The Confederation of Dixie

by on August 13, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Shang attack that started The War changed the space launch industry in America forever. The Port of Mobile had been losing market share in the cargo launch market to larger competitors like the Ports of New Orleans and Los Angeles in the preceding decades. They were also losing their building contracts to the orbital Yosemite Yards. Everybody knows that the Shang attack destroyed Yosemite and dropped its rubble all over Western America. We have all seen the visuals of an obliterated Port of Los Angeles. New Orleans was a footnote compared to what that did to Pacific shipping patterns, but was just as devastating to the Gulf of America’s shipping. The Port of Mobile answered the many calls for increased shipping, and their yards accepted every military building contract they could physically jam into their facilities. Mobile made money hand over fist.

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The Confederation of Dixie

by on August 12, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Port of Mobile remained one of America’s major space launch facilities throughout the decades after Contact that led up to The War. Their factories built numerous Alabama and American starships, as well as Class One, Two, and Three Colonization Ships for many colony projects. They launched, and landed, bulk cargo for trade and other projects in record-breaking tonnages decade after decade. It was a license to print money, and they did not miss a single trick they could imagine. They had very imaginative lawyers as it turned out, and an Alabama government that was happy to give them a great deal of leeway when it came to interpreting laws. The money flowed, the taxes came in, and the people of Alabama prospered like never before. It was a Golden Age that many thought would never end.

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The Confederation of Dixie

by on August 11, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

When the Peloran made Contact and gave us gravtech, the corporations of the Port of Mobile saw their salvation. They had long used corporate incentives to make themselves a major space launch facility, but had been losing market share to newer launch facilities in far better locations. And the ever-expanding Panama Elevator was taking traffic from everybody. Gravtech promised a revolution in space launch capabilities though, and the corporations of Mobile pooled their resources to build the first American-made gravtech launch vehicle. They launched months ahead of their nearest competition, and used that advantage to lock in long-term launch contracts. By the time their competition caught up with the technology curve, Mobile had already established itself as the dominant player in the space launch field.

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The Confederation of Dixie

by on August 10, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Alabama’s Port of Mobile and Naval Station Mobile used favorable taxes and other incentives to make themselves major supporters and launch locations for American efforts to colonize the Solar System. And when hyperdrives allowed us to go to the stars, they joined the New Earth and New Washington Colonization Programs that brought us to the stars. That would start a tradition of Mobile supporting colonization efforts, and every major colony America had any involvement in sent components through Mobile. Not necessarily all, or even most, due to the superior launch locations in Florida, Texas, and Panama, but Mobile’s incentives made it virtually impossible for anyone seeking to launch components into space to ignore their facilities. The decades before Contact saw their revenue share steadily decreasing, though, and their days as a major space launch facility appeared to be ending.

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Olympics

by on August 9, 2021 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, forecasted by Akira decades ago, have come to an end and were largely successful as far as I’m concerned. There were challenges though. Stadiums designed for audiences had odd echoes, which sometimes made it hard for athletes to know when to start. A lack of cheering or other noises often made things eerie. And of course some athletes protested the flag. Most famous was the soccer team, shortly before the Swedes whipped them good and hard. And NBC gleefully broadcasted other protests and related segments. The network’s narrative broadcasts got tiring. The sports were good, though. Japan did a good job hosting the games. Overall fun to watch.

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