Meanwhile in Ukraine... Revolution.

[Bit_Happy]

its own?


Kramatorsk  


they aren`t ukrainian citizens!
It is about 100miles from me to Slavyansk, people are afraid.
...

People here "freak out" when the BTC price goes down;
Photos like these really help remind us how lucky we are to be relatively safe.

[bryant.coleman]

Ukraine: Russia's Gazprom issues May 7 ultimatum over gas supplies

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10789306/Ukraine-Russias-Gazprom-issues-May-7-ultimatum-over-gas-supplies.html

Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom has ratcheted up the pressure on Ukraine, issuing a May 7 ultimatum to settle $3.5bn unpaid debts or start paying in advance for its gas. Alexander Medvedev, deputy chief executive, warned that Europe must help Ukraine pay the bill – and a further $5bn needed to refill storage facilities this summer - or face “severe problems” with gas supplies this winter.

[Bit_Happy]

Ukraine: Russia's Gazprom issues May 7 ultimatum over gas supplies

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10789306/Ukraine-Russias-Gazprom-issues-May-7-ultimatum-over-gas-supplies.html

Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom has ratcheted up the pressure on Ukraine, issuing a May 7 ultimatum to settle $3.5bn unpaid debts or start paying in advance for its gas. Alexander Medvedev, deputy chief executive, warned that Europe must help Ukraine pay the bill – and a further $5bn needed to refill storage facilities this summer - or face “severe problems” with gas supplies this winter.

Obey, or freeze to death.
This "war" needs more creative script writers.

...warned that Europe must help Ukraine pay the bill
Hold on... First, Germany needs to check if Greece (and Spain?) can survive without 3 more quick shots of economic help.
How is Europe supposed to get that much money?

[bryant.coleman]

...warned that Europe must help Ukraine pay the bill
Hold on... First, Germany needs to check if Greece (and Spain?) can survive without 3 more quick shots of economic help.
How is Europe supposed to get that much money?

I see nothing wrong with that. When Yanukovych was the Ukrainian president, he gave legal status to the Russian language and in return Russia gave him $9 billion every year in gas subsidies. Germany helped the Right Sector to take down Yanukovych. They installed an American puppet in office and banned the Russian language. Russia terminated the gas subsidy, as the agreement was broken. Now the Kiev junta says that they don't have the money to pay for the gas bills. Now who should pay? Germany off course.

[Bit_Happy]

...warned that Europe must help Ukraine pay the bill
Hold on... First, Germany needs to check if Greece (and Spain?) can survive without 3 more quick shots of economic help.
How is Europe supposed to get that much money?

I see nothing wrong with that. When Yanukovych was the Ukrainian president, he gave legal status to the Russian language and in return Russia gave him $9 billion every year in gas subsidies. Germany helped the Right Sector to take down Yanukovych. They installed an American puppet in office and banned the Russian language. Russia terminated the gas subsidy, as the agreement was broken. Now the Kiev junta says that they don't have the money to pay for the gas bills. Now who should pay? Germany off course.

Now who should pay? Germany off course.
$9 billion/year would buy an amazing amount of solar panels, and then they can convert to electric heat and be much more independent. (for example)
These people need to get their act together, not everyone can be spoiled like Americans.

What is the root cause of this over-dependence on other countries?
Have they never really recovered from being part of the old USSR?

[myself]

$9 billion/year would buy an amazing amount of solar panels

they work very nice when you have 1m of snow on them

[bryant.coleman]

Have they never really recovered from being part of the old USSR?

The USSR was intentionally created that way, to make the republics depend on each other. For example, the major gas deposits were located in Russia, while the steel mills and other heavy industries were located in Ukraine. Ukraine got the gas from Russia, and in exchange Russia received the machines and other factory goods from Ukraine.

[Nemo1024]

$9 billion/year would buy an amazing amount of solar panels, and then they can convert to electric heat and be much more independent. (for example)

Solar panels would not work that well in Ukraine, especially, not for covering the power needs of energy-consuming industries.

[bryant.coleman]

Solar panels would not work that well in Ukraine, especially, not for covering the power needs of energy-consuming industries.

Solar energy is one of the most expensive forms of energy right now. The capital expenses and the maintenance costs of solar panels are just prohibitive for anyone living outside the EU / US.

[Balthazar]

Nuclear energy is the only available solution. Only nuclear power industry able to supply energy for provide all the existing industrial enterprises, almost without usage of environmentally harmful materials.

"Solar energy" or "wind energy" are nothing more than results of "green" propaganda, which paid by oil dollars. Unnecessarily high costs, insignificant efficiency and an imminent environmental damage.

[bryant.coleman]

Nuclear energy is the only solution. Only nuclear power industry able to supply energy for provide all the existing industrial enterprises, almost without usage of environmentally harmful materials.

Nuclear energy is the best choice right now. But be careful when recommending that to the Ukrainians. The memories of Chernobyl are not that easily forgotten. And in addition to this we have stupid Hollywood propaganda movies such as The Chernobyl Diaries, to make the Ukrainians believe that everything was the fault of the Russians.

[Balthazar]

The memories of Chernobyl are not that easily forgotten.

Uranium-plutonium and uranium-thorium cycles are virtually inexhaustible sources of energy. Relevant industry is in development yet, but it's only a matter of time... Breeder reactors have long been developed, it is only a matter of time when oil oligarchs will be crushed by competition with incredible volumes of cheap energy.

What about Chernobyl, it's not so scary as it may seem.

1) There are populated areas with a higher natural background radiation than in the chernobyl's exclusion zone.
2) Belarusians, for example, learned how to grow the ecologically clean rye and wheat on the soil, which was contaminated by cesium-137.
3) They also have found the ways to produce milk which has 4-5 times less Strontium-90 supplied radioactivity in comparison with a milk produced by other european countries.

to make the Ukrainians believe that everything was the fault of the Russians

That's funny because Ukraine and Belarus have had a special status in the USSR. They were called "Soviet Ukraine" and "Soviet Belarus" and even had own representatives in the UN...  

But be careful when recommending that to the Ukrainians.

Of course that's not necessary to have a direct access to nuclear technology, they can buy energy in Russia or EU. But I suppose that current "ruling elites" won't pay for anything just like they are doing with gas supplies right now. Buying a yacht is always more pleasant than paying the bills.

[bryant.coleman]

Uranium-plutonium and uranium-thorium cycles are virtually inexhaustible sources of energy. Relevant industry is in development yet, but it's only a matter of time... Breeder reactors have long been developed, it is only a matter of time when oil oligarchs will be crushed by competition with incredible volumes of cheap energy.

Breeder reactors are not used in a large way by any country yet. But still, the Uranium based nuclear power plants generate electricity at rates ranging from $0.02 to $ 0.03 / Kwh, compared to $0.10 / KWh for the coal-powered thermal power plants. But still, a majority of the UN members are refusing to use them because of safety concerns. And these concerns have intensified after the Fukushima disaster.

[Balthazar]

Breeder reactors are not used in a large way by any country yet.

"Yet" is the key word here. Breeder reactors will make nuclear energy 10xN times cheaper than now through decreasing the costs for mining and enriching.

But still, a majority of the UN members are refusing to use them because of safety concerns. And these concerns have intensified after the Fukushima disaster.

Replace "UN members" with "oligarchs" and it will be correct.

And these concerns have intensified after the Fukushima disaster.

Of course, that's why they built this NPP without taking a seismic situation into account. "Look at fukushima and buy our oil!" without mentioning that oil and coal contains a significant amounts of uranium and its decay products...

Our dear greenpeace zombies have no idea that ash, which is produced by the coal-powered thermal power plants, de facto falls into low-level radioactive waste category.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste/

Activity, which is discharged into the atmosphere with a coal ash, exceeds all possible ecology standards and incomparable to the results of all weapon tests and nuclear accidents. Anybody, who believe into this "safety concerns", is lying to himself.

[Nemo1024]

Saw on RTR-Planet news that Zaporozhje Nuclear Plant gets some started getting software  upgrade and parts, supplied from US, both of which are not entirely compatible with the processes used by that plant, and which can increase the risk of a disaster.

[bryant.coleman]

Our dear greenpeace zombies have no idea that ash, which is produced by the coal-powered thermal power plants, de facto falls into low-level radioactive waste category.

Don't know much about the radio-activity of the ash, but the atmospheric pollution caused by it is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people every year. Yet, for the Greenpeace idiots, nuclear energy is more harmful when compared to the thermal energy. Imagine the kind of bribes they are getting from the coal mining lobbies.

[Nemo1024]

A joke on Ukraine:
Yatsenjuk arrives to The White House and Obama meets him in the same room, where Bill Clinton usually met Monica Levinski.
 

[bryant.coleman]

Yatsenjuk arrives to The White House and Obama meets him in the same room, where Bill Clinton usually met Monica Levinski.

Talking about Monica Lewinsky, many people believe that Bill Clinton bombed Serbia, to divert the public attention from his sex scandal. Fortunately Obama is clean as of now. He may not need to bomb anywhere.

[Balthazar]

Talking about Monica Lewinsky, many people believe that Bill Clinton bombed Serbia, to divert the public attention from his sex scandal.

Any western president or prime minister is just a public face of corporate interests. I think it's pretty naive to beleive that he had any power to do anything except than talking on the camera...

[bryant.coleman]

WTF is this? Is Vatican going to send the Swiss guards to Donetsk? And I don't understand why a Catholic figure has to intervene in a predominantly Orthodox country, when the Catholic - Orthodox relations are pretty much strained.

http://news.yahoo.com/pope-promises-help-ukraine-165632352.html;_ylt=AwrBJR5H5ltTd08AE.jQtDMD

Pope promises to help Ukraine

Pope Francis told Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Saturday that he would "do everything possible" for the country, amid fears that Russia could be about to invade.