Back from Hungary

(Me in Heroes' Square in Central Budapest)

Hello all. I'm back from Budapest. It was a great experience to see a little bit of Hungary, and was especially nice to not hear one minute of NPR programing. There is a lot to think about visiting a country like Hungary that suffered so badly under brief Nazi domination and then long Soviet occupation. One can't help but conclude that outlets like NPR News would have done quite well, thank you, under the long communist regime. With its shifting relativism, lack of any moral center, fawning to the powerful, and willingness to simply repeat government pronouncements as truth regardless of how blatantly ridiculous - or reprehensible - NPR News would have been right at home.

And so dear NPR loyalists, from Memento Park in Budapest, Vladimir salutes you!