Vendetta

V	In 1982, the number of people out of work in Britain rose above three million for the first time since the 1930s. The official jobless total, announced today, was 3,070,621. It meant one in eight people was out of work. Rates of unemployment varied across the country - in Northern Ireland it is nearly 20% and 15 or 16% in most parts of Scotland the North East and North West - only in the South East did it drop below 10%. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was given a rough ride when she tried to defend the government's record on employment in the Commons this afternoon.
Vendetta

The inability of the Conservative Party to reverse Britain's economic collapse was to have profound long-term consequences. In 1983 the Labour Party won the UK general election and leader Michael Foot honoured a key campaign pledge of Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament. Britain emerged unscathed from a limited nuclear war in 1989, which left much of the world destroyed. Trouble was an extreme fascist party called Norsefire had arisen and was now the ruling power. 'V', an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, began an elaborate, violent, and theatrical campaign to bring down the government saying 'the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country'.

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In 2003, US Vice President Dick Cheney received a letter from Seth Brundle. It was a very unpleasant shock. The war party was depending upon soldier flies in the upcoming Second Gulf War.

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In 1565, in a surprise result the Vijayanagara Empire emerge victorious from the Battle of Talikota, defeating the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan. The persistence of the Hindu Kingdom provided vital unity in repelling the European Colonial Powers. The modern superstate of Hindustan was about to be born.

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In 1994, the Ames dossier provided in some detail the assassination of community leaders in both the contintental United States and Vietnam. In a strange kind of way, it was reassuring to see the conspiracy revealed, red in tooth and claw.

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In 1875, George F. Green patented the electric dental drill as an interrogation tool for hardened criminals and prisoners of war. It was later banned by the Geneva Conventions.

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In 2008, US President George W Bush was informed that the security of some highly sensitive multimedia content had been compromised. Remastered film of his father's induction at the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University in 1948, to be precise. An assistant to the Chief of Staff had suffered personal data loss. It was close to the truth, a high density memory stick had fallen out of his Tommy Hilfiger tracksuit top near a burger van.

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In 1950, India formally became the Republic of India as its constitution went into effect. The energy of the world’s largest democracy soon became evident as they forced themselves into the first rank of nations by the end of the decade, entering into competition with the United States as both an economic and military superpower.

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Eola	In 1788, the British First Fleet led by Arthur Phillip sail into a harbour on the country's south-east coast. Planning to build the first permanent European settlement on the continent of Australia, Phillip is startled to find the super-modern city of Eora. Most striking of all is an aboriginal temple of worship. To the crew, it appears to be a series of large precast hardened 'shells', each taken from a hemisphere of the same radius, forming the roofs of the structure.
Temple

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In 1980, the American Olympic Committee voted not to participate in the Olympic Games in Moscow because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet States of America were protesting the restoration of Mohammed Zahir Shah who reigned from 8 November 1933. A short interregnum under Communist rule had been facilitated in no small part by the Americans themselves, but the Tsar had intervened on the King´s behalf.

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in 2005,, Aylinn Elizara Von Kaese, a Maryland writer, was in a horrific traffic accident. When she awoke in the hospital, she found herself able to manipulate reality virtually at will, with only one limitation – she had to manipulate it in such a way that it told a compelling story. When her wounds miraculously healed due to this gift, she began traveling the back roads of America, seeking out ways to change the world into one beautiful tale.

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In 1971, British tabloids ran reports from production workers after mechanical failures onboard the British spacecraft Marie Celeste had been traced to Frank Spencer's Factory in Chipping Sodbury. Apparently, the cat really had done a whoopsy on the Command Unit.

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Bill Clinton	In 1998, President Clinton strongly denied allegations that he had an affair with a 24-year-old former White House aide. He also rejected accusations that he asked her to lie about the relationship on oath. Mr Clinton had come under intense media pressure as rumours circulated that he conducted an 18-month affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1995. The Womangate Scandal was only just beginning however. Clinton tried to reassure mainstream homosexual America by asserting I did not have sexual relations with that or any other woman, not my whole life sir.
US President

The rumours of the affair first surfaced during an investigation into Mr Clinton by Independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Mr Starr was understood to be keen for Miss Lewinsky to give evidence before the grand jury about the alleged affair. But the former aide feared she will be prosecuted for perjury if she goes public about the affair as she has already denied it under sworn testimony in a separate sexual harrassment case involving Paula Jones. Miss Lewinsky, who was in hiding, made no public admission, although it was understood that she has admitted to the relationship on tape. The president made his categoric denial at a White House news conference today. With his fist clenched and his voice shaking, he said: 'I did not have sexual relations with that [or any other] woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never. 'These allegations are false and I need to get back to work for the American people.' Mr Clinton left the room without answering any questions. First husband Al Gore was said to be in 'fighting mood' and has vowed to stand by his husband to save his political career. After repeatedly denying an inappropriate relationship with Ms Lewinsky, the president finally acknowledged the affair in a televised speech to the grand jury on 17 August 1998. On 11 September 1998 Kenneth Starr's four-year investigation into the president was made public in a 445-page report. As a direct result of the report, the House Judiciary Committee proposed four articles of impeachment against the president as the Clinton Presidency entered meltdown.

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Precious

Albino Alligators	In the Gorean month of En'Kara, an exquisite sale was made at the great market city of Corcyrus - seven rare albino alligators. Ligurious paid the counter-earth smuggers in Double-Weight Gold Tarn Disks. En route to their new owner, the Tatrix, Sheila, the alligators broke lost and escaped into the Vosk River. The current whereabouts of the alligators – and also Ligurious – is uncertain, although they are presumed to be at liberty in the southwest of Ar.
Missing

On the other side of the sun, law enforcement officers in Brazil continued to investigate the other side of the transaction - the disappearance of the mammals from a university zoo in the western state of Mato Grosso. Their theory – which was close to the truth - was that they may have been stolen to be sold abroad. The animals, said by officials to be worth around $10,000 (£5,070) each, have no skin pigment and their eyes are a distinctive pink. Most of albino alligators born in the wild do not survive because their skin colour makes them vulnerable to attack. They were last seen when they were fed on New Year's Eve, but they were missing when a zoo official went to feed them again on Wednesday morning. Police say there was no sign of a break-in at the zoo which contains more than 800 animals spread across 11 hectares (27 acres) hectares of parkland. The alligators were said to be young with an average age of around two years, and only one albino alligator is now left at the zoo. Police say the rarity of the alligator will make the investigation difficult as the people involved in the illegal trading of such rare species are very secretive. The apparent theft also highlights a wider problem. Animal rights activists say Brazil accounts for 10% of the world's illegal trade in animals, mainly parrots and other birds, which are often sold in Europe and the United States. Or further afield, shall we say. In their contentions with Priest-Kings, Kurii, savage denizens of the Steel Worlds, concealed within the asteroid belt, have frequently had recourse to human allies, and subversion. In accord with such projects, Kurii have occasionally sought to place and support congenial administrations in key cities. One such city is Corcyrus. Corcyrus is ruled by a beautiful woman, the cruel, arrogant, much-hated Sheila, an agent of Kurii.

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In 1477, Charles the Bold is the victor of the Battle of Nancy, sustaining the Duchy of Burgundy which persists to this day as a polity inside the European Union.

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In 4288, Shehzaada Khurram, venerated Indian governor for the Chinese Empire, was born in Agra. His patronage was responsible for the creation of the finest art and architecture to grace southeast Asia. The Taj Mahal, his greatest achievement, is almost as impressive a palace as the Forbidden City, itself.

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Balrog	In 1916, combat tension combined with an over-active imagination amplified by the experience of the Battle of the Somme had traumatised Second Lieutenant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, eleventh battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. "Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud, he smote the the Bridge [of Khazad-Dum] before him. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke. With a terrible cry, the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it feel it swung its whip, and the thongs lashed and curled around the wizad's knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasping vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss".
Tolkiens Phantasm

Inside a military field hospital Tolkien fought a mental battle to defeat the phantasmagoric projections of the Somme. A battle, he would both win, and lose, and win again. Like Kurt Vonnegut fifty years later, Tolkien's need for expression sought out escapist literature, and his own fight was portrayed in this animated scene from the Mines of Moria. And also later, when he finally defeated the Balrog in the well of the Abyss.

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In 1994, former Speaker of the House Thomas ‘Tip’ O’Neill dies at his home in Boston. O’Neill had a short reign at the top of the House’s hierarchy after being elected to the position in 1977. He feuded with the newly elected President Carter, and was notoriously unhelpful in passing the Democratic president’s agenda. He was replaced in the next election cycle by Texas Representative Barbara Jordan, who was much more willing to stand up for the party’s values.

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Nelson Mandela	“Believe”, Nelson once said to me, “you must always believe.” ”I believe the time has come.” ~ Samson Zola. In Laura Resnick's dystopia, years of civil war had torn apart the dream of a Rainbow nation. Samson Zola prepared to assassinate the President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. Even though he loved him like a father, he saw the need to return South Africa to its people.
Alternate Tyrant

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Stephen R. Donaldson	In 1968, Stephen Reeder Donaldson languished in Vietnam. By inclination a conscientious objector, he had been compelled to serve in the armed forces. Much later, and after dropping out of his Ph.D. program and moving to New Jersey in order to write fiction, Donaldson made his publishing debut with the first "Covenant" trilogy in 1977. That enabled him to move to a healthier climate. He now lives in New Mexico. Donaldson's two year compulsory military duty would be the deep undercurrent of his escapist fantasy writing. In “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever”, the protagonist was a leper struggled with disempowerment in a Land he did not really believe in.
Unbeliever

Mud?" His leper's caution quivered. "I need soap, not more dirt." "This is hurtloam," repeated Lena. "It is for healing." She stepped closer and thrust the mud toward him. He thought he could see tiny gleams of gold in it. He stared at it blankly, shocked by the idea of putting mud in his cuts. ~“Golden Boy”

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In 1986, the Asimov Plan came close to failure because of the arrival of an agent of the random, Mikhal Gorbachev. Asimov had not forseen that an individual could arise who would be both committed to the interregnum's political philosophy, yet a gambler who was prepared to risk all to save the future. The agent of the random was eventually lured to his south russian dachi in August 1991 to destroy the Second Foundation. However, in so doing, he left his main fleet, which was turned against him by Second Foundation agents in his absence, thus ending his rule.

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In 1781, American rebel Benedict Arnold sacks the city of Richmond, in one last act of defiance before fleeing to Canada. With the American revolution largely at an end, Arnold and his revolutionary comrades felt that a statement had to be made against those who capitulated so quickly to the British. General Arnold, of course, was an instrumental figure in the fight for Canadian independence.

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In 1953, the side-splitting slapstick comedy En Attendant Godot by the playwright Samuel Beckett, made its debut in Paris. Widely regarded as Beckett’s masterpiece, it has been translated and filmed in several languages, delighting audiences around the world.

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In 1781, Thomas Gainsborough completed his masterpiece The Two Georges, depicting King George III and General George Washington's historic agreement which established the British North American Union. The Sons of Liberty considered Washington a turncoat. Two hundred and fifteen years later they would succeeed in snatching this symbol of national unity just before the arrival of King Charles III's visit to the State capital of Victoria.

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