139

One more note toward the anti-corruption seminar:

The rock star, a ministry member whom we have dubbed D. Sug ("D. Sugar" is literally his name plate) is back after peacing out of yesterday's afternoon session. That morning he had expertly bamboozled the crowd. He spoke, and others got turn if they wanted one. He had on burberry jeans, stonewashed grey, and a fashionable and not businesslike buttonup shirt, and didn't take off his sunglasses. He devised a plan for anticorruption action that included a raise for people who worked at the level he did. Someone said (this I heard, as always, through the translation earpiece) "let's make implementation measure distinct between the natonal and the institutional."

"--let's take a break," said D. Sug, "and a few of us will formulate the action plan with your input."

So everyone filed out for the Mongolian equivalent of elephant ears.