I woke up in Escher's World today...

My mother said it was okay

Up's down, down is out, out is in
Stairways circle back to where you've been
Time falls, water crawls, are you listening?

- Chagall Gueverra
"Escher's World"

I couldn't stop Chagall Gueverra's song from playing in my head as I read the Reuters's story "Grandson sues to clear Stalin over killings."

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Josef Stalin was in the dock on Monday when a Russian court held a preliminary hearing in a libel case brought by his grandson over a newspaper story which said the tyrant had ordered the killings of Soviet citizens.

Rights groups say the case shows a creeping attempt in modern Russia to paint a more benevolent picture of the Soviet Union's most feared leader, under whose rule millions perished.

The mind just boggles, doesn't it? I know, I know living in the age of Holocaust deniers, 9/11 Truthers, and Dan Brown, I shouldn't be surprised at people twisting history to their liking, but come on! Stalin?

Leonid Zhura, a convinced Stalinist who is representing Dzhugashvili [the grandson] in court, said that the article -- based on declassified Kremlin documents -- damaged Stalin's reputation.

"Half a century of lies have been poured over Stalin's reputation and he cannot defend himself from the grave so this case is essential to put the record straight," said Zhura.

"We want to rehabilitate Stalin," he told Reuters. "He turned populations into peoples, he presided over a golden era in literature and the arts, he was a real leader."

One more time, "We want to rehabilitate Stalin."

Jane, get me off this crazy thing!

Eschers World - Steve Taylor