This head belongs to Texas middle-school student Patrick Gonzalez, who went to a very-talented barber and had the image of San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner shaved into the back of his head. Despite getting the 'do pre-approved by school officials, the 12-year-old was sent home and told to remove the image from his head. The reason given was that the image was "distracting" to the teacher and other students.
When asked his reasoning for the $75 clipping, Patrick said the reserve is his favorite player because both are Gingers and the Spurs were in the midst of sweeping the Los Angeles Clippers in the second-round of the NBA Playoffs.
In other words, Patrick was using his head as a form of speech to express support for his favorite basketball player. And then he was punished.
Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski is more widely known for being the domestic terrorist nicknamed "Unabomber." Kaczynski has made the Federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado his home since 1998, where he is serving life without the possibility of parole.
In spite of his incarceration, Kaczynski was able to send his greetings to the Harvard University Class of 1962's 50th reunion. Kaczynski updated his entry in the Harvard alumni magazine - listing his current occupation as: prisoner, his residence as: the supermax and his awards as: his eight life-sentences.
The university quickly apologized, not for printing Kaczynski's submission, but for the convicted murder's tone. In the wake of the university's apology, several alumni defended Kaczynski's right to both send in a submission and his right to be snarky.
The First Amendment right to free speech applies to all. In the responses in the above cases invokes a reminder from George Orwell's "Animal Farm" - "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."
Until next time ...
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