Texas

Texas /ˈtɛksəs/ (Spanish: Texas or Tejas [ˈtexas]) is a state in the United States of America. It is the second most populous and second largest state by area in the US. Geographically located in the south central part of the country, Texas shares an international border with Mexico to the south and borders the states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²) and a growing population of over 27.5 million residents (July 2015).

Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, while San Antonio is the second largest in the state and seventh largest in the United States. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and fifth largest United States metropolitan statistical areas, respectively. Other major cities include Austin (the state capital) and El Paso. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify Texas as a former independent republic, and as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico. The "Lone Star" can be found on the Texan state flag and on the Texan state seal. The origin of the state name, Texas, is from the word, "Tejas", which means 'friends' in the Caddo language.

Ted Nugent

Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent (/tɛd ˈnuːdʒᵻnt/; born December 13, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, hunter, and political activist. Nugent initially gained fame as the lead guitarist of the Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock and hard rock. After playing with the Amboy Dukes, he embarked on a solo career.

Nugent is also noted for conservative political views, his lifelong stance against drug and alcohol abuse and advocacy of hunting and gun ownership rights. He is a board member of the National Rifle Association and a strong supporter of the Republican Party.

Early life

Nugent was born in Redford, Michigan, and raised in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marion Dorothy (née Johnson) and Warren Henry Nugent. He moved to Palatine, Illinois as a teenager, and has two brothers: John and Jeffrey, and a sister, Kathy. Raised Catholic, Nugent has mentioned his ties with Catholicism many times during interviews, and has stated that he regularly attends church. He attended William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois, then transferred after his freshman year to St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was an English American author, essayist, orator, religious and literary critic, and journalist. Hitchens later spent much of his career in the United States and became a US citizen in 2007.

He contributed to New Statesman, The Nation, The Atlantic, London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, Slate, and Vanity Fair. Hitchens was the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of over 30 books, including five collections of essays, on a range of subjects, including politics, literature, and religion. A staple of talk shows and lecture circuits, his confrontational style of debate made him both a lauded and controversial figure. Known for his contrarian stance on a number of issues, Hitchens criticized such public and generally popular figures as Mother Teresa; Bill Clinton; Henry Kissinger; Princess Diana; and Pope Benedict XVI. He was the elder brother of the conservative journalist and author Peter Hitchens.

Roky Erickson

Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson (born July 15, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player, and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of The 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre.

Biography

Erickson was interested in music from his youth: he played piano from age 5 and took up guitar at 10. He attended school in Austin and dropped out of Travis High School in 1965, one month before graduating, rather than cut his hair to conform to the school dress code. His first notable group was The Spades, who scored a regional hit with Erickson's "We Sell Soul"; the song is included as an unlisted bonus track on Erickson's 1995 All That May Do My Rhyme CD and was adapted as "Don't Fall Down" by the 13th Floor Elevators for their first album. The Spades' original version of "You're Gonna Miss Me", later a hit for 13th Floor Elevators, was featured on the compilation album The Best of Pebbles Volume 1.

13th Floor Elevators years

Erickson co-founded the 13th Floor Elevators in late 1965. He and bandmate Tommy Hall were the main songwriters. Early in her career, singer Janis Joplin considered joining the Elevators, but Family Dog's Chet Helms persuaded her to go to San Francisco instead, where she found major fame.

Lance Armstrong

Lance Edward Armstrong (born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He is the 1993 Elite Men's Road Race World Champion, and he had won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005, but was stripped of his Tour de France victories in 2012 after a protracted doping scandal.

At age 16, Armstrong began competing as a triathlete and was a national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990. In 1992, Armstrong began his career as a professional cyclist with the Motorola team. He had notable success between 1993 and 1996, including the World Championship in 1993, Clásica de San Sebastián in 95, Tour DuPont in 95 and 96, and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including stage 18 of the 1995 Tour de France. In 1996, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal metastatic testicular cancer. After his recovery, he founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation (now the Livestrong Foundation) to assist other cancer survivors.

By January 1998, Armstrong had renewed serious cycling training, having signed a new racing contract with US Postal. He was a member of the US Postal/Discovery team between 1998 and 2005, in which he won his Tour de France titles, as well as a bronze medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics. In July 2005, Armstrong retired from racing at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009, finishing third in the 2009 Tour de France later that year. Between 2010 and 2011, he raced with the UCI ProTeam he helped found, Team Radio Shack. He retired for a second time in 2011.