Irkutsk is Real

As you well know, the Onion is one of the finest sources of truth and wisdom; an example:

Risk Champ Flunks Geography Test
December 15, 2004 | Issue 40•50

ALBANY, NY—Alfred Wu, the 13-year-old winner of the 2004 East Coast Risk Championship, flunked his 8th-grade world-geography test, social-studies teacher Jane Laurent reported Monday. "His test paper was filled with names like Kamchatka and Yakutsk, and the Ukraine spread over half of Europe," Laurent said. "And, by his account, the U.S. is made up of only three states: Eastern United States, Western United States, and Alaska." Last week, Wu received an "F" on a paper he wrote about Napoleonic military Stratego.

Except, as I found out recently when looking at a map of the Former Soviet Union, these Risk provinces are now back in play.

For example, see this recent news story (from Vos-Iz-Neias) about a synagogue in Irkutsk!: Irkutsk, Russia - After 70 Million Rubles A 130-Year-Old Synagogue Fully Restored