And where it went....

Going about one’s usual news reading these days is a pest. The web, TV, magazine, newspapers, radio,.... are all filled to the rafters with looking back at the year that was.

Best of... Year in review.... Top 10....

Best quotes. Top stories. Man of the year. Woman of the year. TV dickhead of the year. TV chef of 2010. Radio DJ of the last 52 weeks. Hit of the year. Soap (the TV stuff, not the cleaning type) of the year. Music video of the year. Car of the year. War of the year. Waste of air of the year. TV personality of 2010. Can anybody really understand what a ‘personality’ really is? Best book of the year. Top Amazon sale of the year. Most downloaded track. Most illegally copied DVD. Most bought Apple gadget. Biggest Hollywood blockbuster of 2010. And same for Bollywood in India and Nollywood in Nigeria. Best blog of 2010. Sportsperson of 2010. Champion of 2010. Nutcase of 2010. Freak of the year. Insanity of the year. Marriage of the year. Divorce of the same calendar. Politician of the year. Hacker of 2010. Cartoonist of the year. Top restaurant of 2010. Top porn actress of the year. Biggest criminal of the past 356 days. Richest dude or lady of the year. Top model. Fastest skateboarder. Fattest pig. Weight watcher champion. Gun freak of 2010. Burger of the year. Coldest town of 2010. Most corrupt official. Most earning reborn Christian preacher. Fashion show of the year. Best new ice cream taste of 2010. Cutest dog. Largest stamp collector. Windiest place of 2010. Cactus of the year.

Year reviews are as useful as a Northface arctic jacket in the desert of Sudan.

And some media outlets repeat the same merry-go-round and round on reviews of the first decade of the 21st century.

2010 was all about WikiLeaks. As simple as that. The good, the bad, the ugly.
And the first decade was all about 9/11. That changed the world forever. There is no turning back.

Human behaviour is still going places it hasn’t been before. Mostly darker corners.

Global warming is having an icy revenge on the northern hemisphere. Snow havoc across the UK. Airports closed in many European capitals. Trucks taken off the roads in Belgium. Traditional horse race not happening in England. Sports calendar nightmares. Weather stats in overdrive. Subways stuck. Trains cancelled. Parties unattended. Food distribution threatened. Salt shortages. Xmas on airport benches.

And after Europe it was the American east coast turn for some winter bliss. NYC, Boston, Philly,... under a snowy attack. Air traffic disrupted. Passengers stranded.
Coldest winter since the early 20th Century. Take that!!! Meanwhile cute beach activity in Cape Town and Bondi beach.

The winter harshness is an unwelcome situation for the airline industry whom is already facing an uphill battle against economic recession and ..... remember the volcanic ash cloud earlier this year that seriously disrupted transatlantic and UK air traffic. It’s tough up there in the sky.

Human behaviour is still submitted to nature’s behaviour.

Same old power struggles and Russian roulette with the democratic process in Ivory Coast. Finally the cocoa-nation held presidential elections after 5 failed attempts over the last years. So that already gave it a shaky start. But surprisingly polling day came and went reasonably smoothly. But then the ghosts from the past came back for some old style misery.

The sitting president, Mr Gbagbo, refused to accept the outcome of the vote. Obviously he lost. He called his mate at the country’s constitutional court and the numbers from the independent election commission were thrown in the dustbin. Judicial independency is still a pipedream in Ivory Coast. Just another tool for the power hungry crooks at the top.

But the world reacted angrily and rejected Gbagbo’s political games. The outside world accepted the results declared by the election commission and said that indeed opposition leader Ouattara won the vote and thus would be the new legitimate president of Ivory Coast. Gbagbo and his youth militia refuse to step down and thus a sad stalemate. Demonstrations. Killings. Stand-off. Africa’s road to democracy is once again raped from within. Power games with the average citizen as casualty. Collateral damage. Amazing how power corrupts the mind. It’s the most vicious virus for the human soul. That ridiculous hunger to stay in power. To stay the ruler. The king. The chief. And with that, to remain with the hands in the till. Sad story. Sad xmas for the cocoa nation. Sad xmas for Africa. Sad xmas for democracy.

Human behaviour is a recipe for self destruction.

And as we are about to face 2011, the airwaves and websites and print articles will put aside looking back for looking forward. Every expert and so called smart ass will be called upon for his or her predictions. Every known name in the fashion-, sports-, and - entertainment industry will be asked to predict 2011. Every star gazer or palm reader will be called upon to tell us what 2011 will bring us.
Another waste of time and space and energy. 2011 Will be what it will be. Mostly more of the same with here and then some surprises that might or might not really impact our life’s journey.

As simple as that. No need for predictions and big talking so called analysts. Let it come and deal with it. Or then these so called experts look oh so smart with declaring the obvious as an intellectual brainwave. Go and finish your xmas cake and leave us alone. Of course Iran will be in the news as long as that nuke freak sits in Tehran. Of course Israel vs the Palestinians will be talked about (nearly) daily. Of course Sarah Palin and her tea-lovers will make some headlines with lunatic one-liners. And with the first US primaries kicking off early 2012, we all know that the 2nd half of next year will see increased electioneering in the US. More spin. More lies. More dirty tricks. More waste of money. Of course there will be some freak natural disasters to suck all media attention for a few hours. Be it an earthquake in China, a landslide in Bolivia, or floods in France. For headlines out of Africa, it just needs to be more brutal and the body count in the hundreds.

Human behaviour in 2011 will be as mainly as sad as in 2010. Sparks of hope and floods of madness.

And where it went, and what was said....

Throw out. NY hardcore veterans Agnostic Front have announced a new album for early 2011. Interesting how it goes. Go 20 years back and a new AF album would be highly anticipated and much talked about. Now it’s a small anecdote in the underground music scene. AF was a major driving force in the 80s. Now they nearly have become a painful experience. Like an old-ish sports star refusing to retire. The last AF album, “Warriors” was a very big disappointment. Sad to see that the historic Miret-Stigma tandem dropped so low. And for sure for many the hope remain for a solid AF album, but it seems for the majority it is nothing to really look forward to. Only time will tell. Also early next year Roger Miret will have a new album with his side project The Disasters. The comments so far from the few insiders who heard the new tracks are very positive. Maybe spin. Maybe true. Only time will tell.

C -Ya

collateral – December 2010 is ticking away