It is natural for the populations of a given place to be gathered towards the coast. Australia is a good example of this. Where something like %80 of the population lives within 100miles of the coast.

I dont mean to split hair either, but isnt Houston more or less on the gulf coast? At least the greater urban area? I have never been there but, hasnt Galveston more or less been absorbed through urban sprawl?

I always find it interesting traveling through the larger cities in the lower 48 where there is little or no separation between cities towns etc. Where I live there is generally a pretty clear separation of an undeveloped area. Even in Anchorage and its suburbs.

I especially like giving people in southern California a hard time about them claiming various areas like Orange Country or the Valley etc. When in fact it is just one major urban area that runs from San Diego north to Oxnard.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

Oh i dont disagree with that view at all - where my issue comes in is the coastal attitude that anything not in either the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic or California doesnt count, as its just "fly-over country"

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

Oh I agree, when I go overeseas , I always fly Brit air if I can, in fact I would not fly to eurpoe on any other carrier.

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No individual can plan his own existence in their view.

So the state planners must arrogate to themselves the right to manipulate any sector of the economic system if the good of “society” or the “general welfare” is paramount.

Ipso- if the rights of the individual get in the way, the rights of the individual must be sublimated.

The Road to Serfdom
FA Hayek (interpretation)


Mortgage Backed Security survivor

That statement got what it deserved. Global geography is in the curriculum for 10-year olds.
But if I ever meet someone that doesn't know how big the place is, I'll send him/her over to measure up the place. No worries.

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"Say not, 'When I have free time I shall study'; for you may perhaps never have any free time"
Hillel the Elder

Yes, WOI, it is in the curriculum. But, in my experience, Europeans who come here for the first time, despite being well educated, often fail to understand the sheer size of the country.

A perfect example is some friends that came out from France to visit us in Denver. They wanted to rent a car so that they could maybe take a quick trip to see New York City or LA (or both). They really had no idea that they were looking at 3 days of hard driving to get to New York.

I suppose that it's like Americans going to Russia, which makes the US look tiny.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

As an Update. There is plenty of news about the Northwest Delta merger. Assuming it passes all the legal anti-trust issues that are being raised it will make it the largest air carrier in the world. Northwest will fall under the Delta name. Will this be good for anyone's air travel or employment on this board?

For me, I have taken quite often the flight from Anchorage to MSP and the Delta flight to SLC.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

ErikOKC's statement was a blanket statement about all Europeans. That's as prejudiced as any blanket statement about Americans. I'm only treating those statements the way blanket statements about Americans are treated.

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"Say not, 'When I have free time I shall study'; for you may perhaps never have any free time"
Hillel the Elder

Or Alaska. Few lower 48ers realise that Alaska is 2.5x bigger than Texas, has more coast line than the other 49 combined. I got a massive gut laugh going when some extended family from the midwest wanted to go for a drive to boat trip to spot a polar bear. Little did they know that they are over 800miles away from the nearest polar bear. Which is in the Anchorage zoo. To see a wild one is more like 1000miles. How far is that? LA to Dallas?

Also there is only a small percentage of the state that is accessible by road.

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Abstinence Education at its finest: