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We made it in yesterday, after a bit of a wait at the McAllen - Reynosa Bridge, and then proceeded to recuperate. Then it was on to reposition clothes, shoes, boots, hats, and all this stuff that always seems to surround us and demand more attention and care than a herd of cats and children. But, it is my life that I have imposed upon myself.
The last couple of weeks at our place on the skirts of the isolated Sierra Madre Oriental has suffered through a bit of a chilly period. Two or three mornings found the thermometer registering 30 to 31 degrees F, at the dawning hour. The rest of the time the mornings arrived with the temperatures in the upper thirties or low forties. The high temperatures struggled to get out of the sixties, and all in all it was a pretty chilly paso de estancia.
This has been the coldest overall Autumn since the keeping of records for the Victoria, Tamaulipas area. No high or low records have been set, but the generally and steadily low temperatures have led to this particular weather/climate factoid.
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During the early morning hours of the date 25 November, 2013 there was an earthquake reaching the level of 4.1 - 4.5 Richter, being centred near the community of San Felipe de China, Nuevo Leon which is about 60 miles east of the Monterrey metroplex.
There is a significant, complex flood-control, irrigation, and hydro-electric production dam, named "El Cuchillo" on the watercourse of the Rio San Juan very nearby the epicentre. To this point the complete review of that facility has not been completed. A major water transfer pipeline runs from the lake formed by the dam to the metroplex of Monterrey, quite a project actually. That pipeline, along with many others....a huge twin-six foot natural gas transmission line, for instance....all have to be analysed and evaluated.
There were several reporters, of course, who suggested that frakking and/or global warming had caused the fairly rare earthquake. And, of course, those two phenomena had also intensified the temblor beyond the levels of the other rare quakes (not true).
At our little mud hideaway we had only a fairly sharp thudding bump (yes, in the night) just sharp enough to make all the dogs the Francisco I Madero Ejido bark, and cause our three cats to run into the parlour with their eyes wide as serving plates.
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We are called upon to remember the events of 72 years ago, to-morrow. Moving such a huge attack fleet...so very far across the Pacific Ocean and the launching of essentially naval "light cavalry" with such a devastating effect is a remarkable event. That we slept through the possibility and did so little to anticipate and be ready for such a blow was, is, and should forever be a reminder of the validity of the ancient adage....."If a nation truly desires peace, that nation should always be prepared for war."
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Our little hideaway is famous for producing an almost unending profusion of florid things, with something...or more frequently....lots of things flowering all year around. On the right, the OROG can see Alvaro trying to show El Gringo Viejo how to study the Virginia Vine, (picture taken yesterday).
The OROG can judge for him/herself if El Gringo Viejo learned how to approach this task. The Virginia is located at the very entrance to the Quinta. We need to point out that our dating on the photos is not correct because we cannot figure out how to dependably access the adjustment area in the camera's brain.
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Recently I was invited to like The Convention of States Project on FB. This caused me to consider again why I am a Texas Nationalist. It boils down to one simple question for me:
Recently I was invited to like The Convention of States Project on FB. This caused me to consider again why I am a Texas Nationalist. It boils down to one simple question for me:
"Can a constitutional republican form of government, respectful of our Rights and Liberty, be restored in Washington DC?"
I don't think it can be. It's nice to talk about an Article Five Convention or repealing the 17th Amendment or restoring constitutional national government but in my opinion it is all impossible in reality.
The history of our country since the formation of our government under the Constitution is extremely complex in detail but simple in theme. People are born with unalienable Rights. Government is created by People to secure and protect their Rights. When their government becomes abusive of their Rights, People have the Right to change their government to better secure and protect their Rights. The Constitution of the United States was a plan to have a national government powerful enough to solve certain national problems affecting all the States but weak enough to not be a threat to the Rights and Liberties of the People in the States. In retrospect, this has not worked out in actual practice.
Our country was most free when the Constitution was first ratified. Since then, ambitious politicians in our national government have used almost every international and domestic crisis and problem to seize more power for the government at the expense of the sovereignty of the States and the Liberty of the People. In my opinion, after more than 200 years, the great American experiment in self government has failed to secure our lasting peace and prosperity. Most importantly, our great experiment has failed to secure and preserve our Rights and our Liberty. This has resulted in our national state of affairs today.
In my opinion, the federal government is not going to be reformed. Politicians essentially do what their constituents demand. For generations, activists in this country have demanded the role of our national government change from securing and protecting the Rights and Liberty of All the People to providing social services, regulating almost all economic activity and seeking to achieve the nebulous goals of social justice and fairness in life. It is now considered proper and right for government to take substance from some people to give to other people at home and abroad. All of this has been encouraged by ambitious politicians aided by the disinterest of the general public. The vast majority of people in the great urban areas of this country don't want constitutional government. Instead they want government to provide for their needs. Big business interests, especially the military industrial complex, receive special treatment from the government in exchange for donations at election time. People and businesses that want something from government are who our government listens to and acts for. Those of us who desire that government should leave us alone to live our lives as best we can and as we wish, are regarded as a little bit strange and even crazy. We've even been called traitors by some in Congress for holding fast to the ideas of Liberty, personal responsibility and self determination.
Some people and politicians in this country have forgotten a simple fact. If the Liberty of some people is increased by decreasing the Liberty of other people, then no one really has Liberty at all. What we have is tyranny with the government playing favorites.
When our founding generation found their rights and liberties as British citizens being disregarded by Parliament and the King, they did not seek to reform the British system of government. Instead they sought and fought for Independence and the right to govern themselves. As a Texas Nationalist I am saying that I am willing to do the same for Texas so that we may be free of the national tyranny in Washington DC.
The government in Washington, regardless of which party is in charge, is bankrupting the country, ruining the economy, encouraging class warfare based on sex, religion, race and income, and destroying our reputation internationally with a reckless foreign policy. Our government of the people, by the people and for the people operates with an absolute disregard for the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of Texas and our Rights and Liberty. If I thought the United States and our freedom could be saved by reforming the national government, I would support efforts like the Convention of States Project. However, I do not think the United States government can be changed or reformed in any substantial way. Therefore I choose to devote my efforts to achieving Independence for Texas.
Independence is the only possible way to insure an opportunity for a better future for my grandchildren. Some say that Independence is a dream. But Texans have always been different from the rest of the country. Texas is a state of mind and a way of life, recognized nationally and internationally. Today more people are thinking about what it means to be Texan and free. More Texans are thinking that they don't want to be dictated to by an overbearing intrusive national government. More Texans are realizing that the federal government is broken and can't be fixed. More Texans are realizing they don't need the federal government at all.
In my opinion, our liberty as Texans is being assaulted every day by the federal government. The future of our children and grandchildren is being threatened. Independence is the only way to stop the assault on our Rights and Liberty. Independence is the only way to end the threat to our heirs.
I believe the federal government has become the greatest enemy of our own Liberty that this country has ever seen. Recent revelations about the NSA spying on the general public and the IRS targeting certain political groups show us again that we do not control and cannot trust our national government. We cannot change the federal government nor can we change the mindset of the rest of the country. Therefore I believe Texas must be a free and independent nation. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.
Go to http://texnat.org for more information.
Respectfully, James Rollins, La Grange, TX
This calls into question the sound reasoning behind a State initiative, based upon the authority specified in and by Amendment V of the Bill of Rights. Such is an alternative for attacking the excesses of the central government that is favoured by El Zorro and Mark Levin and numerous other straight thinkers. We are including these writings of another similar...but slightly different...take on the problems present by the appearance on the scene of committed totalitarians. These opinions are, as noted, Mr. James Rollins who is a member of the Texas Nationalist Movement.
We leave the issue open. If we are to remain Americans, in a federated union of sovereign States, the Fifth Amendment approach could work. In a more cumbersome procedure we abolished liquor and alcohol from America's pantries, and later restored the Devil's brews and distillates, once again by the same cumbersome procedure (So much for the term "settled law").
The standard amendment procedure has been used, and that means that there is more than a little validity to the Fifth Amendment alternative as well.
I, personally, actually do think that withdrawal from the present Union might be easier and would not even necessarily be all that bad for the rest of the States left behind. We'll commend this all to the attention of folks who think in terms much grander than trite, meaningless focus-group belchings.
El Gringo Viejo
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