This isn't funny (Putin was elected by poll fraud, says report), it really isn't, and at some point perhaps I'll write about my concerns over what's happening in Russia (continued corruption, collapsing infrastructure, etc.) but the evil in me can't resist this snippet, "a votes-for-vodka scheme in Novosibirsk." Hmmm, maybe if we tried something like that in America, people might actually "participate" in the upcoming elections. We could localize the bribes too: a votes-for-wheatgrass scheme in California, a votes-for-Coors scheme in Colorado, maybe a votes-for-Mojitos or Rum-and-Cokes in southern Florida? Too bad the voting age is 18 in the US, the votes-for-wine-coolers would perfectly garner the teenage girl vote!