[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

I don't disagree with that. The only way for Alberta to have it's cake and eat it too would be to first declare independance, immediately tap the oil reserves, and then hammer out an agreement with Washington that they are off-limits to the environmental whackos. In other words, negotiate your entry on your terms, ala Texas.

As for BC, I think I'd rather have Regina or Saskatchewan as the 52'd state.

[The Red Zone]

Any artists conceptions been done of what a flag for the next few possibilities of added states would look like? 51, 52, 53, 54 stars? Does the US government itself keep such designs waiting in the wings?