The one pound fifty for 'The Financial Times' is not a reader friendly price, although I am sure that most of the readers of that paper don't think on those terms. Still, with 'The Guardian' and the other "quality" papers selling for about eighty pence that one pound fifty is sort of prohibitive, I mean one pound twenty alright and maybe even one pound forty but when you get to one pound fifty ............... well! Still, I bought the paper today because I do think it is good journalism and I was beginning to grow weary of the daily 'Guardian' diet.
Georgia is off of the front pages but the papers are still giving extensive coverage to the Russian pullout or not pullout and in the 'FT today the pullout and metamorphosed into a pullback.1 The Russians are in the area to stay and one wonders to what extent conflict is inevitable in the Caucasus. More important, however, is the situation in the Ukraine. There the Russian lease agreement with Kiev for the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol expires in 2017 and what are the odds against Moscow refusing to remove the fleet. That along with potential support for Russian separatists in the Crimea could be the source of a conflict that might make the conflict in Georgia seem like a harmless sideshow.
The good thing about returning to the United Kingdom is that I no longer feel a part of it. Being an observer, how wonderful! Alright I have the passport, the Scottish accent and the national insurance number, but I really do feel that I am on the outside looking in and one thing you would have to say in all honesty, well there is a little word that rymes with Brit and you might want to use the quantifier "full of" ......... The caramel wafers and the wine gums are great though and it was rather pleasant on saturday walking through Chelsea and on Friday I am off home to Munich and Fuerstenfelfburck and the quality of Chelsea for a fraction of the price.
1 'The Financial Times', August 20, 2008, p6
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