"The ideas of possible punishment for shirkers range from cuts in salaries and stripping lawmakers of such privileges as fare-free travel to outright dismissal". This is ridiculous and outrageous! Outrageous in the sense, that somebody even has brains to suggest such solutions! It looks like they are living in totally different realm. Let me ask you, where Russia is today? I mean what century? 15th? It seems, the society is again divided on lazy and fat aristocrats/dukes and humble peasants. How about Russians just kicking those fat a...s out of that nest of corruption and moral degradation called Duma. It is beyond my comprehension, how living abroad I still care about this country?! May be just give up on it. It looks completely hopeless. I am even start thinking that may be returning back the Soviet System would help Russia to survive somehow... Mr. President, Russia has 100 million people. You cannot watch over and punish all of them. Let people take care of themselves and those whom they represent. Now is my "favorite" topic -- Skolkovo. I would not call Skolkovo as "innovation center" until the principles of its organization and its driving forces are revealed. As I see it now -- it is more like the attempt of the Russian political nomenclature to build 50 years old (by design) car which will be packed by Kremlin politicians, foreign charlatans, and those Russian "talents" who likes gathering mushrooms in the nearest forest and enjoy the sites of nature.

Bogdanov, you say - "It is beyond my comprehension, how living abroad I still care about this country?" But no one asks you to care, wouldn't it be better just to focus all your efforts on your chosen country. Yes it's a matter for your own comprehension, but wouldn't that help you. Doesn't living in one place and trying to be involved in change in another, create tensions and frustrations (it could even get you arrested). Isn't it true that you have to roll your sleaves up and do the work, if you really want to change something My view is, when in Rome, do as the Romans, and that you can't change alot remotely, that basically you have to put your stake on the table, your hands into the gloves, your hands on the controls. Don't you have to be in it to win it. For me the hardest part of anything, is to take the ideas through to the actual product. That is when the scope gets set hard, that is when the tradeoffs happen, that is when reality changes the approach of sometimes even the initial requirements. It is actually the detail that matters, and that detail is always in the hands of the implementors, the ones there doing the job. Yes advice is great, and it should be sought and accepted. But the real truth is, that it is far easier to formulate things on a power point, than actually deliver a working IP block, ASIC, design house, factory, internet service..... These are real things born of real effort. The details are actually wrapped up inside the processes to create them. In many ways we have moved past the initial power points on modrnization. Like all things, what is in the press is old news, as the 'inside' is always far ahead of its public image, there is a natural lag. The direction is set, we are now in an implementation phase. So the success or failure will not come from top advice, it will come or not based on real people in the real process, doing real work. These are people in Russia, advising Russian companies on a day to day basis.

Count Cash, The quote from my original post, which you provided as a basis for your "analysis", was taken completely out of context and, as a result, you have wrong conclusion followed by meaningless for me lecture about what is real care about Russia means. And later, followed by even more meaningless lecture about how to "do real work" and create products. I admit, that I may have problems with the delivery of my messages, so let me reiterate my idea in more explicit form: "From what I see, many Russians who permanently or temporary live abroad, seems, care about Russia more than those who populate its territory". You have really strange idea, that only those who live in Russia are "real Russians". What I found, though, that Russians aboard have more responsibilities because they represent Russia and through them foreigners see Russians. So, I cannot be sloppy and weak, because, this is through me Russians either respected or disregarded by foreigners. Russians in Russia, though, somehow feel that they "may climb only to the middle of mountains"... But, still picture themselves as on the of the world.

Bogdanov, The problem with you, is you basically claim anything you like about what another person said e.g. "You have really strange idea, that only those who live in Russia are "real Russians". " When there is no way you can attribute that meaning to my words, and then go into a rant about how wrong it is. You basically do this quite often. You tell someone incorrectly what they said, then you counter it with the argument you want to make. For me this is a pretty meaningless way to have a discussion, you might as well speak to yourself, and I am not really going to spend my time continually correcting your misunderstanding of what I say, or what others say. I leave others to judge the meanings of my words and the understanding of the message they want to subscribe to them. If I can see a general fault in my phrasing, then I am happy to correct. But I am not going to correct every piece of nonsense made up by you, that you want to tell me I said. Then you go on "From what I see, many Russians who permanently or temporary live abroad, seems, care about Russia more than those who populate its territory". Well great that is your view and you are welcome to it. But my remark is that it is just a pretty sweeping personal statement. But my point again is "that you can't change alot remotely, that basically you have to put your stake on the table, your hands into the gloves, your hands on the controls." Now the rest is simply up to your misunderstanding. Now it is clear that you do not understand much I write, but I have no remedy for that!

Count Cash, You said: "I am not really going to spend my time continually correcting your misunderstanding of what I say". Then, may I ask you: Why you here, on this blogs? What is your purpose? To learn something, to discuss things, to deliver your ideas, or just post your messages to the "air" or give lectures and let others to figure out what it is about and what it for? Like this: "Doesn't living in one place and trying to be involved in change in another, create tensions and frustrations (it could even get you arrested). Isn't it true that you have to roll your sleaves up and do the work, if you really want to change something". Yes. Who could argue against that! But, what it has to do with "being remote"? Isn't the same things (tensions, ...) could be applies to all locals? So, in combination with your assumption about my "chosen country", I could easily create a construct like this -- "If I live abroad, then I choose that country as mine and not much I can or want do for Russia from far away". This is not completely out of nothing, isn't it? And this is why was my previous post... You might put different meaning in this, though. But, how would I know this without your extra explanation followed in the next post? You said: "Now it is clear that you do not understand much I write". I must confess -- I do not. I often cannot comprehend and retrieve underlying ideas from your posts. I assume, this may be my fault. I may not have so sophisticated brain like yours. But, from the other hand, if it ever occurred to you, that if somebody cannot comprehend your wording, that it may be because the problem with their delivery, and not necessarily with the listeners? Or may be your particular messages do not have any practical ideas and I am just struggling to retrieve something from nothingness assuming that you actually put something there.