Beyonce’s Statement – In a Shirt!

Something to say?: It looked like Beyonce might have been referencing her recent lip-synching scandal when she shared this photo on her Instagram page

She may have kept quiet about the issue of lip-synching the National Anthem at President Obama’s recent inauguration ball, but Beyonce have not kept mum about the issue at all. In a recent Instagram post, she shared a photo where she is seen wearing a shirt with a phrase ‘Can I Live’ printed on it. Although she has not given her side on the lip-synching scandal, the photo is taken as referencing it as much as it referenced her husband Jay-z’s song having the same title, according to the Mail Online.

The photo posts precede Beyonce’s scheduled performance at the Super Bowl. Another image shows the singer-actress sporting a shirt with the name of her husband’s basketball team, The Brooklyn Nets. There is also a photograph that shows a wide black and white shot of her backup dancers in position. These photos were taken during her rehearsals for the Super Bowl show.

Beyonce will reportedly be performing onstage with her Destiny’s Child band mates, and she is set to sing their most famous songs as well as her hit song ‘Crazy In Love’. The singer have yet to air her side about the lip-synching issue, which exploded when a member of the Marine Corps Band claimed she did not sing in real time, but a Marine spokesman later backed off the claim. It appears the issue was a result of the misunderstanding about having a pre-recorded track. The use of these tracks as a backup is very common in live events.

Beyonce’s band mate Michelle defended on a segment of the program Good Morning America, saying that people should rather look at what can Beyonce bring in the future.

Plane Crew Finds Shirt Intimidating

"The Princess Bride"

Fearing that passengers will be offended and intimidated by his shirt, a flight attendant at Qantas airways asked Wynand Mullins to change his shirt. The shirt has the words ‘Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.’ Mullins argues that the crew never understood the humor behind the shirt, and said that passengers next to him are laughing at the crew’s request because they know the movie from which the line on his shirt was taken. The quote was taken from a 1987 cult film entitled ‘The Princess Bride’.

Other airlines apart from Qantas have also been known to harass passengers on the issue of what they wear during flights. They don’t usually publish a specific dress code to follow, but they authorize attendants to decide on what is offensive or inappropriate. Last year in May, for instance, a woman in an American Airlines flight was told by the pilot that she should not be in the plane because she wore a shirt that had the F-word printed on it. In yet another instance, a man was barred from boarding a Delta flight in Buffalo, N.Y., last August for wearing a shirt that has a the words ‘Terrorists gonna kill us all’.

While this policy of the airlines may seem to violate a passengers freedom of speech, airplanes are considered as private property, and they have the right therefore to set up and enforce their own codes.

Psalm 91 on Ray Lewis’ Postgame T-Shirt

Ray Lewis

It is quite normal for people to print just about anything in their shirts, from different designs to opinions. But when what your T-shirt says on it stirs a whole lot of people off their seats without criticism of what it conveys, then it’s definitely a worthy statement.

This is exactly what Ray Lewis did. The soon-to-be-retired linebacker of the NFL just recently took off his jersey after a game to reveal a black sleeveless T-shirt on which is printed on a gold font the Psalm for Protection, Psalm 91, also known as a psalm for hard times.

The shirt received much attention as Lewis made a victory lap around the M&T stadium, sending many to consider what message Lewis’ is trying to put across. Lewis, who is said to have taken refuge in the Lord, says he hopes that his action has been uplifting for people, especially those who need to push through no matter what circumstance they may be under. He also said that he felt no pain in recording a game high 13 even after suffering from a season-ending triceps tear.

Racist T-Shirts

By all indications, Taco Cid in West Colombia is a Mexican restaurant rather than a political hotspot. But just recently, it has attracted national attention on the issue of illegal immigrants, reaping both criticism and praise from different people whose opinion on the issue are as diverse as the American population.

The controversy started out when the restaurant owner, Snelgrove, decided to make and sell T-shirts printed with the phrase “How To Catch An Illegal Immigrant”, accompanied by a drawing of a box with a stick held over two tacos, resembling a makeshift trap.

Sandy Jones, a pastor at a predominantly Hispanic church in the Midlands, complains that the shirts are being very racist in its comment, and is asking the restaurant to stop selling the shirts and to publicly apologize.

Snelgrove, however, averred that they created the T-shirts as witty and comical statement regarding illegal immigrants, and that no element of hate or racial remarks is intended towards any ethnic group.

Snelgrove states that she got the inspiration for the shirts at a cruise in Key West, where she saw similar shirts being sold. Selling for $35, she says that she has been mailing the shirts all over the world.

She further added that it’s not racist but just a shirt about immigrants, illegal immigrants that is.

Dictators with attitude

In stock: Urban Outfitters - which is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but has 24 stores across the UK - is selling the white t-shirt for £32 and it features the black heading 'D.W.A. - Dictators with Attitude'

Urban Outfitters, a very popular street clothing brand, has come out with a new t-shirt displaying some of the world’s most famous dictators.  Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and Kim Jong-Il are a few of the popular faces that we find spotted on the front of the tee.

According to the text on the t-shirt, it says that they are part of “D.W.A. – Dictators With Attitude”.  It’s being sold for £32 each on their exclusive website online only, not in their UK stores (over 20 of them).  It’s a high quality tee that, remarkably, will probably make a lot of sales because of the controversy it will stir up when someone is seen wearing it.  People just love drama and crossing boundaries.

The store has the tee available in small, medium, large and extra large.  Since it’s such a controversial t-shirt though, there was bound to be some backlash from others who weren’t so happy to see world famous tyrants on display.  Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said that the t-shirts were in “These T-shirts are in incredibly poor taste, and offensive to all victims and survivors who have suffered from oppression, tyranny and genocide.”

Making money from the faces of people who have caused harm and death to millions is a new low, but for some, money is all that matters and the sale is what’s important.  Keep up to date with Urban Outfitters online to see what crazy themed tee they come out with next.

Weapons-grade knitting

If you’re a student of history, you’re well aware that governments are always looking for a new advantage when it comes to dealing with their enemies. Sometimes it’s a political advantage, and sometimes psychological, but more often, what they’re seeking is a technological edge over their rivals. More to the point, the US has long been involved in an economic war against China. China has been a formidable opponent in this arena with its seemingly endless supply of cheap labor. As such, American manufacturers have been having trouble competing against their third world counterparts.

The US is looking to change this. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has just awarded a $1.25 million contract to SoftWear Automation Inc. The goal is to develop a completely automatic cutting and sewing machine that will allow US manufacturers to create garments at costs LOWER than those in the Chinese and other third world markets.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to bring manufacturing back stateside. There’s no word on how far along SoftWear Automation is in developing the technology, but the goal is laudable. While this sort of development could ultimately bring a lot of business back to US shores, what it doesn’t address is job creation. Although these machines would bring manufacturing back to the US, a fully automated machine wouldn’t require a lot of workers to run it. But, knowing DARPA, they’re probably working on that, too.

Inmate designs shirt

No matter which side of the prison wall you reside, it’s a safe bet that you have strong feelings about the criminal justice system in this country, whether you support or oppose elements of it. As such, those on the inside probably don’t enjoy it all that much. For the most part, though, those opinions rarely are heard from outside the prison. California death row inmate Dellano Cleveland is trying to change that.

Cleveland, who has been on death row for 20 years, all the while maintaining his innocence, is trying to raise awareness of his cause and of what he sees as racism and inequity in the American criminal justice system. In order to do that, he’s designed a t-shirt. The front of the shirt features a map of Africa, with the words “African American.” The back features an acrostic poem based around the words “death penalty.”

The shirt is available for sale for $23.95, via mail order through a relative of Cleveland. Presumably, the proceeds will go to his legal defense fund. No matter how you feel about his particular case, you have to admit that his appeal to the public is certainly unique. No matter how his situation turns out or that of his fellow prisoners, this is certainly one appeal of innocence that stands out from the rest.

Left Right Center Tees

Most of the time, when we see political tee shirts, they’re often VERY clear about which side they support. Most shirts or line of shirts will have a clear political affiliation and will absolutely stick with it. Politics isn’t for the timid, after all. With the 2012 election coming up soon, we’re seeing a wide assortment of shirts supporting all sides of the political spectrum.

Left Right Center Tees (also known as LRC Tees) recognizes how contentious things can get when we gather every four years to choose our leaders. That’s why they’ve decided to support all sides. LRC Tees primary mission isn’t to support any one candidate or party, but to encourage people to get involved in the voting process, no matter who they vote for. As such, they’re released a line of tees supporting the left, the right, and the center, much as their name suggests.

For those on the left, they have a t-shirt that reads “don’t hate me because I’m beautiful and a liberal.” For people who vote more conservatively, they have one that says “right wing rock star.” For everyone else, they have one that reads “persona non grata.” They aren’t limiting themselves to these designs, and encourage political junkies with art skills to submit new designs for consideration for printing.

Censorship at 5,000 feet

It’s no secret that just about anything will set off an airport security alert these days. In the past decade, air travel has very quickly been transformed from a premium travel experience to an exercise in forced conformity among the airline-patronizing public. People now have to worry about any and every little thing that will cause problems at airport security checkpoints. Pretty much every week now, we hear news about a toddler that’s been placed on the no-fly list. Amazingly, things are still getting worse. It seems that you’re not safe these days even if you’re already on the plane and in the air.

Such was the experience recently of an unidentified female passenger on an American Airlines flight. She had made it through security, and was already on the plane and in the air on the first leg of her flight. She was preparing for landing so she could catch her connecting flight in Washington DC, when a flight attendant told her the captain wanted to speak with her regarding the connection. She was told that she wouldn’t be allowed to board her connecting flight until she changed her t-shirt, which read “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d f*** a senator.”

In the end, she covered up the shirt and made it on a rescheduled connecting flight. But, take this is a cautionary tale. This case may be borderline, as the shirt did contain a swear word, but the message was overwhelmingly political. Apparently, the airlines now have the power to impose a dress code based on political preferences.

Tebow opposes shirts

New York Jet Tim Tebow has taken a good amount of flak and ridicule this past year for being a devout Christian. No matter what your feelings are from a religious standpoint, it’s impossible to ignore the man’s success and popularity. As so often happens in sports, when fans latch onto an icon, t-shirts are soon to follow. It should come as no surprise that Tebow t-shirts are out there that highlight his faith.

As such, Cubby Tees has been selling a t-shirt with the text “My Jesus,” in a color and script mimicking the New York Jets logo. Not one to usually get too defensive about such things, Tebow and his lawyers have been fighting back against this and have sent a cease and desist letter to Cubby Tees. The center of their argument is that sales of these shirts make it look like Tebow himself endorses Cubby Tees and the shirt in question.

It’s too early to know what the end outcome will be, but Cubby Tees hasn’t buckled to pressure from the Tebow camp. Although Tebow has successfully gotten the shirts pulled from eBay, Cubby Tees is still selling the shirt in question from their own website. More seriously, though, this is yet another case that will eventually test how far a third party company can go in terms of appropriating the image and persona of a public figure to sell its own goods.