Hats off to the Kingston Department of Public Works for doing an amazing job of clearing the city's streets during and after the Sunday-Monday snowstorm.

Virtually roads in Kingston were passable by 9 a.m. Monday, just after the storm ended, giving local drivers one less headache to deal with.

There's a photo running on the front page of the Freeman Christmas morning of a pupil at an elementary school in Saugerties being given a gift by Santa Claus.

The child's name? Christian Infante.

You can't make this stuff up.

The lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are furious that someone in the Swedish police leaked to the media the details of the sexual assault charges against Assange.

Julian Assange's people are angry about leaks? Seriously?

How they can make such a complaint with a straight face is beyond me.

A conservative, anti-Big Government friend of mine is complaining today about the federal government banning drop-side cribs — an action prompted by the deaths over the last decade of more than 30 infants and toddlers who got their heads stuck in the cribs' movable parts.

It's another "Nanny State" intrusion, my friend declares, parroting a popular mantra of Tea Party types.

Funny, but I've never heard these same people complain about federal regulations having to do with auto safety (i.e. seat belts, air bags, child seats, speed limits).

I've never heard them complain about minimum age requirements for smoking and drinking.

I've never heard them complain about laws that state some buildings must have fire escapes, or smoke detectors, or carbon monoxide detectors.

I've never heard them complain about laws that regulate air pollution.

But a law that might prevent more senseless deaths among infants and toddlers bothers them.

Amazing.

Empty Garden (Hey, Hey, Johnny)
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Recorded by Elton John, 1982

What happened here as the New York sunset disappeared?
I found an empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here?
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And now it all looks strange
It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain

And what's it for, this little empty garden by the brownstone door?
And in the cracks along the sidewalk, nothing grows no more
Who lived here?
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And we are so amazed
We're crippled and we're dazed
A gardener like that one no one can replace

And I've been knocking, but no one answers
And I've been knocking most of the day
Oh, and I've been calling, oh, hey, hey, Johnny
Can't you come out to play?

And through their tears
Some say he farmed his best in younger years
But he'd have said that roots grow stronger if only he could hear
Who lived there?
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
Now we pray for rain
And with every drop that falls
We hear, we hear your name

And I've been knocking, but no one answers
And I've been knocking most of the day
Oh, and I've been calling, oh, hey, hey, Johnny
Can't you come out to play?