Harrowing Hudson River Is The Video You Need Now. Seriously

A superhero in Hoboken rescues Teddy. Film at 11. 

You probably need a feel good story right now. I do.

Don't worry about the beginning of this story, because, spoiler alert, you'll like the way it turns out.

Inside Edition reported on what they call is a harrowing rescue along the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey recently.

A toddler named Thomas, who is almost 3 years old,  lost his best friend, "Teddy" who fell into the river while he and his mom were taking a stroll.

A heroic rescuer appeared on the scene, found Teddy floating in the river, retrieved him and performed some dramatic CPR.

The rescue was successful!  Teddy has fully recovered and has been reunited with Thomas.

Like many heroes, the rescuer disappeared into the crowd when things settled down. Thomas' dad, Ron Levi, is on the hunt for the hero.  The Levi family, at the very least, wants to take the hero out for ice cream.

You'll fully understand when you watch the video:

George Bush's Service Dog Gets Second Career; Making People Cry Happy Tears

Sully, who was George H.W. Bush's service dog, sleeps and stands guard
 in front of his casket in early December. Because of a directive from
Bush, Sully has a new job helping veterans at the Walter Reed Military
Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. 

One of the most heartrending photos I saw after former President George H.W. Bush died on November 30 was an Instagram image of his service dog, Sully.

There, Sully was sleeping, but still on guard in front of Bush's casket. The caption on Instagram read "Mission Accomplished."

Thanks to Bush, though, Sully's life of service is not over. Bush said that upon his death, he wished that Sully would be rehired to assist with physical and occupational therapy for wounded soldiers and active duty personnel during their recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

There have been disturbing news reports lately that in various ways, veterans have not been getting the respect and help they obviously deserve. That Sully will help veterans is just touching good news all around. It is also an indication that Bush 41 knew that if there was something good in this world, like Sully, he had to be put to good use.

Sully, a two-year-old Labrador retriever, was paired with and specifically trained to help Bush 41 with his daily tasks. As noted, that job was completely successfully. Talented and smart Sully has more to give.

Former President George W. Bush - Bush 41's son - said, "As much as our family is going to miss this dog, we're comforted to know he'll bring the same joy to his new home, Walter Reed, that he brought to 41."

I was never a fan of George 41's politics. I voted against him. But I knew that as imperfect as he was, he always wanted to do right for the nation and his fellow humans.  Seems like that trait is in woefully short supply these days.

In a current world where we find too many humans acting especially unhelpful, it's great to see a dog step up to the plate in such a noble fashion. And do so at the behest of someone who could teach us sometbing about common decency. .

Nine Year Old Activists Overturns Anti-Snowball Fight Ordinance

In front of a packed Severerance, Colorado Town Board meeting, Dane
Best, 9, lobbies comuunity leaders to overturn a ban on snowball
fights. Photo by Sara Knuth/Greely Tribune 

I love it when kids re-enact the plot in the fictional movie "Footloose," in which a teenager gets a town to overturn a ban on dancing.

The situation I'm about to describe isn't exactly dancing, but it's still nice to see somebody overturning a stupid local ordinance.

The town of Severance, Colorado has long banned snowball fights. C'mon! Colorado in the winter? You gotta have snowball fights!

Enter Severance resident Dane Best, 9, who decided he CAN fight City Hall. And, spoiler: He won.

According to the Greeley Colorado Tribune, Best gave this simple but perfect argument before the Severance Town Board:

"The children of Severance want the opportunity to have a snowball fight like the rest of the world....The law was created many years ago. Today's kids need a reason to play outside."

BOOM!

You can't get a more persuasive argument than that. Why not let the kids of Severance experience the joys of children everywhere. At least in places where it snows And in this age of kids staying inside playing video games to the detriment to their physical health, wouldn't you want children to go outside and be active?

The anti-snow ball ordinance was part of an otherwise perfectly reasonable law that banned throwing missiles or stones at people or property. It's still illegal in Severance to throw stones and missiles, as it is in most if not all of America. Best didn't want the town to overturn that part of the law, and he promised never to throw a snowball with a rock inside.

But the snowball piece of the Severance ordinance is now officially off the books. After the Town Board meeting, the Greeley Tribune said Best and his little brother Dax, 4, went outside into Severance's snowy streets and threw the first legal snow balls in the town's history.

Severance Mayor Don McLeod also got into the act and tossed a snow ball or two.

This whole thing leads to a larger lesson for Best and any kid out there. Yes, you can change an injustice, but only if you put some effort into it.

Bottom line: The kids are alright.

Huge Teddy Bear Storm Disrupts Hockey Game In Best Possible Way

A blizzard of teddy bears rains down on a Hershey, Pennsylvania
hockey rink on Sunday for a very good reason. 

A minor league hockey game between the Hershey, Pennsylvania Bears and Binghamton Devils came to a long, grinding halt Sunday because, of all things, a blizzard of teddy bears.

There's a tradition in minor league hockey for something called the teddy bear toss, and the one Sunday at the Hershey game was one for the record books.

In the toss, when the home team scores the first goal of the season, fans toss teddy bears onto the ice.

Midway through the first period on Sunday, the Hershey Bears scored their first goal of the game. Everybody expected teddy bears to rain down on the ice, but nobody expected this. Watch the awesome video at the bottom of this post to see how this went down. It was beautifu

For nearly 10 minutes teddy bears flew from the stands in a blinding stuffed animal blizzard. When all was said and done, 34,798 stuffed animals had landed on the ice.

All the toys go to charity. Most of them go to local organizations like food banks, churches and the Lions Club. Some of them go to the Children's Miracle Network and the American Cancer Society.

All of the 34,798 stuffed animals make kids' Christmas all the better.  Sunday's teddy bear toss set a new record in minor league hockey.  The previous record was set by the Calgary Hitmen in 2015.

The teddy bear toss at the Hershey Bears game Sunday forced a long delay in the game, but nobody complained. I think it would have been especially fun being in the lower seats above the upper decks. After you throw your teddy bear onto the ice, more rain down from above, so you'd grab those and fling them onto the rink as well.

Here's the video:

To Make You Happy: Elephants Greet New Arrival

Last year, a baby elephant had been orphaned, but rescuers found it and brought it to an animal sanctuary.

The little elephant lost its family, but judging from the goings on in the video you'll see below, the kid is in good hands with a new family, which rushed to greet him.

True, the video is several months old, having been uploaded in May. But when you need good news, old news is both good news, and refreshing news.

Here's the video:

Birthday Gift From Portia De Rossi To Wife Ellen Degeneres Can't Be Topped

Portia De Rossi, left, recently gave Ellen DeGeneres a 60th
birthday gift we can all be happy about. 

My husband's birthday is today.  

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!!!!

I want to give him the world, but unfortunately, funds are tight. He's going to have to settle for something much smaller. Sorry, Jeff, I'm trying!

I do wish, however, I could give him a birthday gift like Portia De Rossi gave to her wife, Ellen DeGeneres, on Ellen's recent 60th birthday.

By the way, this is going to be a feel good story, because in this day and age, the more feel good stories, the better.

DeGeneres is a longtime fan of scientist Dian Fossey, who spent basically her whole life studying rare mountain gorillas in Rwanda. You might remember Fossey from the book  "Gorillas In The Mist."

Fossey was murdered in 1985, but her work goes on, thanks to lots of awesome volunteers and donations from people who understand how important Fossey's work was.

DeGeneres is among those who totally understands why Fossey's work and legacy is so important. DeGeneres talk show made a big deal out of her birthday, and finally "special guest" De Rossi came on to disclose what she bought for her wife for the big birthday.

Dian Fossey spend her life protecting African gorillas unti
she was murdered in 1985. American celebritites Ellen
DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi just ensured Fossey's
work continues. 

Because DeGeneres is such a fan of Fossey, De Rossi sprung for the construction of the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. It's next to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and this will be a part of a center for education, tourism and scientific research.

They also established the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund to study, protect and advocate for the world's most vulnerable animals and wildlife.

My husband Jeff is a total animal lover, especially dogs. An excellent way to judge a person is how they think of animals. People like Jeff are keepers because they love animals. People who have a soft spot for animals tend to be morally, ethically, emotionally beautiful. That describes Jeff.

De Rossi probably knows she's very lucky to be married to DeGeneres for the same reason.

Here's the very nice announcement of De Rossi's gift on the Ellen Show back on February 1:

Just Because We Need It: Dog Gets Great Gift, Everyone Happy

Cash, left, meets his new, young best buddy Jennings
at Christmas, making everyone happy 

It's been a trying 2017 to say the least, so the last post of this year, or at least something close to the last post, should go like this one. Just ot make us feel better.

In Ortonville, Michigan, Cash, a 12-year-old Golden Retriever, also had a bad 2017. His best friend, a fellow dog in the household named Rosie, passed away.

Cash mourned. He was getting older and this was too much. He lost all his energy after Rosie's death, and pretty much slept close to 23 hours a day.

That is until Christmas. Cash's human companion, Marie Ahonen, decided Cash needed a new companion to get him back to his old self.

It was a Christmas present: "It'll be our Christmas present to our family - that was our first thought. Then it just kind of piqued in my mind that this will be Cash's present," Ahonen said.

The idea worked. "(Cash) just got so excited and his paws were going a million miles an hour and I'm so excited, like this is what he needed," Ahonen said.

The gift for Cash was a Golden Retriever puppy. In the video,  Marie's husband, Jay, brings in a box and Cash immediately knows something cool is inside. Cash opens the box, and there's the puppy.

Cash immediately came back to life. The puppy looks confused at first, but then at the end decides he's game.

The puppy's name is Jennings (named after Waylon) At last report. Cash and Jennings were gettin along famously, and Cash was indeed back to his old, pre-2017 self

Let's hope the same for the rest of us.

Here's the fun, cute video:

A Little Bit Of Love And Cuteness To Stave Off The Ugliness In The World

The kids in this photo are not major breaking national
news, but the way things are going, we all need
to make them headliners. Very sweet.

Even just scanning the headlines exposes us to a dreadful, depressing tableau of hate, incompetence, meanness, pettiness and general bad vibes.

As I've pointed out before in this blog thingy, we need antidotes to this every once in awhile.

Today's dose of good vibe medicine comes in the form of a viral video that was first posted on Instagram by Verlonda Jackson, who used her smart phone to video a moment when her son Tariq, 5, came home from kindergarten and was greeted by his sister Ava, 3.

Verlonda Jackson told ABC News  the two siblings used to bicker fairly frequently, but their bond strengthened when Tariq enrolled in kindergarten. Ava missed him.

The mom said she pulled out her phone to video the greeting to show her husband, "Look, we're doing something right."

Yep! The Jackson family is doing something right. Let's try to get a lot of other people to be like this.

Here's the video to make you feel better about things, like it did to me:

Gospel At Hurricane Shelter Is Just The Right Light In Moment Of Darkness

Victoria White (in the white dress) gave Hurricane Harvey
evacuees a needed and incredibly helpful dose of gospel
this week in Houston. 

Sorry I haven't been around much on this here blog thingy. I've been focusing on Hurricane Harvey on my sister blog, Matt's Weather Rapport.  

Today, I'm back with, well, a Harvey update.  

In a video that's gone totally viral, a group of gospel singers led by a woman named Victoria White lifted spirits in a Houston-area evacuation center. 

I'm definitely not a religious man, but you've got to find comfort where you can. Kudos to Victoria White for providing this totally needed dose of medicine to a roomful of people who had just reached the lowest point in their lives.

The video of what happened is below. (Kleenex alert with this one.)  Notice how the people in the shelter join in on the song. They all needed that.

After the video went viral, White had the following to say. Again, I'm not religious but this woman speaks the truth!

"I had no ide this was being recorded, but God had a plan!... Not only did He want to love on those gathered in Lone Star Expo Center who suffered loss at the hands of Hurricane Harvey, but He wanted to love on people across the world who were dealing with tbier own personal storms! That's the kind of loving God we serve - the kind who is equally concerned for the masses and the individual."

I'm not trying to get political here, but if I did believe in a God, White's version is the one that seems closest to reality. And not the God some so-called religious leaders espouse.

Thank you, Victoria White and the rest of these gospel singers. You brought a glimmer of joy to the people in Houston who needed it most. And we all need a glimmer of joy now and then even if our lives are going pretty well.

Well done,  Victoria!

Here's the video:

Bomb Squad Makes Beeping Easter Eggs So Visually Impaired Kids Can Hunt

Bomb squad members in Missouri make beepig Easter eggs
last year so that visually impaired children can participate
in Easter egg huts. 

Hats off to a Tampa, Florida areas bomb squads for making a bunch of Easter eggs that visually impaired children can find during this weekend's Easter egg hunts.

This has actually been going on for more than a decade after a special agent learned his newborn kid was blind.

So he and his buddies decided to make an Easter egg hunt work for visually impaired children.  

The eggs beep, so children can find them. They are "hidden" in an open field at a park in Tavares, Florida for the kids to find.

Obviously, the bomb squad's work is usually more dangerous than beeping Easter eggs, so this is a break for them, too.

The beeping is annoying when the eggs are in the police station, waiting to be hidden, but it's worth it.

The officers from five Florida bomb squads build the eggs, soldering and installing wiring that make the plastic eggs beep

This bomb squad beeping egg movement seems to be growing in recent years, which is always a good thing.  Charles County, Missouri bomb squad members made the eggs last year, for instance

Here's a video of such an egg hunt last year:

Dog Pretends To Love New Bed Even Though It Clearly Doesn't Work

Just to be nice, Kenny the golden retreiver pretends that
a much too small dog bed purchsed for him works just fine. 

As is customary here in this blog thingy, I get a little overwhelmed by the news and awfulness of the world. I'm sure you've noticed.

When that happens, I retreat to fun little dog stories, or something like that.

This is one of those times.

I've decided I really like Kenny, a 10-year-old golden retriever from Elkhart, Indiana.

His human mom, Heather Stoddard, knew Kenny needed a new doggie bed, so she ordered one on line.

Stoddard forgot to note that the doggie beds she was looking at came in various sizes. The one that arrived was teeny tiny, made for pups much smaller than big Kenny.

Dogs tend to seem appreciative of gifts and want to please their human companions so he pretended the tiny dog bed was just perfect for him.

The result was a bunch of viral photos of Kenny earnestly pretending the tiny bed worked wonderfully for him.

"It was honestly funny seeing how small and thin it was. It almost looked like a pillow," said Paten Mathes, 15, Stoddard's son and Kenny's other human companion.

Kenny the golden retriever realizes the too small dog bed
is too small for him, but at least it makes a nice pillow

By the way, Stoddard realized her mistake as soon as the dog bed arrived and she went back on line to buy a dog bed that works much better for Kenny.

By the way, I get it dogs might latch onto objects that they like not entirely because they're trying to please someone, but because they like the object and it gives the comfort.

For instance, my dogs Jackson and Tonks are weird. When I sit down to watch TV, Tonks will sometime rest her head of my feet so she has the comforting if stinky scent of my shoes.

Both Jackson and Tonks want me to put down pants that need laundering on the floor so they can sleep on them, again because it's probably comforting.  

Still, I like to think part of the motivation of all this stuff that Kenny, Tonks and Jackson do are because they feel an attachment to their human companions and want to please them.

I'll go with that.

The photos of Kenny got so widespread that some pet companies sent the family some dog beds that might be a better fit for Kenny.

Kenny is testing them out and will decide which one he likes best. Any other dog beds that Kenny isn't as enthusiastic about will be donated to animal shelters, says the Huffington Post. 

See, Kenny is quite the kind dog. I have one thing to say to him. It's an approving "Woof!!!"

High School Journalism Students Out Fake Principal: Investigative Journalism Rocks

The reporting staff at the Booster Redux, the student newspaper
at Pittsburg High School in Kansas. The reporters did some
investigative reporting on their new principal, which led
to her resignation under a cloud. 

Recently, Pittsburg High School in Kansas got a new principal.

Like any decent news organization reporting on a change of leadership, the kids working on the student newspaper (called the Booster Redux) decided to look into Amy Robinson, the new principal, just to see her background, where she went to school, all that routine stuff.

"She was going to be the head of our school, and we wanted to be assured that she was qualified and had the proper credentials," Trina Paul, a high school senior and editor of the Booster Redux told the Kansas City Star.

The reporters at the Booster Redux didn't find routine information, though. "We stumbled on some things that most might not consider legitimate credentials," Paul said.

The Booster Redux ran a front page story on what they found about Robinson. It wasn't pretty. And soon, Robinson resigned from her new $93,000 per year position at the school.

What the reporters at the Booster Redux did was good old fashioned investigative journalism, something a few of their adult peers in the journalism biz ought to emulate.

Maddie Brown, a junior at the high school and a Booster Redux reporter, said an electronic search of Robertson's background turned up a bunch of articles by Gulf News about an English language school in Dubai that was connected to Robertson.

The Gulf News articles said that Dubai education authorities had suspended the license for Dubai American Scientific School and accused Robertson of not being authorized to serve as principal of the school, the Kansas City Star notes.

The Dubai school received an "unsatisfactory" rating every year from 2008 to 2012 and was shut down in 2013.

Hmm.

"That raised a red flag...If students could uncover all of this, I want to know why the adults couldn't find this," Baden said.

Good question!

Usually, school boards vet the heck out of prospected principals. What happened with this one?  Might be a good follow up story for these young reporters.

Especially given what the Booster Redux reporters uncovered next.

Robertson had said she got her master's and doctorate degrees at a place called Corllins University. By the way, the Kansas City Star checked the Booster Redux reporters' work and came up with the same thing they did.

U.S. Department of Education officials confirmed what the students said. They could find no evidence that Corllins was in operation and couldn't find it in a data base of schools closed since 1986

The Booster Redux reporters DID find several articles referrin to Corllins as a diploma mill, where you can buy a degree, diploma or what have you.

Again, I wonder why the school board didn't catch what the students did.

Robertson, for her part, was kind of defiant, as is often the case when people are caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"All three of my degrees have been authenticated by the U.S government," she told the Kansas City Star, whatever that means.

Also:

"Robertson declined to comment directly on students' questions bout her credentials, saying, 'I have no comment in response to the questions posed by PHS students regarding my credential because their concerns are not based on facts."

Way to go! If you don't like what a reporter is telling us, just yell "Fake News!"

She could have cleared all this up by telling us what really happened if she things the high school  journalists got it wrong.

The way things are going these days in Washington and elsewhere, we need investigative journalists more than ever. And we'll probably need lots of them for the forseeable future.

Which means I'm so glad the reporters at the Booster Redux had this scoop. I hope it inspires them and kids all over the country and the world to keep asking questions, keep demanding answers.

It's what we all deserve.

I Immediately Liked Julia, Sesame Street's New Character. Here's Why

Julia, a muppet with autism, will join the cast of
"Sesame Street" on April 10. Welcome, Julia!

Ever since I can remember, I knew I was a little lot different.

When I was three, four, five years ago, I didn't understand it. What kid at that age would?

As I got older, I understood why I was different. I'm gay and have ADHD. 

None of that is really a problem. Only an ignoramous would care, or criticize me for being gay. Having ADHD is just a part of me. It's both a strength and a weakness, or maybe neither.  It's just there.

Everybody is different, but if you're too different, that could be a problem. At least for a few people.

Little kids -toddlers, the pre-school crowd, - really aren't worried at all about who's different and why.

As kids get older, they learn from adults, some of whom aren't as emotionally intelligent as young children. Some  people "learn" that gay people are perverts. People with ADHD are lazy, undisciplined, selfish, say some people. They're wrong of course, but you  have to deal with them.

However, everybody who's different and has watched "Sesame Street" gets an early education on why it's important to celebrate our differences, and see them as strengths, as long as you're strong enough to understand that as you get older.

A few people will not like you as you get older if you are "different."  But Sesame Street gives you the foundation to resist that.

Even at my advanced age - 54 - the welcoming, inclusive vibe of Sesame Street, which I watched religiously as a little kid, helps me out. In my weak, low self-confident moments, I  remember that friendly, gentle cast of characters, both humans and muppets, and my mental balance rights itself.

All this is why I love the fact that "Sesame Street" is introducing a new muppet, a little four year old girl named Julia.

Julia is a bright girl with, autism. Any youngster who has questions about why Julia is like she is, thinks like she does, is because she is indeed different.

Different here doesn't mean bad, or lesser, or weak.

Here's how NPR describes Julia:

"She's a shy and winsome four-year-old, with striking red hair and green eyes. Julia likes to paint and pick flowers. When Julia speaks, she often echoes what she's just heard her friends Abby and Elmo say..

It can be hard to get Julia's attention. Big Bird has to repeat himself to get her to listen, for example. And she sees things where other's don't. 'That's just Julia being Julia,' Abby said."

Julia began last year as a character in Sesame's books and digital offerings, NPR said. She was part of a campaign called "See Amazing In All Children,'" which gives children with autism and their families Julia - somebody to identify with. Julia also helps people without autism to understand people who do have it.

More from NPR:

"Sherrie Westin, an executive vice-president at Sesame Workshop who oversaw the initiative, said the campaign quickly struck a chord.

'One of my favorite stories is a mother who said that she used the book to explain to her child that she had autism like Julia,' Westin said, shaking her head slightly as she teared up. 'this became the tool for her to have a conversation with her five-year-old daughter.

And you'll love this: At the end her daughter said, 'So I'm amazing too, right''"

You betcha!

It's so nice to see the cast of Sesame Street grow like this. We're all different and not enough people celebrate that fact.

Maybe it's time for me to start watching the show again. Hell, the way things are going these days, maybe everybody should be watching "Sesame Street."

It might do us all good. 

Youth Basketball Team Rebels Gloriously Against Dumb Adult Rules

A fifth grade basketball team in New Jersey votes to keep
girls on the team even though the CYO organization said they couldn't.

Hats off today to the St. John's New Jersey 5th grade basketball team, who chose unity and fairness over the silly "rules" of adults. 

There were nine boys and two girls on the St. John's CYO team.

Mucketymucks with the church found out about the girls playing on the team and laid the law down.

The team was not allowed to have girls. Ditch the girls or give up the rest of the season, the team was told, as NJ.com reports.

The boys on the team would have none of it.  They said no girl team mates no playing.

An opposing team, St. Bartholomew the Apostle, had just showed up for a game against St. John's but the refs announced the a CYO director instructed the refs not to allow the team to play if the girls remained on it.

There was a bit of a discussion over whether it could be an "unofficial" game, but nobody seemed all that keen on the idea. And coaches were reluctant to force a decision on the fifth graders.

Finally, a parent named Matthew Dohn spoke up and asked the St. John's fifth grade team directly: "Is your decision to play the game without the two young ladies on the team, or do you want to stay as a team as you have all year?   Show of hands for play as a team?

All 11 members of the team raised their hands. When parents asked the question a diffeent way: Should the girls stay out of the game? No hands went up.

Parents reminded the team that if they let the girls play, the rest of the season would be forfeited. "If the girls play, this will be the end of your season. You won't play in the playoffs," said assistant coach Keisha Martel.

Martel is the mom of one of the girls in question.

"It doesn't matter," one boy replied. Soon the rest of the team joined in chanting, "Unity!"

NJ.com reported that many spectators cheered along and several parents began to cry.

Here's how one parent reacted, says NJ.com:

"Pride. Just pure pride......These kids are doing the right thing. We don't have to tell them what to do. They just know. It's amazing."

The fifth graders also appear to be more brave than the adults who made the decision to bar the girls. The kids on the team were outspoken on their position to say the least.

An anonymous complaint about the girls playing led to the decision to bar them. That came when St. John's played another school called St. Theresa's, where the family of one girl was suing the school to allow her to play on the boy's team.

The school responded by expelling the girl and her sister, though an appeals court ruled that the girls must be reinstated.

In the case of the St. John's game, the CYO organization said rules are rules and girls must play with girls, and boys must play with boys.

At least the kids understand there is sometime a need for flexibility.

Said parent Rob Martel: "They're kids and all they wanted to do was play.....This is adults that couldn't figure out how to let the kids play two more games. This isn't the WNBA or NBA. They're just trying to get better, and I think they got better today."

Well, maybe not at basketball, since the kids weren't allowed to play. But they certainly showed their growing skills at the game of life.

Subway Passengers Armed With Hand Sanitizer Scrub Out Nazi Idiot

Armed with hand sanitizer and tissues, people scrub Nazi
graffiti away from inside a New York City subway car.

Some jerk got his or her Sharpie out and put swatikas and other Nazi images on just about every advertisement and window of a New York City subway car a few days ago.

People who boarded the subway were - surprise! -- not happy to see this stuff, but nobody knew what to do about it.

But in a Facebook post that has gone totally viral, a guy named Gregory Locke said one person spoke up and said, "Hand sanitizer gets rid of Sharpie. We need alcohol."

The guy also found some tissues to soak up the hand sanitizer and went to work.

The scene on the subway car quickly became remiscent of that old game show, "Let's Make A Deal" when host Monty Hall had people dig into their purses and wallets to find odd things to win prizes.

This time, though, everybody was digging into their backpacks and such to find hand sanitizer and tissues.

Within a few minutes, subway passengers, armed with such dangerous weapons as Purell and Kleenex, had purged the car of all Nazi symbolism.

One passenger, lamenting about the Nazi graffiti,  "I guess this is Trump's America."

Locke wrote in response: "No sir, it's not. Not tonight and not ever. Not as long as stubborn New Yorkers have anything to say about it."

Yes, yes, I know, Donald Trump is not a Nazi (at least I'm pretty sure.) But some of his supporters are white supremicists and they think they've got their big chance now that Donald Trump is president.

New York City resident Chelsea Clinton, (You might know her as Bill and Hillary's daughter) heard about this incident and tweeted, "We will not let hate win. And, another reason to carry hand sanitizer."

This is a small incident, granted. But there's a lot of forces of evil running amok in this nation right now and there's a lot of other people running around who will not stand for it. Stories like this make me feel just that much better about things.

I'm planning a brief visit to New York City in a couple weeks. I'd better pack some hand sanitizer for the subway rides, right?

Very Young "Veterinarian" Helps Beagle With Injured Foot

Little Laura, in her white veterinarian's coat, treats
a cut on her companion Charlie the Beagle's paw.
Charlie has since made a full recovery. 

I often resist cloyingly cute videos involving kids and animals, but I somehow couldn't pass this one up.  

It's just too adorable, and I keep wanting to see nice things in a world that sometimes feels so evil.

The backstory is that a little girl named Laura and her companion, a beagle named Charlie, have had some viral video fame as we've seen what besties they are ever since Laura was born.

Previous videos show Laura as a baby, but now she's a grown up toddler.

Recently, Charlie cut his paw on a thick blade of frozen grass. So, Laura did what she had to do. She put on her white veterinarian coat and went to work.

As you'll see in the video below, I have to give Charlie huge credit for what a patient "patient" he is as Laura treats the injured paw.

I have to give a lot of credit to Laura, too. She may be too young to know how best to treat a minor dog injury, but who cares? The love she has for Charlie is crystal clear in the video, as is the fact that Charlie knows this.

Side note in the video you'll watch below. The people involved are talking in Polish, which makes my heart melt more because I'm of Polish descent.

Every little moment in the video is incredibly sweet, including the hugs, and the blanket Laura puts over Charlie.  By the way, spoiler alert: Laura's treatment worked. Charlie is all better now.

At the end of the video, Laura is done, and Charlie settles comfortably down for a nap, knowing he is well cared for and in good hands.

We should all be so lucky.

Here's the video to make you go "awwwwwwww"

Obama Awards Medal Of Freedom To Biden; Love The News Clip

Barack Obama bestowing the Medal of Freedom on
Joe Biden Thursday in Washington DC.

I've always admired the bromance between Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Biden, of course, has served as Obama's faithful Vice President, taking on his role with gusto, candor and hard work, and I obviously admire him for that.

Which made me so happy that Obama bestowed the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to Biden.  Obama added the second layer,  "with distinction," to give the medal an even higher level of honor.

I also liked that Obama surprised Biden with the award.  You can tell he didn't see it coming.

If you haven't seen the clip, watch it below. It's very touching. I'm definitely going to miss Obama and Biden in the White House, but I'm sure we haven't heard the last from both men.

Here it is:

Nice Move! Letter Carrier Builds Handicap Ramp For Elderly Dog

Maddie Dimetrosky, 11, helps Tashi, 14 down the handicapped
ramp letter carrier Jeff Kramer built for Tashi so' they can
greet each other every day.
Photo by Jeremy Pappaso/Boulder Daily Camera.

I get so negative in this blog sometimes, and I will continue to do so, I'm afraid, but any bit of heartwarming or good news does the body and mind good, so I'll keep throwing those in, too.

Today's installment takes us to snowy Boulder, Colorado, where a letter carrier named Jeff Kramer always liked the greeting he got from a dog named Tashi at one particular house on his route.

According to the Boulder Daily Camera: 

"'He would just come by eery day and pet him,' said Tashi's owner Karen Dimetrosky. 'Tashi would hang out outside and would always get so excited when Jeff came. He would always try to pull me toward the mail truck.'"

Tashi is now 14 years old, elderly, and can't walk so well anymore. So Tashi's  human family started having to carry the dog up and down the front stairs to greet Kramer.

Kramer had recently lost an old dog, which had used a handicapped access ramp to get into his house.

So why not give Tashi the ramp?

At first, Kramer just dropped off the wood from the ramp and the Dimetroskys would use the wood to build a new ramp. But the family isn't particularly handy, or good at carpentry

So, Kramer came back and built the ramp himself. "I just noticed they needed it," Kramer explained.

"I can't image not having the ramp now. It's the only way he gets in and out," Dimetrosky told the Daily Camera. 

Now, no need to carry Tashi to greet Kramer. He just uses the ramp so Kramer and Tashi still get to have their daily happy moment.

The irony of being a letter carrier who did this is not lost on Kramer. "Yeah, a mailman who likes dogs. Go figure," Kramer said.

Yeah, I know the story about Tashi isn't a big important news flash, but ti's always great to see a small, pleasant moment in the middle of the world's chaos.

Here's the Boulder Daily Camera's YouTube story on Kramer and Tashi:

A Texas Lowe's Store Hires Two New Employees. Both Doing Great

Clay Luthy and his service dog
hard at work in an Abilene, Texas Lowe's

A Lowe's store in Abilene Texas recently made a new hire for a sales associate.

Turns out the hire was a twofer.

The human resources department had several applicants for a part time job at the Abilene Lowe's and it turns out Clay Luthy, a disabled Air Force veteran, was the best person for the job.

The catch is Luthy needs has service dog, Charlotte, to be with him. So Lowe's hired Charlotte, too, says television station KRBC in Abilene.

The pair have been working at Lowe's for the past two months and they are a hit with staff and customers.

Lowe's does make minor accommodations for Luthy and Charlotte, such as scheduling them to work in the paint department so that Charlotte has a place to sit.

Like all Lowe's employees both Luthy and Charlotte wear red vests with the corporate logo on them. That helps customers understand when Charlotte is working. You can't pet her while she's on the job, so the vest is a polite "hands off" signal.

Good job, Lowe's, for knowing a good hire when they see one, and for being willing to make some minor but nice accommodations for the employee.

I wish all employers could be that understanding.

The Kent State Basketball Team Is Just Awesome

In a show of unity, Kent State basketball players invited
fans of varying genders, ages and races to stand with
them for the National Anthem before the start of a recent game.

Three cheers and more to the Kent State basketball team for a gesture of unity that this country sorely needs.

The players decided that before a recent home game, they would go into the stands and invite people of varying ages, races, genders and abilities to come down to the basketball court with them to stand for the National Anthem.

The video is at the bottom of this post.

According to Cleveland.com and ESPN:

"''We understand all of the issues going on in our world,' sophomore point guard Jalen Avery said in a statement on behalf of his teammates. 'In these times, we felt it was important to show a sign of unity in our community.'"

The team approached coaches and staff ahead of time to bounce the idea off them, and the coaches said go for it.

ESPN quoted Kent State Head Coach Rob Senderoff:

"'This was not my idea,' Senderoff said. 'This is something they came up with and brought to me. My first reaction was, What a statement for them to make. For a bunch of 18 to 22 year olds to come up with this is incredibly mature.'"

 The team said they would now probably do the unity move during the Star Spangled Banner at every home game.

This won't cure all the divisions in this nation, but every little bit helps.

Here's the news video of this wonderful incident: