<p>"A new Texas law that could double the amount of academic credit high-school athletes receive for playing sports is stoking a long-standing debate in the Lone Star State about whether athletics should count the same as schoolwork."</p>
<p>Texas is a garbage state. There I said it.</p>
<p>[Bay</a> Area Houston: It’s official. Texas worst place to live in US.](<a href=“http://bayareahouston.blogspot.com/2007/02/its-official-texas-worst-place-to-live.html]Bay”>http://bayareahouston.blogspot.com/2007/02/its-official-texas-worst-place-to-live.html)</p>
<p>It’s true. There are pretty much zero positives to the state.</p>
<p>I have lived in the Bay Area Houston my whole life. Take pity on me!</p>
<p>BTW, where should I look at for college so I can get out of here?</p>
<p>I heard that there is a very high cancer rate for Bay Area Houston residents due to the pollution. Is this true?</p>
<p>And I’d advise you to look for an ACC school. Preferably, Maryland, Virginia, VT, UNC, Wake, Duke, Clemson, or GT.</p>
<p>No offense but y’all don’t know anything about texas it’s amazingness and google can tell you 4,980,000 reasons why. :)</p>
<p>[D&D</a> Austin Update: A few reasons why Texas is so great](<a href=“http://danddaustinupdate.blogspot.com/2007/01/few-reasons-why-texas-is-so-great.html]D&D”>D&D Austin Update: A few reasons why Texas is so great)</p>
<p>Top 10 reasons why Texas is THE BEST State!</p>
<p>10.It Ain’t California. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>In most of Texas, there is one season, summer! </p></li>
<li><p>There’s more pride for the state than for the country. </p></li>
<li><p>Best vacation, space, amusement, and medical centers in the world. </p></li>
<li><p>There’s more’n enough mosquitoes for everyone.</p></li>
<li><p>Everyone wants to live there. </p></li>
<li><p>Texas Men & Women are better looking. (99.8% of the time!) </p></li>
<li><p>Everything is bigger in Texas. </p></li>
<li><p>It Ain’t New York.</p></li>
<li><p>The Dallas Stars play there!!! </p></li>
</ol>
<p>More reasons why texas is the best state :)</p>
<p>You see more Texan flags than American flags. </p>
<p>You know someone who ate the 72 oz steak and got it for free. </p>
<p>You attend a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry, and your Cowboy Boots. </p>
<p>You can write a check at Dairy Queen for 2 Hungr-Busters and fries. </p>
<p>You prefer Whataburger to McDonalds. </p>
<p>You dress up to go shopping at the mall. </p>
<p>You’ve hung ornaments and tinsel on a tumbleweed and used it as a Christmas tree. </p>
<p>You’re disappointed when a food doesn’t come in spicy flavor. </p>
<p>You know from experience that rattlesnake meat tastes like chicken. </p>
<p>You can tell a rock from an armadillo at 300 yards. </p>
<p>You know what a ‘Cowboy Cadillac’ is. </p>
<p>You have both a dog and a brother-in-law named Bud </p>
<p>Your local grocery store sells cactus in the Fresh Produce department </p>
<p>You watch the movie Urban Cowboy and laugh at the phony Texan accents </p>
<p>You choose a brand of Mexican salsa with the same care that another might use to select a bottle of fine wine </p>
<p>You think that the 4 basic food groups are nachos, bar-b-que, fajitas, and Copenhagen. </p>
<p>You refer to the Dallas Cowboys as “God’s favorite football team” </p>
<p>You know whether another Texan is from South, West, East, North, or Central Texas as soon as they open their mouth. </p>
<p>Your Pastor wears boots. </p>
<p>There is no such thing as a “secret” sin. </p>
<p>The Blue Book value on your truck goes up and down depending on how much gas it has in it. </p>
<p>When you’re from Texas, people that you meet ask you questions like, Do you have any cows?" “Do you have horses?” “Bet you got a bunch of guns?” </p>
<p>They all want to know if you’ve been to Southfork. They watched Dallas. </p>
<p>Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas with me just for a second. That picture, with the Panhandle and the Gulf Coast, and the Red River and the Rio Grande is as much a part of you as anything ever will be… As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it they know what it is. It’s Texas. Pick any kid off the street in Japan and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt and he’ll know what it is. What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You might get it maybe after a second or two, but who else would? And even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you? </p>
<p>In every man, woman and child on this planet, there is a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride off in a pickup. There is some little bit of Texas in everyone. </p>
<p>Did you ever hear anyone in a bar go, “Wow…so you’re from Iowa? Cool, tell me about it?” Do you know why? Because there’s no place like Texas. </p>
<p>Texas is the Alamo. Texas is 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for freedom, who had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but stayed instead to fight and die for the cause of freedom. We send our kids to schools named William B. Travis and James Bowie and Crockett and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to cross it and be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is the Spirit of Texas. </p>
<p>Texas is Sam Houston capturing Santa Ana at San Jacinto. </p>
<p>Texas is huge! forests of Piney Woods like the Davy Crockett National Forest. </p>
<p>Texas is breathtaking mountains in the Big Bend. </p>
<p>Texas is the unparalleled beauty of bluebonnet fields in the Texas Hill Country. </p>
<p>Texas is the beautiful, warm beaches of the Gulf Coast of South Texas. </p>
<p>Texas is the shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas. </p>
<p>Texas is world record bass from places like Lake Fork. </p>
<p>Texas is Mexican food like nowhere else, not even Mexico. </p>
<p>Texas is the Fort Worth Stockyards, Bass Hall, the Ballpark in Arlington and the Astrodome. </p>
<p>Texas is larger-than-life legends like Michael DeBakey, Denton Cooley, Willie Nelson, Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Landry, Darrell Royal, ZZ Top, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Sam Rayburn, and Lyndon B.Johnson. (George Bush and “Dubya” were also part of this list, but I decided to keep things positive.=])</p>
<p>Texas is great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments and Compaq. And LOCKHEED MARTIN AEROSPACE! Home of the F-16 Jet Fighter and the JSF Fighter. </p>
<p>Texas is NASA. </p>
<p>Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops. </p>
<p>Texas is skies blackened with doves, and fields full of deer. </p>
<p>Texas is a place where towns and cities shut down to watch the local High School Football game on Friday nights and for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and for the Night In Old San Antonio River Parade in San Antonio. Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies, and modern cities. </p>
<p>If it isn’t in Texas, you probably don’t need it. </p>
<p>No one does anything bigger or better than it’s done in Texas. </p>
<p>By federal law, Texas is the only state in the U.S. that can fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag. Think about that for a second. You fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 feet in Maryland, California, or Maine and your state flag, whatever it is, goes at 17 feet. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview or any place else at 20 feet, the Lone Star flies at the same height - 20 feet. Do you know why? Because it is the only state that was a republic before it became a state. Texas was the only state to join the U.S. through treaty, not annexation.</p>
<p>Also, being a Texan is as high as being an American down here. Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in Washington, D.C. and we can divide our state into five states at any time if we wanted to! We included these things as part of the deal when we came on. That’s the best part, right there. </p>
<p>Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway. </p>
<p>“Vacation” means going to the family reunion. </p>
<p>You’ve seen all the big bands ten years after they were popular. </p>
<p>You measure distance in minutes. </p>
<p>You know several people who have hit a deer. </p>
<p>Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
Your school classes were canceled because of heat. </p>
<p>You’ve ever had to switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day. </p>
<p>You think ethanol makes your truck “run a lot better.” </p>
<p>Stores don’t have bags; they have sacks. </p>
<p>Stores don’t have shopping carts; they have buggies. </p>
<p>You see people wearing boots and jeans at funerals. </p>
<p>You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it, no matter what time of the year. </p>
<p>You use “fix” as a verb. Example: I am fixing to go to the store. </p>
<p>All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, or animal. </p>
<p>You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked. </p>
<p>You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows. </p>
<p>You carry jumper cables in your car … for your OWN car. </p>
<p>You know what “cow tipping” and “snipe hunting” is. </p>
<p>You only own four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco. </p>
<p>You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent. </p>
<p>You think sexy lingerie is a tee shirt and boxer shorts. </p>
<p>The local papers covers national and international news on one page but requires 6 pages for sports. </p>
<p>You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday. </p>
<p>You know which leaf makes good toilet paper. </p>
<p>You find 90 degrees F “a little warm.” </p>
<p>You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas. </p>
<p>You know whether another Texan is from southern, middle, or northern Texas as soon as they open their mouth. </p>
<p>There is a Dairy Queen in every town with a population of 1000 or more. </p>
<p>Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite past-time known as “gin’ Awl-Martin” or off to “Wally World.” </p>
<p>You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good chili weather. </p>
<p>A carbonated soft drink isn’t a soda, cola, or pop … it’s a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor. </p>
<p>You recognize that beans and cornbread is a meal that must have been bestowed upon the people by the Lord Himself. </p>
<p>You can be satisfied with a meal consisting only of a hunk of bread with flavored flour and milk (a delicacy known as “biscuits n’ gravy”). </p>
<p>A few more reasons why if ur a Texan ur a badass 
: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Pull your droopy pants up. You look like an idiot.</p></li>
<li><p>Let’s get this straight; it’s called a “gravel road.” I drive a
pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you’re
going to get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.</p></li>
<li><p>They are cattle & oil wells. That’s what they smell like to you.
They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don’t like it? I-20 and I-10
go east and west, I-35 goes north and south. Pick one.</p></li>
<li><p>So you have a $60,000 car. We’re impressed. We have $250,000
cotton strippers that are driven only 3 weeks a year.</p></li>
<li><p>So every person in every pickup waves. It’s called being friendly.
Try to understand the concept.</p></li>
<li><p>If that cell phone rings while a bunch of doves are coming in, we</p></li>
</ol>
<p>WILL shoot it out of your hand. You better hope you don’t have it up
to your ear at the time.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Yeah, we eat catfish & crawfish. You really want sushi & caviar?
It’s available at the corner bait shop.</p></li>
<li><p>The “Opener” refers to the first day of deer season. It’s a
religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.</p></li>
<li><p>We open doors for women. That is applied to all women, regardless
of age.</p></li>
<li><p>No, there’s no “vegetarian special” on the menu. Order steak. Or
you can order the Chef’s Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham &
turkey.</p></li>
<li><p>When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats,
vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and Picante
Sauce!! Oh, yeah…We don’t care what you folks in Cincinnati call that
stuff you eat…IT AIN’T REAL CHILI!! Chili was born and bred in San
Antonio…and real chili never met a tomato!</p></li>
<li><p>You bring “coke” into my house, it better be brown, wet, and
served over ice. You bring “Mary Jane” into my house, she better be
cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.</p></li>
<li><p>College and High School Football is as important here as the
Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch.</p></li>
<li><p>Yeah, we have golf courses. But don’t hit the water hazards –</p></li>
</ol>
<p>it spooks the fish.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Colleges? Try Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas A&M or University of Texas. They
come outta there with an education plus a love for God and country, and
they still wave at passing pickups when they come for the holidays.</p></li>
<li><p>We have more folks in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines,
than any other state, so “Don’t Mess with Texas,” If you do, you will
get whipped by the best.</p></li>
<li><p>Always remember what our great governor Sam Houston once said:</p></li>
</ol>
<p>"Texas can make it without the United States, but the United States</p>
<p>can’t make it without Texas!"</p>
<p>I could go on and on :)</p>
<p>^ half those things seemed like negatives to me</p>
<p>
OK, you just used the word “y’all”. I am not reading.</p>
<p>I use the word y’all as well when writing. I see nothing wrong with it. But that list pretty much proves why Texas is one of the worst places to live in the U.S.</p>
<p>^ hahahahahah i agree hatersunite!</p>
<p>Whats negative about Texas? People here are nicer, they’re prettier and tanner, we have one of the best economies in the country, we have high school football, we were our own country (can your state fly their flag at the same height as the american flag?), we have the cowboys (americas team), we’re the home of bluebell icecream, over a 1000 people move here per day, and we have the best barbecue. The only bad things are george bush and the weather. George bush wasn’t even born here he was born in connecticut and he went to high school and college up there too. Air conditioning helps with the weather part. :)</p>
<p>The word “y’all” is preferarable to “you guys.” I couldn’t believe it when I first heard, “Can I come over to you guys’s house tonight?” ACK!</p>
<p>I never say “y’all.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I read up until the economy statement. No, your economy is terrible. You have more poverty than any state in the country and it’s an embarrassment. From my experience white Texans make statements like this an act real tough for some idiotic reason. The rest of the country is laughing at you. Meanwhile, Latino Texans quickly agree that Texas is a joke in pretty much every fashion and want to get out ASAP.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Correct. However, I never actually say “y’all” I only use it in writing because it flows easier. In real life conversation I say “you guys” or “yo”. Yeah I know pick on you if you want. I’m a white guy who uses the word “yo” a solid amount. And I’m not white trash or a guido for those interested. It’s just really easy to use because it’s ambiguous and becomes habitual quickly. Lots of people in my area use “yo” in conversation.</p>
<p>Its no wonder W told people he was from Texas and not Connecticut. They sound right up his alley.</p>
<p>Based on that list, Texas sounds HORRIBLE.</p>
<p>Um the Texas economy is doing great compared to the rest of the nation. our unemployment rate is two percentage points below the national average and we’re home to more Fortune 500 companies then any other state (we have 64 compared to california that has 51 and new york that has 56). If Texas were a country it’s economy would be ranked the twelfth largest in the world by its GDP.</p>
<p>Texas isn’t horrible. I’d prefer Texas to any state not named Massachusetts or Connecticut. So yes that means I would rather live in Texas than New York or Cali</p>