I attended a workshop at B&H yesterday (Thom Hogan -20 Minutes of Something Completely Different, plus 100 minutes of Image Deconstruction) and decided to get there via 42nd Street. This would allow me to walk down the section of the river that is most cut off to the public and to ride a NY Waterway ferry on a beautiful sunny winter day.  On the NE corner of 42nd Street and 12th Ave (520 12th Avenue) stands the Chinese Consulate.   Across the street, on the riverbank, a demonstration was taking place, small but a demo none the less.

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This pro democracy wave that is sweeping the Middle East is trying to spread. Will it? Doubtful in this case but still inspiring to see. If only we (the USA) could get on the right side of history before the dictators are overthrown.  (By the way, a new poll shows that 61% of US citizens disapprove of taking collective bargaining rights away from municipal employees. They see it as an infringement of civil rights – this in one of the most anti-union countries in the western world.)