Leftovers: The T-Shirts Are Coming!

• The Daily News takes on t-shirts again today in an editorial, saving their greatest wrath not for me (aw, you guys!), but for the t-shirt manufacturers. Fair enough. But, please, nobody tell the editorial board about T-Shirt Hell (actual shirt pictured) — they might have an aneurysm. [Daily News]

• A building being demolished in Mt. Airy collapsed earlier today. Two men were trapped and later rescued. [NBC 10]

• If SEPTA doesn’t get a billion more in funding, fares will have to be increased or services will have to be cut. Oh, that’s okay, SEPTA’s better than perfect right now; they can afford to cut a few things. [Inquirer]

• Just as soon as the government has gotten rid of the fee added to all DSL services, Verizon is replacing it with a fee of its own. But of course. Inky biz columnist Andrew Cassell thinks it’s totally boffo. But of course. [Inky]

• Just one day after he was called up… Michael Bourn was back down to the minors. Quoting Paul Hagen: “Then, after the game ended, it was announced that Bourn had been optioned to make room for Hernandez. He arrived at the park just in time to get the news and never even put on a uniform. He’ll return to Florida and then accompany the U.S. Olympic qualifying team to Cuba tomorrow.” This is the second time he’s been called up and immediately sent back down this year. He’s going to punch out Pat Gillick pretty soon, I bet. [Daily News]

• Liberty Property Trust learns that it’s pretty easy being green at the Naval Yard. [Metro]

An Apology To The Daily News

Well, I guess I was wrong:

Yesterday: T-Shirt Turned 21 In Prison Doing Life Without Parole

T-Shirt Turned 21 In Prison Doing Life Without Parole

Hmm. You make a good point, Daily News. Know what else this city might not need? Hypocritical newspapers that find it okay to joke about sex slaves (among other things) but act like t-shirts are the biggest problem in the city in a desperate attempt to remain relevant. But, no, they’re not funny. Captain Crunch parodies are so 1990s.

Tune in tomorrow, when the Daily News takes on those “Dallas Sucks/T.O. Swallows” shirts for their vulgar language and blatant copyright infringement on Calvin & Hobbes.

Think it’s funny? [Daily News]
Friday: The Clever-Yet-Cringe Worthy Headline Of The Day

Viva La Revolución! (Now Let’s Play Legos!)

Walking in Center City last night, I passed by Born Yesterday, the well-regarded baby clothing and accessories store on Rittenhouse Square. And what is in the window but this baby t-shirt:

The perfect accessory for any leftist young mother: A baby with a Ché t-shirt!

Born Yesterday [Citysearch]

Also, The Most Popular ‘Sneakers’ Search Is ‘Sneakers’

From the front page of Yahoo!:

So, the most popular search for t-shirts is: T-shirts.

T-shirts [Yahoo!]

Stop snitchin’ not just a t-shirt fad?

As you may know, I’ve largely stayed out of commenting on the “Stop Snitchin’” t-shirt fad. (Though I did suggest a replacement fad.) You know why? Because the furor was largely over by the time I started blogging here in late August.

But, though, it still creeps up every once in a while. There was a recent piece in Slate about the stop snitchin’ tees, which covered the points that maybe these t-shirts might be sending a message instead:

Critics of the T-shirts tend to dismiss the “stop snitching” sentiment as pro-criminal and antisocial; a subcultural expression of misplaced loyalty. But the T-shirts should be heeded as evidence of a failed public policy. Snitching is an entrenched law-enforcement practice that has become pervasive due to its crucial role in the war on drugs. … But the policy has turned out to be a double-edged sword. Nearly every drug offense involves a snitch, and snitching is increasingly displacing more traditional police work, such as undercover operations and independent investigation. [...]

And while the government’s snitching policy has gone mostly unchallenged, it is both damaging to the justice system and socially expensive. Snitches are famously unreliable: A 2004 study by the Northwestern University Law School’s Center on Wrongful Convictions reveals that 46 percent of wrongful death penalty convictions are due to snitch misinformation—making snitches the leading cause of wrongful conviction in capital cases.

While I sincerely doubt the stop snitchin’ shirts were commenting on the study that showed 46 percent of wrongful death penalty convictions are due to lying snitches, the essay brings up some good points. But I don’t want to ask any questions about the validity of the author’s argument.

What I want to ask is: What other secret meanings to t-shirts hold? I mean, that one that just says COLLEGE, what does that mean? And those early 1990s bootleg Taz shirts? What did they mean? What did the bootleg Taz shirts with Phillies caps on them truly mean? The possibilities are endless.

Bait and Snitch [Slate]
Sept. 12: The last word on the ‘John Street hat’