Nelson Mandela and old people

It is the best of times. What’s the best thing that happened to the world today?

According to the Voice of America, the world is celebrating the FIRST annual Mandela day to mark the 91^st birthday of former South African President Nelson Mandela. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mr. Mandela!! Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his fight against the apartheid in South Africa. He was released in the year 1990 and became President of South Africa in 1994. Mandela, like other great leaders before us, has represented the cumulative efforts of millions of us who struggle to make the world a better place. Sure, there are talks of him not being a perfect person, sure he might be a poster boy for certain civilizations in this world, but what is most important about the man is the symbolism of peace, unity, racial harmony, hope and humanitarianism that people believed he represented in times of need and still believe that he represents. Is there not anyone else like him? I’m sure there are great people in communities around the world, who encourage others to work hard to make their own communities better. Let us live the legacies of these great people by working harder to achieve the goals we have set for our communities.

Click on this for a video of a great song about him.

It is the worst of times. What’s the worst thing that happened to the world today?

I couldn’t really point my finger on this one, but I just wanted to share that the world’s oldest man, Henry Allingham died at the age of 113 in his care home in England , survived by 6 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, 21 great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-great grandchild, all of whom live in the United States. This gentleman, who was born on June 6, 1896, was a British World War I veteran, having survived the Battle of Jutland, considered to be one of the fiercest battles of the war. His wife died in 1970, whereas his two daughters died in their 80s. From the news sources, it seems like that he died without his grandchildren being there for him – something that is probably quite common for old people left alone to die in care homes, where “alone” is defined as being without family. However, I’m sure that the staff and the other folks at the care home do eventually become “family” through the passage of time. It just makes me wonder whether families are being selfish by not taking care of their old folks themselves or are they just being practical? Is it a part of “Western” culture to do so or is it just what certain families irrespective of their culture do? Whatever the case is, rest in peace, Mr. Allingham, (who was the oldest man in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records) - you have been replaced by another oldest man in the world – wherever the new guy is now, we hope you are happy and are surrounded by people who love you, whether it is family or “family”.

Click on this to read an article on whether old people will actually be able to rely on family care in the 21^st century.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

It’s been a while since we’ve set up this blog, but with no further adieu, we will commence reporting now - 19^th July, 2009. We will start with a few countries and of course, the world, but eventually we will try to cover all the countries listed and add on more to the list. Anyone is free to write, just mail me at global.bestworst@gmail.com and we’ll just communicate with you some details before you can go ahead and write. Meanwhile, we’ll be searching on our own as well. We do hope you enjoy reading our “news”. We do hope you appreciate that articles will not be objective, but opinionated.

As usual and as any other day on the globe, a lot of things have been happening – the comedies and tragedies of the recession, the swine flu pandemic, Michael Jackson’s freedom from Earth and the usual bout of poverty, war, disease, crime and corruption.

As Charles Dickens has phrased it in his Tale of Two cities, the saying probably stands immortally steady to describe any given day on our planet:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

Ah, yes, as the great writer puts it – it was the BEST of times, it was the WORST of times. This is how we will commence. In other words, this is how we roll.

Well, what is the best and worst thing that happened to your country today?

Do you want to know what is the best and worst thing that happened to your country today? 

Just ask any friend this question and you'll be shot with the reply: Well, what happened? Tell me! Tell me!

Well, you might not know the answers yet but we claim we do. So, you could just forward them to www.global-bestworst.blogspot.com   

A lot of you read the news, more or less everyday, but you really don't read each and every article - you try to look for the best articles or the most interesting news or the news that is in sync with our own interests. There are days, though, where you have more time and you probably do get to read most of the articles, whereas there are days where you just skim through and days where you can't get to read at all. 

Our initiative aims to help you understand the development of your country just by understanding what's the best and worst things that happen to it on a day-to-day basis.

Our initiative is to make your life easier, to save your time but to ensure that you are still rolling on the dynamic ball of daily information.

We do understand that our choices for the best and worst news can be totally subjective, but that's the point, since we do want your interaction through your comments or your own input on what might be the best and worst things. 

Well, then, what's the best thing that happened to our blog today? Well, that's YOU finishing this article. 

The worst, I believe, is still yet to come.