THERE is no lack of variety in current opinions on the global economic downturn. Even the use of a word like ‘downturn’ is questionable - oil companies and commodities producers are enjoying boomtime while everyone else is talking doomtime.
I won’t even bother adding my own totally inexpert opinion on what may or may not happen. Things will get better and worse, not necessarily in that order.
THE RISING price of food is the top topic of conversation in Riga right now - at least among the non-chattering classes. Expensive milk and bread hits the poorest hardest. Combine that with angry farmers being squeezed by the supermarkets from one side and fearful of the prospect of a reformed Common Agricultural Policy on the other, and there is the makings of a food crisis.
THIS fine figure of Russian manhood was spotted strolling along the promenade in Yalta a couple of weeks ago. While he may not be exactly the ideal embodiment of Homo Sovieticus, he undoubtedly has a certain style and bags of character. Wonder which Black Sea Fleet battleship he commands?
Seeing as the chances of Baltic Outlook using this shot in their glossy pages are somewhere between slim and negligible, I thought I would take the opportunity to share him with the rest of the world via the Baltic Bulletin.
To see some of the other shots from the Crimean trip, visit our Flickr site.
We salute you, Cap’n - a credit to the navy!
