Osama lookalike banned from Wal-Mart

The reporter can't believe it, and neither can I, but in truth, what's there to be surprised these days? Oscar Brufani, a 52-year-old man resident of La Plata, was refused entrance to the local Wal-Mart store because he allegedly looks like Osama bin Laden.

Mr. Brufani, who wears a long and dense beard since he was young (certainly long before Osama hit the world scene), delivers goods to Wal-Mart in La Plata. He says that two American supervisors who happened to be visiting the store noticed his looks and alerted the manager, who told Brufani that he wouldn't be allowed in. "My family tells me I don't look like Osama bin Laden", says Brufani, who has also stated that he doesn't intend to shave, and has filed an accusation against Wal-Mart in court.

My opinion is that, based on his picture, Brufani really doesn't resemble Osama anymore than Osama resembles The Lord of the Rings' Treebeard, and though his beard is certainly disturbing (it looks as if something might crawl out of it), he's entitled to keep it that way. If the story is true, the two American supervisors deserve being deported, though a better punishment would be an hour of hysterical laughing and some sort of anti-paranoid de-programming, with or without supplemental medication.