Infographics: Informative Eye Candy

Infographics are a presentation of data and information in the form of a graph or picture. They are used for many reasons: they’re eye-catching, concise, engaging and the information they contain is easily absorbed.

They are most commonly shared through social media in order for the message to gain optimum exposure.

Why are they so effective?

Infographic via Future Fresh 

Due to the overwhelmingly positive effects of infographics, I decided to create one to help foster awareness about the harsh truth about animal testing.

PETA is one of the largest an animal rights organization that supports the fair treatment of animals and pushes to ban inhumane practices worldwide. With them as my client in mind, I planned to use an informative and creative approach in hopes of getting people to think cruelty-free.

Infographics are the candy of the internet: just a taste, just a glance and you know what you’re in for.

10 helpful tips for designing a compelling infographic:

1. Balance
2. Emphasis
3. Simplicity
4. Contrast
5. Make a grid
6. Avoid unprofessional typefaces
7. Avoid cheesy effects
8. Limit your color palette
9. Use white space
10. Use brevity

Don’t forget to consider your target audience when choosing font size and relevant content.

Good luck on making an infographic that drives viewership and stimulates awareness for a cause or business venture!

Monica Lewinsky: Retiring the Stained Blue Dress or Airing Her Dirty Laundry?

When people think of the blue dress, the tilted beret and the woman who was the center of America’s biggest sex scandal, Monica Lewinsky’s name usually rings a bell  (and it’s definitely not the Liberty Bell).

In 1998, the year I turned five, the news of President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky’s affair was off my radar and over my head. Although the younger generations didn’t quite understand the complexity of the situation, and how unspeakable it was to be pegged as a no-good-adulteress-liar-home-wrecking-impeacher-of-the-leader-of-the-free-world, we definitely have heard Monica’s name somewhere…

Picture via NY Daily News 1995

For those who are aware of the music industry, you recognize how the art of song writing isn’t always necessarily mature. Move over T-Swift–Eminem, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, and Lil Wayne are just a few of the artists who are assuring that Lewinsky not only goes down in the history books but on the music charts as well.

Picture via BET article “A History of Monica Lewinsky Mentions in Music”

 G-Eazy’s song titled “Monica Lewinsky“ begins with President Bill Clinton’s infamous recorded denial of the affair, a repetition of her name on every chorus as well as blatant referencing of her reputation for carnal desire. Even if Lewinsky wasn’t relevant to you when the news of infidelity broke, pop culture has exploited her into being an overtly sexualized character that everyone will remember for clever, lyrical and comical reasons.

Picture via Urban Dictionary

Molly Shannon as Monica Lewinsky and John Goodman as Linda TrippPhoto via Saturday Night Live

After we are done laughing at creative threads of words and John Goodman’s wig, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate. Does Lewinsky deserve to be branded with the scarlet letter of sin? Or, is she a victim of identity theft at America’s expense?

 Lewinsky says “uncle!” and is demanding the submission of her opponent: America.

Picture via CNN

Lewinsky put herself back in the spot light and spoke at the inaugural Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit in Philadelphia. Blaming the media for ruining her image, she created a Twitter account to make a campaign against cyberbullying.

During her speech, she made some pretty bold statements, one of which was that she was “patient zero” in the pandemic of what she claimed to be a “viral phenomenon that, you could argue, was the first moment of truly ‘social media’.” Probably not the most sensitive verbiage to use in the wake of the Ebola virus.

As the self-proclaimed pioneer of negative press, she decided she wanted to use her past to help others, with (heres the kicker) the late Tyler Clementi as her inspiration. Clementi was a college student who committed suicide after his room mate posted a picture of him kissing a boy on the internet.

Picture via CNN

Comparing the two situations is ludicrous because self-imposed adultery is 100 percent unacceptable legally or socially, while Clementi was a victim of societal homophobia.

As long as she continuously brings up her stained blue dress, yes even saying she is “burying” it is still referencing it, she is definitely getting people talking; but the conversation hasn’t changed.

Keira Knightley: A naked picture to get the picture

There is a stigma against getting naked and posing for the camera for a multitude of reasons. The uproar against the leakage of celebrity photos just earlier this Fall further solidifies the idea that it isn’t an appropriate image, nor a  positive message to send to the public.

Time and time again we have witnessed people baring it all as a cry for attention: but what if getting naked helped people to get the bigger picture?

Known for her adorably crooked smile and English accent, Keira Knightley gives us yet, another reason to make us fall in love with her.

Photo via The Sun 

Famous for box office hits like ‘Bend It Like Beckham,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and her latest ‘Begin Again,’ Knightley is used to being an object of the spotlight.

But an object she is not, nor is any woman, and she is making that loud and clear.

 “I think women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame. Our society is so photographic now, it becomes more difficult to see all of those different varieties of shape.” Keira Knightley told the Times.

Photo via Interview

Knightly emphasized the importance of the public knowing that her body, along with everyone else’s in the media, is manipulated somewhere along the line. After she had seen the negative effects of photoshopping, her and photographer Patrick Demarchelier agreed the photo shoot with Interview magazine be all natural.

 “That [shoot] was one of the ones where I said: ‘OK, I’m fine doing the topless shot so long as you don’t make them any bigger or retouch.’ Because it does feel important to say it really doesn’t matter what shape you are.”  Keira Knightley told the Times.

Photo via Interview

Wet hair, minimal makeup and untouched breasts has Knightley metaphorically saying everyone is beautiful and needs to be accepted the way they are, flaws and all. She’s acknowledging the fact that she knows she has imperfections, and that insecurities come in all shapes and sizes.

If this isn’t a stance against photo shopping then I don’t know what is.

This is a breath of fresh air compared to the bombardment of advertisements with Victoria’s Secret-like models with bodies like Barbie dolls.  Coming from someone as beautiful and as thin as Knightley makes the message all the more meaningful than what is usually seen: the message being preached by someone because they are seen as “too big.”

Gif via Rebloggy

She speaks to all different body types, helping to get us to see that there is no one exclusive agreement on what is beautiful. What one perceives is different than someone else, and no one is to say who is right or who is wrong. She even proves that those who may even seem to “fit” the public’s perspective of beauty (potentially herself) may never see that in themselves.

 

Body image issues aren’t limited to how you look in a swimsuit or what a magazine says is right, it’s a battle within yourself and the suffering will never come to an end until the photoshopped expectations stop staring you in the eye.

Just as your mother always told you: It doesn’t matter how you look on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

Kim Kardashian: Becoming the butt of feminism and racism

If you have been living under a rock for the passed week, you’ve missed the fact that Kim K’s lady lumps went viral and have become even bigger than usual. She is definitely making a statement in a smack-you-in-the-face-with-what-got-me-famous kind of way.

On November 12, Paper magazine came out with one of their most controversial covers–scratch that, one of the WORLD’s most controversial covers– featuring  Kim Kardashian wearing only silk gloves and a gaudy necklace. Flaunting one of the main ASSets that got her famous, the focal point of the shoot is stark.
 Paper Magazine is a NYC based small and edgy art and fashion publication focusing on pop-culture, nightlife, music, art and film.

Although Kim claims her Paper photoshoot was unpaid, she is racking up plenty of publicity in what she calls “breaking the internet.”

The publication sent Adweek a report saying that compliments to delivering a whole lot of Kim, their “traffic hit 6.6 million page views with 5 million of those being unique visitors. This is just direct traffic to the site, and does not include the billions of impressions created on social channels and news outlets.” 

Paper Magazine’s tweet about her article made records for their account on highest number of retweets and favorites, exhibiting her baring a full frontal.

Photo via @papermagazine

Her husband, Kayne West, retweeted one of the magazine’s photos and almost immediately accrued nearly 82,000 retweets and 93,000 favorites with the cheeky caption: “#ALLDAY”

Yes, I must admit that the traffic and viewership Kim landed herself and the mag is impressive; however, while some may see this derriere shot as a “no-filtered bare-it-all,” others see it as narcissistic and even an exploitation of centuries of racism, oppression and misogyny.

Saartjie Baartman was a woman of the Khoikhoi people from South Africa. They were known for their more prominent buttocks and unusually long labia making them target for scrutiny.

Photo via Wikipedia

Baartman’s Khoisan heritage and unearthly figure meant that she was both an exotic foreigner pegged as a “freak,” dooming her to a life spent being poked and prodded as a sexual object in a human zoo.

Baartman stood scandalously naked for crowds coming to see her freak show night after night. She performed only decorated with beads and bangles, similar to the only pieces worn by Kardashian in her Paper Magazine shoot.

While Kim may think she is reinventing the wheel by empowering women to be comfortable in their skin, news flash: she is  insulting feminists and racial activists everywhere.

Photo via  HollyScoop

It seems as though what Kim does best is taking her clothes off, hence her claim-to-fame sex tape, and she continues to dehumanize women by drawing attention to the nudity that many in the past and present have found extremely disrespectful and distasteful.

Kim said she did the shoot as a campaign to break the internet with an “up yours!” message to the public about being free to be who she is. Kimye (Kim and Kanye) have spoken numerous times about being allies of the African American community, especially representing their daughter North, but her photoshoot counteracts her stance by hitting too close to home, promoting the lack of dignity both women and African Americans fight.

Photo via Vogue

The images exhibit her body as an object, belittling the importance of self respect when she could have used this outlet as a campaign for social justice. Instead of saying  “I don’t care,” she should have said “THIS is why I care, and you should too.”

Tim Cook: Coming out of the closet or coming out of the shadows?

When hear the word “apple,” they don’t think of the fruit. Instead, many think of the multinational corporation that develops and designs consumer electronics and the CEO who made it all possible.

An entrepreneur, marketer, and inventor, who was the co-founder and chairman. The man widely renowned as the charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution, who transformed the consumer electronic fields.

The figurehead of Apple: Steve Jobs.

Photo via www.aclipart.com

His humbled beginnings in his parents garage, to his road all the way to the top, the perseverance, passion and talent he exuded was hard to miss. When Jobs passed from respiratory arrest due to a pancreas neuroendocrine tumor in 2011, the public wasn’t sure the innovative world would keep spinning.

Tim Cook, 53-year-old operational wizard, took over as Apple CEO with the challenge to maintain the momentum of the world’s largest and most famous technology company, following a decade-long period of turn-around and innovation.

Photo via Yahoo

With shoes to fill as big as the fallen genius behind the glasses, Cook stepped up in a lot of big ways. Here are a few outlined by Business Insider:

1. Jobs had initially been uninterested in small tablets, but Cook released the iPad Mini which is the best selling tablet on the market

2. Cook apologized for the confusion and frustration that Apple Maps error caused and promised to improve the maps. It is unlike Apple to apologize for anything.

3. He responded to the heavy fire Apple was under due to the working conditions in the factories that made iPhones. He worked with Foxconn, Apple’s manufacturing partner, to improve the working environment.

4. He instituted a dividend and buyback plan.

5. He enacted the philanthropic move to match charitable donations made by its employees.

7. Cook settled patent lawsuits with HTC and tried to settle with Samsung.

8. He is working on a plan to remove Apple’s biggest rivals: removing Google maps and YouTube, and attempting to remove Samsung (the company that makes the iPhone).

9. He released the iPhone 5, the best phone on the market with the most aggressive product roll out yet.

10. He came out as gay.

Photo via Business Insider

For many, the news was shocking. For some, it was just a confirmatory statement to what most people had known for quite a while. Cook came out last October through a Bloomberg Businessweek article with the goal of trading insight to his private life for homosexual civil rights.

“While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.” Tim Cook 2013

Photo via Out Magazine

Cook has topped Out Magazine’s list of most powerful gay men and women in the US for the fourth consecutive year. Taking the number one spot 2011-2013, and moving down to the most powerful gay man, number two to Ellen Degeneres, this year.

Not only is one of the most powerful men helping with innovative technological change, he has decided to let his guard down and foster social change, bringing forward the issue of gay rights. He sacrificed his privacy in hopes of helping struggling homosexuals come to terms with who they are, to not feel so alone, and to inspire equality.

“We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick.” Tim Cook 2013.

His mission that is centered around social change just might be the trick into helping him fill out Jobs’ shoes.

Celebrities want YOU to vote

It’s that time again, mid-term election day and American’s everywhere sent in their votes. Many of us may have needed a reminder to fill out our ballots, and who better to get our attention about than vote-happy stars.

With the election came floods of enthusiastic celebrity voting advocates taking to social media to urge people to get their vote on. Twitter was a powerhouse with more than 300 big names making statements and raising awareness about the importance of our voices in this country.

Tweet via @SirPatStew

Tweet via @IMKristenBell

Tweet via @Johnlegend

Tweet via @Jtimberlake

Fusing together pop culture, politics and technology, these socialites are not only generating buzz about the significance of the public’s power to vote, some are also pioneering ways to simplify voter registration and elections for young adults through Rock the Vote.

Photo of Miley Cyrus via Rock The Vote Youtube Promo

Rock the Vote started in 1990, founded by members of the recording industry. Millennials have the potential to be the largest voting bloc in the country but are voting at a fraction of their size, pushing Rock the Voters to target them and promote that the fate of the country is in their hands. Now, all types of celebrities promote their message from Leonardo DiCaprio to Snoop Dogg and more.

Photo of Black Eyed Peas via www.philly.com

For almost 25 years, Rock the Vote has pioneered ways to make voting easier, advocating for states allowing voters to register by mail and organizing a toll-free number to register voters over the phone. It also was the first organization to create a voter registration tool to register voters online.

Photo of Kat Graham via Perez Hilton

Rock the Vote’s latest campaign “Turnout to Vote” is a parody video of Lil Jon’s hit “Turn down for what,” in hopes of getting the attention of millennial voters. A cast of celebrities turn a club song into a persuasive PSA about voting.The forward-thinking progressive campaign exhibited public figures engaging in political behavior, and voicing what they are “turningout” for.

The video brings up issues of reproductive rights, marriage equality, prison reform and all of the other measures that are on the ballots. Explicitly stating their political stances influence fans to realize we live in an open culture that encourages this conversation in areas as public as social media and the internet. It is not something to hide from and something that should be understood.

While the Boston Globe claims that despite the VIP push, midterm election turnout remained stagnant among 18 to 29-year-olds; the number of younger voters who turned out was significant in light of new restrictions such as voter ID laws.

Taylor Swift: Never Going Out of Style, Like Ever

This summer Taylor Swift told the world to “Shake it Off,” but with industry sources forecasting her 1989 album to sell at least one million copies in the first week, we don’t see her shaking off anyone anytime soon.

Taylor Swift: 1989 Secret Session with iHeartRadio on Oct. 27, 2014 in New York City.

Transformed from tween superstar to a sophisticated songbird, Billboard believes her fifth album, released Monday, will be the 19th album to sell a million since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991.

Picture via Billboard

For a girl who got a bad rap for writing snappy break up songs, she sure is making a statement. And this isn’t even the first time she will have achieved this victory. Nor would it be the second. Swift is projected to be the only 24-year-old singer ever to have THREE albums achieve the one-million-in-one-week feat.

The red lipped diva is a seven time Grammy winner and has a net worth of 105 million dollars, which begs the question: what do you do with all that cash?

Give, give, and give some more:

• After the Iowa flood in 2008, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross in Cedar Rapids to help the victims.
• In 2009 she performed on BBC’s Children In Need concert and donated $16,5000 to the cause.
• In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a flood relief telethon hosted by WSMV, a Nashville television station.
• On May 23, 2011, she performed a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the United States southeast region. The concert raised more than $750,000.
• In July 2011, she donated $250,000 to Alabama football coach Nick Saban’s charity, Nick’s Kids, to aid in the tornado relief efforts of West Alabama.
• She was named DoSomething.org’s most charitable celebrity, donating $50,000 to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for high tech music therapy for the teens cancer center.

Although she talks a tough game in her songs, it is clear this girl has a big heart. Using her celebrity platform to leave a hand print on this world, and a handprint on our hearts, she constantly reminds everyone to be fearless.

Picture via Huffington Post

“To me, fearless is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.” -Taylor Swift

In the midst of her 227 total award winning life in the fast lane, dodging paparazzi, rumors and ex boyfriends, Look to the Stars Organization continues to list 26 more charities that she makes time to support.

 Taylor’s surprise visit to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Photo via Yahoo

Taylor visits 5-year-old cancer patientPicture via Hollyscoop

Teen patient Shelby Huff gets personal visit from Taylor Swift at New York Cancer CenterPicture via New York Daily News

I’m an avid T-swift fan because of everything she stands for. For being brave when you’re scared, for getting up when you’re down and for taking the leap when you don’t see the ground. Also, I’m a sucker for all five of her albums. Although she can do no wrong in my eyes, the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, so she projects a good message that the whole world should follow: Shake. It. Off.

Performing ‘Shake it Off’ at Hollywood Bowl: We Will Survive concert

The Cost of Vanity: When Will Cruelty Go Out of Style?

Personally, cosmetic binging is one of my (shameful) specialties; but disguised by the fancy labels, bright lights and glitter are the inhumane measures that some brands take to get their products on the market.

Many top cosmetic brands have been trying to hide the ugly secret lurking in the beauty industry: animal cruelty.

WARNING the footage in this video is graphic and difficult to watch.

Video via PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)

As you can see, the extent of the testing goes much further than spraying perfume on a bunny before it hits the shelves.

PETA, a renowned American animal rights organization, illustrates that 100 million animals every year suffer and die in cruel chemical, drug, food, cosmetic and any other harmful tests or experiments.

Picture via Animals Australia Organization

Hundreds of thousands of  animals are tortured in consumer and cosmetic product labs: mice punished by inhaling toxic fumes, dogs force-fed pesticides and rabbits tortured having corrosive chemicals rubbed onto their skin and eyes.

For a long time, one of the most well-known cruelty-free brands has been MAC Cosmetics.The company’s products were initially designed for professional make-up artists, but are now sold to consumers worldwide.

Picture via Cannes iGet

With celebrity endorsements from Lady Gaga, Elton John, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and more, MAC has established an elite reputation. Nasty Gal CEO, Sophia Amoruso even goes as far to say “MAC is like the Apple of makeup.”

Nicki Minaj and Ricky Martin for MACPicture via Celebrity Endorsement Ads

Rihanna Viva Glam CampaignPicture via Beauty and the Beat 

With a name as big as MAC, imagine the surprise when their former motto, “Tested on Models, Not on Animals.” was scrapped in 2012. When news was broke that the cosmetic line performs animal testing, their PETA endorsement was revoked, and they were taken off of the list of cruelty-free companies.

MAC revised their statement: “M.A.C has a longstanding policy to not test on animals, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law.”

This phrase is used by brands who are selling in international markets that require animal testing in order to put products on the market. Due to the outsourcing, many companies put blame on the third party for animal testing, in hopes of protecting their cruelty-free image even though it’s their brand doing the harm.

Picture via Unleashed Organization

Humane society international states that it is still legal in 80 percent of countries. Cosmetic testing kills an estimated 300,000 animals each year in China alone. The torture needs to stop.

In fact, in 2006 the FDA reported that 92 out of every 100 drugs that successfully pass animal trials and go into human clinical testing fail during the human clinical trial phase. For this reason, and the moral obligations to the puppies and bunnies, more than 500 beauty brands around the world are cruelty-free.

Big name celebrities have taken a stance to promote cruelty-free practices, including Paul McCartney, Colbie Caillat, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Ricky Gervais and more.

Jenna Dewan Tatum speaks out about the Humane Society of the United States/Humane Society International’s Be Cruelty-Free campaign, a global effort to end animal testing for cosmetics and personal care products.

The animals that are burned, poisoned, maimed and killed at the expense of our vanity may make you think twice next time you’re looking for new mascara.

Celebrities Fighting for Gun Safety Nationwide: The Killing Needs to Stop

Experts have been trying to figure out where the fascination with guns has begun. Violent video games? Movies? Crime television shows? Every day, 86 Americans are killed by gun violence, 86 more deaths a day than I would like to see.

Picture via @SarahKSilverman

With everyone fighting over having the right to protect themselves with controlled gun use, it is vital that we foster awareness about the importance of responsible gun ownership.

Everytown for Gun Safety is an organization that researches a range of vital issues surrounding gun violence, develops data-driven solutions, and works with lawmakers to try to make America a safer country to live.

Picture via Everytown for Gun Safety

As the world leader of annual firearm deaths, as well as total gun ownership, there has been a result in alarmingly high number of national tragedies even just in the past couple of years.

Picture via Everytown for Gun Safety

 The National Rifle Association has won its fight in protecting the right to bear arms,how many tragedies to we need to have before change is made? They have been been turning down common-sense laws and policies that ensure that guns end up in the right peoples hands.

Since The Second Amendment isn’t going anywhere soon, Everytown for Gun Safety had to come up with a way to get people to want to be educated and realize the importance of safety when you own a gun. Most importantly advocating to get background checks on any person who wants to be a gun holder.

The organization decided to team up with the stars in hopes of reaching a larger audience and having their message permanently resonate with the fans of these powerhouses. The cast includes Jamie Foxx, Jason Bateman, Beyonce,  Amy Poehler, Jessica Alba, John Legend, Jennifer Aniston and many more. It’s hard not to be moved by this public service announcement that has the star-studded cast Demanding a Plan to End Gun Violence:

After the video of the self righteous celebrities went viral, there was terrible backlash and a negative response to their claims. While the video sparked attention, it wasn’t necessarily the reaction they were hoping for.

Picture via NYC Prowler

The media called them ‘hypocrites’, firing back by releasing a video with the same content except it contains footage of violent movies from some of the same actors who were demanding a plan to end gun violence. Many people strongly believe that action movies can drive curiosity towards gun-use, making the “crime fighting” celebrities inappropriate for the role.

Picture via http://www.sofurious.com

The video is graphic with a colorful name, but it definitely made a statement about pop culture. You can watch the video here: Demanding Celebrities to Go #!@$ Themselves

With their plan back firing, Everytown for Gun Safety decided to take a radical approach that didn’t need the orchestrating of celebrities to get everyone to pay attention. The interactive video demands a call to action without really even needing to say it.

This PSA is called: Accidental Death

The video went viral and everyone, including celebrities, were sold on promoting awareness for the importance of gun control. It spoke to people on so many levels, and the media attention from public figures helped to get the video on more screens and viewed by more people.

Celebrities used their Twitter presence to spread the news and show support for Everytown.

Picture via @_juliannemoore

Picture via @MelissaJoanHart

Picture via @BetteMidler

It came as a surprise to me of all the criticism the Demand A Plan PSA received for its celebrity participation. However, the ones who jumped on the wagon to promote the Accidental Death PSA helped the video to get two million views.

An A-list cast was beat out by a little girl with a gun: sometimes simple is better.

Celebrity Controversy Over Ebola Virus

Many say that the hysteria brought along with the outbreak of Ebola is far too dramatic. But is it really our fault?

As a pop culture connoisseur, I believe some of the heightened anxiety about the disease may be linked to good old Hollywood. With the abundance of popular medical disaster movies, there is no question that some of the public, including myself, suffer from PTMD (Post Traumatic Movie Disorder) and a potentially unrealistic vision of the future of Ebola.

The 2011 hit “Contagion,” featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, is about a rapid airborne virus killing millions.

Photo via http://www.popsugar.com

“Outbreak” came out in 1995 starring Dustin Hoffman. The film is based around the spread of a deadly contagion, speculating about how far military and government agencies will (and won’t) go to contain the virus.

Photo via http://ebonevopuzon.sourceforge.net/

These are just a few of the multitude of medical thrillers that stimulate “what if” scenarios, leading to worrisome questions: Is the world coming to an end? Are we all going to die? Is the government to blame?

With great fear comes uncertainty and paranoia, but a whole new level of dread is born when figureheads with big voices make allegations that align with your worst nightmares.

With 52 awards and 152 nominations for his vocal and dance talent, it is clear Chris Brown is a powerhouse. When he took to Twitter to express his belief of the supposed vicious motives behind the virus, people were shaken.

Photo via @ChrisBrown Twitter account

Michael Savage, host of The Savage Nation, spoke about the government on his radio show: “They don’t know Ebola from Shinola.” With one of the largest radio audiences in the country, his conspiracy theories have spread like wildfire. He charged Obama with purposely wanting to infect the troops and our nation, along with blaming him for the virus entering our country because of his open-borders policy.

Photo via WND Exclusive “CNN Goes to War with Broadcast Giant on Ebola”

There’s inevitably a conspiracy theory behind every pandemic. From SARS to H1N1 and now Ebola, we have seen speculation about the background of these viruses, many pointing fingers at the government for the damage. What if there’s no one to blame? Is there really a way to know?

Celebrities are leaders many people follow, so why break apart our nation due to a hunch? The virus is already doing enough destruction, we need to stay united if we want to keep it contained and save those who are infected. The big faces of the nation need to promote optimistic messages, not further mania.

Many leaders have stepped up, saying as long as we are raising awareness and accumulating resources there is hope. As actor Jeffrey Wright, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, model Naomi Campbell, singer Alicia Keys and former NBA player Dikembe Mutombo say in the “Crush Ebola Now” PSA: “Ebola is NOT a death sentence.”

Although many may have themselves convinced that we are living out some sort of made-for-TV apocalypse, I ask you this: What do you think is scarier, the virus itself or the reaction to it?