The End of My Lame Duck Period

After taking almost two months off from the political sphere after the election (to reacquaint myself with my friends, fresh air, and food that doesn't come from a freezer -- not to mention my textbooks), I'm diving right back into the fray as we quickly approach Barack Obama's inaugural address on January 20.

So, what have I failed to report on since the beginning of November? A continuously slumping economy which is beginning to look like a piece of silly putty hanging from a high rise that is slowly stretching toward the sidewalk, getting thinner and thinner...please excuse this horrible metaphor. Terrorist attacks in India, Obama introduces his cabinet, a massive stimulus plan and Reverend Dick Rick Warren, Bush's pardons and un-pardons, a domestic circus ring around Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (which to be perfectly honest doesn't really concern me nearly as much as our economic issue-- which for some reason seems to be less important than governmental corruption and, let's face it, this is about as common as the potholes on California's freeways. Not that I'm saying either of these things are okay with me. Especially the potholes). A new series of violent attacks between Hamas and Israel has left at least 700 Palestinians dead, and counting. Today, Lebanese militants opened fire on Israel and Israel responded with mortar fire into Lebanon. I know there was some good news...the anticipated Britney Spears comeback. That was it.

So, as of Monday, President-Elect Obama has been in Washington waiting out Bush's last 12 days in office. He is not staying at the historic Blair House because apparently the entire premises will be occupied by former Australian Prime Minister John Howard who will be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom for...supporting Bush's preemptive war against Iraq. Excellent.

This little news story about Russia's natural gas supply to Europe came to my attention today and I find it to be quite interesting. This issue is not new, but due to an ongoing conflict between Russia's OAO Gazprom and Ukraine's NAK Naftogaz over export pricing and division, many European countries are now facing major gas cut-offs. On average, Europe depends on Russia for 25% of its gas but many countries depend on it for a much higher percentage.

Dependence on Russia for gas:
100% dependent on Russia: Latvia, Slovakia, Finland, Estonia
More than 80% dependent: Bulgaria, Lithuania, Czech Republic
More than 60% dependent: Greece, Austria, Hungary
Source: European Council on Foreign Relations, 2006 figures

So what does this say about Russia's relationship with Europe? The terms monopoly, dependence and power are coming to mind. Last I checked, the United States has a similar dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Hm. Interesting.

Stay tuned for more news commentary and my upcoming list of concerns I would like to see addressed by the 44th President.