there are still good people

we made the trip yesterday to Salt Lake to see the doctors at the Shriners Hospital. It was the six week check for our son after his back surgery last December. These people are wonderful. With no expectation of anything but the feeling of doing good things for children and their families, they treat and take care of children from all over the world. And it isn't just the Shriners who do this; it's also the many people who support the Shrine organization. Schools hold benefits to collect toys and blankets to give to the children in the hospital. The local National Guard does the same thing. There are so many people who want to help those who help the children it brings even someone as hard hearted as I to tears.

Here's how you can help them too. Of course money always helps but in these hard times anything will do. If your kids have outgrown their stuffed animals or toys, box them up and send them to the nearest hospital and it doesn't have to be a Shrine hospital, it can be any children's hospital. As long as they take care of kids, they need all they can get.

JUST A MAN

So, I have a few days of vacation from work and was actually able to sleep in 'til about 5:30 this morning. I thought I would watch some morning news shows to see what's happening in the world. I was amazed. Still days away from his inauguration and taking office, Obama is already being portrayed as our nation's greatest president. He's being held up as some sort of mythic hero sent here to save us from the evil that...well...Obama pronounces as evil and that we must be saved from. Admiration--adulation even--is understandable, but this absolute worship is over the top.

During the primaries we saw Obama touted as the new messiah, compared to J.F.K. (sorry, but Kennedy's "greatness" was a myth building triumph of propaganda) and lauded as the new Martin Luther King, Jr. (King truly was a great man and, other than skin color, there's no comparison between the two). Just look today at the cover of Ms. Magazine and see how Obama is viewed: as a political "superman," here on earth to protect us all.

What are we doing? Barrack Obama is just a man who campaigned and was elected to be our president for the next four years. He doesn't deserve hate but he isn't above criticism. We'll all just have to wait and see what kind of leader he will turn out to be. So far, I'm not impressed( but then, it takes a lot to impress me) but he really hasn't had the chance to prove himself. We'll see.