Free expression is valuable and important, both on a personal and public level.
On an up close and personal level, free expression allows individuals to live freely as who they are. As everyone is unique, this will look and sound different for everyone. Free expression can be as simple as rocking a buzzcut because that’s how you feel best or calling sports as a whole “trash” when they are brought up in discussion – it can be as complex as society and our inner lives.
People tend to express themselves from their word choice to their sense of fashion sense. Free expression allows anyone to dress any way and address what is on their mind at any given moment. Nevertheless, free expression comes with the responsibility to accept consequences for one’s actions and words.
Expression has its limits. It is perfectly acceptable to wear wings for a Halloween party. However, it is not as advisable to wear wings to a business event while claiming oneself to be a fairy, under the guise of freedom of expression. On a more serious note, free expression is needed to run a democracy in a public sense. Within a democracy, citizens need to speak up to disclose concerns. In theory, this disclosure should also help prevent corruption.
This concept contributes by quite literally creating identity, allowing people to express who they are – verbally and physically. It is vital for one to shape an identity that is separate from society. People can only begin to think for themselves once they can start conceptualizing on their own, separate from their community.
Free expression is worth protecting as it is a human right. Article 10 already protects these rights. There is no feasible or realistic way to completely prevent people from sharing their opinions anyway, and that type of society and environment would be unjust.
The concept of parrhesia, or fearless speech that offends those in power, is relevant here: I do not believe all free expression is equal. For example, unnecessary and cruel hate towards individuals is personally intolerable. The law unfortunately does not agree with this stance in all circumstances.
According to the American Library Association under an article about hate speech it is disclosed that, “Under current First Amendment jurisprudence, hate speech can only be criminalized when it directly incites imminent criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence targeted against a person or group.”
Referencing Plato, Michel Foucault’s lecture includes the passage, “..the problem of the freedom of speech becomes increasingly related to the choice of existence, to the choice of one’s way of life.” While there can be many problems involving freedom of speech, I found it interesting that existence is described as being a choice. There also exists the choice to use our words to not spread hate.
It may come as a surprise to learn there are many hidden features of the Sonoran Desert. Many of these things are not spoken about on the internet.
There is a lack of information on the web for some subjects. To solve this, I have taken it upon myself to investigate. The following is for those who are curious about desert secrets.
1. Gila Monsters
Gila monsters are not actually monsters but sure eat like one would. These creatures are capable of unhinging their jaws to swallow food, similar to how snakes do.
It is completely unknown why this benefits them, as this species’ diet mostly consists of cactus and jelly.
The unhinging of the jaw is typically viewed when this reptile locates tomatoes. If accessible, Gila monsters will consume fully grown tomatoes in one gaping bite.
While the question of ‘Who is putting these pots down there?’ still remains unanswered, most people don’t question it. In the end, it saves money and a trip from going to the store to purchase a pot if you can just pull it up from the ground by the roots.
3. Cactus Jelly
While this might look totally spooky, fear not as this jelly is totally harmless. It is a unique delicacy only available in the Sonoran Desert as it spoils once removed from the climate.
In fall from September to October, jelly is ready to be harvested from cactus across the desert. When ripe, cactus will occasionally spontaneously burst which makes collection a step easier.
Cactus jelly harvesting season creates hundreds of job opportunities in communities. From collecting the substance directly from the source to producing product that can be sold in stores, this is a lucrative time for both small and corporate businesses. Seasonally, rooms are rented out to harvest the jelly as seen in the second image.
To ensure it doesn’t attract bears, jelly must be placed high up.
3. Unicorn Grand Canyon
The existence of unicorns has been all but confirmed with these ancient petroglyphs. While they appear freshly spray painted, it cannot be denied this style is reminiscent of ancient days. There is simply no other explanation. Unicorns have existed. This is proof in itself.
4. Round houses
Homes in the Sonoran Desert zone classically are round. From businesses, to cafes, to homes, this signature look allows for an easily identifiable location as this architecture does not exist anywhere else in the world.
If you or a loved one is looking to move to Arizona, be aware of the lack of flat walls as they are all curved. Becoming an Arizonian means accepting the dust that will be trapped and slowly accumulating in the spot between flat furniture and curved walls. You may decide not to move here after all.
It’s totally true! Before civilization took place, completely underwater.
This photograph was recovered through extracting memory information from the DNA in ancient bone fragments and has been colorized for aesthetic purposes. This is likely exactly how the land looked long ago, existing in a way that is hard to describe today.
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You didn’t believe any of that, did you?
I do apologize if I have tricked you, but it goes to show the power of AI if so. You can feel free to disregard the previous statements. Stay tuned on how you can spot misinformation in the future.
! Check sources
! Critically review images
! Double check hyperlinked citations
*Sources have been provided, however they are not credible
2 – If you haven’t already, try image searching on a browser “cactus pot buried deep in the earth” or whichever terms you see fit. No results prove these claims. If there is a complete lack of evidence, even after multiple attempts with search terms, it could be that something is being fabricated.
Tip: locate your own credible source regardless, unless one is provided. Statements without sources require a healthy level of skepticism.
3– Everyone should be aware unicorns don’t exist. Furthermore, the Grand Canyon is not in this particular desert. While it is close, looking into locations mentioned might give way to detecting misinformation.
I hope the hyperlinks helped provide enough of a hint about this article.
4 – To be clear, the majority of buildings everywhere have flat walls. If a Google search were to be done surveyingproperties in Arizona, that disproves all houses being round. If the only evidence given is an illustration, it is an indication that more researching needs to be done to ensure validity! Furthermore, it might be an indication this is not true if only drawings of it exist.
5 – Did you notice the language used? If someone is directly trying to convince you something is factual instead of laying out the facts, this is suspicious. Did you by chance catch that change in deserts? Although the Smithsonian is a wonderful source, this article is discussing the Sahara Desert, which is located in Africa. The article mentions this desert used to once be an oasis,
Tip: right-clickimages, select ‘Open image in new tab,’ and gain information from the web address. Many hidden features can be uncovered this way, from file names, to original image sources. Here, the file name says ‘Dream Wombo fake’ which shows two things: the source is AI generated and has been marked as fake by whoever named the file (in this case, me).
Thank you for reading!
*Please note slight edit to target audience. I did try to tone down the language for readability without compromising my style and natural flow, but this article may be better suited for junior high students or teachers may read aloud to younger demographics*
Balliace 