70 years on ..

Well along with general election coverage on the News there are a couple of other stories that have drawn my attention, one is the terrible way a young man's life was brought to an end in Baltimore and the civil unrest that followed, another the bravery of many when their countries were invaded by the German Nazis during the Second World War and the final one a story of a brave woman who died to early in Pakistan .

We're small and might be insignificant 

 Baltimore

Sometimes we can forget that the USA had a system similar to that of South African apartheid  until the 1960's and that not surprisingly the consequences of this inhuman treatment of a large section of the population is still affecting US society.

The fact that America has such a high number of black males held in prison, a death penalty in many states and a heavily armed police force all tends to lead to bad outcomes- be great if progress to a fairer kinder society there could be made a little quicker- undoubtedly Obama's term as President has been a positive influence.

WW II Resistance in Holland

We sometimes seem to have the brains of a bird

Listening to a Dutch woman speaking on the radio this morning, I was reminded of the invasion of Holland and the bravery shown by so many in defending the Jewish citizens against their persecution, so many incredible individuals be they Communists, Christians or the non-aligned who put their lives on the line for something they believed to be right - Anne-Frank was not a single isolated case, you can find so many more from here.

Sad death of Sabeen Mahmud

But sometimes we do good and surprising things

One of the the things I fear I might lose when my Economist subscription runs out is their unique selection of people who get included in their obituaries- the people are not always the ones that you'll hear on the radio or see in the daily papers

This week the inspirational person I'd not heard of was a Woman in Pakistan, Sabeen Mahmud, read about her here and then perhaps reflect and try to emulate her in some positive way.