The Republic of Texas

by on May 6, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The commander of Fort Hood did not follow the orders the new President sent down to deploy against the civilian Texas government. And he would later admit that he leaked the repeatedly explicit orders to the media before the already scheduled press conference about another, unrelated issue. Questions about the orders came up of course, and he was quick to say that they could not possibly have come from the President, since any orders like that would be unconstitutional. And he threw out the red herring of looking for the perpetrators who had faked the orders to allow the federal government to back down gracefully. The new President as it happened did not know how to back down gracefully, and attempted to have him cashiered. The military promised to get on that and then proceeded to slow roll the proceedings against Fort Hood’s commander. Unhappy with their pacing, the President’s last budget passed by his Congress before the new Senate came into office completely defunded Fort Hood in favor of far more important social programs.

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The Republic of Texas

by on May 5, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Had the standoff between the State of Texas and the American President stopped at a few shots fired and less than fifty dead Texans, the citizens of Texas would not now be inclined to call the Second Great Depression the Second Civil War. Unfortunately for us all, the standoff did not end there. When the majority of major American military units declined to follow his orders to deploy against Texas civilians, he sent more clandestine units into Texas with the mission of sowing chaos to bring the State government to its knees. Much of the gang violence and drug wars that raged through the Texan cities can be tied to the specific actions of clandestine federal agents, as can the various organizational, communications, and supply problems suffered by numerous Texas law enforcement agencies. Chaos and violence overwhelmed the local governmental security forces in city after city, and burned many parts of them to the ground. The President offered to help Texas with their raging criminal problem, but when proof that federal agents were instigating the violence was leaked to the public, it destroyed what little credibility he had left in Texan eyes.

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Masks

by on May 4, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

TLDR Version: Wear them. They are effective, if properly sterilized.

Full Version:
There are many thoughts on masks out there. Some say that anything less than a full N95 is useless. Others swear by them. Some swear at them. I live in a medical town, where masks have been a common sight long before now. We see them, we stock them, and we are prepared to use them.

In these “interesting times” as the Chinese curse put it, any mask is better than no mask if it is properly disinfected, used, and cared for. If not, they can actually cause you to get sick.

To put it simply, the standard surgical masks, homemade cloth masks, or bandannas wrapped around your face are not proof against the Wuhan Virus. Paint masks, sport masks with carbon filters, and other similar masks are also not full protection.

For full protection, you need something that is officially classed as a respirator, which the N95 is. Even then, full protection is a misnomer, as many things from fit to simple misuse can cause them to be less useful.

Surgeons do not wear surgical masks to protect them from their patient’s germs. They wear the masks to keep any of their germs from infecting the patient. An infected person will breathe the virus out when they exhale, and a surgical mask will mostly stop that. Now they do offer protection against the Wuhan Virus touching the mouth or nose, but they are not as good as a full respirator.

Cloth masks, whether homemade or professional, are not as good as surgical masks in either operation. But with surgical masks and respirators being limited to medical personnel, they may be the only option the public has. They are in no way proof against the virus. But they are better than nothing since they can stop the particulates the virus rides from touching you. As long as they are washed and sanitized between uses. Note that single layer masks are not as good as double or triple layer. And those designed to slip filters in them are better yet.

In the end, much like the concept of herd immunity, the more people who wear masks, the more effective they are. They act as a barrier to slow the virus’ ability to spread. Wearing masks is something we can do as people to show others that we are doing our part to fight the virus. They suggest we are being careful, washing our hands, and doing all the other little things it takes to fight this unseen enemy. They are a uniform of sorts, uniting us against the common enemy of us all.

I wear a mask every day at work.

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The Republic of Texas

by on May 3, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The firefight between the Texas State Guard and “certain undisclosed elements of the United States Armed Forces” in Dallas, Texas severely impacted the loyalty of federal troops all throughout America. It was especially disastrous for those stationed in Texas. It was a matter of faith with the troops that they could not and should not ever be deployed against American citizens, and the orders to do exactly that shook their faith in the government to a bone-deep level. So when their commanders chose not to follow those orders, there were very few dissenters. There were some. There will always be some, and they would cause a great deal of heartache. And there were many who simply walked away. But at every military base in Texas, there was a core of troops who remained loyal to their commanders. Some of those bases chose to join Texas in time. Some remained American bases, though worked with Texas. No major military base fought Texas. Some minor ones did, and they would also cause a great deal of heartache. But the most important thing to understand is that the vast majority of the American military could not and did not break faith with their oaths. And that, in the end, is why most historians never named this period the Second Civil War.

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The Republic of Texas

by on May 2, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The firefight between the Texas State Guard and “certain undisclosed elements of the United States Armed Forces” in Dallas, Texas resulted in the outgoing governor of Texas ordering the Texas State Guard to lockdown all Federal Department of Justice facilities in Texas. Their tanks soon rolled up to the facilities in question, their commanders popped the hatches to wave in a friendly manner, and the Feds on the inside proved to be most expeditious in their willingness to avoid any further firefights. The new President was not so quick to decide that he did not wish to mess with Texas. He ordered the Army and Marine units based in Texas to deal with the situation. Again. They failed to receive his orders due to a communications error. Again. The President persisted sending his orders, with ever more explicit demands pertaining to what exactly they were supposed to do to the previous President (Impeached) and his allies, until someone leaked the orders to the media. At which point, the commander of Fort Hood was quick to announce at a news conference that military intelligence was looking into whoever had fabricated those obviously false orders meant to defame the President. It was unconstitutional for the military to deploy against American citizens, after all.

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