Perhaps you have heard of what we in Europe like to call the "big bully". His name is Vladimir Putin, and Russia is his "mafioasa". Take a look at the following article in the Associated Press:
RUSSIA cut off all gas supplies to Europe today in a dispute with its neighbour.
Russian gas giant Gazprom stopped sending any gas to European consumers at 5.44am GMT today, Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz said.Russia confirmed the cut-off, but said it was Ukraine's fault because it had shut down the last pipeline carrying Russian gas.Early today, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Turkey all reported a halt in gas shipments, while France, Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary reported substantial drops in supplies.Tens of thousands of people have been left without heat in the bitter winter cold as governments scramble to find alternatives.Romania's president called Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin aftergas supplies were halted.Traian Basescu called Mr Putin after a second pipe bringing Russian gas to Romania through Ukraine was turned off this morning.Romanian economy minister Adriean Videanu held an emergency meeting with producers and distributors to assess the situation. The pipe coming from Ukraine to northern Romania pumped 30% of Russian gas imports.Mr Videanu said Romania has sufficient gas reserves for the winter. He said electricity and heating plants will use coal and heating oil instead of gas. Yesterday a pipe bringing 70% of Russian gas to Romania through Ukraine was turned off.
The good news is that Romania is rich in natural resources and has lots of reserves. The bad news is that countries like Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, and Poland receive almost 100 percent of their gas from Russia and currently temperatures in Europe are well below freezing.
Some of these I have posted before, but bear repeating. I just have to vent about the traffic in Bucureşti--it is terrible. The above picture is taken at the square near where I live. In the picture below, please notice the cars to the left of the tram, they should all be to the RIGHT of the tram. I live about 13 kilometers to the main airport, and unless I am driving there at 4 in the morning it takes me at least an hour-and-a-half to two hours. My family lives 55 miles from the Minneapolis airport and can get their faster--that should tell you just how bad traffic is in Bucureşti. Just tonight I did 5 kilometers in an hour, an hour, can you believe it? There are over 1.2 million more cars registered in the city since '95--and the infrastucture of the city was NEVER designed for that many cars. I guess living here is a lesson in patience, that's for sure.
