This and That...

[Warph]

#2 Picture of the Day: Barack Obama's Most Bizarre Press Conference To Date

(I ain't going there... but I do wonder why he held it in Joe Biden's office?)

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[Warph]

Russia Threatens To Abandon The U.S. Dollar And Start Dumping U.S. Debt

By Michael Snyder, on March 4th, 2014

The Obama administration and the hotheads in Congress are threatening to hit Russia with "economic sanctions" for moving troops into Crimea.  Yes, those sanctions would sting a little bit, but what our politicians should be made aware of is the fact that Russian officials are promising "to respond" if economic sanctions are imposed on them.  As you will read about below, one top Kremlin adviser is even suggesting that Russia could abandon the U.S. dollar and start dumping U.S. debt.  In addition, he is also suggesting that if sanctions are imposed that Russian companies would not repay the debts that they owe U.S. banks.  Needless to say, Russia could do far more economic damage to the United States than the United States could do to Russia.  The U.S. financial system relies on the fact that the rest of the planet is going to use our currency to trade with one another and lend gigantic piles of it back to us at super low interest rates.  If the rest of the world starts changing their behavior, we are going to be in a massive amount of trouble.  Those that believe that the United States is "economically independent" are being quite delusional.

In order for U.S. economic sanctions against Russia to be effective, Europe would also have to get on board.

But that simply is not going to happen.

As I noted yesterday, Russia is the largest exporter of natural gas on the planet.  And Russia is also Europe's largest supplier of energy.

There is no way that Europe could risk having Russia cut off the gas, especially considering the economic condition that Europe is currently in.

To get an idea of just how incredibly dependent the rest of Europe is on Russian natural gas, check out the chart in this article.  A whole bunch of European nations get more than half their natural gas from Russia.

And according to the Telegraph, even the UK has already completely ruled out economic sanctions...

Europe would be pushed back into recession, Russia into financial meltdown. This is not the sort of self harm Europe is prepared to contemplate right now. Indeed, thanks to the indiscretion of a UK official, who was snapped going into Downing Street with his briefing documents on display for all the world to see, we know this to be the case. Trade and financial sanctions have already been ruled out.

So the U.S. can do whatever it wants, but Europe is not going to be any help.  Perhaps Canada will stand with the U.S., but that will be about it.

On the flip side, the Russian Foreign Ministry is promising "to respond" if the United States does impose economic sanctions...

Russia said on Tuesday that it would retaliate if the United States imposed sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

"We will have to respond," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement. "As always in such situations, provoked by rash and irresponsible actions by Washington, we stress: this is not our choice."

So what would the response look like?

Lukashevich did not say, but top Kremlin adviser Sergei Glazyev is suggesting that Russia could abandon the U.S. dollar and refuse to pay back loans to U.S. banks...

"In the instance of sanctions being applied to stated institutions, we will have to declare the impossibility of returning those loans which were given to Russian institutions by U.S. banks," RIA quoted Glazyev as saying.

"We will have to move into other currencies, create our own settlement system."

He added: "We have excellent trade and economic relations with our partners in the east and south and we will find a way to reduce to nothing our financial dependence on the United States but even get out of the sanctions with a big profit to ourselves."

Glazyev also stated that Russia could start dumping U.S. debt and encourage other nations to start doing the same.  The following comes from a Russian news source...

"We hold a decent amount of treasury bonds – more than $200 billion – and if the United States dares to freeze accounts of Russian businesses and citizens, we can no longer view America as a reliable partner," he said. "We will encourage everybody to dump US Treasury bonds, get rid of dollars as an unreliable currency and leave the US market."

Clearly Russian officials understand the economic leverage that they potentially have.  In fact, Glazyev seems fully convinced that Russia could cause "a crash for the financial system of the United States"...

"An attempt to announce sanctions would end in a crash for the financial system of the United States, which would cause the end of the domination of the United States in the global financial system."

On that last point Glazyev is perhaps overstating things.

On their own, the Russians could do a considerable amount of damage to the U.S. financial system, but I doubt that they could completely crash it.

However, if much of the rest of the world started following Russia's lead, then things could get very interesting.

Just yesterday, I wrote about how China has chosen to publicly stand in agreement with Russia on the Ukrainian crisis.

If China also decided to abandon the U.S. dollar and start dumping U.S. debt, it would be an absolute nightmare for the U.S. financial system.

And keep in mind that the Chinese were already starting to dump a bit of U.S. debt even before this latest crisis.  In fact, China dumped nearly 50 billion dollars of U.S. debt in December alone.

The only way that the current bubble of debt-fueled false prosperity in the U.S. can continue is if the rest of the world continues to lend us trillions of dollars at ridiculously low interest rates that are way below the real rate of inflation.

If the rest of the world stops behaving in such an irrational manner, interest rates on U.S. government debt would rise dramatically and that would also mean that interest rates on virtually all other loans throughout our financial system would rise dramatically.

And if that happened, it would be a complete and utter nightmare for our economy.

Unfortunately, most Americans have no understanding of these things.  They just assume that we are "the greatest economy in the world" and that nothing is ever going to threaten that.

Well, the truth is that we are rapidly approaching a "turning point", and after this bubble of false prosperity pops things will never be the same in the United States again.

[Warph]

12 Signs That Russia Is Ready To Fight A War Over Crimea

By Michael Snyder, on February 27th, 2014

Russia will never, ever give up Crimea without a fight.  Anyone that thinks otherwise is just being delusional.  The Russian Black Sea fleet's main base at Sevastopol is far too strategically important.  In addition, ethnic Russians make up approximately 60 percent of the population of Crimea, and most of the population is rabidly pro-Russian.  In fact, many prominent Crimean politicians are already calling for reunification with Russia.  So if you have been thinking that Russia is just going to fold up shop and go home now that pro-European protesters have violently seized power in Kiev, you can quit holding your breath.  The truth is that Russia is more than willing to fight a war over Crimea.  And considering the fact that vitally important pipelines that pump natural gas from Russia to the rest of Europe go right through Ukraine, it is not likely that Russia will just willingly hand the rest of Ukraine over to the U.S. and the EU either.  If the U.S. and the EU push too hard in Ukraine, a major regional war may erupt which could ultimately lead to something much larger.

Russia and Ukraine have very deep historical ties.  Most Americans may not think that Ukraine is very important, but the Russians consider Ukraine to be of the utmost strategic importance.

As an American, how would you feel if another nation funded and organized the violent overthrow of the democratically-elected Canadian government and replaced it with a government that was virulently anti-American?

By doing this to Ukraine, the United States and the EU are essentially sticking a pin in Russia's eye.  Needless to say, Russia is extremely angry at this point and they are gearing up for war.

The following are 12 signs that Russia is ready to fight a war over Crimea...


#1 More Russian military vehicles continue to pour into Crimea.  Just check out this video.

#2 Russian military vehicles have been photographed in the main square of Sevastopol.
http://thetruthwins.com/archives/russian-troops-take-up-positions-in-sevastopol-as-ukraine-teeters-on-the-brink-of-civil-war


#3 Russian military jets near the border with Ukraine have been put on combat alert.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/us-ukraine-crisis-crimea-idUSBREA1P23U20140227

#4 Russia has ordered "surprise military exercises" along the Ukrainian border.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/26/world/europe/ukraine-politics/index.html?hpt=wo_c1


#5 In connection with those "exercises", it is being reported that Russia has deployed 150,000 troops along the border with Ukraine.

http://www.wnd.com/2014/02/ukraine-facing-prospect-of-separatism/


#6 Russia already has approximately 26,000 troops stationed at their naval base in Sevastopol.

http://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2009_RP12_kle_ks.pdf


#7 Russian ships carrying additional soldiers have been spotted off the coast of Crimea...
http://www.ibtimes.com/russian-ships-arrive-ukraines-crimean-coast-fears-mount-over-russian-invasion-region-1557639

Russia's large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov has arrived near the Russia Black Sea Fleet's base at Sevastopol, which Russia has leased from Ukraine since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The ship is reported to be carrying as many as 200 soldiers and has joined four additional ships carrying an unknown amount of Special Forces troops. Flot.com also reported over the weekend that personnel from the 45th Airborne Special Forces unit and additional divisions had been airlifted into Anapa, a city on Russia's Black Sea coastline.


#8 Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the following statement to reporters on Wednesday...

"Measures are taken to guarantee the security of our facilities."


#9 An unidentified Russian official has told the Financial Times that Russia is willing to use military force to protect Crimea...
Moscow earlier revealed that it would be ready to go for war over the Crimea region in order to protect the large population and army installations.

"If Ukraine breaks apart, it will trigger a war. They will lose Crimea first [because] we will go in and protect [it], just as we did in Georgia," an unidentified Russian official told the Financial Times.


#10 Officials in Sevastopol have "installed" a Russian citizen as mayor of the city.

#11 Approximately 120 pro-Russian gunmen have seized the Crimean parliament building and have raised the Russian flag.

#12 There are rumors that Russian authorities have offered protection to ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych...
Viktor F. Yanukovych, the ousted president of Ukraine, declared on Thursday that he remained the lawful president of the country and appealed to Russia to "secure my personal safety from the actions of extremists." Russian news agencies reported that he had already arrived in Russia, but officials did not immediately confirm that.

No matter what the "new government" in Kiev says, and no matter how hard the U.S. and the EU push, Russia will never give up Crimea.  The following is what a recent Debka article had to say about the matter...

There is no way that President Vladimir Putin will relinquish Russian control of the Crimean peninsula and its military bases there - or more particularly the big Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol. This military stronghold is the key to Russia's Middle East policy. If it is imperiled, so too are Russia's military posture in Syria and its strategic understandings with Iran.

And you know what?

The people of Crimea do not want Russia to leave either.  In fact, they overwhelmingly want Russia to help defend them against the "new government" in Kiev.
As you read this, militia groups are being formed in Crimea to fight back against the "nationalist invasion" that they are anticipating.  Just check out the following excerpt from a recent Time Magazine article...

Many of the people at the rally in Sevastopol were not just ready to believe. They were convinced of the imminent nationalist invasion. What scared them most were the right-wing political parties and militant groups that have played a role in Ukraine's revolution. "What do you think they're going to do with all those weapons they seized from police in Kiev? They're going to come here and make war," said Sergei Bochenko, who identified himself as the commander of a local militia group in Sevastopol called the Southern Russian Cossack Battalion.

In preparation, he said, his group of several hundred men had armed themselves with assault rifles and begun to train for battle. "There's not a chance in hell we're going to accept the rule of that fascist scum running around in Kiev with swastikas," he said. That may be overstating the case. Nowhere in Ukraine has the uprising involved neo-Nazi groups, and no swastikas have appeared on the revolution's insignia. But every one of the dozen or so people TIME spoke to in Sevastopol was certain that the revolt was run by fascists, most likely on the payroll of the U.S. State Department.
And just remember what happened back in 2008 in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  The Russians have already shown that they are not afraid to militarily intervene in order to protect Russian citizens.

So what would the U.S. and the EU do if a war erupts between Russia and Ukraine?

Would they risk a direct military confrontation with Russia in order to help Ukraine?

[Warph]

Terrific Video's On Russian Occupation Of Ukraine From Two Military Bases

These great video's are shot by VICE and features reporter Simon Ostrovsky.

The first dispatch is from the military base at Privolnoye which was surrounded by Russians, but the Ukranians refused to let them in.

The second is even better.  Russians actually get into a Ukranian naval base and are walking around with the Ukrainians.  Simon vaults the wall and gets into the base with the assistance of some Ukranians.

[Warph]

Texas Takes Stand: 9 out of 10 Voters Want Obamacare Repealed and Welfare Recipients Drug Tested

http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/03/texas-takes-stand-9-10-voters-want-obamacare-repealed-welfare-recipients-drug-tested/


Just because one part of the country has seemingly lost its mind and is willing to give up their freedom for the promise of more security doesn't mean everyone is on board.

In Texas, where voters took to the polls Tuesday night, a completely different set of ideas is at play. And if nationwide sentiment is any indication, other conservative and libertarian leaning states will soon follow.

Though only about half of the votes have been tallied so far, the people of Texas have spoken. It's a roar, in fact. Voters are standing in unison and have overwhelmingly approved a variety of propositions that may well send shivers down the spines of supporters of things like universal health care, rampant welfare dependency, special privileges and gun rights.

The following results speak for themselves.

First on the chopping block is the Patient Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. Apparently, 93% of Texans don't take well to having the federal government mandate what they should or shouldn't buy with the penalty for non-compliance being IRS harassment and prison time:

The Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare", should be repealed.

This one might be a little scary for those folks who spend their lives on their couches smoking weed or mainlining heroin while hard working Americans pay for their dope:

Texas recipients of taxpayer-funded public assistance should be subject to random drug testing as a condition of receiving benefits.

You'll never see the U.S. Congress vote for this, because they're way too special:

All elected officials and their staff should be subject to the same laws, rules, regulations, and ordinances as their constituents.

If you're an anti-gunner this is where you should stop reading:

Texas should support Second Amendment liberties by expanding locations where concealed handgun license-holders may legally carry.

It's a sad state of affairs when the public has to actually vote on their right to pray in public places. Isn't that covered by the First Amendment? Just in case it isn't Texas will make sure you can worship and pray as you see fit:

Texans should be free to express their religious beliefs, including prayer, in public places.

Silly Texans. Didn't anyone tell you that it's government, not businesses, that creates jobs and grows the economy?

Texas should abolish the state franchise tax, also known as the margins tax, to encourage business growth.

Common sense laws and regulations. What a novel concept.

There's a reason why Americans all over the country are flocking to Texas in the hopes of finding the American Dream that has been lost in so many other parts of the Union.

[Warph]

State Of Georgia House Votes to Nullify Obamacare

http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/03/georgia-house-votes-nullify-obamacare/

Late Monday evening, the Georgia State House of Representatives passed HB707, which bans the state participating in significant portions of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. The vote was 115-59.

Representative Jason Spencer introduced HB707, The Georgia Health Care Freedom and ACA Noncompliance Act. Spencer also had five co-sponsors to the bill.

According to Tenth Amendment Center executive director Michael Boldin, "While Georgia can't fully stop Obamacare on its own, it can serve as a pretty major roadblock to implementation," he said. "And as more states get on board with this strategy, it will pull the rug out from under it. Bills like this will end Obamacare from the bottom up."


HB707 specifically provides the following bans:

1.Prohibits any state agencies, departments or political subdivisions from using resources or spending funds to advocate for the expansion of Medicaid. This provision works hand-in-hand with HB990 to make it more difficult to expand Medicaid. HB990 would require legislative approval for expansion of the program, barring the governor from doing it by executive order.

2.Prohibits the state of Georgia from running an insurance exchange.

3.Refuses and federal grant money for the purpose of creating or running a state insurance exchange.

4.Ends the University of Georgia Health Navigator Program.

5.Prohibits the Commissioner of Insurance from investigating or enforcing any alleged violation of federal health insurance requirements mandated by Obamacare.


Judge Andrew Napolitano agrees. Regarding South Carolina's push to remove Obamacare from being implemented in the Palmetto state, Napolitano said, "If Enough States do this, It will Gut Obamacare."

The Tenth Amendment center also points out:

The provision prohibiting the Georgia insurance commissioner from investigating or enforcing violations of federally mandated health insurance requirements will prove particularly problematic for the feds. Insurance commissioners serve as the enforcement arm for insurance regulation in the states. The federal government has no enforcement arm. It assumed the state insurance commissioners would enforce all of the provisions of the ACA. So, when people have issues with their mandated coverage, they will have to call the feds. At this point, it remains unclear who they will even call. Issues the Georgia insurance commissioner will not address include prohibiting a denial of insurance for preexisting conditions, requiring dependent coverage for children up to age 26, and proscribing lifetime or yearly dollar limits on coverage of essential health benefits.Rep. Spencer said, "Disputes over these mandates arise under federal, not state law. The federal Department of Health and Human Services can be expected to seek to commandeer the machinery of Georgia's commissioner of insurance to enforce them or to investigate alleged violations because at present there is no federal health insurance agency and Congress is not likely to create one given the substantial opposition to Obamacare. Under HB707, the feds won't be able to do that. They'll have to figure out how to do it themselves."

The legislation rests on a little known ruling by the Supreme Court referred to as the anti-commandeering doctrine.

Georgia is one of eleven states engaged in some form of nullification of Obamacare.

As I have pointed out before, nullification is a good thing, but it requires more, should the federal government seek to show a use of force and make an example of one state. That would require interposition, or the state stepping in and making it a crime to enforce federal laws that are deemed unconstitutional by the state. For nullification with teeth, I suggest taking a look at Albany, New York's nullification of NDAA.

The bill will now move to the Senate.

[Warph]

RT Anchor Quits On Air Over Putin "Whitewashing" Events In Ukraine

(Aha... Mutiny on the RT!  This is second RT person who 'hit the bricks' and who spoke out against RT and Putin.  After this, RT probably isn't going to let any program go out live any more.)

Via NY Post
A Russia Today anchor quit live on air Wednesday, declaring she cannot work for a station that "whitewashes the actions of Vladimir Putin."

Liz Wahl, who works in the network's Washington DC bureau, said her grandparents came to the United States to escape Soviet oppression.

"And that is why personally I cannot be part of a station funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the action of Putin," she said, reading from a statement.

"I'm proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth. And that is why after this newscast I'm resigning."

Earlier, Ms. Wahl had tweeted: "Just spoke to grandparents who came to US as refugees escaping Soviets during Hungarian revolution. Amazing to hear amid new Cold War fears."

[Warph]

Report: Marine to become third to receive Medal of Honor from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan... William Kyle Carpenter, a marine veteran who was severely injured in Afghanistan in 2010 will receive the Medal of Honor Award

Marine Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter, his face missing an eye and crisscrossed with deep scars, stood on the floor of the S.C. Senate on Wednesday to receive the thanks of his state. Carpenter, 21, of Gilbert lost the eye, most of his teeth and use of his right arm from a grenade blast Nov. 21 near Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Friends and family say he threw himself in front of the grenade to protect his best friend in Afghanistan, Cpl. Nick Eufrazio. Carpenter just remembers seeing the grenade. Then a white flash. Then a fellow Marine telling him he would be fine.

Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, flanked by his parents, Robert and Robin Carpenter of Gilbert, recounts his experience of being injured in a combat zone in Afghanistan during a press conference Wednesday at the statehouse.
Then, four weeks later, he woke up in a hospital in Germany. "The second I woke up, I saw my family by my bedside," he said. The Senate resolution noted Carpenter "suffered catastrophic wounds in the cause of freedom" and "has shown himself worthy of the name Marine." Carpenter shook almost every senator's hand — with his left hand — after the reading.

Read more at:
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2014/03/06/william-kyle-carpenter-a-marine-veteran-who-was-severely-injured-in-afghanistan-in-2010-will-receive-the-medal-of-honor-award/#more-78088

[Warph]

***Dawn, March 6, 1836, Siege of the Alamo – Day 13***

Posted on March 6, 2014
By Elvis Chupacabra

***The Death of Travis***

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.
Near the old chapel, there was a tumult as isolated survivors trying to escape across the scrub were mercilessly pounced upon by the Mexican cavalry and savagely killed. Inside the compound, the soldatos, their blood lust and anger fed by the sight of men who'd killed so many of their compadres, pounced upon the unarmed wounded and able. Men trying to surrender were cut down. No quarter was shown.

As the last of the defenders were killed in the approaches to the chapel and inside the old chapel itself, it was the bayonet that did the work. With it, the enraged soldatos could work up close and savor the agony and torment of the men who, in the pre-dawn darkness, had poured a deadly cannonade and withering musket fire into their close-packed ranks. Many of the Texian defenders were tossed bodily upon the bayonets of several soldiers.

***The Final Assault Plan***

Even when all the defenders were dead, the soldatos' rage continued unabated as the Texian bodies were desecrated, and every hiding space was checked for anyone left alive. The young son of one of the non-combatants hiding in the sacristy was shot when he stood up to place a blanket around his shoulders. Mexican officers quickly placed all non-combatants under their personal protection.

Soon, the officers and non-coms were called to take charge, but like the British regulars at Badajoz, they were immune to orders, exhortations or threats, even when His Excellency, General Santa Anna showed up to inspect his handiwork. Finally, buglers were summoned and after several calls of Retreat and Assembly, the uniformed mob began to respond. Now, only the awful cries of the Mexican wounded and dying could be heard. All the Texians fighters were dead. The Texian non-combatants – women, children and Negro slaves – who'd been hiding in the sacristy, were now prisoners of the Mexican Army.

While General Santa Anna basked in his glorious victory, the poor soldatos and Zapadores (sappers), who'd paid the butcher's bill, sat dazed in the glorious sunshine of the day they'd prayed they would live to see. Some of them clutched Rosaries, and tears of both grief and thanksgiving swept away the black powder residue from many faces. Their adrenalin was spent, their mettle in battle tested. Others were too numb to do anything except obey as their officers and non-coms, now in control, sought to turn the mob back into an army.

As that strange, post-battle gloom and quiet settled over the old mission compound, only the cries of the Mexican wounded and dying could be heard. Like all wounded, they were crying for their mothers, praying, cursing and begging for water. Always water. The first of the soldaderas – the solders' "wives" – appeared, seeking their men. Their keening wails, agonized cries and shouts of relief spoke plaintively of whether their soldatos were dead, wounded or alive.

Flames consumed the long buildings across the side of the old mission compound – the so-called north barrack and Long Barracks – which had been taken only by room-to-room fighting and at a terrible cost. The rooms of the north barrack and the Long Barracks had been well prepared well in advance in the event the Mexicans breached the walls and gained entry. The Texians made the rooms formidable redoubts by trenching the floors and barricading the entrances with raw cowhides packed with earth. For a short time, the Texians had held out in these fortified rooms, exacting more casualties from the attackers.

As the Texians were swept off the crumbling old walls by the third Mexican assault of the pre-dawn attack, they neglected to spike their cannons, one of them a fine 18-pounder. These cannons were used by the Mexicans, used to great effect to assault the fortified barrack rooms.

The Mexicans turned the abandoned Texian cannons on the barricaded defenders. With cannon blast followed by a musket volley, the Mexican soldiers stormed the rooms. With sword, bayonet, knife, and fist the adversaries clashed. The trapped Texian defenders used every instrument at their disposal and fought like men who, knowing their death is certain, were resolved to exact the greatest toll possible in Mexican lives. In the darkened, smoke-filled rooms, it was hard to tell friend from foe, and historians have speculated that many Mexicans were undoubtedly killed and maimed by their own men.

Room by room, the Mexicans systematically took the north barrack and the Long Barracks. The Texian dead were invisible amongst the heaps of dead and wounded Mexicans. As the sun rose, the light began to pick out the soot-muted uniform colors of the various Mexican assault companies, mixed and entwined in death as they were in the confusing melee that swept over the Alamo compound.

***The Alamo Defenders Ashes***

The last resistance was in the chapel. Again, the Mexicans used captured cannon to blast apart the defenses of the entrance. James Bonham, Almaron Dickinson and Gregorio Esparza fired one last blast from their cannon into the onrushing attackers, then grabbed muskets but finally died under a fusillade of musketry or on the point of a Mexican bayonet.

The body of William Travis lay somewhere around the north wall, where he was killed firing his shotgun into the massed troops below early in the final assault. James Bowie died on his sickbed, and depending on which legend you believe, he either died too ill to raise his head or propped on a pillow with a brace of pistols and his famous knife.

One of Santa Anna's officers records that the soldatos overwhelmed and captured a small group of defenders. His account states that David Crockett was among them. These prisoners were brought before Santa Anna and noting their valor in battle, General Castrillon asked for mercy on their behalf. Instead, Santa Anna answered with a "gesture of indignation" and ordered they be immediately executed. When grimy and exhausted officers who'd participated in the battle hesitated, His Excellency gestured to a group of nearby officers who'd taken no part in the assault. They immediately fell upon the helpless Texians with their swords. A Mexican officer wrote admiringly in his journal that: "Though tortured before they were killed, these unfortunates died without complaining and without humiliating themselves before their torturers."

On Santa Anna's orders, the Alcalde of San Antonio de Bexar, Francisco Ruiz, organized citizens to gather to gather firewood. The dead Texians and wood were stacked in alternating layers, forming three pyres, and at 5:00PM, these pyres were set ablaze.

That same dry, north wind, blowing from the heart of the Commancheria, fanned high the flames of those pyres, and embers floated into the darkening gloom. The fires burned, hot and bright, long into the next day, turning the mortal remains of the Alamo defenders into ashes. But from these pyres rose a flame of a different type, so powerful and hot as to ignite a hatred, a yearning for vengeance that would drive a rabble army beyond its endurance to a marshy place on the lower San Jacinto River. It was from this crucible, poured from the furnaces of stout and resolute hearts, that a new Republic was forged. Forged in the refiner's fire of everlasting victory!

The Republic of Texas.

Victory or Death!

************************************************

Related Articles:

The Alamo Survivors  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Texan_survivors_of_the_Battle_of_the_Alamo

The Alamo As A Pyrrhic Victory: The Mexican Experience In The Battle Of The Alamo http://www.lurj.org/article.php/vol1n2/alamo.xml

The Alamo Visitors' Site (very good)  http://www.thealamo.org/visitors/overview.php

***Cenotaph Of The Alamo Defenders***