“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished
unless they kill in large numbers
and to the sound of trumpets.”
Voltaire
In August 2016 I posed the question “What Has Gone So Wrong”
Then I compared the current day (2016) with the life I lived as a young child during the Second World War. In 1940 there was one war. in 2016 according to the Heidelberg Institute of International Conflict Research there were “226 politically motivated armed conflicts worldwide during 2016”. many are described as minor but they are still conflicts if not total war.
Of course, the one that we saw news about daily on our televisions was Syria. What began as a peaceful uprising against the president in 2011 still the civil unrest/war continues, with no end in sight.
And today we have Ukraine on our TV sets night after night. We can take sides and decide whether Russia and Putin are wrong, or we could say they are only defending their place in the world. Putin is quoted as saying Ukraine was a constant threat and Russia could not “feel safe, develop and exist”.
So 10 million people inside Ukraine and beyond have been displaced and as the Russians pull back leaving death and destruction behind, has he won the war?
Deep thinking from this elderly mind today. Never mind, the cheerful JB will be back with some simple social activity with which to bore you. But the questions remain- what has gone so wrong, and will we never learn.
Today is my daughter’s birthday.
I say she is the kind of daughter every mother should have.
So happy birthday Cate.
And what does Mary Oliver have to say on the subject?
“I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing,
especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.”
Mary Oliver
I choose how I will spend the rest of my life 
Reblogged this on A World Apart and commented:
Deep and worrying thinking today.
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some days it’s hard to find the good in the world. Your gentle perspective is always a blessing.
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Cindy. Thanks for the comment and those kind words. The darkness lingers in the background and we are unable to do anything about it except look for the good and hopefully it will outweigh the darkness.
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Your daughter is adorable. I’m sure she still is. I hope she has a wonderful birthday. We have to focus on the goos stuff, don’t we.
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Yes and as you know I am 100%positive/cheerful always. But today it just hit me and I thought back to those terrible days during the Second World War when we didn’t know if we would still be alive in the morning. Thanks for the comments on Cate. She was a delightful child and as I said the kind of daughter ievery mother should have.
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