He's still embalmed and on display ... and so is she.

Today is the 138th birthday of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, a.k.a. V.I. Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union, and the man whose face gazes out at craft beer drinkers from the back wall of the Red Room at Rich O's.

April 22 also is the official Earth Day, and Wikipedia provides this explanation of the "connection" between Red and Green. I'm a bit wary of relaying this antiquated information for fear that the noted local Clintonite pseudonymously known as "Professor" Erika might somehow tie it to Barack Obama's visit tomorrow, but so be it. Seems I'm a risk-taker after all.

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April 22, 1970 was the 100th birthday of Vladimir Lenin. Time reported that some suspected the date was not a coincidence, but a clue that the event was "a Communist trick," and quoted a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution saying, "Subversive elements plan to make American children live in an environment that is good for them."

J. Edgar Hoover, director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, may have found the Lenin connection intriguing; it was alleged the FBI conducted surveillance at the 1970 demonstrations. The idea that the date was chosen to celebrate Lenin's centenary still persists in some quarters, although Lenin was never noted as an environmentalist.