Who Are You, Florida?

After a drunken night out with my husband’s hockey team (which is an experience all on it’s own) I was left with many questions:  How can they drink so much and not die?  Does ‘hockey’ count as a language- because I can’t understand a word they’re saying?  Is this legal?  Where am I? etc. etc….

But a more important question that actually came up (in a drunken, ‘what is life all about’ kind of way, and stayed with me until the next morning is:  How come Florida is not like the rest of the Southern states?  They don’t have southern accents (I don’t think) and the state just doesn’t have the same feel as the rest of the South.  Now, between myself and a bunch of Canadians there was not much evidence to back up these claims- I have only been to Florida once and everyone had equal or less time logged there, but when you think about it- Florida really does seem to stand alone, the sore thumb of the United States, sticking out from the usual southern stereotypes us Yankees hold about the rest of the area.

I did a little research (i.e. typed in ‘Florida’ on Wikipedia) and could not find anything unique about the state that would set it apart from the rest of the area.  It was originally settled by the Spanish, and then some French people came, but was later conquered by the English (who cleverly armed the indigenous people with weapons and had them do the dirty work- sound familiar??).  AND, Florida WAS involved in the Civil War (I thought they weren’t for some reason, because I am an idiot who was robbed of a half decent education)-  They were the first state in the Confederacy! 

So, Florida DID have a different start, but eventually blended with the rest of the south and collected a similar history.  But why no accent then?  Why is it still so seemingly different from it’s neighbors?  Or is it?  Am I totally wrong?  What would I know anyway?

The only thing I can think of (if I am correct in assuming that Florida is different from the rest of the South) is because of the terribly small population prior to the Depression, and the difficult time the state had recuperating afterwards (Florida struggled until after WWII).  So I’m thinking that there just aren’t the same ‘roots’ in Florida as the rest of the south because the population didn’t really grow until much much later.  So maybe Florida is made up more of transplants from elsewhere, and does not hold the generations and generations of families like the rest of the southern states.  I don’t know, just a guess.  Can you grow cotton in Florida?  Is it because of the Everglades? 

Who Are You?

Update!  Oh my Gosh… I was just listening to WPR and they’re talking about Florida (election stuff) and one Florida guy mentioned that 75% of Florida’s population is from somwhere else!  That would explain some things I suppose.

Reminder to Voters

 I hope you watch this, it isn’t so much a Ron Paul pushing video- it’s more of a reminder of our current situation, what we have lost so far, and shows us how dangerously close we are to becoming a police state.  Most people agree we need a CHANGE, here’s why!

Ranting and Raging- what else is new?

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I know that the majority of my posts are angry rants about what’s wrong with people, society, my life, etc.  BUT the reason I do this here on WordPress is so I don’t drive my friends and family crazy.  I have to rant and rage here because I have no other outlets.  Normally, up close and in person, I am a fairly happy person.  I have my sore spots but for the most part I try and stay positive.  Blowing up here helps me keep my cool in my personal life.

On that note, let me just say that I am so sick and tired of the United States as a whole.  I am sure there are other countries that would piss me off too, but I have only ever lived here (and Canada- but that’s a separate post !) 

I have been home in the States since the beginning of December, and I am getting sickened more and more by what I see.  Since I’ve been home, I have realized that the area where I was raised is now nothing more than a consumeristic cess pool, and is sadly a fair representation of most of the country.  There is nothing to do here other than shopping.  Where there used to be cornfields and forests are now mini-malls and ticky-tac subdivisions.  Where are all these people coming from?  Why do we need 4 Menards, 3 Home Depots, and a Lowes within a 10 mile radius?  There is one of the countries largest shopping malls here yet you cannot drive one mile without passing by a strip mall filled with fast food restaurants and shops selling wares that no one really needs- just like at the fucking mall you passed 2 miles back! 

Our government has turned its back on the Constitution, our media is completely corrupt and inaccurate, and “What kind of gun do you own” is a question picked from millions to be asked at the Republican debates.  Religion is becoming law in a country that was born from the desire to believe what you want and live how you want, I am afraid to say “terrorist” on the telephone, and have to think twice before I bring Christmas cookies into an airport!  Christmas cookies!?!

Our news covers Britney Spears more than the war in Iraq, and when it does cover  the war the information is one-sided, biased, and at times completely false.   And in between the news every commercial I see is for a prescription drug.  I was fine before but now, according to these commercials, I have Restless leg syndrome, bi-polar disorder, and erectile dysfunction!!  Report on Drug Advertisements

 MMMM… Pills!

I wont even get into our diets and how we eat, and then what we spend on weight loss plans… and how we tear down any kind of outside facility that could be used for exercise and then build a gym there!

I’m sorry but I am absolutely terrified.  What have we all turned into?  What have we let our world become?  All we do is shop and eat, and meanwhile our environment is crumbling at an alarming rate, the WORLD is at war, there is no trust, we are all in debt due to our greed, and people are actually convicing themselves that everything is fine.  I’m disgusted with all of us.  It really is that bad too… it really has gotten to the point where it’s not the same old doom and gloom rag that has been going on forever, it’s actually here now!

I try and look for the good in people, and a lot of times it’s not hard to find, but that’s not good enough anymore.  Things are snowballing downhill fast and someday soon something really really really big is going to happen that is going to force us to change our ways.  I just hope me and my family survive whatever happens!

I’m not a religious person, but my dad (refusing to believe that I am not a religious person) showed me a verse in his Bible the other day.  It was from Jacob I think, something about warfare and when it’s okay to start that shit.  He has the kind of Bible that, at the end of each book, explains things for you in Layman’s terms, and it explained that God says it’s okay to go to war when the people you are fighting have claimed the land for themselves and have forgotten or ignored the fact that the land belongs to the Lord.  Whether there is a god or not- what we have here on planet Earth is a gift and we have completely abused it.  I’m not saying start a war, but doesn’t it seem like we are the people who have claimed the land for ourselves and not respected it as something that transcends ownership?  What the hell is this “all for us and none for all” attitude that the majority of the country (and the rest of the First World for that matter) has taken.  Are we REALLY that stupid?

Yes.

DisasterLand

Daily Condemnation:

NOTE:  I am holding myself to all these statements as well, we are all guilty of this crap.

I was thinking about the reactions to the California fires, and really not feeling too sorry for all the people there.  I should not be like that, but I’m resentful because they’re rich and I’m not!  Sorry! 

I was also comparing these reactions (in my head) to the response to Katrina, and the STILL lacking aid to New Orleans.  I wondered if our response to the fires is better because the people there are richer and whiter, and Hollywood is a US gem?  Or are we just more prepared after “learning” from mistakes made during Katrina?  Or is it easier to battle a fire than a flood/hurricane? 

But here is a good article.  The writer looks at these same questions, and has his own opinion on the matter.  You may or may not agree with him, but there are more comments at the bottom of the page worth looking at.  It gets a little heated, but both sides of the argument (US is Evil vs. US learned from their Katrina mistakes) are touched on, and you can see varying opinions.

I myself am currently conflicted about my opinions towards the United States, it is my homeland, and I am about as American as you can get, but the more I see and read the harder it is for me to accept our behavior- of individuals AND political figures.  We are greedy, unsympathetic, violent, and uninformed.  We think Visa gives out free money and so does our government, we are all in massive debt (as a country and individually) and use STUFF to keep ourselves happy.  We are ignoring serious problems, these fires will be quickly forgotten, just like Katrina, and we will always turn to The Insider instead of the news (not that the two are much different these days). 

We ignore signals our planet is giving us about its deterioration, and we continue to waste and waste and waste.  We are on welfare yet have gem encrusted cell phones, we don’t like the war but choose to turn up our iPods instead of protest.  We are unhealthy but would rather take a “fix it quick pill” rather than live a healthy lifestyle.  I see the same basic pattern repeating itself on every level.  Greed and laziness and fear is the real pollution here.