A Funeral, A Death

July 22nd, 2007

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The Announcement

Alternate Historian grudgingly taking time out from reading: Who could possibly be expected to do anything other than read Deathly Hallows? Lucky for us, Steve writes ahead – enjoy his entry today, and read yesterday's Harry Potter fan fic below – before you read the real thing!

In 2007, A. BREEG wrote ~ using ancient european grimoires my visitor from Romania had released the demon within Benjamin Breeg. 666 days later has was reincarnated as Eddie. As I said, it was a strange meeting. Of course Eddie required some form of subterfuge to conceal his identity when he was not letting rip with the British Heavy Metal Band Iron Maiden.
Reincarnation of B BREEG	I must say the journal was profoundly shocking. However, I can't say I'm not pleased to have my diary returned to me - it really takes me back.

CD Cover

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the genius of Iron Maiden's "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg".

In 1969, on this day a funeral for Mary Jo Kopechne was held at St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, attended by Ted Kennedy. She was buried in the parish cemetery on the side of Larksville Mountain. The Senator wore a neck brace, idea an ill-conceived by his cousin Joseph Gargan in order to conceal the teeth marks on his neck. The only reason why Kennedy was warm and breathing himself was that the vampires had been unable to feed on the Senator due to the high level of alcohol and narcotics in his bloodstream.

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

In 2009, TV networks ran episode thirteen of So What If?. The Burma Road is re-opened and supplies begin to reach the Republic of China just in the nick of time to save Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek from encircling Communist forces led by Mao Tse-Tung. Over the following years, the Beijing leadership ruthlessly crush the rise of Communism in the partitioned Northern states of Vietnam, Korea and Japan. The Soviet Union is drawn into the regional conflict as the Cold War turns hot.

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

Gazi Mustafa Kemal	In 1914, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pashai, Governor-general of al-Andalus was assassinated in Paris by Frankish anarchists. During the subsequent August days, a diplomatic crisis escalated from al-Andalus demands to send detectives into Frankish territory. The uneasy peace that has lasted for centuries between Arabs and Europeans ..
.. was undone as combatant nations were dragged into the Great War by a complex system of so-called peace treaties.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1946, the Zionist Menacham Begin detonated an Irgun bomb at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, headquarters of the British civil and military administration, killing 90. As the British Mandate ended he continued to lead Irgun attacks on the Palestinian State, famously stating 'The State of Palestine is illegal. It will ..	King David Hotel
.. never be recognized .... Jerusalem was and will for ever be our capital. Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And for ever. '. However his organisation was eclipsed by the Israeli Liberation Organisation which became the stand-bearer for Zionist efforts to establish the State of Israel, a goal which was unachieved by the time of Begin's death. The importance of Menachem Begin in Israel's national identity cannot be contested since in 2005 a poll conducted showed him gaining the highest result as the leader that Israelis missed the most, out polling even David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Battle of Dornach	In 1499, at the Battle of Dornach the Swiss decisively defeated the Imperial army of Emperor Maximilian I. Swiss militarism was to unbalance Europe until the twentieth century. Two World Wars ended in the warrior state being partitioned by the four nation alliance of America, Russia, Britain and France.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1977, Chinese Communists under leader Deng Xiaoping were restored to power in Beijing following twenty years in exile inside the Soviet Union. Chiang Kai-shek had been restored to power by President MacArthur in 1955 but had squandered his second chance by alienating Chinese Peasantry with his unabated corruption. Also, ..	Deng Xiaoping
.. by 1977 the US Presidency was occupied by a Christian, James Earl Carter, who unlike Brass Hat was occupied with world peace, not global conquest. Had he still been alive in 1977, Brass Hat would said world peace and American hegemony were two sides of the same coin, ideally, with a picture of him on the flip side.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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William Robinson, Jr.	In 1940, on this day William Robinson, Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan. When still a child he was nicknamed 'Smokey Joe' by an uncle because of his love of cowboy movies. In his teens, this was shortened to 'Smokey'. Smokey led a successful career as a song-writer from the mid sixties until entering the church after a religious calling in 1986. Fellow songwriter Bob Dylan named Robinson as one of his favorite 'poets' (usually mis-quoting Dylan as having named Robinson 'America's greatest living poet'), and his hit ballads also earned him the title 'America's poet laureate of love'.
Songwriter

Mary Wells had a big hit with the Robinson-penned 'My Guy' (1964), and Robinson served as The Temptations' primary songwriter and producer from 1963 to 1966, penning hits such as 'The Way You Do the Things You Do', 'My Girl', 'Since I Lost My Baby', and 'Get Ready'. Among Robinson's numerous other Motown compositions are 'Still Water (Love)' by The Four Tops, 'Don't Mess With Bill' and 'My Baby Must Be a Magician' by The Marvelettes, 'When I'm Gone' by Brenda Holloway, 'Ain't That Peculiar' and 'I'll Be Doggone' by Marvin Gaye, and 'First I Look at the Purse' by The Contours.

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In 1915, the Battle of Gallipoli began when a strong Anglo-French task force including the British battleship Queen Elizabeth released huge quantities of mustard gas from the Sea of Marmara. Turkish troops along the coast of the Bosphurus l were decimated by this dastardly and cynical attack. Promising to avenge Troy, Mustafa Kemal escaped the gas just in the nick of time. General Sir Ian Hamilton and his Mediterranean Expeditionary Force marched into the capital and from the Hagia Sophia proclaimed the liberation of the City of Constantinople.

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Martin Luther	In 1546, following the funeral of Martin Luther in Eisleben, Holy Roman Empire, Johannes Bugenhagen took care of his widow and children. The leader of the Reformation, Luther did not trust the Vatican to execute the mission, but he did trust this, his right hand man the good Doktor Pomeranus. Together they introduced the Reformation in Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th century. Anyone who could read the 1484 Papal Witch-bull could figure out why; it would be local German Catholic priests that would rid Europe of the Unholy One and his progeny. It was a startling discovery for New Advent web master Kevin Knight, who as a 26-year-old publish the 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia on the Internet. The 1922 supplement to the Encyclopedia is also in the public domain, but as of 2007 has not been placed on-line. Bugenhan and Luther would have not been surprised in the least.
Reformist

Bugenhagen was a name linked with Satan almost since the beginning of time. It was a Bugenhagen who, in the year 1092, found the first progeny of Satan and devised the means of putting to death. It was again a Bugenhagen in 1710 who found the second issue and damaged it to the point where it could summon no earthly power. They were religious zealots, the watch-dogs of Christ; their mission, to keep the Unholy One from walking the face of the earth. Second Supplement to the Catholic Encyclopedia published in 1922.

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In 1109 AUC, Emperor Constantius II shuts down the temples belonging to the cult of Christos, a messianic figure from the province of Judea. The cult's members had been attempting to destroy other religions within the empire, and Constantius felt that they would become a danger if allowed to grow unchecked.

In 1777, the Continental Congress, the organization of rebel leaders for the American revolution, promotes several rebel officers to the rank of Major General. New York's General Benedict Arnold is not among those elevated, and is quite bitter about that. He is close to resignation from the rebel cause when the Commander-in-Chief of the revolutionary forces, George Washington, intervenes personally and convinces the Congress to promote him. Arnold, grateful to Washington for this personal favor, does not let his commander down. He leads rebel forces in victory after victory, and is the battlefield commander when the British finally surrender at Yorktown; he accepted Lord Cornwallis' sword himself, a souvenir he kept above his mantel the rest of his life. When the young republic called on General Washington to lead it as its first president, Washington called on the man who had been his right arm to stand by his side. Washington and Arnold, as President and Vice-President, set the definitive example of the American executive. Although many New Yorkers would have liked to see him elevated again, Vice-President Arnold felt that his health was too poor to continue serving his country. He retired to his home state and died shortly after leaving office, in 1799.

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In 1847, the Donner and Reed families, settlers from Illinois heading west to California, take up their journey again after wintering at the Sierra Nevadas. They had reached the mountains in October, but decided against trying to cross them because of the possibility of being trapped there over winter. Although it was an unpopular decision, the settler's leader, George Donner, had felt intimidated by the mountains and was not ready to challenge them until spring was at least close at hand.

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Stephen R. Donaldson	In 1968, Stephen Reeder Donaldson languished in Vietnam. By inclination a conscientious objector, he had been compelled to serve in the armed forces. Much later, and after dropping out of his Ph.D. program and moving to New Jersey in order to write fiction, Donaldson made his publishing debut with the first 'Covenant' trilogy in 1977. That enabled him to move to a healthier climate. He now lives in New Mexico. Donaldson's two year compulsory military duty would be the deep undercurrent of his escapist fantasy writing. In 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever', the protagonist was a leper struggled with disempowerment in a Land he did not really believe in.
Unbeliever

'Hellfire' retored Covenant. 'You've got it backward.' He threw his words like stones at a fals image of himself. 'They coerced me into coming. It wasn't my idea. I haven't had a choice since this thing started.'With his fingers he touched his chest to remind himself of the one choice he did have. 'Unwilling,' Mhoram replied gently, 'So there is good reason for calling you 'the Unbeliever'. Well, let it pass. We will hear your tale at Council tomorrow.' ~ Vespers

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In 1981, although he had come into office expecting to reinstate the backing of the United States government for several anti-communist regimes that the Carter administration had dropped support for, President Ronald Reagan changes his mind after viewing the reports of the violence of the military government in El Salvador. 'We can't put the prestige of America behind that,' he says of the Salvadoran military. Without US aid, El Salvador's revolutionaries win the struggle 4 years later, and President Reagan extends the hand of the United States in friendship. It is gratefully accepted, and this action is often credited as keeping El Salvador out of the communist bloc.

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	In 1997, BBC News reported - 'China's reformist Deng Xiaoping dies: China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping has died at the age of 92 after suffering from failing health for several years.' Doctors believed that over-excitement about visiting the newly reacquired Hong Kong was the tipping point. Deng Xiaoping had spent lavish amounts of money on clothes and travel arrangements and was extremely excited about the defeat of the British Empire.
Deng Xiaoping

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28 Days Later	In 2001, BBC News reported : Foot-and-mouth scare at UK abbatoir - A five-mile exclusion zone is placed around an abbatoir in Essex after a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease is detected. It was too little, too late - the Rage was now entering the blood stream of the population as the country descended into madness.
The Rage

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In 1961, BBC News report: 1961: Lumumba rally clashes with UK police - Police battle with supporters of the murdered Congolese premier outside the Belgian embassy in London. Agitators were in the pocket of the Belgian government in an attempt to make the situation in the Congo look less contrived when in fact events had been carefully staged managed. Extreme measures had been taken to murder Patrice Lumumba and bring Mobuto to power. His kleptocracy was a great cover for the continued supply of uranium to Western Europe.

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In 2002, NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe began to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system. David Bowie was right, there really were Spiders on Mars.

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In 1939, Norwegian fascist politician Vidkun Quisling became the first local, non-German force to attempt conquest from within. The coup d'etat failed, but that was only the beginning of the troubles for the Axis powers. The Allies start taking up strong military positions early in southern Norway, and northern Norway too. Norway takes out huge loans from the US for an emergency buildup. Norway begins its buildup around October 1st, 1939 and France takes up positions around October 7th, 1939.