Gazprom, the Russian oil company owned by the state, has not only been blackmailing central Asian countries by cutting off their oil supplies, it has been buying up independent Russian media and turning them into propaganda tools. Craig Murray writes about this on his website and in Mail on Sunday saying Putin is using Russian Mafia as allies and has installed former KGB allies in positions of power, with many of them now more wealthy than the more public billionaire oligarchs.

Further, he says the evidence and politics support the view that Russian security forces, not rebels, were responsible for the bombing of apartment blocks in Chechnya in 2000, using it as a pretext for increased repression.

His primary point is that Europe needs to rather quickly go to renewable sources of energy to avoid dependence on an increasingly despotic Russia who plans to use their huge energy resources as a political weapon.

Murray also says

I rather despair of the many on the Left who seem to accept Bush and Blair’s risible “With us or against us” logic, and conclude that any opponent of Bush is a good person. Anyone who believes that the Russian oligarchs are not just as evil and machinating as Dick Cheney, has switched off his critical faculties.

Indeed, the opponent of my opponent may not only not be a friend or ally but  instead equally loathsome.

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Not only do their power plants use water for cooling, some of the power is from hydro. So it’s a double whammy. The price of electricity is rising fast, and the drought continues.

Solar, wind, and wave power, anyone?

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I blogged recently about Dion Dimucci. This post covers some of the exceptional music done by him and the Belmonts.

Dion. King of the New York Streets
This 3 CD set of features Dion with the Belmonts, then later on his own. His work here spans thirty years and a multitude of styles. For example, his version of “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix is so different from the original that it takes some time until you realize what the song is. And the arrangement works. “Abraham, Martin and John”, written 20 minutes after RFK was assassinated, was his biggest hit. While the spotlight may have fallen off him, he continues to record excellent music, and the third CD in the set includes his recent work.

Dion. Bronx in Blue
Released in 2006, this acoustic blues CD covers blues classics and Hank Williams as well, and was nominated for two Grammys.

On his website Dion says he grew up listening to blues and Hank Williams because there was no rock and roll then and how that, decades later, led to Bronx in Blue.

Black music, filtered through an Italian neighborhood, comes out with an attitude. Rock & Roll. Yo! The music on this CD was the undercurrent of every song I did: Runaround Sue, The Wanderer, even the foot stomping on Ruby Baby I got from John Lee Hooker’s Walkin’ Boogie.

The Belmonts. Cigars, Acappella, Candy (1971)
This stunning gem features the Belmonts singing acappella, without instrumental accompaniment. Songs include doo wop classics, George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord”, and ends with a 14-song medley showstopper, “Street Corner Symphony.”

Dion and the Belmonts. Reunion Madison Square Garden ‘72
A reviewer at the time said, “this wasn’t a reunion concert, it was a religious experience.” The audience was remarkable and Dion and the Belmonts responded in kind.

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