Do I Feel Sorry For President Putin?
You spent all this money on bringing the Winter Olympic Games to Sochi, so you can laud it over the world and especially when your beloved Russia, win the gold medal in your favourite sport; ice hockey.
But then your team gets knocked out in the quarter finals by the Finns.
I think we should all remember that the Russians don’t have a good record against the Finns in the winter.
I used to play real tennis with a Finn. He was very proud of the part his father had played in halting the Russians. He still had the white cotton ski suit his father had worn, stuffed with straw for warmth. This sentence from the Wikipedia article describes the Finnish resistance.
The Finns used effective guerrilla tactics, taking special advantage of superior skiing skills and snow-white layered clothing and executing many surprise ambushes and raids. By the end of December, the Soviets decided to retreat and transfer resources to more critical fronts.
I suspect there was a lot of celebration in Finland after the ice hockey victory.
Russia’s Biggest Problem
A few years ago, I read a book called PeopleQuake, which talked about how some countries like Russia have a birthrate that is not enough to sustain the population. Apparently, in Russia, the women didn’t want to have children, as the men might not be there to be a good father.
This article illustrates the problem with Russian men and their drinking and other bad habits. Here’s the first paragraph.
The high number of early deaths in Russia is mainly due to people drinking too much alcohol, particularly vodka, research suggests.
PeopleQuake reckoned that putting the drunk; Boris Yeltsin in charge, was the real problem, as he reversed all of the previous reforms, that were aimed at cutting down on cheap vodka.
The BBC article says this.
In 1985, the then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev drastically cut vodka production and did not allow it to be sold before lunch-time.
Researchers say alcohol consumption fell by around a quarter when the restrictions came in, and so did overall death rates. Then, when communism collapsed, people started drinking more again and the death rates also rose.
So what is Putin doing about improving Russian society? Spending billions on the Sochi games and clamping down on those, who don’t fit the Russian stereotype!
You could also argue, that he doesn’t have a good grasp of foreign policy!
What Did The Pope Say To Putin?
Obviously,no-one knows exactly, but The Sunday Times has a picture of their meeting, with an added speech bubble for the Pope saying.
So what’s it like, being infallible?
I hope Pope Francis gave Putin some sound advice!
Berlusconi And Putin
This story in the IBTimes is also in The Times and is almost unbelievable. Here’s the first three paragraphs.
Vladimir Putin has met Pope Francis in Rome, amid rumours in the Italian media that he is set to appoint the disgraced former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi as Russia’s Ambassador to the Vatican.
Berlusconi is to face a period of community service after his conviction for tax fraud, but could be offered an escape route by his long-term Russian friend.
As ambassador to the Vatican, Berlusconi, who is also appealing a conviction for sex with an underage prostitute and facing new allegations of a £2.5m bribe to a senator, would receive diplomatic immunity from any custodial sentence and be free to maintain his lavish lifestyle.
At least the one thing you can say about Berlusconi, is that he isn’t gay, which is probably why he appeals to the Russian, who Peter Tatchell called the Czar of Homophobia. I hope the Pope is sensible and brave enough to give the dwarf Italian lecher, the Papal Order of the Boot.
Remember that Berlusconi and Putin at 1.65 m and 1.70m are both shorter than my 1.71.
Putin Is The New Tsar
In the iconic film, Dr. Zhivago, set around the time of the Russian Revolution, the question is asked if Lenin is the new Tsar.
But this story on the BBC’s web site really says that Putin might be behaving like a Tsar and is having a palace built on the Black Sea coast.There will be a full report on Newsnight tonight.
The Anonymous Widower 