A bit of history.

For some reason the Kharkov Historical Museum houses a British World War I tank, which by the way was the reason tanks are called tanks. When I was a kid it sat in a garden area in the middle of the museum grounds along with a World War II Soviet T-34 tank. My friend Vlad took these as well.

Home, sweet home.

My friend Vlad, whom I have known for most of my life and who served as the best man at my wedding, posted pictures of his trip to our hometown on a Russian photo sharing site. This one shows the building I used to live in year ago. My former home is on the left side of the picture behind the green, corner building. I have a black and white picture of myself taken on the bridge in the foreground.

The price is wrong.

Yesterday, to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, George W. Bush interrupted my enjoyment of The Price Is Right. In his short, yet pointless, speech he tried to justify the war by saying: "four years ago today, coalition forces launched Operation Iraqi Freedom to remove Saddam Hussein from power. They did so to eliminate the threat his regime posed to the Middle East and to the world." Saddam Hussein, if memory serves me right, tried to invade Iran only to bog both countries down in a war of attrition that lasted eight years. He also invaded Kuwait and was promptly escorted out by a coalition force. During the Kuwaiti invasion Hussein launched missiles into Israel, not the entire Middle East, just Israel. So I can see how his regime was a threat to everybody. This, by the way, brings me to the Weapons of Mass Distraction. If Hussein had the so-called WMDs back then why didn't he launch anything in the general direction of the United States? Bush also mentioned the importance of securing Baghdad and restoring peace in Iraq. These, of course, would not be necessary if he didn't decide to invade Iraq four years ago. The Democratic Congress has been talking about pulling the troops out of Iraq and Bush addressed that issue as well. "It can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home. That may be satisfying in the short run, but I believe the consequences for American security would be devastating. If American forces were to step back from Baghdad before it is more secure, a contagion of violence could spill out across the entire country. In time, this violence could engulf the region. The terrorists could emerge from the chaos with a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they had in Afghanistan, which they used to plan the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. For the safety of the American people, we cannot allow this to happen." The invasion of Iraq resulted in insurgency, car bombings, and civil war. And if Congress pulls the troops out of Iraq, the country will deteriorate into complete chaos. Bush makes you believe that pulling out of Iraq will play right into the terrorists' hands, actually the invasion itself was a part of the jihad master plan since the beginning. The biggest threat to "the safety of American people" came from the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut because, despite Ronald Reagan's promises to find those responsible, nothing was actually done about it. This proved to the Muslim fundamentalists throughout the world that you can kill Americans and the government will not react. Also Afghanistan became a breeding ground for terrorism because the US abandoned the Afghani people following the end of the Soviet invasion instead of "staying the course" and helping them rebuild. So here we are another war, another Republican President, another lie.

Better late than never.

Braunschweig chapter of the Germany's Social Democratic party is planning to have Hitler's citizenship revoked. I don't know what the SPD is trying to accomplish with this move, but it would have made more sense fifty or sixty years ago.

Ignorant Immigrant and the Holy Grail.

Yesterday after work I decided to find a wooden coat rack, the kind that stands up. We have a metal one, which recently gave way under the weight of winter coats and needs to be replaced. So I set off on my quest to the local mall and shopping area. The first stop was Lowe's which previously was the source of rather useless replacement stove knobs. After wandering around the store in aimless wonder of the size of the ails and the quantity of stuff they contain I asked a store employee for some much needed help. He directed me to some hanging coat racks, but after consulting my wife I returned to the quest for a standing one. After a little more wandering, and consulting another employee, I gave up and left Lowe's for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart did not have any coat racks at all. It did not have any easily accessible employees either. I spent as much time looking for somebody who actually works there as I did looking for a coat rack. I gave up on Wal-Mart and left for Home Depot. There I finally found somebody who could tell me the truth: "We don't carry coat racks." I was relieved by this man's words because by then I was getting ready to give up anyway. So I bid adieu to the bright orange walls of Home Depot vowing to return if I ever decide to build a coat rack myself because if I can do it, they can help.

Last day of winter.

Today is the last, meteorological, day of winter. Tomorrow, regardless of the amount of snow still on the ground, spring will begin. Actually, spring has been in the air ever since the most famous Pennsylvania rodent missed his shadow twenty six days ago. But for me spring arrived yesterday when I signed up for fantasy baseball on Yahoo. Now I can't wait to select my team with the accuracy of a blind man kicking a field goal and to watch them fall apart with the combined winning history of the New York Muts and the Boston Red Sux. Oh well, it's free and it's fun.

Cultural differences.

My friend Leather Penguin sent me this link. It makes a very interesting point about the cultural differences between Europeans and Americans.

Family moment.

Today my daughter is two months old. It is really weird to write that. It is also really weird trying to remember a time before she was born because she brought so many new things into our lives. There are some things, such as diapers and night feedings, I can not wait to be done with. But there are also some things that I will never forget. Tonight, while my wife and I were watching TV, I changed the channel. The volume, as it often happens anymore, got unpleasantly loud. So my wife, who was holding Lili, looked at her and said: "Tell Daddy it's too loud." Lili turned and looked at me. That was an amazing moment.

Before going on a cruise.

Make sure that you bring your passport and an ex-Marine because without a passport you might not be able to get back into the country and without an ex-Marine you might not get back to the ship.

Have an ice day.

Yesterday, as schools were closing because of the snow and ice storm, my boss called to inform me that they are jumping on the bandwagon. This is great because now I get to spend Valentine's Day at home with my wife and daughter. Now, if only it started snowing again, this would be a perfect day.

Wrestling with God.

Once again the good citizens of Kansas are engaged in a Creation vs. Evolution wrestling match. This has been an on-going title bout for over a century. I think that it is time to call it a draw and find something new (more appropriate for the 21st century) to argue about. After all, both God and Darwin have long, white beards. Shouldn't that be a clue?

Bumper stickers.

Today, as I was walking to my car in a grocery store parking lot, I noticed a car next to mine with a bunch of bumper stickers. The three that I had time to read were: "I don't believe The New York Times," "I don't believe The Washington Post," and "Politically Incorrect and Proud of It." The driver of this car arrived at his vehicle soon after I passed it. He was a gentleman in his seventies (I am horrible judge of age so it is a really, really rough guess on my part) with gray hair and large glasses. Seeing him, made me wonder what made this man, who grew up in the age when people believed the printed word, put those stickers on his car. This reminded me of two stickers I had on a Buick I used to drive. One said "Broken horn look for finger," the other "If you found God, and nobody claims him in thirty days, he is yours." My wife was not very fond of them, but I thought they clearly represented my attitude toward life in general and religion in particular.

Survivor overdose.

CBS has been playing more commercials for the upcoming installment of Survivor than for the Super Bowl XLI. This Survivor installment was filmed in Fiji. Other than the location it is going to be exactly like every other Survivor, a show that I think needed to be canceled after the first season. One of the reasons I dislike Survivor is that they always take place in the tropics. Just once I wish the Survivor producers would do something different, something bold like Survivor: Siberia or even, to really amuse the viewing public, Survivor: Central Park If they do that I might have to watch.

Sleep.

Recently, my daughter decided that neither her nor us needed much sleep. She stays up most of the day which is fine with me and my wife. But she stays up at night, sometimes for hours, keeping us up along with her. We love her very much. But we love sleep, too. And this polyamoros relationship is becoming very hard to handle.

Second Sweden.

In a few weeks, Sweden will open an embassy in Second Life. It will be the first virtual embassy in the history of the virtual world. This is another step to creating complete virtual cities ala William Gibson.

Snow.

Yesterday, two new snow related laws were added to the books in Pennsylvania. The first one requires a driver to clear all the snow of their vehicle before driving. The second one requires a driver to turn on head lights when using windshield wipers in bad weather. Of course, it barely snowed here this Winter.

The Frisbee is 50.

Happy Birthday to a great piece of Americana!

Everything.

Senators Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton have announced their candidacy for the President of the United States. And all I can say is: good luck. If America was not ready for a Jewish Vice President, it is nowhere near ready for an African-American President or a woman President. Personally, I would love to see either of them win simply because this country has been misruled by white men from both parties for years. And it would be interesting to see if either of these two could do any better. The ideal Democratic ticket, in my opinion, would be Clinton For President with Obama For Vice President because it would be amusing to see the negative campaign the Republicans would launch against these two while trying not to alienate voters by attacking a woman and a minority. With so many people running for President in 2008, I might as well announce my candidacy, too. I know I can not win, but it sure would be fun trying. So vote for me, The Ignorant Immigrant, a candidate for a true change in the White House.

The Universe.

Today is the thirty fourth anniversary of Roe vs.Wade. This Supreme Court decision did two things at the same time, one was to bring America into the 20th Century and the other was to give people with nothing better to do a cause to fight over. This is why I am announcing the formation of a new group: People Against Causes. This country has been divided by causes long enough. It is time to put a stop to it. It is time to end all causes. Wherever there is going to be a march for or against something we will be there to protest both sides.

Life.

While the main idea behind keeping a blog is to share your life and views with others, sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. Four weeks ago, as I was writing my Christmas post, my wife's water broke. So we went to the hospital and a little while later my daughter, Lilianna Noelle, was born. So the last month, even though my wife tells me that four weeks do not a month make, I spent working, taking care of Lili, and getting used to the idea of being a Dad. Also my wife and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary which is a big milestone in our life together especially since we now have Lili. All that kept me from having any ideas to write about. And so I attempting to get back into the blog of things, and keep those that actually read this blog interested.