How long before the producers of Game of Thrones clamp down on unauthorized use of the phrase, Winter is Coming?
No, this is not a bunch of European fan boys longing for more Game of Thrones. The reality of soaring energy prices combined with shortages of gas and oil is sinking in with the European public and they are not happy.
You cannot say they have not been warned. Hell, even Ukraine’s President Zelensky is sounding off:
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy warns Europeans to brace for bleak winter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told Europeans to expect a difficult winter as the Russian assault on his country leads to cuts in oil and gas exports by Moscow.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-nuclear-plant-loses-power-line-moscow-makes-europe-sweat-over-gas-2022-09-04/
So let us take a quick tour around Europe to see what economic news is making headlines. First up, our British cousins. The following graph published in one of the tabloids provides the stark figures that the sanctions that were supposed to cripple Russia are clobbering the stiff-upper-lip crowd:
“Welcome to sanctions-hit Russia, where prices are falling while Britons are suffering from a sharp rise in inflation”: Sun compared prices in the UK and Russia and came to a sad conclusion.
https://t.me/azmilitary11/18615
Opposition politicians in Germany smell the blood in the water and are making sure that German voters know who to blame when they are shivering over a cold plate of uncooked schnitzel and Spätzle.
German Christian Democratic Union(The CDU is the second largest party in the Bundestag) Head Friedrich Merz warns of the possibility of a total blackout in Germany this winter if country does not extend the operation of 3 remaining nuclear power plants
https://t.me/azmilitary11/18628
Similar posturing in Italy:
Salvini Former Deputy PM of Italy: sanctions against Russia have failed.
https://t.me/azmilitary11/18713
“Several months have passed and people are paying two, three, even four times more for their bills-and after seven months, the war continues and the Russian Federation’s coffers are filling with money.”
French labor unions are doing what they do best–they are going to strike:
Workers across Europe have been reeling under an acute cost of living crisis marked by skyrocketing fuel and food prices. The workers of the transport sector, already severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis, are now finding it hard to make ends meet due to rising inflation. Transport companies and their subcontractors, which are operating the public transport in several cities, have over time reduced their services, terminated staff, used temporary workers and scrapped permanent contracts, denied workers rights, and slashed wages and bonus and overtime benefits. Even in places where companies offered a pay rise, the hike has been nominal and insufficient compared to the rising rates of inflation.
According to L’Humanite, transport workers in Pau will go on strike on September 1, while workers in Lille will start their strike on September 3. Workers and unions in Nantes have also issued protest alerts and are gearing up for a massive mobilization by workers of Semitan, the company in charge of the public transport network in the city. The Keolis group, which operates public transport networks in several French cities including Bordeaux, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Orléans, and Rennes, has also been criticized for reducing services and not addressing the workers’ demand for a pay rise.
Looks like French President Macron is in for a turbulent fall if prices continue to soar and fuel shortages become widespread.
The folks in the Czech Republic are not happy either. While 70,000 cranky voters is not a tidal wave of unrest, it is a harbinger of things to come. Not surprisingly, the Czech Government accused these protestors of being Putin supporters. I am pretty sure that will not play well when Czechs with chattering teeth are trying to warm themselves while the Russian people will be toasty, slurping warm borscht and imbibing vodka toasts while Europe collapses.
More than 70,000 Czechs are rallying in Prague demanding the resignation of the government, cheap Russian gas and neutrality.
https://t.me/intelslava/36372
There is still a chance that European leaders may come to their senses and try to repair relations with Russia and get oil and gas flowing again. Don’t bet on it. The majority of clowns in leadership positions in Europe have shown a remarkable ability to always do the wrong thing.
I think Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is an appropriate musical coda:
People don’t revolt until the situation is dire and upon them. The American was an exception, but the French, Russian and Chinese revolutions are proof. As you said, Mr. Johnson, À la lanterne!
Paradoxically, people revolt not when they are “downtrodden” but when they see a “better future”. Govts can suppress the people so long as they threaten worse – humans are domestic critters following the furrow. That’s why “heroes” stir revolt – with vision of a better future. EU’s “hero” will be news of Russia’s “better future”. Then you’ll see revolt. Excuse my smile of schadenfreude…
I consider that there are two prerequisites.
1) The people view the exercise of power by authority as illegitimate.
2) The people fear the consequences of obedience to illegitimate authority more than they fear the consequences of disobedience to illegitimate authority.
While we’ll never know for certain why the Edmund Fitzgerald died, It will be beyond question why the european union did.
Accolades on your work Larry.
Larry, the song by Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is beautiful! I was going to suggest another song for the occasion by Pet Shop Boys: Go West; and then I have watched it and the colour scheme seems to acquire a different meaning today. 🙁
https://youtu.be/CGNFnBcq6jo
….and, maybe, winter is coming for Zelenskiy too: “ The German press writes that Zelensky deceived the population and ignored warnings from intelligence”.
https://en.topwar.ru/201280-v-nemeckoj-presse-pishut-chto-zelenskij-obmanyval-naselenie-i-ignoriroval-preduprezhdenija-ot-razvedki.html
Off with their heads. Unelected morons Stoltenburg, Borrel & Dr Ursula Bin Laden. All millionaires making you freeze by refusing to buy cheap Russian gas. Idiots.
Guillotines definitely need to make a comeback. But good luck. The elite rely on divide on conquer so that does not happen now. Divide their people on race, social, sex and now trans stuff to keep class out of discussion permanently. Keep people distracted and eye off the ball. It’s not an accident billionaires fund all these crazy theories like not enforcing crime or CRT. Can’t speak to Europe but I’m sure billionaires all on board with mass migration and other divide and rule techniques..
Divide and conquer for foreign markets is rebranded as Balkanization.
Hi Larry
Something significant seems to be in full spread across the West and I can’t make up my mind regarding my non professional diagnosis and assessment based only on observation, whether it’s you know that word that I’m not sure I can say but will call it ‘Naughty’izm’ or Stockholm Syndrome.
Do you have any thoughts or comments regarding this?
Thankyou
Please ignore my question if it’s not appropriate. I just can’t seem to wrap my head around what is playing out.
In Europe during the Middle Ages the freezing peasants at night, would lick the tip of their nose to stop it from freezing off. The lucky ones would suck their nose to keep it warm.
Many a marriage would be tested through the long cold winter.
Russian surfs on the other hand would throw another log on the fire or the occasional bucket of coal.
However, nowadays they just lay naked in bed with the gas heater turned up full. Putin says he’s got shit loads of cash for child care, ….”so just go for it.”
It’s only what I’ve heard.
The CDU is not an opposition party in the German parliament. Why? 1. The board wants to exclude critical members from the party if they are not in line with the party board. 2. The party chairman, employee of Blackrock and Atlanticer Mr. Merz, is almost united in the politics of Wash… sorry, Berlin. He somehow tries to play opposition that doesn’t spoil the game for his principals. will of the voter? In Germany? Let’s put it that way. These and other major parties unofficially refer to voters as voters. I’ve known that for almost 20 years. The AfD is the only real opposition in parliament. It is fought by the other parties with all sorts of legal and lousy tricks. It is classified as right-wing extremist and anti-constitutional. It is above all SPD politicians who support radical left-wing extremists (Antifa) with tax money and who also fight them with extreme physical violence, almost to the point of murder, by AfD politicians. The mainstream media has given massive support to this campaign by the left.
That’s horrible, Carl! Sorry to hear Germany is in such bad shape.
“There is still a chance that European leaders may come to their senses and try to repair relations with Russia and get oil and gas flowing again. Don’t bet on it. “,…..do you think, Larry, that it could be that easy?, the West, especially US, UK, France and Germany all vowed to destroy the Russian economy. Vladimir Putin may be a caring and religious man, but many in the Russian government are not so merciful. Europe, especially England, has been attempting to conquer Russia ( mainly for its vast resources ) for centuries. I think this is the final showdown and I think the west has crossed their “Rubicon”. Perhaps if Europe extricates itself from US influence, NATO disbands etc, there may be a possibility to re-establish a relationship…..but they’d need to raise a few extraordinary diplomats before then. Meantime Europe self-destructs without any inward reflection on cause and effect. Perhaps they should re-read Russia’s proposals of Dec’21st and proceed from there.
As Germany’s foreign minister has stated, these leaders do not care about their voters – they care only about the Ukrainian people (which is also not true as they are using the Ukrainians as cannon fodder).
Unions in the European Union are generously financed (directly) by the State to guarantee “social peace” as is the case in France and Spain through the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs; in Italy through “compulsory personal contributions” that are deducted from the workers’ salary and that the State distributes according to its interest; Germany is also similar to Italy but more hidden and deeply corrupt (by law they cannot receive money from the State), they are financed through their own “Trade Union Foundations” that receive millions of dollars from large companies to guarantee “social peace”, in this way way the German Trade Unions boast of their “Total Independence of the State” complying with the law.
We will see large “authorized” strikes to relieve the enormous social unrest that is going to arise, but they will be very controlled demonstrations.
I have already experienced this fraud in my country of birth and it provoked a coup.
I live in an EU country totally zombified by the West, they will not go on strike in any way they will go directly to looting.
Nos vamos a las “mismisimas”
Tu me entiendes Larry
Buddy of mine outside Munich has 2 rentals – he told me he needed to send a letter to his tenants increasing monthly payment for natural gas ( German tenants pay a estimated average throughout the year and then at end of year the meter is read and accounting is made)
Tenant 1 – from 50€ to 175€ Month. Elderly guy on tiny pension
Tenant 2 – from 110€ to 375€/month. Single Mom works as bookkeeper.
This is just Natural Gas. Electricity is likely similar. NATOland Energy suppliers are making yuge profits on this. Meanwhile, NS2 sit idle.
I can tell you in advance that your friend will not be paid and it will be very difficult to prove otherwise…there are many tricks.
Agreed that there will be chaos all over Europe once the energy bills get tallied in 4-7 months.
Amusing because the NATOland energy suppliers are making obscene profits selling NG at these record prices.
‘There is still a chance that European leaders may come to their senses..’
No, no chance at all. No politician will ever admit to making a mistake. And certainly not ones of the magnitude they’re all making now
I’m interested to know the capacity of the German natural gas storage field/s and their given field names and not the quoted 80% full we are led to believe?
As I once worked on a National natural Gas storage facility and it was a old depleted gas field and would give only 2.5 days at full pelt to that Nation
Hello,
just a quick note to the numbers derived from “More than 70,000 Czechs are rallying in Prague demanding the resignation of the government, cheap Russian gas and neutrality.”. Those numbers are downplayed by the mainstream media. There was a protest some years ago, then fully propagated a supported by mainstream media, with free buses from all over the country. Photos from that time show similar (or slightly lower) density and similar (or slightly lower) extent of the protesting people – and it was attributed, that somewhere between 120 – 150 thousand of people were present.
I have also to point out the lack of any propagation or media coverage prior to this-weekend’s demonstration on mainstream media. Facebook posts about it were deleted. Nothing was said in mainstream media. Quite a lot of people did not even know anything was going to happen (even my dear wife, who reads a lot of alt-media was not aware of anything going to happen). In this media-blindness something between 100 – 200 thousand of people gathered on this protest. Quite a feat…
(in the covid era, I personally took part in a protest on this same spot. I tried to count the people in this way: look at a parked car, check it’s size – 2x4m, count the people around me on a similar area (I was not in the most dense area near the podium, more close to the less dense fringe) and then look where does the crowd extend in all the directions in relation to the buildings. Then I used a map to measure the area in relation to the same buildings. I calculated that there could be somewhere between 20 – 30 thousand people, and the media reported some 7 thousand “deplorables” 😀 )
The grapevine talk from the politicians and police are, that they are truly afraid of what is brewing under the surface.
Agreed. In fact, according to the organisers there were at least 100,000 people present, it’s just that the police always downplay the numbers, as they do with every protest, including in my own home country (Belgium).
Here in Spain the situation is hopeless. All parties, apart from some of the communist separatist parties, are prosanctions US-lapdogs. The far-left government’s diagnosis of the energy crisis is “energy companies’ profits are too high” and their “solution” is subsidizing energy (making people pay the increase in price through taxes) and capping prices (that will eventually lead to companies leaving the market). The opposition’s diagnosis/solution are either “energy taxes are too high, we will reduce them!” or “this is caused by too much ecoBS, let’s build more nuclear power plants and reopen coal mines!”.
The only good thing is that the winter doesn’t affect us that much. Summer is worse and it’s already ending. Traditionally, electricity consumption has always been higher in summer (due to air conditioning) than in winter.
We have several elections next year, at the local, regional and national level, and it seems that the “energy taxes are too high” party will win. Sanctions will probably remain and things will not improve too much.
Odd question — so with everything you posted here, is there an *increase* in the migration *to* Russia from Europe then? Just curious……
From the Ukraine certainly yes. It’s the top 1 country where Ukranians migrate to.
There is increase in desire, but it’s not a thing one can do easily.
@Antonio — while moving can be difficult, hopefully the European governments aren’t obstructing the people’s movements themselves…….
Does anyone believe that the so called leaders of Europe will be cold and hungry this winter?
Me neither…..
At this stage, based on non-mainstream news, my assessment is that the Ukraine war will last many more months and if (when) the Ukrainian armed forces are unable to fight- then Poland will step in. Then, years later- when Poland is destroyed- well, I believe it is reasonable to assume some form of Nuclear/Biochem war will swing into full gear.
Larry. After following since an introduction from the Duran, I have to say a heartfelt thank you for the intelligent, realistic analysis you provide, particularly on the proxie war.
I live in South Africa, but my father was a Canadian army WW2 Lance corporal who went through the Normandy to North Germany campaign. He only spoke twice to me about the fighting itself and I know that he viewed war as horror.
I simply wish that politicians could accept their responsibility for wartime carnage instead of hiding behind walls of words duly parroted by the mainstream media. Our western leaders have no moral compass. I fear for the future of our civilisation. Thank you sir.
I was reading on RT that wolves attacked and killed Ursula von der Leyen’s pony.
https://www.rt.com/news/562085-ursula-leyen-horse-wolf/
and I was thinking that maybe this is a foretaste of what the Europeans might expect this winter!
Yes, it’s not safe to be a pony.
The Europeans can ” try” to repair relations with Russia and Russia might say ” stop all arms deliveries to the Ukraine” then we’ll talk. The Russians could further say to Germany we will open Nordstream 2 and resume Nordstream 1 for an inexpensive deal on our clean and now plentiful LNG if you leave NATO and ask American troops to leave.
Gazprom and it’s EU partners would love to open NS2 and supply NG under long term contracts at 1/20th the price being charged by NATOland suppliers.
This winter will be apocalyptic. The Vax die-off has started in earnest and certainly ramp up from here, especially the millions with wrecked immune systems and no defense against opportunistic infections.
It going to get ugly beyond imagination
The Fitzgerald broke in half from the high winds and waves. Sank instantly.
Obviously, the slogan of the uniparty grifters in Washington and Europe who serve Wall Street and Multinational corporations is: “MAKE RUSSIA GREAT AGAIN”.
“I Am a MAGA Republican, and Donald Trump is My Weapon”
‘Because MAGA national economic priorities conflict with the multinational corporations, hedge funds and Wall Street donor class, all of the politicians who accept the influence checks from these self-interested groups cannot run on, or deliver on, a MAGA national economic agenda.”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/09/05/i-am-a-maga-republican-and-donald-trump-is-my-weapon/
It’s nothing to worry about. The UK’s ludicrous Bozo Jonson has told the people to chck awa their old kettles and buy nw ones…to save £10 a year. Problem solved.
The f*ckin’ creeps who are superficially in power in the ‘liberal democracies’ really do hold their electorates in utter disdain and with total contempt.
Maybe the Ukraine/Russia war and associated impending energy/economic disaster is all a cover for the Great Reset (includes the Green Revolution). So the worse it gets for the people, the more successful the real master plan actually is.
The Greens have been calling for higher energy prices to force their utopian revolution since long before 2/24/22.
21st century is trully the peak of civilisation. 80 years ago Germans had to travel all the way to Russia in order to freeze, but now they can do it in the comfort of their own homes. They still do honor the tradition by sending their weapons eastwards and hating Russians from safe distance.
Thanks, Larry! Indeed, Lightfoot’s Fitzgerald is a classic; I have listened to it many times and thought of what the crew was doing and saying to one another.
70,000? I cannot imagine 70,000 Americans taking to the streets!
Meanwhile, the beat goes on, uniparty, composed of psychpaths, crooks, eunuchs, and ball less clowns running around with their hands out to the bribers (read MIC, et al).
It is all kabuki theater!
I’m not willing totally to dismiss Eric Newhill’s suspicion that the collapse of Europe’s economy is part of the Great Reset.
But keep in mind that old adage about ‘the best-laid plans of mice and men’ … Moreover the folks who came up with the Great Reset are even more out-of-touch than the dimwit political leaders doing their bidding.
With some luck, cold and hunger will force enough people onto Europe’s streets to topple governments, and those will be replaced by elements happy to business with Russia. Nothing would please me more than to see Washington’s elite shaking their fists in impotent rage as new European governments end sanctions, toss out US troops and abandon NATO.
Fat chance I’m afraid: the EU is occupied territory, a mere satrapy of the US empire. If some German politician were to dare tell the Yanks to go home he/she would be “suicided” within a week. The US has Europe by the balls: scores of bases, tens of thousands of troops, CIA infiltrators everywhere listening in to the mobile phones of just about everyone that matters and controlling the press, etc… There is *zero* chance that any EU politician, except perhaps the AfD and other “undesirable” parties, will even hint at an end to sanctions: their livelihoods, and even their lives, depends on it. Look at what they did to Gerhard Schroeder when he spoke out in defence of a negotiated end to the war: TPTB started by lambasting him in the press for being “Putin’s man” (it doesn’t get more original does it?) and by cancelling his perks as ex-Chancellor, and they would not hesitate to go further if he were to insist.
How come that’s 70,000 Czechs, it’s at least hundreds of thousands if not millions of people there.
“Germany smell the blood in the water and are making sure that German voters know who to blame when they are shivering over a cold plate of uncooked schnitzel and Spätzle.”
In the “Soviet Union” there was an observation made mostly by design practitioners namely:
When things go wrong the Germans look for a solution, whilst the British look for someone to blame.
It is comforting that the Germans are making progress in their quest to find a solution.