By the way, Lotus dear, your new spam filter sucks.

That or Whole Foods.

http://www2.nemcc.edu/mspeople/1st_facts.htm

http://www.mississippibelieveit.com/

I guess I’ll never understand why truly enlightened people visit Mississippi or gawd forbid, move back here to live ‘cuz by their standards the State and most of its inhabitants rate slightly lower than a common outhouse shithole. The truly ignorant write about those things of which they know nothing, my example of course: Mr. Putz. The question is, who is in charge of setting the standards? And the follow-up question is who died and left them in charge anyway.

P.S. Lotus, I think you had it right to begin with in naming Mr. Putz.

I love many things about Mississippi — its soulful and colorful people and characters; the honesty, genuineness, and realness of its inhabitants; the relatively mild winters, the ryhthm and coolness of its springs, the colorful and cool falls, and the hot and sticky summers; the great food and cooking traditions; the music, including the origins of gospel, blues, and rock; the timeless culture; its diverse foliage; its abundant wildlife, hunting , fishing and other outdoor opportunities; its rivers and streams, including the grandest one of all– the MS River; the rich Delta land; the Hill Country; the MS Gulf Coast; its abundant artists, writers, musicians, actors, professional sports stars and other entertainers; the fact that folks of all colors and ethnic backgrounds have been living, working and playing together for many years, enduring much turbulence along the way, but reaching a point now that few other state populations have achieved; its generally slower pace; college football, especially my beloved Ole Miss Rebels, and tailgating in the Grove on a fall Saturday ; the too numerous to mention little holes in the wall and dives where fine food and entertainment abound; etc. etc. (I am sure some of you can add even more positive attributes to my brief list).

Ben, maybe you should visit MS more often. I have traveled to a lot of places across the US, and none are as appealing to me as my home state. I usually wind up saying about these other places: ..”it’s a fun place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there”.