Profumo's Affair

June 5th, 2006

in 1963, when the House of Commons is informed that British War Secretary John Profumo has been carrying on with a young lady who has also been having an affair with a Soviet diplomat, the lower house of Parliament erupts in outrage. Profumo stubbornly refuses to resign, and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan makes the disastrous decision to stand by him. This is far too much for the Parliament, and a vote of no confidence tumbles Macmillan from office. When Labour leader Harold Wilson assumes the mantle of Prime Minister, he orders a full investigation into Profumo's mistress' background. The resulting dirt on many Tories brings the party into such disrepute that they are almost rendered extinct; their successor on the right wing of British political life, the Traditional Party, is able to make some solid gains in later years, and even briefly elected Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1986; lack of popular support for her programs led to her replacement in 1990, though, and the conservatives of Britain are still looking for a political party with some influence.

in 1968, with the California presidential primary won, Senator Robert Kennedy decided to give a brief speech to his campaign staff at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles before going back to Washington. But, a young staff member caught his eye, and he delayed the speech for several minutes while he got to know her better. While he was engaged in this meeting, hotel security found a Palestinian man acting suspiciously and approached him. The suspicious young man opened fired on them, killing one guard and wounding several people who had been waiting around for Kennedy to speak. The angry crowd subdued and disarmed him, then held him for the police. Senator Kennedy had to break off his meeting with the staffer and rush down to the lobby to help restore order and calm. The scene reminded so many people of the Senator's brother's assassination that a great groundswell of support hit his campaign, and after easily winning the Democratic nomination, he won the general presidential election in a landslide against Republican Richard Nixon.

in 2004, Comrade Ronald Reagan finally succumbs to the Alzheimer's disease that has afflicted him for many years. Comrade Reagan had been a superb propagandist for the Soviet States of America during the Great Patriotic War, and had endeared himself to millions through his comic films of the 1950's and television series of the 1960's. He became somewhat outspoken about moral degeneracy in Hollywood and Washington in the 1980's, and many of his speeches during this era became the basis of the People's Republic movement in the Pacific Northwest that led to the civil war in 2000. It was a sad legacy for this patriotic actor's final years, since his affliction made him unable to comment one way or the other on the civil war while it was raging to the north of his home in California.

in 2017, when the Eagle comes near the golden object on Pindar-Asaki, it suddenly activates and the crew experience something very strange. There is a flash of light from the object, and suddenly the stars around them swirl and coalesce together as they are being viewed through a fun house mirror. They feel a great sensation of motion, and the Eagle and the comet are both plunged into the swirling stars. Everything goes white for a long, terrifying time, and then the stars return – only they are not the stars that the crew is familiar with. In fact, there are 2 very large stars directly ahead of them. Once they get themselves composed, the crew can see that they have traveled to another solar system; the main star in the system is a red dwarf, and it is paired with a large gas giant planet that has “gone hot” as their astronomer, Alexei Robles, says. The system seems to hold a large number of planets and planetoids, and the comet is heading into the satellite system that they see circling the large gas giant. Commander Eileen Patterson advises them all to check their stores and, “Be ready for anything.”

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect Ronald Reagan to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

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