A questionable stir

The picture shown below, as it appears, caused a lot of knickers to become twisted - literally.

So much so, that Russia gives it its undivided attention. AP, ever so careful with non-Israel-related affairs, gave the story a somewhat subdued headline:

Photos of bare-chested Putin create stir

At least one part of the population experiences these days much more than just a stir.

Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that women who visited its Web site posted comments on Putin's "vigorous torso" and said they "were screaming with delight and showering (him) with compliments."

It looks like Vladimir Vladimirovich will have to avoid public appearances for a while, otherwise no quantity or quality of bodyguards will be able to save him from a bitter end: asphyxiation by overwhelming quantities of flying female underwear.

Other groups of interest were, however, more subdued in their response to the pictures. GLBT folks are split on their impressions. We have interviewed a prominent representative of the Russian G fraction of this group. Since he wishes to remain anonymous, we, acording to the Elders' policy of openness, are happy to tell that his real name is Sergey Mokrozadov and his phone is +792593936699. These are his words (translated):

Yeah, I have seen that picture. The truth is, military-looking fatigues, fingerless gloves, a bush hat and chic sunglasses do not do it for me. Even that second picture (referring to the one below) where he is obviously doing his best to be attractive to us, doesn't exactly cut the mustard.

Stir? I don't know from a stir. Let's call it a budge, OK? In fact, I talked with a few fellows of my persuasion, and the response varied from "slightest tremor" via "budge", "shift", "tweet", "twitch" to "some vague vibe". One person even used the term "murmur", but he is known to exaggerate occasionally. And there definitely wasn't a mention of what you would call... hard feeling, if you get my drift...

What? Leading the next pride parade in Moscow? Forget it! We have much better... er... equipped members.

We have translated for Sergey the following passage from the article:

Yevgeny Volk, who heads the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office, said the political elite increasingly views Putin as a lame duck leader and that the photos only strengthen the impression that he should no longer be taken seriously.

Sergey response was: "That's cool with me, dudes. Better tell ya'll about my boyfriend: Putin can..." The rest of the interview will remained sealed in our archives, at least till the current presidency term is over - to avoid a nuclear conflagration. Unlike that Volk fellow, we take Vladimir Vladimirovich seriously, as this article witnesses.

***