Trained by the KGB, talks like the KGB and acts like the KGB, still.

That's just marvelous. If this was a movie-quote, people would say it all the time, now it's just mental.

One has to have patience with mr. Putin until he'll be the new Russian Czar. Then, he'll stop circumcising and speaking in public.

Dens

Unfortunately it isn't a movie quote, this is not fiction. It comes from one of the most powerfull man on earth and it tells us a lot about his mentality. In his country being a journalist is still a dangerous profession. Think Anna.
Besides, replace the word muslim by jew and you have a clearly antisemetic remark.

Does someone know why Putin is kissing the belly of that small boy?

Recent reseach indicates that (male) circumcision is an important instrument against the spreading of AIDS. Being a true world leader Mr Putin must have wanted to make his own symbolic personal contribution to this battle.

Ron

I know that your comment is written with irony, but how scientific is that study? People tend to believe a lot of nonsense.

A kiss before the stab under the belt! Mister Putin is a charming street fighting man.

@Mieke, That part of the entry was not ironic. According to WHO and UNAIDS there are serious scientific indications that the tissue of foreskin is very susceptible to HIV-infection. Both organisations are therefore in favour of circumcision (AND the use of condoms).

http://data.unaids.org/pub/Report/2007/mc_recommendations_en.pdf

Ron

Thanks.

@ Ron

I'm curious about the way the research was done. F.i. did they ask 100 men (50 circumcised and 50 not) - to have sex with the same infected person? Did they test on animals first?
When I travelled in Marocco some 20 years ago, a French teacher told me Muslims can't get the virus, because they don't eat pigsmeat.
At the same time some people in Holland talked about being safe from HIV-mosquito-bites when they were living at a higher floor than the 6th in a building, because a mosquito couldn't fly that high....

Putin has got the sense of humour of a 14-year old bully.

@Jeanette: Different studies have used different methods. The new scientist of 3 april 2004 published a study in India comparing infection rates in 2000 of 2300 men that were uninfected in 1993. 0.7% of the circumcised men were infected, 5,5 % of the uncircumcised men. Recent studies in Africa show similar reductions of percentages.
It's not zero, so it's not implied that circumcision is a substitute for safe sex, but it would probably reduce the huge amount of AIDS infected people in some countries where it threatens to disrupt society.

(Sorry for using so much space.)

Ron

Feel free to use as much space as you need. Your comments make sense.

Klaas-Jan Gorter

The little boy is Nikita. It happened in the Kremlin in 2006. Mr. Putin's words about te incident: " He seemed very independent and serious. I wanted to cuddle him like a kitten and it came out in this gesture. He seemed so nice..... There i s nothing behind it."

Klaas-Jan Gorter

From an article on the BBC website about this incident:

Russia's Izvestia newspaper, which later found Nikita, reported that he had refused to wash after the kiss.

"I just liked him [Mr Putin] and he liked me very much. I want to be president myself," the boy was quoted by the daily as saying.

Mieke & Oscar

Thanks. for the explanation. Pretty weird story. Reminds me of some other politicians who liked to cuddle young admirers.

@Ron

Just one more time about your intersting topic, if you don't mind.
Did the research take in account the different types of (sexual) lifestyle of the men?
I read about women having a smaller change to get some types of cervical cancer/HPV when they have sex with circumcised men. So it is interesting to read in your link that for HIV there is a difference in the risks for men but not for women.

@Jeanette: That may indeed be a relevant point: as far as I know there was no differentiation as to sexual lifestyle in the studies conducted in India and Africa. A study among some 2000 black and latino gay men in the US did not result in significant differences related to circumcision.

On Circumcision and Poetin

I too read that study saying that circumcision lowers the risk of getting infected by HIV. It was because the top of the penis is subject to more wear and tear and thus making the upper layer thicker/harder. This makes the whole top of the penis less penetrable for the HIV-Virus.
But when I lived in Panama I was contacted by a cult and I went to some readings. At these readings they would talk about condoms and how they were a lie and why you shouldn't wear them to protect yourself (didn't specify for babies or virusses). This was the idea behind the lie:

"Have you ever blown up a balloon and noticed how it would deflate over time? Yes? Why do you think that would be?" boy in public: "because the texture of the balloon isn't a solid mass, but a maze and the air escapes out of the maze very slowly". "Yes," said the guru, "now, the same thing happens with a condom. And if you know that the molecule of the HIV-virus is 400 times smaller than an air-molecule, you understand that condoms aren't effective."

He was quite charasmatic, this guy, but his words made no sense.

Poetin, on the other hand, is also a charasmatic person, and his words do make sense. He's such a great leader and a crook. this bellybuttonkissing probably is a sign for "Take this kid and make it head of the KGB someday."

Talking about circumcision.. I 'm still interested in begin jewish. 'm growing some peyos since a month or 3 I think, but they're not really noticable. I think I accidently shave them when I shave in the shower.

Dens

Maybe you should start with the circumcision. Less visible, more painfull for you, but hey one should be prepared to suffer a little for the things ones fancy and according to the comments above, more healthy.

"one's fancy" should be "one fancies", I think.