Who stole the time?

Two and a half years since I last wrote. Officially, and if you read the international news, Latvia is back on its feet, unofficially it is not. There is still lots of poverty below the surface. After a couple of years of relative quiet, the beggars are back in the old town. They never really went away but the police seem to have relaxed their hold again. There will be many views on why this has happened. But the shops are definitely getting busier and the traffic is visibly back well beyond the amount of the 2008 crisis. Apparently agriculture is beginning to work at last.

But the real damage has been out in the countryside. There are many ruined and empty farm houses and villages are losing population steadily. The flat prices are coming down and in some places they are now ridiculously low. There would be more on the market but many families who have emigrated have just shut up shop and left. The large numbers of black windows on winter evenings bear witness to this.

Something is still wrong in the way Government does business. The reductions in 2008 did not bring reform. The education system remains archaic from 10 years and upwards. there is simply no modernisation. It seems as if there is a death wish to retain culture and labguage as the driving forces ignoring the reality of the surrounding world. The children are being punished. The Russian speakers grow up better and more widely educated and far more business and internationally aware. Latvians are condemned to public service as many do not speak Russian and therefore cannot service half the population. But to argue this is heresy - culture rules OK!

Now I am back writing I suppose I must continue.I need to open my eyes again. There are many remarkable things happening in this lovely country - but there are many dumb things as well. It will be a close race to see who wins.

Tomorrow I am going to talk to the Justice Minister Bordans. he has struck a blow for honesty and his party want remove him. Now that is really dumb because it just points the corruption finger firmly at them.. There are many investors looking to see who wins, especially the banks who have lost miliions here

Glen.