The Trouble With Wyndham

August 9th, 2007

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The Announcement

Alternate Historical Correction: August 7th has been reposted because of a calendrical error – you know how hard it is to keep dates straight when you're switching from one time line to another. Please support Steve as he single-handedly carries this week through – thanks, Steve! You can do that by sending in alternate birthdays for me (August 14, 1965) and Steve (November 22, 1967).

John Wyndham	In 1959, the author John Wyndham accepted the need for voluntary mental health care following an episode of the Outward Urge. At a book signing ceremony in an overcrowed bookshop Wyndham's alter ego Lucas Parkes had emerged as a result of acute anxiety. Fans point to four unmistakeable early warnings to this sad event.
Author

A troubled childhood - John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was born in the village of Knowle in Warwickshire, England, but lived in Edgbaston in Birmingham until he was 8-years-old. At this point his parents - George Beynon Harris and Gertrude Parkes - separated. He and his brother, the writer Vivian Beynon Harris, had no settled home after this time. He was unhappy being shuttled through a series of English boarding schools, including Blundell's School in Devon during the First World War. His longest and final stay was at Bedales (1918-1921), which he left at the age of 18, where he blossomed and was happy. Sibling rivalry -He was threatened by the success of his brother Vivian Beynon Harris, (who had published four novels before Wyndham found fame) and altered his writing style for his book The Day of the Triffids. The book proved to be an enormous success and established Wyndham as an important exponent of science fiction. Phantom Co-authoring - In his earlier writings, Wyndham used various combinations of his names, such as John Beynon or Lucas Parkes. For one of his books, The Outward Urge, he actually used both the names "John Wyndham" and "Lucas Parkes", pretending to be two collaborating authors. Inner Conflict / Subject matter - Many of Wyndhams novels such as Web, The Chrysalids, Midwich Cuckoos and Day of the Triffids set mankind against alien “others”, suggesting that co-existence is impossible and a fight to the death is required to survive. The novel contains what is, in a way, Wyndham's starkest statement of his assumption that two intelligences must necessarily fight each other to the death - a reference to his own inner struggle with the alter-ego Lucas Parkes. Whilst none of the scenarios are the cause of the schizophrenia, it is clear to many fans that duality of being was a key theme of Wyndham's uhappy life up until 1959.

~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

In 1975, at the two-story house at 17841 Beaverland, former President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa had his own house "painted" when Frank Sheeran fired two shots into his brain. Sheeran then drove the body to the Grand Lawn Cemetery and afterwards dumped the remains in Lake Michigan.
Jimmy Hoffa	Sheeran had visited the Cemetery and saw two crematory ovens in a mausoleum building. "It's like being struck by lightning," he said. "This cemetery was chosen because it's near the house." Detroit police officer Jeff Hansen said that Rod Milne, who managed the cemetery in 1975, told him, "We were doing cremations left and right" in 1975.
Actually, the Tralfamadorians had switched the bodies just to be sure. The corpse of the real Jimmy Hoffa was en route to their home world. Actually the home world given to these super-beings by their precursor race who they had extinguished. A new expression entered American slang. - "I'd sooner find Jimmy Hoffa". They really werent kidding, he was parsecs away on a distant planet. Yet he had a smile on his face - his son would inherit the Presidency of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and with that knowledge, he could rest real easy.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, the "rogue" crew of The Lucky Strike divert to drop Little Boy on top off Mao's Communists in mainland China. The aircraft is mysteriously lost on the return journey. President Truman suspects treachery from USAF General Curtis "Bombs "Away" LeMay and C-in-C Douglas MacArthur yet can prove nothing.

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

Forest Whitaker	"For about three months, I actually thought that there wasn't anybody to play this part [as the Last Governor General of Uganda]. It's too big and difficult. I looked in South Africa, I looked in Kenya, and then I came to Los Angeles. The casting director had set up meetings with some African-American actors, and Forest was on the list. I thought, well, I love his work but he is so wrong. He's so gentle, he's so sweet. And he's very internal as an actor." ~Director, Kevin Macdonald
Playing Idi Amin

Idi Amin joined the King's African Rifles (KAR) of the British Colonial Army in 1946 as an assistant cook. After serving in the Burma Campaign, he transferred to Kenya for infantry service as a private in 1947 and served in the 21st KAR infantry brigade in Gilgil, Kenya, until 1949. That year, his unit was deployed to Somalia to fight the Somali Shifta rebels who were rustling cattle there. In 1952 his battalion was deployed against the Mau Mau rebels in Kenya. He was promoted to corporal the same year, then to sergeant in 1953. In 1954 Amin was made effendi (Warrant officer), the highest rank possible for a Black African in the colonial British army. Amin returned to Uganda the same year, and in 1961 he became one of the first two Ugandans to become commissioned officers with the rank of lieutenant. He was then assigned to quell the cattle rustling between Uganda's Karamojong and Kenya's Turkana nomads. In 1962, Amin was promoted to captain and to major in 1963. The following year, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Army. Amin was an active athlete during his time in the army; the 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) soldier was the Ugandan light heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960 and a swimmer and rugby player. Subordinate to the ceremonial ruler Kabaka (King) Edward Mutesa II of Buganda, the British Foreign Office promoted Amin to colonel and army commander in 1967. In 1971, Idi Amin was appointed Governor General of Uganada. "I am not an ambitious man, personally," Amin said after taking power, "I am just a soldier with a concern for my country and its people." In 1972, determined to make Uganda "a black man's country", Amin expelled the country's white population in the closing months of the year, reportedly after receiving a message from God during a dream. "I am going to ask Britain to take responsibility for all whites in Uganda who are holding British passports, because they are sabotaging the economy of the country," Amin declared at the start of August. Afterwards, Amin flamboyantly described himself as Defender of the British Empire in Africa (in general), and Uganda (specific).

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

In 1979, Martin Sheen starred as Benjamin L. Willard in the ground-breaking movie Apocalypse Now. As the conflict in south-east Asia hurtles towards catastrophe and tragedy, the top brass choose Captain Willard for a secret operation behind enemy lines - to terminate the command of General-san Arthur MacArthur.

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

Elimina Castle	In 1482, to pass the long night of six hundred years at St. George El Mina Castle, Kwame’s brother spoke to him of African Poetry. ”We have come to the cross-roads and I must either leave or come with you. I lingered over the choice
But in the darkness of my doubts, you lifted the lamp of love And I saw in your face the road that I should take.”
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1952, on this day 33rd US President Harry S Truman was challenged by Presidential Candidate General Douglas MacArthur to qualify his commitment to unilateral disarmament. Truman said that he had not slept properly for one night since 15 September 1945 when the Fatman bomb had been dropped on Tokyo. If re-elected, he would ..	Harry S Truman
.. return to Tokyo with Christian leaders, and pray over the site. Pray for the souls of the dead, and pray for disarmament. More than anything, he would speak to the Japanese people themselves, and tell them he was so sorry, so very sorry.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Lloyd George	In 1914, European diplomacy entered a critical phase as the August Days continued in the build up to War. In Caerdydd (Cardiff) First Minister David Lloyd George confirmed the nation's policy of neutrality. This statement was to have two very unexpected outcomes on the threat and opportunity scale. In Downing Street, the ..
.. Head of the Southern Department Herbert Asquith seethed. The English had been welshed as he referred to the perceived treachery of his neighbour state. This slur is defined to someone that does not pay a lost bet and in this case, the Welsh Wizard was effectively saying that the English were a bad bet.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1917, in order to release the Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarist Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin and the Okhranka return to the vampire nest that is housing the hostage. Unaware that Alexei is himself one of the undead, they set the den ablaze. However the Tsarevich has determined to stay with vampires. As he leaves the ..	Vampire Henri
.. building, he is caught in pre-dawn, but is saved by Henri. Later, Henri reveals to Alexei that he had nothing to do with the kidnapping, but did nothing to stop it either. Stolypin returns empty-handed to the Elysees regencia hotel where he must report to an enraged Tsar.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Consider His Ways

August 10th, 2007

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The Announcement

Alternate Historian's Bemusement: If you've been reading me for any length of time, you know that I'm a left-wing loony, and love me because/in spite of that. Well, in my perusal of one of those blogs we left-wingers are always going on about, I found this, and I felt that I had to comment upon his disparagement of alternate historians. Go read the article and defend our honor yourself!
We're recovering from or illness slowly but surely, and will hopefully be able to post tomorrow as normal. Till then, Steve will have the page, as usual – thanks, Steve! Oh, and don't forget our Birthday Contest – send in your alternate birthdays for me (August 14, 1965) and Steve (November 22, 1967) so we can have a special post on those days!

John Wyndham	In 1959, the author John Wyndham received experimental antipsychotic medication. This was part of the course of treatments required by voluntary mental health care which followed an episode of schizophrenia at a book signing ceremony in London England.
Author

This triggered a series of events which Wyndham later described in the auto-biographical account Consider His Ways and others. Wyndham woke up to discover that he is a father of some description, in a bloated body that he believes is not his own. After some confusing experiences his memory gradually returns and he recalls that he was treated with a drug that has the unpredictable consequence of out-of-body experiences. It seems that the drug has worked far better than anyone could have anticipated: he has been cast into the future. He also realises that he is in a society consisting entirely of men, organised into castes, most of whom have never heard of women. Wyndham meets a historian. It seems that the narrator is in a society around 100-150 years after his own time (this is not explicitly stated but it can be deduced from one comment in the account). Shortly after his own time a Dr Perrigan carried out scientific experiments that unintentionally created a virus that killed all the women in the world, leaving only men. After a very difficult period of famine and breakdown the small number of educated men, found mainly in the medical profession, took control and embarked on a crash programme of research to enable men to fertilize eggs and then incubate without females. The men also decided to follow the advice of the Bible: "Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider his ways", and created a caste-based society. The drug wears off. Wyndham returns to his own time and decides to stop Dr Perrigan. However, the next steps suggest that it is Wyndham's own actions that will lead to the catastrophe he hopes to prevent.

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

In 1999, James P Hoffa was elected to the Presidency of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He had been an attorney for the Teamsters from 1968 to 1993. A member of the Teamsters since his 18th birthday (1959), he ran for president in 1996, losing to Ron Carey. He became president of the Teamsters on March 19, 1999, after Carey was barred from running for his role in Teamstergate.
Jimmy Hoffa	The news was running in the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The waitress had long since left. Back in 1975 she had discovered a napkin tucked in the leather upholstery of a dining booth with the cryptic message "THEY RULE" written upon it.
She'd died of a stomach ulcer, caused by worry about the note. A baseless fear that had come to nothing. And so it goes. Still matters had moved forwarded for America in a big way. The White House and their allies had moved way passed Unionised labour. Crushing international terrorism was the order of the day. The stakes in the great game had been raised considerably, and the pot was so much bigger.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1974, following the tragic death of Bruce Lee, the TV networks presented a surprise proposal to the actor David Carradine. For the forthcoming series of Kung Fu, Carradine could take the lead part which the late Bruce Lee had vacated. Having been turned down before, Carradine seized the opportunity but the series was axed after just four episodes due to appalling viewing figures. American audiences might be more comfortable with the anglophile Carradine, but the show lacked dramatic irony.

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

Glubb Pasha	"[British Commander of the Arab Legion, General John Bagot] Glubb (“Glubb Pasha”) should be imprisoned for serving in a foreign army without the King's permission" ~ British MP
British Agent

In 1939, Glubb succeeded Frederick G. Peake as the commander of the Arab Legion. During this period, he transformed the legion into the best trained force in the Arab world. Glubb served his home country all through his years in the Middle East, making him immensely popular in the end. Arab nationalists believed that he had been the force behind pressure that made King Hussein I of Jordan join the Baghdad Pact. Glubb served different high positions in the Arab Legion, the army of Transjordan. During the World War II he led attacks on Arab leaders in Iraq, as well as the Vichy regime which was present in Lebanon and Syria. In 1948, the British Government was humiliated by the actions of British officers employed in the Arab Legion during the Zionist Insurgency that followed the declaration of the State of Palestine two days before. Regular British officers, including a brigade commander, were instructed to leave the Arab Legion and return to Transjordan. This led to the bizarre spectacle of British officers leaving their units to return to Transjordan before sneaking back across the border to rejoin the Arab Legion. A British MP demanded that the British Command of the Arab Legion, General John Bagot Glubb (“Glubb Pasha”) be imprisoned for serving in a foreign army without the King's permission. 'The internecine struggles of the Arabs,' reported Glubb, 'are more in the minds of Arab politicians than the struggle against the Jews. Azzam Pasha, the mufti and the Syrian government would sooner see the Jews get the whole of Palestine than that King Abdullah should benefit.' Neither was the British government humiliated, nor was he a traitor – his job was to stop the internecine struggles of the Arabs. By suppressing the Zionist Insurgency Glubb Pasha began a new phase of covert operations in the Middle East. Henceforth, British Foreign Policy goals would be achieved by stealth, famously described as neo-colonialism - exerting control over other nations through indirect means. Any means necessary.

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

A well I bless my soul what's wrong with me? I'm itching like a man on a fuzzy tree My friends say I'm actin' wild as a bug
Elvis Presley	I'm in love I'm all shook up Mm mm oh, oh, yeah, yeah! ~ Lyrics to “All Shook Up” - Click to Watch Sample
Charged with Rape

In February 1972 an hysterical Priscilla Presley brought rape charges against her husband Elvis Presley at a Las Vegas Police Station. During the investigation, Priscilla admitted that she had two affairs of her own and their up and down marriage was irreparably broken down by 1972. She alleged that the last straw came when Elvis, possibly having learned of the second affair with her karate instructor, forced himself on her in his Las Vegas hotel room, telling her, "This is how a real man makes love to a woman." Whilst the charges have never been proven, the existence of the allegations have been reported in a number of places including Wikipedia to the great dismay of Elvis fans everywhere. The lyrics are available at at Lyricsdir

~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne with absolutely no offence to Elvis Fans (of whom I am one).

In 1979, the movie Apocalypse Now played out the conflict in south-east Asia which hurtled towards catastrophe and tragedy. Since his father's death in April 1964, the demon General-san had transferred to his son, who continued to run China without any respect for the rule of law or human decency. Yet Captain Willard was to discover a great deal of sympathy for General-san Arthur MacArthur.

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

Elimina Castle	In 1482, to pass the long night of six hundred years at St. George El Mina Castle, Kwame’s brother spoke to him of African Poetry. ”make room in your inn for me .. even your ports, recalling report how the mayflower moved ..
.. in to deflower at night the virgin land of the red indians jesus christ it seems and judas did not make it america you are a funny girl…everybody dreams of kissing you.”
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 955, on this day the forces of Otto the Great, King of the Germans were defeated at the Battle of Lechfeld. Perhaps the best opportunity for holding off the incursions of the Magyars into Central Europe was lost.	Magyars
This defining event in European history was a decisive victory for the Magyar leaders, namely the harka (military leader) Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél (Lehel) and Súr who continued to rage unchecked across the continent.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Lloyd George	In 1914, European diplomacy entered a critical phase as the August Days continued in the build up to War. In Caerdydd (Cardiff) First Minister David Lloyd George confirmed the nation's policy of neutrality. This statement was to have two very unexpected outcomes on the threat and opportunity scale.
In Berlin, the Younger Bismarck as he was known studied the text of the speech in his office at the Chancellery. If the Welsh were not to mobilize, he figured, nothing was stopping a Prussian landing in South Wales. They could be in London inside of a week.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1995, Richard M. Langworth combined fiction and fact in his publication “If Chamberlain had lost the Battle of Norway”. In this somewhat far fetched scenario, when Germany invaded Norway in April 1940, an expeditionary force was sent to counter ..	Neville Chamber..
.. them, but the campaign proved difficult, and the force had to be withdrawn. The naval aspect of the campaign in particular proved controversial and was to have repercussions in Westminster leading to Chamberlain's replacement by Lord Halifax, who immediately sued for a Carthaginian peace.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Simple Tradesfolk

August 5th, 2007

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The Announcement

Alternate Begging: My birthday is coming up quickly, (August 14, 1965), and Steve's follows after, (November 22, 1967), so you only have a limited amount of time to get in an alternate birthday for our birthday contest! Send us the lives we were meant to live...

When we got to the hospital, I noticed an odd crowd in the visiting room. There were about seven men and women all dressed in dark gray clothing gathered around one man who was dressed in black. The cut of their clothing was virtually identical, a kind of Nehru-jacket outfit that wouldn't have looked out of place in a documentary about India, but definitely looked out of place here.
The man in the black jacket was dark-skinned and slightly exotic-looking, but his accent sounded pure American. He was giving the nurse at the desk a difficult time. “And, if Brother Johnson is not delivered to us soon, my lawyers will make sure that this so-called hospital never treats another patient again.” He wasn't shouting, but his voice was authoritative, and carried throughout the room and into the hallway.
“It'll just be a few more minutes, sir,” the nurse said, clearly exasperated. “Could you please sit down? You're disturbing the other visitors.”
“I mean to disturb them,” he replied, annoyed at her request. “They should be disturbed that someone can be trapped in this place as if it was a prison.”
That annoyed the nurse. “No one is trapped here, Mr. Dharne. We just have to process Mr. Johnson's paperwork.”
“He's only been here a day,” Dharne said, thumping lightly on the desk. The ones in gray around him glowered down on the nurse menacingly. “How much paperwork can there possibly be?”
“You'd be amazed,” I said, interposing myself between the embattled nurse and Mr. Dharne. “You have to fill out two forms just to go to the bathroom.” Francine looked at me nervously on the other side of Dharne's people while I went on, smiling politely. “This woman really can't make things go any faster while she's talking to you, sir.” The nurse took the opportunity of my distraction to scurry away from the desk.
Mr. Dharne and his friends turned their attention to me. “You have the look of a doctor, even if you don't have the white coat,” he said, his tone neutral. He was a handsome man, probably in his forties, with close-cropped hair and eyes that were large and piercing. They fairly glowed in contrast to the color of his skin. “What is your name?”
“Doctor Thomas Miles,” I said, extending my hand out to shake. He didn't take it. “And you are?”
“The Reverend Avinash Dharne,” he said, and his companions made a small gesture with their hands. It was a little disconcerting. “I am here to free one of my flock.”
I tried to smile and be casual about it. “The hospital's not really a prison, Reverend.”
He was not going to be friendly. His attitude remained cold. “There are many prisons in life, Doctor Miles.” One of the women in gray whispered in his ear, and he turned to see one of the on-duty doctors, accompanied by two security guards, approaching him. “As these men doubtlessly know.” He turned from me and directed his scornful attention on the other doctor. “I do not see Brother Johnson. Why is he not accompanying you?”
The doctor indicated a private consultation room. “Perhaps we could speak in there.”
“We will speak here,” Dharne said, not moving.
“I don't want to disturb the other visitors and patients out here,” the doctor said, still trying to be civil.
He needn't have bothered. “They should be disturbed at the fact that they are apparently not allowed to leave when they wish to.” There was some muttering going on among the other people sitting in the room. “Please bring Brother Johnson to us.”
The doctor sighed. “Mr. Johnson is in very grave condition, sir. We're a little worried that he might not make it through the night.” I looked over at Francine, and could tell we were both surprised by that. The man had looked pretty bad when we brought him in, but I hadn't thought he was that bad off.
Dharne was speaking again. “Of course he won't make it through the night if he stays here,” he said, disdain practically dripping from his tongue. “You might as well call yourself Witch Doctor Central. We will care for Brother Johnson. Release him now, or our attorneys shall force you to comply within the hour.”
The doctor decided to drop his own efforts to be nice. “What are you, some kind of cult faith-healer? Taking that man out of this hospital would be murder, and I won't be part of it.” He turned to the security guards. “Remove these people.”
Dharne held up a hand. One of the men placed a cell phone into it, and he spoke into it. “Do you have the order, Ralph?” He listened, then smiled. “Our attorney has a court order forcing you to release Brother Johnson. He will be here in ten minutes. I suggest that by the time he gets here, we should already have Brother Johnson in our arms.” He spoke again into the cell phone. “Thank you, Ralph. Please hurry.” He snapped the cell phone shut and glowered at the doctor and the two guards. “Now, you can comply with the law, or my little 'cult' will have a hospital to add to its possessions.” He stepped up, practically nose-to-nose with the doctor. “One where you three will not have employment.”
“It's murder,” the doctor muttered. “He'll die.”
“Then he will die in the company of those who love him,” Dharne said, and the people in gray all smiled. “Now, bring him.” Still muttering, the doctor stalked off, and the guards drifted away, unsure of what to do. Dharne turned his attention back to me. “Doctor Miles. Do you work at this hospital?”
I shook my head. “No, I'm the one who found Mr. Johnson wandering on the highway.” I left Francine out of this; I didn't know if they had seen her with me or not. “So, there's no need to threaten me.”
A small smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. I guess he wasn't impervious to humor, after all. “We are grateful to you for locating Brother Johnson. His disappearance disturbed the brethren greatly.”

In 1975, former President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa had a comfortable drive to the two-story house at 17841 Beaverland in Detroit's tough Brightmoor neighborhood. His chaffeur was Frank Sheeran, Second World War veteran, Mafia hitman, truck driver, Teamsters official and close friend of Hoffa. Travel sickness was out of the question. Just after lunch Sheeran had been kind enough to surprise Hoffa with the injection of a powerful sedative at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Jimmy Hoffa	In 2004, Charles Brandt, a former prosecutor and Chief Deputy Attorney General of Delaware, published the book "I Heard You Paint Houses". The title is based on a euphemistic exchange apparently used by hitmen and their would-be employers. "I heard you paint houses." "Yes, and I do my own carpentry, too." House painting alludes to the splatter of blood on walls, and "doing my own carpentry" to the task of disposing of the body.
According to Sheeran, Hoffa had more than one enemy's house "painted." Lured to the Beaverland house by Sheeran, Hoffa had his own house "painted" when Sheeran fired two shots into his brain. Shortly before, they had met with the Tralfamadorians; aliens who Kurt Vonngeut had likened to Plumber's friends. Painters, carpenters, plumbers .. to be fair, they were in good company with Hoffa. Just simple tradesfolk, doing an honest day's living.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

John Wyndham	"When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere." ~ Opening Line to "Day of the Triffids"
Author

John Wyndham was the pen name used by the often post-apocalyptic British science fiction writer John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris. In his earlier writings, Wyndham used various combinations of his names, such as John Beynon or Lucas Parkes. For one of his books, The Outward Urge, he actually used both the names "John Wyndham" and "Lucas Parkes", apparently pretending to be two collaborating authors. Actually there was no pretending, nor was the dual author accreditation an artistic extravagance. During a book signing ceremony in 1959 the truth was revealed. An excessively packed book shop of eager fans had caused acute anxiety for this shy and introverted author. This anxiety triggered a collapse in ego integrity which manifested as a schizophrenic episode. The alter ego Lucas Parkes emerged and explained forcefully that the apocalyptic visions of Britain were real, very real indeed. Post script - the key quotation from Day of the Triffids was a clue to the “lost time” gaps between the two personalities.

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

In 1941, Luftwaffe flying ace Oberst Werner Moelders was recalled to Berlin by Vati. In despair, the Director General of Equipment had suicided, and Moelders was Udet's replacement; his goal - Build Fighters.

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

In 1988, Gregory Benford published his classic alternate history We Could Do Worse in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. In Benford's terrifying dystopian America of the 1950s Nixon threw the California delegation's support to Dwight D Eisenhower at the 1952 GOP convention, with the stipulation that he would be the vice presidential running mate. After Ike's sudden death on a Golf Lynx in 1956, Nixon begins to institute a police state, and four years later a congressman is kidnapped. Readers were shocked at the profound consequences of Adlai Stevenson's failed election bid, a strong leader who has yet to receive the recognition he is due as one of America's great presidents.

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

In 2009, the TV networks presented episode twenty five of So What If?. Cherokee pilots from World War I question whether the CSA delivered a land fit for heroes.

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

In 1935, John Bruce of the Tank Corps Regiment shocked the world's media. Text I of the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" revealed the truth of Lawrence's capture at Deraa in November 1917. The whole truth.
Clouds Hill Cottage	Lawrence had indeed suffered a disasterous loss of integrity on that dreadful night. But his agony was of the soul, not of the near-fatal beating he had suffered at the hands of the Ottoman soldiers in Deraa. The threat of the "cough of the bey", had turned Lawrence.
Lawrence's Woodland Retreat

He betrayed the Arab Revolt, providing vital military information that enabled the Ottomans to suppress the Revolt. "Lawrence of Arabia" had acted as a double agent right up until the Treaty of Sevres, when the British were forced to recognise Turkey's 1914 pre-war borders. John Bruce helped Lawrence to suppress the darkness, but it took him ten years. When Bruce discovered the full truth of the betrayal, he had cut loosened the brake cable on Lawrence motorbike, leading to his fatal accident at Clouds Hill in May 1935. ~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

If a person were to try stripping the disguise from actors while they play a scene upon the stage, showing to the audience their real looks and the faces they were born with, would not such a one spoil the whole play? And would not the spectators think he deserved to be driven out of the theatre with brickbats, as a drunken disturber? Now what else is the whole life of mortals but a sort of comedy, in which the various actors, disguised by various costumes and masks, walk on and play each one his part, until the manager waves them off the stage?
Marillion	Moreover, this manager frequently bids the same actor go back in a different costume, so that he who has but lately played the king in scarlet now acts the flunkey in patched clothes. Thus all things are presented by shadows. ~ Pete Trewavas quoting Erasmus at Fish's funeral
Clutching at Straws

In 1987, bass guitarist Pete Trewavas quoted from Erasmus to pay tribute to lead singer Fish (real name Derek William Dick) at the funeral that followed his tragic death. In so doing he also explained the self-destructiveness of Fish and the commercial pressure that were the causes of the tension that had developed amongst members of the Prog band Marillion by the time they recorded their best and last album “Clutching at Straws”. The concept of the album is pretty easy to understand if you are a Fish-era Marillion fan: the character of "Torch" has gone from being an angst-filled singing jester from the hills of Simarillion to becoming a 30-something out of work factory worker in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, and seeking comfort in mostly alcohol to numb himself. He is trying (but failing) to forget what lies at his feet - a failed marriage, being a deadbeat father, as well as his lack of commercial success as a singer in a band. As he gets drunk he also writes about his surroundings and his laments, which has never been better described throughout the entire album than the centrally-themed song "Sugar Mice." In fact the whole album is confessional in both tone and lyrics, some would say a cry for help.

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

Elimina Castle	In 1482, to pass the long night of six hundred years at St. George El Mina Castle, Kwame’s brother spoke to him of African Poetry.
“When at break of day of riverside, I hear the jungle of drums. Then I hear a wailing piano solo speaking of complex ways. And I lost in the morning mist of an age at a riverside keep wondering in the mystic rhythm of jungle drums and the concerto.”
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1938, little known counter-historian Winston S Churchill combined fiction and fact in his publication “While America Slept” and indulged in the quaint conceit of imagining what would have happened if some important or unimportant event had settled itself differently.	Winston Churchill
In Churchill's far-fetched world of American neutrality, the Nazis are eventually defeated by the Soviet Union. Without a Patton on the Elbe, the Red Army is left to race unchecked through Europe and across the Iberian Peninsula. In a decade-long cold war, America and Russia face each other in animosity across both the Atlantic and also the Alaskan Border, before President MacArthur attempts to reconquer the world for democracy.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Tsarevich	In 1917, the vampires of Paris seized the Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia from Elysees regencia hotel. Ostensibly, the Paris nest would not tolerate a child vampire. Forty-eight hours later, a more pragmatic reason emerged. A demand was sent to the Paris Peace Conference. The state of Transylvania must be declared a Free Vampire State.
Or else Tsarevich would be placed in a well with a steel grating on top to let the sunlight into the well where he would most assuredly turn to ashes. And in so doing, terminate the Romanov line with the death of the Tsar's only son.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1962, housekeeper Mrs Eunice Murray discovers that a dangerously close to death Marilyn Monroe has overdosed on the sleeping pill Nembutal. Rushing her to hospital, they just make it and the 36-old actress survives after a stomach pump.	Marilyn Monroe
During the course of the journey, as Monroe slips in and out of consciousness, she rambles on about her affairs with the Kennedy brothers. Monroe's former husband Joe DiMaggio hears the whole tale in the hospital. Furiously realising that the “suicide” was in fact a “Father Joe” hit to silence the scandal, he repeats it in full at a press conference the following day, destroying the brother's political careers.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Doctrines

	In 2013, General John Abizaid former head of Central Command paid tribute to the late US President Donald Rumsfeld, who had passed away the week before. The war on terror had delivered a bastion of democracy in the Middle East, securing the region and providing the platform for a New World Order - said Abizaid, repeating the Rumsfeld Doctrine. However, it might not have been. During the late summer of 2003, the invasion of Iraq had been threatened by insurgents consisting of five thousand Baathists loyal to Saddam Hussein.

General Abizaid, declared 'When you understand that they were organized into a cellular structure, that . . . they had access to a lot of money and a lot of ammunition, you'll understand how dangerous they were.' It has been intimated that Rumsfeld expanded a highly secret operation, Operation Copper Green, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Controversially, author Seymour Hersh has alleged that Rumsfeld encouraged physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in an effort to generate more intelligence about the growing insurgency in Iraq. Contemporary historians consider it unlikely that the allegations about prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison will ever by revealed. Copper Green has already joined Hanger 18 and the Kennedy Assassination in the popular file of conspiracy theories, yet the effectiveness of Rumsfeld's policies cannot be denied.

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	In 2006, Welsh Prime Minister Rhodri Morgan officially opened the new debating chamber for the National Assembly in Cardiff. The Assembly was formed under the Government of Wales Act 1998, by the Labour government, following a referendum in 1997. The name Wales was derived from the Germanic Walha meaning stranger or foreigner and the Welsh Language and culture persisted in the region after annexation by the Laws in Wales Act 1535 in the reign of Henry VIII of England, who ironically was himself partly of Welsh ancestry.

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	In 1914, Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC died. Described by Sir Wilfrid Laurier as 'taking his duties to heart,an energetic man who welcomed many challenges and responsibilities' Lord Minto was an enthusiastic imperialist who served as both Governor General of Canada and Viceroy of India. He served under Lord Roberts in the second Afghan War (1878 - 1879), accompanying Sir Louis Cavagnari on his triumphant mission to Kabul which resulted in the annexation of Afghanistan to the British Empire.

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	In 2007, the US and neighboring countries were plunged into darkness. The crisis is a nearly identical repetition of May 19, 1780 - dubbed New England's Dark Day, - when an unusual darkening of the day sky was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon until midnight and did not disperse until the middle of the next night. Many have blamed the genocide of First Nation peoples for the catastrophes that have befallen the American people, asking if a nation so created, can long endure.

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Klaus Fuchs	In 1950, Communist spy Klaus Fuchs was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for espionage. The former scientist had leaked details of Project Rainbow, the US Navy's invisibility project to the Soviet Union. The technology had been credited with the successful execution of X-Day, in which America Carriers had arrived in Tokyo harbour by stealth. Four years later, both sides would deploy the technology, and also bioweapons, at the horrific battle of Incheon on the Korean Peninsula. It was to be a zero sum game with an appalling loss of life.
Traitor

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In 1956, during the build-up to the Suez Crisis, King Hussein of Jordan refused to bow to anti-British pressure and dismiss Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb. Better known as Glubb Pasha, he headed the Arab Legion, repaying this loyalty by capturing Jerusalem for Hussein in the Six Day War.

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In 2000, Hans Blix was appointed Executive Chairman of United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) with a public mandate to inspect possible nuclear, chemical, and biological facilities in Iraq. He found something alright, most people wished he hadn't when they heard what is was...

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In 2000, Hans Blix was appointed Executive Chairman of United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) with a public mandate to inspect possible nuclear, chemical, and biological facilities in Iraq. Due to Blix vigilence and determination, the UN discovered a large arsenal of Scud missiles containing monsterous arachnid eggs at the nuclear reactor site at Osirak.

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In 2000, Hans Blix was appointed Executive Chairman of United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) with a public mandate to inspect possible nuclear, chemical, and biological facilities in Iraq. A total lack of progress and utter contempt from the Western Allies followed. The public was amazed by Blix's calm patience. Three years later the truth emerged. This double agent had been leaking military secrets to the Iraqis, preparing Saddam Hussein and his regime for the poorly planned American invasion. George Bush was forced to resign as an ironic regime change scenario played out.

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In 1954, the biggest explosion ever made by man was witnessed in the Pacific when US scientists explode their second H-bomb at Bikini Atoll.

The species endangering tragedy that followed was most accurately described with the publication of 'Web', a written account from Arnold Delgrange, a man suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Delgrange had led a failed attempt to establish a utopian colony on an island in the Pacific Ocean remote from civilization, which has suffered fall out and been cursed by the original inhabitants. As a result, intelligent and communally acting spiders had evolved on the island, acting in a manner that endangers all life in the vicinity. Dr Camilla Cogent first realised that the spiders inhabiting the island chosen for the utopian experiment have evolved intelligence, it is her actions that allow Arnold Delgrange to survive to tell the tale.

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Bikini Atoll	In 1954, the biggest explosion ever made by man was witnessed in the Pacific when US scientists explode their second H-bomb at Bikini Atoll. Rather than bombing Beijing, US President Thomas Dewey ordered that a demonstration shot of the hydrogen bomb be given, but the Chines refuse to surrender. The regional conflict on the Korean peninsula was now getting very dangerously out of control.
H Bomb

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In 1910, the actor David Niven was born. In his 1971 autobiography, The Moon's a Balloon he mentioning his private conversations with Oswald Mosley, Edward VIII, the bombings, and what it was like entering a nearly completely destroyed Germany with the invasion forces. He said once: 'I will, however, tell you just one thing about the war, my first story and my last. I was asked by some American friends to search out the grave of their son near Bastogne. I found it where they told me I would, but it was among 27,000 others, and I told myself that here, Niven, were 27,000 reasons why you should keep your mouth shut after the war.' Niven never made any public statement of approval for the rise of fascism in Anglo-America, and most probably he suited the role of English officer and gentleman rather than sought it.

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	In 1984, the son of Lt. Colonel Nicholson wrote an open letter to The Times newspaper, counter-signed by the one hundred living service veterans of the 1942-3 Burma Railway construction. British prisoners of war were forced to build the 415 kilometre (258 mile) railway, by the Imperial Japanese Army. The bridge formed one of many infrastructure pieces built during the Greater East Asia War.

The letter ended on a poignant note ~ When you go home, tell them of us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today. . The fiery controversy created by the revelations of John Lennon's extramarital affair with Mrs Toshi Ichiyanagi continued to rage throughout the vanquished nation.

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	In 2008, a dead U.S. spy satellite in deteriorating orbit hit the Earth within Drakan Territory somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. Half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft survived its blazing descent through the atmosphere scattering debris - some of it potentially hazardous - over several hundred miles. The satellite is outfitted with thrusters, small engines used to position it in space, that contain the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine. Hydrazine can cause harm to anyone who contacts it.

The satellite, known by its military designation US 193, was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor. Alliance for Democracy officials did not want this equipment to fall into the wrong hands. 'The Drakas spend an enormous amount of time trying to steal Alliance technology,' said John Pike, a defense and intelligence expert. 'To have our most sophisticated radar intelligence satellite - have big pieces of it fall into their hands - was not our preferred outcome.' Where US 193 landed was difficult to predict until the satellite descended to about 59 miles above the Earth and entered the atmosphere. It begin to burn up, with flares visible from the ground, said Ted Molczan, a Canadian satellite tracker. From that point on, he said, it took about 30 minutes to fall. Archon Von Strakenberg accused the U.S. of a clandestine attempt to strike the Domination with a space bio-weapon ~ The Draka will conquer the world for two reasons; because we must and because we can. And yet of the two forces the second is the greater; we do this because we choose to do it. By the sovereign Will and force of arms the Draka will rule the Earth, and in so doing remake themselves. We shall conquer and beat the Nations of the Earth into the dust and reforge them in our self wrought Image; the Final Society without weakness or mercy, hard and pure. Our descendants will walk the hillside of that future, innocent beneath the stars, with no more between them and their naked will than a wolf has. THEN there will be Gods in the Earth.

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