A last thought for the night..
Eight oil workers, six Brits, one Canadian, and one American, have been kidnapped by men armed with automatic rifles, from their rig in the Niger Delta. The men apparently managed to get a radio SOS out before they were taken off..
Now it's not unusual for kidnappings in that particular area of the world, in fact it might be said to be close to a national industry.
But what it does is underline the need we have, to distance ourselves from Middle Eastern and African oil.
We are working on arrangements now with Russia to supply us with natural gas. This is a move that is multi-faceted, one of which is to forge an economic alliance between Britain and Russia, over a long-term. This would solidify both the British and the Russian positions among those comprising the European Union.
It also puts some pressure on Russia, to continue the trend which seems of late to have been reversed, that of capitalism, and all it entails. This includes allowing gay-rights marches. Closer ties between Russia and Britain would seem to be inevidable, and with the G8 meetings planned for Moscow, it would enhance Russia's economic credibility within that group to announced a deal for gas exports to a country already credible and established, a country the other members of the Union would like to see more involved in the Unification process.
It can't do us any harm either, knowing Gran's fire will not peter out when our own supplies do.