Pluck and initiative

Actually,

Bush put the watch in his pocket. An alternate camera angle shown on ABC showed him taking it off.

Well, of course, it could be faked.

Like the moon landings.

And the fossil record. err.

Mystic Olly

Whether the watch go stolen or not, who knows.

But what is really interesting is the very warm reception that Bush is getting. And what is really funny is the obviousness of Bush soaking it up, relishing it and enjoying the being treated like a loved leader. I bet he loves Albania, and it will be the highlight of his presidency!

And thats the only place he is going to get this treatment.

Like I said on Bruce Schneier's blog, ask Penn and Teller. If Teller says the watch was stolen, that's good enough for me. It was stolen. Otherwise, it's an open question. I'm not a huge fan of Penn Gillette, but if anyone can spot a pickpocket, it's Teller.

i don't think bush will b able to make up this time

Bush can tell time?

Guess whats just turned up on Albanian ebay.....
http://tinyurl.com/a6hp6

We had a little joke here in Bulgaria- if the president gets killed while in Sofia, finally our minister of internal affairs will file his long-awaited resignation.

I still can't figure out why the president greeted people in Bulgaria with the mano cornuto gesture. He was a bit late for the Iron Maiden concert in Sofia on June4th.

Well, Stephen Colbert just claimed to have it this evening. :)

But in reality, even from the back angle, you can see that Bush is fiddling with his left arm/wrist in front of his body for a moment before he reaches back out toward the crowd. Plenty of time to remove his watch and dispose of it himself.

off topic, but mr. wizard died tuesday...

Oh, how sad! About Mr. Wizard, not the watch. I have a chemist colleague who is old enough to be my dad, and we had a great time when I first started working with him talking about Mr. Wizard; he had watched and loved the shows in the first incarnation, I had done the same when they were revived on Nick. Rest in peace, Don Herbert, you made the world a better place.

Re: Penn and Teller.

Before waiting for Teller's commentary, do we have any assurance that he would actually talk?

Wait... two or three Albanians GRAB THE PRESIDENT'S ARM while he's out in the middle of the crowd and no one is tackled by secret service guys?

MSNBC had a different shot that shows the Prez removing his watch and putting it in his pocket.

Still, we can't get closer than the "Free Speech Zone" and Albanians are running their fingers through his hair? WTF?

Bush made some comments about Priscina a couple of days ago. Could have something to do with his popularity. He probably got some political advice from somebody.

Its simple really, he made statements a few days ago, pressing for the independence of Kosovo, which has a majority of Albanian population, and I guess you don't purge cult personality in 20 years, after Enver Hoxha. And the political reality there is not far from the old days, the government says jump, people tend to.
There is no clear data about religious affiliation in Albania, the majority seem to identify itself as atheistic or agnostic, but the first major religious denomination is certainly Islam. You would wonder the crazy wingnuts like schlussel or malkin would be silent about this, oh wait, they are.

What's with the adoring crowds?

I think their anthem explains a lot about the nuttiness of Albanians:

United around the flag
With one desire and one goal
Let us pledge our word of honor
To fight for our salvation
Only he who is a born traitor
Averts from the struggle
He who is brave is not daunted
But falls - a martyr to the cause
With arms in hand we shall remain
To guard our fatherland round about
Our rights we will not bequeath
Enemies have no place here
For the Lord Himself has said
That nations vanish from the earth
But Albania shall live on
Because for her, it is for her that we fight

Bush should move to Albania. He'd fit right in.

So far I've heard that ABC had a different angle and so did MSNBC. Where are the photos? Why did the original reporting say that Bush was wearing a different watch later in the day? What does the story at MSNBC.com not mention the photos showing Bush taking off his own watch?

If the story is as simple as "we have photos debunking this silly rumor", where are the photos?

It's no surprise that Bush was happy & 'enjoying the crowd'.... He probably thought he was in New York's Capital for a Rethuglican fundraiser....

That would also explain his lack of surprise at 'losing' his watch!

;)

While I admit that it does look like someone tags his watch in that video, there is (I've seen it) an NBC video shot from a different angle that shows him dropping his arm and the watch is quite clearly still on, then he moves it in to his body and when he moves it out, the watch is off.

i.e. it looks like some ape grabbed at his watch, and he brought his arm in and took the watch off.

I don't have the link handy where I am now, but I am sure you can google it up.

Ah, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rntPPNL2hTo

Was it Paley's watch? Did the Designer "call it home"? WATERLOO FOR I.D.!

Sorry. ;-)

"Bush's 2007 visit to Albania was the highpoint of his presidency".

Oh, yes, he richly deserves to have the record say that.