Essay 302

Season’s greetings with MultiCultClassics Minutes…

• A Spanish radio station in Madrid wound up apologizing for an on-air comedy routine. The gag involved a fake phone call by a jokester acting like Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero phoning Bolivia’s new president to congratulate him on his election win. The impersonator of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero invited the impersonator of Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales to visit Madrid and added, “I imagine the only one not to have called you was George Bush. I’ve been here two years and he still hasn’t called me.” Sounds like the folks in Madrid are overly sensitive. The U.S. broadcasts a lot worse material — from radio personalities who aren’t trying to be funny.

• A lingerie store in Maine sparked controversy with its window displays featuring live models wearing the store’s sexy offerings. “It doesn’t come close to nudity,” according to Mayor William E. Dowling. “I talked to the police chief and others, and they basically said no laws are being violated.” Can’t be much worse than the signage at a typical Abercrombie & Fitch store.

• There’s a dramatic increase for using anti-aging products — among twentysomethings, believe it or not. The social pressures to maintain youthful appearances are driving youthful customers to treatments typically geared toward folks in their 40s and beyond. It’s popular to say, “40 is the new 30” or even “50 is the new 30” — but from an attitudinal standpoint, it looks like 20 is the new 30.

• Add Germany to the growing list of countries struggling with immigration. Turkish immigrants face 40 percent unemployment and 30 percent high school dropout rates. Can’t imagine there’s high participation in Oktoberfest either.

• Happy holidays to everyone — all the best in the New Year and beyond.