Bacon Strip

It's terrible to have a blog and not have anything to blog about! For the past couple of weeks I've been in a thoughtless slump.
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When I started my blog I thought to myself, "Now Self, I won't put anything on my blog that is not relevant to the theme of my blog, not inspiring or uplifting, not informative, or anything that wouldn't be of interest to at least the majority of my readers."
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I could probably keep that promise if I posted once a month but trying to update every couple of days gets to be a problem.
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So, I can relate to Rudy G's most recent comment..."When I make a mistake, it's a beaut!" (or something to that effect)
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Yesterday, I was browsing around on the internet and found a most interesting web-site about my great state....The Lone Star State. It is a series of citations, quotations, and evidence on the true origins of terms and words from and about Texas....a web site by Barry Popik.
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In lieu of more relevant things to write about, I am posting about something that I've missed....a political phrase coined in 2004, "Bacon Strip" District.
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A “bacon strip district” is an electoral district like the one in the Rio Grande Valley (25th Congressional District) that’s long and thin and can go on for hundreds of miles. The term was mentioned in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2004.
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“This patch right here,” says Bell, “is where three congressional districts in Texas meet: Congressional District 25, 10 and 21. Now that’s significant, because a year ago, this whole area was district 10. We had one congressman that we knew, who knew us. We could call his office, and he understood the concerns of Austin. And right now, we are now split between three congressmen. District 10 goes from this point east through some sparse areas between here and Houston, and it will stop just outside of Houston. Then we have the congressional district that I’m part of, 21, go from this point and go west to the Hill Country, which is very pretty, but doesn’t have really anything in common with what my life’s all about. And then we would loop back around to pick up San Antonio.”
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That’s about a three hour drive.
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“Oh, at least,” says Bell. “From District 25, from where we stand, you would go south and you’d just keep on going until you saw a big sign that said, ‘You are now entering Mexico.’”
That’s over 300 miles.
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“It’s called the ‘Bacon Strip,’” Bell explains, “because it looks like a piece of bacon, especially when it’s been cooked up, and it just goes very long and very narrow.”
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Rather than attempting to distinguish Bush v. Vera, the State suggests that geography alone somehow compelled a 300-mile-long “bacon strip” district carving out the most heavily Latino portion of Austin and combining it with a part of McAllen near the Rio Grande.
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/
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Now, at least I've posted something informative, though maybe not interesting...at least not to anyone who isn't a Texan.
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Maybe next time I'll post about "The Chicken Ranch"!