Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 10:52:42 -0500
From: Steve Smith <sgs at aginc.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: West Virginia
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

"Strong, Lee" wrote:
>
>         Yes, obscure history is very much fun!

In my somewhat cynical opinion, the *only* kind of history that's any
fun.

Coupla more data points.  In 1982, Key West "seceded" from the US to
form the Conch Republic (Motto:  "We seceded where others failed").  See
http://www.keywestparadise.com/republic.html for details.  This was a
"theatrical" response to a legitimate beef, and it worked.
(Essentially, the US Government set up international border-type
checkpoints on the bridge to Key West to look for drugs.  This was
lethal to the tourist industry -- would *you* want to vacation in a
place that took 8 hours to get in or out of, and run the risk of having
your car disassembled?)

New York City has talked about seceding a number of times, most recently
in 1969.  Idea was to become a "free city", a la Singapore.  The idea
quietly sank when somebody pointed out what would happen if NYC was cut
off from funds coming in from the Federal and State governments ...

--
Steve Smith                                           sgs at aginc.net
Agincourt Computing                            http://www.aginc.net
"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."