Strange? Odd? Weird? Bizarre? _ That's Florida!

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1401561.html

Posted on Tuesday, 12.29.09

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- You know you're living in a weird state when the governor promotes a pay-per-minute sex chat line.

Or when a congressman asks the House speaker to move a day's worth of votes so he can watch a college football game.

Or when employees at not just one, not two, but three state prisons use stun guns on their kids as part of "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day."

That's Florida, once again making people snicker at its dumb criminals, strange animals and all-around oddness.

Gov. Charlie Crist was embarrassed when an on-hold recording he made transposed two numbers for an uninsured child helpline and callers instead were led to "horny" girls willing to talk about anything for just $2.99 a minute.

It wasn't the only odd moment in politics. Rep. Cliff Stearns asked Speaker Nancy Pelosi to basically shut down Congress early so he and some of the Florida and Oklahoma House guys could go watch their teams in the national championship game. She said no.

[Jamastiene]

1. There is no limit to the strange odd weird and bizarre in Florida.

:rofl:

[DrDan]

7. you come from a state where possession of a lottery ticket is against the law

and call Florida weird and bizarre?

[Jamastiene]

16. Possession of a lottery ticket is NOT against the law here.

We have the Powerball lottery here along with tons of state level lotteries.

http://www.nc-educationlottery.org/about.aspx

North Carolina State Lottery Act (H. 1023)
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2005/Bills/House/HTML/H1023v4.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Education_Lottery

and
The North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) disagrees with you too.
http://www.naspl.org/

Try again.

[DrDan]

17. no need to try again

Dealing in lotteries.

Except in connection with a lawful raffle as provided in Part 2 of this Article, if any person shall open, set on foot, carry on, promote, make or draw, publicly or privately, a lottery, by whatever name, style or title the same may be denominated or known; or if any person shall, by such way and means, expose or set to sale any house, real estate, goods, chattels, cash, written evidence of debt, certificates of claims or any other thing of value whatsoever, every person so offending shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor which may include a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000). Any person who engages in disposing of any species of property whatsoever, including money and evidences of debt, or in any manner distributes gifts or prizes upon tickets, bottle crowns, bottle caps, seals on containers, other devices or certificates sold for that purpose, shall be held liable to prosecution under this section. Any person who shall have in his possession any tickets, certificates or orders used in the operation of any lottery shall be held liable under this section, and the mere possession of such tickets shall be prima facie evidence of the violation of this section.

http://www.gambling-law-us.com/State-Laws/North-Carolina/

[EOTE]

19. I think you need to read that law again.

Most importantly, the first sentence "Except in connection with a lawful raffle as provided in Part 2 of this Article,". I believe that means that legal lotteries are... legal in North Carolina. I believe what that law is stating is that people aren't allowed to create their own lotteries in the state. I'm pretty sure that most other states have similar laws.

[DrDan]

21. "Any person who shall have in his possession any tickets, certificates or orders used in the

operation of any lottery shall be held liable under this section, and the mere possession of such tickets shall be prima facie evidence of the violation of this section."

the law says "ANY lottery" - what am I missing

[EOTE]

22. Once again, you need to read the first sentence.

"Except in connection with a lawful raffle as provided in Part 2 of this Article,". You do know what "except" means, right? That first sentence completely changes the meaning of the rest of the law. That first sentence says that "lawful raffles" are allowed. You did read that, right?

[DrDan]

23. the last sentence reads "any lottery" - not "lotteries defined by this clause" or anything similar

I am not a lawyer - and I have no expertise in interpreting laws - but that clearly says "any lottery" - it does not seem to limit the intent to illegal lotteries.

[EOTE]

24. Clearly not a lawyer.

There's a reason that this sentence is the first part of the law. It's saying that any text that follows this sentence in the law is subject to that exception. You'd think that with me explaining this to you as well as the previous poster's listing of several sites that sell lottery tickets in North Carolina would convince you that your interpretation of this law is incorrect. It's like if you start talking smack to someone and he comes up to you and says "If you punch me, I'm going to punch you and knock you out!". Would you run up to a cop and say "This man said he's going to punch me and knock me out! Put him in jail!" Words mean things. You have to read a law in its entirety to have a complete understanding of it.

[DrDan]

26. so - ignoring your condesending (I am guessing you might be a lawyer) approach - let me ask this

was there a recent change in NC laws that recinded a law having to do with possession of lottery tickets?

This seems to indicate that there was a law that made it illegal to possess them.

RALEIGH, N.C. _ S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges wants N.C. leaders to rescind the half-century-old law making a criminal out of anyone who possesses a lottery ticket in the Tar Heel State.

In a letter sent Monday, Hodges asks Gov. Mike Easley, Senate leader Marc Basnight and House Speaker Jim Black to ensure North Carolinians who choose to play the S.C. lottery are "allowed to freely participate in our games without harassment." Hodges called the N.C. law "arcane."

"The law is the law. I guess it's debatable whether it's arcane," said Fred Hartman, Easley's spokesman

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-83469579.html

[EOTE]

27. Nope, not a lawyer. Although I guess I'm a little versed in legalese.

And I wasn't trying to be condescending, I was just trying to state my position emphatically because it seemed like it wasn't sinking in. I wasn't aware of a recent change in the law, but it seems that there was one (well, 5 years ago, anyway). That still doesn't effect the current law (the one on the books and the one you listed) which says that state run lotteries are legal.

[SoCalDem]

2. In our house we play "Florida or Texas?"

We find news stories, read them to the other, aloud.. and then ask FL or TX..Most of the weirdest ones seem to emanate from one or the other:)

[JCMach1]

3. in the UAE, it's Ras Al Khaimah

where all the strange and weird stuff happens...

[SoCalDem]

4. Are you EVER coming back to the youessay?

Are your kids fluent in Arabic yet? They have wonderful career opportunities,if so:)
Just kidding about the coming back part.. I bet you are glad you got out when you did :)

[JCMach1]

11. Fluent in Arabic, lol

Hardly, they hate it. The Arabic teachers are really bad.

I can't afford to come back... :(
I work as an Administrator now...

[mwb970]

5. Is it something about being located toward the South?

The states whose residents and leadership I think of as being wildly off-base seem to mostly be in the South (Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee) or in the southern part of the West (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas). I know these states have lots of liberals, great scenery, etc., but seen from the outside they tend to resemble mental institutions. Why is this?

I've lived in Ohio all my life except for a few years in Chicago in the 70s so I really don't know much about the South. Stories like this make me want to remain in ignorance.

[a la izquierda]

6. I love Oklahoma, but you're right...

I grew up in NJ and got my MA in CA, so when I moved here for my PhD, I was totally stunned. There are some really odd birds here. The scenery is great, the cycling is great, the weather (usually) isn't too bad, and the living is cheap. But our senators are certifiable and our Republican state reps are from another era.
Needless to say, I'd love to stay here when I finish up school. But I'll probably end up in Texas. I guess that move won't be so shocking.

[DrDan]

9. you should have followed Illinois polics this past year . . .

give me a break - there are weird "residents and leadership" throughout the U.S.

It is such a gross generalization to claim the South has the lock on it.

"mental institutions"???? I find your attitude offensive.


of course, normal in Ohio could be considered . . .

[DrDan]

8. like nothing weird ever happens in Illinois . . . perhaps you should review the politics of your

state over the past year.

These South-bashing threads are just demeaning and unnecessary . . . but an on-going constant source of humor for the lower quadrant of DUers.

The salvation, of course, is that some of us are enjoying 70 degree weather today . . .

[timtom]

10. Isn't that the truth?

I loves me some broad-brush-no-critical-thinking-skills screeds like these posters here (with 2 notable exceptions thus far: thee and me).

[DrDan]

12. one state elects this guy

yet calls a phone-number mistake by the Governor "weird"

hmmmmmm . . .

[NNN0LHI]

13. I posted about one of our "oddities" here in Illinois yesterday. Must have missed it?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7344288

[timtom]

14. So ya reckon we should come up with engaging, yet disparaging,

sobriquets for Illinois, based upon oddities occurring within that state?

ILL-inois?
Ill-a-NOISE?

Does that help promote camaraderie among progressives?

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fishnfla]

28. Aren't you the poster who while NO was drowning during Katrina

cheered because the hurricanes helped the weather for golfing in Illinois?

[DrDan]

15. yes I did miss it. However,

I see a difference between a thread about a misguided individual and an article that labels an entire state "Strange, Odd, Weird, Bizarre" (even if the article appeared in a Florida paper). That only invites more "South-bashing" which has no place here - more appropriate for the over-generalizations found among the FRers.

[Berry Cool]

18. Flori-duh has its share of crazies, but as an Ohioan I feel no ability to brag.

We have definitely had more than our share of strange stories.

I really wish I could forget it, but Ohio is the state where a man tried to have sex with a picnic table.

[Dappleganger]

20. OK, that visualization made me laugh!

But I still hate this crazy state of Florida, it's the dumbest state out of South Carolina I've ever lived in. I've never met more bigoted people in all of my life!