The Republic of Texas

by on May 8, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Incoming Texas Governor, and former American President (Impeached), Lopez moved his transition team to Fort Hood as Austin’s police collapsed under the assault of gangs fighting for turf, drug cartels fighting for market share, and racial mobs burning down one neighborhood after another. The outgoing government would soon follow his lead as the violence spread to most other major Texas cities by the end of the year. The official transition of power, when it finally happened, was a short ceremony, with little pomp and circumstance, performed on one of Fort Hood’s practice yards. Many blamed the outgoing Governor for the violence spreading throughout the State, though Texas would later obtain proof that it was federal agents spawning much of the chaos. Incoming Governor Lopez had suspicions on the matter and did nothing to suggest he blamed the outgoing Governor, but did promise to do everything he could to quell the violence. He started by authorizing the forces at Fort Hood to help deal with the drug cartel problem. The Army could not act as law enforcement inside America due to the Posse Comitatus Act, but it just so happened that Mexico was outside the American borders at the time.

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The Republic of Texas

by on May 7, 2020 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Fort Hood had been running on an insufficient budget for years when the Second Great Depression began to wash over the American economy. The political issues with the Impeachments and the questionable election results simply made those budgetary problems more direct. The new President wanted a full rotation of all base commanders throughout America, and he demanded that many base commanders be cashiered and replaced with more politically reliable officers at the same time. The Pentagon took a great deal of time conducting feasibility studies on the transfers, and bureaucratic red tape snarled the line headed towards the numerous courts martial and discharges. Which left the commander of Fort Hood still fully in charge when the Austin police line fell to the rapidly expanding gang, drug, and racial violence that tore the Texas’ capital apart. Loss of security around the State Capitol forced the Texas government to move to a more secure location, and there were few locations in America more secure than Fort Hood.

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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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