Stereotyping the regions ...

Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis, and Coast to Coast

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Omababe
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Stereotyping the regions ...

Post by Omababe »

For those who either appreciate or dislike the (let's see if this one gets by the censor) Council T-ucky moniker, you may also appreciate or dislike this project regarding a state which gets more than its fair share of disrespect. :)

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/1 ... ies_a.html
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S33
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Post by S33 »

We should do one of Nebraska, even though it will probably be much less colorful and interesting as the NJ map..
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

Haha, in terms of stereotypes, it would literally be one main color with two blobs on Omaha and Lincoln...

Or course, us natives could come up with a much more fine grained stereotype map. And it would be interesting to see one drawn up from the rural perspective verses the suburban perspective versus the urban perspective. (and all the multiple subsets thereof)
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Post by Omababe »

S33 wrote:We should do one of Nebraska, even though it will probably be much less colorful and interesting as the NJ map..
I was thinking that one of the Omaha area would be interesting.
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Post by S33 »

Omababe wrote:
S33 wrote:We should do one of Nebraska, even though it will probably be much less colorful and interesting as the NJ map..
I was thinking that one of the Omaha area would be interesting.
Yes, but can you imagine everyone's temper tantrums on this forum afterward?  :shock:
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Post by Omababe »

S33 wrote:Yes, but can you imagine everyone's temper tantrums on this forum afterward?  :shock:
I'm sure the map in the original article really ruffled some feathers with such things as "Ghetto In The Woods" and "Worse Than Detroit" and such!
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

There would be justice though because everyone could create their own map. :)
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Post by S33 »

If I get some free time, I will make a map  :)
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Post by Brad »

What about this map that was discussed at length a while ago?

Red is White, Blue is Black, Green is Asian, Orange is Hispanic, Yellow is Other, and each dot is 25 residents.

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Post by Omababe »

Brad wrote:What about this map that was discussed at length a while ago?
I'm envisioning something more like a shaded area entitled "Paranoid Survivalists" in the far southeast corner of the state.

And of course the map has to include CB. Too much potential! :) "Nebraska Expatriate Gamblers" in the "triangle" of casinos and such. :)
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Post by S33 »

Omababe, without wondering too far off topic, what about a survivalist, with everything that is going on today, would make them seem paranoid?

I don't think some people understand just how delicate our standard of living is. All it would take is for a massive hedge fund to go belly up, or for
Iran to shut down the straight of Hormuz, or for a solar flare to wipe out our energy grid, or for a state-sponsored grid warfare operation to take down the grid, and the list goes on and on.

There are many scenarios, all of which are a very real possibility, to push people into fending for themselves. All these "survivalists"
(they prefer to be called "preparers", btw) are simply making sure that themselves and their families can be self-sufficient in times of economic downturns, energy disruptions, or sudden,
large-scale conflicts. Heck, even in scenarios of a viral epidemic where they prefer to quarantine themselves from the general public and food supplies.

To me, it makes total sense. So color your maps in southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa as "paranoid survivalists"  :)
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Post by Omababe »

S33 wrote:All these "survivalists" (they prefer to be called "preparers", btw) are simply making sure that themselves and their families can be self-sufficient {deletia}
Oh, you mean by doing things as robbing armored cars and torturing those with whom they've had a falling-out?
southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa
They're actually more in Missouri than Iowa, IIRC.

Still, it's a very appropriate title for the map.

I'm trying to think of one for the area around Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
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Post by S33 »

I think you've mistaken "survivalists" with thieves. It's kinda like if I were to say all blacks do drugs, or all gays have aids. Remember,
we can't pick and choose our blanket-stereotypes, right? ;)

Your biggest survivalists in Missouri is the Federal government, with their underground installments, which basically can function as a
city, with a stockpile of food, medical equipment, and etc. You know, where the elite get to hang out while this world sorts itself out,
should anything go down.

Brads map has completely ruined the format borders of this thread...grrrr!
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

S33, I'm not sure how serious you were being with the survivalist talk (you seemed like you could seriously relate...), but frankly, I know what you're talking about.

I actually predict that either a civil war or some sort of invasion is going to be how this weird chapter in American history ends. Don't get me wrong, I'm not stock-piling weapons and food or anything. But, have I thought about it? Yes.

So yeah, you can call me a 'mental preparer.' :yes:

There have actually been several instances of loud booming fireworks here in Albany where we actually thought the bombs were falling.
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Post by Big E »

I'd prepare, but it's obviously a ploy by the government to get me to spend money:

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatter ... pocalypse/
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Post by ShawJ »

Big E wrote:I'd prepare, but it's obviously a ploy by the government to get me to spend money:

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatter ... pocalypse/
That's bogus. All you need is a cricket bat.
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Post by S33 »

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:S33, I'm not sure how serious you were being with the survivalist talk (you seemed like you could seriously relate...), but frankly, I know what you're talking about.
Oh, I'm definitely serious. Anytime you have a civilization advanced in such a way that the average person has lost touch with any sort of basic survival
skills (growing/maintaining a food supply without gas or electricity, basic medical skills, and solid knowledge on personal firearms), then you have the makings
to become victimized from complete chaos and anarchy, should something catastrophic ever happen.

Will it happen? I have no idea. Anytime I try to understand our country's financial system by using basic, personal finance principles, then I firmly believe
it can collapse at any moment. But our financial system is like a mystery inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma, and managed by (what would appear to be)
a bunch of dishonest, greedy, narcissists.

I think the most likely scenario will be a Joint Russian/Iranian cyber attack on our energy grid.

If nothing else, it's a hobby, and I've learned a ton in the last couple years. People don't understand just how easy it is to become less reliant on OPPD,
Black Hills Energy, the produce section of a grocery store, and other basic services we take for granted. But you know what's even easier than learning these skills??
Calling those who are "preparing" paranoid foil hats.

I don't know how I will ever live without Dish Network and booze, though. Making my own booze will probably be my next project : )
Last edited by S33 on Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by S33 »

Big E wrote:I'd prepare, but it's obviously a ploy by the government to get me to spend money:

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatter ... pocalypse/
W-t-f is that, anyway? Is that them being serious? Or is it their sly way of taking a dig at a "certain" faction of people?

I don't get it.
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Post by Big E »

Dude, don't laugh at it.  The zombies, who I hear are Russian-Iranian trained cyber-terrorists, want you to think they aren't a threat.  It's a similar tactic used by today's modern super animals, like the flying squirrel and the electric eel.

Here's a link to some coverage of the PR campaign:

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/1 ... apocalypse

I even used Fox News so we know it's accurate.  My biggest fear of being left behind after the Rapture (not the last one that didn't happen... the next one that is definitely going to happen, assuming the Aztec calendar doesn't get us first) is that their entire news team will be gone and I won't know where to get my news.

Anyway, if economic armageddon were to happen, we'll fall back into a barter system before we go to an all out Red Dawn survivalist-in-the-woods state.  The free market will certainly rule at that point and no one will have to worry about poor people getting health care or food.  It'll be heaven!
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Post by S33 »

Big E, if you can remain serious for even one second, just explain to me what you think would happen if the entire power grid were to
fail for more than a week or two at a time.

Brad, any chance I could get you to delete that giant map?!
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Post by Big E »

|expletive| load of food spoilage and a bunch of riots, but we wouldn't know about most of it because we couldn't get any information to or from anyone.

I put the probability of the entire power grid failing for more than a few weeks (or even a few hours) right about the same likelihood of the Rapture happening.  Any cyber-terrorist that wants to do it would have done it by now if they could, and the only military out there that could do it physically is our own.  Large scale nuke attacks? The power grid is the last thing on my mind at that point.  I'm looking for John |expletive| Connor at that point.

Short of disaster movie-esque asteroids taking out a continent or two, I see absolutely no plausible threat to society as we know it on a grand scale.  Do I think there's going to continue to be earthquakes, floods, terrorists attacks, and AIDs-esque epidemics wiping out chunks of population?  Absolutely.  Is civilization as we know it on the verge of implosion?  Highly doubtful.

All that being said, some joint private-public investment in solar, wind and other forms of redundant electricity generation and delivery doesn't seem like such a bad idea...
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Post by S33 »

That's all I needed, the Fox News stuff was obviously unnecessary, seeing as how myself and just about everyone I know hates Fox News.

Anyway, the probably of the electrical grid failing is an unknown, but many scientists firmly believe that a large-scale solar event could wipe out
the grid for an extended period of time, as it has already done so in the past in certain areas, and we are currently entering a pattern where
activity is increasing exponentially.

Regarding cyber warfare - our grid has already been hacked at the hands of China and Russia, it's been done, which would make this theory
plausible, going off the little knowledge you and I have.

Regarding a financial collapse - every single bit of our country's economic policy in the last ten years has suggested that our government has no
intention of maintaining the relevancy of the dollar, in fact, it almost looks as if they plan to do what Brazil has historically done with their
currencies, rack up massive amounts of debt, push economy into period of hyper inflation, then introduce a new standard currency. At those
times, their people went into extreme poverty. I think we are all forgetting that as little as 80 years ago, this scenario took place with many of
the same economic factors.

Here's where I think our opinions differ the most: You have much more faith in the general public, that we will fall into some sort of barter system. I, on the other hand, do not.

But, if we were to fall into a barter system, we have to understand that money is no good; we have to assume that money is a fire starter. You
would be bartering with food, batteries, toilet paper, mill grinders, even bullets would be a very hot commodity. So, if a barter system is what
you plan to rely on, you should probably think what you would have to offer. Your grocery stores would be empty in as little as two days, and
gas stations would be sucked dry.

I think hurricane Katrina showed the real human response in times of massive catastrophe.

But, like I said, it's a hobby, if nothing else. I've learned a lot, it's saved me a ton of money, and I enjoy doing it. It's nice knowing that I don't
have to depend on others for every little necessity.
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Post by Big E »

And here I am working almost every day and diversifying my portfolio like a schmuck.
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Post by Big E »

Now the zombies have spaceships by Mercury.  And Wolf Blitzer is in on it:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/vi ... ry-mpg.cnn
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Post by S33 »

Coincidence or not, that story explains a coronal mass ejection - a burst of plasma from the sun sent out to space. That burst of plasma is
exactly what scientists and electrical engineers are predicting to shut down the power grid.
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Post by Big E »

Me and Wolf will be on the spaceship, so I'm covered.
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Post by Garrett »

Wolf and I. Heil!
OMA-->CHI-->NYC
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Post by Big E »

LOL.

My spaceship, my grammar rules.
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Post by StreetsOfOmaha »

S33, cool. Then we're on the same page  :;): .

It's also interesting how so much of this "preparedness" just makes good sense, for the environment, for our own personal health, and for local economies.

Survivalism=sustainability=good sense.
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Post by Linkin5 »

I am set on survival skills.

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Post by S33 »

Big E wrote:Me and Wolf will be on the spaceship, so I'm covered.
I bet that spaceship would reek of sex and stale wine coolers upon it's return to Earth.
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Post by jessep28 »

Linkin5 wrote:I am set on survival skills.

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Just make sure you're near a major highway.

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