In other news in Russia, the ruling party, United Russia completed an on line survey with 200 000 responses. 70% of people surveyed believe that it is now time for Lenin's body (still in mausoleum in Red Square) to be buried. (It is unclear which portion of the population this represents, as 40% of the population use the internet, and the vast majority of older people still remember with nostalgia the glory days of the past.)
Yes, it is true, Lenin still forms part of the landscape here in Russia, twenty years after the end of the Soviet Union. There is a very tall statue of him on one of the main streets here in the city. The other day our regular taxi driver asked me if I knew who the statue was. I replied, "yes, that's Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov" (his original name), to which our taxi driver replied "that's our Lenin!"
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