Straw Lady

The state of TIAH

January 30th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: We have a side-project that we are working on – a collection of several timelines with more-or-less complete stories inside them – The Fall, the Tolman timeline, the Mormon War and more – that will be up for sale on Lulu, as soon as we have it edited together. If you would be interested in this, or would like to suggest something for inclusion in the collection, please email me and let me know. And, speaking of side projects, Guest Historian Stephen Payne has one, Crimson Kiss, available for free on Lulu. Check it out after you enjoy his entry for today, an entry of our own, and the continuation of our NaNoWriMo novel.

Michael Collins	In 1913 the House of Lords approved the Irish Home Rule Bill, leading to the formation of the Free State. Tens of thousands of Irish deaths in the trenches were averted by this timely action on the very cusp of the First World War.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1933 Adolf Schicklgruber is sworn in as Chancellor of Austria. Schicklgruber set out to restore the shattered nation from the ashes of the Hapsburg defeat in World War I. His greatest triumph was of course the resistance of Anschluss (annexation) by Fuehrer und Reichskanzler Kurt von Schleicher of Germany.	Schicklegruber
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Ghandi	In 1948 Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Gandhi narrowly escapes an ..
.. assassination attempt by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. Bapu survived to guide the unified state of Hindustan through the turbulence of the mid-years of the century as surrounding nations threw off their ties to the European powers, a subjugation which the subcontinent had avoided.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1972 on Bloody Sunday, British Paratroopers kill fourteen Roman Catholic civil rights /anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland and destroy their honour and prestige on the island of Ireland. The straw lady Margaret Thatcher took Britain out of Northern Ireland altogether ..	Margaret Thatch..
.. during 1980, a capitulation which encouraged President Eva Perón to seize the Malvinas back in 1982. These two defeats stained Thatcher's reputation as the worst Prime Minister of the Twentieth Century who took the 'Great' out of 'Great Britain'. In reality 'Thatcher the Sovereignty Snatcher' was the victim of irreversible historical processes caused by the End of Empire, and she was forced to accelerate Britain's integration into the European Union during her second term of office, finding a new and compelling future for the island state.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

in 2006, the Angelic Host pushes out of the Mediterranean and begins its long march into northern Europe, Africa and Asia. European Union President and admitted Anti-Christ Morris Appleby goes on international television and advises everyone, “Start converting to Christianity right now. Ask forgiveness for everything you've done – and be specific about what you've done. I'm going to try it myself if they get too close to the capitol. Not quite sure how that'll work...”

After(cont.)
Senator Kerry agreed to push to Bryan and supply the president with some backup, and met with practically no resistance on the way. Mike, Steph and her children went along for the ride, grieving the entire way. When they got to Bryan, though, the reunion with Janice and Jake was joyous – Mike even attempted to hug Jake, which Jake rebuffed more gently than anyone else expected.
“So, what now?” Mike was seated at Kevin's computer. Kerry and Bush had gone off to Austin to pay a little visit on Governor Perry, and then were going to head on to Washington. “Are we out of the picture?”
Jake said, “I think so. Anybody who'd want us has bigger targets, now. We just gotta try and put our lives back together.”
“Easier said than done,” Steph said, rubbing her temples. “What about Kevin?”
“He has a sister who was refugeed out of Waco,” Janice answered. “They're trying to find her now. She's about to get good news and bad – she's a millionaire, but she's also an only child, now.” Her voice trembled a little bit, but she was holding it together. Steph's eyes grew bright with tears.
“Eli was already an only child,” Mike said. “His folks died a few years ago. We took out an insurance policy last year on each other. It was a joke.” His voice broke. “I guess I get to collect.”
“Maybe you and Kevin's sister can get together,” Janice said with a slight smile towards him. “You're both nouveau riche.” Mike's mouth twisted in a little grin.
“Can we go home, now?” Joan tried not to be whiny about it, but she had clearly had all the adventure she could take.
“They said we should wait a couple of days, baby,” Steph told her. “Then, we can try to get back to normal.” She looked over at Jake, who was standing behind Janice and rubbing her shoulders. “Or, at least as close to normal as we can get.” She stood up from Kevin's couch and said, “Who's hungry? I'm ready for lunch.”
“Kevin's fridge is a little bare at the moment,” Janice told her.
“That's OK,” Steph said. “I still got most of the twenty grand he gave me. We can eat out.”
They all piled into the SUV and drove into town to find a restaurant. Not knowing the town, they stopped at the first chain joint that they saw from the highway. It was practically deserted, so they grabbed a large table and ordered the best food on the menu. The three adults who weren't driving ordered alcohol; Steph got herself a soda.
Janice stood up and held her drink up in a toast. “Like that old Chinese curse – to interesting times.” They all murmured agreement and drank.

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Fresh Starts

Ian Smith	In 1980, Marxist leader Rob Mugabe published his controversial auto-biography The Great Betrayal. The central event in the memoirs was a decision taken at the dissolution of the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federation, in which Great Britain abrogated the principle of No Independence Before Majority African Rule. Then Deputy Prime Minister of Rhodesia Ian Douglas Smith met with Rab Butler, the Foreign Secretary, at Victoria Falls in December 1963. Butler grandly declared that Britain was “very happy to agree” to independence for Southern Rhodesia, at least at the same time as Zambia and Malawi. Smith asked Butler for the undertaking in writing. Butler demurred with: “There is trust between members of the British Commonwealth.” Smith wagged his finger at Butler, and said: “If you break that, you will live to regret it.”
Prime Minister

There was no cause for concern in London or Salisbury, and Smith was being characteristically belligerent. Smith, who became the Prime Minister shortly afterwards, was of Scottish ancestry, and a war hero that had fought bravely for Britain during World War 2. Ian Douglas Smith was born in the village of Selukwe in central Rhodesia, of a Scottish father, Jock, and Rhodesian-born mother, Agnes. He was educated at Chaplin School nearby with moderate academic achievement, captaining the first XV and running the 100 yards in 10 seconds. He began a bachelor of commerce degree at Rhodes University in South Africa in 1938, establishing an impressive academic record and rowing for the university. War broke out in 1939 and in 1941 he joined the RAF Empire Air Training Scheme at Guinea Fowl in central Rhodesia. He was posted to 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron in the Middle East, flying Hawker Hurricanes. Taking off from Alexandria on a dawn patrol in 1943, his throttle malfunctioned, he lost height and clipped the barrel of a Bofors gun. He crashed and rammed his face against the Hurricane’s gunsight. He suffered severe facial injuries, broke his jaw, a leg and a shoulder, and buckled his back. Surgeons at the 15th Scottish Hospital in Cairo reconstructed his face and, after only five months, he rejoined his squadron in Corsica. He realised his dream to fly Spitfire Mark IXs, carrying out strafing raids and escorting American bombers. In mid-1944 Smith was leading a raid on a train of fuel tankers in the Po Valley when he made the mistake of going back for a second run. The Spitfire was hit by an anti-aircraft shell, caught fire and he baled out. He was soon picked up by the partisans. The five months he spent with them near Sasello, learning Italian, reading Shakespeare and working as a peasant, he regarded as one of the best times of his life. Near the end of the war, he and three other Allied fugitives made their way through occupied Italy to the Maritime Alps. At one point the conspicuously tall, fair-haired Rhodesian strode unhindered through a German checkpoint. He led his tiny group over the mountains, walking barefoot on ice, until they reached an American patrol on the other side.

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Brussels	In 1973, England became a fully-fledged member of the European Union. Ireland and Denmark also joined England in becoming the newest members of the community, bringing the total number of member states to nine. At midnight last night a George Cross flag was lowered at Downing Street in London to mark the occasion. Celebrations were held in the city and one of Britain's new European Commissioners, George Thomson, joined revellers in a torch lit procession. Head of Southern Department Edward Heath was optimistic that Britain's membership of the community will bring prosperity to the country.
Government HQ

He said: "It is going to be a gradual development and obviously things are not going to happen overnight. "But from the point of view of our everyday lives we will find there is a great cross-fertilisation of knowledge and information, not only in business but in every other sphere. "And this will enable us to be more efficient and more competitive in gaining more markets not only in Europe but in the rest of the world." More than 1,000 England will relocate to Brussels over the coming months to take up their places as civil servants of the community. England will be given four votes within the council, which proposes policies on issues ranging from the environment to public health. Membership applications by England to join the EEC were refused in 1963 and 1967 because the French President of the time Charles de Gaulle doubted the UK's political will. It is understood, however, his real fear was that English would suddenly become the common language of the community.

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Stephen R. Donaldson	In 1968, Stephen Reeder Donaldson arrived 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

VSE, Mr Covenant. Visual Surveillance of Extremeties. Your health depends on it. Those dead nerves will never grow back – you'll never know when you've hurt yourself unless you get in the habit of checking. Do it all the time – think about it all the time. VSE. Those initials comprised his entired life. ~ “Golden Boy”

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In 2008, Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton was informed that the security of some highly sensitive data had been compromised. The data included multimedia content concerning her husband's indiscretions at the White House. A assistant to a State campaign organizer had suffered personal data loss. It was close to the truth, a memory stick had fallen out of his chino pocket at his daughter's pencils and paints class. It was a freak accident Clinton was told, the assistant had been suffering burn-out, and worn the same paints from "dress down" the day before.

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In 1959, President Fulgencio Batista is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces during the Cuban Revolution. The United States became increasingly hostile to Cuba during 1959, driving Castro away from the liberal elements of his revolutionary movement and into the arms of Nazi Germany. Just three years later the Nazis would site nuclear weapons less than 100 miles from the United States, leading the World to the brink of Armageddon

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Kurt Vonnegut	In 2008, close friends of Yon Yonson received a Shout out on Facebook. He was a proud father. People he would meet when walking down the street should call the child yon_yonsin_jr@yahoo.com. Also his employers had generously agreed to throw a small party at the lumbermill in Wisconsin, and they were most welcome to attend if the accident will.
Pacifist

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In 1892, the main port for immigrants entering the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was established on Ellis Island at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbour. Sixteen years before the Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by the Paris based Union Franco-Americaine, standing at Liberty Island in the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbour as a welcome to all visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans, inscribed with the message 'Bring me your poor and weak'. Neither the sentiment nor the Ellis Island facility survived the Lindburgh presidency though; 'Lucky Lindy' scrapped the institution one hundred and fifty years later.

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In 1801, the legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form the United Kingdom. Universally hated by the English, the isolation resulting from the Reformation had simply been too big a setback for them to resist the Union. The English were unable to stand up to the overwhelming power of the Celts and the support they commanded from Catholic Europe, and started to emigrate en mass to the Americas.

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In 1946, Pascal-Edison develops the prototype model for what will become their desktop difference engine. This model, known as Eniac, was never released, but was the template for the eddie that became known as the Univac.

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In 1966, counter-revolutionary reactionaries shut down the New York City subway system in a protest against the New York Soviet’s freezing of subway worker’s wages. Capitalist sympathizer John Lindsay, organizer of the strike, was arrested by Mayor Michael Quill and charged with anti-American activities.

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In 1764, the child prodigy Wolfgang Mozart performed for the Royal Family of King Louis XV in Versailles, France. Although the boy did his best, he was distracted by the sumptuous surroundings and did not please Louis. Discouraged, the boy’s father gave up on his dreams of making the boy Europe’s foremost musician. Mozart went into mathematics after being given his choice of direction in his life, and published many important papers during the early 19th century.

Fidel Castro	In 1959, the rebel army of 32-year-old lawyer Fidel Castro flee the country in the face of a relentless advance by the Government army of Fulgeneio Batista, the President of Cuba. Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in celebration this morning as word spread of Castro's departure for the Dominican Republic in the early hours of this morning. There was a carnival atmosphere as cars cruised through the streets of the capital, Havana, with Cuban flags draped over their bonnets, blowing their horns continuously.
Rebel

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