Whew. Gave my presentation yesterday. Seems it went pretty well. At least a whole bunch of people asked me afterward to send them the slides. A room full of lawyers. I was really tempted to quote one of those jokes about American attorneys. Something like: *On one stretch of highway, a lawyer was run over and killed; on another, a hedgehog. How can you tell where the lawyer was run over and where the hedgehog was? Where the hedgehog was hit, there are skid marks. *But I decided that would be too much, and besides, I couldn’t remember how to say "hedgehog" in English. The Americans are incredibly nice. It’s oddly touching how they quote Medvedev’s statements about fighting corruption and pin such high hopes on him. Mr. Medvedev this, Mr. Medvedev that, we hope Mr. Medvedev will be able to, we hope Mr. Medvedev will take notice... Actually, it’s pretty amazing. A whole bunch of quite successful lawyers sponsored a conference where they discussed: *Oh, the horror! Some American companies are paying bribes in Russia! They’re involved in corruption! This is legal nihilism (a Russian term for contempt for the rule of law)! Shameful! They must understand that sooner or later they will be held accountable! *Back home, anyone who "spouts such naive nonsense" is immediately considered crazy. But here, that’s the establishment. White shirts, red ties, the Republican Party, an office in D.C. My call to track down and seize all the Miami condominiums owned by corrupt officials from Russia was met with real support and understanding. The Lazarenko precedent should be used very actively. I’ll post the presentation a bit later, if anyone’s interested. Philadelphia, which everyone here calls "Philly," is the fifth-largest city in the U.S., but at the same time it feels like a sleepy village. There aren’t many people on the streets, and there’s no traffic to speak of ("terrible traffic" here means having to wait 5–10 minutes). Well, maybe "sleepy village" is an exaggeration. More like a "moderately lively village." Today we’re heading to New York. So far the itinerary consists of two items: Take a walk through Central Park. Buy a hot dog from a street cart on the corner of some street and some avenue in Manhattan. Just like in the movies.