Give Us Back New York

"In 1613, a Dutch settlement for trading was established on Lower Manhattan, named New Amsterdam after the glorious capital of Holland (Amsterdam, that is). Just a handful of years later, a Dutchie named Peter Minuit bought the rest of Manhattan. Those were the days all the way until 1664 when some British conquerers conquered the place and baptised it New York.

Being renamed "New York" after being called "New Amsterdam" can't be anything but a step down the status ladder. Seriously, where's York anyway? Godforsaken British town, compared to the glorious capital of Holland."

So begins the manifesto of an interesting little revolutionary movement who's goal is to reclaim the Big Apple to its rightful owners and re-re-name it "New Amsterdam." But more than that, these folks want to rescue the city from the mistreatments of its American owners and re-invigorate it with the sort of touches that make the original Amsterdam so great.

Among their suggested improvements for the city:

* Changing the nickname to "The Big Orange"
* Flooding several major streets to enable canal boat traffic
* Filling Central Park with Tulips
* Replacing all hot dog carts with vendors who sell herring
* Painting all the taxi cabs orange
* Requiring all naked cowboys to wear wooden shoes

It's amusing at first -- heck, maybe even something worth considering. But then after reading through the site for a while you start to wonder what the real reason behind all this "Amsterdam in America" hoopla might be

..And that's when you discover their plan for all the coffee shops.