Interesting story

Photo by LumpyLizard

Another interesting day on Capitol Hill... not like i go there every day... but when i walked into the room for a conference, 45 minutes early, I figured it had to be at least a half of big deal. Truth be told, I knew it was a big deal. The featured guest was Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion who is bidding to be the next Russian president, a man who opposes current president (and maybe future premier) Vladmir Putin.

What in the WORLD?
What in the WORLD?

I figured this would be just another Capitol Hill hearing... so I strode into the room with a holy boldness, me and my over-sized backpack, purse, and camera... the recording device making the backpack look like it was pregnant.

The panel was long, but very intersting...

And it touched on an issue that I've chosen to call "Bootleg Democracy."
There was bootleg liquor during prohibition... there are bootleg DVDs. Of course, there are the bootleg handbags, like the Konna Darans and Fucci (Fake Gucci)... is there a such thing as Fhat Pharm? Or maybe fake Phat Farm would be Skinny Pharm... Grown-arse Phat instead of Baby Phat? Who knows... But just as there are bootleg versions of consumer products... there's Bootleg Democracy... countries that have all the trappings of democracy like elections and presidents... But their concepts of a free press are a farce. Can a country be a true democracy when the government's watchdog--the press-- is intimidated and in some cases, murdered?

More on this later.