Re: Speak some British

On Tue, 12 Jun 2007 03:50:04 -0700, Django Cat
<vivjunkmail@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

That's wild, Tone. Does this mean each state has an official pie?
Can we have some more examples? Are schoolchildren encouraged to learn
state pies in the same way as they learn state capital cities? Are
there, in fact, that many kinds of pie to go round?


Each state has an official something. All states have an official
flower and an official tree.
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/statetreeflower.html

I have no idea why it's imperative to have an official tree and an
official flower, but that's the way it is. We have other official
things: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/kids/junior/symbols/index.html

Additional "officials" are added by the legislature for various
reasons. Usually, the "official" honors some industry or object that
the state is known for. In most, if not all, cases, the general
public is not aware that ______ is the official _______ of the State
of _____ unless they are directly involved with that thing.

I've long held the opinion that these legislative acts are advanced by
some legislator who wants some "face time" in his local newspaper and
can't think of a subject for a bill that would actually benefit his
constituents. He wants something on his record that says he didn't
just occupy space in the state capital during his term, but actively
proposed legislation. So he runs through a bill making the dew-worm
the Official Oligochaete of his state.

School children are not required to know these things, but they
sometimes choose the object as the subject for an essay when assigned
to write something about something. I'm aware that the Tulip tree is
the Official Tree of Indiana because someone in one of my grade school
classes read aloud her essay on this. I thought it was a joke because
I thought tulips were flowers and not trees.

A similar thing is done with days, weeks, and months at the national
level. Today, for example, is officially "Loving Day" to recognize
Loving vs Virginia; a Supreme Court case in which it was recognized
as legal that inter-racial couples could marry. It is also "Crowded
Nest Awareness Day". This week in June is "National Automotive
Service Professionals Week". June is "International Accordion Month"
as well as "Potty Training Awareness Month".

I did not make up any of the above. In the United States, we don't
have to make up bizarre and weird things. We can just look at the
output of our elected leaders for that.







--


Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: So-called Green taxes
    ... Prohibit the sale of conventional light bulbs within 2 years ... who drive their kids to school from this street, ... What counts as fallow land for that? ... tree-planting, and if so for any particular type of tree? ...
    (uk.rec.motorcycles)
  • NY Times: Jindal should veto
    ... It comes as no surprise that the Louisiana State Legislature has ... evolution in the public schools. ... The new bill doesn’t mention either creationism or its close cousin, ... education, if asked by local school districts, to help create an ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: ID update
    ... > According to NPR, the entire school board responsible for the Dover, Pa ... > of no ID in school science classes. ... The state legislature, ... is trying to make stem cell research and genetic engineering ...
    (sci.geo.geology)
  • Re: Daycare LockDown After Man Found Impaled On Pole (But Alive!)
    ... A daycare in a North York elementary school was under lockdown this morning after a bizarre incident in which a man was found dangling from a tree and impaled by a metal stake. ... Initial reports indicated the man was also tied up, but police said that was not the case. ...
    (alt.true-crime)
  • Re: Daycare LockDown After Man Found Impaled On Pole (But Alive!)
    ... A daycare in a North York elementary school was under lockdown this morning after a bizarre incident in which a man was found dangling from a tree and impaled by a metal stake. ... Initial reports indicated the man was also tied up, but police said that was not the case. ...
    (alt.true-crime)