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WSJ: As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.. "In Moscow, Igor Panarin's Forecasts Are All the Rage; America 'Disintegrates' in 2010."

A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats...

He predicts that economic, financial and demographic trends will provoke a political and social crisis in the U.S. When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in.

California will form the nucleus of what he calls "The Californian Republic," and will be part of China or under Chinese influence. Texas will be the heart of "The Texas Republic," a cluster of states that will go to Mexico or fall under Mexican influence. Washington, D.C., and New York will be part of an "Atlantic America" that may join the European Union. Canada will grab a group of Northern states Prof. Panarin calls "The Central North American Republic." Hawaii, he suggests, will be a protectorate of Japan or China, and Alaska will be subsumed into Russia.

He really thinks the Carolinas, Virginias, Kentucky and Tennessee will join the Yankees?

BLDGBLOG who points to this, writes (The Six Nations of 2010),

In the summer of 2010, it will "disintegrate" into six politically separate realms - and, conveniently for a thinker who clearly leans to the right, the borders of these realms will coincide with a new racial segregation. The fantasy of living amidst people who don't look like you will come to an end. Best of all, from Panarin's perspective, Alaska - Sarah Palin included, looking out with alarm from her office window - will "revert" to Russian control.

The trail through him is worth the walk.

Dead end: Hunter S. Thompson Motivational Posters. A tribute to somebody who got off the bus a few stops back.

Too precious: Amazon Kindle bites the dust... $187 to fix. Philip Greenspun,

I may have to rethink my enthusiasm for the electronic book. Realistically the way that people handle books, the Kindle is not going to last more than one year. That means you're spending $360 for the initial purchase and $187 every year for hardware repairs. Some of the Kindle editions of books are edging their way up towards $20 (see this Naipaul biography, for example).

The cost of the books has kept me happily using the public library -- I hadn't thought about repairs.

via Robot Wisdom

Make your own roolz: 2008: my year of living smaller.
Rick Jelliffe is an alpha geek, so this is not the typical, "We're downsizing" post. it's a rather detached scientific experiment, apparently born more of curiosity than necessity.

I tried a little experiment in 2008: living smaller.

I caught public transport only. I got rid of extra lightbulbs. I baked my own bread. I froze my own dumplings. I didn't buy any gadget. I didn't buy any CD. I didn't get a flatscreen TV. No home phone; no home internet; no cable TV; no new art; no gin. I only took one international trip (which was quite important) and two domestic flights (to my dear parent's 80th birthdays) but turned down several work opportunities that involved flying, even though it meant less satisfactory participation at SC34 WG1. I let my passport lapse.

When my kettle broke, I didn't replace it: I use a pot. When my contact lenses broke, I didn't even replace them (which means that when I saw the Benjamin Button movie last week, Brad Pitt looked the same in every frame, unfortunately.) When my socks had a hole, I repaired them; I didn't buy any clothes, and I avoided wearing clothes that would need dry cleaning or special treatment. When my courtyard grapevine died due to amorous possums, I didn't replant.

I worked less, and earned way less, and spent more time writing and thinking...

I'm drawing back from stuff, myself.

The ballot tolls for thee: Election judge is dumbfounded her ballot was rejected. From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's coverage of the ongoing Senate recount:

DULUTH - Shirley Graham was astonished to learn that a lawyer from Norm Coleman's campaign on Tuesday blocked her absentee ballot from being added to the U.S. Senate recount.

"I'm an election judge," said Graham, of Duluth. "I expected to be the last person whose ballot wouldn't be counted."

..."I want to see my ballot," said Graham, who added that she'd consider going to court, if she must, to get her vote counted.

A final irony: She voted for Coleman.

Al Franken leads by 50 votes.

Musts to enlarge: From NASA, Crew Earth Observations 'Top Ten' Photos