: Who cares? Is it that serious that everyone with a keyboard needs to post a freaking story about it? Did any of the people making these posts or writing these stories even know Amy Winehouse? Did they know her personally? Have they even met her? I seriously doubt it.
For Christ’s sake, the stories are everywhere.
I truly have a hard time understanding America’s love of celebrities. This country worships celebrities with unrivaled passion. And it’s embarrassing. The adulation given to celebrities, even those who shouldn’t be celebrities (here’s looking at you Nicole Ritchie, Kim Kardashian, and Paris Hilton), defies logic. The next time you’re in the check out line at your local grocery store, stop and look at the magazines. There might be a couple of news magazines, such as Time, but the majority are celebrity magazines like Entertainment Weekly.
Why do we as a nation even give a shit about these people? Why do we care who’s sleeping with who, who wore it best, or who was seen kissing who? Don’t people have their own problems to worry about? I know I do.
Celebrities are no different than the rest of us. Sure they have more money, but they deal with the same problems we do. They have children to raise, a spouse (or significant other) to keep happy, and parents still telling them how to live their lives. In addition, they have problems a lot of us never will. Paparazzi follow them around 24/7, people trying to get their money, and absolutely no privacy whatsoever. Why is so much adoration given to people we have never even met and probably never will?
People have been writing about Amy Winehouse like they actually knew her. They have been writing about how they identify with her because they were addicts, too. In truth, these people know nothing about her. They don’t know why she did drugs. They have no idea what kind of problems she faced. And I have no idea why this bothers so many people.
Is it tragic that a life so young was extinguished? Sure. Am I letting it ruin my day? Absolutely not. I didn’t know her and it doesn’t affect me in any way. This country needs to get it’s priorities straight. There are more pressing issues currently than another dead celebrity. Yes, it’s news but not worthy enough news to dominate headlines. Read the story, think to yourself “that’s sad,” and move on with your life.
