The paralysed Chinese clay artist empowering fellow patients. She suffers from muscular dystrophy since age 8.

Very recommendable! She is very inspiring! Hopefully, soon there will be medical treatment available!

"Man in the Iron Lung" Dies at 78 After Defying Expectations for 70 years living in the Iron Lung with Palki Sharma

What an amazing story! The human spirit!

Despite the Iron Lung he accomplished to leave the Iron Lung for hours per day!

And he was a star on TikTok!

In Amish-Chinese partnership in New York state, shiitake mushrooms are the main ingredient with the help of Cornell University

Great story!

"... With staff from Cornell Cooperative Extension helping Peachey [Amish farmer] with best management practices for growing shiitakes and developing a plan for food safety, and Cornell AgriTech professionals advising Lin and Chang on how to get their sauce to market, the sauce has now made its way to the shelves of three Taste NY stores run by CCE around the state, with applications in for more. ...

“I respect the Amish a lot, that they persevered in a hard time and were able to continue farming,” said Chang, who hails from a rural farming community in China’s Hubei province. “Looking at Amish children reminds me of growing up in the rural area in China. My heart is to help them.” ..."

In Amish-Chinese partnership, shiitake mushrooms are the main ingredient | Cornell Chronicle

Shiitake mushroom spores grow year-round on logs in Amish farmer Sam Peachey’s greenhouses in Ovid, New York.

It takes an army to grow shiitake mushrooms (just kidding). Notice, the Amish farmer's picture is missing.

Baghdad’s Mobile Library

A modern Sindbad the Sailor! Entrepreneurs of liberty!

"The Bookish mobile library is a familiar sight in the streets of Baghdad. Several times a month, the rickety old van heads out, its trunk lined with shelves carrying works ranging from novels and poetry to political and scientific texts. When it turns into The University of Baghdad, hundreds of students are already waiting, eager to browse the latest titles and borrow or buy whatever takes their fancy. ...
While the Iraqi government does not ban books, influential groups enforce de facto censorship on volumes deemed irreligious or incompatible with their line of thought.  Al Musawi has often come up against these groups, suffering harassment and several arrests for refusing to meet their demands. ..."

Driving Back the Dogma: Baghdad’s Mobile Library Ali Al Musawi refuses to be a mouthpiece for Iraq’s politicians. His organization Bookish is standing firm as censors close in from all sides.

Russo-Ukraine War: Injured Ukrainian soldiers without limbs return to frontline

This report says that 60% of such soldiers return to fighting again with the support of their wives! Incredible! 

The prosthesis maker is saying he is suffering with them.

Such bravery and dedication is truly inspiring and amazing!

Hilfe im Ukraine-Krieg: Rodler Felix Loch mit Herz für Ukrainische Flüchtlinge und Sportler

Empfehlenswert! Bravo!

"... Ist im Frühjahr mehrmals hingefahren, um Flüchtlinge abzuholen, sammelte über den Sommer mit dem vom früheren Biathleten Jens Steinigen gegründeten Verein Athletes for Ukraine e.V. Spenden, organisierte im Herbst Sport für die Kinder Geflohener.

Den ukrainischen Skeletonfahrer Vladyslav Heraskevych hat er zu Heiligabend eingeladen. Loch bietet vom ersten Tag des Krieges eine Herberge an, in seinem Herzen. Frohe Weihnachten. ..."

Hilfe im Ukraine-Krieg: Rodler Felix Loch lädt zu Weihnachten ein Rennrodler Felix Loch fühlt sich in die Lage der Ukrainer hinein und lädt Vladyslav Heraskevych zu Weihnachten ein. Bei einigen Sportfunktionären ist es Zeit für eine lange, stille Nacht.

The Story of the Christmas Truce of 1914—and Its Eternal Message

Recommendable! An amazing grace Christmas story under the most unlikely circumstances!

🎄 The Christmas miracle of 1914

This Sushi bar in the city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine stays open despite air raid or missile strikes

Bravo to this young Ukrainian sushi chef!! What a dedication! The human spirit at its best!

MackSolo – The Youngest Person To Fly Around The World Solo

Congratulations Mack Rutherford (17 years old)! Very impressive!

MackSolo – The Youngest Person To Fly Around The World Solo

P.G. Wodehouse Knew the Way: Fight Fascism with Humor

Humor is disarming and defeats authoritarianism any time! Happiness is a warm gun!

However, this article curiously does not even mention Charlie Chaplin's great movie The Great Dictator. What an omission!

P.G. Wodehouse Knew the Way: Fight Fascism with Humor - Foundation for Economic Education

Uber software powers emergency food deliveries in Ukraine

Bravo Uber! Very commendable!

Whenever Government Becomes Bigger It Crowds Out And Weakens Civilization

Trigger

Here is a very readable, concise article about this subject regarding British society and government in the 20^th century by Alastair Paynter published on 2/13/2013 in the Freeman Magazine. It also contains some interesting links to more literature on the subject.

A Basic Definition Of Civilization

Civilization is very simply defined here as free and responsible individuals voluntarily cooperating with one another and assisting each other to their mutual benefit in a myriad of ways especially in the absence of a powerful, coercive government. The moral code governing these individuals can be as simple as a commitment to adhere to the, e.g. Ten Commandments.

Excerpts From The Article

A few quotes from this article:

1.       “When the State seeks to perform the duties that ordinarily would be carried out through people’s voluntary social bonds, it damages these bonds and weakens civilization.”

2.       “One prominent—but by no means solitary—example of this diminution of society is the replacement of private charity with the welfare state. … This unnatural intervention weakens the sense of duty, custom, and manners which animate an organic system of civil society. State intervention has not only debased the very concept of charity, but reduced individual responsibility to others …”

3.       “Proponents of the welfare state tend to ignore the plain evidence that wherever State interference hasn't cramped or enervated them, voluntary assistance and mutual aid have been the norm. Before the advent of the welfare state, this assistance came in the form of charity and mutual associations called friendly societies [Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 article about these societies]. In 1911, the year the Liberal government introduced compulsory national insurance, around 9 million people (of the 12 million covered by the scheme) were already members of such mutual aid associations. That’s 75 percent. During the nineteenth century, there had been a vast proliferation of friendly societies, which sought to provide social security and sometimes medical assistance to their members.”

4.       “It is remarkable how a once-liberal (i.e., liberty-loving) country [Great Britain] could be so steadily inculcated with social democratic ideals. What was once considered healthy and good has come to be seen as aberrant and alien. Thankfully, a persistent germ of the individualist spirit still remains in Britain.”

Big Government Suffocates The Human Spirit

One may add that once big government takes over, e.g. charity human innovation and human spirit suffer.