GARY KASPAROV ARRESTED WHILE PROTESTING PUTIN: Ilya Somin has a roundup on this story. He comments: “Kasparov’s arrest is not only an outrage in its own right, it is significant as an indicator of Putin’s willingness to further tighten his authoritarianism. If Putin is able to get away with arresting even a world-famous opposition leader, less exalted opponents of the government can expect even harsher treatment. Hopefully, there will be enough of an international outcry to persuade Putin to desist and force him to tread more cautiously in the future. But it is hard to be optimistic about Russia’s immediate political future after the experience of the last several years.”