Texas

A bigger version of Oklahoma Cowboys and gunslingers who drive around in pickup trucks Square dancing Country music Oil, oil, oil Tornados Tumbleweed Bible thumpers and the growing number of evangelicals Mexican migrants Barbeque Chili Hot peppers The Alamo Hicks racism Capital punishment Don’t mess with Texas. The Lone Star State. Was once part of Mexico then became its own country then became a state in 1835, causing the Mexican War, then became part of the Confederacy then back to the U.S. Part of the Bible Belt. The state where everything is bigger: the road signs are bigger, billboards are bigger, boobs on broads are usually bigger, people are bigger or fatter, and big SUVs. Texas is just too dam big, period. It’s the 2nd largest state by area, covering some quarter of a million square miles in the southern/southwestern U.S. with 263,000 square miles. It could fit several Midwestern states in its vast territory. It takes about 13 hours to drive on I-10 from El Paso to Houston or vice versa and about the same amount of time from Harlington/McAllen to Amarillo. The drive, no matter which way you go, is dull and mostly flat with not much of a change in scenery, unless you are close to El Paso, which looks like Arizona. Texas is so big that El Paso is closer to San Diego or Los Angeles than from Houston and Houston is closer to some areas of Florida than from El Paso. Texas is also the 2nd largest state by population (22,000,000) and growing quickly. Austin is the capital and 17th largest in the country, while Houston is the largest city and 4th largest U.S city, but Dallas-Ft. Worth is the largest metro area. Other large cities include San Antonio, El Paso, Fort Worth, Arlington and Corpus Christi. Texas has three cities alone that have more than one million residents: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio—the most of any state. And these three cities are among the top ten largest American cities. Houston is the largest single city and home to NASA and the Johnson Space Center, numerous energy firms, petrochemical manufacturers and one of the largest medical centers. Dallas is a major financial and high-tech center, San Antonio is, well.....only known for the Alamo and that’s it. Nothing special otherwise about San Antonio. Because Texas is so large in area and population, it is very diverse. Texans come from all walks of life: suburban soccer moms, whitetrash, hillbillies, hicks, rich oil magnates, inner-city gangbangers, cattle ranchers, cowboys, Bible thumpers, farmers, poor Mexican migrants, anything and everything. Diversity is also found in its economy. It has the 2nd largest economy in the nation after California. Houston is the country’s leading energy center and was built on oil. It also has more energy firms than anywhere else. It’s also the home to NASA and the Johnson Space Center. Houston is also a major medical center, thanks to the University of Texas Medical Center. And the Houston area is the country’s leading center of petrochemical production. The Dallas-Ft. Worth area is home to many financial and insurance firms, high-tech firms (Texas Instruments and Dell Computers) and transportation and trade (American Airlines and Southwest Airlines). Austin, the state capital and 4th largest state capital by population is in a class all by itself. It’s a major, hip college town thanks to the University of Texas at Austin. Austin has frequently been ranked among the “youngest” ,“coolest”, “most educated”, “weirdest” and “most fit” cities in the country. It’s the “live” Music Capital of America and it’s recent slogan has been “Keep Austin Weird.” San Antonio, the 3rd largest city (unofficially 2nd largest according to 2007 estimates), is not known for much except for the Alamo and Riverwalk. El Paso is nothing but a craphole. Some areas like Laredo and Harlingen/McAllen are among the poorest cities in the United States and populated by almost nothing but illegal immigrants and Mexican migrants looking for free handouts. These two areas are two examples of everything that is wrong with our federal government not enforcing immigration law. Not surprisingly, they were ranked among the poorest and worst metro areas in the country to live, according to the Places Rated Almanac of 2007.