A bit off the topic here. For a few years Inor and I would go out near Christmas and buy a bunch of toys for the Toys for Tots bit. One year one of the local papers showed a picture of a mom (with 7 kids) in her subsidized apartment thanking the TFT folks for making her kids Christmas one to remember. She was sitting on one of those (if not leather, than one of those leather equivalent) reclining sofas in impeccable shape. Behind her the kitchen had a microwave, coffee maker, blender, food processor and enough gadgets to make a gourmet chef drool. Off to the side you could see two computers with all the trimmings (game player thingys) and a huge big screen t.v. Fortunately it was a few weeks before Christmas. What we did instead was "adopt" two families who had a family member (mom or dad) overseas in Iraq. Best damn Christmas we had ever had. Shopped for nine kids and two adults. Our local meat market guy gave us two whole hams at cost. I cooked the trimmings and we delivered a full meal and presents a few days before Christmas. It was eye opening and - well - still tear up thinking about it. One of the families we still keep in touch - invited to her retirement, kids graduations, etc. As far as I am concerned - the food stamp welfare folks can screw the system all they want. My money goes to the folks who keep their sorry asses free.
