Something about the phrase "lots of free speech"(a quote I can no longer find in stories regarding the matter) struck me. We in America are so used to fairly unimpinged freedom of speech and expression that the idea of it doled out by the pound is foreign and absurd. "Lots" means zero in the final analysis, as does anything less than total.
We are very lucky. In many countries like Russia or Venezuela, opposition news sources are routinely shut down and it is literally open season on journalists. We live in a land where people have the freedom and opportunity to pretty much read and write what they choose to. Thank the deity of your choice.
Of course, the privilege of a free press is oft abused and that very same freedom can become dangerously manipulated by certain individuals. Glenn Beck found an obscure tract written in 1966 by the political sociologist Frances Piven and anointed her the new devil incarnate. Now she is getting multiple death threats. When she gets whacked he can throw his hands up and disavow any responsibility.
We got it pretty good here. The only really scary trends are the new laws in places like Tennessee and Arizona that restrict the teaching of hispanic studies or curriculum that in any way casts white christian males in a negative light.
Of course freedom of the press in not absolute. You can't yell fire in a crowded theater and you can not slander and defame without corroborative evidence. And you should not be able to steal or receive American diplomatic cables and publish them without suffering serious consequences.
Wikileaks leaking of confidential information is putting Zimbabwean opposition figure Morgan Tsvangirai on the hot seat, he is now accused of treason, a charge that could lead to a death sentence.
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The show in Del Mar is pretty soft and I still feel horrible. This is the last day. Perhaps something will still happen. Went with Tracy and Stanley to a neighborhood joint that must stay anonymous because it is already too damn crowded. I had a great osso buco and a wonderful time with my two friends. Hope that I did not give them my respiratory disease.
All of the staff were scrunching their jaws like they were on a bad batch of methamphetamine. They give you two ten piece boxes of the crunchy chlorine rinsed poultry byproduct and I hit the wall at 14 pieces but took a breath and kept powering through like a trooper. $4.99. I treated myself to an orange juice as well for $1.89 which was not bad until I got to the very bottom and was left with a heavy syrup.
To think that pink hydrogenated chicken squeezuns could transform itself into so much yummy goodness! On a par with Jack in the Box tacos as holy fast food sacraments.
A black guy with long dreads was at the next table feverishly reading his bible. A cholo with gang tattoos on his neck was on the other side with his wife and two children. Well behaved kids. I had thought about having a big mac as well, one of my favorite fast food burgers but could not seal the deal as I was already out over $7.00 with tax.
***
Went to the Cat show this morning being held in the next building. Always a good time. Purr.
