Not to beat a dead horse, but...

One of the unfortunate side-effects of relying on a story from the Russian media is the fact that there is a better-than-even chance that what you've read is a crock from the get-go. (Or at least, that's how it feels sometimes.) So I queried Google with the rather unlikely combination of "Putin" and "circumcision." A hit came up from the Western media, in a story in The Scotsman:

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an extraordinary outburst, suggested that a French reporter who questioned the Kremlin’s policy in Chechnya convert to Islam and come to Moscow for circumcision.

And later:

A reporter for the French newspaper, Le Monde, had asked him about reports that Russia used heavy weapons against Chechen civilians.

Mr Putin’s political rise rested partly on his hard line on Chechen separatists. He responded: "If you want to become an Islamic radical and have yourself circumcised, I invite you to come to Moscow.

"Our nation is multi-confessional, we have experts in the field. I would recommend that he who does the surgery does it so you’ll have nothing growing back afterward."

Yet another formulation, it would appear. At least, it's certainly different from what was posted (in Russian) on Lenta.ru.

A few lines later, we find a description of the interpretation:

The Russian president’s interpreters gave only intermittent translation during Mr Putin’s remarks, which were apparently delivered rapidly and with agitation.

The exact meaning of what he said was not widely understood among the 450 journalists, and only became clear yesterday when translated from an audiotape of the news conference.

And another version of what, according to the Lenta.ru report, came before the "invitation":

"They talk about the need to kill all ... non-Muslims, or ‘crusaders’, as they put it. If you are a Christian, you are in danger.

"If you decided to abandon your faith and become an atheist, you also are to be liquidated according to their concept. You are in danger if you decide to become a Muslim. It is not going to save you anyway because they believe traditional Islam is hostile to their goals."

So what is clear is that the "data" describing what happened is contradictory, and this article suggests that Putin's interpreters were not necessarily trying to Save The Boss, but were dealing with an agitated principal who was running off at the mouth.

Cheers...

A sugar-induced hallucination...

I'm at the store, just back from the next-door City Market with some donuts. While checking out, I spied a headline on one of those Inquirer-type rags that inhabit the magazine racks at the check-out (and which pass for mainstream press in some parts of Europe). In great, screaming letters, the issue promised to reveal to the reader Osama bin Laden's predictions for the future. (Insert your favorite bin Laden joke here.)

Anyway, it got me to thinking about a similar headline I saw while checking out of the Wal-Mart in Durango last Sunday, as Galina and I stocked up on groceries on the way home to Pagosa. The headline proclaimed something along the lines of "Tablet found with three lost Commandments!" I chuckled as I passed by, recalling another headline from several years back, informing the gullible that Noah's Ark had finally been found, intact, in Pennsylvania.

Seeing today's headline gave me pause, however. I had missed an opportunity at Wal-Mart. If three new commandments had been uncovered, it would have been an ideal chance to find out if the Eleventh Commandment really was "Thou shalt not get caught."

:^)

Cheers...