Concur.

Get Dick Lamm or Roy Romer back.

@kafromTN (didn't want to quote the whole post.)

Thank you, that was very informative.

You just nibbled; I'll bite.

I agree with what you said, and I hate when people think like that. My boyfriend came over one day wearing a Confederate flag belt buckle. My roomate told him he should be ashamed of it. She also told me I should be ashamed of singing "Dixie" when I went out one night and saw a country band playing. (Interestingly enough, she was born in Alabama and currently lives in Texas. Guess it was all those years in Connecticut and New Jersey and Pennsylvania.)

Yes, it is true that horrible things happened IN THE PAST under that flag. I am truly sorry it happened. We are still working toward rectifying the wrongs that were done. The major principle the Confederacy was fighting for (states' rights...to have legal slavery) is not something I agree with or condone in any way.

Yet, I feel that flag represented something more--it represented an entire culture. Obviously, one of the major pillars of that culture has fallen. But the truly important ones, like taking life easy and enjoying every minute of it (even the unbearably humid, hot summers), remain intact. Those are what that flag represents to me today.

That's why I get highly offended when someone uses the Confederate flag to symbolize white supremacy or any other such crock. I also get highly offended when someone tells me I ought to be ashamed of or burn something that represents the history of where I and my family are from, and thus who we are. Telling me I can't be proud of the last 140+ years of history because part of it was horrible for someone is stupid. It's like telling a modern-day German that they can't be proud of being German because Hitler killed millions of people. And telling me that I can't be proud of the culture I come from is like the argument that people moving to the US should speak only English. Yeah, it makes everyone else comfortable and makes their lives easier, but at the expense of losing some of their cultural identity.

So I will sing "Dixie" and Alabama's "Song of the South" 'till the day I die. I will remember that I'm not but a couple of generations out of the cotton patch myself. I will smile at the irony that my best friend, president of the Auburn chapter of College Democrats of America, removes his hat at the opening strains of "Dixie." I will probably never live in the small towns that I grew up in, but I know I will never leave the South. It's a hell of a good time living here, even if I'm seen as backwards or stupid by those from other parts of the country. This is who I am; this is what I love. So what if it's not perfect, what in life is?

I'll leave y'all with this:
...and my home's in Alabama,
no matter where I lay my head.
My home's in Alabama,
Southern born and Southern bred.

Well, yes... however kafromTN nailed most of the facts down in his post... so no need for me to rehash them...

There was a lot of discussion re: the Confederate flag in the thread about the girl with the questionable prom dress.

that thread

I assume you haven't spent vast amounts of time in WI or perhaps even know the two events I referenced. CA (during the drought) proposed that they ship water from Lake Superior (North of WI, MI, MN and South of Canada) to CA via the Panama Canal to fill their pools or irrigate their dessert lawns. They ONLY wanted to lower the entire lake Superior by 3-4in (correct me if I'm wrong here). WI, MN, and MI have a lot of money that comes in from tourism and the industry was threatened, plus the loss of that water would change the eco-system of the lakes, streams and rivers all throughout the area...So CA could fill pools...

Milk..I don't even know where to begin other than a system was set up during the depression to encourage milk production in areas other than the northern mid-west. Prices were based on how far a farmer was from Eau Claire, WI. These pricing structures took more than 60 years to change, despite economic recovery and the invention of refridgerated trains to ship milk.

CA actually pays non-CA farmers less per gallon than they do their own farmers. Last I heard there were some cases pending.

I grew up in a farm town...:)

I would like to address this.

First of all, California is not all desert (and I'm assuming you meant desert and not "dessert" because we don't have lawns made of chocolate ice cream).

Secondly, unless you were living IN California during any of our droughts, then you don't understand how it was here. So keep on thinking that we were all sitting around our pools, with the sprinklers on, while washing our cars. :rolleyes:


How many people here know that there are still parts of California where they have regulations on when people can and cannot water their lawns?? *crickets* Yeah, that's what I thought

I know that...but then again I have family in California and have been there quite a few times.

That would be dope as hell, though.

If they did, I would be forced to agree that California is a much better state than any other in the U.S.

Until then, though . . .

...you'll have to go with CT.

Look; we've had a crooked Governor, lost an NHL team and mounted a futile bid for the New England Patriots. What state can match that?!

Collin
- central Connecticut born and raised, on the ballfields are where I spent most of my days...

That would be awesome. But I doubt my thighs could handle it.

:D LOL

Yeah, Cali does need to workout their water issues... They've been kickin' others so much in the azz about it that it is really not that cool...

But given the huge El Nino effects this past winter, and some of it is not done, yet, I think Cali might have a tad bit more water until the next drought... That could be next year or that could be 10 years for now--who knows?

With me and BobbytheDon thinking about nuking certain areas of Cali, I think "Ilse de Santa Los Angeles" sounds pretty nice...

With beach front property in Yuma, Arizona...

And don't forget, Mammoth Mountain is a volcano... Don't know how active it is, but it hasn't erupted in awhile--'bout time it does... It will DEFINITELY jack up ALL of LA by default--specially San Bernadino--think Pompei...

But, hey, I have been exiled from California for life... I have to obtain a visa to re-enter the state... And I still have to pay some BS taxes... Butthole FTB's!!!

Yeah, in Bakersfield--maybe Glendale, California and those burnt areas north of LA on the back side--not the Valley... But all the farmland where they grow cotton and other crap and gas costs $3.00 for regular unleaded...

Drove through the state to see that crap enough...

But most of Southern California is arid... High desert. The rainy seasons were cut off due to the pollution. Since LA and the state cut it's smog emissions (like the CHP gives tickets to gross polluters), there has been some improvement in air quality--some... It has taken 10-20 years since the state law was enacted, but there has been noticeable differences in meterological phenomena (on shore flow, etc.) and air quality...

But what was NOT anticipated 20 years ago were surrounding cities in other states would expand due to LA/SoCal-flight--like there is NO place to live or buy a home in SoCal--even a portapotty is over $200 grand... So folks moved to other states or cities nearby and still were able to get to Cali to work... I.e. Vegas and Arizona...

Then, after 3-strikes passed, all the 2-striked criminals bounced outta the state very fast...

Then, the electric crisis exacerbated by Enronites and poor planning by Gray Davis, just skrait jacked Cali...

Now, my family contends with El Nino...

But at least seeing cars float down the street in a police car chase that started on the I-5 in Upland, California down to the border is rather hilarious...

Nuke 'em... We don't need some parts of SoCal--so nuke'em...

Oh, and Little E, YOU DON'T WANT A WHOLE BUNCH OF CALIFORNIANS MOVING TO YOUR STATE... They will Kollyfornicate the place and that is uncool...

Where I live, we are notorious for Kollyfornicating... A day in the life of Isle de Santa Los Angeles...

The tsunamis after the "big one" hits would be cool waves to catch...