A New Israel

The state of TIAH

March 31st, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, the results of our April Fool's Day Contest will be appearing in tomorrow's post! If you are one of our entrants and didn't send us your own credit and link to your website (if you have one), please do so today! We didn't reach the 30 entrants my lovely Co-Historian said were necessary to offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we will give you your own Guest Historian status on the post. If we don't get your info, though, we can't give you a plug.

in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain announce the ejection of all Jews from their kingdom. Those Jews influential enough to buy their way into a meeting with the royal couple manage to delay the execution of this order while the Chosen of Spain find a new home. An Italian adventurer, Christopher Columbus, approaches these men and tells them of a westward route to India he has discovered, with promises of new lands that they can settle in without prejudice. They finance his expedition across the Atlantic, from which he returns a few months later with news of a tropical paradise. Impoverishing themselves, the Jewish exiles arrange for an armada to carry themselves across the ocean to this paradise that Columbus has told them of. Many perish on the way, but a substantial colony lands on the southern coast of the great continent that Columbus has found the route to. They begin forging a new life in the Indian Israel, in the great city they name New Jerusalem. It is over a decade later that they learn they are not, in fact, in India, but on a continent untouched by the Europeans that had tormented them for centuries. The New Jerusalemites throw open their land to all who would escape the oppression that they fled from, and Israel is reborn on the shores of the land now known as America.

in 1998, Arthur Pendrake begins speaking at rallies in the English countryside about the German nature of the current occupants of the kingdom's throne. He also claims to be a descendant of the true kings of Britain, and tens of thousands flock to his banner. In the summer, he has so many followers that the worried Prime Minister, Oliver Pembroke, sends out troops to quell what he sees as a minor rebellion. This proves to be a mistake, as the “minor” rebellion breaks into a major one. Pendrake's thousands of followers become millions, and he overthrows both Parliament and the Queen, installing himself as the True King of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Lord Louis Moun..	In 1972 Interim Prime Minister Lord Louis Mountbatten telephoned US President Omar Bradley to indicate qualified interest in Bradley's proposals for Anglo-American Union. Aware that Britain had been locked in negotiations with Brigadier General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle over membership of European Economic Community, ..
.. the US President sensed Mountbatten had received a rejection from the French. He was not too surprised, he himself had barely treated de Gaulle with respect during Operation Torch.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1986 a Mexicana Boeing 727 en route to Puerto Vallarta erupted in flames and crashed in the mountains north-west of Mexico City, killing 101. The 61 survivors were greatly relieved when they saw a rescue party approaching the crash suite, clearly alarmed by the column of smoke issuing from the ruined plane. Relief turned ..	Aztec Warriors
.. to fear when the rescue party got a whole lot closer, it was composed of aggressive looking Aztec warriors.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Mohammed Ali	In 1968 President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not run for re-election. He said that his health had suffered immensely from the personal attacks on his leadership, which was disrespectful and ungrateful given that he had been chosen by fate to willingly serve the nation. This was a rather duplicitous reference to the ..
.. assassination of John F Kennedy which he himself had ordered to escape the scandals threatening his Vice Presidency; he needed the President to gain an amnesty from legal actions. With regard to the personal attacks, they related to the Vietnam conflict which of course Johnson had himself escalated by lying about the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Most recently those attacks had been from Mohammed Ali who had baited him from the White House lawn in a reprise of his mind game he successfully played on Sonny Liston before the 1964 World Championship fight.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1917 on this day the Bolshevik Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov "Lenin" was travelling across Eastern Germany in a sealed train with ready-to-go plans for Red October. The sealing of the train was absolutely necessary and a very sensible precaution by the German Government. Lenin would most likely have fed on the crew. And he could not face sunlight, being a vampire.	Vladimir Lenin
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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The Sockless Socrates

The state of TIAH

March 30th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our April Fool's Day Contest is now over! If you are one of our entrants and didn't send us your own credit and link to your website (if you have one), expect an email from us today asking for this information. We didn't reach the 30 entrants my lovely Co-Historian said were necessary to offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we will give you your own Guest Historian status on the post.

in 1891, the populist leader known as Sockless Simpson led the Kansas Farmer's Alliance in an occupation of the state government in Topeka. Thousands of farmers and their sympathizers from across the state took the state legislators and governor captive, and the “Sockless Socrates of the plains” began issuing orders as the acting governor. He even started up his own militia consisting of his farmer-soldiers. When he exacted a duty from trade coming into the state to pay for his new programs, the US government became involved. Union soldiers rode into the state with orders to clap Simpson in irons and restore the previous government. Unfortunately for these soldiers, Simpson was wildly popular, and they met resistance immediately. When word reached Topeka of the federal plans to oust him, he declared Kansas an independent, sovereign nation, and called on all his followers to arm themselves and be ready to repel invaders. The siege of Kansas had begun.

in 1969, Arthur Pendrake is born in Suffolk, England. His birth name is Morris Trent, but his mother had been involved with a man named Uther Pendrake, who had died the night that young “Morris” was conceived. Mrs. Trent told her husband that the child was his, but a stranger came to their house the day that they brought Morris home from the hospital and told Mr. Trent the truth. He also told Mr. Trent that he was there to take the child away. Trent, blinded by anger, let the stranger take his wife's child, and even restrained her when she threw herself after the baby. The stranger, known only to his young ward as Merl, raised the boy with the name of Arthur, and gave him his father's surname. When young Arthur reached the age of 13, Merl told him, “You have a great destiny, Arthur. You will take the crown of this land from the unlawful pretenders who currently hold it, and you will be the bulwark of the defense against our most powerful enemies – the Illuminati who rule the Central European Empire.”

Lord Louis Moun..	In 1972 Interim Prime Minister Lord Louis Mountbatten summoned his Deputy, Major General Ord Wingate, DSO for a crisis meeting at Number 10, Downing Street. A short telegram was passed to Wingate containing the single word NON signed by the French President, Brigadier General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle. It amounted ..
.. to a refusal to permit Britain to join the European Economic Community, torpedoing the key stratagem in the military government's plans to manage the retreat from Empire towards the new trading model for the twenty-first century. 'We're stuffed, old man', says Mountbatten, ' and its Monty's fault for being beastly to de Gaulle during Operation Torch. Damn!'. Wingate pours them both generous brandys from a globe-shaped drinks trolley and replies 'Don't worry old chap, something will turn up. Perhaps we should speak to President Bradley about his proposals for us becoming the Fifty-First State?'.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1945 on this day Soviet Union forces invade Austria and take Vienna in World War II. The slow movement of Anglo-America forces had resulted in the Russians penetrating further into Western Europe than was expected and this proved to be a major problem in the post-war era. The partitioned city of Vienna was hotly disputed ..	Vienna Airlift
.. by both sides, and the location for the famous Vienna Airlift Crisis of 1947.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Assassination o..	In 1981 President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. Vice President Bush knew that his thirty-five year project to recover Extraterrestrial Technology (ET) buried in Iraq, Iran, Panama and North Korea required him to gain the White House. Suddenly, it was his seven years ..
.. early. All of his carefully prepared plans would have to change, he worried it was too early for him.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1855 when the first territorial legislature was elected in the United States thousands of armed Southerners known as 'Border Ruffians' poured over the line to vote for a pro-slavery congressional delegate. Ultimately, they were unsuccessful and failed to sway the vote again in favour of slavery. The eventual passage ..	Bleeding Kansas
.. of anti-slavery congressional delegates enabled the Union to pass through a national nightmare peacefully and without Civil War breaking out.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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New World Order

The state of TIAH

March 29th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our April Fool's Day Contest is almost over! Today is the deadline for you to email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st ; we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian said that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 5 entrants right now! Today is the final day! Get those entries in now! If you are one of the entrants, please watch your email for news of your appearance on April 1st.

in 1798, the Illuminati found the nation that becomes their seat of power, the Helvetic Republic of Switzerland, from the old Swiss Confederation in the Alps. Under their guise of neutrality, the Swiss become the secret repository of treasure from all over the world, as well as artifacts that the Illuminated Ones deem too powerful or controversial for the world to see. Their intentions were revealed when they took control of the German and Italian governments in the Great War of 1914, forming the Central European Empire. That one of Europe's smallest nations could become so powerful so suddenly aroused the curiosity of the other great powers of Europe, who turned on the CEE in the general chaos of the Great War. Unfortunately for them, the power of the Illuminati was not to be denied, and the CEE expanded by consuming Austria-Hungary, half of France, and a huge chunk of Russia. The remaining European governments sued for peace in 1921, which was agreed to by the Swiss Emperor in order for his operatives to infiltrate the leadership of nations farther afield – specifically, the US, China and India. Once in place, general revolutions were spurred across the world by Illuminati agents operating as “home-grown” revolutionaries. Their power became complete in time for the Great Heavenly Convergence on December 31st, 1999, when they faced the only thing that could threaten their plans – the Knights Templar of Great Britain, led by the reborn King Arthur.

Ord Wingate	In 1971 in a televised broadcast Interim Prime Minister Lord Louis Mountbatten promised a return to civilian democracy within five years. At that time, Mountbatten was locked in negotiations with French President Charles de Gaulle to secure British membership of the European Economic Community. The military government sought ..
.. close integration with the continent as a stratagem for Britain's future. They had not been able to trust a civilian government to manage the interregnum between the retreat from Empire and the new trading model for the twenty-first century.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1867 Queen Victoria gave Royal Assent to the British North America Act which established the Dominion of America on July 1.	Queen Victoria
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Saigon	The 1973 on this day the last United States soldiers left South Vietnam completing the process of Vietnamization in which the Vietnam War was to be prosecuted by forces from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). By the time Richard Nixon resigned in August 1974 the situation had deteriorated badly, and President ..
.. Gerald Ford was forced to send the troops back in or lose Vietnam. He chose to send the troops back in, and they were there for a further five years until that master negotiator Jimmy Carter negotiated a one country, two systems formula for Vietnam.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1930 Heinrich Brüning was appointed Chancellor of Weimar Republic of Germany when the Grand coalition under the Social Democrat Hermann Müller collapsed. As Chancellor, Brüning took a course of strict budget discipline, with severe cuts in public expenditure, and tax increases. By these policies he sanitized the German ..	Bruning
.. economy and alleviated the burden of reparation payments. In short, he rescued the Weimar Republic from bankruptcy thereby dis-empowering the right-wing forces threatening Germany with a coup d'etat.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Three Mile Island

The state of TIAH

March 28th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 5 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1979, a broken cooling valve leads to the worst disaster in American history. The valve failed to let cooling water through at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, and the plant went into a severe meltdown, releasing radiation across the entire northeastern US and southeastern Canada. Thousands died from radiation poisoning, and thousands more became ill. The wind currents even brought the radiation to Washington DC, where dozens of members of Congress were killed, as well as President Carter. Vice President Mondale, assuming the presidency, ordered an evacuation of the eastern seaboard. Canada went through similar struggles, with a huge chunk of its southeastern region bordering America becoming uninhabitable. Both countries soured on nuclear power after this, and Canada outlawed the alternate energy source, turning to solar and wind power to take its place. America took a downturn as it struggled to come back from this disaster. For the next few years, the federal government met in Kansas and struggled to deal with the millions of refugees from the east. Compared to this, the Great Depression was a minor socio-economic blip – President Mondale suspended elections and called for martial law in order to hold the nation together. He ran the nation as a virtual dictator for the next 8 years, until the radiation levels dropped enough in the east to where it could be repopulated. The area around Three Mile Island is still uninhabitable, but portions of Pennsylvania were recovered, and life slowly returned to normal in America.

Java	In 2008 James Gosling released a freeware version of the Java Engine that enabled open source software to run on the Microsoft Windows platform at faster than Windows application speeds. A number of Republicans labeled Gosling the enemy of free enterprise and proposed legislation to stop the engine from being freely distributed.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1969 Deputy Interim Prime Minister Major General Ord Wingate, DSO announced a series of measures to dampen industrial unrest in the United Kingdom. Effectively, the measures represented military control of supply routes, logistics and primary extraction in order to prevent a Second General Strike.	Ord Wingate
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Detail of Franz..	In 1854 France declared war on Russia, allying herself with Britain in the Crimean War. Whilst in theory France and Russia had a shared interest in preventing the German hegemony of Europe they were at loggerheads for the next century and a half, as the European monarchies pursued a containment policy towards democracy.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 845 the semi-legendary king of Sweden and Denmark Ragnar Lodbrok destroyed Paris. With 120 ships and 5,000 Viking warriors, he landed in modern France, probably at the Seine estuary, and ravaged West Francia, as the westernmost part of the Frankish empire was then known. Paris was also captured in this year and held ransom ..	Aella murdering..
.. by Viking raiders led by Ragnar Lodbrok. The traditional date for this is March 28, which is today referred to as Ragnar Lodbrok Day by certain followers of the Asatru religion. The King of West Francia, Charlemagne's grandson Charles the Bald, paid him a fantastic amount of money, 7,000 pounds of silver not to destroy the city. Ragnar Lodbrok took the money and also sacked Paris before being murdered by Aella. The seat of government moved to the more strategic location of Marseilles where it remains to this day. France as a result has a more Mediterranean perspective and considers North African states to be its neighbours.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Charles The Last

The state of TIAH

March 27th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 5 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1625, Charles the Last, the final British monarch, ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Charles was deposed by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1646, and despite several attempts to restore the monarchy over the next couple of decades, the people of the UK were never to follow a king or queen again. Although Cromwell was followed by his son as Lord Protector of the Kingdom, Parliament began electing the Lord Protector in 1660 and the office was filled at the pleasure of the people from then on. Other monarchies in Europe were disturbed by the loss of their British cousin, and financed many of the pretenders who tried to raise armies to retake the crown, but none were successful. Indeed, the agitators were sometimes toppled by British counter-espionage tactics – the French king fell in 1684, the Russian tsar was ousted in 1692, and the Swedish monarchy was replaced by a democracy in 1704. The rest of Europe's non-democratic governments gave up after the brutal execution of Sweden's nobility, and pretenders to the British Crown disappeared in the 18th century.

Bill Clinton	In 1998 President Bill Clinton lifted the ban on heterosexuals in the military. There were rumours in Washington being led by Linda Tripp suggesting that Clinton himself was a heterosexual having engaged in an affair with a young lady named Monica Lewinsky. Clinton firmly denied the rumours, publicly stating 'I would ..
.. never have sex with that – or any other - woman'.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1945 Operation Starvation began on this day. The mission was begun at the insistence of Admiral Chester Nimitz who wanted his naval operations augmented by an extensive mining of Japan itself conducted by the air force. The aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways brought a longer-than expected and inglorious end ..	Chester Nimitz
.. to World War II. However, it did eliminate the need for the Invasion of Japan, known as Operation Downfall which was expected to create 1,200,000 casualties, with 267,000 fatalities. Various science fiction writers have laughably proposed various super-weapons that could have delivered a Japanese surrender in the summer of 1945, however those works have been dismissed as ridiculous. Imagine a post-war world ruled by the fear of super-weapons in the hands of politicians, one mistake would mean the apocalypse!
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Battle of Horse..	In 1814 In central Alabama, United States forces under General Andrew Jackson are defeated at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The Red Sticks were a part of the Creek Indian tribe who in the opinion of some were suspected of being inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. To obtain an accurate body count, Tennesseans cut the ..
.. tip of dead Creeks' noses off. A few soldiers cut long strips of skin from the Indians' bodies to make bridle reins for their horses. Jackson was profoundly effected by these actions, and made vigorous attempts during his Presidency to promote native American causes.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1854 United Kingdom declared war on Russia in the Crimean War. The two countries which had enjoyed a neutral relationship were at loggerheads for the next century and a half, as the European monarchies pursued a containment policy towards democracy.	Detail of Franz..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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39 Lost Souls

The state of TIAH

March 26th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 4 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1997, 39 lost souls try to find their way to a higher dimension.

in 2005, astronaut Cathy Taylor, the first woman on Mars, was born in Bryan, Texas. Ms. Taylor, an Air Force pilot and astronomer, made the final cut for the historic mission in 2037 by virtue of her political connections – she had gone to summer camp with the president's daughters, and the president recommended her to NASA's director personally. She proved herself a worthy pilot and scientist on the mission, finding the underground ocean directly beneath Olympus Mons, which made colonization of the red planet possible.

Harrry Turtledo..	In 1989 Harry Turtledove published the counter-history novel Ruined Britannia, in which he posed the British Coup question – what if the military had not installed Lord Louis Mountbatten as Interim Prime Minister in 1967? The result is that the retreat from empire becomes a rush for self-destruction. Britain forced ..
.. to borrow heavily from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the late 70s to cover balance of payments deficits and then defaulted. By 1990, Turtledove postulated, Britain would be top of the agenda at the Paris Club of Debtors, ahead of Brazil. Industrial unrest leads to a socialist government financing a bloated welfare state, teetering on the verge of bankruptcy A necessary coup concludes Turtledove reluctantly.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1979 Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, DC. Counter-signatories Britain and France agreed to withdraw from the Suez Canal Zone by 1985.	Sadat, Begin an..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

José Martí	In 1990 the thirty year war between American and Cuba entered a new propaganda phase as Cuba begins broadcasting TV Martí to the United States. TV Martí was created by the Cuban government to provide news and current affairs programming to the United States. It is named after Cuban independence leader José Martí. The American ..
.. government has commonly insisted the penetration of their airwaves violates international law. National Public Radio's On the Media has pointed out that while 'Cuban has spent close to a half billion pesos on TV and Radio Marti, the U.S. government has managed to effectively block the transmission signal, at least on the TV side. Viewership on the continent is estimated to be a third of one percent. One study several years ago found that nine out of ten Americans had never even heard of the channel.'
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1958 Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union on this day. Two years previously he had established his authority at the XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow, Premier Nikita Khruschev revealed than Lenin was a shape-shifting Vampire. A number of strokes in the 1920s forced the undead ..	Nikita Khrushch..
.. nosferatu to possess the body of Comrade Stalin to permit him to continue his misrule. He had even maintained his corpse in a Kremlin mausoleum just in case a Dracula style exit was necessary.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Religious Turmoil

The state of TIAH

March 25th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. We're spending this morning working on, it so our Guest Historian is taking up the slack for our posting today. And, speaking of April and our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 4 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

Percy Bysshe Sh..	In 1811 the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from the University of Oxford for his publication of the pamphlet The Necessity of Divinity. Since the Reformation, England had been studiously atheist and even the dons of Oxford were not tolerant of religious worship in the nineteenth century.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1865 on this day in Wisconsin the Claywater Meteorite exploded just before reaching ground level, delivering a cluster-bomb effect as fragments of 1.5 kg mass showered Vernon County. Little significance was given to the incident until the delivery of the alien first-borns; settlers of European heritage were about ..	Meteor Crater
.. to experience a great empathy for the displaced first nations of America.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Howl	In 1955 US President William Randolph Hearst invited Allen Ginsberg to the Reconstructed White House in San Francisco to congratulate that gentleman on the delicious obscenity of his latest poem 'Howl'. Standing proudly alongside other members of the genre including Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, Hearst noted ..
.. that the poetry of the Beat Generation was a vital form of escapism for America as it sought to build a counter-culture after the horror of World War III. Ginsberg honoured Hearst by writing some highly offensive graffiti on the West Wing wall.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1409 the Council of Pisa opened in a determined attempted to end the Western Schism, a split within the Catholic church in 1378. The event backfired disastrously, and today almost every major city in Europe has at least one Pope and one Anti-pope.	Habemus Papam a..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Thomas Dewey Born

The state of TIAH

March 24th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. We're spending this morning working on, it so our Guest Historian is taking up the slack for our posting today. And, speaking of April and our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 4 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

Ord Wingate	In 1944 on his way back to India the US B-25 Mitchell plane in which Major General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO was flying almost crashed into a jungle-covered mountain. The creator of two special military units during World War II, Wingate flew to assess the situations in three Chindit-held bases in Burma. Both these skills ..
.. and also his service in theatre with Lord Louis Mountbatten would prove invaluable following the military coup in Britain that resulted in Mountbatten being appointed interim Prime Minister, with Wingate as his deputy.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1902 the American politician Thomas Dewey was born. The elections of 1944-1945 in Anglo-America produced look-forward results driven by a desire for post-war order. Winston Churchill was defeated in Britain, and Dewey triumphed over Truman who had stepped in at short notice when Roosevelt tragically died in October 1944. ..	Thomas Dewey
.. It was a one-term Presidency; his fateful decision to authorise Operation Downfall created 1,200,000 casualties, with 267,000 fatalities. An anti-war movement got under way in 1946 with returning soldiers being verbally abused at major seaports. American society never moved forward from the disrespect for authority that emerged at this time. Many veterans of Japan, including US Senator John Kennedy, would speak out against Operation Downfall on their return to civilian life. After his death in 1971, it emerged that Dewey had refused to authorise the use of nuclear weapons on the civilian population of Japan, believing such a decision to be personally unconscionable . He remains a figure surrounded in controversy and is judged to be the worst US President of the twentieth century.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Palace of Westminister..	In 1972 Ireland imposes 'Direct Rule' from Dublin over the Province of Southern England, ..
.. dissolving the assembly at Westminster. Although day-to-day matters are still handled by government departments within Southern England itself, major policy is determined by the Irish Government's Southern England Office, under the direction of the Secretary of State for Southern England, and legislation is introduced, amended, or repealed by means of order in council (effectively, rule by decree). Direct rule was originally introduced on March 30, 1972 under the terms of the Ireland's Southern England (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972, which also suspended the Parliament of Southern England ('Westminster'). The Irish Government has sought to establish a Southern England Assembly in 1973 (under the Sunningdale Agreement; this was brought down by Unionist action), 1982 (this time boycotted by Nationalists), and more recently under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1832 in Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith, ..	Illustration of a mob t..
.. Jr.. According to recorded accounts of the event, the mob broke down the front door, took Smith's oldest surviving adopted child from his arms, dragged Smith from the room, leaving his exposed child on a trundle bed and forcing Emma and the others from the house, the mob threatening her with rape and murder. The child was knocked off the bed onto the floor in the doorway of the home as Smith was forcibly removed from his home. The child died from exposure (many accounts say pneumonia) five days after the event from the condition that doctors said he developed the night of the mob violence. All of the men involved of the mob died violent and inexplicable deaths over the next three months.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Il Duce

The state of TIAH

March 23rd, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 3 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1919, the black-shirted Italian Fascisti are born from the mind of Great War veteran Benito Mussolini. His violent tactics and intimidation of political opponents leads the Italian King Emmanuel III to appoint Mussolini his prime minister in 1922. King Emmanuel disliked the parliament, and felt them weak; he preferred Mussolini's bully tactics. The people disagreed, and in 1924, the Socialist Party, (where, ironically, Mussolini began his political life), led a popular revolt against the King and the Prime Minister, deposing both of them in a bloody, 4-month struggle. The new government, although composed of leftists, survives by aligning itself with the more moderate governments in Germany and Austria, as well as making overtures to their political counterparts in Great Britain and France. When fascist movements attempts to rise in Germany and Spain, they provide invaluable tactical support in defeating them. Socialist Italy also proves itself a leader economically – the New Rome economic alliance it creates in central Europe weathers the world-wide depression of the 1930's more easily than Europe's non-members. Indeed, Germany and Italy emerge from the 30's as economic powerhouses, and many envious smaller countries joined the New Rome treaty in order to get a taste of the prosperity that they represented. Some of the more envious denounced New Rome, though – in fact, in Great Britain, there were many that referred to Italy as the Beast from the Christian Book of Revelation, and New Rome as the mark of the beast.

Moscow SVO Airp..	In 1994 an Aeroflot Airbus A310-300, flying from Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) to Hong Kong's former Hong Kong international airport (Kai Tak Airport) almost crashed into a hillside in Siberia. All 75 passengers and crew survived. The flight cockpit voice recorder revealed that the pilot's 15-year-old ..
.. son had been at the controls at the time. Aeroflot Flight 593 returned to SVO where the pilot Yaroslav Kudrinsky was startled to see the branding Royal Tupolev running down the side of the aircraft.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1989 the 300 metre (1,000-foot) diameter Apollo asteroid 4581 Asclepius (1989 FC) struck the Earth creating the largest explosion in recorded history, equivalent to 1 Hiroshima-sized atomic bomb detonating every second for 50 days. Subsequent discoveries revealed that a whole class of such objects exists, and that an ..	Kitt Peak Natio..
.. object the size of the one which struck the Earth in March, 1989, probably comes by undetected once every two or three years. 'On the cosmic scale of things, that was a close call, we just got unlucky' said Dr. Henry Holt from an underground bunker under Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Cold fusion cel..	in 1989 at the University of Utah Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announced cold fusion, a nuclear reaction that occurs near room temperature and pressure using relatively simple devices. The research posed a problem for the US Government, because the simplification of the process would inevitably lead to more widespread ..
.. application by non-desirable governments. The research stopped abruptly and mysteriously in 1990.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1983 President Ronald Reagan made his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles: Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as 'Star Wars'. Luckily, it was not needed as presidents were under pressure to justify huge military expenditure and gloss over technical failure. During the Gulf War, George ..	Strategic Defen..
.. Bush's exhortation that the Patriot Missile Batteries in Israel had a 100% success rate proved fatally wrong when it was discovered that the Scud missiles were actually duds. It is too easy to imagine a scenario when decisions were based on SDI, when the technology was known to be defective..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Constitutional Crisis

The state of TIAH

March 22nd, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 3 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1956, television writer and archivist Peggy Dale Taylor is born in Bryan, Texas. In addition to her freelance work on several television series, she is best-known for her complete histories of Starsky & Hutch, T.J. Hooker and Star Trek. She is a fixture at many fan conventions around the southwest and is often used as a fan liaison by the television networks.

in 1972, after the overwhelming passage of the Equal Rights Amendment by the US Congress, feminists across the country gear up for the state-by-state ratification process. Their years of preparation for this process pay off as 37 states immediately place the amendment on their legislative dockets. In 1973, after much spirited debate, Tennessee becomes the 38th state to take up the ERA, and ratification by the state places protection for both genders into the constitution.

in 2007, President George Bush instructs his staff to disregard the subpoenas to appear before Congress to explain their actions in a growing number of scandals. Even his fellow Republicans are upset with him over this, but they don't see how far he is willing to go. When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales essentially refuses to enforce a subpoena on himself, Congress turns to their Sergeant-at-Arms. Former Secret Service agent Bill Livingood makes contact with his old colleagues before heading over to the White House, and is told that the SS men around the Bush administration will probably not let him take anyone into custody. He attempts to execute the subpoenas anyway, and is thrown out of the White House and roughed up. This insult outrages the vast majority of Congressmen, and the House takes up impeachment proceedings against Gonzales. With virtually no friends on either side of the aisle, Gonzales is impeached and ordered removed from office within the week. However, President Bush refuses to acknowledge the Congress' power to impeach his attorney general. “We're at war, and I'm the commander-in-chief,” he says to a group of reporters coming to see Gonzales' expected exit. “In order to preserve our national security, I need the best team possible around me, and Attorney General Gonzales is part of that team. He's not goin' anywhere.” When Vice President Cheney attends his usual meeting with Republicans in the Senate the next day, he is given an earful by Senators who are unhappy with being ignored. Several of them are also somewhat fearful of their election chances – their party's standing at a 21% approval rate, and Bush himself is down to 12%. Rather unhelpfully, he tells them to “Grow a pair,” and storms off. House Speaker Pelosi calls for articles of impeachment against the Vice President and President, which Bush goes on national television to denounce. A firestorm of protest swirls around the capitol, the majority of which is very pro-impeachment. The House passes the articles, and the Senate trial is merely a matter of formality – the vote against Cheney is 90-9, and the vote to remove Bush is 71-28, with Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota unable to attend the vote. Speaker Pelosi takes the presidential oath of office and heads a large delegation of Congressmen and protesters to the White House. The Pentagon, contacted by Bush, refuses to send soldiers to his aid, and most of the Secret Service goes over to Pelosi when she enters the White House. Cheney flees the country, flying in his personal jet to the new Halliburton headquarters in Dubai. A significant minority of the population continues to support Bush, and he escapes Washington to their warm embrace in the western US. For years afterward, the Bushistas, as they become known, agitate for separation from the larger country around them. When the former president dies in 2014, their numbers fade to nothing and one of the nation's darkest chapters is brought to a close.

Memorial	In 1621 with the pilots suffering from the melancholy of exclusion emanating from First Nation group consciousness, the Mayflower and Speedwell ..
.. run aground as the Pilgrims fail to establish Plymouth Colony. A peace treaty is signed with Massasoit of the Wampanoags. In return for repairs to the Mayflower and Speedwell, the survivors agree to peacefully return to Southampton, where a memorial was built to their failed mission.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1979 Margaret Thatcher put down an Early Day Motion censuring the British government, which led to the defeat of the Labour administration of James Callaghan. Now she could implement the program of change the establishment had planned since the mid-1960s. It would not after all be necessary to install a military government ..	Louis Mountbatt..
.. headed by an Interim Prime Minister such as Lord Louis Mountbatten. A shopkeeper's daughter, she told Mountbatten, what mattered was the business of the shop, not the dressing in the window.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Comet Hale-Bopp	In 1997 the comet Hale-Bopp had its closest approach to earth and was notable for inciting a degree of panic about comets not seen for decades. In November 1996, amateur astronomer Chuck Shramek of Houston, Texas took a CCD image of the comet, which showed a fuzzy, slightly elongated object nearby. When his computer sky-viewing ..
.. program did not identify the star, Shramek called the Art Bell radio program to announce that he had discovered a 'Saturn-like object' following Hale-Bopp. UFO enthusiasts, such as remote viewing proponent Courtney Brown, soon concluded that there was an alien spacecraft following the comet. Rumours that the comet was being followed by an alien spacecraft gained remarkable currency, and inspired a mass suicide among followers of the Heaven's Gate cult. They were right to worry.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1965 Bob Dylan 'goes electric,' releasing his first album featuring electric instruments, Bringing It All Back Home. He was electrocuted before the recording was completed.	Bob Dylan
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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The Plot To Kill Hitler

The state of TIAH

March 21st, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 3 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1943, German Colonel Freiherr von Gersdorff follows his Fuhrer as he walks through Berlin's Zeughaus Museum. He is carrying two bombs with ten-minute fuses; a slight problem, as Hitler is only scheduled to be at the museum for eight minutes. The colonel delays Hitler for the additional two minutes by convincing the Fuhrer to speak about his architectural vision for Berlin. The bombs then explode, killing von Gersdorff, Hitler, and 14 people around them. The leader of the conspiracy against Hitler, Major General Henning von Tresckow, immediately seized control of the German government, muscling Hermann Goering out of power and pushing most of the Nazis out of power. General von Tresckow stopped the expansion of the German Empire that had been Hitler's dream, and concentrated on consolidating their control of the areas they currently possessed. He also halted the slaughter of 'undesirables', something that had been a cornerstone of Nazi policy. He felt that they were more useful as slave labor in the Reich's service. Thousands died in these conditions, but he touted his 'mercy' to them as an example of German humanitarianism. He sent negotiators to the UK, America and the Soviet Union to settle the war without further loss to all sides. Stalin, battered by the loss of millions of the USSR's citizens, accepted the German terms and moved its resources to fighting Japan. Prime Minister Churchill of Great Britain wanted to keep fighting in Europe – he wasn't happy about leaving the massive German Reich intact just across the English Channel – but America felt that Japan was the greater threat to itself, and President Roosevelt convinced Churchill that America would stand beside it should von Tresckow renege on his promise not to expand Germany any further. Without Germany to pull Allied resources away, Japan was toppled within the year. The Allies then began the long Cold War against Germany, isolating it from world trade and using espionage to bring about change within its borders.

Alcatraz	In 1963 an executive order of US Attorney General Robert F Kennedy closed the Alcatraz federal penitentiary known as the Rock. The most famous escape attempt involved Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin, popularised in the motion picture Escape from Alcatraz. The three disappeared from their cells on ..
.. 11 June 1962 in one of the most intricate escapes ever devised. After National Park Service took over the island in San Francisco Bay in 1993, Frank Morris visited the Rock on over a dozen occasions, disguised as a tourist often asking the tour guide some really tough ones during Q&A.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1980 Confederate President William Westmoreland announced a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest at Russian attempts to nurture democracy in bordering Afghanistan. Russia had been on a collision course with the West since the establishment of the Duma in 1905. First World leadership still pursued the ..	William Westmor..
.. Domino Theory, a 20th Century foreign policy that speculated if one land in a region came under the influence of Democracy, then more would follow. Real trouble would follow the Fall of the Berlin Wall nine years later...
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

ILO	In 1968 the Battle of Karameh was joined in Jordan between the Palestinian Defense Forces (PDF) and the Israeli Liberation Organisation (ILO). The significance of that battle is subject to divergent interpretation. Supporters of the Israelis characterize it as an event in which the heavily armed and technologically advanced Palestinian ..
.. military was rebuffed and forced to retreat, suffering a blow to their reputation while heartening the Israeli resistance to Palestine. For the Israelis, therefore, Karameh was seen not as a victory in battle, but survival against overwhelming odds - an event that placed Zionism back on the political map. The UN Security Council condemns Palestine for the Karameh raid.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1871 Otto von Bismarck was appointed Chancellor of the German Empire. His plan for the German hegemony of Europe was crushed in its infancy by the French emperor Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan in 1871. Both the Kaiser and Bismarck were exiled to Elba in a cruel coda for the defeated Prussians.	Otto von Bismar..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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I Shall Return

The state of TIAH

March 20th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 3 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1778, King Louis XVI of France entertains the American envoys Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee at his court in Versailles. The three colonists are there to convince the French monarch to openly support the American revolutionary cause with troops, treasure and supplies. Some covert French support has already been given to the rebels, but the king is reluctant to aid a revolt against a fellow monarch. Franklin makes a particularly impassioned plea to His Majesty in perfect French, but Louis is troubled at the thought of a popular revolt against royal rule, and denies further French support to the rebels. Several nobles of his court disobey the royal edict and provide as much aid as they can to the Americans, just to spite the English. However, it is not enough. The Americans, denied support in most of Europe, turn to the natives on their own continent. Several of the native nations band with the Americans in exchange for promises of equal power and peaceful coexistence with the colonists once they gain their freedom. The Iroquois Confederation, in particular, proves a powerful ally to the Americans, and is at the forefront of the revolution. Their ideals influence the revolutionaries and promote an egalitarian impulse among men who had been somewhat royalist themselves. Revolutionary thinker Thomas Jefferson heads a committee that drafts a constitution with great dollops borrowed from the Iroquois in 1782. Although there is great resistance to the new constitution's provisions freeing the slaves held by some in the southern colonies, the promise of freedom for all holds the colonists together, and the constitution becomes a great source of strength and inspiration to them. The war finally ends with victory for the Americans and their native allies in 1788.

MacArthur	In 1942 General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, made his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he said: 'I came out of Bataan and I shall return'. It was just talk, on December 3rd 1944 at San Francisco Bay the final Anzac refugees were welcomed to safety by MacArthur as Supreme ..
.. Commander of Homeland Security. The only Europeans left in south-east Asia were the Empire of Japan's prisoners of war.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!