I continued to subsidise him, thinking that I was helping with his rent and not realising that he spent the money on drugs.
Brook's motivations were pragmatic – the French were prepared to subsidise him to work in the slow, long-term way he wanted, the British were not.
But, for Mr Putin, Mr Lukashenka is a useful idiot, if an exasperating one, and Russia continues to subsidise him with cheap energy sales.The more important reason is the influence that little Belarus could be exerting on mighty Russia.
Still fired up, on Tuesday evening Bolt posted a link to the offending article in the Australian headed "An editor who loses that much money shouldn't disparage the papers subsidising him".
He allowed the French to take his oil and wood; they subsidised and protected him.
His contraceptive services are subsidised by the NGO, allowing him to supply comprehensive counselling for a nominal fee.
To keep leftists in his broad coalition government sweet, the Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, will also grumble about EU rules banning him from subsidising social housing, and forcing him to put public-transport services out to tender.
The other members of Talking Heads used to make fun of him, calling him Pee-wee Herman, after the dorky TV character, but on the current tour he has subsidised a small fleet of fold-ups and many of his band join him on his excursions.
"So far the only point I can remember is one where an ex-neighbour of ours recalled (in an otherwise entirely kind and welcome comment) me telling him, years ago, that my SF novels effectively subsidised the mainstream works.
Facing him, armed with his own immense private equity wealth subsidised by the riches of newly-emoldened corporations and rightwing tycoons, Mitt Romney will be commanding his own war chest that is certain to stretch well above $500,000.
