Regrets

In 1978, while walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Giullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from in a specially-designed umbrella. Imbued by this success, Giullino's struck Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street a year later, whereupon British Secret Service took the Bulgarian into custody and fully understood this super-weapon for the first time.	Georgi Markov
To their horror, the Service discovered that Giullino had also eliminated Pope John Paul I. Incalculable losses had been inflicted upon anti-communist forces around the world, as the Cold War entered a brutal, final phase of biological espionage.
~ entry by Steve Payne

Berlin 2010	In 2010, Heinrich Gimpel carried a great secret. Even though he had worked at Wehrmacht's Oberkommando office in Berlin for twelve years, the records of his Aryan ancestry were forged. In fact, Gimpel was Jewish. He and other Friends of Zion concealed themselves in the place least likely to be suspected by the Third Reich. In the very heart of the Germanic Empire itself.
~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

"After the Hundred Days Offensive stalled [in 1918] I started to wonder what would happen to Lawrence if the Great War continued for several more years. His fame was spreading fast and with the momentum of the fabulous through Asia.
Lawrence of Arabia	The earth trembled with the wrath of the warring nations. All the metals were molten. Everything was in motion. No one could say what was impossible. Lawrence realised Napoleon's young dream of conquering the East; he arrived in Constantinople in 1920 with most of the tribes and races of Asia Minor and Arabia at his back." ~ Tribute from Winston Churchill
Arabist

In October 1936 Winston Churchill unveiled a plaque to former pupil T.E. Lawrence at his Oxford High School. Churchill gave an assessment of the role of Lawrence after the "Arab Revolt" was over and when the real action started. The full article is available at the Kodak Web site

~ quotation by Steve Payne

In 1968, former US President Harry S Truman published his auto-biography The Buck Stops Here. In a final chapter named "Regrets", he spoke with bitterness of his decision to pursue conventional warfare in Japan. In a footnote, he also described mistakes in US policy towards Vietnam. Truman was present as the Paris Peace Conference when his predecessor Woodrow Wilson met with Ho Chi Minh. Wilson had stubbornly refused to accept that the principle of self-determination extended to the people of Vietnam. It was "just a bowl of rice" the President had said dismissively to Truman after the interview was abruptly terminated.

~ entry by Steve Payne

British Raj	In 1965, China announced that it would reinforce its troops on the Indian border. The timetable for British disengagement from the Raj was put back indefinitely. Historically process initiated by the failed Japanese incursion onto mainland Asia continued to resonate.
~ entry by Steve Payne

In 2127, Mullah Elijah Rafsanjani watched a re-run of last year's trial of George Walker Bush by the Peace and Reconciliation Committee of the Reconstructed United Nations. Exhibit for the Defense - A: Candy bars discovered December 2003 by US Marines in the hideaway of Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majidida al-Tikriti. Exhibit for the Defense B: Revealing pictures of scantily clad Caucasian ladies discovered in Hussein's palaces in Baghdad.	Mullah
That really was the crux of this dilemma – justice vs. consumerism, how could he arrange a future where First Nations ruled and yet he could still enjoy Starbucks? Hmm..
~ entry by Steve Payne

Westmoreland	In 1977, the Torrijos-Carter Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal were signed. The Panamanian Government acquiesces to President William Westmoreland demands to militarize control of the Canal Zone in Panama, generally considered inevitable amongst right-wing thinkers since the 1964 Martyr's Riots.
~ entry by Steve Payne

Controversy

With due respect to sworn testimony of God-fearing citizens, - illusionist and magician David Seth Kotkin who under the false name David Copperfield,- having willingly confessed to unspeakable acts of witchcraft, - found guilty of disappearances, flying and levitating inter alia - sentenced by magistrates of this good parish of Metuchen, New Jersey to trial by water, - persuant to Holy Scripture, "The Norm is the Will of God," refers, - on this day of our Lord, 1976. Not the potter, but the potter's clay. Amen.

Benedict XVI	In 2006, the Fisherman Benedict XVI issued a statement promising an early announcement on the two controversial issues that had dominated the early days of his office.
Firstly there was the charge that the Vatican was perpetuating a lie about Jesus' bloodline and the role of women in church, continuing to do so to keep itself in power. Actually, this was a fairly old accusation that had received recent interest from Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code and was expected to be swept aside as some "nineteenth century lies". And more pressingly, reports that a diary of Jesus had been taken from the fall of Acre in 1291 by the Last Templar Martin of Carmaux. Allegedly, this diary had now falled into the hands of the author Raymond Khoury who had discovered the Falcon Temple and decoded the Aramaic writings revealing some profoundly shocking "truths" about the early church.

Lawrence of Arabia

In 1941, in a dispatch from Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery to Prime Minister Winston Churchill : "Sir, I regret to inform you that Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence died of wounds received in the attack on the Libyan border town of Mammut.

Assisted by three British commandos that had arrived by submarine, Lawrence led an irregular force of Berbers in a terrorist attack and succeeded in eliminating the Desert Fox, Field Marshall General Erwin Rommel. That Lawrence died the death of a hero is beyond question, and I am certain in my heart that if I had a thousand men with his courage and spirit, I could bring this desert war to a swift and satisfactory conclusion"

Anwar Sadat	In 1981, on this day Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated. Attempts by the Anglo-French-Israeli alliance to maintain a grip on the Suez Canal were getting increasingly desperate. After poisoning his predecessor Gamal Abdul Nasser, London had no choice but to remove Sadat through state sponsored terrorism.

In 1955, a United Airlines DC-4 crashed almost crashed at Medicine Bow Peak, Wyoming. The spiritual beings on the wooded slopes of the mountain took the corrective action required to prevent the death of of the 66 people aboard. The form of that action became apparent when the DC-4 set down in Cheyenne, capital city of the Great Plains Republic.	Medicine Bow Peak

Jack C. Haldema..	In 1977, journalist Jack C. Haldeman II published Death of a Dream. Halderman pieced together ten years investigation, illustrating how J. Edgar Hoover smeared JFK just before he gave the Rich bin ein berliner ("I am a citizen of Berlin") speech, and the Camelot Years fell apart.

In 1968, Hubert Humphrey trailing badly in the polls began to distance himself from the Johnson administration on the Vietnam War, calling for a bombing halt. Featured in Mike Resnick's Alternate Kennedys compilation, Mark Aronson's masterpiece "President-Elect" describes how Robert Kennedy survived Sirhan Sirhan's assassination attempt, and as a result adopted a harder stance. Resigning the Vice Presidential Ticket due to Humphrey's policy change, RFK waits for the 1972 election which he wins with Teddy as a running mate.	Alternate Kennedys

Aftermaths

Resurrection Day

In 1972, ten years after Resurrection Day Edward Heath was named Man of the Year by Times Magazine for his re-establishment of Britain as a World Power. In the aftermath of the nuclear war over Cuba between the Soviet Union and the United States, Carl Landry, a reporter for the Boston Globe interviewed the British Prime Minister.

Despite American pariah status for excessive use of force, Britain had remained an ally of the USA, actually assisting in post-war reconstruction efforts in US states hit hardest by the war. Whilst British aid was welcomed, there was also a sense of resentment in America over excessive dependence on the UK. The presence of British and Canadian military personnel in the USA was also a source of contention, with some Americans wondering whether their allies possess ulterior motives. This motive became apparent when elements within the British government and security services led by Heath announced a military takeover of the States (or “anschluss”). In the interview Heath explained this move was absolutely necessary to accelerate American recovery.

Lawrence of Arabia	In 1941, Prime Minster Winston Churchill received Colonel "Ned" Lawrence at 10 Downing Street. Churchill was desperately worried about General Erwin Rommel's unbroken run of successes in North Africa, and his Zionist allies Chiam Weizmann and Aaronsohn foresaw the Final Solution arriving in the British Mandate in Palestine real soon.
Lawrence wanted to be reactivated, ideally commissioned into the RAF as Private Shaw or somesuch position of anonymity. Churchill had other plans; "mostly the Arabs have turned against us, but we can expect help from the Berbers". Lawrence was astonished, this wasn't 1917 and the Afrika Korps were hardly a force to be compared with the Ottoman Army of occupation.

Weygand	In 1958, on this day the Fifth Republic of France was established from the impetus of the Algerian Crisis. Although France had since parted with many of its colonies, it still retained Algeria, which had a large French population that opposed decolonization. President Maxime Weygand publicly condemned their terroristic acts on Algeria and France alike, arranging a peace with the Algerian nationalist rebels. Finally, France had acquired the stability that its voters clamored for, and Algeria was independent. Weygand used the crisis as an opportunity to create a new French government with a stronger office of president, which had been largely that of a figurehead. It was his greatest master stroke since 1940, when he had daringly created the Weygand line, an early application of the Hedgehog tactic as he defeated the Wehrmacht.

In 1975, on this day a Cessna 310Q airplane crashed over Wilmington, North Carolina, killing the pilot and severely injuring several pro wrestlers affiliated with the NWA's Mid-Atlantic promotion. One of the survivors was the legendary Ric Flair. Seeking rescue, he bravely led the party of survivors on a thirty-seven mile walk to the edge of Green Swamp where he was given medical attention and supplies by the Waccamaw Siouan. Flair was surprised that he could not find North Carolinians. The Waccamaw Siouan were even more surprised to see pale faces. During the evening's celebrations, both agreed wholeheartedly that wrestling was the sport of Kings even if Flair's version was somewhat more flamboyant.	Ric Flair

Brenner Pass	In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass. Il Duce was distressed to see his allies' physical decline. The Fuhrer's condition caused his arm to shake uncontrollably, forcing him to conceal it behind his back. It was not too bad up here in the mountains, explained Hitler, but he was acutely aware he had entered the period of languishing, and must act now whilst he still had the strength. Both men were pragmatic, they had suffered the lycan's burden for many years.

In 1960, Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, almost crashed on take-off from Boston's Logan International Airport after a bird strike. Two of the passengers buy a coffee from the paper stand. The proprietor tells them they're wise guys, cracking out five dollar bills with a picture of the Queen of England on the back.	Boston

Winners

Thomas Edward Lawrence	I deem him one of the greatest beings alive in our time. I do not see his like elsewhere. I fear whatever our need we shall never see his like again. King George V wrote to his brother, 'His name will live in history'. That is true. It will live in English letters; It will live in the annuls of war; it will live in the traditions of the Royal Air Force and in the legends of Arabia. ~ Sir Winston Spencer Churchill. T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) survived his 1935 motorcycle accident. In 1940, Churchill convinced Lawrence to go back to North Africa. Lawrence found Rommel and "turned" him by appealing to his sense of honour as a brother officer. Following his return to Great Britain, Churchill paid Lawrence this generous tribute - as described by Susan Schwarz in the secret history Loose Cannon. But Lawrence had been turned himself- twice. Churchill also returned the disturbing letters to John Bruce of the Tank Regiment from his make-believe Uncle that had been used as leverage to make Lawrence take the mission. The full article is available at LawrenceOfArabia.co.uk.
Arabist

In 2008, David E. McGeek Chief Information Officer of Pappy's Texas Barbecue Chicken, Inc. laid down a new IS Strategy for systems integration with the newly acquired subsidiary, Wanda's of Montreal. The market leading Enterprise Resource Planning System Macrosoft, Inc.'s Great Plane had been chosen by the newly enlarged group. An exciting XML bill of materials feature would synergise lard-based menus. It was a real win for the customer said McGeek.

McGeek

Nicholas II	In 1918, Tsar Nicholas Romanov II abdicated after the Russian Revolution, and a Republic was proclaimed. Anti-russian sentiment was strong inside the Anglo-German alliance following the Great War. Politicians in both Berlin and London blamed Russian chauvinism for turning the assassination at Sarajevo into a World Crisis. In particular the British Prime Minister Lloyd George had just won an election with the slogan 'Hang the Tsar!' and less than a year later, Sultan Abdulhamid II of Turkey handed over the Romanov Family for execution in St Petersburg.

In 1918, following the outbreak of the German Revolution, a republic was proclaimed on this day, marking the end of the monarchy. The Kaiser fled the next day to the neutral Netherlands, which granted him political asylum (see Weimar Republic for details). His fifteen year exile was finally ended upon the invitation of Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, who was keen to provide a replacement for the recently diseased figurehead Paul von Hindenburg.	Berliner Tiergarten

Nuclear Detonation	In 1966, a deep-underground nuclear detonation of a small magnitude is reported by atomic energy authorities throughout the world. None of the nuclear club of nations claims responsibility, and Washington suspects a new power has emerged, possibly Israel or South Africa.

In 1965, “the Butcher of Rhodesia” Ian Henderson received a telephone call he was expecting from London. Operation Quartz had been brought forward by a fortnight.	Ian Henderson

Secrets

Indira Gandhi	In 1966, the only daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, became the first woman prime minister of India. Mrs Gandhi led the nation into a new period of enlightenment by pursuing Bapu's policy of brahmacharya, meaning 'control of the senses in thought, word and deed'. No better demonstration could be given that her survival from a hail of bullets from her Sikh bodyguards in New Delhi in 1984. She had after all witnessed Bapu survive a similiar attempt on his life in 1948.
Prime Minister

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T.E. Shaw	The earth trembled with the wrath of the warring nations, as Shaw's fame spread fast and with the momentum of the fabulous through Asia. All the metals were molten. Everything was in motion. No one could say what was impossible. Shaw realised Napoleon's young dream of conquering the East; he arrived in Constantinople in 1919 with most of the tribes and races of Asia Minor and Arabia at his back. ~ epic coda to the Final Arabian Tale 'Byzantium', by fantasy writer Ned Lawrence © Oxford University Press, 1919.
Fictional Hero

On completing his degree (1910), Ned Lawrence commenced postgraduate research in medieval pottery with a Senior Demy at Magdalen College, Oxford, which he abandoned after he was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East. In December 1910 he sailed for Beirut, and on arrival went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under D.G. Hogarth and R. Campbell-Thompson of the British Museum. He would later state that everything he accomplished as a fantasy author he owed to Hogarth. While excavating ancient Mesopotamian sites, Lawrence met Gertrude Bell, who was to influence him for much of his time in the Middle East. In late summer 1911, Lawrence returned to England for a brief sojourn. By November he was en route to Beirut for a second season at Carchemish, where he was to work with Leonard Woolley. Prior to resuming work there, however, he briefly worked with William Flinders Petrie at Kafr Ammar in Egypt. Lawrence continued making trips to the Middle East as a field archaeologist until the outbreak of World War I. In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the "Wilderness of Zin"; along the way, they undertook an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert. The Negev was of strategic importance, as it would have to be crossed by any Ottoman army attacking Egypt in the event of war. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings, but a more important result was an updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. At this time, Lawrence visited Aqaba and Petra. From March to May, Lawrence worked again at Carchemish. Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, Lawrence did not enlist in the British Army but held back until October, when he was commissioned in the Royal Flying Corps. During this period, he wrote a series of fantasy novels that were published after the war after he resumed his education.

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In 736 AUC, Caius Lumis Juventus, Roman inventor extraordinaire, demonstrates the most powerful steam engine ever built. Caius had been a student of the ancient Greek sciences, and had learned of the simple uses they had put the power of steam to in the old days. Jove’s Thunderbolt, the engine that Caius Juventus built, was capable of pulling a carriage with three heavy men for miles. His designs revolutionized Roman society.

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In 3896, Japanese Zen philosopher Dogen Kigen is born somewhere in southern Japan. As a young man, he traveled to the Chinese Empire to study the true ways of Zen at Mount Tendo. His mountain temple in Echizen has become a regular stop for pilgrims, including every Chinese emperor; tradition dictates that the emperor spend a week there before his coronation.

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In 1809, renowned author Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachussetts. The most popular writer in America during his lifetime, Poe invented detective fiction, as well as popularizing what would come to be known as horror stories by those who sought to imitate him at the end of the century. Poe died in 1883, a wealthy and happy man of letters.

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In 1840, Captain Charles Wilkes claims a third of Pluto for the North American Confederation. Although considered a bad piece of property to own at first, Pluto’s position at the outer reaches of the solar system becomes important when the Congress of Nations decides to build its defensive base there, and the N.A.C.’s importance in system affairs is increased.

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In 1943, singer Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas. Her hard living fueled the blues that she sang so beautifully, but it all came crashing down on her when she missed the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969 because she was too drunk to perform. She checked into rehab after that, but her music never recovered. Today, she runs a counseling center for performers trying to kick addictions.

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In 2001, Chairman McPherson issues the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances of the fatal car crash which killed the heir to the throne Prince Charles Windsor and his lover Camilla Parker-Bowles in Paris on 31st August 1997. McPherson finds no grounds for conspiracy. The British Public will have none of it, and the McPherson report overtakes the Warren Commission as a source of conspiracy theories on the Internet.

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In 1840, Captain Charles Wilkes attempts to circumnavigate Antarctica to claim so-called Wilkes Land for the United States. The southern lights known as the aurora australis terrorize the mission as powerful magicks force Wilkes to turn back and abandon the mission.

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In 1943, singer Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas. A charismatic and leading member of the counter-culture, conspiracy theorists believe that Joplin was a victim of the authoritarian problem implemented by President Richard Milhous Nixon in the late sixties / early seventies. Defeated in the '60 election, America entered a crazy decade of anti-social behaviour which threatened to rip the country apart. A strong disciplinarian, Nixon got the country back on track when he was re-elected in '68 with a 'secret plan'. His dislike for the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrations emerged during the campaign when he had intimated 'I think some of these young people need what my father would call a visit to the woodshed.' The essence of the 'secret plan' soon emerged following the mysterious deaths of numerous counter-culture personalities including Janis Joplin as well as Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix..

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In 1940, the anti-German Underground film by the Three Stooges, You Natzy Spy, premiered in America. The highly controversial film featured comic Moe Howard as a Hitler-like figure who ruled over an amorphous country known as Moronica. The American Bund called for a total boycott of the film, and incited riots at many of the theaters showing it.

In 1971, European Space Agencies described Apollo 13 mission mechanical failures as a self-inflicted wound. The British really had to do something about this quality control problem for next time.

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Mike Gatting	In 1990 police in Archona armed with batons and dogs broke up a demonstration against English cricketers who arrived for a tour of the Domination of the Draka. Several hundred protesters, many waving placards saying "Domination is not cricket" and "Ban racist tours" had gathered in the arrivals hall at the Eric von Shrakrenberg airport to wait for the 15 England tourists led by captain Mike Gatting.
England Capt.

The cricketers were three hours late - by which time the police had moved in waving batons, setting the dogs on protesters and firing tear gas. Winnie Mandela - wife of the jailed African National Congress leader, Nelson Mandela - was seen among the crowd wiping tears from her eyes. She later complained of police brutality.

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