Hey, that's a wonderful topic. And I can see both sides making their point. Rick , you're right when you say that making names more easily understandable and pronounceable makes things smooth. But the fact that you admit that 'unless you get to his heart' soon gets in the way of this kind of trust-building.

You see, I chose my pen name Ernest Dempsey out of my very own will and passion. But when one of my posts pissed off an American blogger, he started to ridicule my name (see the row here ((edited)) and I reacted. I could see his 'bigoted heart' and in my case, he tried to take advantage of the fact that I had an anglicized name.

So it's a matter of the person's intent that underlies such a demand. As for the CNN woman, yeah, she sounded really angry.

Rick Sanchez: I enjoy listing to your "Dialogues" while driving home in the afternoon. The recent conversations about the need for human sensitivity to all our ethnic diverse groups in the USA, whether Latino or Afro or any other group for that matter, is important. It raises sensitivity. That sensitivity is not always easily reached and can often be unintentionally violated. Your balance in the conversation is appreciated. Here is a true story that might add a dimension to your discussion. I taught in a Catholic High School within an ethnically diverse region. (I am retired now.) One afternoon to energize our student body for an evening basketball game our cheerleading squad put together a skit presented before the student body at the end of the school day. The cheerleading squad was a mix of Anglo and Afro students. They all wore black outfits and white goves. The white cheerleaders greased their faces black. The black cheerleaders greased their faces white. At the end of the pep rally, all the students were duly energized for the evening game and off they went to battle the other team. About a month later, the school principal got a call from the government agency that invesitages racial discrimation in public institutions. A teacher had reported the skit as racially insensitive and discriminatory to that agency and they said they were obligated to investigate the incident. The principal, the chaplain, the cheerleader moderator, some teachers and students and the cheerleaders were all required to sit and answer questions about racial relations in the school focusing primarily on that skit where the cheerleaders painted their faces. Up to that call and the investigation that took place, the only conversation about that skit had been the applause of the student body the day it was given and their thanks to the cheerleaders on the way to the game. What came out of the investigation was that the complaint had been lodged from a anglo member of the school faculty who felt the skit was insenstive to black students and, secondly, that the skit itself had been conceived of and directed by the black cheerleaders on the squad who had suggested to the white cheerleaders that they paint their faces black and the black cheerleader would grease their faces white. Neither the black nor the white cheerleaders had even thought it would be offensive to anyone. You never know, do you?

Let's be clear about the basic premise of the business of the hospitality industry – it's all about providing comfort, exceeding expectations, and communicating clearly to the paying guests.

The location (in this case, New Mexico) is immaterial because hotels are typically designed for traveling visitors.

Guests experience a hotel with all 5 senses and come away with an impression or judgment based on a failure within 1 or more senses.

The Hotel owner is making a strategic decision to create a working standard of English-speaking staff, using recognizable names, within a country that has English as the national language.

Final comment to those seemingly affected. In the pure sense of hospitality, it's not about you, it's about the paying guest. If you don't want to briefly adapt during working hours, then you shouldn't be in the hospitality business.

There is a difference between people being unable to roll the R while saying Ricardo and changing your name to Rick. That is a disgrace. As a native American born in Missouri, I have many friends from several different backgrounds and never have I asked them to change their names because I was too lazy to attempt some sort of pronunciation. It is too bad, Mr. Sanchez, that you assume the people watching TV only speak English and nothing else.

Rick- While I very rarely agree with you I do have to this time. It is a delicate subject and could have been handled in a better manner. Maybe you have actually been reading the comments that have been written in and learning what REAL Americans think.

Rick,

First of all, FANTASTIC job! I just wanted to give you some more info on the Arpio issue, channel 5, CBS just ran a piece about Arpio on the fact that any time an elected official, the media, or any other person goes against him he retaliates. CBS collected a lot of documentation and presented it to David Iglesias, former US attorney for New Mexico, and Mr Iglesias said that he has never seen anything like it in America. He has in other countries, but not in America. These are the same documents that have been presented to the White House to investigate Arpio. You should get a copy of these documents and do another piece on Arpio.

Rick, what really upset me about your comments were when the story originally went on the air. You said we should anglicize our name since THEY ALLOWED US INTO THEIR COUNTRY! That, to me, is such an ignorant statement! How is this country THEIRS? And who is THEIRS, exactly, white people? You do realize that there were people here already when THEY came here, right? I thought this country was OURS, meaning, all of us? When people of other countries come here and become citizens, isn't this THEIR country as well? Is there some consortium of white people who decide if non-whites are allowed in the country? That is what is so upsetting. Also, what you did with your name was just shorten it. You just didn't add in all of your names and you went from Ricardo to Rick. This is not what the hotel manager wanted, however. He wanted the names pronounced differently and in some cases, completely different! Instead of Mar-TEEN, he wanted MAR-tin. Would you like it if CNN told you to use a completely different name to sound more white? Also, do you really think that people would not understand how to pronounce Ricardo? The real reason is to SEEM white and not latino. Get to the truth Ricardo, please...

Rick is totally correct in this matter. A private business owner knows what his customers want and feel comfortable with and has every right to require his switchboard employees to use a name people can understand.
The female CNN reporter was totally hysterical and illogical. She said something about his hotel being in New Mexico therefore all his customers will have Hispanic names...... Aren't his customers going to come from other places if they need to stay at his hotel?
Also she did not listen to a word this guy said. She was not reporting but was there to attempt to make this guy appear foolish but only succeeded in making herself look like an unprofessional, agenda driven, strident, shrieking fool.
I loved Rick's comment about his gratitude toward America.

HEY FLUFFY, YOU NEED TO READ THE JOSEPHSON INSTITUTE OF ETHICS REPORT. tHIS SHOWS THAT AMERICA IS CREATING A BUNCH OF LIARS. THANKS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT IT. AMERICA HAS A BUNCH OF MADOFFS RUNNING AROUND. FOREIGN POLICY IS NON EXISTENT BECAUSE WHO TRUSTS YOU PEOPLE. AMERICAN NEWS IS A LIE WHO CAN TRUST IT? THANKS FOR DESTROYING A ONCE NOBLE AND HONORABLE NATION.

HEY FLUFFY , DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE 3 YEAR OLD KILLED IN COLORADO? I BELIEVE THE PARENTS KILLED IT AND THREW IT IN THE GARBAGE. THEIR NAMES WERE MONTOYA AND GALLEGOS. I HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING ON CNN ARE YOU RACIST?

A kid in Commack HS, NY just sent home for wearing an Aunt Jemima halloween costume and Bob Griese gets suspened for "Taco" comment, but, I don't see or hear anyone complaining about Larry David peeing on a picture of Jesus on his HBO hit show. Money still talks,,,,,

Paul G, You are obviously a clear thinking human. The rest of you bloggers are brain dead automatons programmed by your cultural marxist teachers and professors to be mindless totalitarian apparatchiks. Salivate! You pavlovian dogs!

Rick Sanchez: It is not smart business when Latinos are the customers spending money. It is disrespectful and bad for your credit report when uneducated people mis-spell and mis-pronounce the names of others only because they are too lazy to learn. Names of all 191 nations under the sun are American; because, we all live in America, most being American.

Rick's name is not too ethnic. But it is hard for people not used to Spanish language to learn to pronounce it the right way. I wish my husband had Americanized his last name more. People don't know that the "cz" is pronounced "ch".

Bravo Rick Sanchez! I spoke with an Anglo friend today who is serving in Puerto Rico, and he said he often finds it helpful to "Latinize" his name, so that people can better understand him. Your colleague at CNN just doesn't get it. She demonstrates the kind of explosive hyper-sensitivity that is a cause of so many of our problems. She needs to take a deep breath, and open her own mind a little.

Thank you Mr. Sanchez for your honesty and integrity in how you addressed the issue of Americanizing names. As you seem to understand, unlike liberals with an agenda of multi-culturalism, names do not inhibit one's ability to celebrate their culture or ethnicity.

See the problem we have when dealing with people like CL? What is the point of mentioning that the parents of the child killed were Latino? Well, there are TWO cases here in Florida of missing kids that have made national headlines. In one the little girl is still missing, the other, of course, the little girl was found dead and her mother is in prison awaiting trial. BOTH of these kids and their parents are white so what, do ALL white people want to kill their kids? No, of course, that is absurd. But when the parents are Latinos, then ALL Latinos are baby killers. Such ignorance...

I understand why Larry Whitten asked his employees to change their name. He is doing the same thing, Dell, Microsoft and other big companies do – making things easier for their customers to understand. Have you tried calling a computer company for service lately, you get someone named Tony who you know is in India and although they speak english it's still not quite right. Larry Whitten isn't telling them they have to change their name at home, just at work. That doesn't make him a racist, it makes him a good businessman. The term racist is really being misused these days. It needs to stop being abused. Racist is when you beat someone to death or within an inch of their lives because of their color, racist is when you won't let someone in your store or eat at your lunch counter because of their color, Larry Whitten being racist, not by any means. I know what being racist is, being an African American male – Rick Sanchez, you are right on track!

Rick,
After changing Hispanic or any other ethnic groups first or last names for that matter more acceptable for people who think like this hotel owner operator, or any other form of small business, big business, or even in the employment of the government of this country, would they want for us to bleach our skins white, dye our hair blond; change the color of our eyes to blue to make us seem more Americanized? Remember one thing here; it’s this kind of philosophy that lead to the Holocaust, Japanese internment camps, and crimes against humanity, is being white proof you’re the only true Americans living here. My God Rick, what’s really going on here in these United States of America?

Marvin, by your thinking, only African Americans have experienced racism then? Here is the definition of racism: "a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others." Mr. Witten feels that his own race has the right to rule Latinos by thinking the Anglicized name is more valuable than their own. Well, what if your boss told you that your name sounded too black and that you should go with Earl or Chad, and your last name should be Barnes or Alexander? Would you still feel the same? My last name does not convey how well I do my job!

Nobody should be forced to Anglicize his or her Spanish name. It should be optional, if for commercial reasons in a particular professional field, like radio, television, theater or sports.

Whether intended or not, to fire someone for not anglicizing his or her name is racist, unacceptable and it should be prohibited in the labor code on the basis of human rights violations.

I enjoy and agree on most of your opinions, but the hotel manager from NM was not right.

Keep up the good work!

The mere act is discriminatory! No excuses!

If Martine cannot pronounce his name clearly on the phone then he should not be at the switchboard.

And, if MARTINE is able to pronounce MARTIN clearly then there should be no reason why he cannot or should not be allowed to be M A R T I N E, and to proclaim this on the switchboard and/or anywhere else for that matter.

If people are having trouble with the operators' names then maybe the boss SHOULD consider assigning an operator number to each operator. So, MARTINE would become MARTINE operator # 1, and when people call to compliment/complain about the operator they will have both name and operator number to refer to instead of calling them "...BOY...". Everyone knows how to pronounce a number.

My name is Steven Rice. It is and will always be my legal name. It is a very english name. People I love call me "Just Coffee" which is a phrase that any language can translate: J.C. Rice. You can call me Esteban Rice of you like.

I don't care how Ricardo Leon Sanchez replies to this. I don't care if it is in english or spanish. I think I will try to understand it anyway. If I can't read it I will learn.

If you don't care to learn either language I recommend you leave the united states. Right now I would like to know how Fareed Zakaria is spelled in Spanish. Sorry Rick I think he is the best that CNN has.

Rick:I have a difficult understanding why the republicans voted to bail out the banks, against the stimulus that is helping the ordinary citizen. Also they keep saying thay have the answer to health care but did nothing to improve while in power?

Excellent stance, Rick. Yours is a voice of reason in an overheated national racism debate usually devoid of wisdom. Thank you for the simple, perfect clarity you bring.

With regards to the 15 yr old girl who was raped at Richmond's homecoming dance, let me remind you that something similar happened just outside Boston in the 80's where a young woman was gang raped on a pinball machine in a pub while people cheered on. This became a film in 1988 named "The Accused", the victim was played by Jodie Foster, her lawyer was Kelly McGillis and YES, some of the cheering onlookers were indicted. Unfortunately, after the trial, the victim was so badly harrassed that eventually she committed suicide. Take a look!

BRAVO!!!!! Congratulations!
It is very refreshing to hear an adult on a liberal news program use common sense.
Your name is beautiful in ANY language.
I just wish so many other people would GROW UP!
AliO

A rare moment in which I applaud a CNN Anchor. Way to go, Rick.

Way to go, Rick! I Love that you have such a sensible view on this, and aren't one to jump on the racially victemized bandwagon. America is blessed to have you among us.

i am 65 year old vietnam veteran and i am totally disgusted with people who say that we need illegal immigrants to diversify our country.imagine if our congress and senate were made up of 50/50 50%spoke spanish,50% who spoke english.i will tell you it would be total chaos.it is bad enough that things in d.c. are screwed up now. the constitution that me and every veteran and evey politician in this country who swore to uphold and protect is written and spoken in english,not one word of spanish is in it ,yet we as a country have to print evey thing in spanish as well as english.eveyone says that immigration is a good thing for this country,which it is as long as it LEGAL.we have people of spanish decent in congress and the senate declaring themselves as latino`s,nothing is wrong ith this because i am proud of my irish heritage.but someone has to get the message across to them that they are US CONGRESSM EN AND WOMEN ,NOT LATINO CONGRESSMEN AND WOMEN.never in the history of this country have we done so much for an ethic people. why do we have a SAP BUTTONon our tv control but no SPANISH TO ENGLISH BUTTON.WOULD YOU CALL THAT DISCRIMINATION?I WATCH YOUR SHOR EVERY DAY ,AND I WILL BE WATCHING IT THIS AFTERNOON TO SEE IF YOU SHOW THESE COMMENTS ON YOUR SHOW. THANK YOU

KMB WROTE THAT A FRIEND WENT TO PUERTO RICO AND LATINIZED HIS OR HER NAME .BRAVO NOW WHEN THE PEOPLE FROM PUERTO RICO COME TO THE USA THEY AMERICANIZE THEIR NAME AND SPEAK ENGLISH.IT HAS TO WORK BOTH WAYS OR IT WON`T WORK.

Soapbox Commentary (what's this?)
This commentary was posted by an individual not affiliated with this site. (post your commentary)

Subject:
Health Insurance

November 2, 2009

"I am the Lord your God........you shall have no other Gods before me. Senator Lieberman you are not a religious person because the Insurance Industry is your God.

Love they neighbor as they self.... No where can we find a commandment to love the money from the Insurance Industry more than the less fortunate in our society

Just stay home on Saturdays, The Hartford might call with the latest instructions for you.

Howell, MI

hey fluffy, Did you see North Carolina 4 Mexicans shot and one arrested. Barney and Andy must remember the days of integrity and began to finally enforce the constitution. This is more evidence for the court. Maranatha

hey fluffy, just think if the guy had waited they could have been legal citizens and recieved free health care. I forgot it already is free. evidence. maranatha

Bravo Rick Sanchez! You say “Too Ethnic?” however, Is this term “Too Ethnic” like being too pregnant or too Black or too Latino or too White or too Chinese or too American, all of whom and more are Americans with combined identities. All of these people have an identity as being Americans who make up America. The question is: Are all their combined identities “Too Ethnic”?

hey fluffy, Pass healthcare and immigration amnesty you can give free healthcare and citizenship to Al qaeda sleeper cells. Beeavis[Obama} says huh huh huh huh.

Well Rick , How do plan to express your utter hatred of all things Anglo today ? You truly are a coward Rick , if you had any pride in your heritage you would urge your fellow Latinos to rise up in their own countries and try to affect meaningful change . Instead all you do is run around trying to start fights between white Americans and Latinos. America's immigration policies are the most open FAIR and humane of any in the world . What about Mexico's they deport illegal immigrants quickly an inexpensively , but that never seems to come up, why is that ? CL makes a great point why is this not a story ? I say again Rick you truly are a coward and all the proof I need on this one is your complete fear of posting this comment .

Hey Mickey, just wanted to teach you something so you wouldn't continue to look like a fool. Everyone from Puerto Rico already has an American name. Puerto Rican are US citizens. Just wanted you to know...

@ CL......... NOT every criminal is a Mexican! U.S. jails are full of "white" men and women!

Keep spewing the hate, fear and division. Its the conservative-extremists like you, who are destroying our Nation!

Are you Christian? If so what Gospel are you reading?

Hey CubanMom, a couple of days ago he was spewing some venom about some kids who were killed and their parents were Latinos. I reminded him about Caylee Anthony, and the lady wasn't Latina. In fact, she tried to blame it on a Latina! Maybe she's related to CL, you think? lol...

An employer has the right to employee compliance to rules. The exception is in this is the very private and unigue use of an employee's name.An employer has no right to change employee's name in any way without permission and agreement like in a movie.
By the way there are 2 Political Parties in the US of A The Conservative Moderate Party and the Liberal Socialist Party. That is the great devide in American Politics.

Fast of all, this proves that there are too many versions of English spoken around. So to begin with, we need to decide on which definition of "ethnic" do we go with.

Hi Rick

Re: your story on Sen Bayh(sp?) and quid pro quo because his wife gets 2.5 mil. from big Health Care firms. There have been numerous scientific studies that demonstrate that this money influence really does affect the voting. You just can't prove a specific case, and each senator and rep. spins it enough so they can point to other votes. However, one study actully looked at the return on investment (ROI) for the money the big corporations put into lobbying and campaign contributions. Something on the order of a 20,000% ROI. That is about what Wall Steet (i.e Goldman sach) got in the bailout when over $13 Billion, with a B, and dumping all their losses onto us taxpayers. Sorry Senator, the evidence shows the money has a significant influence on how you, and all your other cronies/good old boys, vote.

Hi RIck:

Yesterday, Sunday was All Saints Day. Today is All Souls Day in the Catholic Church in rememberance of all departed who may be suffering in Purgatory. There are those who do not believe in this one. They better believe it and know that it is real and Purgatory does exist and will until Judgment Day – the end of earthly time.
I attended Holy Mass today and I keep in mind, God's compassion as his Blessed Son, Our Lord Jesus said to us: "Be merciful and perfect as your heavenly Father is."
Did this sex maniac and murderer, while in prison not receive rehabilitation? What happened that he was released and continued performing his evil deeds on women and murdering them?
It is unbelievable that there would be a stench in the neighborhood and nobody did anything about it. How could they withstand that stench as they passed by?
My heart goes out to these vulnerable women who were murdered by this man. Just imagine how they felt, knowing that they were about to be murdered and their life was coming to an end. I pray God had mercy on their souls.
Our loving, compassionate, forgiving and merciful God outweighs the overall reasons why people could find themselves in such a situation, to live such a life and He may forgive them. If He did, they will have to spend time in Purgatory to be purged of their frailties. With God, there is always hope for eternal salvation.
My heart also goes out to the family of those women and all women/men and children who have been murdered, whether in the US, Canada or other parts of the world. I visualize their pain and grief and also for the relatives of those who have yet to be found.
As for the murderer it is so difficult to feel anything good for him. This man needed psychological help. Did he ever get it while incarcerated in prison? He is now off the streets for good; never to harm other woman. He, too, what type of nurturing did he receive and to reach to such an evil and heartless standard and what caused him as others to murder women of all. May God have mercy on his soul when his inevitable day arrives.

You got him right, Rick, Senator Bayhe and his wife are profiting on the suffering of millions of Americans. They have the best health care in the world–they look nice and healthy–yet it appears their behavior tells me that they would have no compunctions to standing in the way of millions of Americans in order to expand their greed...and the Mrs. was put on these boards only AFTER he got his well-padded job–4 of them!!
We have to do more than just scratch our heads its too blatent and too critical when time is running out for a decent health care plan...Keep nailing them Rick - love you...
P.S. and Scott Ritter is a real hero with as much guts as those in the front lines of foreign countries–you got that right, too...(he's doing nothing wrong–that more exposure woldn't help.)

Hi Rick:
It sounds like you had a wonderful weekend. I like the Latino music. Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3rd in my land-of-birth, an island in the West Indies, will be the Independence Day celebration previously called National Day and Discovery Day, the latter you know when Christopher Columbus discovered it. There will be lots of music and dancing which I will surely miss. Can't be in two places at the same time. You should visit there one day and compare their music with the Latino one. Both are equally wonderful. I am certain that you are aware of this music in New York City for Labor Day weekend.
Keep on playing your wonderful music. Was it Shakespeare who said "If music be the food of love, play on." I love good music even though for listening. Music warms the heart and soul. People need some diversion.
God bless!

Hey Rick!
What do you say about Diana Margarita Segura Cabrera.
Sound ethnic to you too?
I changed it to "Diane Segura".
That was so I didn't have to explain that Diana is "Deana". Sure saved me lots a explainin'.

Why is your show fill with commercials, it's really not worth watching there is no indepth coverage on anything you report.

Why not have the people who answer the phones "Americanize" their names if it facilitates the flow of business? Not just Latino names (like Martinez) but other names as well. Personally, I avoid business where the employees are all gabbing to each other in their native languages because I think it is rude.
I worked for several years in a hospital where many of the employees (and doctors) were from the Philippines. They could all speak English quite well & their language skills were appreciated when it was necessary to communicate w/our non-English speaking patients. However, they also chatted in their native dialects in the lounge, cafeteria & everywhere 2 or more were gathered. I found it rude & divisive.
Just my 2 cents!

Sorry Rick, but you spend too much time talking building up to the story and then your guest doesn't get enough time to fully respond at times. For example, Scott Ritter, who I always believed from the get go, didn't get more than 2 minutes because you took up 5.

Congratulations Rick on "following the money". The news media is missing
investigative reporting. Senator Bayh should be ashamed! Well, you won't run out of Senators, Representatives, & ex employees of the government who sit on Boards or have quick access to our Congressmen.

Thanks and keep it up

Ron Woodhouse

Dear Rick , Writing to compliment your Good work . You mentioned Senator Bays wife collecting 2 million for sitting on a medical corp. Why don't you check Senator Dodd and his wife sitting n FOUR medical corp ? This is a disgrace to all of America ! America was a beautiful Country , and we all should clean house ! Thank You , Sincerely Yours , Anthony DiBitonto . Korean War Veteran USS Beale DDE 471 1951 – 1954 ! CIAO ! God Bless ~~~

Mr. Sanchez,

I salute you...we are a multi-ethnic country and not a multi-cultural country.

I was touched by your gratitude and graciousness towards America.

You are exactly the type of American that has made America a great country-with your respect and desire to become a part of this great experiment.

Thanks again for your candor and gratitude.

Ivan

Ola Amigo!
Why is it that Americans travel the world, spill their blood on foreign soil to make life better for complete strangers and yet, on their own turf, will not help those Americans who need health care?? What's up with that? I am a Canadian who once lived in the U.S. and can't understand this American-on-American attitude. Help each other and stop crapping on each other. To call yourselves a superpower is a sham – you are far behind the rest of the world like a third world country. Shame on you!

Again Bravo Rick Sanchez! You have managed to force many of the racist be present and accounted for with the “Too Ethnic” myth. Only read the responses and identity the racists. I think you did good job with whatever were your intentions.

hey carlos ,carl is the americanization of your name.puerto rico is something we acquired after the spanish american war,as far as i am concerned you have to be a state to be a citizen.if you doubt read the constitution.WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES! THERE ARE 50 STATES,NOT 51.THE NEXT TIME THE REFERENDUM COMES UP FOR PUERTO RICO TO BECOME A STATE VOTE YES.OTHERWISE VOTE FOR INDEPENDENCE!!!

Hey Mickey, doesn't matter what YOU say or think, Puerto Rico is part of the US. Learn the laws before you continue to make yourself look like the moron you are. Also, if you look at the topic, it's ANGLICIZATION, not AMERICANIZATION. And for your information, I was born and raised in Chicago, so I cannot vote there. It is so much fun to find these morons and make them look even dumber, lol...

Rick, thank you for your comments regarding your name and the hotel operator. Thank you for standing up for what is totally reasonable. I have renewed respect for your profession after hearing your exchange with your co-host. Thank you.

Rick: It was a breath of fresh air to hear such common sense coming from television news. It's a shame that I cannot say as much for many of the comments left here in response on either side of the issue. I have no doubt you will continue to pick up viewers with that kind of clear thinking. CNN could use more Ricardo Leon Sanchez de Reinaldo's:) Thanks and keep it up.

Greetings Rick!
If more Americans thought the way you do we would have a lot less to worry about. You are a clear and honest thinker and I salute you.
God Bless you!

Hi Rick,

I'm not a tech guy and I tried to blog before, but was so taken by your comments about your name I had to do this. I have to say I am very proud of you! I am so tired of the pathetic weakness of so many that they would be wounded or cry racism for such a silly thing. I am a psychologist and my last name is Oropeza, very difficult to pronounce for some, so on my own I decided that I would ask my patients to call me Dr. O. It is just common sense to make it easier for others to remember and say my name. If I were in Mexico I would use Roberto, which is not my name, but would make similar sense. We are too easily offended and we cry racism too often in this country. When real racism needs to be addressed people will yawn...

Rick Explain to us .How muck and justifie The trips made by Pres Obama to support other Democrats in there elections. The cost for him to be there must be Big with the economy the way it is Why.

Rick. This is America. The American official language is English. People who intereact with Americans should not be allowed to use ANY language other than English when interacting with Americans. This is not racist at all!!!! How comfortable would you feel if your child or wife walked around you and conversed in your home in a language that you could not understand...especially your child. How could you feel comfortable in your supposed safe zone with that type of atmosphere? How can an employer feel? If it cannot be said in Englich in a place of business, then, what really needs to be said?

Excuse me, but you call yourself a doctor? Do you reaearch better because THERE IS NO OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE US! People have tried to make English the official language but to no avail. I agree that when conducting business around people who only speak English then that language should be spoken, but if I am on a break and I feel more comfortable speaking Spanish, Creole, Japanese, or any other language I want, my employer HAS NO RIGHT TO FIRE ME! I am not on his time, I am on my time.

Immigrants for decades have shorted and changed their names to assimilate into American culture, and most were proud to do it. I am of German decent and my ancestors changed the spelling of our last name so that most people would pronounce it correctly. One of my great great grandfathers was not allowed to inherit on estate in Greenland because he had changed the spelling of his name. He wrote in a letter to the govenment of Greenland that "he would rather stay in America as a common man that return to Greenland as an aristocrat" and he did not protest.
As far as the hispanic aspect, I have several friends that have shortened their name entirely to keep from having to write it down on forms.

I'm an Irish/Welsh blooded American,Proud of my Heritage,but I don't wear it on my sleeve like you and your cuban.Its called assimulation my friend,Grow up and stop dividing us into little tribes and groups..
Also get your biasness right,The dems have had plenty on the 23rd,since and after U.S.Grant,You belong on Obamas tv channel MSNBC/Abc,nbc,oh thats right your on CNN! what a commy psuedo news channel...Fact Checking a saturday nite live comedy skit on Your precious dear leader..Bias?? All bias and all bull puto

I agree that Hispanic people should not have to change their names so that it sounds better on the telephone, but I do have some other issues that I want to cover. We have Hispanic Awareness Month here in the US, but why don't we have Native American Awareness Month, or Scandavian Awareness Month, or Asian Awareness Month, or Irish Awareness Month or even Black American Heritage Month. Why do the Hispanics have a whole month, and none of the other nationalities or ancestories have a month to show off their heritage?

Vietnamvet, you do know what Black history month is right? It happens EVERY FEBRUARY! Asian awareness month is in May.Native American awareness month is actually this month! See, if you do your research you would see how well this country CELEBRATES diversity! Why don't more people try to find things out before opening their mouths?

I find it curious that (hipsanic,latino,mexicans) whatever their latest self label is, feel the need to try and change America. If they want to keep their own identity from whatever country they come from, then why don't they just stay there. America is my country, I love it, love my language,ENGLISH, my customs, and everything that IS America. When anyone comes here from another country they should adopt AMERICAN customs, or stay where they are in their own country.
It angers me to have to choose a language on the phone in my OWN country. It angers me to see people in grocery stores getting groceries with food stamps, and NOT speaking a word of ENGLISH. That welfare was paid for by hard working AMERICAN TAXPAYING CITIZENS. It should NOT be given to anyone who is NOT a citizen. To become a citizen, one has to have the ability to speak English.
There is an old saying that "When in Rome do as The Romans do".
If Rick, Ricardo or whatever his name is, is so sympathetic to his ethnicity, maybe he needs to return to his country of origin.
MY grandparents came here from Denmark legally on their wedding trip in 1903, became citizens and spoke ENGLISH. My grandmother carried with her a dictionary from Danish to English and used it until her death. During that period of time there was a huge influx of people from other countries and they ALL LEARNED ENGLISH. WHY is it that Spanish speaking individuals come here, refuse to speak ENGLISH, but still use and get all the welfare and freebies they can? Then they act arrogant and nasty if someone has the audacity to confront them about their attitude.

I fully agree with the hotel owner!!!!!!!!!

I AGREE, TOO, THAT HISPANIC PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO CHANGE THEIR NAMES BUT I AM ADAMANT THAT THEY SPEAK ENGLISH. I AM TIRED OF YOU, RICK, AND THIS GOVERNMENT, COWTOWING TO THE HISPANIC POPULATION. THIS LAND CONSISTS OF POLISH, GERMAN, FRENCH, ETC., AND YOU DON'T SEE BALLOTS, OR PRESS 1 FOR THOSE LANGUAGES.

i LIVE IN THE USA AND WE SPEAK ENGLISH. IT DISGUSTS ME WHEN I AM SHOPPING IN MY COUNTRY AND ALL I HEAR COMING OUT OF THE MOUTHS IS SPANISH. GREAT YOU SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE, BUT DO SO AT HOME NOT IN PUBLIC.

I WILL SAY THIS, AND I TRAVEL A LOT, THAT WHEN I AM IN SPAIN, FRANCE, ITALY, POLAND, CZECH REPUBLIC, ETC., I LEARN ENOUGH OF THEIR LANGUAGE TO GET BY. HOWEVER, WHEN THEY HEAR I AM AMERICAN, THEY WANT TO CONVERSE IN ENGLISH. THEY WANT TO IMPROVE THEIR ENGLISH, EVEN IN SPAIN, THEY TOLD ME WHY IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAKING SPANISH? WE WANT TO SPEAK ENGLISH SO WE CAN DO BUSINESS WITH THE WORLD.

SO, ENOUGH ON THE HISPANICS HERE. EITHER SPEAK THE LANGUAGE AND ASSIMILATE TO THE AMERICAN CULTURE. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, GO HOME.

Patricia, my name is Carlos. I was wondering how you would suggest my name to be different so I can be more American. Since you say we should be more American and adopt American customs and values, tell me how I can be different from my country of origin. Wait, I was born and raised in America! What do I do now?

Of course being hispanic yourself, you will find offense that an empoyer requires his employees to speak english??? As for their names being made more Americanised, that I do believe is taking it a bit far.
On your T.V spot can you read to the public that has to watch you, where it states that illegals have a right to be in our country illegally? Where does it state that the American public has to pay for their health care, their education, the birth of their children. Where does it state that if you're from Mexico, you can come in illegally and jump the line by demanding jobs, food stamps etc...this list can go on and on but no one to date has the b-s to say enough.
I'm all for people coming from where-ever to our country looking for a better life, but not on my dime....
Do it the right way and there will be no complaints from me...

On another subject...If it is found out that Senators (Both Democrat & Republican) are found to be receiving any kind of money from the insurance imdustry, they should be impeached and prosecuted.
These people were sent to congress to do the will of the people, not pad their pockets with money at the American people's expense.

I'm really getting turned off by our political process. Is there no honesty in Washington DC? It seems that no matter the subject, corruption has slipped into every crevice of congress.

You are assuming that the Spanish people in Taos are recent immigrants to the US – these people were here long before the ancestor's of the hotel owner, probably. He is an outsider to this community, and I hope they run him out of town – what a racist. He came into the community assuming all Spanish sername people are recent Mexican immigrants. Read your history of this community, and you'll find out that most families in the community go back to the 1600s. Unfortunately, the history books left this bit of information out of the text books in the USA. We assume this country belongs to only white people. I will assure you, that all Spanish people in Taos speak English. In fact, many New Mexicians don't even speak Spanish anymore, because they were punished for speaking Spanish in previous generations, so many people born after 1950 don't even know how to speak Spanish.

I guess the hotel owner assumed we were all recent immigrants from Mexico – what an ignorant person to have such stereotypes. He should have learned a little bit about the people of Taos before purchasing a business there. Some communities won't compromise their values for the all mighty dollar.

The ignorance of people just never ceases to amaze me! Cardog, if you look a little more carefully, Rick actually SIDES WITH THE EMPLOYER! He used his own name that he shortened to prove how people try to assimilate. Another thing, if illegal immigrants have kids on American soil, then those kids are AMERICAN CITIZENS! It's the law Dog, lol.

ON ANOTHER SUBJECT: THE CENSUS: YES, YOU SHOULD BE ASKED IF YOU ARE A CITIZEN, ILLEGAL, LEGAL IMMIGRANT, PERIOD.

BY DOING SO, THE STATES WOULD KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS COSTING THEM BECAUSE OF THE ILLEGALS IN THEIR STATE. IT DOES NOT MEAN THEY WILL BE ROUNDED UP AND DEPORTED.

I FIND IT APPAULLING THAT OUR GOVERNMENT REMOVED THAT FROM THE QUESTIONS ASKED ON THE CENSUS.

Hi Rick, or should I say Ricardo, I was born, raised in NYC, when my parents immigranted to the USA, they came here with papers, and with jobs overed to them, but during that time they weren't so many immigrants comming over without papers, and most learn the language. I was brought up to be proud of my culture and heritage, and language, that when I got married I name my kids with good spanish names. But becuase of the illegals who are here they have destroyed our credibility so we now have to hide ourselves and be forced to be Ashley, Brian, or Jack Gutierrez. We must stand strong and proud people and not be ashame of your spanish heritage.

Dear Jack, Lou, Larry, Wolfe, Anderson,Rick, and Bill
Here is an idea for POTUS and Congress to let the people support the troops

Add a 1040 check off box on the tax form 1040 and all business tax returns for a WE THE PEOPLE SUPPORT THE TROOPS FUND for $5 of the taxpayer's taxes – just like the Presidential Campaign check off Box? If $5 is too high (and would hurt the Congressional Universal Pork Programs and the Presidential Campaign Finance Program) would maybe Congress would vote for a $1 check off box program?

I leave you with one other thought this Veterans Day from

“WE THE PEOPLE”.

Politicians, Governments, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Secretaries of State and Defense, Foreign Ministers, Defense Ministers, Parliaments, Congress and Generals make and declare War.

However, it is always WE THE PEOPLE (and rarely, but not never, any of the above) who with our national treasure – the volunteer youths of our country who have to fight and die in the wars. True statesmen after considering all the consequences from the loss of our national treasure who will only use war as a last method of dealing with radical, totalitarian governments and their dictators that support terrorism.

Just as the pen is mightier than the sword, the "VOTE WEAPON" is more powerful than our mightiest military weapon. It is the missing political and military solution needed today. It is time to unleash its power to bring justice and democracy to the people's of the world, and win decisively THE WAR ON TERROR worldwide.
MRCANDU10 (Cousin of MR.GET-IT DONE)

First of all, if you decide to use this message in any way, please do not use my name. I am a U.S. Citizen born abroad. My mother is from Spain. When we returned to the U.S. I did nit speak English & was beaten almost daily by the kids in my neighborhood. My father was career military, my mother a naturalized citizen. Since I have an English sounding last name my heritage doesn't come in to question until I divulge it. Then I find myself being categorized as Latin American or clumped in as being Mexican, Puerto Rican, etc. Referencing your piece on "Papers": Are you really ever accepted by the general population of America if you are not 100% Anglo Saxon?Just a note, I am also a decorated war veteran and firmly believe in the principles are Country is founded on. I just find that the reality of how it can be is somewhat ironically sad and duplicitous.

I worked for a company in Miami that thought if was impolite to speak any language other than English when addressing residents and visitors. I concur! It's fine to do so on your breaks with your friends and co-workers, but when on company time it's rather rude.

[...] In part, Sanchez said: "My real name is Ricardo Leon Sanchez de Reinaldo. I don’t use it because I want to be respectful of this wonderful country that allowed us as Hispanics to come here, and I think it's easier if someone's able to understand me by Anglicizing my name." [...]

It is the choice of whoever wants to "north americanised" their name, but when they do change it, I am sure they do it out of fear. There are millions who have kept their native name intact, I have not change mine and will not change it either. It is the white monster pushing its customs on others, but I wonder what customs do the north americans have that are true customs, other than what the corporations have imposed, I mean what kind of customs are Coca Cola or General Electric or McDonald, everything that one can call a custom in the US has been imported from other countries, there is nothing original in the US, unless we talk about the Cherokees, or Sioux etc. Keeping your name has nothing to do with respect or disrespect with the natives. After all you have names from all over the world. Now, immigrants have used to name their children born here like "Rick or Joe" before the original last name, well that is different, perhaps in future generations those immigrants who have children here will use an "english" first name for their kids, but if one realizes it, a Rick or Joe name are also foreign names, they are from Europe (England)...
Perhaps, if you name your child "Shukawakan", then you will have a north americanized name. Thank you Geraldo Rivera, for not changing to Gerry... I am sorry Ricardo that you had to change yours to Rick... poor you, so fearful of not being accepted...

Yes, very racist. I would hope the local community would express their displeasure by boycotting his business. Thought we had ended the era when immigration officials anglicized italian, polish, or other "difficult" names to make their lifes easier.

I want to talk about Osama Bin Laden. Of COURSE he should get his rights like an American citizen if he were ever to stand trial, and so should all these other terror suspects. Having Git'mo in the first place is a shame for this country, it's against our message of freedom, and these terror suspects are people too, people who for all we know may be innocent. I think instead of letting race and religion blinding us to the humanity of these people. Our Founding Fathers believed in any human's basic right to a fair trial and the right to innocence until proven guilty.

Why does'nt Palin take fault for anything?????

To Carlos Nazario:

America became "ours" when Mexico lost the war between Mexico and the United States and signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.

"Ours" meaning mostly Europeans settlers who founded this country. Before you bring up native Americans, 25% of my heritage is native American. I and my ancestors have gotten over that and moved on. Can Mexico now please get over losing the Mexican-American war of the 1800's?

You said: "You do realize that there were people here already when THEY came here, right?"

Yes. And it was native Americans that were here, NOT a mix of Spanish and Axtecs/Mayans, which is what Mexicans are. Meaning MY ancestors were hear before yours were. Spain invaded what is now Mexico. Why not take your rage out on Spain?

Question for Rick:

If you feel that Anglecizing your name is acceptable in order to appeal to as many viewers as possible, why do you feel the need to have all your headlines graphics in Spanish?

I.E: "Las fotos del dia", etc.

That, to me, smacks of "agenda" and is more offensive than President Obama "bowing too low" in Japan...

Moral hypocrisy runs rampant in America.

Latinos of any origin, esp. mexican, can keep their names. Problem is that when they're arrested, we seldom hear a name mentioned or see a photo unless the criminal is Black or White anyway... the latino groups make sure that hispanics and their numbers here are kept hidden from the American public.

As for R. Sanchez's over zealous report on Mumbai... it looked like a shoot-out in Juarez, Mexico. Sanchez: don't try to elevate the mexican latinos by saying you 'never saw anything like it' referring to Mumbai. Terrorism is common in mexico and you damn well know it. That's the sort of garbage here that wants amnesty. Illegals have a country, we don't need them here.

Hey Borsmaugh, by "Theirs" I meant white people. Does America belong only to white people? Is that what you are trying to say? If you try to quote me use it in context. Also use spellcheck. For your information, my ancestors are from Spain, so before YOU go on a rant, know what the hell you are talking about. You probably think I am Mexican, right? We all are in your mind, isn't that so?

You do know what it means when you say "...all your headlines graphics in Spanish?" That means everything he does is in Spanish. That is a lie, since the only thing he puts in Spanish is your example. For someone who claims to be such an American, you sure don't know the English language too well.

On Obama's bow, it is a sign of respect to the host. If you did your research, you would have known that Nixon bowed to the Chinese minister, the same person who aligned himself with Hitler! Oh, wait, you probably think of Hitler as your hero...

David with an accent over the A, prnounced Dah-vid until I entered the school system and it became David. The basics of English, is LATIN, so we prounonce names different! Ok! But gives us (so called Latinos) credit on American History Book for the rich start of the White Folk. Spaniards left the Cattle and Horses along Tejas water sources so they would florish for later hispanic generations to live on. We took it from the American Nations in a more suttle way. Green-Grows(an Irish Song) used our Branding System, , our Records, and made their own Courts for ownership. Also, let us give our Medal of Honor Receipents more Media Time in our History Channels!!! We have all came and have made History. Why should we stop or slow those who are now making it Happen! Pronouce their names the way they feel like family. Unless you are Prejudist?

If He is a friend, I teach them how to prounouce my name. My friends are proud to call me by my name.

Why are you feeding into the negative feeling towards the mammography test story?
1st you are mis-stating what the report says. "The USPSTF recommends against routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years. The decision to start regular, biennial screening mammography before the age of 50 years should be an individual one and take patient context into account, including the patient's values regarding specific benefits and harms. " 2nd in 2002
there was so many false test that US News did a report in 2002 "It found that the false-positive rate ranged from 2.6% to 15.9%. But when this rate was adjusted for the effect of patient characteristics, such as age, the false-positive rate dropped to 3.5% to 7.9%. Age affects the false-positive rate because breast tissue is denser in younger women, which makes their mammograms more difficult to interpret. " ((EDITED)) 3. Journal of the National Cancer Institute "Roughly 7.5 cancers were detected per 1000 women with breast exam and mammography compared with 5.4
cancers without breast exam. However, the two techniques together also yielded a higher false positive rate compared to mammography alone: 12.5 percent versus 7.4 percent. They also resulted in more referrals for additional testing. "Women should be informed of the risks and benefits of having a clinical breast examination in addition to mammography for breast screening," the investigators conclude." Abc news: ((EDITED))

Report the news; get both sides of the story don't be like FOX...

Carlos,

I spelt Aztec wrong. One word which was a mis-type, not a lack of grammatical understanding. You are the one who needs to work on syntax.

I seriously doubt that both of your parents moved to America directly from Spain, which means you are not PURELY Spanish. So, yes, you are a Mexican, which is probably why my mis-spelling Aztec bothered you.

America does not belong only to white people. However, mostly white European settlers founded America and made it the World's leading power. NOT your ancestors. Sorry.

Yesterday most if not all of the graphics were in Spanish, NOT just the photos of the day. So you are wrong.

I had no problem with Pres. Obama's bow. CNN was trying to make it into something more than it was. I was simply saying that I find Rick's agenda to be more of an "issue" than Pres. Obama's bow. Just as I found Rick's mumbling of "Viva la Raza, verdad?" to Carlos Mencia a while back equally offensive. Why not "Viva America"? Isn't that more fair- minded?

Comparing me to nazis is just plain immature and it is evident from your other posts that you have a huge chip on your shoulder.

Re: The Ft. Hood story during Rick Sanchez Show: Though I'm neither Christian or Muslim, today a Muslim guest and you discussed the shooters history of discussing the Muslim faith with other soldiers and why wasn't this brought to his superiors attention earlier. Why is it Christians can try to recruit others, freely talk about "spreading the word" and it's considered missionary work, whereas if Muslims do the same it's considered terrorism or at the very least cause for great concern? You can't forever blame a religion on 911.

Rick Sanchez,
Is the Leon part of your name, a Surname or a second first name? Just curious,Primo.

I'm no rocket scientist and I checked my meds and they shouldn't be giving me any illusions!
But am I nuts by thinking that the economic disaster we're in was created by greedy unions? Let's take GM for example, everybody was disgusted every time they went on strike but GM had to build cars, so they gave the unions what they wanted and raised the price of the car to cover it. So now, Asian cars are less expensive than ours so we buy those....even GM employees buy them! Now GM is faced with a solution! But, it's not a good one for the US. The people who have money and JOBS are the Chinese and they're buying GMs'. So now... GM is spending mega bucks sending american made cars to China. Wouldn't it be better to build a factory in China and shut down these big expensive factories here? Absolutely!
Imagine your big shinny cadillac convertible with the Texas Style bullhorns on the hood and furry saddle bags will now have a little sticker on it ..."Made in China"!!!
It's not too late, but I think that the only solution GM has is to STOP and start over and start paying employees a normal rate like 18 – 20 bucks an hour, ceo gets 100 grand a year and no more bonuses and lower the price of the car below Asian cars. Then people will start buying them and the wheel will start again.
The war should not be on terror, the war should be on GREED!!!

The main languages of América are four, and by the numbers who speak them this is the order, Spanish, English, Portuguese & French. America is a huge continent mainly divided in two. The South and the North, so when any one tells me that the language of América is English, I can only laugh (though in silence, out of respect for his/her ignorance). Anyway, for the time being the main language of this country (lets called the little America, since there is a bigger one, a continent), is English, though not for long, the numbers will tell in the future which language will become dominant. And for those who think that English should remain as the main language don't have any idea how the world, even the very languages change through the years. how many names are French, how many are Russian, German, Italian etc. etc. and no one says anything. So, I think that all this fear for Spanish names is about the future take over, 30, 40 or 50 years from now. Unless some idiot Republican becomes President again and finally out of his/her cultural preference and fascination for wars kills us all, I am sure that many changes will happen in this land, one of them will be the language, so, is that future English minority going to change their names to the dominant language, Spanish that is?