Gas Crisis Update: Russians Still Want to Freeze and Enslave Us

So while we were away the big story in the neighborhood was the "gas war" between Russia and Ukraine. If you didn't catch it, what happened was that Moscow told Kiev that Ukraine's traditional post-Soviet fraternal gas discount was being discontinued, Kiev said no way, Moscow said yes way, Kiev said really, no way, and then on New Year's day Moscow started dialing down the gas pipe to Ukraine - and everyone on the other side of Ukraine - leading Hungarians to say kurva hideg van, mert azok a kibaszott oroszok kikapcsolták a gázt! Then, just a day or so later, Moscow and Kiev came to some sort of settlement, Russia turned the gas back on, and everyone sucking on Ivan's big pipe got back their normal New Year's cheer. Unfortunately, according to a Budapest-datelined piece in yesterday's UK Independent, Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom (that's its Bond-villian-like HQ at right) and the Russkies in general are still harboring secret plans to use their energy stranglehold over the entire region to reduce us to a collection of obedient Bantustans. So keep that sweater handy.