To All Readers: The ongoing dispute with the lithographers (see below) has delayed publication of today's issue of The Star. Rest assured that it will return as soon as possible.
On the qualities of the different Lithographer's firms, and their requirements on the size of printed images:
Dear Sir;
I am greatly enjoying the latest issues of the Star which have been retelling the history of Louisiana for the younger generations. So many of them don't even know what happened before 1837, and your publications attention to this matter has been greatly appreciated.
However, I would like to recommend a switch in the paper the Star is printed. My eyes are getting weaker with time, true, but it is exceptionally hard to read your newspaper as the paper itself seems to be of a low-quality "Photobucket" variety. I have to squint very hard to be able to get past the "Bandwidth Limit Exceeded" stamp printed onto each page. May I suggest a switch to the much higher quality
Imageshack?
Yours,
Mssrr S. Phalanxia
Dear Sir
I wonder if the Star's technical correspondent (or another reader of your letters page) might answer a small query (for I am somewhat behind on these newfound printing techniques). Is the bandwidth issue related to the size of individual images, or to the total number of images?
This would be useful as I am trying to decide on the appropriate printing technique for a
family history I am publishing for some friends from Epirus.
Yours faithfully
Mr. A. Alfredian
I solve this kind of thing by getting additional photobuckets, can't really deal with ImageShack. But good luck to you!
Imageshack works so much more elegantly than Photobucket though.
Firstly, to M. Alfredian - I believe that the bandwidth issue is a compound of those two elements - that is to say, the total bandwidth used is calculated by multiplying the size of each image by the number of times it is viewed in a month. So you could have 300 images at 100KB, each viewed 10 times (300x0.1x10 = 300MB) or 10 images at 30MB each viewed once (10x30x1 = 300MB) and use the same bandwidth. So it depends on quantity, quality of images and number of readers. Hope that helps.
My preference is for Photobucket, since I find its UI so much easier. But I've switched to Imageshack for this AAR only (Aetheling Chronicle has never had a problem) because it has no bandwidth limts, only upload limits (per day)
Concerning the military strengths of the Republic of Louisiana:
That treaty allowing 400 men is worse than Versailles.
Mabye Napoleon needs to re-militarise the Mississippi-land and then agree to an Anschluss with the Oregon territory. Then its only fair if the Tejas-land is ceded by Spain or the Mexico in the name of keeping all good people of Louisianan descent in the Empire.
Your Tommy4ever
I have to say that Versailles was in my mind a little when I wrote the last few updates. The people of Louisiana are, however, not the targets of the treaty - Napoleon is. The Acadiens are not quite as revanchist as the Germans of the 1930s (and I think they have plenty of Lebensraum
)
Dear Sir;
While we are limited to 400 men, doughty as the Guard may be, that is insufficient. However, the treaty says nothing of sailors and other naval personnel; the numbers required to sail and fight the New Orleans and Austerlitz alone exceed such allowance. Perhaps that is where our Emperor should seek opportunity to gain the tools to enforce peace and order; the brave matelots of the Louisiana Navy!
Mssr. R.G. de Baie.
I would recomment, as a way to build up force, to train some marines regiments. They were after all France's main force in America in the French and Indian wars.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnies_franches_de_la_marine
Acquiring a navy is an important achievement for Napoleon and his cabinet. Its essential to securing the St Domingue sugar revenues, for one thing, and it will allow them to build up a military tradition in Louisiana. The US obviously hopes that they can minimise the risks by selling their outmoded, obsolete ships, but I think they'll be disappointed!
Dear Sir;
Why has no Louisianais diplomat made this point to the British or Americans? As a protectorate of both, Louisiana requires both to spend artificially high sums on defense for not only their own defense, but also Louisiane's. Eventually this will cause financial trouble to one or both countries, especially as pirates continue raiding in the Caribbean. Instead, they could be easily convinced to waive the unnecessarily severe army restriction in the name of financial prudence. Then Louisiane could have an army of a size more in accord with its size and would not need to rely on the good wishes of the other two countries.
Yours,
Messr. E. F.
You're quite right. One of the motivators for the sale of ships to Louisiana was that the US congress was unwilling to fund naval expeditions in the Caribbean (since Florida has only just been sold to the US, they barley have a Gulf coastline ITTL). Keep reading, and you'll see something similar occur with the problem of Indian raids in the Great Plains. Napoleon, of course, knows how to use this to his advantage.
Regarding the Moral Character of M. Laffitte, Captain
Dear Sir;
Jean Laffite is a freedom fighter and a gentleman! I'm outraged to see this slander! If anything, the Empereur and the Consul should employ his services as an admiral of the new Fleet! To vilify a man fighting against the reactionaries of the British Empire is slander of the worst kind.
Yours,
Mr Gabriel Valjean
Dear So-Called Sirs,
Jean Lafitte is no pirate. He is a Louisianais entrepreneur. The country should garner his services for the greatness of the nation. A Lafitte-administered navy would rival any Spanish or American navy in the Gulf and Caribbean. Also Lafitte's base in Galveston would give Napoleon a claim to Tejas which is already in insurrection mode with several French and American settlers. I say Lafitte means a Greater Louisiana and thus a greater Napoleon and thorn in Europe's side.
Grudgingly yours,
Mssr. Ricainfier
Dear Sirs; M. Laffitte may, indeed, be an able sailor and even a reformed character. However, his past actions make it easy for portray him as little more than a pirate. Moreover, he is proving useful to the Bonaparte regime as a foil against US and British naval presence in the Gulf of Mexico. It's actually more in Napoleon's interest to brand him a pirate to stoke up fears and justify his naval expansion.
A typographer's error:
Dear Sir;
There appears to be a mistake either in the caption of your recent article on the purchase of the two ships or in the text itself, since the USS Independence and USS Washington are both stated to be relaunched as the Austerlitz. As a longtime reader of The Star I have been accustomed to expect more care in its editing.
Yours,
Mssr. Seleucroix
Well spotted, M. Seleucroix. I'm afraid this is due to miscommunication between the Lithographers and the typesetters. I will refrain from reprinting the issue, due to the rules of the Dancing with the StAARs competition, which discourage editing. Please regard the text, rather than the caption, as correct.
