Sandals

A (very) short story about courage, noncompliance and truth.

In 1893 Mahatma Gandhi went to South Africa, expecting to stay there for just a few months. He ended up staying 21 years as he took up the struggle to restore the dignity and rights to a subdued, disarmed, and enslaved Indian community.

During those years, his chief political opponent was General Jan Christian Smuts who, as the Colonial secretary and later the Secretary of the Interior was responsible for implementing some of the repressive laws against the Indians.

When Gandhi finally left South Africa in 1914, Smuts wrote, “The saint has left our shores, I hope forever.”

Years later, an exasperated Winston Churchill asked Smuts – who had meanwhile served two terms as South Africa’s prime minister – why he had not killed Gandhi while he had the chance. Smuts replied, “How could I do this to a man who made sandals for me with his own hands when I imprisoned him.”

In later years, remembering Gandhi Smuts wrote: “… I have worn these sandals for so many summers since then,even though I may feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man.”

This story was related by Niloufer Bhagwat in her article, “The Political Relevance and Global Impact of Mahatma Gandhi.“ I believe it bears relevant lessons to today’s social and political struggles that are before us. Let’s draw on what’s best and most sacred in us and march on with determination and courage. What do we do with courage? We speak the truth. Truth shall make us free.

Which reminded me to link to an earlier (also short-ish) related post - I still consider it my favorite among all articles I ever posted:Tell the truth, even if it leads to your death!

https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/sandals?

Cover-Up Scandal: Coroner Who Performed Autopsy on Kurt Cobain Allegedly had Affair With Courtney Love

Joshua Wilburn Feb. 3, 2024

The late Kurt Cobain, the iconic frontman of the '90s grunge band Nirvana, continues to be a subject of fascination and speculation even decades after his death.

Recently, bestselling author Ian Halperin has made shocking claims about the examiner who conducted Cobain's autopsy, Dr. Nikolas Hartshorne, RadarOnline.com has learned.

According to Halperin,Dr. Hartshorne allegedly boasted of an intimate relationship with Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love, which he claims compromised the objectivity of the autopsy findings.

The alleged revelations come in light of a leaked copy of Cobain’s autopsy report, which had never before been made public due to privacy laws in Washington state.

The report, signed by Dr. Hartshorne and the late Dr. Donald Reay, confirms Cobain’s cause of death as suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound. It also reveals the presence of various substances in Cobain’s system, including morphine, codeine, diazepam, opiates, and benzodiazepines, as well as needle track marks along his arm. (Wow they really wanted to kill him)

Halperin has long questioned the official version of Cobain’s death, arguing that theexcessive amount of heroin in his systemwould have made it impossible for him to have killed himself.

In his book, Case Closed: The Cobain Murder, he presents alleged evidence suggesting foul play and suggests that Cobain was murdered.

Halperin also challenged Love to take a lie-detector test to prove her innocence, an offer she has always denied.

Dr. Hartshorne, a self-proclaimed fan of Nirvana and Courtney Love, admitted during an interview with Halperin in 1996 that he should have been recused from the autopsy.

He reportedly stated that he believed he was too presumptuous in his findings and confessed to having a “conflict of interest.”

Halperin also alleged that Dr. Hartshorne insinuated having a romantic relationship with Love.

(This makes me wonder if the Dr. helped to kill Curt.)

https://radaronline.com/p/coroner-kurt-cobain-autopsy-affair-courtney-love-report/