Bad Delaware! Bad!

[Andromeda321]

Ok so my friend from Delaware was trying to prove her state's superiority to me earlier today and passed me this (http://www.state.de.us/gic/facts/history/delfact.htm#State_Star)link about the Delaware State Star. Apparently the Natural History Museum ran a contst there a few years back to name the star and registered it with the International Star Registry.
GAAAAAAAA!!!
Just posting this here quickly because she didn't quite understand why I was so upset about this and you guys'll get it.

[electromagneticpulse]

Just looking at that page makes me feel sick. I can understand if they discovered the things that they have claimed as their states but god people like that make me angry. The UN actually states that no one country can own any part of space (why a guy owns the moon), so how can a state lay claim to a star... Maybe i should lay claim to the whole area of space around it, tell them to move their star and sue them when they don't :D

They even named the lady bug 'harmonia axyridis' as their state bug when it isn't even native to america but was taken over there. How can you claim something for your state that doesn't even come from your own country... some people make me so angry.

[Ut]

Trying to prove their state's superiority? Regardless of any reasoning that could be used, could they be any more insulting?

[pghnative]

Um --- are you being serious?? The good people of Delaware did not intend to lay claim to the star. When a state declares something to be an offical "State Something-or-the-other", it's just a feel-good way to honor something that the state legislature feels like honoring. Pretty silly, but nothing to get worked up over. (Unless of course you live in Delaware and are lactose-intolerant.)

[SeanF]

They even named the lady bug 'harmonia axyridis' as their state bug when it isn't even native to america but was taken over there. How can you claim something for your state that doesn't even come from your own country... some people make me so angry. [-X
That's not fair. After all, we aren't native to this country ourselves!

(BTW, I hail from the state of South Dakota, and our State Bird is the ring-necked pheasant, which was brought over from east Asia two hundred years ago)

[ktesibios]

Um --- are you being serious?? The good people of Delaware did not intend to lay claim to the star. When a state declares something to be an offical "State Something-or-the-other", it's just a feel-good way to honor something that the state legislature feels like honoring. Pretty silly, but nothing to get worked up over. (Unless of course you live in Delaware and are lactose-intolerant.)

What he said, and also:

When a state legislature passes a bill designating the Official State Coelenterate or something like that, it's that much time that they didn't spend doing real mischief. :wink:

[electromagneticpulse]

They even named the lady bug 'harmonia axyridis' as their state bug when it isn't even native to america but was taken over there. How can you claim something for your state that doesn't even come from your own country... some people make me so angry. [-X
That's not fair. After all, we aren't native to this country ourselves!

(BTW, I hail from the state of South Dakota, and our State Bird is the ring-necked pheasant, which was brought over from east Asia two hundred years ago)

So quit claiming the country to be yours :P i get your point. I surgest we go back to see and reclaim our previous "land" 8)

[Makgraf]

In the August 7, 2002 issue of The New Republic there's an article about Delaware called Rogue State- The Case Against Delaware (http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020819&s=chait081902):

The article describes Delaware as "a rapacious parasite state with a long history of disloyalty and avarice" and pretty much continues in that vein. It goes through Delaware's long history of treason, poor-civil rights record, massive corruption and its desire to "enrich itself while undermining its neighbors" by lax regulation of corporations and banks (300,000 companies are incorporated in Delaware because of their loose rules).

Anyway this thread reminded me of it :D

[sarongsong]

Hmmh...does Georgia know about this?
"...Delaware State Flower: Peach Blossom
Passage of the act to adopt the Peach Blossom on May 9, 1895, was prompted by Delaware's reputation as the "Peach State," since her orchards contained more than 800,000 peach trees yielding a crop worth thousands of dollars at that time..."

[russ_watters]

Just looking at that page makes me feel sick. I can understand if they discovered the things that they have claimed as their states but god people like that make me angry. The UN actually states that no one country can own any part of space (why a guy owns the moon), so how can a state lay claim to a star... Maybe i should lay claim to the whole area of space around it, tell them to move their star and sue them when they don't :D

They even named the lady bug 'harmonia axyridis' as their state bug when it isn't even native to america but was taken over there. How can you claim something for your state that doesn't even come from your own country... some people make me so angry. This isn't a claim of ownership, its just a name (an unofficial name) for a previously unnamed star. Anyone can name a star - yes, even you.

A friend of mine died of cancer as a child and his family had a star named after him.

So what's the big deal?

[iFire]

What if you bought a name for a star and it went supernova? Would they give you a refund? :o

[Lycus]

Um --- are you being serious?? The good people of Delaware did not intend to lay claim to the star. When a state declares something to be an offical "State Something-or-the-other", it's just a feel-good way to honor something that the state legislature feels like honoring. Pretty silly, but nothing to get worked up over. (Unless of course you live in Delaware and are lactose-intolerant.)
I guess the real point is that Delaware could have simply picked the star and declared it the state star on their own without going through that silly company and giving it a bit of undeserved free publicity.

[AGN Fuel]

It is a star of the 12th magnitude.... It can be seen with binoculars or a telescope.

I wanna pair of those binoculars...... :o

[Rich]

In the August 7, 2002 issue of The New Republic there's an article about Delaware called Rogue State- The Case Against Delaware (http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020819&s=chait081902):

The article describes Delaware as "a rapacious parasite state with a long history of disloyalty and avarice" and pretty much continues in that vein. It goes through Delaware's long history of treason, poor-civil rights record, massive corruption and its desire to "enrich itself while undermining its neighbors" by lax regulation of corporations and banks (300,000 companies are incorporated in Delaware because of their loose rules).

Anyway this thread reminded me of it :D

Bah, that guy is a jerk. He starts his tirade because Delaware made him stop and pay a toll... boo-stinking-hoo! His whole excuse for starting this complaint is that a) Delaware is somehow bad for having a toll and b) Delaware alone incoveniences drivers with tolls along Interstate 95. The second part is the easiest to debunk because Maryland has two just after that on the way to D.C. and I know that PA has a couple of tolls along I-95. If Delaware is bad for having tolls, then so are all those other states.

Bah, picking on Delaware just because we don't tax the crap out of everyone. I couldn't read the rest of the article without paying to register, but I wonder how his examples of treason, poor civil rights, etc. hold up against other states? Yeah, Delaware had forced busing for desegregation, so did Boston, big deal. Bah, and all because he makes a false case about the one lousy toll on I-95 in Delaware.

[ToSeek]

Bah, that guy is a jerk. He starts his tirade because Delaware made him stop and pay a toll... boo-stinking-hoo! His whole excuse for starting this complaint is that a) Delaware is somehow bad for having a toll and b) Delaware alone incoveniences drivers with tolls along Interstate 95. The second part is the easiest to debunk because Maryland has two just after that on the way to D.C. and I know that PA has a couple of tolls along I-95. If Delaware is bad for having tolls, then so are all those other states.


I drive that way several times a year. Maryland does have a tollgate shortly after that (and another for the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel if you continue that far). However, for some reason the backups at the Delaware tollgate are far worse than for the Maryland one. For a while there it was because the Delaware toll was a bizarre $1.25 versus Maryland's $2. I don't know what the problem is now.

There is plenty of turnpike highway in Pennsylvania, but none of it on I-95.

[Fortis]

Ok so my friend from Delaware was trying to prove her state's superiority to me earlier today and passed me this (http://www.state.de.us/gic/facts/history/delfact.htm#State_Star)link about the Delaware State Star. Apparently the Natural History Museum ran a contst there a few years back to name the star and registered it with the International Star Registry.
GAAAAAAAA!!!
Just posting this here quickly because she didn't quite understand why I was so upset about this and you guys'll get it.
Yup, this is annoying. Some years ago The Sun newspaper (if you can call it that) announced that it had had a star named after a girl that had been murdered. For a very small fee, The Sun had a story about how it was caring, even though the naming was completely meaningless. :evil:
Perhaps I'll set up an "international" registry of country names, and for a small fee people can pick names for countries. It's no different to what the star registry people are doing.

[Bozola]

What if you bought a name for a star and it went supernova? Would they give you a refund? :o

You break it, you bought it.

[Ut]

This isn't a claim of ownership, its just a name (an unofficial name) for a previously unnamed star. Anyone can name a star - yes, even you.

A friend of mine died of cancer as a child and his family had a star named after him.

So what's the big deal?

No, for a fee, your friends family had his name put down in a database that is not recognized by anyone aside from the company that keeps it. The only difference between just proclaiming a name for a star, and registering a name with a star registry, is that the latter costs money.

But, if that's the way you feel, I have a whole sky's worth of stars that need names. For a price ;)

[Fortis]

From Wired.com

Winona Ryder got one for Johnny Depp. Nicole Kidman got one and named it "Forever Tom." Princess Diana has two, purchased for her after her death. And at least one widow of a fireman lost in the World Trade Center attack wanted to buy one in memory of her late husband.

What these people have is a 12-by-16-inch certificate from the Illinois company International Star Registry (ISR), claiming that a star had been named for them or their loved one.

They have a booklet with charts of the constellations, along with a large detailed star chart with "their" star circled in red. They also have a gap in their bank account where $48 used to be. What they don't have is any confirmation their star's new name is recognized and will be used by anyone outside International Star Registry.

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ISR doesn't even use the word "official" anywhere on its main Web page.

Yet this tacit acknowledgement hasn't stopped ISR from throwing its weight around. In 2000, they threatened to sue Ohio Wesleyan University for hosting a student's Web page criticizing the company's star-naming practices. Rather than face a lawsuit, the university removed the website. At roughly the same time, ISR threatened suit against a Florida planetarium for remarks against ISR made by one of its employees.

"I was actually hoping they'd sue me," said Laurent Pellerin, the employee in question. "But ISR went after (my employer, knowing) they couldn't afford even a successful lawsuit."
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http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,49345,00.html

[Makgraf]

In the August 7, 2002 issue of The New Republic there's an article about Delaware called Rogue State- The Case Against Delaware (http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020819&s=chait081902):

The article describes Delaware as "a rapacious parasite state with a long history of disloyalty and avarice" and pretty much continues in that vein. It goes through Delaware's long history of treason, poor-civil rights record, massive corruption and its desire to "enrich itself while undermining its neighbors" by lax regulation of corporations and banks (300,000 companies are incorporated in Delaware because of their loose rules).

Anyway this thread reminded me of it :D

Bah, that guy is a jerk. He starts his tirade because Delaware made him stop and pay a toll... boo-stinking-hoo! His whole excuse for starting this complaint is that a) Delaware is somehow bad for having a toll and b) Delaware alone incoveniences drivers with tolls along Interstate 95. The second part is the easiest to debunk because Maryland has two just after that on the way to D.C. and I know that PA has a couple of tolls along I-95. If Delaware is bad for having tolls, then so are all those other states.

Bah, picking on Delaware just because we don't tax the crap out of everyone. I couldn't read the rest of the article without paying to register, but I wonder how his examples of treason, poor civil rights, etc. hold up against other states? Yeah, Delaware had forced busing for desegregation, so did Boston, big deal. Bah, and all because he makes a false case about the one lousy toll on I-95 in Delaware.
Oops, forgot the article was behind a firewall.
The next paragraph goes:
The practice of charging road tolls is an archaic holdover blighting much of the Northeast. But Delaware has taken it to a grotesque extreme. Whereas the i-95 tolls amount to less than five cents per mile in New Jersey and four cents per mile in Maryland, in Delaware they cost an exorbitant 18 cents per mile.

I'd quote from the article for the other questions, but my spidey-senses tell me that might start up something political, so I'll confine it to PM. I saw the article more of a humorous rant about something that only tangently effects someone's life (The author has a very funny article in this vein about why he hates gift-giving).

[Fortis]

There's a spoof (at least I hope it is) of the International Star Registry here. ;) :)

Universal Number Registry

You can name a number -- that's right, an actual multi-digit number, just like mathematicians, scientists, and Wall Street CEOs use every day! What better gift could there be for someone who has almost everything?

For as little as $5, you can name a number after anyone you want -- a friend, a relative, a pet, a childhood toy, even yourself!

Universal Number Registry, in business since earlier this year, has claimed the exclusive right to rename numbers. After your order has been accepted and processed, the name you indicate will entered in our official tome, Your Place on the Number Line. From that moment on, anyone who has the good sense to obey the official naming conventions will use your name instead of the old, tired one.
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http://www.nameanumber.com/

Wonderful. :)