Sheesh, why do I have to learn about a national environmental travesty from the Brits**?
It was billed as a triumphant parade for a big chunk of history, but the space shuttle Endeavour's procession through Los Angeles has come with a catch: the city must chop down 400 trees.
Authorities have started felling some much-loved trees to let Nasa's pride and joy rumble from LAX through streets and boulevards to its final home at the California Science Center.
Some residents have protested against the sacrifice of pines, myrtles and magnolias and other species lining the 12-mile route, saying it's a high price for a two-day parade dubbed "mission 26", following the shuttle's 25 missions orbiting Earth.
...
"The move of the shuttle allows the city to be a part of this national endeavor," Sabrina Barnes, Inglewood's director of parks, recreations and library services, told the LA Times. "And gives the chance to address problematic trees that have eroded the landscape."
I have a feeling "problematic" means "ugly, in my snooty suburban elitist opinion."
**Note, I have nothing against the English, I just get perverse pleasure from referring to the esteemed English gentleman with whom I work and who pointed me toward this story in The Guardian, a Brit, and then watching him bristle in his fine English way.
