Matt Sanchez

Ms. vs. Mrs.

I've noticed a recent tendency in the press to refer to Sarah Palin as Ms. Palin.  Governor Sarah Palin is a married woman and mother of five children.

In sharp contrast, Ellen Degeneres, who recently married her girlfirend, Portia di Rossi, is being addressed as "Mrs".

Ms. has been with us since the 1700's believe it or not, but it was co-opted by feminist as a symbolic stab at gender equality.   The logic was that if Mr., an abbreviation of "master" that traces its roots back to the French "Monsieur", doesn't refer to marriage, then Ms. was meant to give a woman that ambiguity or independence. 

These titles are called honorifics and are used to define a person upon introduction.  So, what does it mean when a long-time married woman and mother is referred to as Ms. and a controversial recently married lesbian is called Mrs.?  It's a brave new world and this may be part of the change everyone is referring to.

*California voters decide in November (Proposition 8) whether or not to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman.  Previously, In 2000, California voters overwhelmingly voted down same-sex marriage ( 61% to 37%) , but that decision was struck down by the California Supreme Court.

 

De Nada is Spanish for Thanks for Nothing

The presidential candidate for the Democrat Party, Senator Barrack Obama believes Americans should "make sure your kids can speak Spanish," and is embarrassed most Americans can only say "merci beaucoup" when receiving visitors from Europe. 

70 Years Later.

I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that this month, 70 years ago, Superman made his first comic book appearance.  In 1938, the Man of Steel was a different "hero" than he is today.  Superman could not fly and often took the law into his own hands. 

 

Heaving a pre-Prius vehicle into the air.  The 30's Superman was a product of The Depression.

The early Superman was a projection of a frustrated generation eager to to fight for justice, even when that involved taking the law into his own hands.

I'm not certain Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster knew their creation would become the symbol of the United States for many throughout the world, but there can be no doubt that Superman was an instant success. 

The Superman character went to war with American troops, during WWII.

Through the years, Superman and his alter ego, Clark Kent, have become a staple in American popular culture, it's hard to believe there were once Americans who knew nothing of the man in the blue tights and red cape.

Superman was a progressive

Download Superman.pdf

The Tyranny of Hate

Brigette Bardot has been fined 15,000 Euros for, incitation à la haine envers la communauté musulmane, Muslim hate speech.  When "speech codes" are applied, they prohibit free speech. 

In fact, the suppression of the freedom of expression is the only reason why Hate Speech Codes exist. 

Jones not so Popular in Indiana

I had no intention of seeing the Indiana Jones movie this Memorial Day weekend and apparently I wasn't alone.  In what seemed like a manufactured attempt to create buzz, this Mother of  Jones flicks was being equated with actual proof that cows passing air was contributing to global warming.

Everywhere I turned all the wrong people were giving the thumbs up to a movie that seems curiously out of step with the current trend in blockbusters.

A silly writer at Salon.com wondered if Indian Jones could teach kids History, while USA Today was so desperate for something positive to say, they interviewed French kids who saw the film at Cannes, (as if the mainstream media cared about anything the French said, when they're not criticizing the War in Iraq.)  Let's face it, the Europeans will watch everything that comes from the USA, Baywatch is still a prime time draw in Great Britain--I mean Pakistan.

I ate at the Waverly Inn, earlier this week, and was blinded by the flashes coming through the front window, as I sipped my organically grown and locally harvested naturally green pea soup.  I asked the waiter if the triple osmosis water filter was on the fritz, but the wannabe Wilhelmina actor replied that the photographers were outside stalking for the senior citizens a couple of tables over.  He was referring to none other than Harrison Ford, who was looking a bit bored surrounded by the business types and flanked by the post-feminist Ally McBeal star, Calista Flockhart. 

"Experts" claimed, Indiana Jones was in the running to shatter all records, but that hasn't been the case.  According to early receipts, the Spielberg action thriller brought in 25 million on the Friday opening as opposed to the 50 million projected.  That's pretty far off the mark, but not according to some of the early non-Brie consuming buzz. 

Say What you Mean

This comedy routine was slightly more than funny, it was sadly true.

Thanks Barcepundit

Where does McCain Stand?

Despite a vote to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, gay/lesbian/homosexual marriage has been approved in my home state of California.  Despite the fact that all candidates have come out against gay marriage, there are degrees to just how much a candidate is against same-sex nuptials. 

By now, it should be obvious that civil unions are trojan horses, a way of advancing the same-sex marriage agenda by giving an inch, before taking the final mile. 

In 2006, McCain appeared in this commercials. 

Fiction and Superheroes

Iron Man the movie is a great thrill, inspired by a comic book series that began in the 60's. Tony Stark, a weapons manufacturer, visits Afghanistan to test a new weapon system code named Jericho. Stark is kidnapped by an international group whose members look suspiciously like terrorists. This group has a compound and plenty of armament that, as fate would have it, comes from Stark's company--Stark Enterprises.

Seeing that the fruit of his labors actually causes destruction for so many innocents, Stark escapes and dedicates himself to a pacifist way of life swearing off the production of weapons.  Nevertheless, Iron Man is brought into one fight after another and decides that he alone can protect the unprotected.  In other words, he'd like everyone to disarm, while he (a child prodigy and MIT graduate) remains the only one with any fire power, because he has the best of intentions.

I've reads thousands of comics as a kid, but as an adult I see just how left-wing comic books have always been, and now that they are made into movies it's that much harder to avoid the simplistic cliches.  A reporter chides Tony Stark for being a "merchant of death", but Stark is quick to give his pedigree as a patriot--his father was key in the construction of the atomic bomb used to end the War in the Pacific.  As the movie continues, Stark's conscious even relativizes the roll his father played and wonders if the bomb was justified--as if the Japanese were going to surrender if you asked them politely enough.

Throughout the movie Iron Man, the characters are categorically skeptical of the government's motives, but are not terribly curious about what motivated the terrorists in Afghanistan.  In fact, the whole conflict in Afghanistan is sanitized to exclude religion or responsibility--none of the Afghan women are shown in the socially mandatory burkha.  We learn that the head honcho of the terrorists, a shaved head Arabic-speaking tyrant, wants to "rule the world" like any other generic evil dude.

I always enjoyed comics as a kid, maybe it was the storytelling, where my imagination filled in the gaps between the panels. In the movies the artistic team has more control over the presentation, so things like ideology have a much more prominent role.

Going all the way back to 1938, one of Superman's first crusades was against "war profiteers", arms manufacturers, fueling a fictional conflict in Latin America.  The two youngmen who created the Man of Steel were social progressives projecting their frustrations and solutions through a superhuman character.  Despite seventy years later and leap to the big screen, not much has changed. 

As old as Methuselah?

Wandering around the streets of Paris, you're bound to come across a church.  Unfortunately, in a country where secularism or laicité is imposed by the state, most of the churches have become museums, with more visitors staring at the statues and ornaments than actually praying in the pews

According to a study by the Vatican published in the French daily, Le Figaro, French youth are amongst the most ignorant of the Bible in Europe, followed by the Spanish and, not surprisingly, German youth.  Students were asked a couple of key questions:

1. Is Jesus the author of the Bible?
2. Is Moses in the Old or New Testament?

Italians scored surprisingly low with only 27% of young Italians saying they had read a Bible passage in the past year.  The lack of Bible knowledge has had some secondary effects.  Phrases like "As old as Methuselah" have simply fallen into disuse. 

While I visited the Saint Eustache Church in Paris, I came upon a wedding between two young people.  I sat down to watch the touching ceremony, and soon learned only the groom was French.  The bride was from America, where the couple had met.  She may have insisted on a traditional marriage.  American youth scored 75% in Biblical knowledge, compared to the 21% for French.

Those who would applaud secularism are obviously not acquainted with the French version of the anti-religious ideology.  The French government pays to build, maintain "places of worship" and hires clergy. 

Anyone who believes imposed secularism actually works and that there is a de facto separation between the public forum and faith should take note of the current "outrageous" spectacle between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. 

   

Ring My Bell

If you don't know the story of Sean Bell, it will soon be coming to a protest near you. 

The facts are simple.  Sean Bell is about to get married to the mother of his daughter, so he decides to spend his last night as a single man at a strip club.  A few hours later, he's dead shot by 50 or so bullets coming from the weapons of undercover New York police officers.  It turns out Sean Bell was unarmed, but the police said he tried to run them over with a car and that someone in the Bell's group shouted that he had a weapon.

It's what happens in between the striptease and the shots that is really in question. The accounts vary from cops saying the suspects were armed, to a stripper's testimony of getting slapped in the face.  By all appearances, Bell's last night out was rough, but Bell wasn't alone, and there were plenty of witnesses to the events that took place. 

The final verdict, not guilty, but here's where the drama begins.  Al Sharpton has threatened to close down the city, because he's not satisfied with the verdict.  The Bell family is suing the city in a civil law suit, and the accusations of police abuse and racism are everywhere. 

Among all the accusations of police brutality and injustice, the press seems to be dancing around several issues.  The big question no one wants to ask is can a culture of disrespect for authority have gotten Sean Bell killed?  Between praising gangsters (drive-by-shootings are lauded in "gangsta rap"), a defiance against "acting white" (most black children in New York City will not finish high school, partially because scholastic achievement is not appreciated), and weak supervision at home (75% of black children are raised in single family homes), the reasons for the extremely high incarceration rate among black males cannot simply be blamed on overt racism. 

By most accounts, Sean Bell was told to stop as police identified themselves and pulled weapons.  Mr. Bell chose to get inside his vehicle and, by some accounts, attempted to flee or run over the authorities.  Sean Bell was in bad company, his companions, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield had been arrested nine and three times repsectively.  Both Guzman and Benefield had illegal firearm possession in their background. Bell himself had been arrested for illegal firearm possession.

Of course, the policemen could not have known this, but would a long violent history with authorities and jail have prompted these men to act in other than peaceful ways?  Civil rights activists claim that the Sean Bell shooting by authorities is a national problem and that the police have hostility toward blacks.  But in a society where victimhood is celebrated and the brand "African American" is a political tool for both influence and profit, we may never get down to questions of responsibility that go beyond cliches and historical injustice. 

Standing in front of each controversy, personalities like Al Sharpton fastidiously point fingers and garner publicity, but it is the Sean Bells who will be taking the bullets that could have been avoided. 

Dictatorship of Relativism

Despite the current taboo on religious discourse in the public forum, the people are obviously hungry for a greater message than "go to the mall and shop."  On the White House lawn, Pope Benedict XVI was greeted by the largest welcoming party ever as Americans of all faiths and political backgrounds wanted to be a part of this momentous occasion. 

What is particularly notable about this Pope is his very strong stance on many of the hot button topics of our day: abortion, gay marriage, human rights and the War in Iraq.  Pope Benedict XVI is a scholar who has gone on record many times to speak out on issues that most politicians avoid, including the priest abuse scandal.  It is fascinating to see such interest in the Pope's visit, particularly in a nation that is mostly Protestant. 

Despite a historic divide, even Evangelical Protestants have welcomed the Pope's arrival, as His Holiness is viewed as more of an ally in a greater cultural war, than a rival for religious dominance.  In a world of globalization, only the Pope has the moral authority to make a comment like the one below:

"We observe today a timidity in the face of the category of the good and an aimless pursuit of novelty parading as the realization of freedom," the pope said. "And particularly disturbing is the reduction of the precious and delicate area of education in sexuality to management of 'risk,' bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love."

Very succinct and accurate comments

Richard Lowry has a great piece in Townhall.com this week. 

Absolut Exaggeration

The vodka that can re-draw borders can also work bigger miracles.  Absolut panders to the gay market by giving them what they want or at least what they would like.  This ad is currently running in "LGBT" media (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (for those who haven't been keeping up with the latest episodes of Ugly Betty), according to the Worldnetdaily.

This Absolut media blitz can only go one of two ways.  The Absolut soon to be acquiring French company will gain some brand recognition and sell more vodka, or mainstream Americans will boycott the liquor out of a sense of patriotism and the LGBT will shun the 80 proof in a tizzy fit of spiteful psychological envy.

It's interesting that Absolut marketers will not consider the possibility of a national insult, but sensitivity to the pink cause is always quite generous. Whichever way the Absolut inanity goes, this Absolut pornvertisment is showing dysfunctional creative shortcomings.

Looks like I'm not the only one with the idea of boycotting Absolut.  Still waiting on a comment from the Gawker, unless the ad above has managed to keep their mouths busy.

Neil Cavuto covered the issue too:

I wrote an opinion piece that appeared today

Feminist Conundrum

Women's rights activist have made a lot of fuss over a woman's "right to choose".  Most agree, choice is important, and the moment to protest is when choice is taken away.

Fast forward to a female activist and outspoken critic of the female circumcision found dead, after numerous threats on her life.  I'd like to see some feminist lead a campaign on this, or is Gloria Steinem too busy on the campaign trail?

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Waris Dirie, the Somali-born supermodel and former James Bond girl who launched a worldwide campaign against female genital mutilation, was found by police Friday in central Brussels three days after she disappeared, the prosecutor's office said.    

Waris Dirie had been due to speak to two conferences on women's rights.

Dirie's disappearance came a week after French police said they'd found the body of another former model of African origin who had campaigned against female genital mutilation.

Journalistic Standards

I just found these guidelines for journalists.  I'm hoping this is some kind of joke:

On Oct. 6 at its National Convention in Seattle, the Society of Professional Journalists passed a resolution urging members and fellow journalists to take steps against racial profiling in their coverage of the war on terrorism and to reaffirm their commitment to:

        — Use language that is informative and not inflammatory;

        — Portray Muslims, Arabs and Middle Eastern and South Asian Americans in the richness of their diverse experiences;

       — Seek truth through a variety of voices and perspectives that help audiences understand the complexities of the events in Pennsylvania, New York City and Washington, D.C.

 Guidelines Visual images

       — Seek out people from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds when photographing Americans mourning those lost in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

 

Oscar Tips Over

The Oscar television audience dropped by 20% according to the Hollywood news magazine Variety and Advertising Age. 

 

You'll note a lot of foreign actors won films.  The Oscars still has enormous prestigious and box office receipts are growing overseas.

Plagiarism Penalties

At Columbia University, one of the rules that every single instructor, teacher's aid and professor repeats time and time again is "Plagiarism will not be tolerated"

 

Unless you're a professor.

Madonna Constantine, a professor who became famous after discovering a mock noose on her door knob, has been revealed to be a major plagiarist, and worse she has been disciplined for copying her students! 

They cited two dozen instances of plagiarism over the past five years that were substantiated in an 18-month investigation by a Manhattan law firm...cont..

Two DOZEN instances? and she's still teaching at the prestigious Teacher's College? 

Just Say No

The Wikipedia article on Mohammed, the founder of the Islamic religion, has caused controversy as it displays several depictions of the prophet--a practice prohibited in Islam. 

The article itself is a respectable account of the historical figure of Mohammad.  On the surface all is in order, but a click on the "Discussion" tab reveals the chaos behind the scenes. 

Over 180,000 internet users from around the world have requested the images of Mohammed be removed, nevertheless Wikipedia has remained firm.

Posting by a distressed Muslim to Wikpedia Editorial board:

"What I don't understand is that why non-Muslim people fail to understand a simple request made by Muslims that "please remove the pictures of our prophet from the article because it is hurting us"? Why is Wikipedia admins insisting to inflict pain and hatred upon muslims? Not removing pictures is a policy but hurting muslims, disrespecting Islam and spreading worldwide protest and conflit is.."

A Bold New World

The issue of being transgender usually pops up with students in high school. However, a 2nd grade biological boy wants to dress as a girl and be addressed with a girl's name.

Dakar to South America

After several months in Iraq and Afghanistan, I came to the conclusion that the key to defeating terrorism was a vibrant economy. 

For 30 years, "the Dakar" has been a mostly European tradition.  Racers started in the European capital of Paris, traveled 500 to 700 miles a day and ended up in the African capital of Dakar. 

That was until Islamist terrorists threatened to attack
the participants and spectators of the race.  The festivities were canceled this year, 2008 and have decided to entirely leave the African continent.   Beginning in 2009 the races will take place in South America.  No word yet on when the name will change.   

Politician in Sex Scandal may have Perjured!

Yawn.

That's the Spirit

The rush to deem the Virginia Tech killings a "tragedy" is an insult to society.  Fatal car accidents, sudden infant death syndrome and getting struck by lightning is "tragic", when a man pre-meditates the death of 32 his classmates, this is what American society calls a massacre.  With the absurdity of wordchoice and the willingness to avoid self-pity, please consider these choice images.   

Multicultural question of the day: Would Cho be any less of a madman, if he were a pre-op trans-gender person of color?  The answer may not be so obvious.