Pussyfooting, pussy riot - whatever - @ No 10

The word 'pussy' in the nicest possible way, you understand, is in vogue. Arturo was not amused! He thought it made fun of us pussys! I disagree. Any news about a pussy is good news as far as I'm concerned. Take for instance, the use of 'pussyfooting' by the Mop-Head Johnson.

Stop 'pussyfooting' and build London a new airport, Boris Johnson tells David Cameron:Mayor demands action after Games boosts his popularity, and hints he may run for Parliament

That was the bold headline in the Independent. The article by Nigel Morris must have sent shivers down the spine of 'Boy David' Cameron! How he secretly must have wished that the London Mayor was still dangling in mid-air from the zip-wire! Maybe he even hoped that the wire had snapped and catapulted the 'Mop-Head' into outer space!

The article continued:

The Mayor hit out over the delay of consultation into the expansion of airport capacity. He insisted that South-East England needed a new airport to meet rapidly growing demand, arguing that building a third runway at Heathrow would not be sufficient.

"The Government needs to stop pussy-footing around. I don't think you can rely on Heathrow," he told the London Evening Standard. "Even if the Government was so mad and wrong to try to do the third runway or mixed-mode [having take-offs and landings on the same runway], those solutions would rapidly run out of usefulness and time."

Mop-Head Johnson mischievously suggested that there was a rift between Chancellor 'Georgy' Osborne and the beloved PM over the new airport. Perish the thought! Nothing daunted our impetuous 'Mop-Head' continued - murdering the English language in the process:

"The attempt to try and long-grass it for three years into the other side of the election is just not realistic. Totally mad and it won't work."

Now, I ask you - when did the verb 'to long-grass' come into being? I long-grass, you long-grass, he/she/it long-grasses!! Doesn't work, does it? But Mop-Head Johnson is not one for niceties when he's out for blood. And he is out for the scalp of 'Boy David' Cameron. Or - to be more correct, it's not exactly the scalp he wants - after all he has a mop of hair and poor old 'Boy David' is rather thinning on top. No - what has been suggested is that he has set his sights on No 10 itself!

The article by Morris went on:

Mr Johnson, who is favourite to succeed Mr Cameron despite not being an MP, remained opaque about his future ambitions. He said it was "nonsense" that he would seek a parliamentary seat while still Mayor. But asked if he could try to return to the Commons afterwards, he said: "I honestly don't know the answer to that question."

The impact the Games has had on Mr Johnson's public profile was underlined yesterday by an Ipsos MORI opinion poll which found that 61 per cent of people had a more positive view of him that they did before London 2012. He scored significantly more highly than Mr Cameron, who scored 43 per cent.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/stop-pussyfooting-and-build-london-a-new-airport-boris-johnson-tells-david-cameron-8050594.html

And now for the 'pussy riot'! The Russian punk feminist band is in trouble! After their trial, the sentence was announced - two years in a penal colony! Shades of 'A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch' or what? It seems, however, that the Russian Orthodox church are now requesting clemency. Whatever that means, in such a context!

According to Miriam Elder in the Observer:

Pussy Riot trial gives Russia 'the image of a medieval dictatorship': Even some of Putin's supporters are aghast at the penal term handed out to the feminist punks. Amid a global storm of protest, signs have emerged that they might be released early – but a deep national rift remains

The article stated:

A Moscow judge rejected the defence's argument that the band's performance of an anti-Vladimir Putin "punk prayer" was a form of political protest and found that it was motivated by hatred for Russian Orthodoxy.

Amnesty International called the verdict a "travesty". "[It] shows that the Russian authorities will stop at no end to suppress dissent and stifle civil society," Michelle Ringuette, of Amnesty, said in a statement.

"Each step in the case has been an affront to human rights," she said, calling the verdict "a bitter blow to freedom in Russia".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/18/pussy-riot-russia-global-protest?newsfeed=true

So pussys - (or should that be pussies - sticking to rules of plurality!) are very much in the news. Be they 'footing' or 'rioting', the cats certainly know how to get a bit of publicity.

As for this cat - I'm off to collect some sardine heads for poor old Arturo who is in a state of agitation over the whole 'pussy' business!

'Bye'