Icebergs In Tayport

You know the feeling you get when you've heard a song some time ago, liked it, but the passage of time means you forget some of the lyrics when it pops back into your head for the first time in ages ?
You still want to sing it to yourself, or even just remind yourself how good it was. Thanks YouTube.

Cry For Africa

Its former colonial masters have two images of Africa; war and famine. The nation states which comprise the continent would much rather it wasn't that way. And the people who are citizens of those states must have the same wish.

Despite endemic corruption and under-development they have made some progress and are always seeking to make even more strides towards persuading the white man that there is more to their world than meets our eye.

That must have been at least one reason for Angola deciding to host some of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations matches in Cabinda. OK, so other reasons mights have included trying to pacify locals,most of whom have never accepted Angolan rule almost since the day Luanda was given control of the former Portugese colony, on its own independence in 1975.

But since a 2006 ceasefire in the long-running "forgotten war" there must have been hopes that some kind of normality could be mapped out for the oil-rich enclave, even if there was ongoing resentment at the way Angola exploits those oil revenues for its own ends rather than for those of the Cabindans.

To some degree Angola's image to the rest of the world, which the Luanda government knew could be portrayed in a more positive light with the award of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, rested partly with the risky decision to build a new football stadium in Cabinda and stage some matches in the tournament there.

And now, with the attack on the Togo team that has been wiped away. It is a tradgedy for Angola and Cabinda first of all because, despite the 2006 accords it proves the Angolan government and the separatists have not made lasting progress towards a meaningful resolution of the independence struggle. It could signal more violence in the region.

It is bad news for Angola's reputation abroad and for the dream, the hope that the country put before expectation, that it could organise a huge international event. Those who had wanted, and worked towards, throwing off the image of a civil war-torn nation have had at least some of their hopes dashed.

And, lest we forget, it is bad news for the whole of Africa. The developed world will say, "We told you so." Africa again becomes a place of endless violence, a place of fear and loathing where it is not safe to tread and which, some might say, we should simply give up on as a basket case.

With the World Cup heading to South Africa this summer will the half a million tourists expected there still look on it as a holiday or a scary trip to the heart of darkness ? And more to the point, will the cries of the powerful simply say it's not worth the risk to give Africa a chance to prove that it is more than just a place of hunger and bloodshed ?

Carry On Regardless

A friend asked me, in all seriousness, why this weekend's football had been postponed. Another, with more good humour, enlightened me about the problems they had getting a train to and from work. Others ask why the pavements haven't been cleared and the bins emptied.

Ahem. The football's off because overnight temperatures where I live are about the seasonal norm for Siberia. The trains aren't running because the diesel's freezing in the fuel tanks. And the streets haven't been gritted because there's no salt, while the bin lorries can't get up steep hills because the roads haven't been gritted.

In case you haven't noticed we have a weather emergency. That doesn't mean a wee bit more snow than usual or some additional nights of frost. It means a weather event so unusual that we have not seen its like in one, perhaps two, generations.

Given the facts as they exits I am amazed the entire country hasn't ground to a complete halt. Yes, we are not prepared for this. But my question is why should we be ? We certainly should be equiped to deal with what we know and have experienced in the past. But 1963, the last time we got a winter like this, is almost 50 years ago. Who is around who can offer their pearls of wisdom to us now who was working back then ?

So we do what we can with what we have and leave the rest to Mother Nature. That's the long and short of it folks. Those who desist are no respecters of the weather and, when it's -11C outside during the day, I would much rather give the elements their due.

It is a times like these you realise humans expect too much of themselves and of others. We think we can carry on regardless no matter the conditions and then find out we can't. And when we can't then someone must be to blame. But when things aren't normal then things don't work normally.

When the Inuit see the winter coming they build an igloo and wait for it to pass. Even in Siberia, although the roads are open and people go to work, they batten down the hatches.

But our frenetic lives cannot be disrupted. We must be able to go to work and our bosses simply demand that we be there no matter the risks. If there is no need to be at work, or no work, then we must be able to roam free to spend money in shops, socialise, be busy.

And if we are unable to do any of the above then our lives are unfulfilled, we become sad, or more likely anxious, stressed and angry.

What's the best thing to do ? Stop worrying, probably. It'll get warmer soon.

Some People

I try hard not to hate. In the main it's a pointless exercise but there are people sometimes who push me to the limit. Like this lot mentioned on the BBC news website.

You have to ask yourself, what is it they want ? Are they mad their own particular corner of some fancy new housing scheme, which always seem to be cul-de-sacs anyway, has not been cleared of snow and ice ?

And so they are not going to pay their Council Tax. I would bet my house and all my money these are the same people who are first to complain about the interfering hand of the nanny state when the authorities displease them in some other way.

Right, don't pay your Council Tax. But Highland Council should also be quick to identify the non-payers and tell them their kids can't use the local schools, their bins won't be emptied and that granny's home help won't be coming round any more.

This piece of nonsense is simply the most extreme of the grumbles heard all over the country, even in my neck of the wood where the snowfall has not been anything like what others have had to suffer. And now it's on Facebook those grumblers from all airts and pairts will be clicking to, "join this group."

Where I live the local authority his 13 snowploughs/ gritters. Yes, that's right 13 ! For an area with a population of more than 250,000 which includes one of Scotland's biggest towns. Now, since December 19th there have been snowfalls almost every other day and on no night since then has the temperature risen above freezing.

But despite that, and the obvious lack of resources to tackle what to us are extreme weather conditions, the main roads have stayed open and even the main pavements leading to the centre of towns have been cleared of enough snow and ice to allow unhindered walking. Sure, there are many streets that have not been treated and walking on them is hazardous.

That's not good enough for some, though, who want their wee bit miles from anywhere to get the same treatment. Oblivious to any constraints they still issue their complaining chorus.

Why doesn't the council have more snowploughs? Why isn't there enough grit for the roads and pavements ? Why weren't they better prepared ? Why can't we cope like other countries ?

The last point is the nub of the whole matter. The answer to it is, in a sense, the answer to all the other questions. We can't cope because it is an event we do not expect.

Although we live in the north, we are an island and that means warm air from the coast even in winter. The result is not much snow, usually. So those who are responsible for clearing up any snow plan, and budget, for that.

The local council in the city of Moscow has 15,000 snow ploughs. That's because they know the snow will arrive each and every year in November and won't leave until March. In Scotland we can't accurately predict how much snow we will get, when we will get it or even if we will get any at all.

That makes planning and spending decisions difficult for those in charge. What's the point in buying expensive lorries to keep the roads clear of snow if they are only going to be used every now and then, or perhaps never at all ? Why store more grit and salt than last year when it might never be used ? Especially, when extra spending on winter roads maintenance means less cash to invest in some other service.

So yes, there is a chance we will get caught out. And when the worst winter snow for 30 years arrives we will find it difficult to walk on some pavements, conditions on some roads will be poor and we will find buses and trains are late, or not running at all.

And that means taking responsibility for our own lives. Clearing our own paths of snow, taking stock of the conditions and lowering our expectations of what parts of our normal daily lives are achievable in the circumstances.

Common sense, really, but humans sadly seem to have less and less of it with every generation.

I'm A Guru

Apart from the snow and ice, what's the next most important thing on people's minds ? Yes, it's the start of the New Year, so it's time to make those life changing resolutions. Or fail to keep them more like.

But for those with less willpower there is a whole back up system out there of self-appointed experts who are ready not only to help you change your life for the better, but charge you for it too.

I had no idea it was all such an industry but it seems even the hippies have gone capitalist. Buy my book, pay me £1,000 to attend my workshop on re-birthing, my CD will help you enjoy a better life.

It all sounds and looks so interesting. I haven't made any resolutions myself, but I have been considering changing my life. I've thought I might get a job for a start. Maybe I'll be a life coach, write my book, make some dosh.

Here's my first piece of advice, for free, to the lost, the permanently panicked, the confused, unhappy, the stressed-out.

First, imagine the worst thing that can possibly happen to you. Second, consider letting it happen without a struggle. Now, after the event, ask yourself this question; Am I still alive ?

On reflection, maybe the book and complimentary CD won't be forthcoming. I think I'll stick to trying to save the world instead.