Essay 328

The MultiCultClassics Monologue tags the news…

• Sony’s graffiti campaign for its Playstation Portables product continues to generate controversy. Now a Queens Councilman is demanding the work be removed; plus, he’s calling out Sony to donate $20,000 to anti-graffiti programs. “Children are impressionable, and if they see a wall with graffiti on it and they don’t know that it’s done with permission, it could very well lead to them believing that it’s OK for them to do it,” the councilman said. Sony and the ad agency responsible for the shitty campaign really failed to do their homework here. The responses to the campaign are typical — and even stereotypical — of nearly every recorded attempt by advertisers to tap into tagging. Sadly, the morons responsible for the Sony effort will probably fabricate the standard “The-work-must-be-right-if-it’s-pissing-off-adults” spin to it all. Pathetic.

• There’s a growing illegal migration taking place between the U.S. and Mexico — but it involves guns versus people. Figures show 95% of weapons seized from Mexican criminals came from the United States. The guns are mostly used by the ruthlessly violent drug cartels. Favorite weapons include 9mm pistols, AK-47s and even bazookas. While it’s extraordinarily difficult to legally obtain firearms in Mexico, U.S. gun laws are much more liberal. Not unlike U.S. immigration laws.

• Meanwhile, protesters dueled over illegal immigration throughout Southern California on Saturday. The National Day of Protest was organized by illegal immigration haters, including the infamous Minuteman Project. Minuteman Project leader Jim Gilchrist proclaimed the U.S. border “is an invitation to terrorists who would bring us harm. It’s a matter of losing security and losing the rule of law as a governing mechanism. We are literally being invaded and colonized.” Sounds like someone’s been watching War Of The Worlds on DVD.

• A Utah megaplex theater pulled “Brokeback Mountain” from its marquee. Conservative groups hailed a victory. Liberal groups wailed discrimination and bias. Others didn’t notice because they were too busy laughing at retards in “The Ringer.”

• A group of linguists voting on the word that best reflects 2005 have made their decision, and the winner is “Truthiness.” The word means “truthy, not facty.” “The national argument right now is, one, who’s got the truth and, two, who’s got the facts,” a professor of lexicology said. “Until we can manage to get the two of them back together again, we’re not going make much progress.” Hey, truthiness has been the bedrock of advertising.