Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Its cold in Russia.. In more ways than just Celsius. Its also cold in the former soviet states of Georgia and Armenia. and what is colder is the gamesmenship that is being played between mother Russia and the soviet step children (See recent events with the Ukraine) that have begun to grow their own relations with the West.

If you have not been watching, you may want to pay attention to the current energy crisis that is brewing in eastern Europe. Record cold has pushed southward past Moscow and into areas that normally see much more moderate winter temperatures. Highs in the negative teens to low -20's have caused significant termoil (including death) in the area. To make matters MUCH worse, it seems that there have been a few questionable "terrorist" acts that have "blown up" a few of the main oil and gas lines leading from Russia to newly independent states, Georgia, Armenia and Ukraine. It is quite obvious that Russia is not pleased with these former soviets states decisions to cozy up to the West, and one has to wonder if Russia has started to use their rather wide abundance of national resources as a political weapon. Russia, being the major supplier of gas, oil and energy to the entire region, has the ability to kill more people with the twist of a valve, than any dirty bomber or suicide terrorist could even dream of killing. Could this be a preview of things (wars) to come?

I have direct reports from St. Petersburg (considered to be Russia's artistic Gem and cultural capital) that many parts of the city have been without electricity for 3 days. They do have heat but for some unexplained reason, electricity has been a bit scarce. I am not really sure how this all adds up but it does start to be come unsettling when you think about the brown outs and black outs that we have seen here in the US in the last three years or so (California black outs and the east coast to mid west black out in 2004). While in St. Petersburg, black outs are much more of a common occurance, here in the US, we are just learning what wide scale power outages can mean to our economy, our sense of security and our way of life.

I certainly hope that these are not previews of our collective futures. The thought that the cold war could go from the threat of nuclear anihilation to energy hoarding that has the potential to literally freeze thousands and push fragile economies into chaos, is truley and frightening apocalyptic vision.

I have been puzzled as to the "friendship" that has sprung up between President Bush and Vladimir Putin. At first glance, it makes no sense that America should tolerate Putin's power grabing, totalitarian tactics and the traditional Soviet geopolitical manuvering. But, at these times of war, allies can make for strange bedfellows. In thinking about this subject, I would like to ask Mr. Bush if he could please take another look into Mr. Putin's eyes and to check to see if it is Putin's soul, or perhaps is it a mirror like image that he has seen? This is not to throw disrespect on Mr. Bush but is a reminder that there are two ways of looking at almost every issue. The two men seem to have drawn up an unlikely relationship that makes one wonder if it is a relationship of like minds or rather a relationship of current convenience.