So the Russians have carried out their threat and cut off Ukraine's gas. Repercussions are expected - indeed are already evident - elsewhere in Europe because some European countries import up to 30% of their gas from Russia and their supplies come down a pipeline through Ukraine. The dispute purports to be over the price Ukraine pays for its gas, which Russia wants to raise by around 400% to bring it up to "market value". Never mind that Ukraine is moving towards political alignment with Europe rather than Russia. Oh no, they'd never let politics get in the way of market forces. Perhaps it's a plot by both countries to gain economic clout by rationing gas - thus increasing its market value. I seem to remember OPEC doing this with oil on more than one occasion. Come to think of it, is it political at all? Could it be that the oil and gas companies are engineering a price hike in the middle of winter when they know they can do most damage. Or, even worse, the Russians have got together with the oil giants to do it?Perish the thought.
People in Britain are saying that we are still 90% self-sufficient in gas and the other 10% comes from the good old Norwegians so we have nothing to worry about. Hang on - if the world price of gas goes up do you think the British and Norwegian gas companies will sit back and still sell at the old rate? Not when they can claim "market forces" and increase their profits. Once again we are shit upon by our own greed and consumerism. Until we all learn that the world has finite resources then we will always be at the mercy of those who want to profit from our needs.
Goodwill to All
So the time has come for the annual get-together with the in-laws from Shropshire. Every year around Christmas one family travels to the other's home to swap presents and catch up on the news and small talk. This year they came to us - that is Diana (the sister) her husband Peter and one of their sons Melvyn. Another son is in Slovenia visiting his girlfriend's family and the eldest remained in his home with his live-in. We had the usual double casserole (one veggie the other normal) and laid on lots of eats. We even got veggie sausages and ham(?) so that everyone had something of a treat. We always have a pile of presents under the Christmas tree - so it's like a second Christmas. I was very fortunate to receive a DVD of "Life in the Undergrowth" (see previous blogs) and - joy of joys - a bottle of Vouvray! This has made my Christmas complete. Thanks Diana and Co and I really hope you enjoyed your visit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment