“The Siege of The Alamo” by Lajos Markos Reproduced with thanks to the Markos Estate
The old timers said that a dry, chill wind was blowing out of the northwest, right from the heart of the Commancheria, that dawn of March 6, 1836. It ripped the palls of black smoke billowing from the old Alamo mission into ragged tendrils and hurled them away, as if trying to clear the air of the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh and the acrid stench of gunpowder. By the time the sun broke above the horizon and cast a golden light over the old mission-turned-fortress, gunshots still sporadically rent the air, but the main sound was that of an enraged mob. (more…)
Wall Street Journal – In medical isolation in South Texas, 100 miles or so from Mexico’s border, is a man who embodies one of U.S. health officials’ greatest worries: He is the first person to cross and be held in detention while infected with one of the most severe types of drug-resistant tuberculosis known today.
His three-month odyssey through 13 countries—from his homeland of Nepal through South Asia, Brazil, Mexico, and finally into Texas—shows the way in which dangerous new strains of the disease can migrate across the world unchecked. (more…)
When I was a mere lad, Texas Independence Day was celebrated in schools with patriotic songs, readings of the Declaration by schoolkids and grave lectures on our role as Texans by our teachers. Even the Mexican kids participated, because anyone who’d read the hallowed rolls of the Alamo and Goliad dead knew that there were plenty of martyrs with Spanish surnames. We also knew of Lorenzo de Zavala and Juan Seguin, both Texian heroes of the Revolution.
Juan Seguin
It was understood by the youngest of us that Texas went from being just the mostly empty northern part of the Mexican state of Cohuila-Texas to the independent Republic of Texas with the signing of this document. Like the beloved United States, from whence the spirit -and some would say impetus – of revolution had come, we won our right to be free through the force of arms, wielded by brave and bold men. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the despot which our Texas Forefathers overthrew was ever bit as evil and prone to predations as Britain’s George III. His one saving grace, that he invented that most American of oral fixations, chewing gum, was more than off-set by his cruelty and duplicitous nature. The self-proclaimed Napoleon of the North, he boasted an army well-officered and well-equipped that had spent the past couple of years putting down rebellions in Mexico. It wasn’t just the Texians who longed for the return to a government who respected the liberal Constitution of 1824. (more…)
This series of articles is guest posted by Elvis Chupacabra!
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The Alamo Siege
February 23, 1836:
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna reaches San Antonio with a large body of his troops, mostly cavalry. Much of his assault infantry, engineer troops and siege artillery are strung out along the road back to the Rio Grande. Of these, many of his native troops, lightly dressed for the warmth of Mexico, have suffered in a late and particularly harsh winter storm along their hasty, forced march towards the rebellious province of Tejas. (more…)
WASHINGTON — A draft of a White House immigration proposal obtained by USA TODAY would allow illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within eight years.
The plan also would provide for more security funding and require business owners to check the immigration status of new hires within four years. In addition, the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants could apply for a newly created “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” visa, under the bill being written by the White House.
The draft was obtained from an Obama administration official who said it was being distributed to various agencies. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the proposal publicly. (read more)
WASHINGTON DC – Jose Antonio Vargas, an illegal immigrant and former reporter, scolded a congressional panel on Wednesday, saying that he should not be called illegal, and saying it is an insult to his family who brought him here.
“When you inaccurately call me illegal, you not only dehumanize me, you’re offending them,” he said. “No human being is illegal.”
Mr. Vargas testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside Chris Crane — a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and president of the ICE agents’ union — who is unable to arrest him under the administration’s new non-deportation policies.
Mr. Vargas, who “came out” as an illegal immigrant several years ago, delivered an emotional plea for the country to legalize him. (more)
Several weeks ago when doing research into Denis McDonough, Obama’s pick to be his Chief of Staff, we ran accross this older insightful comment from a former member of Chuck Hagel’s staff. I book marked it to review again during the confirmation hearings. Wow, this former employee of his staff really hits the nail on the head.
Watch this segment of his confirmation hearing first:
At one time I worked in Senator Chuck Hagel’s office. I believe readers may be interested in my observations of Senator Hagel.
He has a limited educational background, and worked as a local broadcaster in Nebraska before getting his start as an aide to a Nebraska congressman in the 1970s. Before that, he fought in Vietnam, where he was seriously wounded. With his Capitol Hill background and war record, he obtained a high position in the Reagan administration’s Department of Veterans Affairs. Then he had some friends who were investing in the new cellular phone field; he sold his car to raise the funds to invest with them. That’s how he became a millionaire. And in a small state like Nebraska, that’s how a person possessed of the requisite ego, regardless of other qualifications, including intelligence, becomes a United States Senator. (more…)
I doubt anyone could ever watch a more categorically inept nominee face questioning than former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel. President Obama appears to have nominated Hagel for only one reason – ideological synergy: Lead from behind, follow the principle of flawed R2P mindset, and intentionally diminish the capacity of the U.S. Military.
By Elvis Chupacabra
