We Are the South

Social media was a buzz this week (when it is not?) because apparently, Liberty and Chambers counties are in the “South” but Harris County is decidedly not, at least according to one guy on Twitter. What.

On Monday, R.J. Lehmann, who’s the editor-in-chief of the International Center for Law, per ABC 13, shared a questionable U.S. map on Twitter highlighting which states and counties he considered “The South” and which were “Not the South.” 

I did this map a couple years ago and I stand behind it. pic.twitter.com/luVpPefElL

— R.J. Lehmann (@raylehmann) June 7, 2021

According to the map, only eight states are 100 percent in the South, and Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Texas are all partially in the South, but not completely. 

His scientific reasoning? “Different things in different areas, but mostly just my impression from visiting,” he wrote on Twitter. Okay, sir. 

While we have a lot to say about this whole map, let’s focus in on where our true beef lies: Why is Houston not considered the South? Lehmann admitted he doesn’t have a good answer. 

“I'll admit that I'm being totally inconsistent and lumping in the rest of Texas with just....Texas,” he tweeted. “East Texas is also Texas, but clearly the South. The rest of Texas is just Texas-ier.”

So is Harris County not East Texas? Lehmann also said there are only four main regions of the U.S.—Northeast, South, Midwest, and West—so is Texas considered the West? El Paso, maybe, but Houston? Who is this guy to dictate our geography?

Well, according to Lehmann’s Twitter bio, he’s a Newark, New Jersey, native, and all we can say is ... of course, he’s a Yankee.

There Is Only One Space City

Sure, Elon Musk wants to turn Boca Chica into Starbase, but we’re the one and only Space City, gosh darn it, and ain’t no billionaire is going to change that anytime soon.

Case in point: On Monday, Collins Aerospace broke ground on an eight-acre campus at Houston’s Spaceport. The 120,000-square-foot complex will include offices and a “spaceflight incubator.”

Although the concept of a commercial spaceport, a base from which spacecraft are launched into space, sounds like a Sci-Fi fever dream, it’s been in the works since 2015. Late last year, the city announced its first major tenant at the port, which is located in the old Ellington Airport, Axiom Space. 

Last month, Collins Aerospace officially joined the ranks, and with its groundbreaking this week, Houston’s port has become a heavyweight player in the spaceport community (There are 12 licensed spaceports in the U.S., if you were wondering.). 

Take that, Starbase. 

Houston Didn’t See the Sun for Three Whole Weeks

Did anyone in Houston see the sun last month? Surely not, considering it rained for 21 days, according to one Chron report. 

That’s right, it rained for three whole freaking weeks last month, dropping 11 inches of water down on us like it was 2014 and the entire city decided to do the Ice Bucket Challenge together. And while 11 inches technically isn’t record-setting, it is more than double the average May rainfall (which is 5 inches, if you’re wondering). 

Texas itself got pretty dang close to a record though. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the state had its fifth-wettest May in 127 years, effectively drowning out the hints of drought from the spring. 

How else can we illustrate how much precipitation we got? Well, Space City Weather mentioned rain 297 times in May, but hey, who’s counting? 

So, really, what does all this mean? As the Chron pointed out, mosquitos are going to be bigger, badder, and more diabolical than normal this year. 

Great.