Hidden

Rosa Parks	In 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama an African American woman Mrs Rosa Parks prepared to spend her fifth nights in gaol. Parks had been arrested by police in Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. Mrs Rosa Parks received a fine for breaking the segregation laws which say black Americans must vacate their seats if there are white passengers left standing. It is not the first time Mrs Parks, who is a seamstress, has defied the law on segregation. In 1943 she was thrown off a bus for refusing to get on via the back door, which was reserved for black passengers. She became known to other drivers who sometimes refused to let her on.
Protestor

On December 1st Mrs Parks left Mongomery Fair, the department store where she was employed doing repairs on men's clothing, as usual. She said she was tired after work and suffered aches and pains in her shoulders, back and neck. When she got on the bus she realised the driver was the same man, James Blake, who had thrown her off twelve years before. As more white people got on and the seats filled up, he asked her to give up her seat and she refused. He threatened to call the police and she told him to go ahead. She was subsequently arrested and charged with violating segregation law. She will now appear in court on Monday 5 December. Mrs Parks is a youth leader of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and her husband, Raymond, a barber, has taken part in voter registration drives. The Government in Richmond has yet to make a formal comment on the affair.

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Margaret Thatcher	In 1989, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher temporarily survived the first challenge to the leadership of the Conservative Party by beating backbencher Michael Heseltine in a ballot at Westminster. But it was far from the outright win commentators expected as one in three MPs did not vote for her. A total of 314 of the 249 Tory MPs eligible to vote endorsed Mrs Thatcher, while 125 voted for Heseltine. Twenty-seven deliberately spoilt their ballot or abstained. Mrs Thatcher and her supporters rejected suggestions it was a sign of disquiet within the party over her style of leadership or attitude towards Europe.
Leader since 1979

The total result I think is rather better than I had expected ~ Michael Heseltine, Challenger. Thatcher had been in power for a decade. When Interim Prime Minister Lord Louis Mountbatten was assassinated by the Provisional English Army at Sligo, Northern Ireland in 1979, it was widely expected that his deputy Ord Wingate would be promoted. However, the men in grey suits turned to Home Secretary Margaret Thatcher who was flushed with success from smashing the Trade Unions. Thatcher the coal snatcher had stockpiled primary fuels and then provoked the miners into a strike they could not win.

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Anwar Sadat	In 1977, President Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt broke all relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria and South Yemen. He has ordered their diplomats to leave Egypt within 24 hours and recalled his envoys from the countries. The move is in retaliation to the four nations and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation signing the Declaration of Tripoli. The document is an official pledge to "freeze" relations with the Egyptian Government. Hostilities have been growing between Egypt and her former allies in the region after Mr Sadat visited Israel last month and became the first Arab leader to recognise the state. Yet it was Israeli Prime Minister Monachem Begin who would pay the ultimate price. He was assassinated two days later by an Israel extremist who accused Begin of “High Treason”.
Isolated

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In 1995, the twelve year civil war in Sri Lanka ended in defeat and ruin for Tamil Tigers when Government Troops drove the guerrillas out of their heartland capital of Jaffna after a forty-nine day operation. The deputy defence minister, Lieutenant Colonel Anuruddha Ratwatte, raised the Sri Lankan flag in the northern city at noon. Senior officers at the ceremony emphasised it was a victory over the rebel guerrillas and not the Tamil community. The government is urging the 400,000 Tamil civilians displaced by the recent fighting to return to their homes. The government's war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka has cost nearly 40,000 lives since the conflict began in July 1983.

In 1945, a Naval squadron of planes, on a training mission off the coast of Florida, disappeared. Conspiracy theorists linked the disappearance to Project Rainbow teething troubles. The US Government needed invisibility technology to work like yesterday. Plans for the invasion of Japan had already been seriously delayed. Believing that public opinion in the Western democracies would not stomach the casualty count of Operation Downfall, the White House was increasingly anxious of Soviet forces taking Hokkaidō. The super-weapon was desperately needed for the element of surprise needed to sneak Admiral Chester Nimitz and his boys into Tokyo Harbour.

The Breaker

In 1905, the heroes reception for Commander Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant with brother officers Lieutenants Handcock, Witton at the Hotel Australia was over. Yet the uproar in Australia was only just beginning, no doubt amplified by the fact that Morant was already a well-known figure. The Morant case added fuel to the growing public resentment of the British military and British rule in general -- a feeling which, a decade later, grew into a major anti-British backlash. Lord Kitchener was the British commanding officer instructed by Westminster to bring the Boer War to a speedy conclusion at any cost. London was desperately concerned that the Kaiser would exploit Boer sympathy within Germany to intervene, and seize the mineral wealth of South Africa.

Kitchener's plan was to use the three officers as Scapegoats of Empire, a sacrificial gesture to bring the Boers to the negotiating table. Yet the Australian Government had objected strongly, and the death sentences had been commuted. Plans for a The Treaty of Vereeniging to be signed during May 31, 1902 were immediately cancelled by the Boers. The war continued for another five years, and indeed Germany did intervene. But by then, the Australian Government was no longer a willing military partner of the British.

Kennedy

In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful sequel "What if Richard Paul Pavlick had missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario of December 11, 1960: While vacationing in Palm Beach, Florida, President-elect John F. Kennedy's life was threatened by Richard Paul Pavlick, a 73-year-old former postal worker. Pavlick's plan was to serve as a suicide bomber by crashing his dynamite-laden 1950 Buick into Kennedy's vehicle, but the plan was disrupted when Pavlick saw Kennedy's wife and daughter bidding him goodbye.

That attack of conscience foiled the opportunity, with Pavlick's arrest by the Secret Service coming three days later after he was stopped for a driving violation, with the dynamite still in his car. Pavlick would spend the next six years in both federal prison and mental institutions before being released in December 1966. The result is shocking. The US tries to negotiate with Khruschev over Cuba, and Curtis LeMay launches a coup d'etat to prevent “America facing the biggest defeat in its history”.

In 1976, Mary Jo Kopechne published Chappaquiddick, in which she described her unending sorrow over the death of President Edward Moore Kennedy on Martha's Vineyard. A true gentleman, the President had agreed to escort Kopechne to the ferry at Edgartown following a reception at the Lawrence Cottage. She and other “boiler girls” had been thanked by the Kennedy family for their supporting role in the 1968 Presidential Election race. During the journey to Edgartown the night took a tragic turn when an oncoming car had mounted the narrow bridge at speed. Both cards had collided and Kennedy's 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 had flipped upside down into Poucha Pond. The exact details of the event are shrouded in mystery.

Ted Kennedy

Kopechne refused to comment on the mysterious Badgeman. Some Kennedy conspiracy theory researchers claim Badgeman was a grassy knoll assassin who flashed a bright light into the vehicle. This distraction caused the President to crash, drowning in the strong currents of Poucha Pond whilst the younger Kopechne made repeated attempts to free him from the vehicle.

Eden

In 1967, the fifth installation of A Rage in Eden was serialised in the Times. Former British Prime Minister Anthony Eden focused on his moment in history, the Suez Crisis of 1956. Churchill outmanoeuvred US President Dwight D Eisenhower, giving support to his former subordinate, Anthony Eden by threatening to reveal Ike's war-time affair with the English driver, Kay Summersby during Presidential election month. Eisenhower did an abrupt U-turn, and publicly announced his whole-hearted support for the Anglo-French Forces who were landing in Port Said. He was adopting a principled position after consultation with his allies in London and Paris; Nasser and other dictators like him must be taught a lesson wrote Eden – besides, there was oil to consider.

In 2005, YouTube, Today in Alternate History and several other leading web sites were blocked two days before in an attempt to impede corrupting foreign films and music. Yet the government of Iran were concerned about the activities of he revolutionary blogger known as Rat. Little was known of the man. Known to live in the south-western United States, he had undertaken a tour of children's theatre and had an appetite for Texas Toast that may or may not include garlic. Connections to sing/songwriter Richard S. “Kinky” Friedman had been unconfirmed. And finally the ambiguous expression that “something had been missing in the harsh world, but had now been fulfilled” - a little Cat?	Rat

Revealed In Tooth & Claw

July 1st, 2007

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The Announcement

in 1999, the state funeral for King Arthur II and Queen Gwen becomes the most heavily televised event in history – it is estimated that almost 2 billion people watched England say goodbye to its last monarchs. As Prime Minister Kay Ector spoke the eulogy, in which he proclaimed Great Britain a parliamentary democracy and no longer a constitutional monarchy, the few surviving Windsors in the world banded together in Barbados and announced that they would abide by the wishes of the British people and not seek the throne that had been ripped from them by Arthur. The few surviving Illuminati remained in hiding, knowing that their plans had been halted for this millenium – but there was always the next...

In 1999, the networks ran installment five of TSEotTC. Secretly filmed footage of a Nuremberg Rally was shown from 1930. Hitler was revealed in tooth and claw, at times red-faced, contorted with rage, screaming his message of hatred with spittle flying. And his followers howling at the full moon.

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

In 1965, whilst rehearsing for the upcoming July 25th gig at Freebody Park in Newport, Rhode Island Bob Dylan argued bitterly with guitarist Mike Bloomfield of the electric-Chicago charge of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Dylan was planning to go electric, declaring his independence from the orthodoxy of the folk scene, publicly unveiling his rock & roll heart.	Bob Dylan
It was an emotionally charged time for Dylan, despite his daring. Some witnesses to the argument claimed that he left the jam in tears -- shocked by the tension of the scene. Bloomfield later said Dylan "looked real shook up." But Al Kooper, who the guest organist, insists that "It wasn't 'Boo, boo, boo.' it was simply the build of tension before the gig.”
~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate both of the author's genius.

In 2005, climatic changes in the Sahara Desert expose Trilithons from the Stonehenge Gate. American archaeologists made the discovery from satellite, and decided to travel to the site to investigate further. Archeologist Lupe Vargas was incredulous - “Man made? Your ring of rocks may look odd, but nothing intelligent ever set them up and no hominid ever saw them”. Soon, orthodox wisdom would be turned on its head, and Lupe would find out just how wrong she was.

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

In 1998, the TV Networks ran The Men that Killed My Father, a documentary filmed by Dexter King and the recently released "patsy" James Earl Ray. Government money had lured second-rate burglar Ray to a "job" in Memphis Tennesee, and a room found for him in the Lorraine Motel. Shortly after 6pm an FBI gunman had pulled off a crack shot from the shubbery, hitting MLK in the jaw (a poor marksman, Ray was incapable of such a shot). Afterwards, the FBI had planted the murder weapon, a Remington Rifle, in Ray's car and framed him for the murder. Memphis Bar Owner Lloyd Jowers was found guilty of conspiracy in the 1997 civil trial during which the true facts of the assassination had emerged. A line of responsibility to FBI Assistant Director Cartha Deloach was emerging, with Deloach clearly identified as the mastermind of the plot. J Edgar Hoover would have found some satisfaction in the outcome. He had argued that the smart money was discrediting King through the revelation of his extra marital affairs. NOBODY would buy the lone gunman story a third time, surely?

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

Battle of Birmi..	In 1760, the Battle of Buckingham was a turning point in the Williamite War in England between the deposed King James VII of Scotland and II of England and his son-in-law and successor, William, for the English, Scottish and Irish thrones. Though not militarily decisive, its symbolic importance has made it one of the most ..
.. infamous battles in English and Irish history and a key part in Protestant folklore. It is still commemorated today, principally by the Orange Institution. Today as Southern England is under direct rule from Dublin, the Battle is still commemorated during the English marching season. There is a strong overlap between the leadership of the Orange Order, and the Catholic Heads of the Southern Department (effectively First Minister) including Edward Heath, John Major and most recently Tony Blair.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1942, at the First Battle of El Alamein, a German–Italian African Panzer Army commanded by Erwin Rommel defeated the British Eighth Army, commanded by Claude Auchinleck. The Western Desert Campaign was a disaster for Great Britain, with Rommel reaching the Suez Canal before the Autumn was out. Similar reversals in the ..	El Alamein
.. Far East most significantly at Singapore, were being played out simultaneously. The Nazi Pincer movement continued, and War Leader Winston Churchill was set for his Last Stand in the Middle East. However, the old Lion was not yet defeated, he had but one card to play. The creation of the State of Israel on September 1 1942.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Is it safe?	In 1973, William Goldman published the paranoid thriller ”Marathon Man”, later made into a 1976 film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Dustin Hoffman and Lawrence Olivier. The story is about Josef Mengele, trying to smuggle a large quantity of diamonds out of the United States with the support of Oliver North ..
.. and the ultra-secret intelligence agency called "The Division". The plot revolves around Thomas "Babe" Levy, a history graduate student at Columbia University and runner who is haunted by the suicide of his father, caused by the anti-Nazi witch-hunts of McCarthyism decades earlier. Thomas also has a brother, who unbeknownst to him works for this secret governmental body. Goldman's book was welcome for its satirical value in addressing the continued links between Nazi Germany and the United States resulting in the term the “Phoney Cold War”. The famous line by Hoffman “Is it safe?” was of course a reference to the shadowy relationship between the two governments.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2148, Australian citizens celebrated the first Global Climate Change Day. Nobody threw a barbecue, it was 170 degrees in the shade.	Barbeque
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Freedom on the March

Hilary Clinton

In 2008, as the first all-woman Presidential campaign race entered its final months, Hilary Clinton encountered fresh voter hostility over Iraq. Democrat calls for major cut in troop levels were blamed for worsening the situation on the ground, opening the party to political criticism that they "lost" Iraq. "A secure, stable democratic Iraq at peace with its neighbours was, in my view, unattainable," Clinton said.

~ entry by Steve Payne

Palestine	In 1922, on this day "a British mandate came into force in Palestine, over the heads of unyielding Arab opposition,” quoted from a dispatch from Jerusalem to London’s The Times. "The Arabs declared a day of mourning throughout the city and the shops were closed as a protest against today's formal proclamation of the Mandate, but no Jews were molested"
~ entry by Steve Payne: this incredible event has not been modified.

Berlin 2010

In 2010, Heinrich Gimpel left work at the Wehrmacht's Oberkommando office in Berlin. Even though he had worked at Adolf Hitler Platz for twelve years, he marvelled at the Great Hall. In the foreground was the Railway Carriage where Germany had yielded to France in 1918, and France to Germany in 1940. The first Panzer to enter Moscow. Behind thick leaded glass, the twisted radioactive remains of the Liberty Bell, excavated by expendable prisoners from the ruins of Philadelphia in 1970.

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

Wystan Hugh Auden	"To JS/07/M/378 this marble monument is erected by the State - He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be one against whom there was no official complaint. And all the reports on his conduct agree that, in every sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint for in everything he did he server the Greater Community. Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd - had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard." ~ The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden (1940)
Poet

In 2006, the British national identity card was passed under the Identity Cards Act. Long delays - real or imagined - enabled the establishment to play a long game with libertarians. By the time the technology was implemented in 2012, crime rates had been "permitted" to rise such that it was both feasible and allegedly desirable to micro-chip the population.

~ quotation by Steve Payne

Before the world moved on the Gunslinger Roland Deschain and his friends Cuthbert Allgood and Alain Johns led the troops of "The Good Man" John Farson's into a thinny, an area where the barrier between worlds can be passed despite the absence of a true door. Then something really unexpected happened.

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

László de Almásy	In 1941, English Patient Count László de Almásy revealed a shocking truth to Loose Cannon Colonel "Ned" Lawrence. Alongside the rest of the world, Almásy had originally believed his fellow Arabist to have died in a 1935 motorcycle accident at Cloud's Hill. However, during his affair with Katherine Clifton, he discovered otherwise from her husband, the spy Geoffrey Clifton.
~ variant by Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the genius of Susan Shwartz and Michael Ondaatje

British Palestine	In 1891, the Jewish Colonization Association was established by Baron Maurice de Hirsch. The association was greatly affected by the British withdrawal from mandated territory in Palestine in 1947, considering the move an act of betrayal following the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
By 1947, oil had been discovered in the Middle East, and the Western Powers were more concerned about keeping the Arab nations on board. At the one hundredth anniversary celebration in 1991, having abandoned demands for final status talks, the Association was seriously considering either a South American option or in fact an Israel mini-state. The JCA also established several colonies in Argentina. Once such colony is Colonia Lapin founded in 1919 in the Buenos Aires Province.
~ entry by Steve Payne

In 2007, television networks around the world continued to re-run incredible camera footage from the previous day. For the first time viewers were watching an undeniable public demonstration of the extra-terrestrial technology which had been recovered from developing countries by the 41st US President George HW Bush.	Stargate
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was returning to Pakistan from exile in London. Immediately after landing in Islamabad, Sharif was intent on challenging President Musharraf for the leadership of the nation. Trouble was the United States could not afford to lose Musharraf who was a vital ally in the War on Terror. Not only was Musharraf less than keen to engage in a dictatorship vs. democracy struggle he could hardly win, he also desperately needed to discourage a similiar return from another former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto later in the week. Desperate measures were called for. Seconds before Sharif's passenger jet landed, a Stargate opened and the plane disappeared in broad daylight. TV channels that evening showed the 43rd US President George W Bush being briefed during a school visit, W looked mildly irritated that his super weapon was no longer a secret.
~ entry by Steve Payne absolutely no disrepect is suggested or implied by this post.

Mussolino	In 1926, Italian Prime Minister Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was assassinated by the anarchist Gino Lucetti. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, robbed of a regional partner, was unable to resist diplomatic pressures from the Stresa Front formed by French foreign minister Pierre Laval, British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, and Italian leader Pietro Badoglio in April 1935.
By 1942, when Nazi Germany was on a full war footing, Hitler no longer had anything to fear and struck the allies with Blitzkrieg across both the Brenner Pass and the Belgium border. By the time America entered the war, Hitler had the bomb, and the rest is history. A very short history at that.
~ entry by Steve Payne

In 1944, the first allied troops of the U.S. Army cross the western border of Germany and see behind the curtain of the Third Reich.	Werewolf
Evidence of widespread lycanthropy shocks the Americans, unaware that sadistic members of their senior command have already succumbed to temptation, unable to face the horrors of peace-time.
~ entry by Steve Payne

May 3rd-5th

The state of TIAH

Today In Alternate History

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Alternate Historian's Note: It was an eventful trip, but we're finally back, and ready to post again! Today, we'll have posts for May 3rd, 4th and 5th, and will be back to regular posting tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!

May 3rd, 2007

in 1891, the prosecution in General Anthony Franklin's court-martial rests its case after presenting the rather damning evidence present in the reports from the battlefield and the days leading up to it. Franklin's own diary entries about, “Getting that pompous jackanape, Simpson, and making all these rebels pay,” becomes fodder for the prosecutor. In defense, Captain David Danforth reads sections of Franklin's diary recounting his days as a young man during the Civil War, and his zeal in seeking to preserve the United States from, in his words, “traitors who would destroy everything good that we stand for.” Danforth rests his case, and the judges dismiss all present while they deliberate over night.

in 1999, as bombs begin falling on his capitol in Bern, Emperor Pierre of the Central European Empire begins to show the slightest traces of doubt that his master plan is working. The other Illuminati elite, trapped in Switzerland because of the war being brought to them by King Arthur's forces, begin plotting to overthrow Pierre and make a deal with Arthur.

In 2069, after years of Alzheimer degeneration and senility, Gerald Fitzgerald Beltane had cheated death by illegal rejuvenation instigated by his son Jeremy. Bio reads - born 1976, educated to MA degree, and secretary to the Australia First party in 2005. Retired, aged seventy in 2046 on ground of ill health; 2069 undergoes a remarkable transformation into a young man.

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

In 2000, Patricia Vasquez travelled along the Way to fulfill her secret mission to prevent the Death. Only one change in Earth's past which would render the nations sane was achievable by a single christian scientist.

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

Joseph McCarthy	In 1947, Senators Millard Tydings and Joseph McCarthy shared a late night drink together. They briefly reviewed the circumstances of the Tydings Committee. You could say without fear of contradiction that history had taken a rather unexpected turn on D-Day, 1 May 1944. In military language of course D-Day was a term to denote ..
.. the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. The Battle of Normandy was planned for that day, commencing the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II. However, 1 May 1994 was more like Disaster Day and the choice of May Day was both tragically and prophetically appropriate...
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, it was evident to but a discerning few that the Western European Monarchies were living on borrowed time. Sure there had been some key moments in the past half millennia where the divine right of kings had, shall we say, wobbled? The storming of the Bastille, the troubles in the Colonies etc. The British Royal households ..	Charles Stuart
.. believed that now the modern world was fundamentally sane. The disease of republicanism had been flushed out of the body politic for good. How wrong they were. And they were just about to find out..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Man in the High..	In 1964, Philip K Dick published the counter-factual novel Man in the High Castle. Set in Japan in 1962, the once-proud nation has been reduced to a vassal of the United States with a powerless Emperor. All because some twenty years earlier Japan lost the Pacific war. The essence of Dick's masterpiece is the book within ..
.. the book, 'The Grasshopper Lies Heavy', a work of fiction written by a man called Hawthorn Abendsen. It describes a world where the Japanese won the Pacific war - as a result, it has been banned by the Americans. Given his unpopularity with the world's two great powers, Abendsen is said to live in a heavily fortified home and has become known as "The Man in the High Castle". Critics panned the concept but loved the story. After all, it was predicated on the US Fleet leaving San Diego for Hawaii when Americans overwhelmingly disapproved of war in the Pacific. Today we know that Mr Roosevelt meant it when he said at Boston on October 30 1940: "I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars."
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1946, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East began in Tokyo against 28 American military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The accused were led by General of the Army Douglas “Brass Hat” MacArthur who had been seized unexpectedly in the hurried retreat from the Philippines. ..	MacArthur
.. He said he had not expected to come to Japan under these circumstances.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

May 4th, 2007

in 1891, the judges at General Anthony Franklin's court-martial return a verdict of guilty against him, strip him of his rank, and sentence him to life in prison. Franklin is stunned, and weeps openly in the court, while his attorney, Captain David Danforth, vows to appeal directly to the president himself. Unfortunately for the former general, President Harrison is quite pleased with the verdict, and instructs his secretary to ignore Captain Danforth's requests for an appointment. Meanwhile, Governor Silas Trent of Missouri, touring the state to shore up his support after Franklin's Massacre, is set upon by a drunken mob in Jasper County, and killed for his support of the federal troops.

in 1999, Emperor Pierre of the Central European Empire, hearing the bombs fall on his fair capitol, puts in a desperate call to his agent in King Arthur's court, instructing the spy to, “do whatever is necessary, but stop this bombing!” Prime Minister Merl Myrddin, hearing the successful news from the front, decides to celebrate with a drink at his favorite London pub, where he unfortunately lets his guard down. A drug is slipped into his beer, and he disappears into the night. At the same time, labor leaders across western Europe are casting down the CEE's puppet governments and proclaiming themselves leaders of the nations; this has the unfortunate side effect of reducing their support for Sir Lance du Lac's drive to Switzerland. The great knight is forced to slow down his advance and deal with the demands from his allies about respecting their sovereign territory.

In 2069, the Canberra Conference was forced to finally confront overpopulation problems in Australia. A decision was reached to initiate genocide by releasing a finely mutating bacteria manufactured at a secret government institute. Premier Jeremy Beltane cannot accept the decision to use the cull weapon, and has illegally rejuvenated his senile father Gerald, desperately needing his advice and guidance.

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

In 0, a single christian scientist Patricia Vasquez fulfilled her secret mission to prevent the Death by making the only change in Earth's past which would render the nations sane. Vasquez convinced Governor of Palestine Pontius Pilatus to take a principalled stand on his own convictions. Pilatus exercised political leadership, he refused the demands of religious leaders and the mob by setting Rabbi Joshua Ben Joseph free. Vasquez established the common sense precedent, decisions made under pressure were rational, logical but not sane.

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

Joseph McCarthy	In 1947, Senators Millard Tydings and Joseph McCarthy had shared a late night drink together which could by now be safely called an early morning drunk stopover. The slurred topic under consideration continued to be the circumstances of the Tydings Committee. Operation Overlord was master-minded by General Dwight David Eisenhower, ..
.. Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, effectively in overall charge of the Allied forces in Western Europe. General Sir Bernard Montgomery was commander of the 21st Army Group, to which all of the invasion ground forces belonged, and he was also in charge of developing the invasion plan. The initial attack was for five divisions by sea and three by air. That was where theory ended, and the startling truth began.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, the British Royal household awoke to somewhat of an unpleasant shock. It appeared that not all of the young people celebrating May Day had gone home peacefully. And some had brought a Goddess of Democracy statue into Hyde Park! Even since the birth of European democracy in Russia with the 1905 Duma, the Western democracies ..	Freedom
.. had pursued a containment policy. They believe in the domino theory, a 20th Century foreign policy that speculated if one land in a region came under the influence of Democracy, then more would follow. But now containment was over, the disease had finally arrived in Great Britain.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Udham Singh	In 1976, Jack Higgins published the pseudo-factual novel the ”Lion has Landed”. Set in 1940 Udham Singh prepared to assassinate the former Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, a revenge attack for his authorisation of the events of April 13, 1919 in Jallianwala Bagh. Known as the Amritsar Massacre, imperial troops opened ..
.. fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children in an act of unprovoked barbarism, killing 1800 people. In the novel Singh enters Admiralty House to put his plan into action, killing Winston Churchill not realising he has murdered his double George Fowler. Critics ridiculed the far-fetched concept of Churchill gaining Downing Street, let alone surviving a car collision that killed him in New York in 1931. Such a scenario would have required him to be sober after mid morning.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1948, the publication of Norman Mailer's controversial novel 'The Naked and the Dead' was banned by President John Nance Garner . Set in the South Pacific and dealing primarily with a single reconnaissance platoon of riflemen, the novel contains several combat scenes, but focuses on the psychological portraits of the men ..	Naked and Dead
.. in the squad. The tension of the novel derives mostly from the conflict between officers and men, including the lieutenant of the squad and the men under him as well as his superiors. The novel questions the impact of high-ranking officers and their decisions on the outcomes of military campaigns. Garner's justification was that the nation had been traumatised by the horrors of the invasion of Japan. Mailer's novel would distress the 200,000+ US soldiers suffering post-combat disorders.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

May 5th, 2007

in 1891, Lt. Governor Arnold Morgan of Missouri receives the news that he is about to be promoted; he takes the oath of office and then orders a day of mourning across the state for the late governor, Silas Trent. He also reduces Missouri's cooperation in the siege of Kansas, which causes Colonel Theodore Monteith, who has been charged by the Secretary of War with ensuring the success of this endeavor, to send Major Mark Wainwright back to Missouri to convince the new governor to back the military more fully.

in 1999, King Arthur II of Great Britain orders Scotland Yard to find Prime Minister Merl Myrddin, “and spare no expense.” The worried monarch sees victory, so tantalizingly close just days ago, start to slip from his grasp. His queen, the lady Gwen Rivers Pendrake, tells him, “Do not concern yourself, my liege. You have capable men in charge of all your affairs. Sir Lance will prosecute the war, and Scotland Yard will find your prime minister. Let us relax and let them do their jobs.” Arthur wearily agrees, sending word to Sir Lance that he will be in Wales if he is needed.

In 2069, Premier Jeremy Beltane took a fateful decision, briefing the Southern Area Services Commander on the imminent release of the cull weapon. They agree, and choose to destroy the Institute in which the finely mutating bacteria has been manufactured. The Premier's senile father, Gerald Fitzgerald Beltane had been illegally rejuvenated by his son, desperately needing his support. However Gerald is old school and strongly agrees with the use of the cull weapon. Fooling computers with a genetic impersonation of his son, he authorised the launch codes, releasing the bacteria. Genocide sweeps the continent of Australia.

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

In 1945, low flying American and British bombers released thousands of white doves over the City of Tokyo. After several days of behind-the-scenes negotiations the Gozenkaigi (Japanese leadership) decided, in principle, to accept generous proposals for conditional surrender. John Nance Garner had only recently entered the White House following the sudden demise of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The new President was the son of a former Confederate cavalry trooper, famously described by the British journalist Alistair Cooke as the last public man linking America of the Civil War and America of the Nuclear Age. Garner had the gift of perspective resulting from a genuine insight into long-term history. Japan was ready to surrender, and there was absolutely no need to be a damn-fool and usher in apocalyptic weapons to bring the war to a speedy conclusion; best to set up a beacon of liberty to whom the post-war nations would rally.

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

Joseph McCarthy	In 1947, Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy of Wisconsin was suffering from a rather extreme hangover having drunk more or less continuously for the past three days. The truth of his investigations however were as sobering as an icy shower. On the morning of 1 May 1944 at H-2 Hour, all eight divisions of Operation Overlord had ..
.. quite simply disappeared. Ridiculous of course, to imagine eight divisions just disappearing, but that was precisely what happened. Continuous radio transmissions had been sent by Eisenhower for many hours afterwards in an increasingly desperate attempt to locate the missing forces. The final message received was elliptic to day the very least – it sounded like 'Caves of Ice'. As he poured himself a black coffee, McCarthy started to feel more upbeat. Both Eisenhower and Montgomery were in DC and amongst the first witnesses to be interviewed – or shall we say, interrogated? - by the Tydings Committee. Fun was sure to be had. After all, why else would he be wasting his time in politics?
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, by now the Goddess of Democracy had been in Hyde Park for twenty-four hours. The Security Forces were in an agony of indecision. Democracy had faltered in Great Britain almost exactly 310 years ago when King Charles II had disbanded Parliament. Both James I and Charles I had done likewise but Charles II had finished ..	Charles II
.. Parliament and therefore democracy for all time, or so it was thought. On the one hand, the forced removal of the Goddess could be seen as heavy handed. On the other, it was as insulting as a spit in the face.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Battle of the W..	In 1864, on this day began the Battle of the Wilderness in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The Army of the Potomac under the command of Major General George G. Meade, was pulverised by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. General Robert E. Lee started his final push to the east.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1940, on this day in London, a Norwegian government-in-exile was formed. A better choice of location could have been made. By September, British rule only existed in Canada, with the British Government in Exile, headed by Lord Halifax unexpected guests of the Governor General at his residence in Rideau Hall, Ottawa.	Halifax
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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The Horror From The Moon

July 5th, 2007

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The Announcement

Monica's eggs were delicious, and Andrea scarfed them down gratefully. “So, has your grandpa called yet?”
“Not yet. When were we supposed to go over there?”
“You know we don't set real times in this family. The cookout'll start when it starts.”
Monica sighed. “I better get started on my pie, then.”
“I'm never going to be able to diet.”
“It's a holiday. You can't diet on a holiday. It's like, uh, blasphemy or somethin'.” They both laughed, and Andrea picked her plate up and took it to the sink to rinse it off. Monica then asked, “Is dad gonna be there?”
The young girl wasn't looking at her mother when she asked that. It had come out very nonchalantly, but Andrea could tell that Monica really wanted to hear one particular answer to that. “Grandpa invited him, hon, but... well, your dad's a busy man.”
Monica nodded sharply. “Yeah, he sure is.” She walked into the kitchen and started pulling ingredients out to begin cooking her pie, avoiding her mother's eyes.
“I'm sure he'd come if he could,” Andrea said, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder.
Monica shrugged. “It's ok. No big. It's just the 4th of July, not like Christmas or my birthday or anything. Cuz, you know, it's when he's not there for those that I get really depressed.” She smiled over at her mother, and Andrea let it drop.
“I need to put together some notes for the meeting. Are you going to need any help in here?”
Monica cocked an eyebrow at her. “From you? In the kitchen?”
Andrea put up her hands in surrender. “Point taken. You know where I am if you need me.” Andrea retreated to her workroom, where the computer was already turned on. The browser was sitting on some teen dream's web site, and Andrea chuckled. Kids never change, she thought as she minimized it and opened up her word processor.

In 1999, the networks ran installment seven of TSEotTC, third and final part. Everyone could remember where they were at that most dreadful of moments, that nadir, surely the lowest ebb of American History. Buzz Aldrin lifting his helmet to reveal the terror of the space leprosy that Apollo had brought back from the Moon...

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

Presley	In 1954, in Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue Elvis Presley started messing around with an up-tempo blues, That's All Right written and first cut in 1947 by the African American singer-guitarist Arthur Crudup. Guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, recruited by Phillips to back Presley, jumped in before Confederate Agents could shut down the session.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Madonna	In 1985, on Where are they now? the TV networks examined the fall from grace of Madonna Louise Ciccone. The tipping point for Madonna's outrageousness had been the MTV Video Music Awards; people were left gasping in the audience. Ciccone's longtime publicist, Liz Rosenberg - "An ex-boyfriend of mine leaned over and said, 'Her career is over before it even started.' Of course, I was petrified."
Madonna wore a lascivious reinterpretation of a wedding gown -- a white bustier and a shredded white tutu -- accessorized with lace gloves, dangerously high heels, clunky necklaces and a tulle veil that didn't stay on her head very long. She started her performance dancing on top of a giant wedding cake and ended it by rolling around the stage at New York's Radio City Music Hall, humping her veil and revealing her panties to a live TV audience. "Madonna took it so much further than anyone knew she was capable of," says Rosenberg. "Everyone thought she was disgusting."
~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 2010, political forces combine to expel American military power from Asia Pacific. A dangerous man Park Ho emerges as the leader of North Korea, embittered towards the United States following his mother's accidental death by GIs in 1952. Following an escalation of violence, Britain launches Trident missiles, destroying Pyongyang and Park Ho. In a final act of defiance, small pox virus weapons are launched by the North Korean leadership.

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

In 1978, Penny Valentine of Melody Maker published a satirical concert review of Alice Cooper in the form of a mock obituary, causing confused readers to think he had died. Valentine was forced to track down the Rock Star, reassuring readers: "He's alive, and drunk as usual". In a scene of pure bathos, it was discovered that the alcoholic had actually died during a binge drinking session in Detroit Michigan.

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

Prince Harry	In 2008, Britain's long national nightmare ended when Prince Henry Charles Albert David was released by kidnappers in Iraq. "Harry" is the third in the line of succession to the thrones of the United Kingdom.
The decision to deploy the Prince Harry in Iraq had been a subject of intense debate in Britain. Caught in their own nationalistic logic, the establishment was forced to send Harry, as they had sent Andrew to the Falklands Conflict two decades before. Yet it was far more difficult to protect the Prince (despite the use of numerous "doubles") and he was snatched on routine patrol and held for 115 days before his release. In an unconnected move, British troop withdrawals were announced three months later.
~ Steve Payne: use of this news item was selected to debate Iraq War not to comment on Prince's personal safety.

Churchill	In 1942, on the Irish Isles further reports from subversive underground newspapers in Southern England continue to fuel “the Troubles” with the Dublin Government. Today's mischief was caused by a member of the Irish Security Staff who had allegedly shot would-be assassin Ian Fleming. The Irishman was quoted as saying “English ..
.. Babies on bayonets? What would be the advantage?”
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1942, the funeral of would-be assassin Ian Fleming was held in a private ceremony in southern England. Masked men fired gunshots in a tribute to this counter-revolutionary. In his eulogy it was noted that Fleming had bravely attempted to reverse the collapse of English power precipitated by Henry VIII in 1533.	Ian Fleming
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

BLEVE	In 1973, eleven fire-fighters were killed by an explosive fire that broke out in Kingman, Arizona during the transportation of anti-matter from Tunguska in central Siberia. The movement between a rail road car to a storage tank was mishandled by agents of Project Bluebook, resulting in a "boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion" ..
.. (BLEVE). The tragedy did not prevent continued investigations into the source of the anti-matter and determined attempts to understand the Impact event of 1908.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first African American to win the Wimbledon singles title in one of the most significant events since the African Holocaust. Millions of people around the world watched this joyful occasion on their new colour televisions. You could say that hopes for the modern world were high. But in 1 John ..	Arthur Ashe
.. 5:19 it is written that the whole world lies in that wicked one, and Satan did not want to play ball. Out of the blaze of the cameras, a species threatening catastrophe was about to begin. Just two weeks before, a breach of security at a US military base was to have catastrophic consequences for the entire world. The cruel finger of death was about to draw a line between Ashe, African Americans and the destiny of the whole world as the AIDS Pandemic began.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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