18 years? 18 years.

I can't believe that November 9 is the 18th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. What a time that was--such optimism. It was right around that time that my interest in Russia and Eastern Europe really took off.

I'll refrain from commenting on which ideology is going to conquer the world, but it's a good thing on the whole when people can vote, go where they want, and say what they want, especially in a region that got the Hitler-Stalin one-two punch in the twentieth century.