I am torn here as to whether it is better to be a MT MacGuyver man, or live in the best run state in the union.



http://www.huffingtonpost...50521.html

If it's in the Huffington Post, it must be true.


It is interesting, though, that so many Wyoming people come to Montana to shop... No sales tax? Better selection of goods? Wyoming folks just like to get out of town, er, off the ranch...

Inquiring minds who read the Huffington Post want to know!

"If it's in the Huffington Post, it must be true."

Unlike the poop you read, Tracy.

I trust HuffPo a hell of a lot more than I do most other sources.

Richard,

Darn it, we came in second. However, we just voted in a "Legacy" account that a percentage of oil tax revenue will go into savings, and can't be touched for 10 years!!

I do believe that we will over take WY in the next 2 years, as natural gas prices have yet to come back up. Unemployment in SW WY is a bitch!

[This message has been edited by rabbit (11/13/2010)]

[This message has been edited by rabbit (11/13/2010)]

Good lord you guys, Huffington post has nothing to do with this story. All they did was link to it. I don't know why Richard chose to post that link instead of the actual story (http://247wallst.com/2010...all-fifty/) but do we really need to spin everything anyone posts on here from a left or right wing perspective?

Zombies know no better.

Unlike the poop you read, Tracy.

I'm flattered....I didn't know you were keeping track of my reading material!

So...what do you think is poop? The Huffington Post? I do glance through that to see what issues are being put forth along with similar rags from the opposite side.

Maybe: New Scientist? Atlantic Monthly? The Economist? Washington Times? The London Times? Tech Republic? The Register?

[This message has been edited by Tracy Walters (11/15/2010)]

Wyoming is a vast wasteland. The only reason it exists is because it takes up space and has massive oil and coal reserves. I lived there and worked at many places around Gillette in completely horrible jobs. The only time I was ever fired in my life was due to the fact that I misunderstood 10 hours a day does not mean 40 hours a week (and also I screwed up a million dollar alternator the size of a car -- which they weren't happy about -- but that's a side issue). Unfortunately, that was one of the least unpleasant jobs.

Wyoming is a vast wasteland. The only reason it exists is because it takes up space and has massive oil and coal reserves. I lived there and worked at many places around Gillette in completely horrible jobs....

Well then, it is the best run wasteland in the union

Honestly, I wish you'd come back an visit. Gillette is much different than when you lived here. You are providing an unflattering and inaccurate description, and while it may have been that way when you were here, it is no longer the case.

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr (11/15/2010)]

Gillette sucks. Almost as bad as Glendive.

My dad used to say that Wyoming is so sparse and bare that the jackrabbits even carried lunchbuckets.

Gillette is much different than when you lived here.

Does the wind still blow 40mph on a calm day in Gillette?

Does the wind still blow 40mph on a calm day in Gillette?

No, Larry left.

The wind does blow here some, but not as bad as in Laramie or down in western NM.

Wyoming. If you're traveling, the worst 8 hours of your life.

Only if you've never driven across North Dakota. At least Wyoming is nice as far as Sheridan.

I don't see "boring" in the landscape, I guess because over the years I have developed a connection to the land. It is fun, for me at least, to drive down the road in Wyoming or SE Montana and identify the major soil complexes and vegetation communities. To note where the cows are grazing in the landscape. To note the change that has occurred since the last time I passed through. I have pulled over more than once in the spring when I see some flower that I can't identify at 70 mph.

If you want BORING, drive through central and eastern Nebraska or Iowa sometime where the "scenery" consists of corn and soybeans.

Wyoming. If you're traveling, the worst 8 hours of your life.

I have to agree with Richard. Wyoming is beautiful compared to Nebraska. I thought I'd never get through that state. At one point I swore I was driving in an endless circle. I was ecstatic to see the South Dakota border. THAT's how bad Nebraska is.

Yeah, Nebraska and Kansas do suck. They are mostly flat and every little town smells like cowcrap. The only state that sucks worse is Wyoming.

I can't believe Nevada is getting off scott free in this thread. Now don't get me wrong, parts of Nevada are astoundingly beautiful and luckily I live very close to some of them. But others are, how shall I say it, less blessed by God. Among the least blessed in Battle Mountain. (BM is about 60 miles to the southwest of where I live now, much like Glendive was 70 miles to the northeast of Miles City). This was confirmed by no less authority than the Washington Post and then embraced (in a way) by the BM community.

http://www.washingtonpost...-2001Nov28

http://www.southpolestati...da/bm.html (2nd photo down)

I find this list to be pretty interesting. It could be considered or renamed: "The Dipsh^t Factor" or two, "We Have Gas, Do You?" I think both could apply.

I think the list is pretty accurate. Managing states with small populations is a hell of alot easier than managing large ones. Seems to me Wyoming would be fairly easy. With all the money from oil and gas and not alot of big expenditures (don't say roads, 'cause they get help from the feds and you know it), I would think that any reasonable pimplehead could run that state. Texas? California? New York? Illinois? Those states have a lot of people, and where you find a lot of people, you'll find a lot of dipsh*ts. Dipsh*ts abound. There are lot's of them in the world. It's a numbers game really. Big state populations= lot's of dipsh^ts.

It's not all about dipsh*ts...that list had a lot to do with minorities and poverty as well. Illegal immigrants, though not a criteria, helped determine the other criteria. Different state standards about what it means to have a HS diploma should be considered as well when looking at education. What a high school grad in Montana can answer on a exit exam probably looks a lot different than what their peers from Florida could do, I would imagine.

Managing a state well and living there are two very seperate things. Wyoming has some real nice spots, but the majority sucks. North Dakota on the other hand...no f.w.! I often thought Montana was so nice because republican dipsh*ts had run the state for so long. They kept our economy in the dark, thus keeping people out. Their fiscal mismanagement lead to intellectual exodus, which lead to the low wages and modest living. Which isn't so bad if you like to hunt and fish, like I do.

Last but not least...I would have to say that living in Colorado is pretty good. Not the worst, not the best...25th seems about right.

Wyoming sucks.



So does Idaho.

[This message has been edited by Buck Showalter (11/16/2010)]

I'll take ND. I grew up in and loved Montana. Moved to ND in the late 70's for work and it is a great place to live. Rolling prairies and the badlands. Lots of game and fishing. 3 great lakes for boating and fishing etc.
Not to mention the great economy. Besides the excellent farm ecomony. (love those great wheat fields). We are in the black with a huge budget surplus. Lots of work with all the oil, coal, wind and water energy.
Good schools, just the right sized cities. Two huge airbases. Great highways. We have our Walmarts, Tagets etc. Low crime rate. Easy Living
Great winters ... "-40* keeps the riff-raff out".
After I moved to Montana my brother told me that I couldn't tell North Dakota jokes anymore becauseI was one.
I'll take being a North Dakota joke any day.

Kind of a dumb rating if you look through it. No rhyme or reason other than they seem to weigh median income most heavily.

But that's probably the most meaningless statistic of the ones they list.

And I'd say traditionally, Montana's politics have leaned more leftward than most of it's neighbors. Idaho's economy runs circles around Montana's, yet is far more conservative. Same with Wyoming.

Montana has a long history of being split pretty dead-even. Control has changed hands more than most people can count over the last century or so. I don't know if it was the history of the labor movement out west or what makes Montana so unique politically.

I love both Montana and Wyoming....so Nyah Nyah on all of you who don't like them.

If you want desolate, depressing, bleak and completely worthless landscape...drive south from Mountain Home, Idaho on Hwy 51 to Nevada.

Craggy rocks and scrub brush on low hills, as far as the eye can see.

No wildlife, no trees, no break to the landscape. Deserts teem with more life that I've seen there.

I spent a week in a town there working (Owyhee)that was a literal bubble...no cell phone, no Internet, no cafe or grocery store. We had to bring our food in from Boise and use the microwave in the 5-unit motel to cook with. The only phone was in the motel office (which was right out of the fifties).

Despite that, people lived there. I still don't know what they did to scrabble a living from that area.

Damn chemtrails. Red devils in the rain. Something like that.