Some Days.

I was watching the news this morning, getting my daily dose of Grim Shit From Around The World when I stumbled across a reporter for BBC in Tripoli who was talking to a Libyan supporter of the coalition thingy that's trying to oust Ghaddafi. After about five minutes of listening to this guy herding his interviewee into a coalition-friendly sound-bite (dude was only too happy to oblige) I heard him ask "...so do you think that this means that Libya will have to be split into two: Western and Eastern Libya?"

That's when I switched off the TV. There was something horribly formulaic about the whole thing. See Developing Nation. See Developing Nation's Despot. See Younger Generation revolting. See Despot Refuse to Relinquish Power. Watch Revolt collapse. See International Intervention. Watch World Leaders Double-Speak. Entertain self by noting which words chosen by International News Media to headline story: Disaster. Crisis. Revolt. Uprising. Coalition. Nato. Unrest. Opposition.

And this after they switched to a report about Japanese mothers in Tokyo who have been told not to give their young babies tap-water because of radioactive pollution? News: the 24-hour cycle of doom for those who are addicted to misery and fear.

TV dead, off I went to do my toilette where I discovered My First White Hair. Crisis! Disaster! Uprising! Let me tell you: this media-watching/development grinching work thingy that I do has an inbuilt negativity to it. The posts and articles I have been producing lately seem to be coming from a rather dark and dissatisfied state of mind. Obsessing about local politics and the odd international news story was never supposed to overtake the blog like this. So I'm rolling it back a little, time to recalibrate.

I'm battling not to read anything too pessimistic into the fact that Tanesco hasn't rationed power so far this week. I'm admittedly glad about a couple of other bits of good news, such as the fact that Dawasco water has been spotted for the first time in two months in our neighborhood. And the fact that the CCM Youth League actually look like they might take on the old guard in the coming year or so. And the fact that because there's electricity my barber was able to take care of a little problem for me today. So all is well with the world again, especially since I won't be staring at my Disaster, Death and Crisis Media-Induced White Hair of Despair for at least the next two weeks.