Quite unexpected characters who appeared on the Russian political scene as a result of the turbulent events of the end of last year cannot but evoke historical and literary allusions. For the sake of decency, I must ask Boris Akunin for forgiveness in advance for the invasion of his traditional diocese.

Part One: bull by the horns Alexey Navalny is the brightest political figure of the last time. I will express myself even more categorical: he is the only relevant politician of today's Russia. A lot of views are addressed to this person - admiring, hating, critical, perplexing. The evolution of my attitude to Alexei Navalny is very typical.

On New Year's Eve, they told me a cool story about the elections. On December 4, at one of the polling stations in Kazan, during the counting, they found a ballot on which “United Russia” was written in black felt-tip pen. The check mark for the letter i-short is in the square opposite EP. The vote, of course, was counted in favor of United Russia. And no one began to protest. I think it's cool.

Religious fanatics in Tajikistan killed a local resident dressed in a Santa Claus costume. A 24-year-old man in Dushanbe wanted to congratulate his relatives... I wonder if Russia will somehow react to this? The question is not as absurd as it might seem.

I’m very interested in how Kudrin communicates with Putin about the negotiations. - Vladimir Vladimirovich, I want to exchange you for a five-year presidential term, austerity, freedom of political prisoners, the return of Kasparov to the air and badminton in all schools. - No, exchange me for seven dachas near the Black Sea, Medvedev as Prime Minister and let them build a Formula 1 track in Grozny. - We talked here. They're so nervous. We agree on lustration for Navalny the President.

I read many authors of the modern national movement, and more and more often my eyes and my Russian consciousness are hurt by the latest slogan populism, which is increasingly seeping through the sound national self-awareness of Russian (if that is the case) nationalists. Not only are these populist slogans very close to the modern verbal diarrhea emanating from the anti-national elite of Russia, but they also seduce the average person who is not very knowledgeable in politics.

Several dozen people blocked a peacekeeping post in the zone of the Moldovan-Transnistrian conflict, where a citizen of Moldova died on January 1, Interfax reports with reference to the acting. co-chairman of the Joint Control Commission from Transnistria Oleg Belyakov. “It is of concern that today, January 3, the peacekeeping post is being picketed by the civilian population - representatives of Moldovan public organizations.

A discussion has developed around the question: can M. D. Prokhorov be a presidential candidate from the non-systemic opposition? These disputes were fueled by the badge on Nemtsov’s chest “Misha is our president” and the subsequent statement of Boris Efimovich, in which he did not rule out the possibility of support from Solidarity if Prokhorov accepted certain points, such as: investigation of Churov’s activities, cancellation of the past parliamentary elections etc...

While we were overindulging in traditional New Year's feasts, a group of Zlatoust youth was promoting a healthy lifestyle On January 1, an action was held in the center of the sick city Photo vkontakte.ru/id114785349 Original

The US Republican Party began its primary elections on Tuesday, January 10. Based on the results of the primaries, a presidential candidate will be determined. According to the schedule developed by the party, the first stage of elections will be held on January 3 in Iowa. The last phase of voting is scheduled for June 26 in Utah. The main contenders for the Republican presidential nomination are Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain.

Religious fanatics in Tajikistan killed a local resident dressed in a Santa Claus costume. 24 year old man

Boris Akunin’s conversation with Alexei Navalny, published on the writer’s blog, is certainly very important. First of all, to get acquainted with the views of Navalny, who over the past month has managed to cause genuine delight in some, and seriously frighten others. In my opinion, blogger, tribune, politician Navalny is still clearly more interesting than Navalny the ideologist .

Holidays in Russia are psychosis. Just like any other public event. It’s enough to look at the general pre-New Year shopping and the general post-New Year hangover to understand that the whole country lives in the “do as I do” mode. “Everyone ran and I ran,” the classic phrase from the movie is the first and only rule by which the average Russian lives today. When I look at the lines of packed trolleys in supermarkets, I wonder if all shoppers can answer why they need so much food.