Tag Archives: florida

FORT BRAGG, CALIFORNIA.

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A couple of months ago, I wrote that a lot of U.S. military bases back east are named for Confederate generals. As several people pointed out, there are lots of places here in California that are named for Confederate generals as well. I think the most interesting of these places is the city of Fort Bragg, named for Confederate general Braxton Bragg. If you want to go somewhere for the weekend from the Bay Area, Fort Bragg is worth a trip. Although the city is very small, it has 2 major tourist attractions: Glass Beach and the Skunk Train. The Skunk Train is a 19th Century steam train that weaves through ancient redwood forests. Fort Bragg also has a beautiful coastline and great hiking trails.


California’s admission into the Union was a big factor leading to the Civil War.  Prior to 1850, all the new states in the southern half of the U.S., like Texas, were admitted as slave states, and all the new states in the northern half, like Michigan, were admitted as free states. However, California is in the southern half of the U.S., going right to the Mexican border. Slave state senators voted for California’s admission as a free state in 1850 in exchange for northern senators voting for the Fugitive Slave Act, something the slave owners badly wanted. But afterward, it dawned on the slave owners that California’s admission as a free state meant that they had no future in America’s westward expansion and that with time, slavery would disappear.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SOUTHERN SCHOOLS.
Last month, I wrote that it seems ironic to me that many Southern states inflict harsh physical punishments on public school students for minor violations of school rules while at the same time prohibiting schools from requiring students to wear face masks. Since then, several people have told me about their experiences when they went to school in the South. A man I know well told me that he was paddled in junior high school in Texas for wearing a baseball cap backwards. The teacher claimed that it was evidence that he was in a gang. Southern politicians, including the governors of Texas and Florida, have banned face mask mandates in public schools on the grounds that “we are against government mandates”, but they defend beating up kids for minor violations of school rules. Am I the only person who thinks this seems illogical? I never hear TV newsmen questioning Southern politicians who oppose mask mandates but support corporal punishment.

P.S. – If every boy who wears a baseball cap backwards is in a gang, then there are a lot more gang members around here than I imagined!

COVID VACCINE VS. AN UNTUCKED SHIRT

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As you probably know, the governors of some southern states are prohibiting public schools from requiring kids and teachers to wear face masks. In Florida and Texas, this prohibition is statewide despite the fact that these states have the most new Covid cases in the country. Most hospitals in Texas and Florida have no available ICU beds. The governors of Florida and Texas say that the reason they are doing this is because they are “opposed to government mandates“, but these states have the nation’s toughest school behavior mandates in the country. In a number of southern states, a public school student who is caught wearing his shirt over his pants instead of tucked in is subject to corporal punishment by teachers and school staff. Thousands of kids in Texas public schools are spanked, paddled, or beaten every year for offenses such as wearing an untucked shirt or laughing in the cafeteria. In Mississippi, elementary school students have been sent to ‘juvie’ (a jail for juvenile criminals) for wearing the wrong color shoes. In Florida, children as young as 6 are subjected to corporal punishment. There are no regulations in Florida as to what instrument can be used to beat children with, and Florida schools do not need permission from parents to beat their kids. Southerners support these very harsh school mandates, but they become enraged when they are told to have their kids wear face masks at school because “we don’t believe in mandates.” Covid has killed over 600,000 Americans, but no child ever died from wearing an untucked shirt or laughing in the school cafeteria. The logic of these people escapes me. Southerners love their children and don’t want them to get sick and die. I don’t get it. No foolin’. I really don’t get it.

About California. Here in California, corporal punishment is prohibited in public schools. When I tell my students that in a number of southern states, teachers can beat students with a wood paddle or a leather belt for wearing an untucked shirt, they don’t believe me. I can see it in their faces. They ask other teachers in the school and their parents if it is true. Once they get confirmation that it is true, they go silent and stare at me. Some of my students told me later that they made their parents promise not to move to the South, at least not until all the kids in the house graduate high school. Some adults laugh when I tell them that, but I can assure you that none of my 13-year old students laughs when I tell them that kids their age are beaten in schools in the South every day for offenses such as ‘horseplay on a school bus’, ‘flatulence in class’, wearing mismatched socks, or wearing an untucked shirt. 

DISNEYLAND IN CALIFORNIA BEATS DISNEY WORLD IN FLORIDA.

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Disney World is much, much bigger than Disneyland in California, but I think Disneyland beats Disney World hands down. It’s the climate. When Walt Disney bought the land that became Disney World, it was a tropical swamp, which is why Disney got the land cheap and why it wasn’t already developed or being used by others. Walt Disney dramatically reshaped the land, but he couldn’t do a thing about the climate. In summer, the high season at Disney World, it is hot and muggy, and it rains 20 days a month. In July, the humidity often exceeds 90%. In other words, climatically, it is still a tropical swamp. Disney World is also expensive. I know families that visited Disney World in summer and spent $10,000 for a week there, and it rained every day. When it stops raining, it doesn’t dry out. Someone who went to Disney World last summer said to me: “When you leave your hotel, it feels like you are walking into a sauna.” On the other hand, at Disneyland in L.A., it never rains in the summer.


Alligators! Take a look at the photo below. There are alligator warning signs like this all over Disney World. These signs are there because they need them. Disney employees have captured hundreds – literally hundreds – of alligators at Disney World, some weighing several hundred pounds. Guests at Disney World hotels frequently report seeing alligators. You may recall that a couple of years ago a 2-year old child was killed by an alligator at Disney World. After that, Disney put up more warning signs, but there is no way to rid of the alligators. I’m sure that Disney would if they could, but they can’t. That is because it is impossible to get rid of alligators in an ideal alligator habitat like the land inside and around Disney World. The American alligator has been living in Florida for over 100 million years. The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs and most other animals 65 million years ago failed to wipe out any of the 20 or so species of alligators and crocodiles that were alive at that time. Most are alive today and virtually unchanged. That is how tough these critters are. Today, there are over 1 million alligators in Florida. Think about that – 1 million alligators just in Florida. And what about Disneyland in California? There are no alligator warning signs at Disneyland. They don’t need them. If you are in Los Angeles and you want to see an alligator, you have to go to the zoo. In California, we think that’s where alligators belong!

Machine Gun World, Orlando, Florida

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Florida has always been playing catchup with California when it comes to amusement and theme parks. Disneyland in California opened in 1955. Disney World in Florida opened in 1971. Universal Studios in California opened in 1964. Universal Studios in Florida opened in 1990.
machinegunworldWell, with the opening of Machine Gun World in Orlando, Florida has finally got a kind of theme park that we don’t have here in California. At Machine Gun World, children as young as 13 years of age can shoot military-grade machine guns, and with no prior experience or gun training required. (See photo of a boy with a machine gun at Machine Gun World. Isn’t that cute?) Machine Gun World is located 6 miles from Disney World in Orlando, so families with children can visit both theme parks on the same trip. Visitors to Machine Gun World can choose from a wide range of weapons, and they can pick personalized shooting experiences, including Special Operations, and a ‘007’ license-to-kill game, all using live ammunition. Machine Gun World says that they will not give loaded machine guns to people who are obviously intoxicated, and people show up drunk fairly often. In other words, sober children can have machine guns, but drunk adults cannot.

There are no machine gun theme parks in California, and it is highly unlikely that one will ever open in this state. Gun laws in California are very different from those in Florida. There is no way that a theme park could get a license to operate in California in which 13 year old children with no prior experience using firearms are given loaded machine guns.

So I guess we are going to have to concede this one to the Sunshine State, also known as the Sinkhole State. Congratulations to you, Florida! You finally got a kind of entertainment that we don’t have here in California.

Florida News Update: Last week, Disney raised adult admission to Disney World in Orlando to $105. a day, and Disney considers anyone age 10 or older to be an adult. Disney’s Park Hopper, which provides transportation between Disney attractions, hotels, and restaurants in the Orlando area will cost you an additional $60 a day. Gee! For what it costs a family of 4 to go to Disney World for 1 day, you could buy each of your kids a brand-new machine gun as a souvenir of your trip to Florida! Plus, there is no minimum age in Florida for the purchase of ammunition, so even a 5 year old child can legally purchase unlimited quantities of armour-piercing bullets in Florida! So its hats off to the Stand Your Ground State – Florida!