Previously, I had declared my feelings of affection to a female friend of mine (let's just call her Sarah because her name is Sarah). The feelings were not reciprocated, but she let me down in a weird way, she spoke about how she doesn't know how she feels, but she's not looking for a relationship at the moment. She embraces the asexuality meme which is partially how we ended up being friends.

More recently, I decided to give it another shot but to be more tactful this time. I told her I don't think I'm asexual anymore, and that I want to be in a relationship. Once again, she reiterated that she doesn't know how she feels and that a relationship isn't what she wants. Nevertheless, as always, she was nice about it and continues to actively pursue my friendship and constantly tells me she loves me.

At first, this confused me. However, I think I have some of it figured out. I have learned a bit about women and human relationships in general from this experience, and I'd like to share some of the reasons why it's almost certainly a bad idea to pursue your female friends. Now, of course there will be exceptions. Sometimes your female friend genuinely does like you and you'll have a romcom moment. My point is that that's probably not the case, and while you may view the friendship with rose-tinted glasses, she sees things totally differently.

1. They're used to it

Since they started developing breasts, women have been the center of sexual attention. It comes from all angles including older men, teachers, family members, and even other women. At some point, they get used to it and it becomes background noise. "Yes, he's ogling my breasts but I need to finish scanning my groceries".

The sexual attention also comes from male friends. You're NOT the first male friend to express romantic emotions, and you won't be the last. She's turned all of them down, what makes you think things will be different with you? She's used to it, she probably saw it coming, and she doesn't want it. If she did, you wouldn't have to ask because she'd make it obvious to you that she's romantically interested.

Now, there is the possibility of misreading signals, which brings us to the next point.

2. Women genuinely have platonic feelings

This is not to say that men are incapable of having platonic relationships. Nay, that is not my point. My argument is that it is much harder for men to do so. People shit on Steve Harvey but he was 100% correct when he said the following:

Things aren't the same with women. They can genuinely love you deeply without any sexual or romantic feelings. Why is this? Women don't have to deal with the famine mentality. For many men, s*x and love are scarce resources, so when it even vaguely seems like there's an opportunity for it, the feelings come on strong. Hence the cliche of "the cashier smiled at me now I want to marry her". (Most) women aren't leading you on intentionally when they allow intimacy into a friendship. That's the way friendships should be. But it doesn't mean she wants anything sexual or romantic.

3. You're in love because you're lonely

This is probably the crux of the issue. When you're starving, even a mud pie looks delicious. As men, you will face long stretches of loneliness and never being told you're beautiful, attractive, or worthy of anything. Inasmuch as catcalling and sexual objectification should be chastised, it at least serves as some kind of validation of one's attractiveness.

A friendship with a woman can bring about those feelings of validation within men and if you're not ready for it, it's going to develop into obsessive love. If you had higher self-esteem, more experience with women, or a source of love, your friendships with women would be completely normal and platonic. It's when these elements are missing that any smile, hug, or eye-gaze turns into fantasies of marriage.

When she inevitably turns you down, what are you left with? Nothing yet again. Nobody to say they love you or assure you that you are wanted in this world.

Things get more complicated if you're an introvert. Most relationships seem useless unless you're benefitting considerably. In your mind the thinking is "I'd only put this much effort into a relationship if I had romantic feelings". Whereas if the woman is an extrovert, it isn't costing her much mental energy to maintain the relationship. I hope that make sense.

4. She knows already

Don't bother. She already knows you like her. She accepts that as part of the cost of the friendship. That's not a bad thing. It means there's something good about you that she wants in her life even if its not of the romantic nature. You should be flattered by this even if it is heartbreaking at times.

Some women are a bit mean with this. They essentially get everything they would get from a boyfriend (someone to talk to, someone to take care of them) without the need to commit. But that's not always the case. In my case, Sarah goes out her way to be nice to me and to spend time with me. She's not using me for anything - a genuine, platonic friendship is all she wants. It's hard for my brain to wrap my head around it. I thought it was obvious that she felt something. Maybe I had to take the lead and break the ice? Nah, I'm convinced she knew ages ago I liked her but loved me enough to still be my friend despite not sharing romantic feelings.

5. You may lose everything

Life is about taking risks so I don't want to stress this point too much. However, if she doesn't already know and you spring it up on her, she may never trust you again and you will lose all the intimacy of your friendship. She will remain guarded around you, and perhaps even think of you as a slimy coomer who tried to use friendship to get into her pants. Shit can get brutal.

I've been lucky to have an understanding friends who has continued to be nice to me. I know that this isn't the case for everyone, and it also depends on how you respond to the rejection.

CONCLUSION

Heartbreak is one of the worst feelings to experience. It's like a knife constantly twisting in your chest. But it's part of life for most of us. A lucky few will find high-school sweethearts and never have to play the dating game, but for most of us, we're going to get rekt a couple times before we find the right one (if we ever do). Please, for the love of god, don't go looking for a girlfriend from your female friends. There's a difference between a girl friend and a girlfriend.

I'm probably preaching to the choir, and this may be obvious to most people here. But I know there are some autists who may need to read this to spare themselves the heartache I went through. The funny part is that if you're in love, nothing I write is going to change anything. You'll think your case is different. You'll try your luck. And you'll get rekt. But don't let me stop you. Some mistakes are meant to be made.

I know the asexuality meme isn't true. One day, she'll find a guy she likes (not me) and all that asexuality shit will disappear. And when it happens it will hurt like heck. However, I'm prepared, and I'll still be her friend. I'm wiser now thanks to the mistakes I've made. Thanks for reading.

I've been put on lithium for Bipolar Disorder. Apparently it's potentially toxic so I have to take blood samples frequently. My psychiatrist wants me to be hospitalized again but I refused because I don't want to and I don't think I need to. I just admitted I have suicidal ideation but no plans. So long as I don't go manic, I'll still be able to refuse. I'm getting good sleep lately so I don't think a manic episode is coming anytime soon. Shit only gets bad when I only get an hour of sleep and feel fine afterwards. Let's talk a bit about South African history.

Following the end of apartheid in 1994, there were fears that revenge was going to be the norm. Several pieces of writing can be found on this "Swaart gevaar" or "black danger" that would come with democracy. Some whites fled, but many decided to stay and embrace the multicultural society. To help heal the wounds of apartheid, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was held. The aim was to air out all the crimes of humanity that occurred. Those who gave honest testimony would be given amnesty while those who were deemed to be politically motivated would face justice. It was also a platform for victims to tell their stories.

Instead of retributive justice, the country turned to restorative justice, which is an approach to justice that personalizes the crime by having the victims and the offenders mediate a restitutive agreement to the satisfaction of each. Victims take an active role in the process. Meanwhile, offenders take meaningful responsibility for their actions, taking the opportunity to right their wrongs and redeem themselves, in their own eyes and in the eyes of the community. This approach is based on a theory of justice that considers crime and wrongdoing to be an offense against an individual or community, rather than the State.

Do you agree with restorative justice, or do you think retribution is superior? Mull over this as we delve into the intricacies of the TRC.

Reasons for the TRC

It shouldn't need to be stated, but several atrocities occurred during apartheid. This is without considering the several freedom fighters who went "missing". Some of the most tragic incidents are:

• In 1960, the Sharpeville Massacre occurred, an event that garnered international attention and outrage. When protestors convened outside a police station to protest pass laws, police opened fire and killed 69 people

• Another notable protest occurred on the 16th of June 1976 when students in Soweto marched to Orlando West Junior Secondary School. Teargas and bullets were released, resulting in fatalities of children. Most famously, Hector Peterson was one of the victims.

Subsequent waves of protests meant that by the end of the year, the government issued an official (although likely underestimated) casualty figure of 575 dead. This was the heyday of apartheid, but it led to complete condemnation from the international community and sanctions were put in place. Eventually, when F.W. de Klerk came into power, apartheid laws were slowly repealed. In 1994, the first democratic election was held and the ANC was voted into power, allowing Nelson Mandela to become president just four years after serving a 27-year prison sentence.

South Africa experiences hope

Americans will be familiar with the metaphor of the melting pot. In South Africa, we have the rainbow nation. When democracy was won, a wave of optimism swept the nation. Along with this came the idea of the prosperous, racially integrated ‘rainbow nation'. The idea became so popular that the rainbow became a shorthand for a nation seeking reconciliation and unity after decades of racial and political tensions.

The TRC consisted of three committees: Human Rights Violations, Amnesty, and Reparation and Rehabilitation. For the first time, the TRC process allowed for the voicing of injustices rendered audible in the public domain, and harrowingly revealed the pain, grief, and trauma that had previously been borne in silence and anonymity by victims and their families. The TRC was also aimed at a restoration of humanity, and comprised a drama of national proportions.

Significantly, however, four kinds of narrative truth were recognised by the TRC:

• factual – objective, empirical, impartial, legal, forensic

• social or dialogue – the kinds established by social interaction, discussion and debate

• subjective – personal memories and experiences

• reconciliatory – stories about healing that were future-oriented.

The first TRC hearing was held on 15 April 1996 in East London. When Fort Calata's widow, Nomonde, let out a piercing wail on remembering her husband's murder, the entire East London hall, led by Bishop Desmond Tutu, stood up and began singing Senzenima – what have we done? – a chorus to her agony, those present taking on her trauma collectively. (Many who testified to apartheid atrocities were having to ‘speak the unspeakable', and were reduced to conveying their pain in a realm outside of language.) Fort Calata was one of the Cradock Four, a group which included Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlawuli, who were murdered by security operatives in the Eastern Cape in June 1985.

Over 50 public hearings were held over 1888 days, more than 20000 reports/statements on 38000 incidents involving 14000 deaths were taken from victims/survivors (although only about 2000 were heard in the public hearings themselves, i.e. 10%), and 7116 applications were made for amnesty (of which 1167 were granted, i.e.16%). Amnesty could only be applied for in respect of acts committed with the complicity, if not proven approval, of apartheid leaders (e.g. the military, government and security forces) in pursuit of alleged enemies of the state. The Amnesty Committee concluded its work on amnesty applications by perpetrators in May 2001 (3 years after the five-volume TRC report was released in October 1988), but work continues to prosecute those not granted amnesty. Some ex-members of the Security Police and Bureau of Civil Cooperation have been serving prison sentences for murder, illegal arms possession and fraud e.g. Eugene de Kock, the Vlakplaas Commander (known as “Prime Evil” in the media), Dirk Coetzee and Craig Williamson.

Post TRC - Was forgiveness worth it?

Jacob Dlamini's text Native Nostalgia which discusses the possibility of the existence of a nostalgia for a pre-democracy past. In the introduction, Dlamini provides statements from South Africans who reveal a dissatisfaction with post-1994 society and a longing for the past. anxieties surrounding life in the new South Africa have resulted in some portions of the population believing that their survival was more secure during apartheid. Thus, while the arrival of democracy may have brought some hope to South Africa, views of the country's socio-political state after 1994 have led to scepticism regarding the possibility for post-Apartheid prosperity.

These views are exemplified in the case of South African Brandon Huntley who applied for refugee status in Canada, claiming that the government failed to protect him from racially motivated attacks. His lawyer, South African Russell Kaplan, claims that one of Huntley's intentions was to inform the world “what a sickly place South Africa is”.

The biggest setback is the lack of change that followed the TRC. The thing about rainbows is that the colors are separate, which is the case in South Africa. Arial photos taken by Johnny Miller reveal that economic divisions created by Apartheid still stratify the Western Cape. Using a drone, he captures how the segregation is not created by any natural phenomena but instead is caused by the manmade divisions of Apartheid. The photo below is of Lwandle/Nomzamo, a township that was designated for black people by the Group Areas Act of 1950. It was originally built as a low-cost place for workers to live.

According to a 2011 census, Nomzamo still has a black population of over 90%, revealing that demographics have not changed since 1994 and society is still segregated racially. These racial segregations trace economic lines.

Another photograph taken by Miller features Manenberg. This township was created in 1966 for coloured people after District Six and other areas were declared whites-only regions.

Like Nomzamo, Manenberg mostly retains its pre-democracy demographics thus over 80% of its residents are coloured. Furthermore, housing continues to be a problem and the widespread poverty breeds crimes and gangs.

Questions to ask yourself

• Was the TRC a good idea?

• Was justice served?

• Would South Africa be better off with a tribunal?

• Would South Africa be better off with white genocide following the end of apartheid?

• Did the TRC do anything good or was it just a show to brush away a bloody past?

To end off, I'd like to post an interview with a jail warden who once jailed political prisoners but now works as a tour guide at Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held. Do you think he received justice? Hmmmmm...

Archaeopteryxes are about the size of a blackbird and are flying creatures that are considered the evolutionary ancestor of modern birds. They have two wide wings they use to fly and glide. However, unlike modern birds, archaeopteryxes have bony tails. They have beaks with sharp teeth which they use to tear flesh, for they are carnivorous. Prey is killed using their hyperextended second toes that hold a large claw.

We're not going to be talking about this extinct species. Instead, I'll be talking about three public freakouts. Your job is to decide if it is justified or not.

Who will clean your pottys?

This is a favorite of mine. It takes place om The View during a fierce debate surrounding Trump's anti-immigrant stance. In a bid to prove Trump's racism, kelly osborne makes a racist statement herself. She asks "if you kick every latinx out of this country, then who will be cleaning your potty Donald Trump?!" Her comment immediately elicits gasps and the camera hilariously pans to one of the latinx hosts who admonishes her.

Do you think she was being racist, or was she making a good point?

father spanks children for stealing

In this video we see a father whip the shit out of his kids for stealing. This is an ineffective form of parenting. As wikipedia tells us:

>Numerous studies have found increased risk of impaired child development from the use of corporal punishment. Corporal punishment by parents has been linked to increased aggression, mental health problems, impaired cognitive development, and drug and alcohol abuse.

It looks really sore and I'm sure those kids will never forget it. Imagine the damage that's been done between parent and child when violence is introduced.

Do you think the father did the right thing?

Look who's leaving

There's some sort of awards ceremony going on at a high school. It's clearly been going on for too long and some parents are leaving. The principle says "look who's leaving, all the black people!". This causes an uproar which then does cause all the black people to leave. In a subsequent interview, the principle blamed the ordeal on Satan.

Do you think she was making a fair observation, or was she being racist?

Conclusion

I think I got rejected by the same person twice. I'll write a long-winded post about it soon. Oh well, I think I need to learn to get over it. She doesn't have feelings for me, and that's the deal. Tune in next time when we discuss the DC Snipers.

In case you hate the shitty AI voice here's the summary

• In 2018 when he was 12 he discovered reddit. He eventually finds out that there's a karma leaderboard.

• By 2019 he has 3,000 karma. He cringes now looking back at his comments.

• His "breakthrough" happened in March 2019 when a meme he posted got upvoted. It was even reviewed in one of Pewdiepies videos.

• He makes it into /r/EternityClub realizes they're cringe and leaves.

• Still he wants to make it into /r/CenturyClub. Gets banned for 3 days for telling a furry to kill himself Continues grinding and finally gets 100k and makes it into /r/CenturyClub. Realizes they're cringe 30+ year old Americans obsessed with politics and leaves.

• In 2020 he turns his focus to minecraft. Gets bored with that and goes back to reddit.

• He had much more time now because of the pandemic which kept him at home for almost 2 years.

• Now he wanted 1 million karma. He messages Gallowboob for advice. Now he is locked in.

• It took almost a year to reach 100k karma. Another 6 months to 200k. But now it only took 6 days to get to 300k.

• He got every reddit award now. Some guy gave $175 worth of awards

• In September 2020 he reaches 1 million points after only 47 days of grinding. It was quite fast.

• Arnold Schwarzenegger even replied to one of his posts, but he didn't really know who Arnold was

• Now the American election is coming up. He's an Italian kid so he knows nothing about it, but he realizes reddit hates Trump so he starts posting anti Trump memes. They do well. He learns about more American politicians and which ones reddit hates so he can get more karma

• By the end of 2020 he was over 2 million karma.

• He joined a groomercord some Indian guy made called Redditors United where top karma accounts could share advice. He considered them idols, but later realized they were mostly "16 year old Indians with way too much free time. Just like me."

• He still wanted to grind to 10 million karma. He now posted 100 times per day at regular intervals.

• Time was not a problem since he had online school and could keep Google meet open while posting to reddit.

• He made a google spreadsheet to track his progress and aimed for 30k points a day or 1 million a month.

• By his 14th birthday he reached 5 million. He basically just spammed posts now and at one point was averaging 90k points per day. By May 2021 he reached 10 million karma after "5 months of grinding with no breaks."

• But this was starting to negatively affect his school work so he had to take time off reddit to focus on algebra

• He came back to reddit. Now he wanted to be number 1. The target was 38 million "set by /u/CheetahSperm18, a porn addicted American man who posted naked anime girls everyday."

• Someone gets suspicious and sees that this zoomer posted at almost the same times everyday. They assume he's a bot so he gets banned from the /r/BotDefense system. This banned him from 3k subs.

• Undeterred he carried on eventually reaching 25 million karma.

• Now he was back at in person school so he would run home when it finished and spam reddit with more posts. During this time he got banned twice. But appealed them successfully.

• The start of 2022 was great because Putin invaded Russia so now he could spam Zelensky.

• But he notices his karma started slowing. He was banned from too many subs. Had to focus on school. So he took 3 months off.

• He claims now is when he learned python and made a bot to automate his posts. Posting 360 times a day.

• People got mad. Someone reports him and reddit permanently bans him for content manipulation. Other big accounts got banned as well.

Now he was free to touch grass and just posts to his youtube.

Proving that reportmaxxing works!

I saw this here

https://old.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/1c66kpp/how_millions_of_karma_are_made/?sort=controversial

I didn't plan to watch it all due to the annoying voice, but the autism of it drew me in. Where were this kids parents. Absolutely r-slurred. At least he got away from it eventually.

First of all I'm going off on information about Krayon (sister toucher) that was already divulged by Carp and FroCho

This from the post here: https://rdrama.net/post/257327/apparently-the-user-who-dropped-users (Archive)

And this from the comment here: https://rdrama.net/post/257327/apparently-the-user-who-dropped-users/6185775#context (Archive)

So what we know know is that Krayon (sister toucher)'s allegedly named "Grant Simmons" and 952-378-7642 is his phone number

So we do a little reverse phone look up using https://www.numlookup.com/ for his number and we get "Patrick Simmons" who has the same last name. Probably a father or uncle or brother?

Area code for 952 is Minneapolis/St-Paul

When you do a search for "Patrick Simmons Minnesota"...

You get articles about some dude in St Paul who has a history of abusive behaviour towards his girlfriend stabbing her and setting her on fire killing her

Article: https://www.twincities.com/2022/03/16/woman-killed-in-st-paul-had-incredible-spirit-friend-says-in-fundraiser-for-3-daughters/ (Archive)

Simmons returned to his Bloomington home, set it on fire and drove away, the complaint said.

Co-workers went to Simmons' residence and discovered him parked nearby, and they flagged down police who were responding to the area. Officers arrested Simmons.

He had blood on his clothing, his face was covered in soot, and his facial hair and eyebrows were singed.

Simmons told investigators that Goodermont “was a witch and he did this to stand up for the babies being killed and sacrificed with witchcraft,” the complaint said.

He said he threw gasoline on Goodermont and lit it with his lighter. Police asked where he got the gas and he replied, “I got the gasoline at my house. So, yeah, it's premeditated.” He said he burned his house “because there was paranormal activity going on there.”

Last summer, Simmons was the subject of a petition for civil commitment and a court document said he was hospitalized for psychosis and receiving treatment at the time.

No attorney for Simmons, who is being held in the Ramsey County jail, was listed in the court record as of Wednesday. He is charged with second-degree intentional murder.

And if you really noootice they have the same hair colour, curly hair, facial structure and features:

We know from the articles that Patrick Simmons did a murder around March 2022

And Krayon (sister toucher) was texting FroCho using that number around September 2021 (Source: https://rdrama.net/post/14661/the-autists-last-sperg-krayon (sister toucher)-sister - Archive) when she was forced to post his "manifesto"

And based on his DMs to the jannies he seems hyperfocused on his daddy

So in a nutshell:

• phone number he texted users on this site from is registered to a Patrick Simmons

• area code shows Minneapolis/St Paul in the state of Minnesota

• googling "Patrick Simmons Minnesota" gives you articles of some guy murdering his girlfriend by stabbing and setting her on fire

• same hair colour, curly hair, facial structure, features

• same brand of lunacy

• Krayon (sister toucher) having daddy issues based on his DMs to the jannies

• timeline fits

!metashit

Please disprove me because

Isaac, Houston, TX

Career:

• 2022 - working as Sales Rep at a Tile store, making 3-4k a month while going to school full time

  • Left job to focus on classes because he was having issues

• Doing UberEats/Doordash, also getting money from his father

  • "If I need some I'll ask and he might send it"

  • He stopped doing the gig stuff because he injured his knee timestamp

    • Can't do regular Uber because his car does not qualify

    • Has a 2012 Corolla - later clarifies that it's above the miles limit

    • "My knee hurts when I drive"

      • He drove 3 hours over to Caleb, driving 3 hours back later.

      • Something to his meniscus

• Costco opening nextdoor - planning on getting a job there

• Was a Solar Salesman at the beginning of this semester but the company closed down?

Education:

• Studying Biotech (undergrad)

• 4th year but with credits he is a junior, will be finishing in 5 years

  • Had some issues during COVID, didn't pass a lot of classes - trying to make up for that now

• 2.0 GPA overall

  • "Yeah I just got to 2.0 last semester" timestamp

• "Yeah I passed one class... in COVID" timestamp

• Failed Intro to Biotechnology class timestamp

  • "I was passing that class up until the final"

  • Failed "Fundamentals of Chemistry"

• "Why'd you pick this major" timestamp

  • He thought it sounded interesting

  • "So what's your career path"

    • "What do you mean my career path?"

• "A 2.0 is good though" timestamp

• He's taking 26 credits this semester

  • "You can't do that"

    • "Can't do that at one college"

  • "I've learned a few new techniques this semester so I'm dialed in" timestamp

    • 'Like what?"

      • "ummmmm"

    • He's just taking adderall l timestamp

• Payments to "StudyPool" timestamp

  • Website where you "get help" on your assignments

  • "I would never cheat" - this site is definitely cheating

  • Looks like it's a per assignment basis - lots of these

  • $360 last month (allegedly splits with his friend)

• NBS Facts timestamp

  • $30 payment, he says he doesn't know what that is

Finances

• Put his all tuition on his credit cards timestamp

  • An Apple card specifically

  • "I haven't missed a payment"

• Spending a lot on eating out/misc bullshit

• Self-rated a 5/10 in finances timestamp

• Credit Card 1 ($14'715) timestamp

  • $548 minimum payment

• Should he consolidate his debt timestamp

  • If he could actually control himself yes

• Missed payment timestamp

  • He says he doesn't have any but there's $40 in late fees - he paid it a day late but confused this with the concept of a missed payment

• Reasoning for putting tuition on the CC timestamp

  • thought his dad would help pay it off

  • Dad had purchased a house but needed help with the down-payment - $15'000

    • Father is letting him live there rent free and considers this repayment? Not sure if I followed this right

• Coinbase and Robinhood timestamp

  • Invested in crypto?

  • Coinbase - $3'666 in 2021, down to $60 today

  • Robinhood - $6'006, down to $6?

Miscellaneous

• Oracle ad placement

• There's some sort of on-boarding video now timestamp

  • He didn't bother watching it

• Girlfriend gets time to talk timestamp

  • Didn't know how much debt he's in

  • "I think he's nervous he's not usually like this"

  • "He gets defensive when we argue so I think that's what he was doing with you"

  • Thinking about marrying him, wouldn't until he's out of debt

  • Guy's dad doesn't actually give him that much money

• Guy applied to show through Insta

Hi everyone

Last week I started reading a book titled “Maldita Guerra” by brazilian historian Francisco Doratioto.

I still haven't finish it yet, it has 512 pages and I'm currently on page 408 but it it's enough to talk about this old dramatic event that's funny enough either forgot or has been the source of nationalistic agenda posting, the book title refers to a quote by the Baron of Cotegipe. I'll start giving you guys some context.

In the early 1860s South America was a very different place from today, Brazil was an Empire, a constitutional monarchy and Gigabased Pedro II reigned as emperor. Argentina had just came out of a civil war between federalists and unitarians (which deserves an effort post) resulting in unitarian victory led by General Bartolomé Mitre who in 1862 became the first President of an unified Argentina. Uruguay was ruled since the end of its civil war in 1851 by the Blanco Party, Bernardo Berro was elected President in 1860, the war was won against the Colorado Party. For those who don't know Uruguay along with Argentina, Paraguay and South Bolivia were part of the Vice-Royalty of La Plata during the colonial period, it was known then as the “Banda Oriental” the Eastern Band. In 1811 Portugal invaded the Banda Oriental which became part of the Brazilian Kingdom (the Portuguese Royal Family was then living in Rio) and then became the Cisplatine province. In 1822 Brazil became an independent country and in 1825 the Cisplatine war began as the Banda Oriental wished to leave Brazil and become part of the United Provinces of the South (which became Argentina). At the end Britain intervened and Uruguay was created as a buffer state between Argentina and the Empire of Brazil on the condition the Argies would never anchluss the place.

Paraguay got its independence in 1811. Between 1814 and 1840 it was ruled with an iron fist by Supreme Dictator (that was his actual title) José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, known as Dr. Francia as he held the titles of bachelor in philosophy and Doctor in Theology by the University of Córdoba. Dr Francia isolated the small Mediterranean country and purged all the other “procers” or independence Founding Fathers. After he died in 1840 Paraguay adopted a consulship with the power being shared between 2 men, Colonel Mariano Roque Alonso and Mr. Carlos Antonio López.

In 1844 Mr. López became the first President of Paraguay being elected by the Congress.

pic related is him.

Paraguay then opened up however it continued to live under a totalitarian dictatorship. Congress only was convened to elect the president and re elect him again. López appointed his 19 year old son, Francisco Solano López as army General

In the 1850s Solano López who was the king of South American nepo-babies went to France to study, he came back with steam ships and guns bought from France and Britain and his irish concubine Elisa Lynch (who worked as a “courtesan” in Paris).

In 1862 Carlos Antonio López died at the age of 72, his r-slurred spoiled son was his VP and became acting President with congress electing him almost unanimously for a 10 year term. By then Paraguay was a militarist society, they had a small river fleet and a permanent army, revisionists Argie leftoid “historians” made claims that Paraguay was an emerging power because it had a few railroads and an iron factory and that it represented a “threat” to the British Empire a ludicrous notion that only our Platine neighbors and leftoid Brazilian journos like Julio Chiavennato could come up with.

In 1862 the Liberal Party won the elections in Brazil. During those days the Brazilian political stage was divided between Conservatives and Liberals. In 1862 a diplomatic incident with Britain happened, basically a Bong ship, The Prince of Wales sank near the coast of the Great State of Rio Grande do Sul (back then they were called provinces not states). The !macacos stole the shipwreck containers emptying them. Bongland responded sending a fleet to Guanabara Bay at Rio de Janeiro demanding reparations which the cucked libs did. Diplomatic relations with Britain were then cut. In 1864 a civil war erupted in Uruguay, a Colorado caudillo Venancio Flores decided to usurp power. Because of Flores's pro Brazilian leanings (the Blancos were taxing Brazilian imports from Rio Grande do Sul way too high to protect their markets as Brazil used slave workforce which made it cheaper than Uruguayan production, this made Gaúcho Farmers extremely angry with the Blancos) and because their reputation was in total shambles after the Bongland debacle the Liberals in Brazil decided to support Flores but before they consulted with Argie President Mitre assuring him they didn't intend to Annex Uruguay. Paraguay on the other hand was an ally of the Blanco government, Solano López who thought himself as a sort of Napoleon warned Brazil that they would declare war in case of intervention in Uruguay, the Brazilian Government dismissed this. Solano López thought that as Argies and Brazilians hated each other then surely Argentina would let their troops pass and join the fight. There were also some disputed borders between Paraguay and Brazil-Argentina (the misiones and part of Mato Grosso do Sul). In august 1864 Brazil invaded Uruguay to support regime change under the pretext that Brazilian citizens who lived in Uruguay were in danger and being killed by the Blanco government, war with Paraguay never came across the minds of our leaders in Rio de Janeiro. Solano López proceeded by conscripting almost every single man in fighting age. Paraguay had a population of around 400-500k inhabitants back then with a standing army of around 25k men. After the massive conscription and calling all the reserves Solano López got himself an army of 77k men. The Brazilian army back then was only 18k men despite having a population of around 9 million (9.9 million in the 1872 census). López bet was in some sort of Blitzkrieg. By then he suspected Mitre could join Brazil so what he wanted was an alliance between the Uruguayan Blancos and the Argie Federalists, the defeated group were led by the Entre Rian caudillo Justo José Urquiza.

The Province of Mato Grosso was then geographically isolated, its capital Cuiaba had only around 10k inhabitants as the only way to get through it was by the Paraguay River. In November 1864 a Brazilian ship, the steamboat marquis of Olinda was carrying the new President of the Province of mato Grosso, Colonel Federico Carneiro de Campos. Solano López was surprised considering he warned Brazil of war (rentfree in his mind) so h ordered his men to seize the ship and declared war to Brazil. Then in Dezember he invaded Mato grosso and deported all the local Brazilians to Paraguay where they would be mistreated.

Argentina declared itself neutral in the conflict, however they denied the pass of Paraguayan troops, this led to Solano López to declare war to Argentina, he then invaded the northern Argentine Province of Corrientes and intended to reach Uruguay soon. By then the Blancos were deposed and Flores was President. In may 1865 the Treaty of the Triple Alliance was signed between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. So the war began.

But a funny thing related to Mato Grosso. The main war theater was Corrientes (1865) and South Paraguay (1866-1868). In early 1865 a regiment was dispatched to free Mato Grosso, they walked 2100 km to reach it, arriving in 1867. 1/3 of them were dead, another had deserted. Only 1300 of the 3200 soldiers sent reach Mato Grosso. They were so worn out, sick and tired they didn't manage to accomplish their goals. After being repealed they went to Cuiaba, infected with smallpox. The epidemic killed half of the city's population.

After forming the triple Alliance it was decided in accordance that President Mitre who was an experienced General would lead as Supreme Allied Commander. However the Brazilian generals at the front, The Count of Porto Alegre and the Vice Admiral the viscount of Tamandaré despised Mitre and thought the Argies were either useless or treacherous. The Federalist caudillo Urquiza ended up betraying López and joining Mitre only to retrieve later on and become a war profiteer selling food to the armies like the cunning bastard he was.

It would be only in 1866 with the arrival of the man, the legend, the Marquis of Caxias that the dysfunctional allied force would become organized.

Meanwhile López' r-slurred actions isolated Paraguay, his envoys in Britain were expecting to received new ships and weapons but because the country is landlocked and the only way in was through the Paraná river they never came.

!historychads !latinx