The Several States: Difference between revisions

Georgia has a good-sized film industry due to the tax credits that it offers to filmmakers, leading to a lot of [[California Doubling|Georgia Doubling]] in movies and TV shows, though it's not as big as in nearby Louisiana. One of the most popular shows currently{{when}} shot in Georgia is ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]''.

For the last decade or so,{{when}} Louisiana has been ''very'' active in giving tax credits to filmmakers, making it the fourth-largest film production center in North America behind [[Hollywood California]], [[New York City]] and [[Stargate City|Vancouver]]. As a result, [[California Doubling|Louisiana Doubling]] has become quite common in the American film industry. (But see New Mexico for a comparison.) The stretch of the Mississippi between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, known as "[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Cancer Alley]]", has enough chemical plants to make a [[Joisey|New Jerseyan]] feel at home, and the parts of the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana's southern coast produce a lot of America's oil. Indeed, you might have heard about [[wikipedia:Deepwater Horizon oil spill|one of those oil rigs]] back in 2010.

The State of Texas is the largest of the lower 48 states, the second largest by area after Alaska, and the second most populated after California, it also has the most counties (over 200). It is often considered to be part of both the South and the Southwest. Formerly an independent country—the Republic of Texas—prior to joining the United States in 1845. {{smallcapssmall-caps|MESSING WITH IT IS NOT ALLOWED.}}<ref>Fun fact -- the slogan "Don't Mess with Texas" actually comes from an anti-littering campaign by the Texas government back in [[The Eighties]]. It's not so much a call to outsiders to not piss off Texans as it is a call to ''Texans'' to protect their state's environment.</ref> The birthplace of the Six Flags theme park, the name coming from the six national flags that have historically flown over the state ([[France]], [[Spain]], [[Mexico]], the Republic of Texas, [[The United States]], and [[The American Civil War|the Confederate States]]). Famous for wealthy oil industry magnates and cattle ranching. Its capital, [[Other Cities in Texas|Austin]], is an enigma—it's a liberal college town that prides itself on being offbeat (it even has the slogan "Keep Austin Weird" to promote tourism), it's known for the famous indie rock and film festival South by Southwest, and it's smack dab in the middle of one of the most conservative states in the country. Because of this, both liberal Austinites and conservative, non-Austinite Texans tend to refer to the city as "the People's Republic of Austin," either jokingly or half-seriously.

''[[Breaking Bad]]'' is set in Albuquerque, the state's largest city. The show ''[[Roswell]]'' is also set here ([[Captain Obvious|of course]]), as is the recent{{when}} movie ''[[Sunshine Cleaning]]'', and parts of ''[[Terminator]]: Salvation''.

Recently,{{when}} the media portrayal of Arizona has shifted to "[[Deep South|Alabama]] with cacti" thanks to the state declining to officially observe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day from 1987 to 1992,<ref>Governor Evan Mecham initially cancelled the holiday because his predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, had created the holiday by Executive Order after the initiative had been voted down by the state legislature. The legality of such a measure was doubtful, and the Attorney General threatened to sue the state for the cost of the paid holiday. However, it didn't help that when locals protested, he responded by telling the predominantly-black crowd, "[[Unfortunate Implications|You folks don't need another holiday. What you folks need are jobs]]."</ref> and a highly restrictive anti-illegal immigration law that the state passed early in 2010, which has enflamed passions on both sides of the issue. [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|As with all things political]], [[Your Mileage May Vary]]. The state is also home to the controversial [[Cowboy Cop|Sheriff Joe Arpaio]] of Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix), who has gained notoriety for his anti-illegal immigration stance and his... ''colorful'' handling of the prison system.

It is relatively cheap to film in Utah, so many moviesmovie studios have at least one location there, especially Disney Channel Original movies. You've probably seen chunks of Utah's southern half doubling as the Old West or various alien planets, due to much of it being interestingly colored or shaped. NASA tends to use Utah as a training ground for Mars, to test rockets, and to land space probes, while the military used it to test (and later destroy) biological and chemical weapons. Everyone else comes to hike or ski. Since everyone seems to want to be an entrepreneur, you can buy pretty much anything there, except hard liquor, which is restricted to bars and state liquor stores.<ref>Indeed, until recently, Utah had the country's most restrictive laws on the operation of bars. It was only in 2009 that they were changed to be more in line with the rest of the nation. It was mostly to attract tourists, though the growing number of non-Mormon residents weren't complaining either.</ref>

The original document that created the United States, the "Articles of Confederation" had a provision that allowed Canada to be admitted automatically if it requested it. TheyAmericans say that Canada never did take advantage of the offer (or, as; Canadians seesay it,Canada choose to not rebel against the Crown).