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DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.I’m Doug Johnson. On our show this week:
Music from Green Day …
A question about the upcoming presidential inauguration …
And an update on the adventures of a high-flying New Yorker.
Pale Male
In August of two thousand three wehad a story about Pale Male, a famous bird living in New York City.Recently, he and his mate Lola were in the news again. Maybe youheard about it. Faith Lapidus tells us more.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Pale Male and Lola are red-tailed hawks, largehunting birds that eat small animals and other birds. Pale Malebuilt a nest on the side of a tall building. This is a buildingwhere people live in apartments that cost millions and millions ofdollars. It is across the street from Central Park, a nature area inthe middle of the city.
Pale Male arrived in nineteen ninety-three. Since then, he andhis mates have raised more than twenty young hawks. Thousands ofpeople have watched the activity. The hawks became movie stars.
But recently, the people who own the building decided they nolonger wanted the nest on the side of their property. They said theywere tired of finding dropped remains of pigeons and other creaturesnear the front of the building. They ordered workers to take downthe nest. They also ordered the workers to fix the building so thenest could not be rebuilt.
Other New Yorkers immediately began to protest. Hundreds ofpeople demonstrated outside the building along Fifth Avenue. Thestory of Pale Male made news far beyond New York. People around theworld wrote letters of protest.
We are happy to report that the building owners quickly changedtheir minds. They ordered workers to undo the changes to thebuilding, so the hawks can rebuild their nest.
Bird watchers say Pale Male and Lola continue to fly around thearea. They have been seen several times where their nest used to be.However, the bird watchers say the two hawks have not yet begun torebuild their home.
So stay tuned. If we receive confirmed reports that Pale Male andLola have begun to rebuild their nest, we will tell you.
Hmmm … maybe someone will make another movie, about thecontinuing adventures of Lola and Pale Male.
Presidential Inaugurations
DOUG JOHNSON: Our listenerquestion this week comes from Iran. Monireh Farhangnia asks what theAmerican president does on Inauguration Day. That day is nextThursday.
In the morning, President Bush and his wife Laura will attend achurch service across from the White House. Then, they will go tothe Capitol building for the swearing-in ceremony. Every four years,workers build a special stand outside for that purpose.
The chief justice of the United States traditionally swears inthe vice president and then the president. However, Vice PresidentDick Cheney is to take the oath of office from Dennis Hastert, thespeaker of the House of Representatives. Chief Justice WilliamRehnquist has thyroid cancer. But he is still planning to swear inPresident Bush.
Newly inaugurated presidents give a speech, officially called aninaugural address.
After the ceremony, the president and vice president and guestsgo inside the Capitol to have lunch. Later, they watch a paradealong Pennsylvania Avenue with floats and marching bands from aroundthe country. Pennsylvania Avenue is a wide street with the Capitolat one end and the White House at the other.
Finally, in the evening, the leaders and groups of guests attendparties called inaugural balls. The first of these in Washingtontook place for President James Madison and his wife Dolly ineighteen oh nine.
Eight inaugural balls organized by states will take place aroundthe city next Thursday night. In addition, there will be a freecelebration called the Commander-in-Chief Ball. This party is fortroops back recently from Iraq and Afghanistan, or soon to be sent.
Events related to the inauguration will take place for severaldays before and after the swearing-in. These activities cost a lotto organize. Some of the money is paid by taxpayers, and some bybusinesses, groups and individuals. By last Friday, the presidentialinaugural committee had collected eighteen million dollars, aroundhalf the goal.
People who give a lot of money reportedly get better seats at theinauguration and parade. They may even get to attend a meal with thepresident and vice president.
The last inaugural took place inJanuary of two thousand one. That was eight months before theterrorist attacks of September eleventh. This time, securitymeasures will be the heaviest ever for a presidential inauguration.
The twentieth amendment to the Constitution sets Inauguration Dayon January twentieth. This has been the date since nineteenthirty-three. The presidential swearing-in ceremony formerly tookplace on March fourth. That was generally the last day of thecongressional term.
But why wait until four months after elections? Well, for onething, it took a long time to count all the votes. Then it took moretime for the newly elected leaders to travel to Washington.
The final weeks of the congressional term were not veryproductive, though. And, by the nineteen thirties, moderntransportation permitted a quicker trip to the capital. So Congressand the states decided to move Inauguration Day to January.
Green Day
The American music industry willpresent its Grammy Awards on February thirteenth in Los Angeles. Oneof the top nominees this year is Green Day for the album “AmericanIdiot.” Shep O’Neal has our story.
SHEP O’NEAL: The three members of Green Day are singer andguitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bass player Mike Dirnt and drummerTre Cool. Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt started performingtogether as kids in California.
Green Day released its first major album, “Dookie,” in nineteenninety four. “Dookie” has sold more than ten million copies in theUnited States alone. It won a Grammy for Best Alternative MusicPerformance.
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In nineteen ninety-seven, Green Day came out with one of theirbest-known songs, on the album “Nimrod.” Here is “Good Riddance,”better known as “Time of Your Life.”
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Green Day’s newest work is nominated for seven Grammys. Theseinclude Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Rock Album andBest Rock Song, for the title piece. We leave you now with Green Dayand the title song from “American Idiot.”
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DOUG JOHNSON: This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed ourprogram today.
This show was written by Nancy Steinbach and Paul Thompson, whois also the producer. Our engineer was Efeem Drucker. Please join usagain next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA.’s radio magazine inSpecial English.