Which is why my parents were of a few people that were ever able to get out of their town. The twon is so poor that no one can afford to move. My parents had to work summer jobs and such to save up for college and I believe they got a little help from their parents but most don't. Like you said, the opportunity to get out isn't really there.

I like to crack jokes about the south being a prison, with the oppressive heat there as a reminder of this unfortunate reality. Shame really, since people ventured out into it to find more freedom in the first place. To better their lives and the lives of their families. It's not like there isn't a shitload of resources here. It's just that it all flows elsewhere (after being processed by cheap labor..upon which entire industries depend (again, been this way for awhile).

I, too, often wish Mississippi and Alabamastan would secede so all the fundies could move there and start their own country of Jesustan. Of course, they'd probably have to take Texas with them.

I'm afraid, though, that Kansas isn't too far behind those states because it's pretty conservative here, too. They keep voting Republicans into our state government, even though our taxes are already too high. I often hear people complaining about our state taxes, yet I never hear anyone suggest they should stop voting for Republicans and give someone else a chance to run things.

(March 13, 2012 at 2:27 pm)Faith No More Wrote: I think the south should seccede again, and all the racists and creationisths(including those from the north) can live there while anyone rational in the south will be invited to live in the north.

Are we talking just the Deep South? I'd be ok with that.

On the flip side, in this election, the southern hicks had to stake all their hopes on a northern yokel from pennsilvania, and yet still they seem unable to prevent the despised carpet bagger from massachusetts from taking the nomination of the party that they had thought Newt has delivered to them on a platter in 1994.

I think this election will signal a new balance of power in the US in which the south will become much less significant.

Speaking of the american south, it's officially spring...I just looked out my window and my honeysuckle bushes are crawling with snakes going into breeding balls.

(March 13, 2012 at 1:42 pm)reverendjeremiah Wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKKZ5pxeM...ature=plcp

Here are some poll numbers from alabama and MISS.

These people are more prevalent than you think. I don't live in the "great" state of Mississippi. I live in Houston which is fairly progressive for the South. I worked with a person who tried to explain to me why black people and white people should not get married and have children. She compared it to the interbreeding of dogs. She said "you don't take a fine AKC (American Kennel Club) hound dog (I forgot the breed she mentioned) and mix it with a chihuahua! It'll hurt the chihuahua. You don't mix (another pedigree dog) an mix it with a mut! Her argument seemed to suggest care for the non white race in the union. It also sounded like she was repeating something she had heard elsewhere.

I live in a moderately priced mixed race neighborhood (in the South the tag "mixed race" sometimes still needs to be used). When a black couple was looking to buy a house next to one of the more notorious rednecks in the neighborhood he went outside, turned the volume up on the truck radio, played Hank Williams songs and just stared at them until they left. After that incident one of the more friendlier people in the neighborhood invited this guy into his garage and gave him a talking to. Our redneck neighbor calmed things down after that.

Mississippi scares the shit out of me. I used to live near there but there are other places in the South just as creepy. I will say that Mississippi has a high concentration of creepiness. BTW the video was too kind. There are people much worse than that there.

Yeah I do get the feeling that if the camera weren't there they'd been expressing how they really feel, especially that biker about why he doesn't like black people.

(March 13, 2012 at 2:27 pm)Faith No More Wrote: I think the south should seccede again, and all the racists and creationisths(including those from the north) can live there while anyone rational in the south will be invited to live in the north.

It's too cold up North.

Agreed. The cold up here sucks.