Sunday, November 2, 2014

Dark Ages Redux


                 The West, at least as exemplified by Europe, is in trouble. This is not a controversial statement. Most pundits and regular folks alike agree on that. Neither is it a stretch to  state that the trouble is almost entirely self-inflicted. Whether it’s dealing with massive immigration and Islamic extremism/terrorism on the one hand or hyper-secularism on the other, there clearly exists a crisis of confidence. A nearly omnipotent and virulent strain of political-correctness smothers free speech and independent thought, and, consequently, the ability to recognize and state the truth. This, and a general lack of fortitude- and belief in their own institutions- has resulted in a nearly total inability to  protect or preserve this, the most historic of continents.

                Now, however, it appears parts  of  the continent will literally go dark in the near future. As winter temperatures take hold of much of Europe, brownouts may too. This is because the higher the percentage of ‘renewable’- or ‘green’- energy, the more difficult it is to manage power-transmission grids. Europe is phasing out its coal-fired power stations, closing down nuclear power plants, and deeply averse to ‘fracking’, instead banking heavily on wind farms and solar installations to take up the slack. So far, this approach isn’t working.

                Moreover, utilities have reduced output from natural-gas-fired plants in response to Europe’s economic slowdown, and the region’s aging thermal generators are being retired from service, according to Bloomberg News. As it stands now, thirty percent of Europe’s gas comes from Russia, half of that through the Ukraine.  (Another comforting statistic for a continent that loves repeating its past mistakes of willful blindness and irresolution. Napoleon? Nah, nothing to worry about. Hitler? Let him have the Sudetenland, part of Czechoslovakia, Austria, etc., that’s logical…and all he wants, I’m sure! He said so himself! Uncle Joe Stalin? He’s earned the Baltic states and eastern Europe…so many Soviets died in WWII, let him have it. What’s the worst that could happen…he was our ally for crying out loud?!!).

               

                And the United States under its current “leadership” isn’t far behind.

                Welcome to the “Dark Ages- Part 2”. ( The first one lasted 524 years).

                Settle in for a long, cold, dark, winter.

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