america the beautiful...

my dad sent me an email this morning of "america the beautiful", performed by elvis...which then of course led me to youtube to look for more versions...i especially loved this piece by ray charles...so i thought i would share it with you...

as you know i choose to not talk about politics on my blog, and believe me i have much to say...but my opinion is just that. but what i have found is there is a renewal of hope once again in this country, and not only by americans but by people in other countries...i have received letters and emails stating just that. it is sometimes hard to remember that people around the world are just like ourselves, parents trying to provide for their children in the best way possible. it is sometimes hard to separate the people from a government...sounds like the line from the john lennon song, imagine if there were no country...

i have many friends and family that travel the world...and the political view of an american isn't what it once was, to the point that americans are uneasy when it comes to somebody asking them where they are from. this really saddens me...somehow the world has gotten smaller for us...we are not always welcome. i look forward to the day when we are once again welcomed to break bread with other families around the world..."you may say that i'm a dreamer, but i'm not the only one"

here are some statistics of foreign aid from our country...it is mind boggling...i really had to 'surf' to find these numbers, i hope they are correct...but i think sometimes americans are given a bad rap...after all, the amazing numbers below are given from our very own pockets to help others...

Total grants and aid given by the US in 2007 - 31,779,000,000

Western Europe 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231,000,000

Eastern Europe 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,062,000,000

Near East and South Asia 1 . . . . . . . . 9,659,000,000

Africa 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,523,000,000

Far East and Pacific 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 141,000,000

Western Hemisphere 1 . . . . . . . . . . 1,409,000,000

Middle East 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,260,000,000

Other international organizations . . . 4,843,000,000

the true heart of america and it's people has always been a giving spirit...