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Even if Iran gets the Bomb, it won’t be worth going to war
'Containment is a better response than conflict in dealing with a country we have long mishandled'
…"that “the hand of England” is behind whatever befalls the Iranians – is a popular Persian saying. Few in the UK have the remotest idea of our active interference in Iran’s internal affairs from the 19th century on, but the Iranians can recite every detail.
From an oppressive British tobacco monopoly in 1890, through truly extortionate terms for the extraction of oil by the D’Arcy petroleum company (later BP), to putting Reza Shah on the throne in the 1920s; from jointly occupying the country, with the Soviet Union, from 1941-46, organising (with the CIA) the coup to remove the elected prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, then propping up the increasingly brutal regime of the Shah until its collapse in 1979, our role has not been a pretty one. Think how we’d feel if it had been the other way round.”…
Read the article: Even if Iran gets the Bomb, it won’t be worth going to war
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Following on my previous blogs on “Volunteerism”, such as The Good Life: In Pursuit of Happiness?, Why Love, Trust, Respect and Gratitude Trumps Economics, In Praise of Generosity, Compassion and Kindness: Lessons of London 2012, In Praise of Volunteerism: If you want to change yourself and the world for better, think of volunteerism, and In Praise of Caring, Volunteerism and Service for the Common Good: The Story of Camila Batmanghelidjh, I am now delighted to tell you that, according to medical science and research, indeed, volunteering is truly good for you.
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, USA and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, have documented that:
* Being a volunteer is good for the heart as well as the soul
* Volunteers have healthier cardiovascular systems
* Heart health improves after 10 weeks' volunteering
* The most empathetic see the greatest health benefits
* Older volunteers are less likely to be depressed
* Volunteers have lower levels of inflammation and cholesterol and lower BMIs than non-volunteers
The above study follows a survey last year by the UK charity WRVS which found being an older volunteer is good for your health.
Older people who volunteer to help others are less depressed, have a better quality of life and are happier with their lives as a result.
Those who take part in more volunteering activities, more frequently, boost happiness levels even further, with volunteers gaining improvements in depression levels, quality of life and life satisfaction over the following two years.
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Volunteering is not only good for your soul, it could also stave off heart disease
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Following on my blog of 31 January 2013, The Wisdom of "ubuntu": Giving and Sharing for the Common Good, I am now delighted to highlight the giving and sharing for the common good of another “Ubuntuian”: Sir Richard Branson.
'Stuff does not bring happiness': Sir Richard Branson pledges to give away half his Virgin fortune to 'make a difference in the world'
“Sir Richard Branson is among the latest crop of billionaires who have promised to donate at least half their fortune to charity.