This is America

 It's Jack Czapla.

He's 7 years old, and has Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.  This means, of course, that he gets constant blood draws and injections in the course of his treatment.

He loves Spongebob, and he likes it when he gets a Spongebob bandage after one of these procedures.

One time, he ended up with a regular bandage, and the nurse explained that all the "fun" bandages are donated.  The hospital only buys regular ones, so when they run out of the special ones, they have to wait and hope someone brings more.

On the way home, he told his mother, "Mom, we have a problem."  He then unveiled a plan to run a lemonade stand to raise money to buy "fun" bandages for the hospital.

That first attempt resulted in collecting 700 donated boxes and raising $1,900 to buy more.

This is America.

Not the divided, half red, half blue map we have thrown in our faces, telling us we are too separate from each other to get anything done.

Jack Czapla and the people who heard about and supported his dream of making sure kids have something to smile about in the midst of a scary and painful time in their lives are the real America.

The partisanship is a sham, thrown up by the media highlighting only the extremists on both sides.

We are more than that, and it's time we stand up and tell the politicians to can the jargon and do the work.


Today is:

Abet and Aid Punsters Day -- promoted by Punsters Unlimited

Cook Something Bold & Pungent Day -- especially for those who have had to close up the house for winter, we need to create a beautiful aroma for the house; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Feast of the Four Crowned Martyrs (Patrons of cattle, masons, sculptors, stone cutters; against fever)

Festival of the Mania -- Ancient Roman Calendar (to placate the Manes)

Fuigo Matsuri -- Kyoto City, Japan (Bellows Festival, Shinto festival in honor of Inari, the kitchen hearth goddess)

I Hate to Cook Day -- internet generated, and probably started by someone who wanted an excuse to go out to dinner!

National Cappuccino Day

National Harvey Wallbanger Day

National Parents as Teachers Day -- US

Return Day -- Georgetown, DE, US (traditional reading of the officially tabulated election returns from the balcony of the courthouse)

Saints, Doctors, Missionaries, and Martyr's Day -- Church of England

Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the other Bodiless Powers of Heaven -- Eastern Orthodox Church

Tori No Ichi -- Japan (a "rooster day" in which to wish good luck and prosperity at temple and shrine ceremonies around the country)

Wish-Granting Championships -- Fairy Calendar (Leprechauns)

World Urbanism Day/World Town Planning Day

X-Ray Discovery Day -- in 1895


Anniversaries Today:

Opening of the Louvre, 1793
Mount Holyoke Seminary for Women is founded, 1837 (considered by many to be the first true college for women in the US)
Montana becomes 41st US State, 1889


Birthdays Today:

Masashi Kishimoto, 1974
Parker Posey, 1968
Leif Garrett, 1961
Mary Hart, 1951
Bonnie Raitt, 1949
Morley Safer, 1931
Patti Page, 1927
Christiaan Barnard, 1922
Esther Rolle, 1920
Margaret Mitchell, 1900
Hermann Rorschach, 1884
Milton Bradley, 1836


Today in History:

Emperor Theodosius declares Christianity to be the state religion, 392
Uprising against Piero de' Medici in Florence, Italy, 1494
First meeting of Montezuma and Hernando Cortez in Tenochtitlan, Mexico, 1519
The Bodleian Library at Oxford University is opened to the public, 1602
Benjamin Franklin opens the first US library, in Philadelphia, PA, 1731
Elijah Craig, of Bourbon, Kentucky, US, first distills Bourbon whiskey from corn, 1789
Sarah Bernhardt makes her US debut at NY's Booth Theater, 1880
The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black and white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time, 1892
Wilhelm Roentgen of Germany discovers X-rays, 1895
The New Testament Gospels are translated into Demotic Greek (as opposed to the Koine Greek of ancient texts), resulting in bloody clashes in Athens, 1901
The first Washington state elections in which women could vote take place, 1910
Operation Grapple X, Round C1: Britain conducts its first successful hydrogen bomb test over Kiritimati in the Pacific, 1957
Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate, 1966
Manolis Andronikos discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon (Alexander the Great's father), 1977
The UN Security Council demands that Saddam Hussein disarm or face serious consequences, 2002