Do Not Let Advertising Sell You On Drugs You Don't Need
A couple days ago I wrote a short thing about how I don't like taking medicine. Then earlier today I saw this commercial on TV that said "Do not let advertising sell you on drugs you don't need." Basically that's what I was trying to say... nowadays there's all these drugs that people take just because someone made it and marketed it well. You think people didn't have allergies for hundreds of years before today? They all seem to have made it fine without Claritin or Allegra.
I was all patting myself on the back for being insightful and having a TV commercial back me up, but then I noticed that the ad was a public service announcement by AARP. What's AARP, you ask? American Association of Retired Persons, if I'm not mistaken. So that was kind of a downer. A bunch of old people agree with me. I'm still wise beyond my years though, so screw you all...
Thursday, June 27, 2002
R. Kelly
It never fails to surprise me how our quick we as a society can turn on someone. I mean, this is supposed to be a country where people are "innocent until proven guilty" and we are all entitled to due process by law. It's also strange to me how there is a double standard when it comes to certain crimes or sins compared to others.
I am not trying to defend R. Kelly here or anything. If you asked me my opinion, I would probably say that I think he is guilty of this whole underage sex thing. But it's troubling to see how people have reacted to these allegations against him, when nothing has really been proven about any of it.
WGCI has been playing his song, "Heaven I Need A Hug" since last week, which is supposed to be his defense to all of his critics. (If you haven't heard it, I can send you an mp3). Anyways, because this radio station is choosing to air this song, activist groups are already organizing boycotts and protests against WGCI because they are promoting a child sex offender. This is the kind of thing that bothers me. First of all, even if he was guilty, there is still this thing called the First Amendment. The song's lyrics aren't that great, but it's not like he is promoting sex with underage girls or even disrespecting anyone. It's not like WGCI is causing more sex crimes to happen by playing this song. Secondly, if you personally don't want to hear R. Kelly's music, just change the station yourself. Organizing a boycott is basically something you do out of spite and only adds fuel to the conflagration (Chip Caray-ism).
The other thing that is weird is how people react with such shock and disbelief against R. Kelly for this scandal, meanwhile the rest of the rap world is filled with killers, pimps, and drug dealers, which is glorified. I'm not saying what he did (or at least is accused of doing) is ok, or is a light offense, but neither are those other things. Yeah, let's kill all we want and shoot up heroin every day but *gasp* when someone has sex with a 17 year old and tapes it, now that's not allowed.
Plus, aren't there more important things to worry about in this world? I mean, kids in Africa are starving, and have been for as long as I can remember. There's a war about to break out between Pakistan and India, two nuclear powers. The US economy is still slumping, terrorism is still a threat, and huge corporations like Enron and WorldCom are frauding people out of billions of dollars. Yet all people seem to care about is R. Kelly this, R. Kelly that. What is it about us that likes to go "tsk tsk" and is so fascinated with stuff like this? Can we really learn anything from following this story? Yes, thanks to the vigilant reporting by the media and investigative work by the Chicago Police Department, I now know that if I am ever a 33-year old R&B singer, I should NEVER, EVER engage in sexual activity with a minor. But if I do, definitely I should NOT videotape it.
Believe me, I wouldn't be surprised if he's found guilty, and if he is, then I say punish him to the fullest extent of the law. As for us, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matthew 7:1-2). In his own less elegant words "Church folks ya'll need to stop judgin... or you will be the first to be judged."
For now, everyone needs to just chill and mind their own business. Just let the courts handle it, and if justice is not served by them, I believe that he (and everyone else) will have to answer to God someday anyways.
It never fails to surprise me how our quick we as a society can turn on someone. I mean, this is supposed to be a country where people are "innocent until proven guilty" and we are all entitled to due process by law. It's also strange to me how there is a double standard when it comes to certain crimes or sins compared to others.
I am not trying to defend R. Kelly here or anything. If you asked me my opinion, I would probably say that I think he is guilty of this whole underage sex thing. But it's troubling to see how people have reacted to these allegations against him, when nothing has really been proven about any of it.
WGCI has been playing his song, "Heaven I Need A Hug" since last week, which is supposed to be his defense to all of his critics. (If you haven't heard it, I can send you an mp3). Anyways, because this radio station is choosing to air this song, activist groups are already organizing boycotts and protests against WGCI because they are promoting a child sex offender. This is the kind of thing that bothers me. First of all, even if he was guilty, there is still this thing called the First Amendment. The song's lyrics aren't that great, but it's not like he is promoting sex with underage girls or even disrespecting anyone. It's not like WGCI is causing more sex crimes to happen by playing this song. Secondly, if you personally don't want to hear R. Kelly's music, just change the station yourself. Organizing a boycott is basically something you do out of spite and only adds fuel to the conflagration (Chip Caray-ism).
The other thing that is weird is how people react with such shock and disbelief against R. Kelly for this scandal, meanwhile the rest of the rap world is filled with killers, pimps, and drug dealers, which is glorified. I'm not saying what he did (or at least is accused of doing) is ok, or is a light offense, but neither are those other things. Yeah, let's kill all we want and shoot up heroin every day but *gasp* when someone has sex with a 17 year old and tapes it, now that's not allowed.
Plus, aren't there more important things to worry about in this world? I mean, kids in Africa are starving, and have been for as long as I can remember. There's a war about to break out between Pakistan and India, two nuclear powers. The US economy is still slumping, terrorism is still a threat, and huge corporations like Enron and WorldCom are frauding people out of billions of dollars. Yet all people seem to care about is R. Kelly this, R. Kelly that. What is it about us that likes to go "tsk tsk" and is so fascinated with stuff like this? Can we really learn anything from following this story? Yes, thanks to the vigilant reporting by the media and investigative work by the Chicago Police Department, I now know that if I am ever a 33-year old R&B singer, I should NEVER, EVER engage in sexual activity with a minor. But if I do, definitely I should NOT videotape it.
Believe me, I wouldn't be surprised if he's found guilty, and if he is, then I say punish him to the fullest extent of the law. As for us, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matthew 7:1-2). In his own less elegant words "Church folks ya'll need to stop judgin... or you will be the first to be judged."
For now, everyone needs to just chill and mind their own business. Just let the courts handle it, and if justice is not served by them, I believe that he (and everyone else) will have to answer to God someday anyways.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)