Whenever I have to give a student the grade of 86%, I feel annoyance.
Because the number reminds me of Putin’s invariably high approval rating.
I never shared this with anybody because it’s very freaky but I just read on Facebook how a well-known Russian journalist feels the same way whenever the charge on his laptop goes down to 86%. So now I feel less freaky.
How can anyone tell? How can anyone trust a poll made in Putin’s Russia?
Anyone conducting a poll there for the government would not dare report anything but overwhelming support and the average Russian is probably not going to tell the truth to independent pollsters (I doubt if they believe in the concept of anonymity at all).
I’m sure the figure is uncomfortably high, but getting hung up on a particular number is magical thinking.
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I know, the number has been suspiciously stable for a long time. But it’s been repeated so many times as proof of the regime’s wonderfulness that it now gives me nausea.
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[tosses you an aluminium foil-sealed square of Ghirardelli chocolate made with 86% cocoa]
Not even a little tempted?
🙂
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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