“My family thinks that grandma has gone crazy"

says a 58-year-old economist protesting today in Moscow. She is one of thousands who are trying to change things in Russia. This is the first major protest movement against Putin since he came to power in 1999. Whether it will continue is questionable. However, Medvedev has proposed some reform actions.

Frankly, I'm surprised that the protest movement has surfaced in Russia. But, life is full of surprises. Is it not? I have the sense that we are living through the start of a very significant change in the way countries are run, a change on the order of that of 1848.