The experiment was a success. You guys are something else, my dears. As of 3:00 p.m. on December 18 (the latest comment was from kuzmichvfr800, the 896th overall): Requests sent: 295 Did not send, with reasons given: 56: unverified information, couldn’t verify it myself/no time, no expert calculations (13); pointless (13); not citizens (10); technical problems (7); I don’t believe you, maybe you’re involved, you’re just seeking publicity, there’s some kind of catch here (5); I don’t want to take part in flash mobs (4); the idea isn’t bad, but I don’t like the wording and style of the appeal, the wrong topic was chosen for the appeal (2); I’ll write about a different problem (1); I’m afraid (1). The target was 23 requests. We got 295. And in reality, about fifteen more than that. Some people wrote in the comments that their friends, who don’t have LiveJournal accounts, had sent requests. Several people wrote to me and called me. I’m shocked. I won the bet. I’m heading off from here now to faraway Vyatka (a historic name for the Kirov region), to inspect the domain of Marquis Carabas—the newly minted governor, Nikita Belykh. Let’s see what he traded democracy for. So I’ll reflect on the results of the experiment over the weekend. On Monday I’ll write what I think about all this and propose a plan of action. A huge thank-you to everyone who sent a request. With people like you, we really will lift Russia up off its knees.