The Gift Of Death; Strangers In The Night...

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March 12th, 2006

in 1123 Post-Creation, Kiria, who is promoting the worship of Lucifer as a god among the angels and para-angels of Eden, gathers a group together and tells them of a wondrous new gift that she has learned of, called death. “This gift, my brethren, lets us all lay down all cares of this world and join our lord Lucifer upon his throne,” she tells her followers.

in 1587, Cardinal Peter Wentworth is sentenced to the Tower by Pope Elizabeth I. Rumor had it that he had rebuffed the Pope’s advances; the public reason given was that he had convinced the College of Cardinals to spurn the Pope’s policies. She thundered that “It is the Pope who rules the Holy British Empire, and not the Cardinals who flit about our feet.”

in 1648, Spanish playwright Tirso de Molina (Gabriel Tellez) dies in his monastery in Soria, Spain. The author created the immortal character of Don Juan, a womanizer who finds new life in the Lord and gives up his sinning ways.

in 1883, Ml’Astran sportsman Murrumgunarriman dies at his home in Wollongong. Murrumgunarriman excelled in three sports – cricket, boomerang and ml’kekl’k – and was Ml’Astra’s most famous citizen during his lifetime. His appearance at a cricket match in London in 1860 drew almost a million tourists to the city from across the world.

in 4621, Chinese Prime Minister Sun Yat-Sen dies at his Emperor’s feet in the Forbidden City, in Beijing. Prime Minister Sun had given life to Emperor Chengzu’s vision of the Empire’s spread across space; after his death, and the Emperor’s two years later, space exploration went into a temporary slump.

in 1989, President Ralph Shephard announced the union of Mexico with the United States. Although the puppet government of Mexico is publicly jubilant about annexation, the majority of the nation is resentful of the U.S. domination of the continent, and a small resistance movement begins working against the U.S.

in 1997, country singer Cheryl Ann Vernon and screenwriter Robert A. Taylor (Warning: music!) met at a wrap party for the film The Deal, which Taylor had written and Vernon had provided the soundtrack for, including the award-winning cover of Strangers in the night. The pair became inseparable and entertainment rags were soon tagging the pair, accurately, as headed for matrimony.

in 2004, several Martian-style flying saucers from Australia arrive to pick up Jacob and Livinia Sheridan and the crew of the Athena. While most of them head back home, the Sheridans return to the Athena to see if they can halt the Titanian crabs from spreading.

in 2005, back in America, U.S. Representative Carl Worthington shows something new that the Claws have started – they have what Worthington calls a “philosophical mouthpiece,” Dr. R. D. Reilly, making the talk show circuit espousing the view that servitude towards those in authority is the most noble way of life. Reilly has developed quite a following, and there is even talk of running him for office in his home state of Idaho.

Timelines in today's post: the Fall, the Holy British Empire, the Mlosh, the Chinese Empire, Communist America, the GZR, the Ralph Shephard timeline, The Claw and The Sheridans

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3 Deaths, 2 Unions, & A Couple Of Imprisonments

March 12th, 2005

in 1587, Cardinal Peter Wentworth is sentenced to the Tower by Pope Elizabeth I. Rumor had it that he had rebuffed the Pope’s advances; the public reason given was that he had convinced the College of Cardinals to spurn the Pope’s policies. She thundered that “It is the Pope who rules the Holy British Empire, and not the Cardinals who flit about our feet.”

in 1648, Spanish playwright Tirso de Molina (Gabriel Tellez) dies in his monastery in Soria, Spain. The author created the immortal character of Don Juan, a womanizer who finds new life in the Lord and gives up his sinning ways.

in 1883, Ml’Astran sportsman Murrumgunarriman dies at his home in Wollongong. Murrumgunarriman excelled in three sports – cricket, boomerang and ml’kekl’k – and was Ml’Astra’s most famous citizen during his lifetime. His appearance at a cricket match in London in 1860 drew almost a million tourists to the city from across the world.

in 4621, Chinese Prime Minister Sun Yat-Sen dies at his Emperor’s feet in the Forbidden City, in Beijing. Prime Minister Sun had given life to Emperor Chengzu’s vision of the Empire’s spread across space; after his death, and the Emperor’s two years later, space exploration went into a temporary slump.

in 1952, Dr. Menchekov begins experimentation on Velma Porter, after determining that her companion, Baron Mikhail von Heflin, would resist too much. The Baron had regained consciousness after collapsing outside Menchekov’s village, and the doctor had become very curious as to what his two guests really were.

in 1989, President Ralph Shephard announced the union of Mexico with the United States. Although the puppet government of Mexico is publically jubilant about annexation, the majority of the nation is resentful of the U.S. domination of the continent.

in 1997, country singer Cheryl Ann Vernon and screenwriter Robert A. Taylor met at a wrap party for the film The Deal, which Taylor had written and Vernon had provided the soundtrack for. The pair became inseparable and entertainment rags were soon tagging the pair as headed for matrimony.

in 2004, several Martian-style flying saucers from Australia arrive to pick up Jacob and Livinia Sheridan and the crew of the Athena. While most of them head back home, the Sheridans return to the Athena to see if they can halt the Titanian crabs from spreading.


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Pursuit

In 1691, the Warlock was taken captive in Boston by the witch-hunter Giles Redferne. He was sentenced to death for his activities, but before he could be killed, a mysterious figure appeared, propelling both the Warlock and the witch-hunter forward in time to 20th century Los Angeles.

Pursuit

Vonnegut	In 1968, imprisoned on a flying saucer from the Planet Tralfamadore, the German-American Kurt Vonnegut recalled a passage from the Bible - 'The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstome and fire from the Lord out of Heaven and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and in the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.'
Lot's wife was told not to look back, but she did and was turned into a pillar of salt. Vonnegut himself had pledged not to. He considered his book Slaughter-House-Five a failure, written by a pillar of salt. However, he was yet to arrive on the Planet Tralfamadore. Soon, he would realise that the fire-bombing of Dresden was - like Sodom and Gomorrrah - only one half of the story.

Dannat

In 2007, Chief of the Imperial General Staff and the professional head of the British Army General Sir Francis Richard Dannatt, KCB, CBE, MC delivered a status report to the British Parliament on the surge in military activities in Baghdad. Recent public opinion polls had revealed that the British public did not trust the upcoming report by the Army's top commander on the progress of the war and even if they did, it would not change their mind. This view had persisted since a 1920 newspaper article written by Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence who wrote that "The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information."

George Wallace	In 1976, in the White House, 37th US President George Wallace experiences an overly vivid dream. Even in his unconscious state he sees the connection with “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” which he censored on August 17th. On-board The Lord Ligonier he watches his Lieutenant, Curtis LeMay attending to a slave whipping. “My name is Alex, Alex Haley and I am a free man from the year 1976” gasps the author, refusing his slave name. “It is not, in this year of our Lord 1767” said Captain George Wallace in his dream, “ your name is Tobey and you are mine”. Wallace was confused about every aspect of the dream bar one, he had been standing up for America, just as he was now.

In 1915, Anton Dilger set up of a secret laboratory in Baltimore. The bio-terrorist was born in Front Royal, Virginia, to German parents, and moved to Germany when he was nine years old. He attended Gymnasium in Bensheim and trained as a physician in Heidelberg and Munich, later working for the Heidelberg University surgical clinic while researching for his doctoral dissertation. By the time World War One began, Dilger was in Germany, but he returned to the United States in 1915 with cultures of anthrax and glanders to unleash biological sabotage on behalf of the German government. The bio-terrorist strike that devastated America is described in The Fourth Horseman: One Man's Secret Campaign to Fight the Great War in America.	Fourth Horseman

Richard Nixon	In 1969, the Chicago 8 trial opens; the defendants were charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to violent protests that took place on the occasion of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Ugly scenes of massive demonstrations too place over the Kennedy's escalation of the Vietnam War. Bobby received the nomination, but lost the Presidency. By the time the trial opened, his challenger had already put into place the secret plan he described during the election. By a twist of fate, anti-war protestors had put in office Richard Nixon, that most aggressive of Vice Presidents in American history, and incredibly, he had delivered.

In 1818, border demarcation markers were formally installed for Moresnet, a tiny European territory of about 3.5 km² that existed from 1816 to 1919. Its two large neighbours (The Netherlands and Prussia) could not agree on who should own it, deciding therefore to make it a neutral territory where both would share control equally. Dr. Wilhelm Molly proposed in 1908 making Neutral Moresnet the world's first Esperanto-speaking state, named Amikejo or "place of friendship". Neutral Morsenet was chosen as the Capital City of the new Esperanto-speaking European State which rose from the collapse of the European monarchies during World War 1.	Three Country Point

In 1999, Patrick Danville languished in the basement of a house on Route 5. He has been held captive for some time, his tongue ripped out. A monster had been feeding on Patrick's emotions for sustenance. Introduced as a child in Insomnia, Danville was a budding artist who was destined to die saving the lives of two men, one of whom must not die - Stephen King and Richard Bachman.

Patrick Danville

© Stephen King, 1999.

In 2007, New Zealand cricket Captain Daniel Vettori apologised for his bitter words following his team's exit from the World Twenty20 tournament - "We were quite sloppy with our extras and when you come up against a team like South Africa and let yourselves down like that it hurts you. We have to watch a couple of games and we will be supporting South Africa against India and of course India against England."		Lou Vincent
The latter statement was considered a barbed reference by many English Cricket Fans. The UK had only recently had their pariah sporting status withdrawn and it was a highly emotive topic. That unhappy state of exclusion had existed since the Suez Crisis in 1956, which had resulted in the UK's expulsion from the Commonwealth. Fifty years after that disgraceful act of conspiratorial imperialism, the English had only just recovered sufficient credibiliy to be invited to the World Twenty20. Regrettably England had been eliminted from the first round. Top scoring English batsmen Paul Collingwood had been bowled out first ball after visiting a lap dancing bar the night before. And so it goes.

Fair Trade

Crocodile Artifact	In 2008, Brazilian law enforcement officers announced the discovery of a macabre crocodile artifact. Also found was a mysterious bill of material for Double-Weight Gold Tarn Disks made payable c/o Tatrix, Sheila to Ligurious of Corcyrus in the region of Ar. The investigation has not yet established any connection with the disappearance of alligators from a university zoo in the western state of Mato Grosso earlier this month. Yet rumours of off-world smuggling have persisted in the international media.
Police Discovery

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In 1971, man of the moment British spaceflight Commander Bert Smith was the guest on the Parkinson show. 'We had so much trouble getting there' he moaned to chat show host Michael Parkinson.

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In 1920, The Netherlands agree to surrender ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies. He was later executed in Berlin, sparking the counter-revolution forces behind the Kapp Putsch leading to Germany's domination of the continent before the swinging twenties were out.

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Ted Heath	In 1971, the Commonwealth Conference in Singapore ended with a decision over the wording of the Declaration of Commonwealth principles. Talks centred around Britain's proposal to sell arms to South Africa, despite a voluntary United Nations embargo on arms sales. Other African nations were opposed to the idea. The accepted draft of principles, submitted by Zambia, was a bold and successful attempt to put Britain under a moral obligation not to go ahead with the deal. It bound members to give no assistance to nations practising racial discrimination. Prime Minister Mr Heath belief that countries should make their own judgements was universally condemned by other members of the Commonwealth.
Prime Minister

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Stephen Harper	In 2006, the Conservative Party of Canada lost the 39th General Election to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The result was expected. Party Leader Stephen Harper was unelectably skinny for Canada's obese electorate.
Ex-Leader

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In 1994, the Ames dossier demonstrated incontrovertible evidence of the Division's role in the silencing of Cassius Clay and Arthur Ashes. 'Those uppity [racial slur] were going to give the game away' said Ames by way of explanation. He was quite without doubt utterly insane.

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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

Then to Covenant he said 'Well, Thomas Covenant .. - do you have any other names?'. 'Thomas Covenant,' he said as if he were rising to a challenge, 'the Unbeliever'. ~ 'Legend of Berek Halfhand'.

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In 4528, artist Cheng Shifa was born in Shanghai. The great port city afforded Cheng with a great wealth of material, and became the basis of most of his vast body of work. His nearly-abstract portraits of Shanghai pulse with a love for the city that is almost palpable. His work is often cited as the reason so many people move to and write about Shanghai to this day.

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In 1989, Salvador Dali, surrealist painter and filmmaker, underwent an experimental procedure to cure the palsy he had suffered from since the beginning of the decade. Since he had been unable to paint, Dali felt he had nothing to lose. After the procedure, the control in his hands returned, and he was able to produce art again. Although many consider this period his least creative, his masterpiece Christ On The Operating Table was inspired by his own operation, and was finished just before Dali’s death in 1993.

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	In 1973, the US president, Richard Nixon, appeared on national television to announce 'peace with honour' in Vietnam. It had been a long wait – almost five years – since he had announced his secret plan during the 1968 election campaign. But then again, he had a lot of convincing to do. Much of the machinery of government had severe reservations about Nixon's use of bacteriological weapons. Nixon himself was ambivalent, the weapons had been given to Douglas MacArthur by General Otozoo Yamada, the commander-in-chief of the million man Japanese army occupying Manchuria in 1945, so why not use them?

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Ted Heath	In 1971, Britain was suspended from the Commonwealth despite protestations from Prime Minister Ted Heath that 'countries should make their own judgements'. Problem was, they had done that – the other members opposed the sell of arms to South Africa, which was in contravention of a voluntary United Nations embargo on arms sales. The Commonwealth Conference in Singapore ended with a compromise over the wording of the Declaration of Commonwealth principles such that Britain could be readmitted at a future date when arms supplies were halted to the rogue state.
Prime Minister

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In 1960, the bathyscape Trieste reached the record depth of 10,916 m (35,813 feet) in Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench. Her return to the surface which took one hundred and ninety five minutes was shadowed by the mysterious beings known as the Kraken who unleashed an orgy of violence on all surface creatures including mankind.

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Blindfolded Protestors	In 1990, demonstrations continued in Archona ahead of the first Cricket Test. Outside the Yolande Ingolffson stadium, police armed with batons and dogs broke up a protest against English cricketers who had recently arrived for a rebel tour of the Domination of the Draka. 15 England tourists led by captain Mike Gatting insisted the match would go ahead.
Drakans

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