I was watching a story on CNN on Saturday morning about a guy who, in his travels, came upon a group of children who's survival rate was horrible. From volunteer medical staff he learned that part of the problem was a lack of soap for hand washing. In fact, the kids simply did not wash their hands. He decided to do something about it and organized a group of hotels to give him all of the bars of soap barely used by guests. Those were melted, reformed, cut into bars and given to the children who had to be taught how to properly wash their hands. The project is now quite large and, according to the story, has made a difference in the health of many kids.
This story was followed by one on the Afghanistan war. The correspondent noted that we are spending $2 billion (that's a "B" folks) a week on the war. It also pointed out that our supposed ally in the region, Pakistan, had arrested five people who assisted us in locating Bin Laden. This is the same Pakistan who receives American financial support.
A third story, later in the day, concerned street kids; kids sold into the sex trade; kids abandoned by everyone - how they got there; what they did just to eat....just to survive.
All of this on the day before Father's Day.
It seems to me that somewhere along the way we've gotten our priorities mixed up. I don't care if you're a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or you don't even bother to vote because you are so fed up with the political landscape - you can not have watched the stories without a real concern about how we spend our fortune.
Things I stumbled upon that I think are worth sharing. Some are fun; most are annoying; and, some are so outlandish I present them hoping you'll be motivated to action.
