The Arkansas/Mississippi War

I've been kicked out of two Facebook groups. Let me tell you about them. The first was SEC Football. Since I am a huge SEC chauvinist, that seemed like the group for me. It was a rough bunch there and on one thread I was following, the members were dog cussing each other and threatening bodily harm up to and including murder. No joke. They were promising violence, death, dismemberment, and other forms of ignominy if the other one would come to his town.

In the midst of that, I threw in a comment that I hoped would lighten the mood a bit. "There are too many Alabama fans on here and too much cussing," I wrote, tongue in cheek. Someone immediately responded that he would have me kicked out of the group. I laughed out loud. Within a minute, the text on my phone began to fade. Then it went away. I unsuccessfully searched for the group. I was gone. I was blocked. Wow. Explain that.

The second Facebook group I fell out of favor with was Show Me Your Mississippi. I liked this site because it consisted of photos of our great state. I posted this one:

It was a very popular post getting 139 likes in forty minutes. Then I received notification that my photo had been removed. The explanation was that someone had complained because the group rules say that all photos must be taken within Mississippi and mine was not. "Technically he is correct," the administrators told me.

Excuse me while I scream. 

You can tell when people have never been anywhere. Like I am a world traveler or something. I think I was about ten-years old when I realized these signs are not on the state lines. Go to Memphis on I 55 and see where the Welcome to Tennessee sign is. Come back the other way and notice the Welcome to Mississippi sign. Are they directly across the interstate from each other? 

Duh?

The picture above is on Highway 82 on the extreme western part of the state on the Mississippi side of the river. What is the border between Arkansas and Mississippi? Right, it's the river. This sign is about a half a mile east from the foot of the bridge. The Welcome to Arkansas sign is about a half a mile west of the western side of the bridge. So what is that three-mile span between the two sides? It's the demilitarized zone established at the end of the War of 1812 when Mississippi and Arkansas fought each other over the price of moonshine. 

The same with the Mississippi/Tennessee signs on I 55. The mile between them is the demilitarized zone that was set up after the Korean War when Mississippi and Tennessee came to blows over a dispute about some walnut trees.

So now you know. Oh, why did they kick me out of Show Me Your Mississippi? Because I told the administrators that they were wrong (always a no no) and I posted "To the one who complained about my photo, let me guess, ________ is not your president." 

Yes, I put the blank in there because I don't do political posts. And yes, I am sure I was correct in my assessment of the complainer. And yes, I felt better after making my smart aleck remark. No, I don't miss the group because although I did like the photographs, they kept my news feed clogged. 

Now, how can I get kicked out of some other groups? Well, honestly that has lost its fun. It is way too easy to get the boot.