The truth about Imus.

This story is from a Russian newspaper called Pravda which means Truth in Russian. This newspaper used to be the official newspaper of the Soviet Union. I didn't believe anything in it then and I am not about to start now.

The hunt for former glory.

As I was watching The Hunt for Red October, I read a story about the launch of a new Russian nuclear submarine. It is the first one to be launched by Russia since the Soviet Union was disbanded. This is an attempt to rebuild the sub fleet which has been in disrepair for years. It is also an attempt to recreate the former Soviet Union only a slightly more democratic one, something Putin is extremely fond of.

Tax day.

This morning, which would be a holiday if it weren't a Sunday, my wife is paying bills and my daughter is listening to classical music emanating from her Leap Frog. We are expecting, what local weather wizards called, a "northeaster" to arrive later today bringing snow. But right now it is only raining.

Space, the final frontier.

Forty six years ago today Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space and orbit the Earth. Twenty six years ago today Columbia became the first shuttle to fly in space. Ironically, Gagarin was working on designs for a reusable space vehicle prior to his death. What started out as an expansion of the Cold War has evolved into former enemies "sitting in a tin can high above the world" together and people celebrating Yuri's Night every year.

A local Imus.

Gary Smith, a morning DJ at a radio station in nearby Stroudsburg, got fired yesterday for asking his listeners to repeat the phrase that only got Imus a two week suspension. I guess if Smith worked for CBS he would still have a job right now. Oops! It seems that I was a bit hasty in my admonishment of CBS, they decided to fire Imus after all. However, Smith pulled an Imus on Tuesday and got fired the following day while CBS waited a week and watched as advertisers fled the sinking ship before firing Imus. So the conclusion here is that money, and not the racial comment, was the proverbial straw.

Clothes make the man.

This site is a very interesting, and rather English, take on formal men's wear.

Blogiversary.

The Ignorant Immigrant has been in existence for a year. I started this blog after hearing about blogs in class, not really knowing what I wanted it to be about. I tried to keep it on the topic of my misadventures in rural America and how I see this country. Sometimes, I think that my daily life is too dull to write about so I don't, but I do need to document my daughter's development. This way, years from now, she can read these entries and learn about a part of her life she can't remember. Therefore, I will try to keep up with this blog more in the following year than I have in the past.

Easter Monday.

Let's ponder this one. So far we have had a wet, mild Christmas followed by a cold, snowy Easter. According to the local weather wizards, it was colder on Easter day (in April) then on Christmas day (in December). I miss the weather I knew when I was a kid, back then four seasons weren't just a hotel chain. Another thing I would like to ponder, or have explained to me, is how did the story of Jesus rising from the dead become a celebration filled with bunnies, eggs, and candy.

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.