Backtrack

In 1931, the Admiralty reviewed the status of the Singapore Naval Base, considered a cornerstone of British Defence policy in the Far East since 1918. After the Great War, the British government devoted significant resources into building a naval base in Singapore, as a deterrent to the increasingly ambitious Japanese Empire. Originally announced in 1923, the construction of the base proceeded slowly until the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The blueprint for the new base was a dock covered 21 square miles - then the largest dry dock in the world, the third-largest floating dock, and enough fuel tanks to support the entire British navy for six months. It was to be defended by heavy 15-inch naval guns stationed at Fort Siloso, Fort Canning and Labrador, as well as a Royal Air Force airfield at Tengah Airbase. Winston Churchill touted it as the "Gibraltar of the East." Yet the invasion of Manchuria changed everything, and the Admiralty recognised that a supposedly impregnable "Bastion of the Empire" would also bring great vulnerability to British prestige in the Far East. Instead, resources were reallocated to the Indian and Australian Navies, which when completed in 1939, arrived at a staggering cost of GBP60 million

Snake Eyes

In 1963, planning the shot from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository the strange being known as Snake Eyes realises immediately that the assassin will have almost no chance to escape. Since no other building in the area has the right vantage on the motorcade, his position will be revealed as soon as the shots are fired. Furthermore, with so many policemen around, he could be sure that the building will be surrounded and sealed up before he can possibly reach an exit on the ground floor. Nor—since the School Book Depository occupies a whole block, with a parking lot in back and no contiguous construction—was there any way of escaping through the roof.

It will be necessary to lead the Dallas Police on a wild goose chase, figures Snake Eyes, giving the assassin time to slip away whilst the patsy is under arrest.

In 1872, a 103-foot, 282-ton brigantine set sail for Genoa, Italy. The ship was built on Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia in 1861 and originally named the Amazon. Due to misadventures and bad luck, she had changed hands several times before being renamed the Mary Celeste in 1869 after a sale for $3,000.

Mary Celeste

On-board was a cargo of 1701 barrels of industrial alcohol shipped by Meissner Ackermann & Coin of New York City to H. Mascerenhas and Co., of Genoa, Italy valued at $34,000.The ship was last seen in the Azores on November 22nd, where the the cargo was off-loaded and secretly shipped back to New York. The Celeste was sunk and the $34,000 pocketed by the shippers, in a traditional maritime insurance fraud.

Lenin

In 1917, in Petrograd, Russia Bolshevik leaders Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky lead revolutionaries in overthrowing the Provisional Government. It was all for nothing, German High Command exploited the internal uncertainty to launched a ferocious assault on Western Russia. By Christmas, the Kaiser's designated monarchs were in place in Ukraine, Muscovy, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The reign of the German Tsar had begun.

In 1965, US President John F Kennedy is briefed on Operation Quartz . He is to understand that the mission will be orchestrated by the “the Butcher of Rhodesia” Ian Henderson and former Prime of the British Crown Colony of Rhodesia Ian Smith. You could say that neither favoured a diplomatic solution. Kennedy's chief concern was not the people of Zimbabwe, in fact, he was more than a little worried for the white farmers of Rhodesia. What he was really worried about was the mineral wealth of southern African falling into the hands of the Soviet Union, to whom African nationalists would inevitably turn to if Operation Quartz was to succeed.

Kennedy

In 2008, Wanda's of Montreal teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. The once profitable restaurant chain had received complaints from customer regarding abusive messages on the company's web site. "B*rfed, totally thux" was widely reported by customers as the most offensive comment. This unauthorised content on the site was a result of a rogue database update by a disgruntled employee.

Wild

In 1976, the old man Bugenhagen explained "It must be done on hallowed ground. The grounds of a church. Her blood must be spilled on the altar of God. Each knife must be buried to the hilt. To the feet of the Christ figure on each handle planted this way, to form the sign of the cross. The first dagger is the most important. It extinguises physical life and forms the centre of the cross. The subsequent placements extingush spiritual life and radiate out. Like this." He paused, assessing Jeremy Thorn's expression. "You must be devoid of sympathy, " he instructed, "this is not a human child".

Hallowe'en Story

In 1915, renewed allegations of British provocations were released to the world media by Secretary of State of the Imperial Naval Office Alfred von Tirpitz. Churchill, a 33rd degree mason had allegedly hatched a plot in the naval Masonic lodge, with Admiralty H.Q., the bosses of Cunard and the War Department; to sacrifice Capt. William Turner, the Lusitania, its crew and passengers to ensure that America came alongside Britain in World War I. At the time, Winston Churchill was in charge at the Admiralty and the intelligence was received by him and shared with Lord Rothschild, his mentor and benefactor. Between them they decided that the many German émigrés in America had been responsible for keeping America out of the war. Even worse, there was the possibility that America would remain isolationist, or worse still, might even end up supporting Germany. The Lusitania, a passenger ship which under normal circumstances was barred from carrying any armaments, had been loaded with both heavy and light armaments and ammunition, within sight of many New York dock worker's of German origin. As planned the loading of weaponry was then reported back to Germany's US embassy, which then informed the German government, which in response placed advertisements in newspapers across the U.S.A. warning that any ships carrying weapons, would be classed as warships.

In 1953, head of UK coastal defence Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay announced that due to rising water levels in the Thames Valley area, Barrier Command London had temporarily abandoned the capital, moving above sea-level to Harrogate. Ramsay called for calm amongst the civilian population. In fact, Ramsay had worried about nothing at all since January 2, 1945, when his plane crashed on take off at Toussus-le-Noble. He was en route to a conference with General Bernard Montgomery in Brussels, and was very lucky to enjoy a miraculous survival. The background to civilian panic was simply put. The invasion of earth had recently entered a third phase as aliens started melting the ice caps, causing sea levels to rise. Historian John Wyndham described the ultimate victory of humanity in the Kraken Awakes. The super-weapon was defeated the invasion, yet left the Earth was a significantly reduced landmass causing the historian to wonder if similar attempts had been made before in the distant past.

London

Myint Myint Aye	In 1965, on this day in Rangoon was born Myint Myint Aye to a Burmese father and an English mother. Meaning "high high cool" in Myanmar, the name was given to her by a Burmese priest. Throughout her early life, Myint suffered from delusional schizophrenia, alternately believing herself to be a Buddhist, and also the lead singer of an English Punk Band Bow Wow Wow. In 1980, Theravada Buddhist rituals enabled Myint to cross the river of time, and become the fourteen year old sensation Annabella Lwin. Her early classic “Go Wild in the Country” was a tribute to her subdued childhood in Rangoon, and her subsequent transcendental escape. She rocks our world to this day, after all, her destiny was high high cool.

In 2008, on the eve of Election Day, Texan singer/songwriter and Independent US Presidential Candidate Richard S. “Kinky” Friedman provided clarity on his religious beliefs. Noting that he's a Jew, "but not a practising Jew. There are those who say, 'If Kinky was a practising Jew, he needs to practice a little more.'"	Kinky Friedman

Curtis LeMay

In 1960, believing that American had just suffered the “greatest defeat in her history” US Air Force Chief Curtis LeMay dispatched a booby-trapped unmanned reconnaissance airplane to Cuba. Exploding mid-air close to the SS-4 site near San Cristobal in Pinar del Río Province in Western Cuba. Local Soviet commander, General Issa Pliyev, invoked his pre delegated authority to use nuclear weapons and launched two SS-4 missiles at Washington. A narrative summary of the classified Danforth Commission report of 2030 on the cause, course, and effect of the war was provided by Robert L O'Connell in The Cuban Missile Crisis: Second Holocaust". The book recounts how the institutional American response to an attack on Washington, DC resulted in the obliteration of the Soviet Union and the subsequent ostracization of the United States by the global community.

In 2000, on this day a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 operating as Flight 006 collided with construction equipment upon take-off in Taipei, Taiwan almost killing 79 passengers and 4 crew members. At first the relieved survivors fail to notice subtle changes to the Taipei Airport – until they pass a huge picture of Chairman Mao of the Communist Republic of Formosa.	Boeing 747

Wasteland

The state of TIAH

April 20th, 2007

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in 1891, General Anthony Franklin appoints Major Mark Wainwright as his staff chief, and has him send a telegram back to Washington describing the loss in Topeka. “Make sure they know we need more troops,” he tells Wainwright. The depressed major takes a couple of men to help him get through to the telegraph office; a smart move, as it turns out, because, as he is leaving, 'Sockless' Simpson's volunteers cross the border and begin taking over the Missouri side of Kansas City. Wainwright and his men fight their way back to the general, assemble the remainder of their troops, and flee the city. “I will take that man,” General Franklin vows to Wainwright.

in 1998, Arthur Pendrake and his main force of Welsh troops advance within sight of London. They take over a small television station and Arthur broadcasts a message to the citizens of the capitol: “People of London, I am Arthur Pendrake. I am the true King of all the Britons, and I am come to claim my crown. Today, I shall hold this fair city. I do not wish to harm my subjects, so I ask that those of you who are in the armed forces stand down when we advance. I shall not hold your service to the Windsors against you. Lay down your arms, and join me in restoring Britain to her former glory. You shall have a day to consider this offer.” Brigadier Major-General Charles Fortescue issues orders to shoot anyone who deserts to Arthur's side.

In 2165 teenagers played a cyberspace game of basket ball on this day at Venice Beach. Time travelling mid-century 20ths would have been shocked on their arrival at ZIP Code 90291. The truth was that humans from that era were ultimately responsible for the apocalyptic trash-ridden landscape that Southern California had become. Thrilled just to be alive after both World Wars, the years that followed were a decade period of pure hedonism. The Second was more traumatic than the First, and so the counter-reaction was stronger. Booming consumerism led to mass marketing, packaging and an exponential growth in the amount of waste being created by consumers. Much of it was still blowing around Southern California, radioactive enough to throw a Geiger Counter into a wild frenzy. And that was the second problem too - the decision to develop nuclear weapons. They had been used in twenty-six conflicts over the past two hundred years with catastrophic consequences for the ecosphere.

~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Empire Strikes ..	In 1972 Margaret Thatcher led a series of workshop sessions to conclude the Conference in Admiralty House. Her plan was breathtakingly simple. The Empire bankrupted us and now it was payback time. Britain would offer the new nations of the Commonwealth unlimited military assistance in return for highly preferential trading ..
.. agreements. This had to be done swiftly, whilst the generation of dictators in power had links to Britain. Many had been educated at public schools and Universities and were thus approachable by 'old boys'. More importantly, it had to be done whilst British military forces were still strong enough to be credible. 'The toast', says Thatcher, ' the empire strikes back!' to loud cheers.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - You're the Judge!

In 1968 Lord Louis Mountbatten lowered his morning newspaper to witness the arrival of three unexpected guests for breakfast. And a very unlikely group they were too. Abdicated monarch Charles Windsor, and the two Heads of the British Eighth Army, Bernard Montgomery and Claude Auchinlech. 'This better be good' roars Mountbatten ..	Lord Louis Moun..
.. to which Monty replies 'Better than any of the fiction you will read in that newspaper, your lordship !'.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Oklahoma City B..	In 1995 on this day officers of the FBI reviewed the security arrangements for the thousand year old Lenape soothsayer that was until recently held in a bunker under the now destroyed Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in the Oklahoma City. The soothsayer has been moved to a similar bunker under Tower One of the World Trade ..
.. Center. It was a risk of course, but the soothsayer performed best on the island of Manna-hata (Manhattan), near his Delaware roots.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - You're the Judge!

in 1953 the CIA mind control program had a change of name from Project Bluebird to Project MKUltra. Four of the most successful graduates of the program were Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan B. Sirhan, James Earl Ray and Yigal Amir, all of whom could  remember absolutely nothing  about the assassinations they had ..	Documents from ..
.. committed on John F Kennedy, Robert F Kennedy, Dr Martin Luther King and Yitzhak Rabin respectively.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Visions of the Future

	In 2007, the Bank of Scotland launched a new £20 note, featuring the Scottish economist Adam Smith. It was the first note in the new Series F banknotes, issued to mark five years of independence north of the border.

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	In 1976, the author Kurt Vonnegut died and always will die on this day. At the time of his death, he says, he is in Chicago to address a large crowd on the subject of flying saucers and the true nature of time. He has had to cross three international boundaries in order to reach Chicago. The United States of America has been Balkanized, has been divided into twenty petty nations so that it will never again be a threat to world peace. Chicago has been hydrogen-bombed by angry Chinamen. So it goes. Vonnegut was philosophical about his death, concentrating on the happy moments of his life, and ignoring the unhappy ones-to stare only at pretty things as eternity failed to go by.

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In 1919, British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier Winston Churchill opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children at the Amristar (or Jallianwala Bagh) Massacre. Years later, Punjabi separatist Udham Singh travelled to the UK and assassinated Churchill in a daring and audicious revenge attack.

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In 1940, Udham Singh prepared to assassinate the former Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, a revenge attack for his authorisation of the events of April 13, 1919 in Jallianwala Bagh. Known as the Amritsar Massacre, imperial troops opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children in an act of unprovoked barbarism, killing 1800 people. Singh understood that security will be a major problem in entering Admiralty House to put his plan into action. Driven by the spirits of the murdered Punjabis, he is determined to succeed however, Winston Churchill dies tonight.

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In 1954, Viet Minh forces fall into a trap at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu: Viet Minh where they are convincingly beaten by Franco-US forces and Hmong mercenaries led by Christian de Castries. Ignoring Eisenhower's advice to avoid entanglement in Vietnam as a counsel of despair, President MacArthur said they had not conquered the Japanese only to be defeated by night-fighters in pyjamas.

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In 1846, 300 tenants were unjustly evicted at the village of Ballinglass in Ireland during the Irish Potato famine. The indefensible Ballinglass Incident was the beginning of the end for the British Rule in Ireland. That great reforming British Prime Minister William Gladstone brought the Irish Home Rule Bill before the House of Commons on 8 April 1886 and before the end of the decade, the island of Ireland was free.

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In 1925, in the State of Tennessee vs. John Thomas Scopes (the Scopes Trial) Judge John T. Raulston ruled in favour of the high school teacher. Henceforth 'Any statement that denies Charles Darwins' proven theory of evolution that man has descended from a lower order of animals rather than the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.' became a crime in Tennessee.

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In 1881, the People's Will revolutionary movement in Russia claims its greatest prize - the life of the Czar. Alexander II was killed by a bomb in St. Petersburg. Sergei Nechayev, leader of the People's Will, led a small force against the Czar's son, Alexander III, and killed him before he could assume the throne. Peasants across the huge country answered the call of the People's Will to rise up against the old system and threw the country into anarchy. The Russian Civil War lasted until 1888, when the People's Will assumed power and Nechayev named himself Prime Minister. Most of the nobility in the country was killed during the struggle, including all the members of the royal family. Most of the other countries of Europe refused to acknowledge the Peasant Country, and the French government even went so far as to set up the Russian government-in-exile in the Russian embassy in Paris. This all changed when the Great War erupted between the Central Powers and the Western Powers of Europe; each side was quite happy to woo Prime Minister Ulyonov for the might of Russia's peasant army. Ulyonov threw Russia's strength behind the West, locking the Central Powers in a vise between east and west. Russia's entry into the war in 1916 all but ended the conflict - Austria-Hungary surrendered immediately, and the Ottoman Empire and Germany followed in the next three months. Prime Minister Ulyonov exacted a high price for Russia's involvement - the monarchies of all three of the Central Powers were deposed, and democracies set up in those countries. The Peasant Country continued exporting 'people's democracies' throughout the 20th century, causing trouble with its erstwhile western allies for decades after the war.

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In 2005, George Michael appeared on the premier British Chat Show hosted by Michael Parkinson. Afterwards, he delivered an inspired performance of his new song, with the haunting lyrics If Jesus Christ is alive and well, how come Peace, Love and Smokey are dead?. It was a tragic tribute to Smokey Robinson, who like Michael, had turned to drugs when long shadows had entered his life.

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In 969, Sultan Askia Ishaq II of the Songhai Empire defeated the bandit general Ahmed al-Mansur in Tondibi. The bandit al-Mansur had been plaguing northwestern Africa for years, and the Sultan was finally able to muster the force necessary to drive him back to his stronghold in Morocco.

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In 1881, revolutionaries unconnected to the Secret War killed Alexander II of Russia, the most powerful member of the Conqueror's faction of the Speaker's Line. His son, Alexander III, who had not been initiated into his role as a descendant of Telka the Speaker, was unable to fund the programs his father had started because he didn't know about them. Much of Russian research was lost in this period.

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Northwoods	In 1962, Lyman Lemnitzer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the USA, proposes a document, called Operation Northwoods, regarding performing terrorist attacks in Guantanamo Bay, to Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara. The proposal is accepted by President John F. Kennedy. Problems would arise in 1964 after Kennedy was dead. Even as US Marines stormed Havana the casus belli for the Cuban invasion was being challenged - by one of their own.
Memorandum

Compelling evidence was emerging that the wave of terrorism that struck America in late 1963 was the result of false-flag operations executed by the US Government itself. Sensationally, a former US marine Lee Harvey Oswald was claiming that he had assassinated John F Kennedy under hypnotic suggestion from the CIA. This lone gunman conspiracy theory shook the credibility of the Warren Commission's report, which placed the blame on a Cuban hit squad known as the three Hobos. The previously secret document for Operation Northwoods was finally made public on November 18, 1997, by the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board, a U.S. federal agency overseeing the release of government records related to John F. Kennedy's assassination. A total 1521 pages of once-secret military records covering 1962 to 1964 were concomitantly declassified by said Review Board. Operation Northwoods, or Northwoods, was a 1962 plan by the US Department of Defense to stage acts of simulated or real terrorism on US soil and against US interests and then put the blame of these acts on Cuba, so as to generate U.S. public support for military action against the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. As part of the U.S. government's Operation Mongoose anti-Castro initiative, the plan called for various false flag actions, including simulated or real state-sponsored acts of terrorism on U.S. and Cuban soil. The plan was proposed by senior U.S. Department of Defense leaders, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Louis Lemnitzer.

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	In 1925, in the the Scopes Trial, Confederate Judge John T. Raulston banned the use of Charles Darwin's satirical novel Planet of the Apes from Schools in the State of Tenneseee. The grotesque depiction of a technologically advanced ape society was perceived as a terrifying future vision in which history had taken a wrong turn with white supremacy set aside.

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