The Great American Debate: Jorts

The invention of jorts might be one of the most American things out there. It is almost guaranteed that idiots will be wearing jorts this Fourth of July weekend. But people are still trying to decide what true jorts really. There’s what I call “cut-off jeans” and then there are jeans that have been fashioned into shorts. In my opinion, they are gross and should not exist. Will we ever reach a consensus on the jorts issue?

Every time I see someone wearing jorts I give them a head nod so they know what’s up. Jorts gotta stick together you know

— vasilios poulos (@poulos3317) June 20, 2016

i wear jorts. proudly. i don’t give a fuck what you think. #cutoffs

— marc maron (@marcmaron) June 28, 2016

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The Earth is most certainly, positively, and unequivocally a sphere, but somehow B.o.B. must have missed the memo. The “Strange Clouds” rapper spent the better part of two days wrapped up in an insane Twitter rant in an attempt to convince his followers–and maybe even himself–that the world is actually flat.

Eventually B.o.B.’s bizarre tweets landed him into a heated argument with a famed astrophysicist that inspired him to write a propaganda-filled “diss track” that also casually features some Holocaust denial. But in order to understand how we even got to this place, let’s start at the beginning.

It all started when the Atlanta rapper posted a picture of himself with a peculiar question attached.

The cities in the background are approx. 16miles apart… where is the curve ? please explain this.

The cities in the background are approx. 16miles apart… where is the curve ? please explain this pic.twitter.com/YCJVBdOWX7

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

He then proceeded to support his theory with pseudoscientific photo evidence including the following gems:

Time-lapse photos of stars form perfect circles… how is this possible ? pic.twitter.com/d9d1sJja8z — B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

pic.twitter.com/POO02Sl6aV

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

pic.twitter.com/UFdFyEwb4M — B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

No matter how high in elevation you are… the horizon is always eye level … sorry cadets… I didn’t wanna believe it either.

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

Gleason’s Projection pic.twitter.com/7AB50swI2Y — B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

For the sake of this post and your scrolling fingers, I can’t include all of B.o.B.’s fantastic tweets, but in case you’re curious they can all be found here for your viewing pleasure.

Now, B.o.B. isn’t the first celebrity to publicly endorse this archaic theory, which has in fact been refuted by the entire scientific community. Just a few weeks ago Tila Tequila surfaced from reality dating show obscurity to post hundreds of angry capitalized conspiracy theory tweets, which included her own #FlatEarth theories.

Luckily this time around, science found its savior in famed astrophysicist and cosmologist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who took a few minutes of his day to disprove several of B.o.B.’s supposed facts.

He started off first by challenging B.o.B.’s skyline theory.

pic.twitter.com/bKCDLPgxYb

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

@bobatl Earth’s curve indeed blocks 150 (not 170) ft of Manhattan. But most buildings in midtown are waaay taller than that. — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016

Next, he took on B.o.b.’s supposed North Star evidence.

pic.twitter.com/RxIERI1St6

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

@bobatl Polaris is gone by 1.5 deg S. Latitude. You’ve never been south of Earth’s Equator, or if so, you’ve never looked up. — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016

@bobatl Flat Earth is a problem only when people in charge think that way. No law stops you from regressively basking in it.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016

But just because Tyson probably thinks B.o.B. is an idiot now, doesn’t mean he still won’t jam out to his Hayley Williams “Airplanes” collab.

@bobatl Duude — to be clear: Being five centuries regressed in your reasoning doesn’t mean we all can’t still like your music — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016

The Cosmos is knowable. When childhood curiosity persists as an adult, it inoculates against others telling you what to think

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 26, 2016

Unfortunately B.o.B. responded to Tyson’s comments the way most rappers respond to people saying things they don’t like–he wrote a “diss track.”

In a song titled “Flatline” (get it, since the Earth is flat now), B.o.B. spends over three minutes explaining the conspiracy to cover up Earth’s “actual” shape. If that wasn’t enough, he even throws in some Holocaust denial for good measure with the lines, “Stalin was way worse than Hitler, That’s why the POTUS gotta wear a Kipper.”

Clearly if B.o.B. keeps this up he’s going to find many more foes than friends willing support his cause. That being said, he still refuses to back down, tweeting, “No I’m not crazy, Yes I’m feeling fine, no I’m not doing anything stronger than weed, am I doing this to promote my music .. No..”. He later added,

Since all mass media wants to make me look crazy and drag me through the mud… make sure you mention the cloning centers I talked about

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 26, 2016

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Last night at the Oscars, a group of America’s most recognizable celebrities banded together to take this record-breaking selfie.

If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014

When she gathered everyone, Ellen DeGeneres announced that she wanted to make it go viral as the most retweeted photograph ever. And that’s exactly what happened — the picture was retweeted about 2.5 million times as of this morning. It was retweeted so many times that it even crashed Twitter, and smashed the previous record of 700,000 retweets of a picture of President Obama and the First Lady.

While last night’s picture was of course a particularly well known one, celebrity selfies in general are becoming increasingly popular. Others are getting in on the fun too — for example, just a few days ago, Bill Nye posted this photo to his Instagram account.

That is, of course, President Obama with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bill Nye, two influential scientists and pop culture icons.

And for a combo politician and celebrity pic, check out this one of real-life and TV Veeps Joe Biden and Julia Louis-Dreyfus:

That was an unforgettable evening. Thank u @JoeBiden @BarackObama @MichelleObama pic.twitter.com/eFOQlVGjlg

— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) February 12, 2014

I’ve seen news stories on multiple platforms about all three of these pictures, last night’s Oscar selfie of course being the most popular of the three. Now part of me is thinking, “Why should I give a damn?” At the same time the Oscars were happening, Venezuela’s protests were getting worse, and Ukraine was devolving further into a bonafide mess.

But there’s also something to be said for the pure, sophisticated brilliance of these selfies. Free publicity is arguably the best kind of publicity, and it cost that gaggle of A-Listers absolutely nothing to have their picture retweeted a few million times last night. For years, celebrity gossip magazines have been printing pages with pictures of stars being “just like us” — they get Starbucks, they grocery shop, or they take their dog for a walk. These selfies are just an extension of that idea — a way for stars to connect with their fan bases.

The same goes for politicians and other public figures. When Obama takes a selfie with two of the most recognizable faces in science, it’s not just to commemorate meeting the two men, but also because it serves as free publicity. It goes on Instagram, a social media platform used mainly by young people. Much as he did during the 2008 and 2012 elections, he’s reaching out to young people on their terms. Now, obviously most politicians do use Twitter and have other social media accounts, but Obama’s usually pretty much on the cutting edge.

What about Bill Clinton’s selfie with Demi Lovato?

Too excited to filter this… NO BIG DEAL – #Selfieswiththeprez…. @billclinton – so nice to meet you!!!! pic.twitter.com/un07E9JEOy

— demetria lovato (@ddlovato) February 28, 2014

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve got to assume that there isn’t a ton of overlap between Clinton’s and Lovato’s fans. So by sending this picture out, they probably both got exposure to different groups.

Viral marketing is by no means new, companies have been doing it for a few years now. But the selfie as an individual marketing tool has grown over the years. Not all industries are doing such an excellent job with free marketing. For example, a few weeks ago, a report came out that indicated that law firms in particular are not doing a good job with social media marketing. These celebrities and politicians are doing an excellent job harnessing the power of social media to get their names — and mostly their faces — out there. The selfie is no longer just a thing that teenagers share with their friends. It’s become a powerful tool — and last night proved that.

—

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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