Talk about trees that grow in Brooklyn! One of the most amazing things I've come across in my life is this story of a tree growing in the Ténéré. Read about it, and see a photo of it, here. This, in and of itself, is a post!
But alas, I want to add some old news to the fracas that is LuxembourgLand. Al Sharpton. Granted, I was 7 in '87, back when Tawana Brawley claimed, and later admitted it to be false, that she was raped by a bunch of Whiteys. Apparently, Al Sharpton took up her cause and never backed down even when the case turned against Ms. Brawley.
Fast forward to the 2000's sometime. The U.S. Navy was using the island off Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, as a bombing test ground or for some other atrocious misuse. The island in question, Vieques, was also inhabited by human beings. In 2002 or 2003, the good reverend took up this cause and managed to get arrested. This before his political ruminations and presidential aspirations. The incident may have even happened in 2001 for all I know. Still, it made me a believer in Al. I even voted for him instead of Kerry or Bush. There was no way you could get me off the Al bandwagon. That act alone served to be completely devoid, in my mind, of self interest. It was a completely benevolent and altruistic act. It was, in part, because of Rev. Sharpton's actions that the U.S. Navy departed Vieques in 2003.
Fast forward yet again, and Rev. Al managed to screw everything up by almost single handedly getting a provocative radio DJ fired. The violation? No, his victim, Mr. Imus, didn't persecute anyone. He simply did his job, in free expression, without profanity. In fact, the FCC, which governs on-air violations, hadn't even initialised an investigation into the matter. In this, a heavily capitalistic, nation no one even waited for the dollar to talk. Instead of letting the market decide if Don stays or not, the networks were bullied by Al into firing Imus. And for that, I now know that Al isn't for free expression and freedom. Al is for a shock value all his own. Al has created an image. And people are buying into it. Al is for censorship. The off the cuff remarks and color commentary that we'll never have the pleasure of hearing. It's a shame. To hell with creativity, right?
They should have kept the man in prison.
My opinion.
Care to retort?
I wrote this on 4 beers at 6:08am after not having slept. Sorry if my argument isn't as solid as the Guinness would have it seem.
Today I'm feeling:
the rancor of the sun's piercing piss hue on my bloodshot, alcohol infused eyeballs
Yeah. Sometimes it feels good to not give a fuck.
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