This is correct. Before 2012 the White House will be moved to Brussels just as the statue of liberty moved from France to NY.
maybe...but they will probably end up just squabbling over how many dialects of Basque the new regulations have to be translated to
I don't think so, US is much more organized and patriotic country than any other major power, so stupid comments have no value.
The idea of a breakup over economic matters is ridiculous. It shows just how different the mindset is in Russia (and to a large extent, the EU as well). The Soviet Union was assembled mostly by military force. Nobody really asked or cared whether the Latvians, Estonians, Lithuanians, or Ukranians WANTED to be a part of a new communist superstate -- they were invaded, and told to like it or else. The EU is an economic union of technically independent nations... but as we all know, just about anything can be regulated in the name of the economy, and the EU has sweeping economic regulatory powers that the US federal government has never had, and hopefully never will. In contrast, the United States has first and foremost always been a political union... and the question of whether any state can leave was pretty much settled ~150 years ago. But states have always fought hard to keep the federal government from usurping their powers, and as a practical matter have more real sovereignty with respect to Washington, DC than France, Britain, or Germany will ever have again. Pot is de-facto legal in California. 18 year olds can drink in front of New Orleans police officers. A dozen states or more are in open rebellion and defiance of the REAL ID Act. But in the Britain, it's technically a criminal offense to advertise products for sale in pounds (weight, not currency) and gallons. You can print them in tiny letters, but it can't be the focus of the ad or sign. All in the name of "harmonisation" of course. From what I understand, it's been a rather sore point among more than a few Brits (who as a practical matter were mostly metric anyway, but nevertheless are pissed as hell about the Eurocrats trying to beat them into submission over their remaining habits). Likewise, the EU's countries have less and less right to determine their welfare laws... not just eligibility, but ALSO the AMOUNT. Not to mention the author's quote about "whole cities" losing their jobs. In the former Soviet Union, there WERE big cities that existed to service a single industry (like, say, Pripyat). In America, that's not the case. Even Detroit has plenty of businesses unrelated to automaking, and Orlando has no shortage of businesses unrelated to tourism.
Actually, we are already witnessing russian decline. So eastern bloc whores become cheap, well, cheaper.