Freedom’s Waiting
Alpha Broadcasting has a building downtown where its radio stations are represented as that posters plastered with three each of that type of silhouette Clip Art. Freedom 970 has a man barbecuing, a Soldier Saluting, and a woman shopping — denoting that, apparently, this is the height of Patriotism.
And Bush said, “Go shopping” after 9/11.
It’s a conservative station — natch, recently revamped with the addition of Sean Hannity and (because he comes with Sean Hannity) Mark Levine. This is too bad — Phil Hendrie — a hold-over from previous corporate control at a less ideologically-straitened station — they clearly have deigned to get rid of — has been bumped to the wee hours of the night — in wait for eventual dropping.
Freedom’s Just another word for …?
Down aways, at the Max Stop in front of the Courthouse, I’m not paying attention to much of anything when a suit security detail of one sort or other — not the bulky type, but a management sort — shouts “I saw that!” I look over, and see that he is communicating to this sort of pan handling-looking — reasonably clean — 20 something, I guess. He shouts, “What? What?” The security says, “That little transaction.” “I was just giving change for a dollar. What? You gonna hassle me?” Security points to a camera. Life goes on.
I am confused by this scene. Down from this lad is a woman, scuzzier looking, with a sign of that “Need Money to Pay off Ninjas” variety, more conspicuous than this guy — so it can’t be an outlawing of “Spare Change?” Did he exchange the marijuana, or security believe he did so? The latter possibility is unfortunate — the guy’s not going to have the benefit of the doubt if this goes up further — and that camera had better show something definitive for his sake. As it were, I’m inclined to view this as a sort of act of Intimidation — “You’ve been warned”.
Meanwhile, I look around, planting three quick figures for silhouetting purposes. Something vaguely iconic about it.