A bright and fairly sunny day, but feeling cold. And it is set to get even colder into the new week. Snow has returned to the mountains on the mainland. The dandelions and daisies are out, a little earlier than normal. The dandelions have been zapped with weedkiller; but still keep popping up.
I'm pleased to hear that sense is beginning to return with regards to the petrol situation in the UK. There were huge queues at petrol stations, as the government had advised people to fill up their tanks. The tanker drivers had voted for strike action, but no date had been set. The poor woman who suffered severe burns after the petrol she was decanting in her kitchen caught light remains critically ill in hospital in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Whether she had been acting after the ill-conceived advice by a government minister is the subject of debate.
Remember the dozens of young people who were murdered by Norwegian man Anders Breivik last year?
Remember the seven people murdered by Mohamed Merah in Toulouse earlier this month? Well, it all begs the question what we are going to do about discontent in society. Whether it be among Muslims or among other people. When this sort of extreme action occur, it is down to governments to answer awkward questions as to what is wrong in society. Because something is very wrong when the Breiviks and Merahs of this world take action in their murderous fashion. Their ideologies, however suppressed, remain out there, and those who feel their grievances are not heard by the mainstream politics will resort to extremists, who will be only too happy to oblige.
