Tongue in cheek, but interesting e-mail going around

If Texas was a seperate country; The Republic of Texas:

So what does Texas have to do to survive as a Republic?

1. NASA is just south of Houston , Texas . We will control the space industry.

2. We refine over 85% of the gasoline in the United States .

3. Defense Industry--we have over 65% of it. The term "Don't mess with Texas ," will take on a whole new meaning.

4. Oil - we can supply all the oil that the Republic of Texas will need for the next 300 years.

5. Natural Gas - again we have all we need, and it's too bad about those Northern States.

6. Computer Industry - we lead the nation in producing computer chips and communications equipment -small companies like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer, EDS, Raytheon, National Semiconductor,Motorola, Intel, AMD, Atmel, Applied Materials, Ball Microconductor, Dallas Semiconductor, Nortel, Alcatel, etc, etc. The list goes on and on.

7. Medical Care - We have the research centers for cancer research, the best burn centers and the top trauma units in the world, as well as other large health centers. The Houston Medical Center alone employees over 65,000 people.

8. We have enough colleges to keep us getting smarter: University of Texas , Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas Christian, Rice, SMU,
University of Dallas , University of Houston , Baylor, UNT ( University of North Texas ), Texas Women's University, etc. Ivy grows better in the South anyway.

9. We have an intelligent and energetic work force, and it isn't restricted by a bunch of unions. Here in Texas , it's a Right toWork
State and, therefore, it's every man and women for themselves. We just go out and get the job done. And if we don't like the way one company operates, we get a job somewhere else.

10. We have essential control of the paper, plastics, and insurance industries, etc.

11. In case of a foreign invasion, we have the Texas National Guard, the Texas Air National Guard, and several military bases. We don't have an Army, but since everybody down here has at least six rifles and a pile of ammo, we can raise an Army in 24 hours if we need one. If the situation really gets bad, we can
always call the Department of Public Safety and ask them to send over the Texas Rangers.

12. We are totally self-sufficient in beef, poultry, hogs, and several types of grain, fruit and vegetables, and let's not forget seafood from the Gulf. Also, everybody down here knows how to cook them so that they taste good. Don't need any food.

13. Three of the ten largest cities in the United States , and twenty- three of the 100 largest cities in the United States , are located inTexas. And Texas also has more land than California , New York , New Jersey , Connecticut , Delaware , Hawaii ,
Massachusetts , Maryland , Rhode Island and Vermont combined.

14. Trade: Three of the ten largest ports in the United States are located in Texas .

15. More miles of railroad track that any other state in the
Union .

16. We also manufacture cars down here, but we don't need to. You see, nothing rusts in Texas , so our vehicles stay beautiful and run well for decades.

17. Year around golf.

This just names a few of the items that will keep the
Republic of Texas in good shape. There isn't a thing out there that we need and don't have.

Signed,
The People of Texas

P.S. This is not a threatening letter - just a note to give you something to think about! SLEEP WELL TONIGHT - THE EYES OF
TEXAS ARE UPON YOU!!

If texas was a separate country they wouldn't have 90% of that list :shrug:

(08-12-2012 04:09 PM)Tiguar Wrote:  If texas was a separate country they wouldn't have 90% of that list :shrug:

I'm a Texan. And I have to agree with you on some of that. A Texas that wasn't subsidized by the Federal Government would not have the Texas Medical Center in the same form (US funds contributed mightily to the TMC) or NASA (Texas - you didn't build that - the Feds did). It probably wouldn't have much of a defense industry either.

It would have oil and natural gas reserves. But the World Energy Capital would have probably developed elsewhere as the genesis of North American energy companies was American, not so much Texan.

Texas has a LOT to be justifiably proud of. Especially in Houston. But remember that Texas also has some issues as well.

1) The worst health care systems for poor persons in the USA.
2) One of the highest high school dropout rates in the nation
3) Staggering income inequality, which is one reason why life is so great in Texas, for people like me, who are financially well off
4) Serious air quality issues, which are a trade off from all the refineries and industrial concerns here.
5) A woefully underegulated, and laughable insurance industry here in Texas

(08-12-2012 04:34 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(08-12-2012 04:09 PM)Tiguar Wrote:  If texas was a separate country they wouldn't have 90% of that list :shrug:

I'm a Texan. And I have to agree with you on some of that. A Texas that wasn't subsidized by the Federal Government would not have the Texas Medical Center in the same form (US funds contributed mightily to the TMC) or NASA (Texas - you didn't build that - the Feds did). It probably wouldn't have much of a defense industry either.

It would have oil and natural gas reserves. But the World Energy Capital would have probably developed elsewhere as the genesis of North American energy companies was American, not so much Texan.

Texas has a LOT to be justifiably proud of. Especially in Houston. But remember that Texas also has some issues as well.

1) The worst health care systems for poor persons in the USA.
2) One of the highest high school dropout rates in the nation
3) Staggering income inequality, which is one reason why life is so great in Texas, for people like me, who are financially well off
4) Serious air quality issues, which are a trade off from all the refineries and industrial concerns here.
5) A woefully underegulated, and laughable insurance industry here in Texas

1)Not touching this one as it is an argument in the making
2)Dropout rates are very heavily attributed to Federal immigration and border policy. Don't believe me? Look at all Southern border states and you will find the same. I think you would find a very different Texas after secession as border policies would change drastically.
3) See number 2
4)No argument here
5)Screw the whole system of insurance.

(09-19-2012 10:07 AM)tw_fatcat Wrote:  

(08-12-2012 04:34 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(08-12-2012 04:09 PM)Tiguar Wrote:  If texas was a separate country they wouldn't have 90% of that list :shrug:

I'm a Texan. And I have to agree with you on some of that. A Texas that wasn't subsidized by the Federal Government would not have the Texas Medical Center in the same form (US funds contributed mightily to the TMC) or NASA (Texas - you didn't build that - the Feds did). It probably wouldn't have much of a defense industry either.

It would have oil and natural gas reserves. But the World Energy Capital would have probably developed elsewhere as the genesis of North American energy companies was American, not so much Texan.

Texas has a LOT to be justifiably proud of. Especially in Houston. But remember that Texas also has some issues as well.

1) The worst health care systems for poor persons in the USA.
2) One of the highest high school dropout rates in the nation
3) Staggering income inequality, which is one reason why life is so great in Texas, for people like me, who are financially well off
4) Serious air quality issues, which are a trade off from all the refineries and industrial concerns here.
5) A woefully underegulated, and laughable insurance industry here in Texas

1)Not touching this one as it is an argument in the making
2)Dropout rates are very heavily attributed to Federal immigration and border policy. Don't believe me? Look at all Southern border states and you will find the same. I think you would find a very different Texas after secession as border policies would change drastically.
3) See number 2
4)No argument here
5)Screw the whole system of insurance.

Actually dropout rates are also very high in states that, like Texas, poorly fund public education, that do NOT have high levels of immigration, such as Alabama and Mississippi.

You can't seriously think that the graduation rates in Texas have nothing to do with immigration. If you look at the graduation rates and who it is that is dropping out it is very telling. I don't want to make this about race because that is not what I am about. I don't care what your race is but there is a direct correlation with the immigrant population and graduation rates.

I live in Canada now and you should see how little they put into their schools up here but the kids are doing well. We as a society (Americans) want to believe that pumping money into something will fix it but that just isn't the case. If we want the next generation to get a better education it starts at home. We need to start taking responsibility for our children and what they are doing with their lives. We depend too much on the system to take care of those things for us. Teachers are not babysitters, life coaches or anything of the sort. Their job is to give the information and teach the ideas and theories of the scholastic environment. What we do and what our children do with that is completely up to us.