Politicians in Western countries talk a lot about the contribution technology can make to politics, but they're generally on about quite limited ideas like video debates. In Russia, some activists are much more avant garde - seeking to make their (unspecified) point by the use of a remote-controlled flying penis fitted with helicopter blades.

The unmanned-aerial-manhood outrage reportedly took place in Moscow at the weekend, during the opening of an "alternative parliament" by chess grandmaster turned dissident Kremlin-basher Garry Kasparov. Naturally, the episode can be viewed on YouTube:

(You'll need Flash and a friendly firewall to see it.)

The chopper-chopper was dealt with briskly, as you can see.

According to an AFP report in the Times of India, a young woman delegate at the protest meeting commented that "we should spit in the face of tsars Putin and Medvedev".

It was theorised that Kremlin-sponsored youths may have stood behind the possibly communist contrarotating copter-cock intrusion, perhaps more reminiscent of previous conflicts in Sadville than in Moscow. Similar episodes have apparently occurred in the past, however. Kasparov's shadowy opponents may not yet have shot their bolt. ®

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