Dreams and a United Germany

Lindy had a dream last night in which she was riding on a train, sitting next to Nietzsche. And Lindee asked, “What is your first name?”
Nietzsche responded, “Brad.”
Lindee, unable to recal his first name, insisted that it certainly wasn’t Brad. To which Nietzsche responded...

“Do you think my outlook on life would have been different if my name was Brad”

And than the train crashed.

Perhaps this finally answers the nature vs. nurture questions.

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On my quest to finish this Khrushchev book, I came across a very interesting little thing. After Stalin died in 1953, Malenkov and Beria (two top Stalin lieutenants) joined forces to place themselves at the top of the power chain (with Malenkov technically at the head, but Beria with the operational power). Beria was ex-chief of the Stalinist police force that had spend the last 20 years killing, torturing, and exiling millions. However, once in charge he quickly moved to let hundreds of thousands of people out of prison (who he rightfully claimed didn’t belong there), outlawed certain tortures, tried to stop the “Russianifcation” of other Soviet occupied countries, and spoke of his hatred for Stalin (calling him a tyrant and a savage). Additionally, he wanted to abandon East Germen Communism, allowing reunification, in exchange from substantial compensation from the West. A united Germany back than, who would have thought. Of course, Khrushchev suggests that Beria was only playing nice to gain support, but in reality he was also a tyrant. Either way, Khrushchev convinced Malenkov that Beria was out to get both of them, which lead to their new alliance and the arrest of Beria. And all of this within six months of Stalin’s death.

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