And so, indeed it is . . .

Nobel Prize for Pete Seeger!

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND


This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While all around me a voice was sounding
Saying this land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

Pass the Donuts!

"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. is honoring American's sense of pride and freedom of choice on Inauguration Day, by offering a free doughnut of choice to every customer on this historic day, Jan. 20. By doing so, participating Krispy Kreme stores nationwide are making an oath to tasty goodies -- just another reminder of how oh-so-sweet 'free' can be."

Well, The American Life League noticed the liberal use of the word choice and decided to blast the chain bakery for producing abortion doughnuts."The unfortunate reality of a post-Roe v. Wade America is that 'choice' is synonymous with abortion access, and celebration of 'freedom of choice' is a tacit endorsement of abortion rights on demand," the group's president, Judie Brown said in a statement.

New York City Unveils Water-less Urinals!

(my first choice was 'debuts' but the assonance was too tempting to pass up, although I hope I haven't opened a keg of nails with assonance, for the places to put one's assonance are on the opposite wall behind a series of well thought out partitions)

Can it be? The future is indeed now. Not too sure how high the priority of saving water is that we can't even properly flush our liquid waste into the waste stream. Perhaps if we (us, the U.S., could come to terms with gray water and black water and the like . . .) But more than the incredibility of the idea is the location -- the Port Authority Bus Terminal!

Flushed with pride as I am as both a New Yorker and a commuter, I have to question the wisdom of the attempt to try these things out here. Long synonymous with the underbelly of New York (while cognisant of certain attempts to reverse that trend) this is not exactly the home of the gentleman restroom user. Far from it!

Notice the lack of any valveage or handles or motion detectors of any sort. Gone too is the pleasant enough urinal 'cake' enclosed these days in a little plastic mesh apparatus. You can imagine the commotion I caused just trying to snap this picture. (The attendant on duty asked if I was from 'the TV'.) While I regrettably informed the happy employee that I was taking this picture for personal use only I wondered why this had not hit the main . . . (um) . . . stream media. Perhaps already splashed across the pages of trade journals, I bring it to you here. (Salon and Huffington, please take note.)