Some would describe me as a eurosceptic. They're quite wrong of course, I'm a eurocritic. The shameless ambiton and manipulaton of some politicians intending to create a new european empire have been all too obvious.

Paranoia? Conspiracy theory? It isn't just me who waggles a finger and warns about the actual intentions of the political initiatives to gain advantage from the current difficulties. Only yesterday I was watching a journalist voicing his opinion how France and Germany are trying to ignore the restrictions of previous treaties and dictate how the european economy will be run.

The urge to unify Europe has always been hiding under the surface since Roman times, and in any case, where the potential exists for greater power, there will always be those who want to grab it for themselves, even if they have to create it first. It's no coincidence that France and Germany are both countries in the vanguard of these initiatives, as both had for a while at least, european empires of their own.

Britains belligerent independent spirit tends to emerge whenever european empires make themselves known. That too is an inheritance of the past Naturally then I'm pleased that our glorious leader has stood firm and said no to pressure to bring our national finances under european control. Fight them on the beaches, Mr Cameron. After all, we once had an empire far larger than Hitler's or Napoleon's.

Death Of An Empire

While the clumsy struggles to create a european empire unfold around us, I saw a documentary on television that reminded me how fragile such empires can be. How such empires are often only possible by the sheer will of those that lead them. Not to mention the military force they can apply.

The inner workings of russian politics is a rare subject to learn about in the west If it comes to that, I find it difficult to imagine Russia as anything other than the monolithic communist state that pointed nuclear missiles at me for most of my life. I am after all a product of my age.

So I learned about the events in December 1991 when over a matter of days the Soviet Union passed into history, replaced by the confederation of independent states we see today, a tale of political manoevering, public demonstration, military deployment, and more than anything else a battle of wills between leading politicians on holiday at a country residence. The only way an ambitious Yeltsin could take power from Gorbachev was to remove the Soviet Union entirely.

Wow. That's like getting a well paid job by blowing up your home town. And that guy had the keys to one of the worlds largest arsenals of nuclear warheads? No wonder they kept him drunk all the time.

Where Is Russia, Exactly?

As if the Russians hadn't enough to complain about regarding the dodgy goings on in their recent elections, now they're complaining that footage of demonstrations used by a certain american news program actually showed violence from Greece. Why were the Russians so worried about an American first strike scenario, or that cute missile shield they want installed in eastern europe? I mean, it's not like the US knows where any of the targets are.

By the way. Avoid a greek package holiday if US-Russian relations hit an all time low. Just a little tip.

Weather Of The Week

Watching a global weather survey proved interesting. Temperatures in Britain have dipped close to those found in Moscow over the last few days. Not sure if that made me feel any better, but I had to laugh at a recent vacancy that was pushed under my nose recently. A sort of supply expert working for the territorials. I could learn lots of new skills like survival.

I hate to break it to the army, but at my age the prospect of learning survival skills really doesn't count for a lot. I'm past fifty years of age, still here, still kicking, and able to cope with poverty and cold weather. My survival hazards have more to do with supermarket con tricks or over zealous claims advisors than cooking lizards in some arid wasteland.

Talking about survival, not so long ago I made a comment about Scotland being used to snow and better able to cope than us southern softies. Well, I wasn't expecting nature to test scottish resolve with some furious weather like the scenes we witnessed on television over the weekend. I do sympathise, I really do. Back in 1987 I was driving a van while that hurricane struck. You don't forget that sort of thing very easily.