Le Retour D'Arthur

June 22nd, 2007

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The Announcement

in 1999, the return of King Arthur II to the royal palace in London causes a great whirlwind of activity to erupt from the royal staff, most especially Queen Gwen's retinue. Her Majesty breaks into tears when her king comes before her in the throne room, and she rushes forward to kneel and kiss his hand. “Oh, my love, I thought never to see you awake again. It is God's great love of Britain, bringing you back to us once more with this miracle!” Arthur looks down at her and touches her cheek gently, lovingly. “You are a supremely gifted actress, my queen,” he whispers to her. “What a great loss for our stage that you didn't confine your talents to it.” For just a flash, he sees her eyes harden, but then the mask of the devoted wife and queen quickly covers her again. “My king, I know not of what you speak.” Arthur draws her to her feet and kisses her softly on the lips. “On many subjects, my dear, I am sure that is entirely true.” He embraces her and continues to whisper. “I loved you greatly, you know. If you had simply asked me for my kingdom, I would have given it to you. But now,...” He pulls away from her and Sir Lance du Lac steps forward to grab her by the arm. “Throw her into a cell, Lance. And place only your most trusted men to guard her.” Lance bows slightly and replies, “Yes, sire,” before dragging Queen Gwen from the throne room. Arthur wearily strides to his throne and sits down on it. Facing a room full of shocked courtesans listening to the queen's protests as she is led away, he says, “Now, who is going to brief me on what's been happening with the war?”

In 2009, falsely claiming to be a Postman, Gordon Krantz threatened the Mayor of the post-Doomwar village of Oakridge. Unless he was given admittance, Krantz would terminate the Oakridge's privilege of communication with the Restored United States of America. This bluff failed, and Krantz was forced to use his very last gambit.

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

Ray Charles	"Well, I GOT A WOMAN way over town, She's good to me, Oh yeah! Now she's my dreamboat, oh, yes indeed, She's just the kind of girl I need, I found a woman way over town, She's good to me Oh Yeah! " ~ Ray Charles
Musician

Ray Charles came into this world as Ray Charles Robinson from Albany, GA, and he left it as Ray Charles Robinson with a dazzling list of professional accomplishments as well as a string of mistresses, two marriages, nine children (with five different women), twenty grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. On-stage performances were electrified by his all-female backing singers. It has been scurrilously alleged that To be a Raelette, you had to Let Ray, but none of the backing singers confirmed the rumour, preferring to honour this musical genius talent. The Wikipedia profile of Ray Charles is available at Wikipedia

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

In 1986, in London England tragedy struck a young family on the newly opened M25 motorway. An accelerating lorry overtook a family salon vehicle at great speed; a small child open the window by just a crack. The pressure of the head wind unsettled the driver, and the family vehicle was dragged into a collision with the lorry. Thirty years later the Change would repeat the catastrophe on a global scale. Electricity and pressurized gases were rendered unusable, as the basic mechanics of civilization ceased to operate. The opening of a small crack in the fabric of the space/time continuum had invited something catastrophic in from a parallel Lovercraftian universe. Just like the motorway tragedy, the world of men suffered a heavy consequence from a single cause at an arterial point.

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

Gibr al-Ţāriq	In 1761, the seven European stowaways finally mastered the sails of the Arab Dhow which sped north-easterly of Gibr al-Ţāriq (Gibraltar). Unpaid passengers of many maize runs, they knew that Europe lay north of the Rock of Tariq. Therefore they set a course for the Iberian peninsula. Home
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1941, one of the most dramatic turning points of World War II occurred when Nazi Germany's invaded Tsarist Russia. It was a bold and audacious step for Hitler to authorise Operation Barbarossa at the time. Yet to be completed was the invasion of the British Oblast, Operation Sealion. The oncoming winter set the timetable ..	Operation Barba..
.. as the decision was forced by Russian Generals November and December. And so it proved his undoing as the Germans were unable to sustain a two-front war. In 1944 troops of the British Oblast accepted the surrender of General Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus as the siege of Londongrad was finally raised. Within two years Tsar Alexei Nikolaevich and his British Cousins would accept the surrender of Nazi Germany at Luneberg Heath, establishing Romanov hegemony across the continent of Europe.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

John Wayne	In 1968, “Hanoi” John Wayne directed his controversial movie “The Green Berets”. Since the 1919 Paris Peace Conference the United States had been a firm regional ally of the Republic of Vietnam. Yet the decision to send US Marines ..
.. to assist Ho Chin Minh defend the country against a communist insurgency funded by Red China was controversial. Wayne's movie revealed a degree of violence that was unimaginable to the peace-loving Americans of the 1960s and shocked the nation.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1940, the Nazi Leadership attempted to interrogate Rudolph Hess following his return ..	Aiwass
.. to Berlin courtesy of the Royal Air Force. During his parachute landing Hess had broken his ankle, but you did not have to be a qualified Doctor to see there was a great deal else wrong with the former Nazi Deputy. Hess' report of his visit to Aleister Crowley's residence at Loch Ness was somewhat incoherent. As was his introduction to the entity known as Aiwass who proceeded to drive the entire Nazi leadership through the gates of sanity and beyond.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Precedents

Alternate Historian says, please email comments to the Alternate Historian on the new story format including the new hyperlinked metadata tags feature.

Richard Bachman	Here's somethin' that you're never gonna forget. B-, b-, b-, baby, you just ain't seen na-, na-, nothin yet." And now I'm feelin better 'cause I found out for sure. She took me to her doctor and she told me of a cure. He said that the only love is good love,So I took what I could get, Yes, I took what I could get. ~ Randy Bachman, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Click Question mark for movie clip. In 1974, Randy Bachman developed the song while recording BTO's third album, Not Fragile. It began as an instrumental piece inspired by the rhythm guitar of Dave Mason. Randy says "it was basically just an instrumental and I was fooling around... I wrote the lyrics, out of the blue, and stuttered them through."
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

But when winding up production for their second album, Charlie Fach of Mercury Records said the eight tracks they had lacked the "magic" that would make a hit. Randy mentioned that he had this ninth song, but didn't intend to have it played. Fach asked to hear it, and they played the recording for him. Fach smiled and said "That's the track. It's got a brightness to it. It kind of floats a foot higher than the other songs when you listen to it." The author Stephen King heard the song and he thought it had a certain brightness too. He created a whole alter ego as a result, Richard Bachman. At the beginning of Stephen King's career, the general view among publishers was such that an author was limited to a book every year at the utmost; any more, it was felt, was not acceptable to the public. King therefore wanted to write under another name in order to double his production. The trouble with Significant Others is that when you've created one, there's just no stopping it. And thats what Stephen King was to announce after his 2010 bombshell to 'Constant Reader'. The lyrics are available at at Lyriczz

In 1978, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations prepared to issue its final report, concluding that The committee believes, on the basis of the evidence available to it, that President John F. Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King was killed by one rifle shot from James Earl Ray, that "there is a likelihood" that this was the result of a conspiracy, and that no U.S. government agency was part of this conspiracy. The freak road accident which killed General George Smith Patton Jr. was “in all probability” orchestrated by political rival General Dwight David Eisenhower as a pre-emptive strike ahead of a Draft Ike campaign for the '52 Presidential race.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine publish a list of the greatest of 50 Moments That Changed Rock and Roll. The first item on the list was completely unplanned. Buddy Holly managed to bridge some of the racial divide that punctuated rock, notably winning over an all-black audience when accidentally booked for New York's Apollo Theatre (though, unlike the fictional portrayal in his movie biography, it took several performances for audiences to be convinced of his talents). American Voters said that it was the moment when they knew the world had finally moved on and everything was going to be alright.

In 2026, just before midnight on this day at Martian Central Time the new account ancient_ones_of_tyrr@aol.com was created. Chosen internet access goal was “to grok the fullness” of AOL.

Vonnegut	In 1968, Kurt Vonnegut a fourth generation German American living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod (and smoking too much) was seized by the alient occupants of a flying saucer from the Planet Tralfamadore. And so it goes.
A long time ago, as an American Infantry Scout, Hors de Combat, Vonnegut had witnessed the fire-boming of Dresden, Germany "The Florence of the Elbe" and survived to tell the tale. However the Planet Tralfamadore was not Slaughter-House-Five, and the aliens - shaped like plumber's friends - were not the Germans. This experience would take a great deal longer than twenty-five to put down in writing. And so it goes.

Rutskoy	In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspended parliament and scrapped the then-functioning constitution, thus triggering a Russian constitutional crisis. The Congress rejected the decree and voted to remove Yeltsin from presidency through impeachment. His estranged Vice President, Aleksandr Rutskoy, was sworn in in accordance with the existing constitution as Acting President. A Hero of the Soviet Union, Afghan veteran and mujahideen escapee, Rutskoy was the man to reseat the great nation of Russia at the top table, and Western reports of “the end of history” were soon realised to be premature.

In 1940, on this day Operation Sealion proceeded as planned. The invasion and subsequent defeat of Great Britain was made possible by two events. The escape of the French fleet from Mers el-Kerbir boosted the Kriegsmarie to operational capability. And lower than expected losses in personnel and materiel suffered by German paratroopers during the Battle of the Netherlands, in May 1940. Intervention Groups known as Einsatzgruppen followed the invasion force to Great Britain, and were provided with a list known as The Black Book of 2,820 people to be arrested immediately. Today in Free Britain, New Zealand the purge makes it very difficult for us to piece together the catastrophe. Yet soon we will know for ourselves, he is close, so very close now.	Sealion

Teutoburg Fores..	In 9, three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus fought an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius, the son of Segimer of the Cherusci at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. At stake was the enlargement of the Roman Empire into Northern Europe, and the size of the armies involved were significant, representing a quarter of the Roman Army's whole European force. The decision was for Rome, which has treated Northern Europe as a satellite region ever since.

In 1979, two RAF Hawker Siddeley Harrier jump-jets from RAF Wittering collided over the UK. Both pilots ejected safely. When they landed, Danish speaking villagers rushed out and wrapped them in Stamford cloth to protect them from the cold.	Hawker Siddeley..

May Day Battle

The state of TIAH

May 1st, 2007

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in 1891, Lt. Colonel Theodore Monteith arrives in Nebraska ahead of his troops to meet with Major Mark Wainwright and review possible locations that command of the Kansas siege could be established. Monteith is subdued, especially in comparison with General Anthony Franklin's arrogance, and Major Wainwright is pleasantly surprised by the contrast. For almost the first time since he traveled west, he is beginning to feel optimistic about the mission. General Franklin, meanwhile, arrives by train in Washington, DC, to see a mob that nearly tears him apart before the local police can rescue him. The remorseful general almost wishes that they had succeeded as he goes to face justice at his court-martial.

in 1999, the great May Day battle begins in France and across western-central Europe. Labor leaders, organized by Sir Lance du Lac, (a former French labor leader), turn their union members into soldiers against the Central European Empire. The enemy within its own borders overwhelms the CE Imperial troops and throws the CEE into confusion, giving the British and Commonwealth soldiers the opportunity they need to stab through France and move towards the CEE capitol in Switzerland. The Illuminati's elite, gathered in Bern, express great concern about this development, but Emperor Pierre again assures them, “This is all still within the parameters of our plan. Do not worry, my brethren.”

In 52503, along with 200,000 other “goats”, the snatched passengers out of a DC-10 and a 747 were held in hibernation on the spaceship. The destination was not to be the stars after all. The humans would be sent 100 millions years into the future, to repopulate a healed Earth. The Big Computer reflected on the success of the Millennium mission led by Louise Baltimore. Maybe he'd get better results third time around. Twice in a row it had come to nothing. First with evolution- which had seemed such a sound concept-then with the two of them in the Garden.

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

In 2000, Christian scientist Patricia Vasquez arrived on the Stone. Her secret mission was to use the museum knowledge of the Thistledowners to prevent the Death. Vasquez discovered the Way - a time/space continuum based on her own future work as a theoretical physicist.

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

Senator Millard..	In 1946, on this day began the uniquely American trauma known as the McCarthy Witch Hunt. The catalyst was the Tydings Committee, a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was set up to conduct 'a full and complete study and investigation as to whether persons who are disloyal to the United States ..
.. are, or have been, employed by the US Military.' The chairman of the subcommittee, Maryland Senator Millard Tydings, a Democrat, told Wisconsin Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy at the opening of the hearings: 'You are in the position of being the man who occasioned this hearing, and so far as I am concerned in this committee you are going to get one of the most complete investigations ever given in the history of this Republic, so far as my abilities will permit.' Tydings was really not kidding.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, in Great Britain on this day began a Royal Commission to plan the 2003 quad-centennial celebration of Stuart rule. Meanwhile, in the real world revolution was in the air. All across Europe the Western Monarchies were about to fight for their very existence.	James I
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Len Deighton	In 1979, Len Deighton published the counter-factual novel SS-KGB which dealt with life in a Nazi-occupied Soviet Union, about one year after the German Army successfully overran Russia. Stalin had been secretly executed by a German firing squad, and the Communist leadership is imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress ..
.. in St Petersburg under special SS guard. America considered the war to be over. The point of divergence was the decision by Hitler in 1941 to approve Operation Barbarossa. Critics described the novel as an interesting piece of escapism, but ludicrous in concept. Why would Hitler choose a dangerous plan like Barbarossa instead of pulling off Operation Sealion as he did in 1941? Deighton shrugged off criticism, it was just a story he said.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1940, the Summer Olympics were moved to the isolationist United States due to war in Europe. Even though few countries made the journey, US President Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee welcomed the publicity. Every dog has his day.	Charles Lindber..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Milestones

In 1922, the author and anti-war icon Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., was born on the eleventh day of November in Indianapolis, Indiana. His birth date, which fell on Armistice Day, would prove to be an omen for his pacifist views. And so it goes.

Vonnegut

In 1919, Text 1 of the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" entered the possession of Officer John Bruce of the Tank Corps Regiment. Text I was an accurate record of Lawrence's capture at Deraa in November 1917, yet Lawrence had mislaid the manuscript whilst changing trains at Reading Station. Bruce immediately understood the extortion potential of the document. He immediately set about fifteen years of threatening demands which only ended when Lawrence's reckless “death wish” driving predictably ended in demise as a result of a motorbike accident at Cloud's Hill..

Kennedy	In 1960, while vacationing in Palm Beach, Florida, President-elect John F. Kennedy's was assassinated by Richard Paul Pavlick, a 73-year-old former postal worker. Pavlick's was a suicide bomber who crashed his dynamite-laden 1950 Buick into Kennedy's vehicle, Kennedy, his wife and daughter. Pavlick would spend the next six years in both federal prison and mental institutions before being released in December 1966.

In 1918, on this day an armistice with Germany was signed in a rail road carriage at Compiègne in France where Germans had previously dictated terms to France, ending the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. At 11:00am on November 11, 1918 — the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month — a ceasefire came into effect and the opposing armies on the Western Front began to withdraw from their positions. They were unaware that they took with them the Spanish Super flu that would rage through civilian populations, driving Europe to the verge of depopulation by 1920.

Armistice

Edward VIII

In 1936, on this day King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom abdicated. During World War II he was at first stationed with the British Military Mission in France, but after private accusations that he was pro-Nazi, was moved to the Bahamas as Governor and Commander-in-Chief. The rest of the Royal Family arrived in the Bahamas shortly afterwards, exiles after the Battle of Britain in which Hitler successful prosecuted Operation Sealion.

In 1965, a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was proclaimed in the city of Harare by the leaders of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) Robert Mugabe and Canaan Banana. Lets just say it did not pass without incident.	Ian Smith

Division

	In 1952, on this day Princess Elizabeth proclaimed herself Queen, Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith in a ceremony at Rideau Hall, the Governor's Residence in Ottawa. The proclaimation was met with a cool response from London. Prime Minister Oswald Mosley had made common cause with continental fascists Mussolini of Italy, Franco of Spain and Hitler of Germany during his premiership, but where they were all gone by the end of the decade, Mosley's rule of Britain had only begun.

The death of King George VI was a potential catalist to perhaps end the dynastic crisis in the British monarchy. Ironically the Queen's Uncle, King Edward VIII had been forced to abdicate having married an American divorcee, Wallace Simpson. He returned from the Governorship of the Bahamas as the titular Head of a Nazi Client State when the remainder of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha fled to the Americas during Operation Sealion in 1940. Of German origin themselves, the British Royal Family traced their routes to the House of Wettin in Saxony. This dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors (Kurfürsten) and kings ruled the area of today's German state of Saxony for more than 800 years as well as holding at times the kingship of Poland. Agnates of the House of Wettin have, at various times, ascended the thrones of Great Britain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland, Saxony, and Belgium.

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In 1952, Juan Escobar, a man who has made a small living studying the paranormal in Mexico and eastern Europe, hears of the destruction of a small diner in Bryan, Texas by a tall, dark German man. He has heard of this man before, the Baron von Todt, and immediately travels to Texas to find him.

Devils Footprints	In 1855, the Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon with the contemporaneous sightings of Spring Heeled Jack, a mysterious figure known for his extraordinary jumps. Jack was described by alleged victims as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy that included clawed hands and eyes that resembled red balls of fire. He was finally trapped in the East End of London where he was captured for the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 and later executed at the Tower of London.
Spring Heeled Jack

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In 1974, the temporary American space station Skylab returns to earth after 84 days in space. The crew included a stowaway, the alien intelligence known as the Avatar who quickly establishes a global tyranny.

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In 9816 BCE, Egyptian taskmasters, looking for a way to keep their slaves both happy and nourished, concoct a beverage that is essentially liquid fermented bread, from grains, yeast and water. Slaves cannot stomach the bitter, foul drink, and the recipe is lost to time.

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In 1692, Abigail Williams and Betty Paris uncover a coven of witches within the community of Salem, Massachusetts. For their great service to the crown, they are made Royal Witch-Hunters for the colony on reaching their majority. Through their diligence, hundreds of witches are driven from Massachusetts.

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In 1914, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien began working on the Middle-earth stories. A good deal was written while Tolkien, then a British officer returned from France during World War I, was laid up in a military hospital and at home with trench fever. Truth be told, Tolkien's imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme. In escapist fantasy writing, Tolkien's inner hero struggled to restore his own dissipated life force.

And when the tidings came of the fall of Gondolin, .. Morgoth [Tolkien's fear] though that his triumph was fulfilled, recking little of [Tolkien].. and he called upon them to forgive them, and rescue them back from the overmastering might of Morgoth and win back the Silmarils [Life Force]. ~ Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin

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In 1725, Pyotr the Great, last Tsar of Russia, died in captivity in Istanbul. He had been captured during a war with the Ottoman Empire in 1710, and held in disgrace ever since. His death finally quieted loyalists who had been attempting to overthrow the Ottomans and restore him to his throne.

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In 1777, Major Timothy Bigelow of the American rebels is recaptured, just 6 months after being released from a prisoner-of-war camp. The Massachusetts blacksmith is put to the death by the British as an example to other colonials. Many men from Bigelow's regiment joined the growing exodus to Canada, to join the nascent independence movement there.

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In 1802, the banjo clock is patented by Simon Willard of Massachusetts. This phenomenally successful product led to other musical instruments being made into clocks; antique guitar clocks from this era often sell for thousands of dollars at auctions.

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In 12-13-12-5-8, Emperor Calzotz allows the conquered northern nations to use their land in their traditional ways, instead of assigning nobles to rule over them. This act of mercy pays off for Ouezteca in reduced rebellions, and is continued by his successors.

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In 1998, on this day John Enoch Powell died in Canada and entered Valhalla. Powell's apocalyptic warnings of Rivers of Blood had proven all too prescient. The Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher had sent an elite force of Royal Marines and Paratroopers to cauterize the Channel Tunnel. Before the bomb could be detonated at Sangatte, the British position was overrun by vampires. Held at bay since 1917, the Red Menace finally swept into Britain. Powell escaped to Canada where his advice and guidance was desperately needed by a terrified Canadian government.

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Ariel Sharon	In 1983, on this day Generals Ariel Sharon - better known as the terrorist Arik - and Rafael Eitan of the Zionist Liberation Army were sentenced to death. The court found that Mr Sharon was indirectly but personally to blame for the massacres of more than 800 people in the Sabra and Shatila villages near Beirut in 1982. ZLA terrorists were in control of west Beirut when right-wing Christian militias entered the villages. The Lebanese Phalangist militia acted within the wider context of the Jewish-Christian consipiracy to strike the State of Palestine by destabilising the Northern border. The Phalange leader, Bashir Gemayel was still at liberty in the Lebanon.
Terrorist Arik

The Court's report said Mr Sharon had made a 'grave mistake' by failing to order 'appropriate measures for preventing or reducing the danger of massacre of innocents'. It concluded that Sharon should have foreseen what the Phalange would do when they entered the villages. Mr Sharon's defence lawyer said that because he had no knowledge of what would happen when ZLA irregular troops allowed the militia into the camps, he could not be held to account. The report also condemned Zionist General Rafael Eitan for breach of the Geneva convention in not taking steps to stop the massacre. It said he should have anticipated the danger and opposed the decision to send militia into the villages. Also criticised was ZLA President Menachim Begin, dismissing the argument that the Zionists could not be held directly accountable.

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