Vladimir Putin admits stage managing animal stunts

My laugh for the day, actually turned into a pretty cool lesson, in diplomacy.

Raise your hand if you didn't know Mr. P sets up his "cause ops".
Those empty "Al Capone" vault moments can be just a little embarrassing,
as well as, does nothing for the "cause" that's being promoted
Mr. P has a thing for wildlife, so he promotes it's conservation.
It's pretty admirable, as well as unique. I sure can't think of any other world leader that does as much.

Mr P. not only addressed an issue (that apparently people didn't actually know about) of contention, but he also did it with alot of finesse, and in doing so he allowed, Ms. Gessen to keep her pride, as well as her dignity.
I probably would have just said,..... "Duh"....

Vladimir Putin has admitted to staging some of his most famous stunts, including meeting endangered big cats and the "discovery" of ancient Greek amphorae in the Black sea, a Russian journalist has claimed.

Why is Putin stockpiling gold?

Because he's very smart, that's why. The dollar is going to die and Russia is not going down.

I can’t imagine it means anything cheerful that Vladimir Putin, the Russian czar, is stockpiling gold as fast as he can get his hands on it.

According to the World Gold Council, Russia has more than doubled its gold reserves in the past five years. Putin has taken advantage of the financial crisis to build the world’s fifth-biggest gold pile in a handful of years, and is buying about half a billion dollars’ worth every month.

It emerged last month that financial gurus George Soros and John Paulson had also increased their bullion exposure, but it’s Putin that’s really caught my eye.

No one else in the world plays global power politics as ruthlessly as Russia’s chilling strongman,

Vladimir Putin: Syria reform 'cannot come with bloodshed'

Welcome back Mr.P.
You are such a refreshing "Voice of Reason".

Speaking in his first full television interview since resuming the presidency, Mr Putin said: “Today some people want to use militants from al-Qaeda or some other organisations with equally radical views to accomplish their goals in Syria. This policy is dangerous and very short-sighted.”

The Russian leader was responding to a host at the Kremlin-controlled RT channel who suggested that western and Arab nations were “sponsoring terrorism” by supporting the rebel coalition, the Free Syrian Army, which was “suspected of hiring known al-Qaeda fighters”.

Do you ever hear any of this wisdom from any of our leaders?
NO!

Mr Putin expressed agreement with the assessment and said: “In that case, one should unlock Guantanamo, arm all of its inmates and bring them to Syria to do the fighting - it's practically the same kind of people.”

He warned against foreign intervention in Syria, saying that “no one is confident” that US troops will have stabilised Afghanistan by the time they withdraw.

“The most important task today is ending the violence," he added. “We must urge all the warring parties, including the government and the so-called rebels, the armed opposition, to sit down at the negotiating table and decide on a future that would guarantee security for all of the stakeholders within Syria.”