Lyonya Volkov, aka leonwolf, one of the founding figures of "cloud democracy" and simply a good person, is running for deputy in Sverdlovsk Region (he is currently a member of the Yekaterinburg city council). Leonid is especially valuable to Materi-istrii and to us because one of the main themes of his campaign is "United Russia is the party of crooks and thieves," and he promises to make a substantial contribution to giving the Party of Crooks and Thieves a drubbing in the Urals. That looks entirely realistic, given United Russia’s extremely low ratings in those parts. So, leonwolf has launched an interesting experiment in funding an election campaign over the internet. Basically, he wants to do everything honestly. It’s an interesting and worthwhile effort. Those who want to support him financially can find instructions here and here. The maximum donation from an individual is 4,000 rubles (about $40–45 USD, depending on the exchange rate). There is no minimum threshold. Personally, I’ve chipped in some money for Volkov: let him go after the Crooks and Thieves. Update. The VKontakte group where volunteers coordinating to help Volkov can be found: http://vkontakte.ru/club7388379