Comments on: Ancient forest off the coast of Alabama

By: Paul T Carney

Paul T Carney — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 01:19:00 +0000

Thank you for un-castrating me . . . a scientific miracle!

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:11:00 +0000

Or perhaps we shouldn’t perpetuate negative stereotypes based on geography.

Or maybe the people complaining about being stereotyped should spend less time feeling sorry for themselves and more time fixing the problems which cause real suffering to the less-privileged in their benighted backwaters.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:35:00 +0000

Are you deliberately castrating all your links by enclosing them in parentheses? I’ve fixed them.

By: justaddh3o

justaddh3o — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:43:00 +0000

Or perhaps we shouldn’t perpetuate negative stereotypes based on geography. Nah, who am I kidding? I’m responding to Anon on the internet

By: Paul T Carney

Paul T Carney — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:15:00 +0000

The Bush roots start in New Jersey and New York. So, yes, technically Antinous maintains his New England bragging rights there.
But, looking at
-Maine (nope, mentioned them . . .)
-Massachusetts (nope . . .)
-Rhode Island http://www.rifuture.org/smithfield-street-named-for-klansman-stays-same.html
-New Hampshire http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/07/19/108609/racist-new-hampshire-candidate/?mobile=nc
-Vermont http://vermontsecession.blogspot.com/2013/03/anti-semistism-racism-thomas-naylor.html
-Connecticut http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting

I’m sorry Antinous, what were you saying about New England’s superiority?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:09:00 +0000

Grampa Bush moved to Massachusetts in 1923 and Pa Bush moved to Texas in 1948. Not that deep.

By: Kelly Amsbry

Kelly Amsbry — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:45:00 +0000

You say depressing, I say amusing. I guess I am guilty of being smug.

By: Kelly Amsbry

Kelly Amsbry — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:44:00 +0000

Yep. Read the comments on the article (warning, it is a time sink) and see the immediate Adam & Even and Jesus & dinosaur arguments. They are doing a great job of validating the stereotypes.

By: OtherMichael

OtherMichael — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:52:00 +0000

Contrary to his popular image, the Bush clan has strong New England roots.

So, for what it’s worth…

By: OtherMichael

OtherMichael — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:50:00 +0000

in those caps they wear, they’re just ASKING FOR IT!

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:09:00 +0000

Geoff didn’t say that *everyone* north of the coast were Young Earthers.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:55:00 +0000

Funnily enough, there are remarkably few people in the North arguing for teaching creationism in schools, making it illegal to talk about being gay, denying women the right to choose what they do with their own bodies.

As a native Tennessean I always want to object to the stereotypes of Southerners, but then I look at our state legislature, sigh, and admit that even if we’re not all like that our elected officials do a great deal to keep the stereotypes alive.

On the other hand the infamous “Don’t say gay, and your guidance counselors and teachers have to out you to your parents” bill looks positively benign compared to the statements made by Tennessee’s state representative Richard Floyd about transgendered people.

By: Ty_MY

Ty_MY — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 07:30:00 +0000

It’s news to me. You added some new, useful info too.
If only you didn’t include the first sentence of your comment. Now, you’re *that* guy..

By: Paul T Carney

Paul T Carney — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:58:00 +0000

So there’s no racism or backwards thinking or regressive thinking in New England or the Northeast? Please.
How about Klan marches in Maine and Massachusetts in the ’20s, or the Tea Party and Militia movements now?
Or check out the SPLC’s hate group map . . . top numbers? California, Texas, Georgia and New Jersey.
Again, I’m not pretending that the South hasn’t had its problems, but to pretend that that is where ALL of our problems reside, or to deride ALL Southerners as somehow second class . . . not cool and indicative of your own bigotry.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:25:00 +0000

I was raised in the South, within the Southern Baptist Church, with relatives who were in the Klan.

And those of us who grew up in New England weren’t. You’ve proven your own point.

By: Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:19:00 +0000

My mom was on the board of a couple of churches, so she was surprised when they retired to the south and heard about “the Rapture.”

She asked me what “the Rapture” was and I told her it was regional comic book religion that is nevertheless taken seriously by people south of the Mason-Dixon and almost nobody in the north.

By: Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:14:00 +0000

>>The AL.com comment thread on that article is depressing

Actually the headlines for the whole site are pretty depressing

By: Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:02:00 +0000

Not really sure why this is news. Much of the Gulf Of Mexico was dry land during the ice ages, with forests, river channels, and fresh water springs. Certain Gulf coast beaches are stained dark by ancient peat and wood, and the teeth of extinct grazing animals wash up.

By: Paul T Carney

Paul T Carney — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:51:00 +0000

I’m sorry Antinous, but I’m calling asshole here. You’re being a real jerk and perpetuating stereotypes that, while having a basis in reality, are far from the whole truth.
Condemning a whole group for the behavior of smaller sub-groups within them? Not so enlightened.
I was raised in the South, within the Southern Baptist Church, with relatives who were in the Klan. I also had remarkable worldly relations and friends who were freethinkers, atheists, and civil rights activists.
How about during the Bush administration when we became the “laughing stock of the developed world”? Did you single-handedly change that overnight? Nope. But you’re vastly superior to all of “the South” because the good, intelligent and fair people who live there haven’t been able to change things as fast as you like and in the manner that you’d like.
Oh, and I would remind you that arguments for creation, against LGBT rights, and against reproductive freedom are NOT restricted to the South . . . unless Wisconsin, Indiana and Kansas (just to name a few) are now Southern.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:18:00 +0000

Neither Alabama, nor the South in have any sort of ‘corner of the market’ when it comes to human stupidity,there are plenty of ‘slack-jawed yokels’ in all the ‘Yankee’ states as well.

Funnily enough, there are remarkably few people in the North arguing for teaching creationism in schools, making it illegal to talk about being gay, denying women the right to choose what they do with their own bodies. You don’t want to be the laughing stock of the developed world? Fix your shit.

By: Gordon Klock

Gordon Klock — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:40:00 +0000

Neither Alabama, nor the South in have any sort of ‘corner of the market’ when it comes to human stupidity,there are plenty of ‘slack-jawed yokels’ in all the ‘Yankee’ states as well.(I think the majority of the entire country is painfully retarded & the rest of the world knows it.)
I apologise if I show a lack of humor,I just thought it needed to be said…

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:24:00 +0000

If Alabamans don’t want to be the butt of jokes, maybe they should stop acting like punchlines. Butthurt, butthurt punchlines.

By: justaddh3o

justaddh3o — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:54:00 +0000

About as predictable as boingboing comments about how backwards Alabama is…how trite

By: dmabury

dmabury — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:42:00 +0000

I have family in Alabama and they’re good people, but holy crap. The AL.com comment thread on that article is depressing and completely predictable.

By: Saltine

Saltine — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:20:00 +0000

An easy laugh for the cheap seats. Since I recently had the misfortune to move to Alabama (from my home state of Tennessee), let me just note one counter-example to the ever-present idea that Southerners are only fit to bang bibles: E.O. Wilson graduated from the University of Alabama. Since I’m procrastinating, I’ll throw in one more datum suggesting we’re not all slack-jawed yokels down here: http://apps.cadc.auburn.edu/rural-studio/Default.aspx

By: Geoff Glave

Geoff Glave — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:52:00 +0000

Just south of the coast are 50,000 year-old-trees. Just north of the coast are people who believe the earth is only 6000 years old.

By: JonS

JonS — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:07:00 +0000

There is a lake in NZ, Lake Waikaremoana, that was formed *mumble* thousand years ago when a landslide blocked off river valley. Because this wasn’t a traumatic event (like a massive earthquake or volcanic eruption) the forest of fully grown and healthy trees in the area slowly submerged under the rising water.

The trees are still there. And it is very spooky odd to kayak over them, or stand on the ridge above and look down through the water at them.

By: novium

novium — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:46:00 +0000

Man, that’s so cool it almost makes up for the extreme case of the heebie jeebies the RATter article left me with.