It turns out to be an inconsistency. All our ears have already been buzzing about the fact that the new president of Russia will be the beacon of liberalism, Dmitry Medvedev. That his glorious reign, overshadowed by the premiership of himself... (I don’t even know if it’s still possible to pronounce this name, sacred to every Russian, out loud?) will simply turn into a boom of democratic transformations for our country.

Today, the Tverskoy Department of Internal Affairs should decide on the initiation of a criminal case under the article “Distribution of Pornography” in relation to the intellectual literature store “Phalanster”. On November 17, police officers came to the store under the guise of customers who had been looking for the Limonka newspaper for a very long time. Not found.

Yes, our employee, Natalya Poltavtseva, candidate of philological sciences, received a certain set of books for the purpose of conducting an examination for pornography. The store was seized, not only books, but also videotapes, that is, the investigative authorities carried out a whole action, as far as I understand. I suggest you contact her directly, since there is no point in arranging a broken phone number when quite sensitive language is involved.

In the last couple of months, the term “national leader” has become fashionable. Although, after the official successor Dmitry Medvedev invited Vladimir Putin to take the prime minister's chair next spring, this fashion may pass. The fact is that the “national leader” in the democracies of the twentieth century appeared, as a rule, only at turning points in history and for a relatively short period of time.

President Putin's visit to Belarus was unusually quiet, and somehow few people discussed it. President Putin came to Belarus on the first official visit of his presidency with an incredible retinue: Prime Minister Zubkov, Deputy Prime Minister Kudrin, Speaker Gryzlov, Speaker Mironov. From the airport, President Putin went to see Lukashenko at the Silichi ski resort, where they sat together in a restaurant until half past five in the morning.

To begin with, the plot is almost biblical. They are now praying for Putin. Not figuratively, but in the most literal sense. In the Nizhny Novgorod region, the sect of the Most Holy Theotokos “Resurrecting Rus'” appeared. It is led by Mother Photinia. Members of the sect worship the portrait of Vladimir Vladimirovich. They bow, kiss, break foreheads... The sect is a kind of cross between Orthodoxy and elements of Hinduism.

I will say right away that Yuri Nikolaevich Baluevsky is the most educated and enlightened chief of the General Staff since the time of Nikolai Vasilyevich Ogarkov. And I, like several experts whom I managed to call, can only guess at what exactly made the general say what he said at the press conference held on Saturday. It was dedicated to Russian claims against the United States.

The most discussed news of the last day is Natalya Morar. Or more precisely, the fact that the New Times journalist was not allowed into Russia and, apparently, is not going to be allowed. They don't want to explain the reasons either. On Sunday night, Morar, returning from a business trip to Israel, was detained at Domodedovo airport.