More of the same

After a nice weekend where we actually enjoyed daylight hours above freezing, reality has set in.  It is snowing and the 10 day forecast is reminiscent of January.  It is time to start some of the long range seeds, ones that require 10-12 weeks before transplanting.  But the winter weather outside  is discouraging me from making the effort.  It is hard to get enthusiastic about gardening when you haven't seen bare soil in 2 months.  Meanwhile, the Olympics are over, so the media will start focusing on all the turmoil around the world.  The Olympic ideal was that all nations would lay down their arms during the competition and hopefully the spirit of peace would last beyond the games.  Instead, we have the spectacle of Ukrainian citizens in pitched battles with their own police while world powers warned that nation's armed forces to stay out of the fracas. Syria, Egypt, Ukraine and who knows how many other hot spots have popped up around the world?  It would seem intra national strife is the latest wrinkle in international relations.  Restive populations around the world are revolting against the status quo, but don't seem to know what they want to replace it.  The messy strivings of real democracy doesn't seem to be that attractive to many people.  They want certainty without corruption.  Unfortunately, as Americans can tell anyone willing to listen, real self government is hard.  Even under intense scrutiny, corruption and self dealing can thrive.