Welcome Home Astronauts

by on March 19, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I remember when Obama shut down our shuttle program and forced us to work with the Russians to get up there. Then Trump invited private companies to take up the slack and multiple companies answered the call. Then Biden sparked a war with the Russians before a pair of our Astronauts went up on a faulty rocket. He left them stranded up there rather than ask the Russians or another private company to bring them back down. Well, Elon Musk to the rescue. He brought them back home on one of his rockets today, even as Democrat Domestic Terrorists are bombing Musk’s businesses because they don’t like that he is into supporting free speech for people to say things the Democrat Domestic Terrorists don’t like. Welcome Home Astronauts. I hope you enjoy the clown show.

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A Nation of Borders

by on March 18, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The short-lived Republic of Texas survived for a time between Mexico and the expanding United States of America. The problem was that there were some disagreements with Mexico as to the exact nature of the Republic of Texas. Firstly, the ruler of Mexico had been captured when he signed the agreement that they were free. That was considered coercion, and the Mexicans had declared him no longer their ruler, elevated someone else, and did not recognize the entire agreement. Secondly, even if they did accept the agreement, they disagreed over the particulars. Texas said the agreement gave them all territory north of the Rio Grande River. Mexico said that they had a lot of towns full of Mexicans on the north side of the Rio Grand River, they weren’t giving them up, and if they DID accept a river border, it was a different river further north. But they still really didn’t. The disagreement turned violent when Texas patrols between the two rivers ran into Mexican patrols that did not want them there. As far as Texas was concerned, that meant war. As far as Mexico was concerned, it was another chance to shoot dirty rebels. As far the United States was concerned… well… who doesn’t love the story of plucky underdog rebels standing up to a vast empire trying to kill them? We Americans eat those stories for lunch.

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A Nation of Borders

by on March 17, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

When the nation that became Mexico rebelled from Spain, not everyone agreed with the rebellion. There was in fact a rather impressive civil war over the whole affair. And the new Mexican government was not what you would call gentle towards those they defeated. They were declared rebels, not true combatants, and killed. Even those who surrendered. It was a long and bloody affair, and it culminated in the State north of the Rio Grande where the Texians lived. And the Texians were none to willing to accept the rule of this new government. They’d sworn loyalty to Spain, not these new guys. Many Texians were Americans by birth, while others were Mexicans who didn’t support the new guys. Why work with these new guys executing everyone they didn’t like when they could work with the United States? Of course the United States was still a long ways away and didn’t want a war with Mexico over old Spanish land. So the Texians and some American military volunteers fought, defeated, and captured the new ruler of Mexico. Got him to sign an agreement that Texias was independent of this new Mexico and everything was good. Everybody agreed. As history goes, agreements are often disagreed over.

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A Nation of Borders

by on March 16, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Southern Border of the United States of America was formed by war and rebellion. The Spanish first colonized Central and North America long before the United States moved westward. They moved up to the Rio Grande River area, to Santa Fe, and up the California coast. There they met the Russian Empire going south through Alaska and didn’t go much further. They claimed regions further north but couldn’t control them. The Indians did not agree that the Spanish owned the territory and made war on the settlers that tried to go north of the Rio Grande. The Spanish needed heavily armed settlers willing to fight to defend their land and a group of Americans who wanted to build a new life outside the United States of America swore loyalty to the Spanish Crown in exchange for being allowed to settle there. They became what history calls the Texians, and they and the Indians had a great many disagreements over who owned the land in the decades that followed. And then the Spanish colony rebelled from Spain to form the precursor of modern day Mexico. That changed everything.

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A Nation of Borders

by on March 15, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Continental United States of America has a pair of geographical borders and a pair of negotiated borders. The East and West Coast are fairly hard to dispute. The Northern Border is a mix of a geographical and arbitrary border that has not been disputed with Canada for over a century. The geographical border was formed after our 13 Colonies rebelled from Great Britain and the English loyalists moved north of the river and lakes we did not control. We later agreed that the rivers and lakes would continue to separate us until we ran out of rivers and lakes. Then we agreed upon an arbitrary border going all the way to the West Coast and that border has been good ever since. Our Southern Border’s history is a bit more interesting.

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