You'd also think experts and scientists would be embarrassed by their the-sky-is-falling predictions some time back. Predictions like:

1. Overpopulation would cause worldwide famine and the end of the human race, and if that didn't get us, they also predicted that:

2. Global cooling leading to a new ice age would result in the end of the world as we know it, and if we somehow survived both of these catastrophes, they also predicted that:

3. The earth's vital natural resources would have been totally depleted by the end of the 70's sometime.

Experts and scientist having been proved so far off the mark, right now I'm pulling for Woody Allen's prediction that in the future, hot fudge will be proven to be the cure for all mankind's ills. To that end, I'm making hot fudge poured in large quantities over pistachio ice cream, an integral part of my personal wellness program.

erp:

Why would you think that?

erp

I'm with you, but keep it to yourself. Orrin wants to outlaw hot fudge and pistachio ice cream as being morally depraved.

In all seriousness, why don't we buy Siberia? I suppose one could argue we should just wait until there are no more Russians left, but presumably China won't wait that long to try for a grab...

Nicholas Eberstadt, who with Maury Feschbach prophisied the collapse of the Soviet Union based on demographic data wrote:

Russia, The Sick Man of Europe by Nicholas Eberstadt in the Winter 2005 edition of The Late Lamented Public Interest.

-- Mother Russia's children are disappearing rapidly. There are 160 deaths for every 100 live births. Cardiovascular disease is on the march. Sexually transmitted infections are rampant. The causes are varied, and solutions are elusive, but one thing is clear: Big trouble is looming.

Go read it for the details.

To survive, Russia needs an Awakening. Russia is collapsing internally essentially because normal Russians have no hope. Economic growth alone is meaningless unless it can be harnessed to making a better, more fulfilling lives for the Russians.

B: We should not buy Siberia. Its cold and its far away. Besides the Chinese are the most natural buyers, the Russians should sell it to them. They should also sell Shaklin island to the Japanese.

Robert: Since the internet doesn't allow for sarcasm to come through unless it's REALLY obvious, I have to ask whether or not you're joking? Siberia's just Alaska across a tiny strip of water. And China probably won't want to buy what they can just take--it'll be something they can do with their fancy new 20th century military that won't result in its destruction, as invading Taiwan would.

If current Siberian demographics are any indication, the Chinese are making their move now. There are literally millions of Chinese living there and it is only a matter of time before they make their presence felt in the political arena.

Siberia is only cold part of the year, except in the areas where there is permafrost, but much is quite temperate. An American purchase followed by a Boomer Sooner style land-rush or a Dakota style homesteading might not be a bad idea. Plat it, put it rail lines, roads and airports, and boom, instant prosperity.

russia is experiencing karma up close and personal. they are a doomed race and will not be missed.

I would love a few hundred acres in Siberia, provided it included a respectable stretch of frontage on a river containing taimen.

http://216.156.51.215/Taimen.htm

Now if I could only afford to visit.

Today Canada, tomorrow Siberia. What's with this wave of American hegemony?

oj

Why do I think what? I don't know what you're referring to.

That Science would be capable of embarrassment?

America's natural frontier is an irrigated Mars.