On Apr 5, 10:13=A0pm, "Paul J Kriha" <paul.nospam.kr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> "kujebak" <kuje...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
>
news:3a8c13c6-2785-4078-b8b6-09b19b689f8b@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
>
>
> >On Apr 5, 1:46 pm, Karel Kriz <ka...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> In article
> >> <f78f4877-13c1-496b-852f-1ad338338...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>
> >> kujebak <kuje...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> > This ain't just bad humor. This is like putting a turban
> >> > bomb on Mohammed:
>
> >> >http://tinyurl.com/24f325
>
> >> > So much for Swedish booze in my martinis.
>
> >> De duktiga Svenskar! (Those clever Swedes!)
> >> They are just a bit out of date, is all. That map was almost accurate
> >> until gold was found east of Sutters Fort (now Sacramento) in 1848
and
> >> California became a state.
>
> >> I am sure that someone will opine that nothing has really changed
since=
> >> then, border or no border, but that would be incorrect...
>
> >> You really have a problem, though. With the vodka, I mean. Boycotting
> >> Absolut because of a silly ad, boycotting Ketel One because it's
Dutch,=
> >> Grey Goose may not be acceptable because it's, hmm, French. You are
> >> missing out on the good stuff.
>
> >> K
>
> >But, the discovery of gold in California certainly
> >could not have had anything to do with the out-
> >come of the Mexican American War, since it
> >happened only a couple of weeks before the
> >signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on
> >Feb 2, 1848. I would like to point out to every-
> >one here that on that day Mexico agreed to
> >an unconditional surrender, by which it conti-
> >nued to exist as a sovereign entity strictly at
> >the benevolence of this great country. Another
> >interesting factoid in connection to this peroid
> >of American history is that had the Civil War
> >happened 10 - 15 years earlier, Mexico would
> >almost certainly not exist today, because the
> >Southern states would not negotiate with the
> >Mexicans, and Mexico's annexation by the
> >Confederacy would almost surely have turned
> >the tide in its favor. As a student of alternative
> >history, I find that eventuality sort of interesting.
> >Don't you?
>
> Here is one alternative history for you. What if Columbus
> got blown off course into deep Southern Atlantic, sailed
> through Magellan Straits without ever sighting any land.
> He would eventually land on some Pacific islands and then
> after India he would complete the cir***navigation of Earth.
> He would re****t back that the west passage to Indies is
> significantly more stormy, dangerous, ardouous and much
> longer than already know route around the Cape Horn.
> In the following centuries nobody would bother to sail deep
> into West Atlantic and the American Continents (now known
> as Atlantis) would be noticed only recently on the satellite
> photos and subsequently used by Asian and Middle Eastern
> superpowers as test ground for hyperlarge nuclear bombs.
>
> pjk- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
You didn't mention Europe. Would there be any
role for it to play in such a scenario? Seriously
though, this isn't really just a wacky mindgame
that Karel makes it out to be. It's not just a brand
of science fiction. It is also a more deliberate,
and cir***spect way of analyzing current events,
and the effect of our decisions in dealing with the
present in the context of possible futures. It is
one of the things that separates conservative
thinking from the hopeful mind of the happy-go-
lucky liberal :-)
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