Les Amis

When I was in the US, I had long catch-up conversations with maybe eight or nine friends. Since I’ve been home, I’ve done the same with maybe four or five friends in Belfast. I think one of the best things about my life is the wonderful people who have dropped in along the way. I make an effort to keep them in my lives because I love them all.

March 22

Today I met one of my former Queen’s professors for tea. I occasionally edit papers for him and he wants me to edit something for a friend of his. Marek focuses on competition law in the E.U. He is particularly interested in Gazprom and how it gets away with anti-competitive practices that wouldn’t be tolerated at Apple, for instance. Europe is dependent on Russian gas for heating, so the Gazprom case has involved years of tip toeing. He thinks Europe is buying time until it decreases its dependence on fossil fuels.

It has been interesting to see the fallout of the second and third poisonings of Russian exiles in England. England prostrated itself to the Russian oligarchs (they own quite a lot of property in London, they enjoy tax havens, they keep a lot of lawyers/accountants/real estate types in clover). So there could be economic damage to the UK if it stands up to the Russian heavies. Russia is not so much a state as a criminal enterprise. Allowing it to sink its tentacles into British soil was a big mistake.

March 23