As you all know, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation is an extremely pathetic and pointless institution. Just mentioning this outfit fills us all with a sharp sense of shame for our country. The members of the Public Chamber are: (an overwhelming minority) respectable people who were talked into taking part in this clown show; some random shady nobodies; (the majority) assorted crooks and con artists. Still, someone sent me a link to a Public Chamber initiative that deserves a bit of publicity, especially since I get a lot of letters about this issue. The Public Chamber has decided to track down and try to shut the remaining casinos and gambling clubs. In my view, there is no particular need to go looking for them—for example, right next to my home in Maryino (a district of Moscow), there is a huge gambling club calling itself a lottery outlet or something like that. I hate that place. There are always some dubious characters squatting nearby and smoking. I will never believe that the police/local authorities do not know it exists. The whole neighborhood knows it exists. So the Public Chamber should be dealing not with the casinos themselves, but with the cops and FSB officers who protect them. But still. Here is a special form you can fill out to report a gambling club. By the way, if I am not mistaken, Medvedev himself did something similar a few months ago. It was not especially successful. We will see what comes of this little "booth."