Oh The Sameness of the Red States!

[Annie]

WaPo writer in meltdown, often sounding like Maureen Dowd on men:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1881-2005Jan11.html?sub=AR&sub=AR

One of the first things worth noting about the Red Sea is that people live there because they like it. (Several people proudly pointed out to me that there are no houses on the market in Waco.) This basic fact strikes wonder in some city dwellers, who live in cities because they love cities. They love the bustle, the myriad options, the surprises and the jolts and the competition. It can require a leap of imagination to perceive that there are people who seek precisely the opposite, and not just on weekends and vacations.​

 

[musicman]

How they hate us.

 

[Annie]

How they hate us.

Well it certainly has been effective, LOL!

 

[musicman]

Well it certainly has been effective, LOL!

LOL!

I will never cease to be amazed at the far-seeing wisdom of our founders. Even then, they saw the difference between the city dweller and his country cousin. The Electoral College - guaranteeing fair representation for all - was pure genius.

The Discovery Channel Aired a show, awhile back, about two terrible blizzards that hit the U.S. during the winter of 1888. Did you happen to see it?

The first - in January - struck the Great Plains. The teacher in a one-room schoolhouse looked at the sky, and surmised that something very bad was coming. She sent home the children who lived nearby, then set about trying to make the schoolhouse as safe and warm as possible for the dozen or so kids still in her charge. The ferocious blizzard struck quickly, and she began breaking up the desks for firewood. The wind blew the door in, and she nailed it back up. It blew in again, and she decided to take drastic action. Fashioning a long rope out of pieces of clothing and anything else she could find, she tied herself and her children together in a long train, and set out into the storm. In the unbelievable fury of that day, she got everyone safely home but two. In final despair and exhaustion, she laid those two children down in the snow, and covered them with her body, in a last, desperate attempt to protect them.

The two children died, but, miraculously, the teacher survived. She lost both her legs. She was hailed as a hero, and received hundreds of marriage proposals from all around the world. The New York City newspapers - even then, bastions of humility and tolerance, acknowledged the woman's courage, but used the story as an excuse to lambaste anyone foolhardy enough to live outside the friendly confines of a large city. Why would anyone even consider living anywhere else, they asked. Everything you could possibly need or want is here. There are provisions in place to handle any eventuality, and those who traipse off to live in the wilderness are only inviting disaster.

Then, in March, 1888, a blizzard struck... New York City. The drivers of horse-drawn cabs dumped their hapless passengers in the street, as they rushed to get themselves and their animals under cover. Shopkeepers unceremoniously turned frightened customers out into the cold. In those days, NYC had elevated railways, and thousands of terrified passengers found themselves trapped on crippled trains. Of course, enterprising merchants came to the rescue with ladders, which the passengers could use...for a dollar.

Blue state madness, indeed.

 

[Annie]

Great story!

 

[dilloduck]

LOL!

I will never cease to be amazed at the far-seeing wisdom of our founders. Even then, they saw the difference between the city dweller and his country cousin. The Electoral College - guaranteeing fair representation for all - was pure genius.

The Discovery Channel Aired a show, awhile back, about two terrible blizzards that hit the U.S. during the winter of 1888. Did you happen to see it?

The first - in January - struck the Great Plains. The teacher in a one-room schoolhouse looked at the sky, and surmised that something very bad was coming. She sent home the children who lived nearby, then set about trying to make the schoolhouse as safe and warm as possible for the dozen or so kids still in her charge. The ferocious blizzard struck quickly, and she began breaking up the desks for firewood. The wind blew the door in, and she nailed it back up. It blew in again, and she decided to take drastic action. Fashioning a long rope out of pieces of clothing and anything else she could find, she tied herself and her children together in a long train, and set out into the storm. In the unbelievable fury of that day, she got everyone safely home but two. In final despair and exhaustion, she laid those two children down in the snow, and covered them with her body, in a last, desperate attempt to protect them.

The two children died, but, miraculously, the teacher survived. She lost both her legs. She was hailed as a hero, and received hundreds of marriage proposals from all around the world. The New York City newspapers - even then, bastions of humility and tolerance, acknowledged the woman's courage, but used the story as an excuse to lambaste anyone foolhardy enough to live outside the friendly confines of a large city. Why would anyone even consider living anywhere else, they asked. Everything you could possibly need or want is here. There are provisions in place to handle any eventuality, and those who traipse off to live in the wilderness are only inviting disaster.

Then, in March, 1888, a blizzard struck... New York City. The drivers of horse-drawn cabs dumped their hapless passengers in the street, as they rushed to get themselves and their animals under cover. Shopkeepers unceremoniously turned frightened customers out into the cold. In those days, NYC had elevated railways, and thousands of terrified passengers found themselves trapped on crippled trains. Of course, enterprising merchants came to the rescue with ladders, which the passengers could use...for a dollar.

Blue state madness, indeed.

I saw this too---great show---my ancestors in South Dakota still talk about the cooperation it took to survive it !!