tx finally gets something right

okay not that this is going to affect my life in any meaningful way or anything (because my driving in this area has pretty much limited to my 4 mile round-trip commute and my all too frequent runs to target) -

but i saw this article in our daily news e-mail and thought, "finally! a good application of the whole 'we texans will do things our way thankyouverymuch, so the rest of you fuck off' attitude!"

ahem:

NEWS 8 AUSTIN
Texans who brag they do things bigger and better are about to go faster too. State transportation officials are expected to boost speed limits on two stretches of rural highway from 75 mph to 80. It would be the highest posted speed limit in the country. State officials say the roads can accommodate the higher speed, but safety and energy conservation advocates warn it will cost lives and hit drivers in the wallet as fuel prices increase.
Studies show the higher speeds will be safe in the areas they're proposed, Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said. The 80 mph limit would be confined to 10 mostly rural counties in West Texas. It includes a 432-mile stretch of Interstate 10 between El Paso and Kerrville, and 89 miles of Interstate 20 between Monahans and the I-10 interchange at the cusp of the Jeff Davis Mountains.

....nice.

for what it's worth, it still makes me laugh / shake my head that the texas state capitol (housed here in lovely austin) is an exact replica of the nation's capital with two glaring differences:
1) it's bigger
2) it's pink (excuse me, rose granite)

#1 i can understand b/c texans are so f'ing obsessed with bigger is better (which seems to apply to state capitols, hair, breast size, and attitude alike), but #2? really? when i think texas, the first color to come to mind is not so much pink... it's more red white and blue or smthg cheesy and lame. pink for the casa rosada in buenos aires, yes. pink hotels in miami, sure. but a pink capitol building? in texas?

kinda makes you laugh, don't it?