TEXAS, best damn state in the union.....

...with a population over 22,000,000 other than california.

there! that oughta get me back in the good graces of the fine DUer's from the (self declared) great state of texas!

;)

will affect the population?

for one thing. Lemmon Ave will disappear.

Just kidding. Sort of.

eom

against the constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage.

is that true?

eom

like an open sewer. I was told it added to its charm!?!

....don't have much of an olfactory left due to the allergies and pollution. montrose smells good to us.

but seriously, i never noticed a bad smell there.

downtown areas of houston can get bad from pollution.....i'm not sure if it's exhaust from cars and buses or if it's drifting in from the oil refineries and chemical plants or if it's a combination of the two. or it might just be the stench left behind from kenneth lay and his minions.

here in parts of san jose it's actually worse. the cars and buses here in the third world don't have to comply with emission standards and the area i live in currently has a lot of traffic and buses. the air quality is not good....it's worse than houston if you can believe it. i can't wait to be living far out of the city here.

in smog, from the lowest valleys to the highest mountains. I was so surprised to find that and it is one reason that Mexico lost all of its appeal to me. We are definitely like dogs befouling our nests.

Sorry, but Dallas is one of most charmless places on the face of the Earth. Just my opinion.

.... I'd have to agree. On the charm scale Dallas is low.

There are pockets of charm, but overall Dallas has the charm of a ripe armpit.

Fort Worth, just 30 miles away, is somewhat better. And the thing that a lot of folks don't get about Texas is the geographical diversity here. Desert, beach, lakes, forests, prairies, we have it all.

Yes, politically Texas sucks bad eggs, but it's not as bad here as so many on DU think. There is only a few percentage points between a red state and a blue state.

But that's because I live in the reddest county in Oklahoma. So anything, really, looks good by comparison.

Really, there are some things about TX that I really like. It's not all bad.

to navigate and changing names of the street in the middle of an intersection is a form of cruelty. I lived there for 2 years, was lost the entire time. I was thrilled to escape that place.

oops.

I hope its not as bad as that, but it very likely is. x(

nasty cesspool of greed and avarice.

Turtle Creek is close by... I don't know Walnut Creek.

Walnut Creek is a city in California:)

....surrounded on all sides by bubbas. i think they're stuck there.

here for them. I wish it were different. I love knowing them and hope some day we will make the changes we need to give them their rights, whole and complete.

I feel protected here and reasonably free and I am deeply sorry and concerned for my GLBT brothers and sisters in places like Texas. It is likely NJ will be the next state to have Marriage Equality and the new governor supports this. There is a caverous divide in this country that is astonishing and scary.

no one but the steers will remain.

I can tell you that Texas is sick with all the bigot right leaning people. I moved to another State and try not to mention that I am from Texas. I was born and raised in Texas and most of my family lives there but Texas is sick and needs a wake up call. Just look at what Bush did to the State. I know there is a very large gay population in Dallas and Houston and the drain of talent will show at some point.

Thats what I tell folks here in NM and it saves my butt (even gets a chuckle).

Fortunately I don't sound like I was raised there. San Antonio doesn't have much of an 'accent' to nurture.

the thickest accents seem to come from dallas and west texas.

Don't forget EAST Texas. Some SERIOUS accents there too (my dad is from Nacogdoches).

that's close to coonass country isn't it?

:-)

Remember most of us have chronic allergies,in East Texas. Mold, pollen, ragweed and dare I say pine trees, you name it we’ve got it. So our accents are mostly due to our inability to breath through our noses.

where millions of men and women will have post-marital sex tonight!

:evilgrin:

Assassination of JFK - Texas
Enron - Texas
L.B.J. - Texas
George W. Bush - Texas
Tom Delay - Texas

Fuck Texas.

There's good and bad from every corner....I ain't throwin stones from this glass house, just making an observation.

The Butthole Surfers are from Texas too, and they are GREAT.

my absolute favorite texan.

:shrug:

nt

One of my favorite bands.

:)

... Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Steve Fromholz, ZZ Top, Waylon Jennings, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, and a veritable boatload of lesser country artists, psychedelic garage artists, blues artists, etc, etc.

I doubt if there is another state in the union that has contributed more to popular music, maybe California.

makes fun of us. Let's face it Texas isn't the mystical place it used to be. There are too many dead boys and girls in Iraq to laugh about the current abomination anymore.

PRIDE about where you live?

I LOVE TEXAS. I am not happy about our current political state, but I still LOVE it here.

I was born and raised here as my family of 5th generation Texans have.

And so sorry, but I still think Texas has "mythical" charm. Politics don't DEFINE me as a HUMAN BEING who enjoys the natural beauty of her state.

Texas by some of those "Texans" five generations ago. Texas has plenty of "mythical" charm. That's the problem. We need to give up some of the myths and the mysticism. Ever see the movie Lone Star? It's worth a thoughtful viewing.

Okay fine...

Jesus, I have some fucking pride from where I am from. So sue me.

Fuck it, I'm done with this thread.... it seems that geographical bigotry is alive and kicking on DU.

Fuck.

Having been transplanted here three years, I was wondering if you could tell me exactly where to find this "natural beauty"?

The Texas hill country? IE: Fredricksburg, Stonewall, Burnet,Kerrville, Junction?


The highland lakes?

The gulf coast? Port Aransas is a JEWEL.

Enchanted Rock?

Perdanales River State Park?

Davy Crocket national forest?

Have you?

In October!

Nice.

....very beautiful.

The Earth is beautiful. It's the poeple...

I'm not telling you where it is because there's not enough to go around.

Big Bend, the Hill Country around Austin, parts of the panhandle have a desolate charm ... now, Dallas, on the other hand ...

Back in the seventies me and my ex were stationed at Ft. Hood TX. I'm sorry, but being from the West, there were no mountains, the soil smelled like rotting decay and even though I was familiar with black widows and scorpions, there were some pretty weird insects and lots of them. I wanted to go home as soon as possible!!!!!

Molly Ivans, Jim Hightower, Llyod Doggett....

And get your fucking facts straight... "W" IS NOT FROM TEXAS.

I was waiting to see when the assholes came out...didn't take long. :eyes:

I was waiting to see when the over-sensitive assholes would come out... didn't take long :eyes:

W may not be from Texas but Texas made him one of their own....

Molly Ivins
Ann Richards
Jim Hightower
The Butthole Surfers

Yeah I know Texas isn't all bad. So lighten up.

And NO...I am not going to fucking "lighten up" This shit happens on DU every fucking day.

It gets old...especially if there is NO POINT.

I'm tired of backwards places electing IDIOTS into office.

I'm tired of backwards places outlawing marriage between adults.

Don't like what I think of Texas? Too fucking bad!

Start electing some sane politicans. NO delays or bush's, or perry's.
Repeal that idiotic gay marriage ban.

And then maybe I'll cut Texas some slack.

But until then: FUCK TEXAS!

I'm tired of it too! Do you think I LIKE what has happend?

I am not going to move though, I am going to stay and fight for what's right. I am so glad that you live in a state that has the best of everything, with nary a repuke in sight. Must be nice to be you.

What we really need is some fucking support not some annoymous ramblings on a fucking internet message board.

We need HELP not judgement. JEEEZUZ.

we love all the dems in texas. you are some of the finest, strongest, bravest people i know.

it's just that texas is so big and so overrun by the bad guys.

the anti-texan sentiment is aimed at them not you.

there's nothing any of us can do about it right now. even when i did live there, all i could do was aim my anger at the filthy 65 or 70% of the population that gives the place a bad name.

but texas DUers rock. most of them are close friends of mine, in fact. or at least a whole bunch of them.

so when texas is getting trashed, it's the 65% or 70% that worship fascists like GWB. we all are hoping and praying that the good guys will overcome the bad guys...but until then, our frustration makes us scream out at the stupidity that resides there because it seems to be an overwhelming force.

used to throw the Democrats a vote or two periodically. Now they've left the traditional churches, where they'd periodically hear about Jesus loving everybody, and gone to the non-denominational "Bible" churches where they're fed some narcissistic red meat about gays, stem cells, and God's plan for his select few to be rich. They're in lock step with the Fascist Republican Party. Our only hope is that enough Asians, Blacks and Hispanics will resist the temptation to acclimate and start voting in decent numbers.

I think you need to take things a bit more in stride.

I happen to really like New England, but I don't take personal offense when somebody chastises it. Currently, I live in Virginia, but I will argue until Tuesday comes after Saturday that the whole "southern charm" thing is a myth, and it only holds forth on "kindred spirits", if you catch the drift.

As for Texas, well let's just say Ii have no plans to change my address... :)

It always turns into a flamefest.

I'm STILL amazed at the responses about Rita hitting TX that were on the site.

Where do you think he got that drawl, Connecticut? He's a fine upstanding example of the worst of the West Texas plains. He is ignorant by choice.

Part of his "image" has been conjured up. Too bad you have fallen for it too.

Don't drink the kool aide from a mason jar with bluebonnets painted on it. Forget the Alamo!

You mean you grew up around a bunch of people born in New Haven, Conn. of "old Yankee WASP stock" who moved to Texas as young children so that their parents could add to the already obscene family wealth by making even more money in the oil business, only to be sent to verrry exclusive schools in the North East and later on to ivy league schools even though they lacked the qualifications and later came back to Texas only because they wanted to be set up in businesses by daddy's friends and when they became bored with even pretending to work decided to go into politics and ended up stealing a couple of elections?

And here I thought I was the only one in Texas who grew up with those kind of people. Good to know I'm not alone.

Don't kid yourself. I have found snobbery even among Texas "liberals" some of whom have state office buildings named after them.

And ignorance by choice is not limited to just one place.

When I was in college in Lubbock, Tx. Lloyd Doggett kicked his ass. Doggett portrayed the contest as Texas Tech vs. Yale, real Texan vs. Yankee import.

* learned his lesson and acquired the fake (yes, fake) West Texas accent (he's actually spent nearly as much time in Houston, which has a different accent)and the fake cowboy walk. All that shit is fake and has been acquired in the last 25 years or less.

a Lubbock conservative Democrat now turned Republican- not by Lloyd Doggett, a true Democrat without the Texas BS. http://www.bushfiles.com/bushfiles/midland.html
Bush is a product of Midland, Texas, "a city built by the uprooted upper class" as the above article puts it. We cannot pretend he isn't Texan. He's just the wrong kind. There are plenty of them. Remember Ann Richards' first opponent Clayton "lie back and enjoy it" Williams? He was from Midland, too, I believe.

Assassination of JFK - planned primarily in Washington and New Orleans

Enron - Ken Lay is from Missouri

LBJ - A power-tripper who did give us the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and Medicare before the CIA forced him into the Vietnam War.

George W. Bush - born in New Haven, Connecticut - educated at Andover, Yale and Harvard. Refused admission to the University of Texas.

Tom DeLay - born in Laredo, Texas. I guess every state has its share of natural born criminals.

elsewhere. Don't blame the whole state for the crappy examples you have listed. And the bush family has taken advantage of Texas/Texans. They have leached off of this state. Many of us Texans are aware of that.



My home state spawned Reagan and RFK was killed there, but would you say "Fuck Californians"? I think not.

;)

I know they have some great people - Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins but they have more crackpots.

the unmarried "father" of Texas, Stephen F. Austin?

I am planning on moving to Texas asap. The real estate prices here are a slap in the face.

Too many people. Too polluted; 1,000,000 gallons of raw sewage overflow into our beaches from heavy rains does not sound like tasty waves.

I went to Texas for the first time during the hottest part of this year, and I didn`t see too much of a difference from California. ( besides the humidity, of course.)

I loved it ! So much to do, and plenty of room to do it.

People are really nice too.


I like Texas. It is slowly turning back to Blue.

with 90% humidity and a three hour wait for a table to eat a chicken fried steak.

...i sat down to eat at the 290 cafe east of austin near manor one day.

i asked the waiter, a young gentleman, how the checken fried steak was.

he replied, "oh the chicken fried steak here is as big as yer head".

i thought about that for a minute. the average size head is probably not much smaller than a bowling ball and weighs several pounds.

well, i wondered about a place that would laud it's food based on portion size rather than taste, but i ordered the chicken fried steak anyways to see if it was literally head sized.

when it came to the table, it was a huge hunk of meat that hung over the sides of the plate. it wasn't quite as large as a human head, but it was a big slice of meat. i guess it was ok....nothing to write home about.

of the wait for service. He was no gourmand for sure, but he was not deluded that a chicken fried steak is worth the wait.

just curious if it's the same one i have a problem with.

but most of the ones we frequented were in east Austin. We never made it up to Manor. If we go that far up 290, my wife makes me go on east to Meyer's Barbecue in Elgin.

If it's crowded to packed, it's probably a good place.

one of my favorite restaurants in austin always has plenty of parking, though. alborz on anderson and spicewood is awesome if you like persian food. and there's always plenty of parking.

I`ve talked to realtor who said " You`re the fifth person from California this week." And it was only Tuesday !!

;)

I`ve talked to realtor who said " You`re the fifth person from California this week." And it was only Tuesday !!

;)

....but trust me, it was way better way back when.

and i don't think texas is turning back blue. but i hope i am wrong. i hope the increase in the hispanic population will change things, but i'm not holding my breath.

believe it or not, as polluted and crowded as houston is, it's probably bluer than austin. i'm talking about urban houston, not the rim burbs, etc.

the cost of living in houston is lower than austin, it has more cultural events, more ethnic diversity, way better restaurants, more to do. it's just so damn polluted and the traffic is a bitch.

the attraction of austin was always that it was a quaint little city nestled in the hill country. it had UT, so there were lots of young people, a big music scene and a laid back, progressive, liberal attitude. there's still a lot of that to be found in austin, but now it's a sprawling city with more traffic, crime and pollution due to the fact that it attracted so many people to it. a lot of big money moved in during the dotcom boom and the cost of living went way up....the cool artsy crowd has slowly been pushed out of the hip neighborhoods in south austin and near UT by the gentrification and the SUV driving crowd.

austin is still a nice livable city, but it really has lost most of its charm.

N,S,E,W + ?

What about the outer areas ? Buda, Leander, Round Rock etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It all looks good on paper, but until you experience it......

Being a native Austinite....

I think South Austin is the best. We are artists painters and dancers.... ofcourse, I am sure that there are many DU'ers that would disagree with that assesment. :)

Are you in Texas yet?

hopefully at the first of the year.

If you like water vistas the lakes run from the west through central Austin. Downtown west of Congress Avenue, east of Lamar has an expanding high rise community. Just South of Downtown across the River (Town Lake) and west of Congress is a fast gentrifying area of renovated homes and new construction that is extends almost to Ben White Blvd. If you like suburbs (and commuting on one and a half freeways) there are plenty in every direction now. The formerly neglected south and east are filling in quite nicely. We even have anti-pollution inspections and mandatory repairs for our cars now. Check out San Angelo. They need liberals. Seriously, Austin is the nicest place in Texas in my opinion.

It is VERY red up here in Williamson County. However, the home prices are still very reasonable and the school district is good. I worked in downtown Austin. It is a one hour drive each way during peak traffic. The traffic situation should be a bit better in a year or so, but I don't anticipate it taking any less time.

Actually, I'm getting ready to move back home to CA because my husband passed away last year and my family is all in the Bay Area. My son and I, however, will be living in the mountains.

I do love my house and my neighborhood and I'll miss it. In fact, I'm still stalling about putting it on the market and I know it's because I'm attached to it. Of benefit to note, I've never been harrassed because of my liberal billboard on wheels! I haven't suffered from any key jobs or rednecks trying to run me off the road.

If you'd like more info about the areas north of Austin, feel free to PM me.

It's still a nice small city, but I like San Antonio better.

Houston's got all the good & bad points you mentioned--but I'm one of the few who can actually commute by bus & rail. The light rail goes down Main Street & numerous SUV's & pickups have hit it by running red lights or making illegal left turns. So far, the train has always won.

Picking the right neighborhood is vital. I've even heard there are good parts of Dallas!

I went to Austin as a freshman in 1965, and THAT was a magical place and time. I can't even stand to see it now, but that's mostly because I want to recapture not only Austin's youthful glory but my own.

:cry:

Stick around Texas awhile, you'll quickly find out the difference.

And overall, Texas is a very friendly state, so long as you're straight and white.

But then, if you're from SoCal, especially Orange CO or SD Co, there might not be that much of a difference...

But I went all the way up to Wichitah Falls.

One thing I noticed was this: A lot of people in Texas are just plain scared.

I never saw so many churches in my life !

I really like the Fireworks Super Center ! :evilgrin:

I don't know why anyone would be afraid of hell after living there. Wichita Falls used to produce good Democrats e.g. New Deal era Governor James Allred. Now it's greatest claim to fame is a mountain bicycle race in the middle of the summer. Great for masochists.

:rofl:

We've got plenty of African-Americans & Hispanics/Latinos/etc. Plus huge numbers of immigrants from Asia, Africa & Europe.

Despite the dreadful Proposition 2, the Houston gay community is thriving.

San Francisco is awfully cute, though.

The Gulf of Mexico from Houston to LA is practically paved with giant oil & gas platforms. Also, the huge number of chemical plants in Houston dispose of their toxic waste via the Gulf. The seafood is chock full of mercury - to the point that they advise pregnant women not to eat any of it. I moved from N California to Florida and am now planning to go back ASAP. I live on the water in a county that has more toxic waste than the entire state of NJ. Besides, the real estate is going to go down soon. The real estate bubble has been the only thing keeping the economy afloat the past 5 years.

I never knew Texas had so much water.

I live in the Hill Country midst the Highland Lakes. It is a land of hills and valleys and is filled with rivers, streams and lakes. The spring here will take your breath away, with their beauty.

I moved to Texas from LA, CA a long time ago. The air quality here back then was so pure you could see for miles. I've noticed it decline since bush* was our Gov. but it's still nothing like LA.

You'll like Austin, it's metro yet still close to all the beauty of my area.

Even as a native Texas who grudgingly defends my homestate, I have to admit that our beaches are horrible and the pollution in Cancer Alley is staggering. Anyone who has seen the coast in the last decade can tell you that- link or no link.

http://actionnetwork.org/texan/alert-description.tcl?alert_id=2577807

Houston needs clean air - an industry-friendly plan won't get us there!

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has been responsible for reducing air pollution levels to meet the health standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The latest version of its plan to solve Houston's ozone air pollution problem is not sufficient.

The TCEQ's own research demonstrates that chemical plants and refineries, Houston’s biggest pollution sources, need further pollution cuts. Chemical plants and refineries have been allowed to significantly under-report their emissions of smog-forming hydrocarbons (roughly one-sixth of actual emissions are thought to be reported). The TCEQ’s go-slow response has amazingly exempted all but four of the underreported pollutants from any new monitoring and pollution control requirements. In addition to further controls on currently exempt hydrocarbons, the TCEQ should also restore the strong emission limits on nitrogen oxides that it chose to relax in 2002.


http://www.sierraclub.org/community/houston/

Building Environmental Communities Fall Event

Join us for a Community Walk & Cleanup in the Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas. Note: The cleanup has been rescheduled to October 29th!
MDI site with downtown Houston in background.

Years ago, residents were less aware of how dumping chemical wastes might affect public health and the environment. On thousands of properties where such practices were intensive or continuous, the result was uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites, such as what was found on the Many Diversified Interests, Inc. (MDI), site in the Fifth Ward.

Through collaborations between local residents, social agencies and environmental advocacy groups like the Sierra Club, Mother’s for Clean, the Museum of Cultural Arts Houston (MOCAH) and the University of Texas Medical Branch, have empowered community residents to express their concerns regarding the remediation and redevelopment of the waste site.

http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=1626
It Pays to Pollute

How ExxonMobil Skirts Clean Air Laws in Baytown

BY DAVE MANN


As you drive into Baytown from the west on State Highway 330, the ExxonMobil refining and chemical complex sprawls before you on 2,400 acres abutting the Houston Ship Channel. Its stacks and flame-topped towers billow smoke and steam-—an industrial fortress guarding the approach to town. The Baytown refinery is the largest in the nation. It handles 557,000 barrels of crude oil each day, and is the most prolific producer of oil-based lubricants in the world. The complex houses two adjoining chemical plants that produce more than 13 billion pounds a year of various petrochemical products, the prime material for such necessities as rubber, plastic, detergents, and all manner of auto parts.

To accomplish all this, the complex emits a slew of toxins into the air each year, according to state emissions data. Among the poisons released in 2001 (the last year for which data is available) were 6 million pounds of carbon dioxide, 38,000 pounds of the carcinogen benzene, and 17 million pounds of nitrogen oxide, which causes ozone pollution and acid rain.

Thanks to the Bush administration’s environmental policies, the Baytown complex may soon spew more pollutants into Houston’s air—threatening the health of the fourth-largest city in the nation. The White House has carved a gaping loophole into a key provision of the federal Clean Air Act that will ease pollution limits on thousands of refineries and power plants. The new rules will save the energy sector billions of dollars in environmental fines. ExxonMobil’s Baytown facility offers a prime example of just how beneficial the Bush administration’s environmental stewardship has been to industry.


Drums at MDI facility.

Today, residents of the Fifth Ward community have a vision for the future and it doesn't include the 36-acre of toxic waste. Nor does it include the illegal dumping that plagues the surrounding property around the MDI site or the vacant and abandoned buildings that are scattered throughout overgrown lots.

http://www.gulfbase.org/issue/view.php?iid=pollution
Pollution

From: CSD, 2004; NEFSC, 2004; MSU- CARES, 2004.

It is generally agreed that the once pristine waters of the Gulf of Mexico are gradually changing. A few years back, the waters were clear to a depth of about 4 to 5 meters. Today, those same waters are pasty and the Gulf of Mexico is gradually becoming a polluted coastal waterway. The current situation is a combination of natural and human induced processes. The Gulf of Mexico's diverse and productive ecosystem provides a variety of valuable resources and services to the region including transportation, recreation, fish and shellfish, and petroleum and minerals, and as such the effects of pollution on the shoreline communities, marine mammals, birds, and other aquatic life within the region cannot be over-emphasized. Spills and dumping from oil tankers that navigate the Gulf of Mexico waters are among the chief causes of both marine and beach debris. Nonpoint-source pollution such as debris from inland municipal sewage, waste disposal facilities and urban and agricultural runoff add to the problem. These materials often entangle, maim, or kill aquatic creatures. When fish and marine mammals feed on these synthetic materials, they subsequently enter the food chain. Because circulation within the Gulf is limited, solid waste and other pollutants float along with the currents until, eventually, they wash up on shore. This debris thus accumulates along the Gulf coast, affecting both tourism and coastal habitats.

Examples of annual pollutant and nutrient loading in the region are:
* 891,974 tons of nitrogen
* 221,526 tons of phosphorus
* 100 million tons of dredged sediments
* 2,720 tons of toxic substances from coastal industrial and municipal sites (four of the top five states in the U.S. in total surface discharge of toxic chemicals are Gulf States - Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas)
* 1,040 tons of pesticides from coastal agriculture
* 6,170 tons of produced waters from near-shore oil and gas platforms

Let me know if you'd like more - there's a cornucopia of links and articles about this. My Uncle who lives in Houston retired as a chemical engineer. I've been to Houston, gone out fishing in the gulf off of the endless drill platforms, and seen firsthand the disgusting waters off Houston.

Because of the mercury content. And the Gulf here is brown because the rivers dump so much mud. Not saying there's no pollution--but our seafood is still pretty good.

would vote Republican (party of Lincoln, you see; people have long memories here). Anyone who wanted to be successful in politics was a Democrat. You had to be a registered Democrat so you could vote in the primaries if you wanted a vote at all.

I would love to see you and many like you filter into Texas. It would help with the balance of ideas.

From a DU thread
....A growing number of people are leaving California after a decade of soaring home prices, according to separate data from the Census Bureau, the Internal Revenue Service and the state's finance department.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1905755

Selling their CA homes, taking their equity and moving to bigger, better homes out of state...or buying land...or starting up businesses...or retiring and living off their interest income.

gay and lesbians in Texas to leave the state?

Yep...great state you've got there.

But Geoff no longer works for him. ?size=xlarge
l-r, Lt Governor Dewhurst, Governor "Good Hair" Perry, former Secretary of State Geoff Connor, Speaker Craddick

The Governor defines what all of think about Gays and lesbians in Texas. :eyes:

Look, gov. MO'FO won't be around much longer, he and his useless party will be voted out in 2006.

He just won his 2nd term with 90% of the vote & we still need him down here.

But our idiotic Term Limits mean he can't serve more than 3 terms & he'll need to find another job.

"The constitutional amendment providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage."


Brief Explanation
HJR 6 would provide that marriage in Texas is solely the union of a man and woman, and that the state and its political subdivisions could not create or recognize any legal status identical to or similar to marriage, including such legal status relationships created outside of Texas.

From http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/2005novconsamend.shtml

Except for evacuating from approaching hurricanes. It's beautiful, inexpensive, but, unfortunately, becoming increasingly popular and crowded.

*The best food in the world.

*The friendliest people in the world -- and I've see a lot of it.

*Wonderful musicians, artists, writers, poets and craftsmen.

Texas-bashers are ignorant. Tom DeLay and his ilk come from districts made up of millionaires who don't want to pay taxes. Those people are the same countrywide. Not to say that all rich people are greedy Republicans, but the ones who live in those planned communities in Sugar Land are just like the rich people in gated communities across America.

If you look at the voting map from 2004, you'll see that most of the USA is purple. Many of the states that went for Kerry had millions and millions of Bush voters in them. It's just a matter of tipping the balance - and we're working on it here in Texas.

This "Republican Church thing" is growing a beard and I don't see it remaining dominant for long. For one thing, these bastards keep getting caught having sex with children and animals!

Those of us down here in Texas are on the front lines. Give us a break. And come down here sometime and take a float on the Guadalupe, or sun on the beaches of Port Isabel or Mustang Island. Eat some fresh seafood at the Kemah Boardwalk, or go to San Antonio and drink some margaritas in the bar at Mi Tierras before dinner. You'll feel a lot better.

Edited to note: Regarding the gay marriage issue, I doubt that Houston's Montrose community will lose many residents over the vote yesterday -- and Montrose has some of the highest property values in the state. Houston has a very large, open gay community. Houston has a Pacifica radio station that includes programs by and for gays and lesbians. The city controller of Houston is a lesbian and was voted into that office after serving on city council as an open lesbian. Texas isn't quite the evil place some of you may imagine.

When your state is perfect, you come fucking find me.

Spelling edit.

Oh wait, they've got Romney. Well, what about New York? Bleh- Bloomberg AND Pataki. Well surely it's California. Oh, yeah. Illinois? Hastert. Minnesota? Coleman. Hmmm, how about the People's Republic of Vermont? Well, I don't know- even they have Jeffords and Leahy voted for Roberts.


It does get old, doesn't it? :hi:

And we certainly still would not be perfect, but if we could just get rid of all the damned transplants, things would be much better. Bush, Armey, Brady, Gramm- just to name a few. Not to mention the voters! Geesh.

Although...I am a transplant. ;) But my parents and I are Democrats, so we don't count as carpetbaggers.

It's good to see you! :hi:

having a special election to pass a law against something that was already illegal. What's next, a constitutional amendment banning tax evasion?

all this means that the Texas Constitution obviously allowed for Gay Marriage as written, right? otherwise, why bother passing an amendment? puts a whole new spin on the guys at a Alamo, don't it?

no, no, I am not equating gay marriage with tax evasion, simply pointing out that you don't need a constitutional amendment to ban something that isn't legal in the first place. and Tax evasion was about the most innocuous thing I could think of (and something the people who approved this thing probably think is an all-american thing to do)

I don't remember the details, but I learned this in the Texas Government class in Junior High. (One semester--followed by a semester of Texas Geography. Of course, Texas History took a full year!)

It's been amended about a zillion times, which has not improved it any.

with a textbook the size of the Houston phonebook. (north Houston yellow pages) :-)

aargh....

that Bush beat Ann Richards by absentee ballots. That the Governor's race was so close that he beat her when they counted the absentee ballots?

It just screams flamefest.

nobody was attacking you personally. there was no flame fest here.

there are plenty of great texans....it's a big state. i lived there...and i know that the political culture there blows because a majority of the people are repukes. do you really think you can find any evidence anywhere to refute that? we're rippin' on the texas repukes. texas harbors a bunch of 'em. if texas can't take some criticism over that, then texans ain't as tough as they like to have us think they are.

go ahead....make fun of my home state...i won't be offended. i was born in chicago. i never was all that impressed with the rest of illinois. a lot of nothing there, kind of like texas.....texas just has a lot more of it and it's hotter most of the year. people from just about every other state in the country don't get so sensitive about criticism about their state. texas isn't any more special than any other state. it's a big chunk of real estate with some arbitrary borders like any other state in the continental US. nothing to be proud of, since nobody chooses the exact physical location of their birth.

one thing is for sure....within those arbitrary borders, there just so happens to be an incredibly large percentage of people whose politics are immoral and disgraceful. the size of state, because of the fact that we are a democratic republic, wields the most electoral power of any state in the country with the exception of california. in case you haven't noticed, texas overwhelmingly gave away all their electoral votes to bushco in the last 2 elections. and because bushco was allowed to take charge of the whitehouse, we've had 911, a couple wars, a crappy economy, we're torturing people, we're hated by practically every other country on the planet. is this solely the fault of the huge majority of texans? no. it's not. but the huge majority of them still support this filth. hell, even in austin i was seeing way more bush/cheney bumperstickers than kerry/edwards ones. that's the facts....deal with them. nobody is busting on you or any other good, intelligent, progressive texan.

i lived there. i paid taxes....horrendous property taxes. what did i get in return for that? nothing, except the luxury of hearing crap like "it's better in texas", "it's bigger in texas", "don't mess with texas", etc. come on, give me a break....maybe texas needs to be knocked down a few notches. when the majority of the residents pull their heads out of their asses, then i'll join in with you in declaring "it's better in texas"....until then, don't be so sensitive about criticism that isn't even aimed at you.

You are part of that steady drip, drip hate fest that Texans have to take if we want to be active members of this board. Hardly a day goes by that we are not confronted with this type of thread. Most times we don't have to open the thread to be insulted and belittled.

we can't help but see you...now go back to bed, please!!!!

nt

Not bashing TX or anything, just reminding ya.

quote:WritingIsMyReligion: Not bashing TX or anything, just reminding ya.
This is bashing.

You are making generalities with nothing to back up your statement.

Not bashing, those other states, just reminding you that Texas isn't alone in bigotry and ignorance.

(Edited to take some stuff out that was written when I was ticked off.)

....in fact, the repuke slime in those other 18 states need to be bashed senseless as well!

i'm neither gay nor married, but i don't think the state has the right to tell anyone with whom they can or cannot enter into a civil union or marriage (whatever the difference is).

the difference with texas (i believe) is that texas is the only state that will now amend it's state constitution to include this ban. the reason that is especially scary is that the constitution is supposed to be there to ensure rights for citizens, not take them away. this is a scary precedent.

with his illegal TRMPAC contributions from corporations - for which he may do real time in the pokey.

This legislature is, in my opinion, a one-time deal. A large number of this cretins will be turned out next year.

.....i'd love nothing more than to see delay behind bars where he belongs.

the scary thing is that they're setting a precedent for ameding the state constitution to take rights away from people. i'm not sure how easy it will be to undo that.

It would been more correct to say something like, Texas has too many churches that preach politics from the pulpit.

What took place here yesterday was wrong and shameful. The fact is that the majority of the people who voted for this were told to do so by their churches. Many of the people who opposed this didn't even bother to get off their lazy butts and vote. I've been hearing the excuse today of, "well, we knew they were going to pass it anyway."

It really is a more complicated issue than just that "Texas is Homophobic." I not saying that far too many people here aren't, I'm just offering you some facts to do with what you please.

I feel for it since it is a repub....... state and a Bush state!

Pushing out another republican texan....

funny. but, sick.

:)

be justified.The Texans on DU were not the Texans that voted for Tom Delay, George Bush Sr. or Jr and their polices, hatred for them is misplaced on us. It is unfair to lump us into the stereotypical glazed eyed fanatical Christian conservative hypocritical piece-of-shit republicans that have hijacked our state's government by trickery in redistricting. This is like when other countries assume ALL Americans love and support what our government has done since * has taken office. So I suggest you go over there if you need to vent your spleen and not here where we should all be on the same side.

....nobody was attacking you or lumping you into a category with republicans. nobody said you or any other DUers voted for tom delay or bush. at this point you're the one venting your spleen.

yes the redistricting was horrible, but it wasn't what created a huge republican majority in texas.

this thread was not meant to be a flamefest...it was a lighthearted joke after all the threads on the texas hate vote from yesterday. if you cared to read all the responses, you'd see that there are plenty of friendly conversations going on. yeah, a few people made some out of line remarks...ignore them if your skin is that thin. you're one of the few people that thought this thread was an attack. maybe you should just ignore the thread if it upsets you that much.

n/t

Give us a break we need to vent.

Can we all vent next about the idiots in California that put the terminator in the governors office? How about all the morons in blue New York that prop up Giuliani so he can foam at the mouth over the RNC? Mississippi for Trent Lott? New Jersey for allowing the republicans to oust the Governor because he was gay? Who should we bash next? It appears there are plenty of states to choose from in this country. So....before you decide to bash a particular state as a whole because of it's over the top right wing nuts, may I suggest you check your own back yard. Bush and his cohorts didn't get in from just the idiot voters in Texas. Or from the entire south for that matter. They are every where in this country. And if democrats want to take back those states my suggestions would be to stop spouting off the hateful bullshit about the south and Texas and what ever state you personally feel like bashing and start banding together with those that are on the same page with you and take this fucking country back one state at a time!!!!

vent all you like about the gropinator. etc.

Maybe you like to hang out there?

...will be welcomed at freerepublic.com.

:shrug:

There are lots of Right Wing sites where the folks deserve to be dumped on.

But the residents of Perfect States won't go there.

Arbitrary lines on a map that somehow disproportionately affect the overall form of democratic gov't in this country. Stupid.
The Professor