Dressed to distress; borders, bikers, Bolsheviks and black fingerless gloves.

There was a little story from the AP yesterday that I'm sure will have been read more closely in Finland than in most other countries;  Vladimir Putin wants to commemorate the Soviet soldiers who died in the Winter War against Finland in 1939-40. According to the AP:

Putin said Thursday at a meeting with military historians that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin launched the war to “correct mistakes” made in drawing the border with Finland after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.

I'm not sure if many historians would agree with that analysis but that's by the by. Anyway, the Washington Post had illustrated the story with the somewhat tangentially connected picture of Putin giving an award to the head of some Russian biker group, Alexander "the surgeon" Zaldostanov for his patriotic youth work or some such. A quick google on Mr. Zaldostanov shows that he and Mr. Putin have been friends for some time, but more to the point the both seem keen on black fingerless gloves!

It's a long time since I last noted the black fingerless glove issue in these pages, but it's a 'thing', honest guv'! My global-mayhem-fashion/black fingerless gloves all-encompassing theory of international relations is still developing, but tentatively I'm will to say, when they are worn (or worse - when just one is worn) be nervous.

(There are more images of Putin with fingerless gloves on in this photo essay along with some frankly disturbing shirts-off imagery.)