Island weekends and inaugurations

I spent the weekend in Visby, at the island of Gotland, and it was heavenly. So quiet and relaxed it was almost unreal. I've been there many times, every time with someone different, and every time I've felt I must buy a house there. Not to live there permanently, but to have as a retreat, a haven. I think I need that since I seem to be incapable of relaxing at home. But would I be able to relax, even if I had my own house there? Wasn't the fact that I visited my best friend in her home there, and the fact that our relationship is so very relaxed and comfortable, why I felt so good and so at ease? If I had been there all alone I would probably not have felt the same kind of wellbeing.

I saw Obama's inauguration speech and it was the first speech of his I've seen in full. It was about time, and now that I've got a taste for it I want more. It was a sometimes beautiful speech, surprisingly critical of Bush, who sat next to him, but also full of the humble self-confidence that has all along been Obama's greatest asset. If he stays on message and watches his back he might actually be able to (almost) live up to the ridiculously high expectations everybody has.

It was very nifty by the way how the gas war between Russia and Ukraine broke out the day after France handed over the EU presidency to the Czech Republic and ended the day before the inauguration of Obama, as did the war in Gaza.

Cold days and no gas

The fact that most of the EU is currently without gas is of course totally unacceptable. A liberalization of the energy market and the building of a more flexible supply system between EU Member States must now get priority once and for all. It'll make the EU more secure and more solidary, and maybe even keep gas prices down. The EU also needs to move ahead with getting more gas from other countries and sources than Russia and Ukraine. But that's easier said than done of course.

The EU must also improve their crisis management and work closer together. When Russia or Ukraine, or any other country, causes trouble the EU should answer in one voice. Various countries shouldn't send their own missions to Moscow. That's perhaps understandable, but it's still objectionable.

But it's the same old story. When trouble brews, the EU splinters. I think that that is what annoys me most.

Back off the track

Well, when one is very busy, one might be forgiven for not writing regularly on one's blog. But now there's time and so, no excuses for not writing.

Since the war between Georgia and Russia I've been wanting to do something in Georgia, and now, after a meeting with a woman working at the Georgian ministry for culture, sports and public buildings or somethng rather, I might be able to make something happen. And maybe do something in Saudi Arabia too...

But not now, and neither will I do any more writing tonight. I just wanted to get back in the game.

The Bear and the Hare

With Russia behaving like a hoodlum screaming for respect, Europe must speed up diversifying it's energy network. The EU should make gas and oil supplies flow more easily between EU-countries and so get less dependent on Russia's mood swings. If one member state should get it's supplies from Russia cut, they should be able to get the stuff from another EU-country, at the press of a button.

And why's Germany so soft with the Russians? I'm not expecting anything less from Berlusconi's Italy but Germany should be more muscular. And if they were, others would maybe follow. The EU needs to get tougher with Russia. This is no time to be vague and queasy.

Responsibilites and Correspondents

I was talking to a documentary filmmaker / teacher today, about foreign correspondents. She was going to give a lecture on the subject, and wanted some useful tips. Foreign correspondents have a somewhat romantic air about them, they are there, in the face of danger, uncovering the truth about massacres, wars and genocides. When I read a newspaper, the words "your correspondent" always makes me want to grab my camera and my notebook and go to Somalia, or Bolivia, or Turkmenistan.

But there is also something troubling about foreign correspondents, as might also be the case with UN-personnel, aid workers and others, in that it is so easy to get numb. With all the mayhem around you, you might become indifferent, insensitive, brutal, or even racist. Not because you are a bad person, but maybe as a kind of survival instinct. Of course not all are afflicted in this way, but it is a possibility.

When you are doing something for to long, there is always the danger of losing the perspective needed, and not only for correspondents, it can happen to anyone. Unfortunately, this is an issue seldom discussed.

When writing my posts, I always feel that I should write about something more important than whether or not I have a cold. I should instead be writing about human rights abuses in Russia (of which there are plenty) or something like that. But that is of course silly, I can write about whatever I want. And I do. But the feeling still lingers on.