French Sanction Themselves Into Freezing Energy Shortages

 Folks this news about Europe may not interest Malaysians as much but believe me this is relevant  - at least for this year 2023. 

First of all the Europeans have dug themselves into a hole from which they may not be able to crawl out. Their sanctions against Russia are backfiring on their own people. Here some French Ministry has told its staff to work from home for four days - to save heating energy at the government buildings. 

Whereas over in Russia - the supposed target of the sanctions - the Russian people have all the heat, food and resources that they need.

Here is Jackson Hinkle of The Dive with a frank discussion on what is going on in Europe :  

Here is something from the horse's mouth. This is Russian president Vladimir Putin's new year address - about nine minutes, with translation - from some Russian military base.   The venue itself sends a very strong message - dont mess with Russia.

One line stands out - "Russian troops who are in training".

Last October Russia called up about 350,000 reserve troops back into active service. That number has since grown to about 1.5 million total troop strength.  These are mostly reservists. 

"In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two million reserve personnel."

So Russia has plenty reserve troops. What has not been reported in the western media is that about another 100,000 Russian civilians have volunteered to join the Army to fight in Ukraine. They have largely been turned down.

It is expected that Russia will soon launch a massive operation in Ukraine that will bring the hostilities to a conclusion.   The 'top soil' in Ukraine (among the most fertile in the world) is about 20 feet thick in places and if not frozen over in winter, can become extremely muddy. Tanks and heavy vehicles can get bogged down. So Colonel Douglas MacGregor feels that the Russians are waiting for the ground to fully freeze - an event that may occur in Jan / Feb.

There is also a psycho country called Poland (Ukraine's immediate neighbour to the west) that has practically already declared war on Russia.  That is where things can get tricky and unpredictable (or predictable, they are psycho).

The European governments are compromised. They are not acting in the best interests of their people.  Hopefully their citizens will become more aware.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.