Burger King Whopper Ad Offends Mexicans

The Burger King Texican Whopper "inspired by the land where a man ain't afraid to sink his teeth into something hot and spicy."

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Mexico is protesting what it says is a whopper of an insult.

An advertisement for Burger King's Texican Whopper burger shows a small wrestler dressed in a cape resembling a Mexican flag. The wrestler teams up with a lanky American cowboy almost twice his height to illustrate the cross-border blend of flavors.

"The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican," a narrator's voice says.

The taller cowboy boosts the wrestler up to reach high shelves and helps clean tall windows, while the Mexican helps the cowboy open a jar. The lazy Mexican swims by while the Texan cleans the pool.

Mexico's ambassador to Spain said Monday he has written a letter to Burger King's offices in that nation objecting to the ad and asking that it be removed. Jorge Zermeno told Radio Formula that the ads "improperly use the stereotyped image of a Mexican."

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The company pledged Tuesday to pull the ads for its chili-flavored "Texican" hamburger, saying they were "not intended to offend anyone."

"Burger King Corp. has made the decision to revise the Texican Whopper advertising creative out of respect for the Mexican culture and its people," the company said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. Burger King, which is known for its signature Whopper hamburger, said it would air redesigned ads "as soon as commercially possible."

"The revised campaign will focus solely on the Texican Whopper sandwich and will not feature any characters or the use of the Mexican flag," the company said.

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plez sez: what are these ad execs thinking when they approve these obviously offensive projects? demeaning fried chicken ads with black people (kfc). now this over-the-top portrayal of a stereotypical mexican in a burger commercial. the only way to make this commercial more offensive would've been to have the "lil wrestler" illegally cross the border to answer the personal ad in the newspaper!

this is what happens when the people sitting around a table making decisions is not a representative sample of the people who will consume the products. after yuckin' it up at an ad that looks like it was created by a roomful of sixth grade boys, no one in the room considered that having a little person traipse around draped in a mexican flag would inflame some passion from people of mexican descent!

it's been about two years since plezWorld has graced kfc with his presence... i guess i can replace that personal boycott with one of burger king and their texican whopper!

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the AJC.com article about how Burger King plans to alter the ad.

Read the NY Daily News article about the offensive Burger King Texican Whopper ad.

Read the BurgerBusiness.com article about Mexican outrage over the commercial.

Read the Fox News article about Burger King's little Mexican ad.

Read how plezWorld blew a gasket over an offensive KFC commercial.

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Quote of the Day - Europe - April 4, 2009

"If there’s just Roosevelt and Churchill sitting in a room with a brandy, that’s an easier negotiation. But that’s not the world we live in, and it shouldn’t be the world that we live in."
- President Barack Obama during an hourlong press conference with international news media (including reporters from India and China). After the press conference, many reporters stood and cheered the President.



President Obama set to igniting the imagination on a global scale as he traveled to Europe to participate in the G-20 Summit in England. The trip had a number of key objectives: restore some sense of credibility in the office of the President of the United States, gain some fiscal support from other world leaders, shore up commitments to join the US in its fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, and bring the United States back to the table of world discussion.

Obama did mediate a tense disagreement between the leaders from France and China, by pulling both aside and getting them to agree on a compromise (statesmanship - check).

Great Britain did agree to assist in Afghanistan, but the panty-waists in France and Germany demurred (al Qaeda - half-check).

Most of the world agrees that we are in this bad economy together and one nation will not be able to spend us out of it. Even though, they agree, very few committed any money to the cause (recession - no check).

And Obama was greeted by crowds everywhere he went, he even held a US-style town hall meeting with several thousand in Strasbourg, France (rock star status - check).

As only he can do, President Obama captivated the town hall meeting crowd with his speech and candor during a question-and-answer period:

"In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America's showed arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.

"But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what's bad.

"On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise; they do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated.

"I've come to Europe this week to renew our partnership -- one in which America listens and learns from our friends and allies, but where our friends and allies bear their share of the burden. Together, we must forge common solutions to our common problems.

"So let me say this as clearly as I can: America is changing. But it cannot be America alone that changes."

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plez sez: America is back! we can now resume our place as the preeminent power on the world stage.

george w. bush makes President Obama seem almost mythical in stature... the contrast is so amazing. could anyone imagine bush standing before a crowd of anyone other than the staunchest of right-wing allies and holding court? never... in a million years, never!

Godspeed Mr. President.

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the CNN.com article about the Presidents comments at the town hall meeting in Strasbourg, France.

Read Fareed Zakaria's CNN.com article about how Obama got it right in Europe.

Read the New York Times article about an assessment of Obama's performance in Europe.

Read the New York Times article about concessions Obama gained during G-20 Summit.

Read the guardian.co.uk article about how British Prime Minister Brown plans to capitalize on gains made during G-20 Summit.

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plezWorld on Twitter

plezWorld is on Twitter... and the world will never be the same!

According to Wikipedia.com, Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging services that enables its users to send and receive others' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-only posts of up to 140 characters in length. These updates are displayed on the user's profile page and can be sent to your mobile phone.

An entire cottage industry has popped up around this phenomenon with all kinds of apps available to enhance the experience. The web-based service is free, but sending and receiving the text messages on your phone will incur service provider fees.

Television and radio personalities have taken to this technology to make their programs more interactive. CNN's Rick Sanchez responds to actual tweets on his afternoon show. The following CNN video is about the Twitter phenomenon:

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You can find and follow plezWorld on Twitter.

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plez sez: i'm still a novice, so be gentle with me. but if you have a blog, you need to have twitter. i shouldn't have any problems coming up with something to blog about.

i won't be pulling these things down on my cell phone until i get an unlimited text message plan. from the short time i've been doing it, i can see how one's phone bill can grow astronomically!

Sign up for your own Twitter account!

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the CNN.com article about Twitter backlash?

Read the CNN.com article from February 2009 about 10 tips for being a good Twitterer.

Read the ReadWriteWeb article about "ghost twittering".

Read the 7 things you should know about Twitter.

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The Media's Love Affair with John McCain

If you watch enough of the "talking heads" on CNN, MSNBC, and (heaven forbid) Fox News Network, you come away with the distinct impression that the media has simply fallen in love with Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

His gaffes are brushed off as simple misstatements, his flip-flops are justifiable because he's been in public service for so long, he was a POW so that means he's an expert in foreign policy. He had the judgement to support the surge when things weren't going well in Iraq, but his judgement on supporting the war in Iraq in the first place is never called into question. John McCain is a reformer, a maverick, even though, he is in lockstep with George W. Bush on just about EVERYTHING! On a daily basis, it seems that the media lowers the bar for John McCain.

On the other hand, the media constantly raises the bar for Barack Obama. Every hurdle he clears, he isn't proven until he clears the next higher one: he whips Billary in 11 straight primaries, then she wins two and all of a sudden, Obama can't seal the deal! He lacks experience, even though he has held more elected offices than Hillary Clinton; they're not sure about his judgement, since the "heat" wasn't on when he opposed the war in Iraq; he didn't see wounded troops when he was in Germany, even though he had visited troops earlier in the week in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan; he gives a good rousing speech and thousands flock to see him, but...; world leaders loved him last week while he was overseas, but he "abandoned the American people"; he speaks of modest beginnings and hard work for what he has achieved, but he comes off as an elitist; he is aloof and arrogant (i.e. an uppity Negro), when he should be more humble since he's not the president; and if he had been a pliant, wet noodle, the media would've said that he didn't look presidential! It's been a week, and the media is still analyzing (and scrutinizing) his trip to the Middle East and Europe, even though he was goaded into doing it by John McCain... his lack of foreign policy experience.

Media Matters would like to take the media to task for the lovefest they've engaged in with John McCain. Click here to sign a petition that calls on the media to stop giving John McCain a free pass in this campaign.

Media Matters Press Release

The media and John McCain have a special relationship, one that the press has acknowledged on more than one occasion. Following a week of coverage focused on unfounded complaints of media bias by McCain and his surrogates, Media Matters Action Network has launched an ad campaign today highlighting the media's long-held affection for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Watch the ad here, sign the pledge to hold the media accountable, and spread the word.

As Americans, we have a right to expect that journalists will put aside their personal feelings and report the news in the most complete and independent way possible. But when you watch the news today, it is clear that the years John McCain invested in courting reporters continue to pay dividends. That is why it is critical for everyone who wants to stop the media spin surrounding McCain to pledge to stay alert and take action to keep the media honest.

This ad highlights what many already know to be true -- that McCain, more than any other politician, has benefited from a press corps that routinely ignores his gaffes, flip-flops, and mistakes while perpetuating the myth that he is an anti-Washington, straight-talking maverick, regardless of facts to the contrary.

The media's affection for John McCain is nothing new. But today, it threatens to distort the public's understanding of the facts at a most critical time. I hope you will take a moment to watch this ad and share it with everyone you know.

"They Love Me" Ad

plez sez: watch the ad and sign the Media Matters petition.

Quote of the Day - January 9, 2008

“Let's give America the comeback that New Hampshire has given me."
- Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton during her victory speech after the New Hampshire Primary on January 8, 2008.

With all of the major news agencies reporting a double-digit lead in the polls for Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Clinton pulled a major upset by squeaking out a 6,000 vote (with 70% of the precincts reporting) win in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, January 8, 2008. This comes a mere 5 days after Obama shocked THE WORLD with a substantial win in the Iowa caucuses. All of the news organizations are now scrambling to explain how they could've gotten the polling numbers so wrong, but they tend to forget that close to 45% of the voters in New Hampshire are independents with no party or candidate affiliations... and they go out to vote!

This win is a big boost to the Clinton campaign which was reeling after the Iowa loss: there have been strategy changes, rumors of staff reorgs, and Bill Clinton's role was altered in the Granite State.

This "loss" is a minor setback to the Obama campaign since he has been trailing for a majority of the campaign season, but the big Iowa win may be viewed by some as an aberration. Clinton nosed ahead when it really counted, but both candidates will probably receive the same number of delegates since her win was so slim (only 3%).

plez sez: i'm stunned! i've been riveted to C-SPAN coverage since last thursday's iowa caucus and all day they have been reporting about Obama's 10 point lead in the polls.

i'm shocked by the outcome, but not surprised because New Hampshire (like Iowa) is a different kind of political bird: the biggest block of voters are Independent and they can vote for any candidate (unlike other states that have registered democrats and republicans). the way the electorate is situated in the state, there was no way that they could accurately poll the likely voters.

call it sour grapes, but my distaste for hillary (and all things clinton) has only been magnified by the last couple of days in new hampshire:

the manufactured sympathy she received when edwards and obama "teamed up" on hillary during saturday night's democratic debate, even though she is the one who "stole" the Change Strategy that Obama has been trumpeting since Day 1.

bill clinton's name calling attack on Obama in response to a question from the audience.

hillary clinton's bullsh*t emotional breakdown & crocodile tears on the eve of the primary, which just goes to show that these people (the clintons) will say or do ANYTHING to get elected.

her continued touting of her 35 years of experience when her ass has only been in the Senate for one and a half terms... Obama has double that time in elected office when you factor in his time in the Illinois State House and his grassroots community work.

with this loss, it is going to be tough going for Obama in the upcoming nevada primary, but i'm certain that he'll rebound to take south carolina. with the volatile nature of this campaign, it'd be folly to predict what will happen on Super Tuesday, but i can only hope that the voters will come to their senses in the coming weeks and see hillary clinton for what she is: a calculating politician with little or no conviction.

plezWorld will NOT be casting a vote for hillary clinton in either the georgia primary (on Super Tuesday) nor during the general election in november (if heaven forbid she's the democratic candidate).

Quote of the Day - November 28, 2007

“Forty-five million of [America's] young have been destroyed in the womb since Roe v. Wade, as Asian, African, and Latin American children come to inherit the estate the lost generation of American children never got to see."
- MSNBC political analyst and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan speaking to Sean Hannity on the November 26 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes while discussing his new book.

Media Matters reports that Pat Buchanan was in rare form while he hawked his new book, Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology, And Greed Are Tearing America Apart (Thomas Dunne Books, November 2007), in which he writes that America is "on a path to national suicide."

Buchanan also predicts the days when rioting and looting returns to America's streets as the numbers of minorities (mainly Hispanics and poor Blacks) swell, a la the unrest of thousands of Blacks in the late 1960's:

"According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2005 to 2006, our minority population rose 2.4 million to exceed 100 million. Hispanics, 1 percent of the U.S. population in 1950, are now 14.4 percent. Since 2000, their numbers have soured 25 percent to 45 million. The U.S. Asian population grew by 24 percent since 2000, as the number of white kids of school age fell 4 percent. Half the children five and younger today are minority children."

Buchanan also writes that "the greatest cohort of immigrants here today, legal and illegal, is from Mexico" and states that, "[b]y 2050, more than 100 million Hispanics will be in the United States, concentrated in a Southwest that borders on Mexico."

"Almost as many African-American males are in jail or prison as are in colleges or universities. Half of all African-American and Hispanic students drop out of high school. The other half graduates with the math and reading skills of seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders. Yet by 2050 the number of African-Americans and Hispanics will have almost doubled from today's 85 million, to 160 million. The future seems more ominous than it did in the hopeful days of civil rights. For these burgeoning scores of millions will not long accept second-class accommodations in the affluent society, where they are the emerging majority. The long hot summers of yesterday may be returning."

Read the entire Media Matters article here.


plez sez: i've never liked pat buchanan; his rhetoric drips of xenophobia and racism. waxing poetic for that kinder, gentler time in the 50's and 60's when "those darkies" knew their place. he speaks lovingly of the old melting pot (of europeans), yet decries the new melting pot which threatens to tear us apart and send the country into ruin.

"But take a look at the unity we had, say, in the 1950s and early 1960s. What have we gone through? You had a culture war that's divided us completely on matters of morality. You've got a wholesale invasion, the greatest invasion in human history, coming across your southern border, changing the composition and character of your country. You've got the melting pot that once welded us all together, which has broken down. All of these things are happening, Sean, and, frankly, I don't think we got the kind of solid, firm, strong national leadership you need to deal with this crisis."

he continues to throw around future stats as if they are fact. of course, he can't resist the urge to throw some abortion and "right to life" foolishness to cater to his right-wingers while mixing the overreaction to what's happening in Jena, Louisiana and the use of the n-word by Imus to prove his point.

"...you're going to have 100 million Hispanics in the country, most of them new immigrants from Mexico, which believes that belongs to them. What's going to happen to us, Sean, in my judgment, is what is happening right now: We are Balkanizing. We are dividing and separating from one another politically, morally -- on issues like abortion or Terri Schiavo -- racially and ethnically, when you get Jena and then you get Don Imus, and all of these things ripping us apart. All the things that used to pull us together and hold us together no longer do."

what pat buchanan doesn't understand is that his brand of politics, his demonization of minorities and those who don't think like him are what is tearing this country apart. his lips snarled to spit this hate-filled invectives has roots in the jim crow south from which he obviously draws his inspiration.

how can a country of immigrants complain about immigrants?!? i've never ever understand this argument of exclusion, when everyone (except Native Americans) was an immigrant (even the ones who were brought here involuntarily as slaves) at some point in this country's history. everytime pat buchanan speaks, it scares me... because i know that there are millions more like him in this country. and a good portion of those millions have the power to adversely affect the lives and livelihood of people like me. SCARY!

plezWorld in Action: Offensive KFC Commercial

KFC Commercial (family sans father)

KFC Commercial (family with father)

plez sez: i posted about this offensive commercial (Black family without a father at dinner) last week (Issue with KFC Commercial). despite the great comments and dialogue that the post inspired, i am feeling no better about the situation if this commercial is still being broadcast by KFC.

so i have decided to take some action. it may not change anything, but at least i did something.

i called the KFC Comment Line and logged a complaint about the commercial. the customer service rep that i spoke with was well aware of the issue (there have been a number of calls about this commercial) and she logged my complaint into their customer feedback system.

U.S. Customer Satisfaction - 1-800-225-5532
Canada Customer Satisfaction - 1-866-664-5696

next, i posted the following letter on the KFC Online Customer Comment Form and the Yum! Brands Feedback site (Yum! Brands owns KFC):

About one month ago, I viewed the "Single Mother" KFC commercial while watching television with my wife and daughter. Where was the father? Why wasn't there at least another chair at the table for their father? Why was there no mention of a father?

As an African-American, a husband, and a father, I find this commercial to be offensive because it perpetrates and glorifies a negative aspect of the African-American family.

I am offended that it is possible that because of your commercial, my young daughter will think that it is acceptable that she can be happy and have a family of 3 kids without a responsible husband.

As such, I've decided that my family will no longer patronize KFC's restaurants until this offensive and degrading commercial is removed from your rotation.

I have also called KFC Customer Satisfaction and logged a complaint about this offensive commercial.

i have no idea whether my actions will make a difference, but i feel a lot better about my decision to do so. if you have the time and the inclination to do so, i encourage you to call and/or e-mail KFC with your concerns.

For Your Information:
KFC's Corporate Address for Comments
P.O. Box 725489
Atlanta, GA 31139

KFC Online Customer Comment Form: http://64.213.197.19/forms/irpt_welcome.asp?brandid=80

Customer Satisfaction:
U.S. - 1-800-225-5532
Canada - 1-866-664-5696

Blog Update - 10-24-2007:
i received the following letter in response to my complaints to KFC. as you can see, KFC continues to stand behind the commercial "and looks forward to serving [me] again soon."

October 23, 2007

Dear plezWorld:
Thank you for contacting KFC regarding our recent advertising. The opinions of our customers are very important to us. KFC is a fan of the American family and we celebrate those who make dinner time their family time. We also understand that sometimes work or other schedule issues prevent the entire family from dining together. Whether all the family members are present at dinner -- or just some of them -- KFC is proud to be a part of family time, as depicted in this commercial.

We thank you for voicing your opinion. Please be assured we value your patronage and look forward to serving you again soon.

Sincerely,

KFC Guest Satisfaction Department

WRONG ANSWER! they may stand behind that commercial, but they will never (and i repeat, NEVER) have to worry about plezWorld, or the family of, ever darkening the threshold of one of their restaurants again! my money and my integrity means far more to me than a bucket of their greasy, salty chicken.

the letter from KFC implies that the father is simply missing this dinner with his family, but when i called KFC, the customer service rep specifically referred to the "single mother" commercial! plus, i've looked at the commercial numerous times, there are several shots where the mother IS NOT wearing a wedding ring.

i haven't bought gasoline at a Texaco in over 10 years and it's been almost that long since i've dined in a Denny's, so abstaining from KFC will be a piece of cake. this is my PERSONAL BOYCOTT of KFC... and it will continue.

i guess i would've felt better if i had been contacted by The Colonel.

Issue with KFC Commercial (2007)

KFC Commercial (Family sans Father)

plez sez: it was about a month ago that i saw this commercial while watching television with my wife and daughter. we have a DVR, so i went back and watched it a few times... each time i saw the commercial, i got angrier and angrier: where was the father? why was there no mention of the father? why wasn't there at least another chair at the table for their father? since the theme of the commercial was "best part of the day," why wasn't there a mention of having the family together for dinner, even though the father couldn't be there, was the best part of their day?

at first, i thought that it was a case of trying to find hidden racism under every rock... but everytime i see this damn commercial, something just boils in my stomach.

i know that at least 70% of the households in our Black communities are headed by a Black woman. it is a sad reality. but is that a reality that needs to be justified, no, glorified by KFC? they are selling fried chicken, for Christ sakes, i don't want them making something that should be abnormal seem like it is normal. a family, regardless of race, should have a loving mother and a nurturing father. there will be cases when this is not possible - gay couples, ne'er-do-well spouse abandons the family, children raised by other family members, etc - but this should be the exception, not the rule!

call me old fashioned. call me disillusioned. call me a Republican (HA HA HA)! i don't want my 6-year old daughter growing up thinking that it is okay for her to raise 2 or 3 kids without a husband. and i don't want some damn KFC commercials telling her that either!

the issue surrounding this commercial has cropped up on some other blogs that i frequent. what follows is my reaction on those blogs.

plez on African American Dad:
My wife and I saw the same commercial a few weeks ago; we actually paused the program we were watching and replayed the commercial two or three times! I’ve only seen it that one time, but we were taken aback by the “hidden racism” that is so prevalent in so many aspects of the media! Like you, I tried to find it on YouTube, because I had planned to post it on my blog.

I have started a personal BOYCOTT of KFC as a result… that commercial had me steaming! I will have to be one HUNGRY Negro to EVER cross the threshold or buck up in the drive-thru of another KFC, for as long as I live (or until this offensive commercial is retired.

How in the HELL is KFC going to air/broadcast such an offensive and racially biased commercial of a Black family without a father! I still cannot get over the fact that in 2007, I am seeing negative images of Black families shown on prime time television! How many WHITE and BLACK families have seen that commercial and thought in the back of their minds how NORMAL that must be in our community… I am sick!!!

plez on Booker Rising:
shay, thanks for sharing the commercial, i looked for it on YouTube a few weeks ago and couldn't find it.

i don't like the commercial. the first time i saw the commercial, i wondered out loud to my wife about the absence of the father in the scene. i don't want KFC making social commentary via their commercials about the "situation" of Black single parent households while slingin' fried chicken to the masses!

and if i read the comments above correctly, many of you within the Black community are fine with the preponderance of fatherless households in the US and don't mind KFC legitimizing it in their commercials. i don't like it and i feel that this commercial by KFC is a deliberate and offensive attempt to portray our Black families in a negative light!

i don't want my daughter to view even ONE ad that says her family of 3 kids can be HAPPY without a responsible father in the picture. as such, i've decided that i will no longer patronize KFC's restaurants.

for me, it's not right... and it's not okay!

emphasis was added for this article

hat tip: African American Dad & Booker Rising

plezWorld on the Virginia Tech Massacre

First and foremost, my heart goes out to the family and friends of those students who were so brutally murdered on Monday morning at Virginia Tech.

I almost went to Virginia Tech to study engineering (I chose Georgia Tech instead) and I had a number of good friends who received their degrees from there. I cannot imagine the agony and sheer disbelief that must be running through the minds of the students who survived the ordeal nor the parents who will never see their children again. I can only imagine the heartache associated with losing a loved one through such a senseless and unprovoked attack.

The gun man (I will not give his name any space on my blog) was a distraught and deranged individual who was intent on creating his own immortality. The media, bloggers, newspapers, and the like do an injustice to the 32 people who died at this monster's hand by showing his face, displaying his name, and playing his sick video. He didn't earn any infamy and most certainly doesn't deserve any. He took innocent lives in a calculated yet cavalier manner, so I will dishonor him by leaving his name blank: "____________".

The Media
On the morning news, it was reported on ABC's "Good Morning America" that ________ sent a videotape of himself to NBC during a break in the killings (how morbid was that). It is a rambling and incoherent diatribe (some had the audacity to call it a manifesto) about what drove him to kill. It was a sick attempt at immortality. Robin Roberts interviewed a psychologist after viewing the homemade video made by the shooter. The psychologist was incredulous that ABC, NBC, CNN, or anyone would be showing this video (especially, only a few days after the murders). He said that it was a gross injustice to the families of the victims, made thousands of Virginia Tech students re-live the events of Monday in graphic detail, and gave immortality to the gunman. He said that they were irresponsible and no good would come out of the viewing.

plez sez: I agree wholeheartedly with the psychologist. In this age of instant news coverage and sensationalism, the media is constantly falling over itself to "report" newsworthy information. Well, some information is not newsworthy and some information is downright damning! Imagine the horror of a parent having to watch that "monster" basically boast about murdering their child in cold blood, imagine the students who heard the gunfire having to re-live those moments while watching imagines of that vile excuse for a human being, imagine the unstable minds around the country who now have a blueprint for misery and despair as a way out of their pitiful and pathetic lives by destroying the lives of others. How many more sociopathic souls are currently plotting their own "Virginia Tech Massacre" or "Columbine" because of seeing this video?

I have no doubt that by the time you read this, the scenes of school and campus evacuations as a direct result of some sick person trying to emulate this event will have already started. School officials will be dealing with this issue through the end of the school year.

That tape should've been repackaged by NBC and sent to the FBI as evidence for their investigation. Period. We did not need to know that it even existed. It is not fit for human consumption.

The Constitution
The Second Amendment, as passed by the House and Senate and later ratified by the States in 1789, reads:

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was written and debated over the summer after the inauguration of George Washington. The populous, especially those Antifederalists, was a wary group: the country had gained independence from Great Britain a few years earlier and the French were fomenting rebellion, as well. The Antifederalists were especially wary of transferring the strong central government of Great Britain to the newly formed United States of America. James Madison proposed a Bill of Rights that would protect these "new Americans" from the government abridging their rights and taking their property (which they had taken from the Indians, but that's for another topic!). This was a time when there were few police powers being exercised by the states, one could hunt and shoot anywhere (remember, there weren't that many people in the New World), and one needed "arms" to protect his family and property and slaves (oops! that's for another post, too.) from bandits and pirates.

plez sez: Fast forward about 230 years. In 230 years, there has never been a need to thwart the advances of the US Military by a "well armed militia" in any state; the militia argument didn't even come up during the Civil War in 1861 because the Confederate States were the aggressors! So I ask you, whose rights are being protected by the Second Amendment? The rights of people who use guns to hurt and kill other people. Personally, I don't like guns. I see no need for guns, because they can only carry out the will of someone who is too unstable to use their mind to do something else.

I was speaking with a colleague of mine from Norway earlier this week; they don't have many guns in Norway. The police don't even carry guns in Norway. They have only one or two murders per year in Norway. As of April 15, Philadelphia, PA (nickname: Killadelphia) has already had 114 murders! On April 16, Virginia Tech had 31 murders! If you do the math, it just doesn't add up. I have not heard a good reason for anyone to have/possess a gun in this day and age... I welcome it!

I know that it is not politically expedient for someone in Congress to even have someone think that they are thinking of tampering with the Bill of Rights, but I think the 32 lives that were lost on Monday morning in one selfish act of revenge is more than enough ammunition to change that stance.

Repeal the Second Amendment!