Posted on 08/25/2010 1:47:47 PM PDT by kronos77
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9nt_IB-vTE&feature=player_embedded
(AFP) – 8 hours ago
MOSCOW — Wielding a crossbow and undeterred by high waves, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday chased whales off Russia's Pacific coast and boasted of the exhilaration of "living dangerously."
Dressed in heavy waterproofs, Putin fired arrows from an inflatable raft off the volcanic Kamchatka Peninsula at a rare grey whale to obtain a skin sample, managing to hit the animal at the fourth attempt.
The hardman antics -- barely thinkable for any other world leader -- were the latest stunt by Putin this summer as he travels across Russia's Far East on a tour that has already netted eye-catching photo opportunities.
"There was a real feeling of exhilaration -- I missed three times but hit on the fourth attempt," Putin told reporters after returning to the shore after a trip of several hours that saw the boat buffeted by a rolling surf.
Television pictures showed the whale breaking the surface of the water as the premier looked on. The skin sample was successfully returned to the shore.
His guide Vladimir Burkanov, a top expert from the Pacific Ocean Institute of Oceanography, dryly commented: "We do not normally work in these conditions. The waves were very high."
All the exploits have been exhaustively broadcast on state media, and the television showed a curious exchange with a shore-bound journalist who asked the premier why he enjoyed such extreme activities.
"I like it. I like our nature. I respect it as it does so much good," said Putin.
"But in principle it's dangerous!" objected the journalist.
"Living in general is dangerous," Putin quipped.
This week alone, Putin has visited a research station inside the Arctic Circle in the Yakutia region and stood metres (yards) away from a bear munching a fish in Kamchatka.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Hey our leader is pretty manly too.........
Putin single handedly chases capitalist whales away from great mother russia’s shores!
*groan*
Must have learned it from Clinton. That guy chased whales too.
Dos Equis man officially demoted to "The World's Second Most Interesting Man" status. Stay thirsty my friend.
I don’t think Vladimir has ever hung a curtain?
I think that for Putin, he nonchalantly has shot people like Obama raises a curtain.
Whilst the US laments its metrosexuality.
does that mean we have to thank him for slapping us?
Is he out hunting Rosie O’Donnell again????
“Two man and a sissy”
Unthinkable to world leaders who do not have a life outside of their political office. Or does no one remember Bush cleaning brush off his ranch.
Putin’s an a-hole.
A least he’s an a-hole that puts his country first, unlike the a-hole in the White House.
Putin puts Putin first, not his country.
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