Renew America Together

USA Service.org

Change, indeed!

It’s a different day in America when the song just after the President-elect has spoken is “This Land Is Your Land” with Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen — and all of Woody’s verses.

(Seeger will be 90 in May.)

The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial

HBO has today’s concert live on line with just a slight delay (maybe two minutes).

The National Mall

Jill, official older daughter of NewMexiKen, reports that the National Mall, where so many of the activities of the next two days will take place, simply doesn’t register with her three boys.

“Mall? Mall? There’s no Build-a-Bear here.”

Obama’s Top Ten

Barack Obama’s answer last year when asked to name his personal top ten.

1. “Ready or Not” Fugees
2. “What’s Going On” Marvin Gaye
3. “I’m On Fire” Bruce Springsteen
4. “Gimme Shelter” Rolling Stones
5. “Sinnerman” Nina Simone
6. “Touch the Sky” Kanye West
7. “You’d Be So Easy to Love” Frank Sinatra
8. “Think” Aretha Franklin
9. “City of Blinding Lights” U2
10. “Yes We Can” will.i.am

NPR was vamping until the start of today’s inaugural concert by discussing the list.

Best line of the day, so far

“You know the country is in the middle of a honeymoon when six in 10 Republicans have a positive view of Obama.”

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland

“68 percent of those questioned say they are personally thrilled or happy that Obama will soon be inaugurated”

As this is written, 46 hours, 10 minutes.

Idle thought

Yesterday driving around we saw two pickup trucks together, each flying a large Confederate flag above the truck bed.

What do you think that was about?

Inaugural Event Today

Sunday’s big event is the official inaugural opening ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial, with performances and readings by Beyonce, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow and other artists. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on the National Mall for the event — a possible harbinger for the even bigger crowds expected when Obama becomes the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday.

Sunday’s ceremony will be broadcast live on many public radio stations and will be streamed live at NPR.org.

NPR

HBO will broadcast the event this evening on what is called an “open signal.”

White Sands National Monument (New Mexico)

… was established by President Herbert Hoover on this date in 1933.

At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain ringed valley called the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this basin is one of the world’s great natural wonders – the glistening white sands of New Mexico.

Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and have created the world’s largest gypsum dune field. The brilliant white dunes are ever changing: growing, cresting, then slumping, but always advancing. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path.

White Sands National Monument

My goodness

According to an item in Sideline Chatter, America’s number one basketball recruit is 6-foot-8.

Number one girl basketball recruit that is.

What Obama Must Do

A letter to the incoming president from Paul Krugman. Interesting reading from Rolling Stone.

Best line of the day, so far

“In good years, the highest paid bank executives could make more money in an hour than a UAW autoworker earns in a year.”

Dean Baker