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Remember the Alamo? Phil Collins sure does. The British 1980s music icon was at the 1836 Battle of the Alamo and Texas Revolutionary shrine in downtown San Antonio on Thursday, announcing the donation of his collection of related artifacts — one so vast it's considered the world's largest such private collection. Collins, the 63-year-old Genesis singer-drummer, joked he'd spent "all the money that I made from music" on 200-plus pieces related to the battle where 1,500 Mexican troops laid siege to 200 Texans. He said he wanted to ensure the collection was better cared-for in the future. "Some people would...

The Texas General Land Office manages the downtown San Antonio shrine to Texas independence, and Collins is said to have the world's largest private collection of Texas Revolution artifacts, Patterson said. The General Land Office is developing plans for an Alamo visitors' center to provide more space to exhibit artifacts about the fort and the 1836 battle that made it famous. Collins has said he owns "hundreds" of cannonballs, documents and other artifacts from the Alamo, with his most prized item being a receipt signed by Alamo commander William Barret Travis for 32 head of cattle used to feed the...

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro is about to be tapped by President Barrack Obama to be the next Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This is the second time Obama will have asked Castro to serve in his administration. The move for Castro comes at a time where a big game of musical chairs is going on in the Obama Cabinet. Castro will be asked to replace HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, who is expected to move to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

In four days of desperate fighting, from 29 February to 3 March 2000, a large force of Chechen fighters wiped out a Russian paratroop company in the harsh defiles and ridges of the Argun Gorge in the mountains of southern Chechnya. Although the battle was a catastrophic tactical defeat for the Russian airborne force, the company's stubborn defense to the last man and the concentration of Russian relief forces inflicted a strategic setback on the Chechens. The Russians stumbled into this catastrophe through poor unit leadership, but Russian blood and valor transformed it into victory. Hatred to the Bone In...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmr0Afr4f8

The Battle Of The Alamo took place on March 6, 1836, following a siege which began on February 23rd. In the battle, which lasted less than an hour, 189 Texas defenders inflicted more than 600 casualties (dead and wounded) on General Santa Anna's army before finally being overrun and eventually killed. "Remember the Alamo" was the battle cry as Texas avenged the defeat later in the year and eventually gained their independence. Today we honor the memories of the brave men who defended the Alamo and inspired a nation.

Born on this date in 1793, Sam Houston was governor of Tennessee, president of the Republic of Texas twice, and later senator and governor of the state of Texas, and a leader in the war of independence between Texas and Mexico. Today we raise the flag of Texas in his honor.

Texas Delegates declared Texas Independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836 to become an independent republic. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEXAS. Celebrations in Austin, San Antonio, Washington on the Brazos and other locations this weekend.

On February 23, 1836, the siege and battle at the Alamo began, as 189 men defended the mission from the 1800-strong Mexican Army during the Texas Revolution. The small Texas force, including Jim Bowie, William Travis and Davy Crockett, would hold against the Mexican Army for 13 days and eventually cause as many as 600 Mexican soldiers to be killed or wounded in the battle before falling. The defense of the Alamo would become a rallying cry for Texas, leading to the Mexican Army defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21 and ending the Revolution with Texas...

Waiting for the axe to fall, the soldiers discuss the hereafter. Jocko: I say this :I BELIEVE ! I can never find a way to argue down you that don’t believe, but I believe in the Lord God Almighty,all knowingand all forgiving. [Music.] And I believethat Good shall be triumphant in the endand that evil shall be vanquished. I believein a hereafter. Bob: Me, too. I figure a man’s got to believe in those things, does he want to believe in the good things about man — ?about his very own self — ? [Green Leaves…] the real good...

SAN ANTONIO — U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro is seeking support of an appropriation by mid-January to resume payment of dues to a United Nations agency, in order to protect a World Heritage Site nomination for San Antonio's five Spanish colonial missions. In a letter last week to leaders of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Castro said he fears that nonpayment of dues since 2011 to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, could harm the nomination of the missions and other proposed U.S. sites. The United States lost its vote last month on the 21-member World...

In a possible development that would have Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Travis rolling in their graves, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is considering designating the Alamo a World Heritage Site. Such a designation brings along a myriad of restrictions, and although proponents of the designation, such as San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, insist that the State of Texas would still have authority over the site, many serious concerns of the people of Texas are not being addressed. For one thing, such a designation establishes a "buffer zone" of some 4,500 acres around the site,...

Recently, alarms sounded when Infowars reported that the United Nations was going to take over the Alamo. Infowars also stated that the UN Flag could fly over the Alamo once it fell under UN control. We decided to investigate this, since the Alamo is the most historically significant symbol in Texas. We discovered Missions of San Antonio as the primary advocate of this movement. According to the Missions of San Antonio Facebook page, their email contact is a National Park Service email address, saan_worldheritage@nps.gov. We called Missions of San Antonio and they did confirm that they are, in fact, staffed...

“There is abroad in our land the growing thought that America is now in fact two countries sharing a common border and (mostly) a common language but divided along the answer to this question,” citizen journalist Mike Vanderboegh told approximately 600 activist gun owners, many carrying long arms, who gathered at The Alamo this past Saturday. “Does the government serve the people or do the people serve the government?” “This is not a question [that] can be finessed, compromised or negotiated,” Vanderboegh explained. “It is either the answer of individual liberty or that of the collectivist Borg … For our...

**SNIP** Organizers had also hoped that seeing a large peaceful gathering of armed citizens in the downtown of the country's seventh largest city would be a step toward making people comfortable with the sight. There were people of all ages in the crowd, including young children. Some waved flags that read "Come and Take It," others dressed in period costumes, but most looked like anyone else one might encounter on the street, they just happened to be carrying rifles. Men strolling through the streets with rifles isn't an image to which Hilary Rand thinks people should have to grow accustomed....

The Web cam at the link shows the open carry event going on now. There is a pretty good crowd, by my browser is only showing an image about every half a second, I would say. Here is the link: Alamo Open Carry Live Web Cam Link I can hear some noise in the background, but I cannot make out the words. Lots of Gadsten flags and a "Come and Take It" Gonzales flag. The crowd looks well over a thousand to me. It extends beyond the frame of the camera. Dean Weingarten Link to Gun Watch

At least 1,500 demonstrators with rifles and other firearms are expected to gather Saturday at the Alamo, in the face of forces they feel are at work to undermine their right to bear arms. “There's never been an event like this before at the Alamo,” said Murdoch Pizgatti, an event coordinator who lives in the Dallas area and is co-founder of the gun-rights website dontcomply.com. The rally is set to open at 10 a.m. with remarks by three political candidates and several gun-rights advocates. Demonstrators, many carrying rifles, shotguns or 19th-century pistols, will then walk a few blocks at about...

The San Antonio City Council is doing some housecleaning to combine all of its anti-discrimination rules and ordinances into one. The consolidated ordinance states a desire to adopt a “comprehensive and expanded non-discrimination policy with revisions to outdated terminology.” According to Pastor Charles Flowers of Faith Outreach International, the city leaders want to add two categories to the policy: sexual orientation and gender identity. - See more at: http://onenewsnow.com/culture/2013/07/23/%E2%80%98unprecedented%E2%80%99-language-targets-those-with-traditional-values#.Ue9HYFMmTOV

When it left the Alamo in the dark of night 177 years ago, William Barret Travis' "Victory or Death" letter had to be slipped past the Mexican army before courier Albert Martin could deliver the besieged commander's stirring call for help that never came.

On February 23, 1836, the arrival of General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army outside San Antonio nearly caught them by surprise. Undaunted, the Texians and Tejanos prepared to defend the Alamo together. The defenders held out for 13 days against Santa Anna's army. William B. Travis, the commander of the Alamo sent forth couriers carrying pleas for help to communities in Texas. On the eighth day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales arrived, bringing the number of defenders to nearly two hundred. Legend holds that with the possibility of additional help fading, Colonel Travis drew...