Ten Significant Events

June 26th, 2007

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The Announcement

in 1999, King Arthur II met with Prime Minister Kay Ector, freshly returned from Greece. “Our war is over,” Ector told the king. “On every front, the Illuminati are extinguished; the Central European Empire is no more.” Arthur clapped his old friend on the back and congratulated him on his work in bringing this war to an end. “The queen was a huge help,” the prime minister said. “Her influence on our allies, and her ability to rally our people, proved invaluable in this struggle. Where is her majesty, by the way?” Arthur looked away uneasily. “My queen isn't feeling well at the moment, Sir Kay. You'll forgive her absence?” The prime minister bowed slightly and said, “Of course. I hope it isn't anything too serious.” The king's face grew stony as he replied, “No, I don't believe it is.” After the meeting, he went to Queen Gwen's cell, alone, to speak with her. “I want to know something,” he said, standing close to the bars. “Did you ever feel anything for me?” She shrugged. “In the beginning, when we were fighting to unseat the Windsors – you were all fire back then. Remember that night when you first took the crown?” She ran a hand along his on the bars, and he didn't pull away this time. “That was real passion, my king.” For a moment, a long moment, they stared deeply into each other's eyes, then drew together for a kiss between the bars of the cell. “I still love you,” Arthur said, drawing back. “God help me, I still love you.” They twined their fingers together and Gwen told him, “I'm sure by now you've learned that those I once served are eradicated, my liege. I could be your queen again, sitting at your side, aiding you as you rule the most powerful nation on earth.” Arthur yearns to set her free, but cannot bring himself to do it. “You're bearing du Lac's child.” She reached a hand out to his face and stroked his beard tenderly. “You could not give me a child, my king; can you think of a better man to produce Great Britain's next monarch?” Arthur took his hands away from her and walked away. Gwen hunched against the bars of her cell in disappointment and said, “Before you leave, I do ask one thing.” He murmured over his shoulder, “What?” She whispered softly, “Your forgiveness, Arthur.” He took a key from the wall and opened her cell door. “It is granted.”

In 1999, the networks ran installment one of Ten Significant Events of the Twentieth Century (TSEotTC). British Prime Harold Macmillan spoke of the Hurricane of Change sweeping Africa. The "Terrorist" Nelson Mandela was executed after his 1964 mistrial in Rivonia. And Malcolm X brought it home in the Deep South.

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

In the beginning, the First Man and Woman put the stars in a blanket. The Coyote made the Milky Way by hurling the blanket into the sky. Navajo astronaut Jamie Waterman cherished the wisdom of the Old Ones. When the international mission landed on Mars, he simply reported “Ya'aa'tey” (“It is good”) to the NASA controllers. A self-described red man on the red planet, he had no time at all for the jingoistic nationalism of his fellow astronauts; his mission was to find life.

~ variant from Steve Payne : to celebrate the author's genius, original text of Ben Bova's classic "Mars" has been reserviced to present an "in context" alternate ending.

In 1971, recording of the double LP Exile on Main Street was suspended at Nellcôte, guitarist Keith Richards' nineteenth-century villa on the French Riviera. Exile wasn't intended to be a studio album and therein lie the problem. A number of factors were to blame for the lost opportunity for the Rolling Stones to make their greatest album at their absolute peak and capture the atmosphere at Nellcôte with messy faithfulness. "We recorded in Keith's disgusting basement, which looked like a prison. . . . The humidity was incredible. I couldn't stand it. As soon as I opened my mouth to sing, my voice was gone. It was so humid that all the guitars were out of tune by the time we got to the end of each number." "It was 120 degrees," Richards recalled. "Everyone sat around sweating and playing with their pants off. That's when I got into Jack Daniel's. You're trying to get backup vocals finished . . . and the voice starts to go: 'This'll give you another half hour.' It's those fumes that do it, man." The Stones had literally attempted to make Exile on the run. In May '71, they moved to France, citing the excessive taxation and police harassment in their native Britain. Many of the Jagger-Richards songs planned for Exile reflected the exhaustion and madness of the Stones' personal and public lives at the time ("Torn and Frayed," "Soul Survivor"). Jagger's marriage to Nicaraguan model Bianca Perez Morena de Macias on the eve of the Exile sessions irritated Richards, who wanted his singer's full attention during recording; Richards was at the height of his 1970s heroin addiction and spending a lot of time with American country-rock icon Gram Parsons.

~ variant from Steve Payne : to celebrate the author's genius, original text of Ben Bova's classic "Mars" has been reserviced to present an "in context" alternate ending.

Fallen woman	In 1761, the fallen woman dipped her swollen feet into the cool Atlantic ocean. As she arose, her fellow stowaway gasped in shock, dropping the Arab wine vessel to the deck where it smashed into pieces. Her lower legs had a crimson hue.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1918, at the Battle for Belleau Wood, Allied Forces under George Armstrong Custer defeated Imperial German Forces commanded by German Crown Prince Wilhelm. Custer said it was the toughest battle in fifty years, referring of course to his victory over Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse near the Little Bighorn River.	Battle of Belle..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Viennese Airlif..	In 1948, an airlift was started to Austria after the Soviet Union blockaded West Vienna. The Western allies turned to USAAF General Curtis “Candy Bars Away” LeMay. By now an expert in such operations, LeMay put into operation a plan he had conceived in 1946 for the resupply of the Japanese home population during Operation Downfall.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1963, on this day John F. Kennedy spoke the famous words "Ich bin ein Wiener" ("I am a citizen of Vienna") on a visit to the Western occupied quarter of the Austrian City. A former citizen of Vienna, Adolf Schicklegruber was not there to enjoy the speech. He was languishing in Spandau Prison with Rudolf Hess, intermittently ..	John F Kennedy
.. arguing over the wayward deputy's flight to Scotland in 1941. Hess' only regret was not staying in Scotland, he been forced to listen to this admonishment for eighteen long years.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Buonaparte's Exile; Kent State Demonstration

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: we have our second anniversary coming up on May 27th, and we would like to have another contest. For our second anniversary, send us up to three of your own alternate histories, and we will publish the best - no limit on how many will end up on the final page! We would like to see as many of you enter this as possible, so please - think 'em up, write 'em down, and send 'em on to us at rat4cat@gmail.com! Help us celebrate our 2nd year of existence in style! Oh, and if you're like Sean and we owe you an appearance in TIAH - email us!

May 4th, 2006

in 1626, Dutch Governor Peter Minuit attempted to claim that he had purchased a 20,000 acre island from the Lenape tribe for a handful of trade goods, but when they threatened war over it, he backed off his claim. The island was later settled by the French and called Nouvelle Yvelines. It became the hub of the greater expansion of French influence in the Atlantic northeast.

in 1814, former Italian Emperor Napoleon Buonaparte commenced his exile to Corsica. His old home had many sympathizers, and he was soon able to escape and attempt to regain his throne, but the allied northern Europeans forces soon captured him again and sent him back to his exile in Corsica. Broken and bitter, he died alone on the Mediterranean island.

in 1930, Congress found the arguments of a thousand economists more compelling than those of the president, and defeated the protectionist Smoot-Hawley tariff act. Without the protections that would have been granted by the act, cheap foreign goods continued to flood the American market and the depression worsened.

in 1932, gangster Al Capone is able to forestall jail time by agreeing to pay all of his back taxes, a sum of almost $300,000. The government accepts the fine, much to the chagrin of the Treasury agents who have brought Capone in. Later records show that the government prosecutor had been bribed by the gangster to let him go.

in 1941, one of communism’s most strident voices, Comrade George F. Will, was born in Champaign, Illinois Soviet. Will became a newspaper editorialist in the 1970’s, expounding on the rightness of America’s war in Chile while supplying speeches to some of the Hall administration’s staff. He continues to blur the line between government and media even today.

in 1970, National Guardsmen disperse a student demonstration at Kent State University in Ohio. Although one hothead in the troops had fired at a demonstrator who threw a rock at him, officers were able to keep a rein on the situation and prevent bloodshed. The student organizers of the protest, also wishing to avoid violence, cooperated after the brief initial confrontation and got the crowd to go back to their dorms.

in 1975, real estate tycoon Moses Horwitz died in his Long Island home. Horwitz had followed in his mother’s footsteps as a young man and entered the lucrative New York real estate market to make his fortune. As a hobby, he supported his brothers’ vaudeville routine for many years before it became evident that their Stooge act was going nowhere.

in 1989, Oliver North was convicted of several counts of governmental malfeasance for his role in the Iran-Contra affair. Fortunate to have escaped charges of treason, North served 11 years before being paroled. After getting out, he attempted to enter the still-thriving world of conservative talk radio, but was so infamous that no station would touch him.

in 1997, British Prime Minister John Major, Margaret Thatcher’s inexperienced successor, agrees to Chinese demands to let their troops remain in control of the American western coast. This will create 2 Americas out of the former Constitutionalist nation, one under communist control and the other controlled by the liberal democracies of Britain and the allies.

in 2005, Chelsea Perkins and Debra Morris begin the spell to transport them back to the Great Tree. Unfortunately for them, the spell that had been cast on Chelsea by Patience Redding warps their teleportation spell into something else; when they exit the small vortex, they find themselves on an English country road.

Timelines in today's post: Italian Napoleon, Communist America, the Ralph Shephard timeline and the Chelsea Perkins timeline

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect the TV series The Untouchables to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

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Victory In Egypt

The state of TIAH

August 30th, 2006

in 723 AUC, Egyptian ruler Cleopatra and her consort, Marcus Antonius of Rome, achieved a miraculous victory over the forces of Octavian of Rome, due to the intervention at the last moment of the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians allied themselves with Egypt, and with Antonius’ insurgent forces back in Rome, overthrew Octavian and his followers, and established Marcus Antonius as Antony, first Emperor of Rome. He was a mere puppet for Cleopatra and the Ethiopian king, though, and it was a mere 4 years before they cast him aside and ruled Rome openly. This caused another civil war, which left the Roman Empire shattered into 3 pieces; Cleopatra ruled the Central Empire, the Western Empire returned to republican rule, and the far east of the Empire went back to indigenous rule, rejecting Roman ways. Over time, the Central and Western Empires sought reconciliation, but the fundamental differences between monarchy and republic always stood in their way.

in 1918, Comrade Nikolai Illich Ulyanov, better known to the world as Lenin, is shot and killed by a fellow revolutionary as he speaks to workers in a factory in Moscow. With the death of the Bolshevik leader, chaos erupts among the revolutionary factions; Trotsky’s forces fought Stalin’s in the streets of Moscow as the summer ended, and Trotsky emerged victorious from the struggle as winter seized Russia. Stalin was forced into exile, while Trotsky tried to turn his starving, impoverished nation, beset on all sides by white governments eager to restore the monarchy, back into a world power. Although he was harsh at first, Trotsky truly believed in socialism, and enacted reforms across Russia that benefited the working class of the nation. He also believed that the “dictatorship of the proletariat” should fade away sooner rather than later, and once the civil unease was quelled in 1927, called for elections across the huge nation. People who had never voted for anything before in their lives now were able to choose the leaders of Russia, albeit from a somewhat limited slate of candidates. The Russian Soviet State’s first Prime Minister was Trotsky himself, who served 1 term of 5 years, and then was succeeded by a non-Bolshevik, Pyotr Nyetchev of the Socialist Reformation Union. Stalin even attempted to run for Prime Minister when he was pardoned from his exile in 1945, but his power base in Russia by that time had dwindled to nothing.

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Queen Elizabeth II Crowned In Exile; The Sun Shines At Night In Hanoi

June 2nd, 2004

in 4561, General Ka-Liet of the Viet forces in Hanoi managed to draw a sizable portion of the Chinese forces into a trap; the Viet had managed to capture one of the Sun Bombs that the Emperor's greatest scientists had been working on, and after drawing some 50,000 troops after him into the countryside around the city, he set it off. In one brief flash, the Chinese forces had been cut by a quarter.

in 1882, singer Carla Lambert was born. She caught the eye of Thomas Edison's movie company, Dynamic Pictures, and starred in several films for them. Rumors of an affair between her and Edison were heatedly denied, but she did spend quite a bit of time at his mansion in New Jersey.

in 1922, the Titanic, a huge luxury ocean liner of the White Star line in England, was retired. While it sailed, it was touted as unsinkable, a reputation that White Star used to become the top cruise line of the day.

in 1953, Elizabeth Windsor, daughter of exiled King George VI, was crowned Elizabeth II after her father's passing. The ceremony, held at the British Government-In-Exile's compound in Washington, D.C. was brief and untelevised. Elizabeth herself lived a reclusive life and would die without returning to England, which remained under Nazi control until her son's return in 1982.

in 2000, our solar system was destroyed by the forces of galactic justice in order to contain He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

in 2003, the European Space Agency launched the Mars Express probe. Martian forces terminated it in December, prior to the invasion.

Franklin Dies In Exile

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: we have our second anniversary coming up on May 27th, and we would like to have another contest. For our second anniversary, send us up to three of your own alternate histories, and we will publish the best - no limit on how many will end up on the final page! We would like to see as many of you enter this as possible, so please - think 'em up, write 'em down, and send 'em on to us at rat4cat@gmail.com! Help us celebrate our 2nd year of existence in style!

April 17th, 2006

in 1534, prior to his summary execution for disloyalty, Sir Thomas More was confined to the Tower of London by Pope Henry VIII. Although More had proven himself a valuable propagandist against the few remaining Yorkists in the Holy British Empire, Pope Henry thought him too capable a man to be left alive.

in 1790, American exile Benjamin Franklin dies in Montreal. Although he had been active in the Canadian Independence movement and had helped with the final negotiations in that war, his heart was with his native America, and he wanted his body to rest in his home colony of Pennsylvania. Although it took many years, his family were finally able to bring him home to rest in American soil.

in 1810, Lewis Norton of Troy, Pennsylvania created one of America’s greatest contributions to world cuisine with his Pineapple Cheese. This artfull blending of fruit and dairy was considered sublime perfection in the kitchens of fine European restaurants, and helped America break into the top ranks of culinary recognition.

in 1915, the Harlequin, captained by Congress of Nations officer Captain Michael Smith, arrives at the C.N. base on Pluto with his “cargo” of Q'Barian refugees. He immediately reports everything he has found out to the base commander, and is then ordered to take the Q'Barian doctor, Ch'Kel'Mlar, to earth so that he may speak to the main C.N. body about the Kainku.

in 1952, outside of Cairo, Mikhail von Heflin draws on extra-dimensional forces and heals the leg of his lover, Velma Porter. Her new foot seems to work just as well as her old one, and she is grateful to have the use of it back. She keeps the peg leg she had made, just in case.

in 4656, one of the more remote areas of the Chinese Empire, the Samoan Islands, institutes a democratic council for the first time in its history. Following the example laid out by the new elected emperor, they elect a governing Council, which then elects a Governor. Representatives of the Chdo Democracy, the alien civilization responsible for the democratization process, are pleased to observe the elections and pronounce them a success.

in 1961, anti-Castro Cubans land at the Bay of Pigs with support from the American Navy and Air Force. They press halfway across the island before encountering heavy resistance from Cuba’s military, and then the fighting is mainly left to America soldiers. This prompts Cuba’s Fidel Castro to call for help from the Soviet Union, and the world is forced to the brink of nuclear war before President Richard Nixon orders his people to withdraw from Cuban territory.

in 1969, Enrique Soledad, El Salvador’s President and Communist Party Chairman, is forced to resign under American pressure. Soledad had spearheaded the reforms known as the Salvadoran Spring, an attempt to mix communism with some free-market practices. When the population of the small nation appeared ready to throw out their socialist roots, the Soviet States of America stepped in to bring them back into the fold.

in 1997, British Brigadier General Lewis Meriweather seizes 4 nuclear missiles that Egyptian troops had been transporting to the American coast. Since the invasion of Constitutionalist America by allied forces, the Egyptians had been seeking nuclear technology and the British had been attempting to keep it from them. Meriweather likened it to “fighting your friends as much as your enemies.”

in 2005, Chelsea Perkins is told by her teacher, Debra Morris, that they will have a break of a few weeks from study, so that Miss Perkins' work can be evaluated by the Council of Wisdom. Chelsea asks if she can visit her mother, but Miss Morris says, “Oh, my heavens, no. She'll call the FBI to keep you from leaving.” Although Chelsea appears to accept this decision, she has other plans in mind.

Timelines in today's post: the Holy British Empire, Canadian Independence, the Mlosh, the Chinese Empire, von Heflin, Communist America, the Chelsea Perkins timeline and the Ralph Shephard timeline

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect the 1983 mini-series Kennedy to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

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Good long fiction from the AH.

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Reflections In Exile

The state of TIAH

January 13th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: Although I still feel weak, I think I'm well enough to continue writing After, so we will move forward today. I would also like to let you all know of a side-project that I'm going to be assembling. I have several timelines with more-or-less complete stories inside them – The Fall, the Tolman timeline, the Mormon War – and I would like to put them all into a collection for sale on Lulu. 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. Meanwhile, enjoy Guest Historian Stephen Payne's entry for today, followed by the continuation of our NaNoWriMo novel.

Halifax	In 1947 Head of the British Government in Exile Lord Halifax reflects on his miserable condition as a guest at Rideau Hall, residence of the Governor General of Canada in Ottawa. At long last the Nazis had prepared terms that would permit the Government to return to London, possibly before ..
.. the long and freezing Canadian winter got a great deal worse. The price is that Halifax must hand over the Royal Navy to the Germans, and that is a big heating bill by anyone's reckoning.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1935 as Germany completes a remarkable recovery from the ashes of ..	Saarland Flag
.. defeat in World War I a plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wished to join the Weimar Republic. By the time of the 'day of infamy' strikes by the fascist forces of Anglo America on 'deux six un un' (26/11/1941), Germany would be close to 1914 levels of key demographics including population, production and national output.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

King David Kalā..	In 1887 Marines from the U.S.S. Boston landed in Honolulu and imposed the Bayonet Constitution, stripping the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority, disenfranchised all Asians and poor citizens while generally empowering rich citizens, including American, European and native Hawaiian ..
.. elites. This new imperialism led ultimately to the expulsion of the Americans from AsiaPac in the 1940s at the hands of the liberating troops of the Empire of Japan.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1610 by deductive logic Galileo Galilei discovers the counter-earth, a same sized planet rotating on the far side of the sun.	Galileo Galilei..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

in 1991, game designer Taylor Strawn (nee White) was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Overcoming the tragedy of his pre-teen years, he became one of the most successful computer game programmers in the industry. After his work with Maxis on Spore II, he left the company to concentrate on his own designs, beginning with the virtual reality hit The World Underneath, which garnered several awards on release and established his company as one of the top in the country.

After(cont.)
Off-roading was rough. There was a reason that Bush was always filmed clearing brush on his ranch – there was brush everywhere. The jeep could barely make it through a lot of it; there were several points where everyone had to get out, clear the path, and then move the jeep forward.
“We should just leave the jeep and go forward on foot,” Jake said.
“I think I speak for everyone else when I say that you're probably the only one of us who's in that kinda shape, Jake,” Janice said.
“Nothin' like a good 10-mile hike to get you in shape,” Jake said, laughing at her.
“Yeah, the kinda shape that lies flat on the ground and can't shoot back or escape when the bad guys come and get us.”
“Good point,” Jake muttered, pushing and pulling on a particularly nasty plant that wanted his blood. It got it, but at the cost of its own life. He pulled it out of the ground and tossed it as far away as he could. “I'm just afraid that this is gonna take too long for us to be any good.”
“The president will be able to hold out,” Kevin said. Out of his sight, Eli rolled his eyes. “He's going to be OK till we get there.”
“Right,” Jake said, returning to his task. Janice helped him pull out the last big obstacle in their path, and then he looked ahead. He estimated they had maybe a mile that the jeep didn't need any help to cover in front of them. “Pile in the car, everybody.” They all jumped in and he tore off, trying to make up for the lost time by driving as recklessly as he dared.
“I kinda wish we'd taken the SUV,” Kevin said.
“We wouldn't have made it past the road blocks,” Janice said. “And all this would've ruined it.” A particularly hard bump knocked her back, and she struggled back up. “Nice drivin', Sarge.”
“I ain't drivin' Miss Daisy.” Jake pulled up to another clump of vegetation and scanned the horizon. “Where's west?”
Kevin looked at Janice's GPS and pointed. “That way. We're still about 18 miles from the ranch, according to this thing.”
“It took us two hours to cover the last 5 miles.” He looked up at the sun, which was now dipping into its downward path to afternoon. “This is crap. We can't move forward at night because the lights'll be seen.”
“You can wear my night-vision goggles,” Janice volunteered.
“The Sergeant was right before,” Eli said. “We need to go forward on foot. It'll be faster.”
“Says you,” Janice told him. “These little legs don't do hiking.”
“Maybe they need to start,” Jake said, looking over at Kevin. “What do you say, Bradley? Think you can make 18 miles before nightfall?”
“Probably not, and I've got another reason we need the jeep.” He turned back to the others. “We may need to carry the president out of there. Once we've got him, we don't need to worry about roadblocks; we can take the main roads.”
“Good point,” Janice said, hopefully looking over at Jake.
“Yeah, that is a good point.” Jake looked at the enemy line – he wished that he had a little elevation so that he could see if there was an easier route through. The flatness of the countryside was wonderful from a defensive standpoint; it was almost impossible to get through to the ranch. He bet that the security detail in charge of the president was grateful for the natural advantage this land gave them. “OK, we'll keep the jeep. But, everybody needs to be lookin' for an easier way to drive. Keep your eyes peeled.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Janice said, throwing him a happy salute.


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The Truth Of Sacrifice

August 25th, 2007

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The Announcement

Don't forget - Birthday Contest for Steve – November 22, 1967. Send in an alternate birthday for him for us to post!

Alternate Historian's Note: Another side trip instead of one of the main stories – if you'd like to see more a main story, email us and let us know which ones you prefer!

I went back in time the other day. It was quite an interesting experience. I almost prevented the birth of Hitler, and was an inch away from saving Martin Luther King. And, by the way, it was Oswald, and he was the only gunman. I can say that without fear of contradiction.
I'm not supposed to interfere, but you can't help yourself, really. After all, what's the point of going back if you're not going to try to change things? Time travel is the ultimate wish fulfillment. If you go back far enough, and you know enough, you can be a god.
Marcus had wanted to do that; be a god. He told me that he could bring a few gadgets with him, set up shop in Mesopotamia or someplace like that, and he would never have to worry about anything ever again. I reminded him that modern conveniences like hologames, running water and vaccinations might be missed by someone playing the god for the primitive locals, but he says that he could tough it out. I doubt it.
But, he's been gone for a while now, and I don't think he's coming back. The world hasn't come crashing down around us, so whatever changes he's made, I assume that they've already been taken into account in the time stream. I hope.
That's what we all hope, really. Everybody involved in the project has got to hope that we can't really change the past, at least not in a way that will destroy the present. If we can, then somebody's going to screw us all up any day now.
Maybe they already have.
There are a lot of paradoxes in this line of work, and you really just have to get used to them. I mean, if you try to grasp each set of contradictions that you bring up just by appearing in the past, you'd spend all your time sitting around confused instead of doing something. And that's not very productive.
My main area of focus is on historical accuracy in textbooks. I was the one who got to correct all the assassination buffs who’ve been living on JFK rumors for decades. That was my masterpiece; seventeen cameras along a one mile patch of road in old Dallas. Conclusive proof that the only shots came from the book depository, there was nobody on the grassy knoll, and I got a really good close-up of Lee Harvey himself squeezing the trigger. How they howled. I've now been labeled part of the conspiracy.

In 1940, the Imperial Government of Japan demanded and received the right to place Vietnam under military occupation, restricting the local French administration to figurehead authority.	Uncle Ho
Seizing the opportunity, the Communists organized the broad Viet Minh Front and prepared to launch an uprising at the war's end. The Viet Minh (short for Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh, or League for the Independence of Vietnam) emphasized moderate reform and national independence rather than specifically Communist aims. When the Japanese surrendered to the Allies in August 1945, Viet Minh forces arose throughout Vietnam and declared the establishment of an independent republic in Hanoi. Now the Vietnamese and the French shared the common experience of resistance to a fascist occupier. Matters had moved far ahead from the refusal at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference to hear Ho Chi Minh's case for self-determination. France quickly developed a very independent foreign policy to Anglo-America, demonstrated as recently as 2003 when President Chirac opposed the invasion of Iraq. Bizarrely, Anglo-America described the French's anti-imperialism as the views of "Old Europe". Figure that one out.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

A group of people is coming towards us. They're tourists from Saudi Arabia it looks like, on a tour of the historic landmarks of Cambridge, Massachusetts or out for the local colour. They're diminutive and neatly turned out in burqas.

Aunt Lydia	"And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not to display their adornment except that which ordinarily appears thereof and to draw their headcovers over their chests and not to display their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands fathers, their sons." ~ Qu'ran Sura 24:31
Handmaid

"Excuse me," said the interpreter again, to catch our attention. I nod to show I've heard him. "She asks, are you happy?". I can imagine it, the curiosity: Are they happy? How can they be happy? "Yes, we are very happy, " I murmur. I have to say something. What else can I say?" The full article is available at Wikipedia

~ quotation from Margaret Atwood: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

Jack Black	In 2013, actor Jack Black was selected for the role of Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11: the Temperature at which Freedom Burns. Labelled an al-Qaeda training video by group Move America Forward, the original footage had been lost when the author died in a mysterious accident on this day in 2004.
President Hillary Clinton hailed the release as highly significant. The movie was a necessary reminder of the hard fought freedoms that America had seized back under her Administration.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight David Eisenhower presented US President Harry Truman with three options to establish US ground control in the Far East. As a catalist for unopposed military occupation Ike recommended biological weapons seized from the notorious Unit 731 in Manchuria, gas or the new super weapon of napalm. Agreement on napalm was reached, and Operation Rolling Thunder authorized.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 2002, in Roland J. Green' George Custer Slept Here a cavalryman's assault on Sicily and then mainland Italy delivers a radically altered outcome. Surprise landings and bombings prevent German troops from evacuating Messina at the end of the Sicilian campaign. With Custer remaining in charge of American forces, aggressive planning results in the Allies skipping a crawl up the Italian boot, and instead landings near Civitavecchia permit a result in which Rome may fall seven months early.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1814, the second war of independence ended in ignominy when Washington, D.C. was burned to the ground and the White House destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812. Arthur Wellesley immediately began the construction of the modern city of Wellington, residence of the Governor-General of the North American Union which bestrides the Potomac River to this day. It was the start of a new phase in the special relationship for Anglo-America.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1944, following the Allied invasion of France, Henri Philippe Pétain and members of the Vichy government cabinet prepared to flee to Germany where they planned to establish a government in exile at Sigmaringen. Captured by the French Resistance, Pétain revealed the degeneracy in the French state that had caused the collapse in 1940. Pétain's captors were appalled. It was an incredibly, simply incredible story. If true, Pétain was the only member of La Troisième République (French Third Republic) to emerge with honour. But could such a fantastic story be true?

~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne.

Castle Bonny	In 1943, Head of the British Government in Exile, Lord Halifax gave his public view of Castle Bonny which premièred six days before on Broadway. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz, and starred Cary Grant as Dick Blaine, Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund and Paul Henreid as resistance leader Victor Laszlo, caught in ..
.. a love triangle. The rekindled romance between Blaine and Lund was set during Great War II in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, off the Bight of Bonny – then controlled by the Nazi Protectorate of Britain. The final scene shows Dick, Laszlo and a detachment of Free British soldiers on a ship, to incorporate the Allies' 1943 invasion of England. “The truth of sacrifice runs through the whole film, ” said the Prime Minister from the Governor's residence at Rideau Hall, Ottawa “just as our forces are doing on the south coast of England". Privately Halifax considered the movie quite dreadful. He also felt quite strongly that the forthcoming Canadian winter would be more then ample suffering for himself. Minus 20, that's just too cold for comfort.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127, through the functioning of the Hussein-Sadat time dilation device, the Eurasian fugitive known as Brent arrived in the London office of Lord Peter Goldsmith on 11 March 2003. At that precise moment, confidential legal advice was being written ..	Goldsmith
.. by the Attorney General on behalf of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Tony Blair. That advice was that British involvement in a land invasion of Iraq was legal despite the absence of a UN Security Council Resolution explicitly sanctioning participation by the “coalition of the willing”. Lord Goldsmith had more pressing problems though, his wife of 33 years, Joy was about to discover his affair with the first Asian QC Kim Hollis. At gunpoint Brent seized both Goldsmith to Hollis to join him on return to 2127. Perhaps a few days in the post-Jihad world would convince the Attorney General to offer different advice, changing the course of history..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Duckies!	In 1942, S.M Sterling's classic Minceing Through Georgia portrayed Duckie Commander Eric Von Shrakenberg and his Century A Janissaries camped in German occupied southern Russia. Actually, the Duckies had put the Nazis on the run and the Eurasian War looked set to conclude very much in favour of the Domination. Trouble was through they were running dangerously low on peppermint herbal tea.
~ entry by Steve Payne: I've always thought there was a slightly sadomasochistic undertone to the over-caricatured fascists of the Draka taking over the world and skewering French peasants on stakes etc. My exagerrated satire of the already exagerrated Drakas of S.M. Stirling's novels (Marching through Georgia, Drakas, Stone Dogs etc) who are just a bit too inhumanely tough and hence “camped” up in my variant.

War of 1812	In 1814, Washington, D.C. is burned and White House is destroyed by British forces under the Duke of Wellington. Ostensibly a revenge attack for the destruction of Yorktown (modern day Toronto), the Duke wanted to stamp British authority as he turned the clock back to 1775. The new city of Victoria was built upon ruins of ..
.. DC and is of course today the residence of the Governor General of New Britain.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, an increasingly desperate American military drop the fourth nuclear bomb, “Tall Boy” on Tokyo. Surely, this would forces the Emperor of Tokyo to accept unconditional surrender as inevitable.	Harry Truman
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Northwoods	In 1964, even as US Marines stormed Havana the casus belli for the Cuban invasion was being challenged - by one of their own. 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.
Memorandum

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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Robert Mugabe	In 1980, Rhodesia opposition leader Robert Mugabe made a triumphant return to his home country after five years in exile. Cheering crowds greeted Mr Mugabe's arrival in the capital, Salisbury, from Mozambique where he has been gathering support for his Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) or Zanu (PF) party. The Rhodesian black nationalist leader, who spearheaded a guerrilla war against the Salisbury government, told a tumultuous rally of supporters there would be no more injustice based on race and colour.

Mugabe had his own plans for justice. In April 1980, Mugabe summoned Smith to Government House and Smith was surprised to be greeted with a warm handshake and a broad smile; after all, the country's new Marxist leader had promised his people that, come liberation, he would have Smith publicly hanged in Harare's main square. At that meeting, Mugabe told Smith he was acutely aware that he had inherited from his old adversaries, the whites, a jewel of a country, and he praised its superb infrastructure, its efficient modern economy, and promised to keep it that way. Smith, completely disarmed, rushed home in a state of excitement. He would, over lunch, tell his wife, Janet, that perhaps he had been wrong about a black government being incapable of running his beloved Rhodesia. Smith never made it past the first road block. Alternate Historian's note, this story explores a scenario where history played out as planned, and is not specifically designed to demonize Robert Mugabe.

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In 1994, the Ames dossier included the X Commmittee Minutes. A radically altered Malcom X had returned from the Hajj about to preach a new message of incredible power. The top brass had not been so terrified since they lost China. The picture of X holding a rifle by the window said it all (his closest minder was a security agent).

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In 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson suffered the most dreadful nightmare in which in the Nunna daul Isunyi known as the Trail of Tears was revealed to him. In the Western United States, 17,000 native Americans were to be forced to relocate, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees. Emerson awoke to write a powerful and compelling letter to President Martin Van Buren, urging him not to inflict 'so vast an outrage upon the Cherokee Nation.'

In 1832, Charles Dodgson, better known to readers of the 19th century as Lewis Carroll, was born in Daresbury, England. His novels Alice In Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass delighted children in his century until it was revealed that his prose held a confession to the most heinous crimes of the century; Dodgson, to the horror of parents across the world, was also the madman known as Jack the Ripper.

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In 1967, a fire erupts inside the Apollo 1 command module as tests are being conducted prior to allowing the astronauts inside. Although the astronauts escape unharmed, Apollo 1 is destroyed, and America's lunar exploration program is set back 6 months trying to find out why the fire happened. It was eventually discovered to be faulty wiring inside the command module.

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	In 1916, combat tension created a new and frightening level of intensity for Second Lieutenant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Serving in the eleventh battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, Tolkien's imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme. Tolkien turned to escapist fantasy writing to explore the dissapation of his own life force. Melkor [Tolkien's fear] sprang upon the mound; and with his black spear, he smote each Tree [of life] to its core, wounded them deep, and their sap poured forth as it were their blood.. the poison of Death .. went into their tissues and withered them, root, brand and leaf; and they died. ~ 'Of the Darkening of Valinor'

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In 1969, in the State of California the Hetch Hetchy Moccasin Powerhouse rated at 100,000KVA was completed and placed in operation. More attention should have been paid to Albert Einsteins unified field theory. Just seventeen seconds after power-on multidimensional energies fold space and time. An area bounded by California State Route 49 and California State Route 120 is transported into a parallel Lovecraftian universe of the damned.

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In 1975, Senator Frank Church of Idaho is killed in a car crash just as he was to begin a Senate investigation into possibily illegal activities by the FBI and CIA. Fortunately, Senator John Smith of Michigan was able to step into the leadership role and clear the two intelligence agencies of any and all wrongdoing. He was later named head of the CIA.

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In 1369, Somali chieftain Muhamed Siyad Barre flees before a combined Islamic force invading the nation to bring order out of the chaos he has led his small nation into. The success of the Somalian venture leads many of the larger nations under Allah to form an organization that will allow them to intervene in nations that have spun out of control; this organization is now known as The United Caliphates.

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In 1785, James McGill, a Scottish businessman who had thrown in with the Canadian nationalists during their war for independence, establishes McGill College in Montreal. The newly formed Canadian government helps him fund it, creating the first governmentally-assisted insitution of higher learning in the Canadian democracy.

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In 1980, Rhodesia opposition leader Robert Mugabe made a triumphant return to his home country after five years in exile. Military planners sought to terminate his leadership. At the forthcoming election, Prime Minister Ian Smith had been assured that Mugabe could not defeat Bishop Muzorewa's government, and in case a contingency plan was in place. In fact two plans. Although the full details of Operation Quartz have never been made public, some aspects of the plan have been revealed by former members of the security forces. It was divided into two parts: Operation Quartz, an overt strike against the terrorists, and Operation Hectic, a covert strike to kill Mugabe and his key personnel

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In 1915, United States Marines occupy Haiti, imposing a constitution written by Franklin D. Roosevelt and applying an old system of compulsory corvee labor to everyone. Celebrating crowds at New York Harbour celebrate the return of the Marines, unaware that the troop ships are full of zombies who quickly overrun the nation.

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Apollo One	In 1967, three American astronauts died after fire swept through the Apollo spacecraft designed for a manned flight to the Moon during rehearsals at Cape Kennedy. It is thought an electrical spark started in the area holding oxygen supplies and other support systems. The fire spread quickly in the oxygen-filled atmosphere of the capsule, killing the crew within seconds. The space crew, flight commander Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, were taking part in a test run for the launch of the first Apollo mission. Navy Lieutenant Commander Chaffee, aged 31, had never flown in space before.
Doomed Crew

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Grissom, 39, was the first American to make two flights. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel White, 35, made America's first space walk. It was feared the disaster on launch pad 34 could delay America's plans to put a man on the Moon by as much as a year. There was no need to worry, contingency plans were in place - for a faked moon landing. The three men were in the command module, mounted on the Saturn rocket as if ready for launch, but Saturn was not loaded with fuel. At 1831 hours one of the astronauts was heard to say, 'Fire, I smell fire.' Two seconds later, another astronaut, probably Lt Col White said, 'Fire in the cockpit.' The fire spread through the cabin rapidly. The last communication from the crew was heard just 17 seconds later. The pressurised atmosphere inside the capsule meant the astronauts would not have had time to open the hatch. Under ideal conditions, the process takes about 90 seconds. It involves venting the cabin to relieve the interior pressure which helps hold the door closed. It took technicians on the outside about five minutes after the fire had started to open the hatch. There was a full investigation into what caused the fire, with questions being asked about whether safety corners were cut in the race to be first to the Moon. The astronauts knew there were risks involved. Lt Col Grissom became the second American in space in the Liberty Bell 7. On splashdown, the space capsule filled with water and sank and he almost drowned. A few weeks before the launch pad tragedy, he wrote: 'There will be risks, as there are in any experimental programme, and sooner or later, we're going to run head-on into the law of averages and lose somebody. I hope this never happens, and... perhaps it never will, but if it does, I hope the American people won't think it's too high a price to pay for our space programme.' The Apollo mission's maiden flight was due to blast off into space on 21 February.

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