Beer Good, Dictators Bad

Something I hadn't realised about Brewdog when I did my unpaid advertising for them on Friday, is that in one important way they have in fact followed in my footsteps, by pointing out how unconvincing Putin's heterosexuality is:

A Scottish brewery has launched a ‘not for gays' beer in protest at Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay laws, and have even sent a crate to the Russian leader himself.

The limited-edition ‘Hello, My Name is Vladimir’ beer features a Warhol-esque impression of Vladimir Putin wearing make-up on its label and the satirical *not for gays small print across the bottom.

BrewDog, the brewery responsible for creating the ‘protest beer’ included the following description on the labels: “Hello, my name is Vladimir. I am 100 per cent hetero and will pass laws to prove it.

On the subject of the camp Cossack, negotiations with Putin over the war in Ukraine are a complete waste of time. Russia has broken every treaty it has ever signed with respect to Ukraine and its assault will only be stopped if the Ukrainians are given weapons to fight back. It is much like the wars in the former Yugoslavia in that regard, the peace treaties signed by Belgrade meant nothing until Croatia was given the resources to fight back.

Moscow's Wikiwar

An obscure Wikipedia article about a type of fighter jet has been the subject of an edit war today. Why? Because it is about a "Sukhoi Su-25", and Russia's latest propaganda claim is that a Ukrainian SU-25 was detected near the downed Malaysian flight MH17.

The problem is that the Su-25 can only fly up to 23000 feet- which is far too low to have been intercepting the passenger plane that was flying at 33000 feet. So once the physical impossibility of the Kremlin's claim was pointed out, the Putinbots began to frantically edit Wikipedia like an army of Johann Haris.

If it weren't about the slaughter of 300 civilians the amateurishness of Putin's lies would be comical.

Women And Children First

In the New Republic an ethnic Russian writes about Putin's pledge to protect them:

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has interesting ideas about what it means to protect people. On March 4^th, he articulated a doctrine of hiding Russian forces, future invaders of more of Ukraine, behind women and children: “Listen carefully. I want you to understand me clearly: if we make that decision it will only be to protect Ukrainian citizens. And let’s see those troops try to shoot their own people, with us behind them – not in the front, but behind. Let them just try to shoot at women and children! I would like to see those who would give that order in Ukraine.”

I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise given what we know about Putin's character- the German intelligence agencies knew that he was a drunken wife beater back in his KGB days, he doesn't do fair fights- but that is low even for a thieving, murdering dictator like Putin.

Via Harry's Place

Putin Love- From The Left & Right

Something which has been obvious for some time is that any newspaper that criticises Putin will be overwhelmed with comments supportive of the Kremlin. Indeed judging from newspaper comment sections you would think that far from being one of the least trusted governments on Earth, as polls suggest, that Putin was wildly popular. Part of that is paid Russian shills as could be inferred by the tone and poor English of many comments but some of them are genuine.

These appear to people on the far left- the Seamus Milnes and George Galloways of this world- and those on the paleo right. I don't mean the strict non interventionists who have been dismayed by the disastrous result of the Iraq War but those who are actually pro-Putin. While few on the right are quite as craven as Pat Buchanan who seems to think that the USA should be run from Moscow the idea does keep coming up that Putin is a conservative.

It's true to an extent, but only because conservative is a meaningless term in an international sense. If what you're conserving is state autocracy and unchecked power you aren't exactly a political descendent of Edmond Burke. Some point to his campaign for "family values" and religion, but on that basis Mullah Omar is an ally- there is a dividing line between "Culturally conservative" and "Primitive".

Others seem to like him because he is hostile to the EU. I favour leaving the EU but to find the organisation to be worse than Putin's Russia shows a complete lack of proportion. The EU passes directives that interfere in an unwarranted manner in domestic politics, Russia invades countries who refuse to let the Kremlin decide their economic alliances. Of course he is quite useful for Europhiles in any case- who thinks the British public would vote for withdrawal from an international club while a dictator is attacking isolated countries?

So How's That Reset Coming Along?

I'm beginning to suspect that the "reset " the Obama administration offered to Putin in 2009 might not be going so well. In this Obama's delusion was that the poor relations between Russia and the USA was due to something Bush had done because he looks at the world entirely through the prism of US domestic politics.

The real cause is that the Putin's Russia seems unable to have civil relations as equals with it's neighbours and instead tries to dominate, intimidate and control them. The USA is not unusual in being targeted by Russia, even neutral Sweden gets the threatening treatment.

It is the geo-political equivalent of the retarded kid whose been held back a couple of years and can't socialise with his class mates but can beat them up. Although even an actual retarded kid would be hard pressed to have handled the Ukrainian situation less effectively than Putin.

Putin Gay Update- Other People Are Noticing Now!

There's a joke going round this week:

People seem shocked that

1. Nelson Mandela died aged 95.
2. Tom Daley is gay.
3. England probably won't win the World Cup.

I'm thinking of becoming a fortune teller.

If anything Vladimir Putin's sexuality is more obvious than Tom Daley's was, but a biographer of the Russian president has noticed what I pointed out several years ago:

Author Stanislav Belkovsky claims Putin’s macho man image is a PR invention and his alleged affair with the gymnast Alina Kabaeva was made up.
In the book, Putin, Belkovsky adds: “Sex and a sex life to him are alien.”
He also speculates that Putin, famed for his topless wilderness shots, is “latently gay”.

I wouldn't go on about it, except for the obvious links with his anti-gay policies.

Putin Pics

Yeah, he's still quite gay:

He isn't only playing doctor though, he's also an adorable sailor:

First pic via Julia the 2nd one seen at Harry's Place.

Sigh

The Daily Mash reports:

MUSCULAR homosexual Russian men have been giving free titillating car washes in support of their beloved Vladimir Putin.

The handsome, hairy gay men who called themselves Putin's Bear Army showed their support for Russia's prime minister by donning tight denim cut-offs and getting soapy at the event in downtown Moscow.

Self-styled 'Putin bear' Oleg Komarov said: "Putin is a strong and powerful leader with excellent economic policies. He is also insanely hot and droolsome.

"I love it when he takes his shirt off and plays with guns. Of course a gun is just a metal penis, all gays know this.

"One time I saw a bead of sweat drip from his left nipple as he climbed a cliff face. I said 'hubba hubba' under my breath without even thinking about it.

"Vladimir Putin truly inspires me to go out and have anal sex with men."

Truly Vladly Deeply

Texas teacher with 'man crush' on Vladimir Putin granted rare interview

Move along, nothing to see.

Putin Gayness Update

I've decided to lay off the speculation about Vladimir Putin's sexuality for a while. After all only a vigourously heterosexual man would be so concerned with getting millions of Russian women up the duff.

So here is a nice picture of Vlad enjoying a day out with some bikers:

Hat tip to Mark Wadsworth

Man Crush

Tough-guy Putin calls DiCaprio 'a real man'

This does not surprise me at all.

Oooh He's So Butch.

In the comments below Yaffle points out more evidence for the "Putin is Gay" casefile:



No doubt further picture will emerge of Vlad the Impaler attending events dressed as a cowboy, a Red Indian and a builder.

Putin: Still Quite Gay

Going on a date with a Hollywood bachelor to watch men getting sweaty. Yep he's still gay.

Vladimir & His Life Partner.

To return to one of this blog's most familiar themes*, the glaring obvious homosexuality of Vladimir Putin, here is a link to a photo gallery of him and Dmitri Medvedev.

{via the Agitator}

* I don't know whether I was kicked off the meme, but if you google "Putin" "Gay" then this blog is the 4th most popular result, and all the higher ranked results are more recent.

Gordon Brown Is Right

Gordon Brown is being criticised by Tory MP Greg Hands for not having met with Vladimir Putin yet. Hands contrasts this with Tony Blair who met Putin almost as soon as the latter took office and points to this piece by David Hughes in the Telegraph which claims:

His early courtship of Putin paid handsome dividends the two men got on famously thereafter.

Well that's nice to know, but the purpose of diplomacy isn't to ensure a friendly personal relationship between leaders, but to advance and protect our country's interests. Under the Blair Putin relationship the Russian government felt secure enough to practice nuclear terrorism in London. (Not to mention the unpleasant stuff it committed within it's own borders)

Compared to this I'd say Gordon Brown's approach is much the better approach.

Told You So.

Putin likes a big juicy sausage. I'm not sure why this is news I've been going on about it for almost a year.

The Sincerity Of A Greeting Card.

Gordon Brown is pleased by the effusive praise for his 'extraordinary leadership' he received by the US president Barack Oprompta, which is understandable given the latter's impressive popularity.

It certainly sounds impressive until you realise that he says something similar about everyone, even Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, whose leadership he also praised, which is akin to praising Kermit the Frog for his stewardship of the Muppet show whilst not mentioning Jim Henson.

Eurovision Defends Biggest Fan.

Apparantly a Eurovision entry from Georgia has been rejected because it insults Vladimir Putin. I can nderstand Eurovision's decision because you just know that he is one of their biggest fans.

Putin Still Gay.

I pointed this out months ago, to the chagrin of some*, but now the Sun have also noticed that Vladimir Putin is gayer than Liberace ice skating to Village People in a tutu.



* I quote- "A couple of months ago, the individual who blogs at 'Unenlightened Commentary' wrote what I think was meant to be a satirical piece concerning Vladimir Putin's sexuality.". Nope not satire, just a response to the ever more ludicrous propaganda emanating from the Kremlin, shooting a tiger for fuck's sake!

Is Putin Gay?

I saw Vladimir Putin on the ITV news grappling with a fit young man supposedly practiscing Judo. This is the latest in a long line of publicity stunts by the Russian dictator that seek to make him appear more manly.

• Shooting a tiger, with a TV crew coincidentally on hand to capture the moment.
• Being photographed strolling around bare chested on holiday.
• Having rumours spread that he is going out with a much younger woman.

I can think of two possible reasons for this, as a short, slightly built, middle aged man who has only ever worked as a bureaucrat he is desperate to appear more like action man or secondly he is in the closet. When you combine the rather desperate attempts to be more masculine with other aspects of his life, such as:

• his membership of the KGB (MI-6 famously attracted a lot of homosexuals so I'd guess the same dynamic is true for the KGB).
• Surrounding himself with young male advisers, including the Ken doll lookalike who succeeded him as president.
• Holidaying with Prince Albert of Monaco, who is widely rumoured to be gay.

I'm not saying he definitely is gay and it doesn't bother me if he is, although being a mass murdering dictator does bother me, but it explains a lot. It might also be why he doesn't want a free press to operate in Russia.

Update : In the comments Alison points to Vladimir's rather flamboyant aesthetic tastes. It's very Elton John like.