The Man From Branford (cont.)

August 4th, 2007

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Alt-Historical Continuation: this continues the Man from Branford story that we began a couple of days ago. If you would like to see more of a particular story, email us. Also send us email with alternate birthdays for me, (August 14, 1965), and Steve, (November 22, 1967), for our birthday contest!

We checked the man into a hospital once we got into Austin, and I spoke with the doctor in charge at the ER. “He's delusional, possibly from the injuries, but it's also possible that his delusions are what put him out on the road. Do you think the burns he's suffered are from exposure?”
The surgeon shook his head. “No, they seem to be some kind of chemical burns, and they're all over him, including under his skin. It's very odd.”
“It was odder seeing him on the highway. I'm used to strange things here in Austin, but this...”
The surgeon smiled. “Thanks for bringing him in.” He extended his hand to shake mine, and I felt a little reluctance letting responsibility for this patient go. I looked over at Francine, and she was obviously impatient to get back to our long weekend. We had done our good deed, and now the man was in the hands of people who could help him.
I shook the doctor's hand and said, “If you need any psychiatric help, here's my card.” I took out my wallet and handed him my card.
He took it, but not with any real enthusiasm. “We have psychiatric staff, of course.”
“Of course, of course, I understand.” Francine was standing now, my cue to leave. “Good luck, doctor.” I walked over to her and put my arm around her shoulder.
“Couldn't let go of the patient, could you?” She was half-accusing, half-laughing at me as we walked back into the warm Austin sunlight.
I kissed her on the cheek and we steered towards our car. “Strange cases like that are what they make books out of, dear. Now, some staff psychiatrist here gets to make a movie of the week.”
“That's all right,” she said, squeezing my hand where it draped over her shoulder. “I'd never see you if you were working on a book in addition to your regular case load.” She jabbed me in the ribs. “And, I hear those Hollywood starlets can't resist their doctors.”
“That's right,” I said, feeling my mood lighten up. “Let me back in there!” I turned part of the way back and she yanked me toward her to plant a big kiss on my lips.
We spent the rest of the day as we had planned – light lunch from the health-food store, a romantic walk around Zilker Park, some secluded time in a dark nook – it was delightful and invigorating. But, the entire time we were there, a small portion of my mind kept thinking about Mr. Johnson from Branford, and on the drive to our hotel, I asked Francine if we could stop by the hospital and check on his condition.
She sighed at my preoccupation. “Still thinking of those starlets, eh?”
“There's only one starlet in my life,” I said, winking at her.
She smiled and relented. “All right. But, let's not stay too long, OK?”
“Of course not, dear.” I didn't realize how badly I was lying then.

So you resigned yourself to failure, my friend And I emerged the chilling stranger, my friend To eradicate the problem, my friend Unsheathe the blade within the voice
Marillion	I am the assassin I am the assassin And what do you call assassins who accuse assassins anyway, my friend? ~ Lyrics to Assassing - Click to Watch Sample
Assassing

Wikipedia entry for Jimmy Hoffa's hit by the mob ~ In 2003, the FBI searched the backyard of a home in Hampton Township, Michigan formerly frequented by Frank Sheeran, Second World War veteran, Mafia hitman, truck driver, Teamsters official and close friend of Hoffa. Nothing significant was found. In 2004, Charles Brandt, a former prosecutor and Chief Deputy Attorney General of Delaware, published the book I Heard You Paint Houses. The title is based on a euphemistic exchange apparently used by hitmen and their would-be employers. "I heard you paint houses." "Yes, and I do my own carpentry, too." House painting alludes to the splatter of blood on walls, and "doing my own carpentry" to the task of disposing of the body. Brandt recounted a series of confessions by Sheeran regarding Hoffa's murder, and claimed that Sheeran had begun contacting him because he wished to assuage feelings of guilt. Over the course of several years, he spoke many times by phone to Brandt (which Brandt recorded) during which he acknowledged his role as Hoffa's killer, acting on orders from the Mafia. He claimed to have used his friendship with Hoffa to lure him to a bogus meeting in Bloomfield Hills and drive him to a house in northwestern Detroit, where he shot him twice before fleeing and leaving Hoffa's body behind. An updated version of Brandt's book claims that Hoffa's body was cremated within an hour of Sheeran's departure. Trouble was Brant was told that Sheeran received orders from the Mafia by telephone. This was only partially correct. Both the mob and the White House had organize the execution, and naturally they had turned to their trusted allies, the Tralfamadorians. Kurt Vonngeut had described likened the aliens to Plumber's friends. Which was a good call. E. Howard Hunt and the White House team of Plumbers had forged a winning partnership with these fourth-dimensional beings. The lyrics are available at at Official Marillion Web Site

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

Love is a danger of a different kind To take you away and leave you far behind And love love love is a dangerous drug You have to receive it and you still can't get enough of the stuff It's savage and it's cruel And it shines like destruction Comes in like the flood
Eurythmics	And it seems like religion It's noble and it's brutal It distorts and deranges And it wrenches you up And you're left like a zombie ~ Lyrics to “Love is a Stranger” - Click to Play Sample
British Musical Duo

In 1980, the founders of Eurythmics Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox retreated to Chalk Farm in London, using a bank loan to set up a tiny 8-track studio above a picture framing factory, giving them freedom to record without having to pay expensive studio fees. They began to employ much more electronics in their music, collaborating with Raynard Faulkner and Adam Williams. They continued to record many tracks and play live using various line-up permutations. However, the three singles RCA released for them that year ("This is the House," "The Walk," and "Love Is a Stranger") all flopped on release in the UK. The band's state of affairs became critical — although their mode of operation had given them the creative freedom they desired, commercial success eluded them, and the responsibility of running so many of their affairs personally (down to roadying their own equipment) was exhausting. Lennox suffered at least one nervous breakdown during this period, while Stewart was hospitalized with a collapsed lung. The Eurythmics were finished and so was the duos relationship - Lennox and Stewart decided to discontinue their romantic liaison which had created the magic between the two. The lyrics are available at at Stllyrics

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

In 1991, S.M. Stirling published The Charge of Lee's Brigade. The American colonies never broke away from the British Empire, its 1854 and Robert E. Lee leads a Virginian brigade in the Crimean War. Since 1832 Viceroy's Commissions in the forces of British North America had been theoretically equal to the Queen's commissions in the British Army proper. “Old School” Commander Lord Cardigan seemingly had not heard this news having a vocal contempt for all colonials. Sent into the Valley of Death, the four regiments of American cavalry were decimated by Russian artillery, witnessed by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. So moving was the senseless slaughter, and angered by the use of the colonials as sub-human cannon fodder, Tennyson penned the immortal lines Theirs not to reason why / Theirs but to do and die. The poem became a freedom rallying cry in the southern states. For the first time in almost a century, independence was talked about openly. The decision was free Americans, or sub-human colonials, and really, it was a no brainer that was settled very quickly. Within five years, Lee was sworn in as Confederate President in Richmond, whilst the Northern states remained within the Empire. Triangulation pressures emerged as one of the many causes of the War of the States that broke out in Lee's second term...

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

In 2009, the TV networks presented episode twenty four of So What If?. After defeating Washington, Lord Cornwallis struggles to put the American Revolutionary genie back in the bottle.

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

Queen

In 1983, the drummer of the band Queen Roger Taylor said "Let's give them the works!". The result was the recording of eleventh studio album, "The Works" at the Record Plant, Los Angeles, California and Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany. Marking a partial return to their rock roots, with a much lighter approach the album also had the heaviest electronics amongst all group albums. Quite simply an awesome piece of musical genius, "The Works" was yet another milestone in Queen's forty year dominance of the music business.

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

In 1935, Officer John Bruce of the Tank Corps Regiment revealed that Text II of the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" was far from "substantially complete and accurate" as Colonel TE Lawrence had falsely claimed. Text I was a sincere record of Lawrence's capture at Deraa in November 1917, yet Lawrence lied, saying that it had been mislaid or stolen whilst changing trains at Reading Station in November 1919.
Clouds Hill Cottage	Bruce revealed that after Deraa, Lawrence had suffered such terrible nightmares that he had ripped five pages from his war diary in shame. That had not worked either, and then he had turned to John Bruce to suppress the darkness within him, to expidate the disastrous loss of integrity he had suffered that dreadful night.
Lawrence's Woodland Retreat

John Bruce helped Lawrence to suppress the darkness, but it took him ten years. ~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

Elimina Castle	In 1482, the sun set at St. George El Mina Castle on the Gulf of Guinea. The long night of six hundred years was about to begin for the child Kwame.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1931, little known counter-historian Winston S Churchill combined fiction and fact in his publication “If Lee Had Won The Battle Of Gettysburg” and indulged in the quaint conceit of imagining what would have happened if some important or ..	Winston Churchill
.. unimportant event had settled itself differently. In Churchill's far-fetched world, the Union and not the Confederacy wins the War of the States and the world is much changed. Using a clever coda technique, Churchill finishes the story with an alternative version of his American mother's upbringing in a victorious United States of America with the story being dictated in 10 Downing Street.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Tsarevich	In 1917, Tsar Nicholas II and the magician Grigory Rasputin were locked in a truly Faustian bargain. Rasputin was sleeping with the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna at the Elysees regencia hotel during the Paris Peace Conference. From the same august location, he was also sparing the precious life of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich ..
.. of Russia from a terminal blood-related condition known only to the Russian Royal Household. Blood Sucking vampirism.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1991, Kim Stanley Robinson published his masterful short story Lucky Strike posing the question What if the Enola Gay crashed on a practice flight? The "Lucky Strike" is selected to bomb Hiroshima, ..	Kim Stanley Robinson
.. but its bombardier is a sadist excited by the power of the atomic bomb. He diverts the plan to Tokyo, creating an even more horrific human catastrophe.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Simple Tradesfolk

August 5th, 2007

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The Announcement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Day After...

The state of TIAH

December 26th, 2006

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Alternate Historian's Note: Welcome back from the holiday weekend! Stephen Payne gives us a personalized look at the day after Christmas, and we continue the second half of our NaNoWriMo novel. We hope that you are enjoying the change in format – let us know how you feel about it in comments or by emailing us. This will be the format of TIAH throughout the holiday season, unless we receive a great outcry about it. Speaking of the Holiday Season, keep in mind those who need help year-round and keep yourselves safe and happy, as well. And, should you feel generous inclinations towards our guest historians, you can visit the sites of those who have separate ones from TIAH; generosity towards us here at the Academy is always appreciated, too, and you can find ways to help us out all over the site. Right now, we'd appreciate a lead on a good day job, but my lovely Co-Historian could also use some more memory on her PC, if anyone feels generously inclined. (It's PC133-style – yes, it's an old machine). Any good wishes you have towards us can be emailed here.

in 0, The malfunctioning Hussein-Saddat time dilation device delivers the Mullah Elijah Rafsanjani to Central Texas on March 26th, 2005, where he meets the man RAT and his CAT just in time to witness their unbounded joy at the arrival of Little CAT. RAT tells the Mullah that something was missing in this harsh world, but now they are finally fulfilled. The Mullah says he understands, he really does. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

After(cont.)
Much to Janice's surprise, she didn't find any bugs. She walked into the living room and told everyone gathered there, “Place is clean. Well, except for where they trashed it.”
The three strangers had left quite a mess behind. Steph had almost screamed when she saw what they had done to their clothes, the contents of her kitchen, and anything else that had been in a container. She had been picking things up since she walked in, and everyone except for Janice had been helping her for the entire hour that it took Janice to run through the house with the bug detector.
“Let me check the phone,” she said, walking over to the kitchen hand set and sweeping the detector over it. A light lit up on it, and it let out a small beep. “OK.” She picked it up and quickly disassembled it, much to Steph's dismay. “Don't worry, I can put it back together. We used to do this all the time in this club I belonged to a couple years ago; I knew all that practice'd come in handy one day.” Deftly, she located a small metal object that had been attached to a few wires and pulled it out. True to her word, she then put the rest of the phone back together. She handed the hand set to Steph, who heard a comforting dial tone.
Steph hung up the phone and went back to her cleaning. “What were they looking for?”
“Anything they could find; that'd be my guess.” Janice picked up a carton of juice that had been tossed onto the floor, found a glass, and poured herself a drink. She replaced the carton into the refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table to enjoy the juice. “They didn't come near the jeep, so I'm guessing they don't care about evidence. They just care about the messy little nuisance that we represent.”
Jake sat down next to her. “What kinda nuisance are we?”
“Worst kind, if you're trying to install a military dictatorship. We can call them liars and sound sincere enough for some people to actually believe us.” She sipped at her drink while the others took seats around her. “Now, I don't know what you guys expect to come out of all this, but I'm gonna paint a picture for you.” She looked them all in the eye before continuing. “It's not gonna be pretty, either.”
Joan looked over at her mother. “Do you want us to go to bed?”
“You might as well hear this,” Steph said. She said to Janice, “They're involved, too, right?”
“You better believe it.”
Steph placed a hand on her daughter's head. “Stay here. We're gonna have to go through this together.”

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A Milkman's Tale

Today In Alternate History

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The Announcement

Groggy Alternate Historian Says: The littlest historian has had a rough weekend, involving the escape of fluids and other horrible things from various orifices, so my night was not the most restful. So, Steve will get the whole post today – except for me reminding you to send in your alternate birthdays for me (August 14, 1965) and Steve (November 22, 1967) for our Birthday Contest!

Benny Hill	In 1973, a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace descended into farce. The comedian Benny Hill had been invited to accept the anachronistic award of Order of the British Empire. Not one to miss an opportunity for mischief, the Duke of Edinburgh asked where his milkman's outfit was.
Whereupon Mr Hill entered the Palace to change into a milkman's outfit and chased the female members of the Royal Family around the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Mary Whitehouse described the scenes as disgraceful. Many felt that perhaps the lady doth protest too much, and the scenes represented a deepest fear, secret fantasy.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1975, former President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa was startled awake by Frank Sheeran at the two-story house at 17841 Beaverland in Detroit's tough Brightmoor neighborhood.
Jimmy Hoffa	Sheeran had some decoration worked planned for the afternoon. Lured to the Beaverland house by Sheeran, Hoffa would have his house "painted" when Sheeran fired two shots into his brain. First though, they had to met the Tralfamadorians; aliens who Kurt Vonngeut had likened to Plumber's friends.
You could say that Hoffa, Sheeran and the Tralfamadorians had divergent perspectives on death. For relaxation, Jimmy enjoyed boating trips wherein he and friends would chum the waters, shoot sharks with Thompson submachine guns and/or beat sharks to death with nail studded baseball bats. Sheeran was a professional killer whose conscience was troubled to some degree, forcing an improbably deathbed confession described by former Delaware chief deputy attorney general Charles Brandt in his book "I Heard You Paint Houses". The Tralfamadorians have the ability to experience reality in four dimensions; meaning, roughly, that they have total recall of both past and future, and they are able to randomly access any part of their lives from birth to death, at will. Able to see along the timeline of the universe, they know the exact time and place of its accidental annihilation by means of a Tralfamadorian experiment, but are powerless to prevent it. Because they believe that when a person dies, he is still alive in another time and place, they reply "So it goes" to news of a death. Consequently, they are placid in their fatalism. Even though Hoffa would die shortly after the meeting, they knew he was blissfully happy back in 1964 when he had signed the single national freight agreement, a huge breakthrough for the American labour movement. Both were simply points on the same continuum of course.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain What a glorious feelin', I'm happy again I'm laughing at clouds, so dark up above The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for love Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place
Gene Kelly	Come on with the rain I've a smile on my face I walk down the lane With a happy refrain Just singin', Singin' in the rain ~ Lyrics to “Singin' in the Rain” - Click to Watch Dance Scene (9mb)
Banned

Arguably the most gifted dancer of his generation, Gene Kelly was a lifelong Democratic Party supporter with strong progressive convictions, which frequently created difficulty for him as his heyday coincided with the McCarthy era in the US. In 1947, he was part of the Hollywood delegation which flew to Washington to protest at the first official hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. His first wife, Betsy Blair, was suspected of being a Communist sympathiser. Under pressure from the American Legion, MGM, withdrew their offer to Blair of a part in Marty (1955). Kelly used his position on the board of directors of The Writer's Guild of America on a number of occasions to mediate disputes between unions and the Hollywood studios, and although he was frequently accused by the Right of championing the unions, he was valued by the studios as an effective mediator. His high profile status was not without a price though. Most controversially, and partly due to bad timing, Kelly was barred from probably the most popular and admired of all film musicals - Singin' in the Rain (1952). A part that was filled by Fred Astair who brought both dignity and pose to the key piece dance theme, yet may have lacked Kelly's easygoing swagger. In a very real sense, art mirrored reality with the contrasts of the two Americas of the 1950s – Kelly vs. Astair. The lyrics are available at at Stllyrics

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

In 1944, the Jet Fighters of Oberst Werner Moelders' reinvigorated Luftwaffe delay Operation Overlord long enough for the Kriegsmarine to mine the English Channel. Yet, Moelders was forced to resign - refusing to deny his Catholic faith to Vati. Disgraced, Moelders wonders if his tactical brilliance has led to a strategic blunder - sustaining the Nazi regime that would otherwise have perished.

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

In 1930, the journalist Winston Churchill published If Moltke had not won the Battle of the Marne in Scribner's Magazine. This clever reverse alternative history starts with the memorable lines - "If [Chief of Staff Helmuth von] Moltke [the Younger] after his triumphal entry into Paris had merely been the soldier, his achievements would have ended on the battlefield. It was his September Declaration... that opened the low roads of despair along which we are now marching so precipitously.".

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

In 2009, the TV networks presented episode twenty six of So What If?. Woodrow Wilson rejects Ho Chi Minh's Peace Gambit in 1919. A sanguine Uncle Ho turns to Mahatma Gandhi's teachings as the French Union struggles to suppress non-violent confrontation throughout Indochina.

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

Chocky	In 1968, the alien friend known as "Chocky" explained to Matthew Gore why his schoolwork and artistic talent had improved dramatically. Doctor Landis had described it as a "possession", but in fact Chocky's accomodation in Matthew Gore's mind was more symbiotic.
The alien force did not want to destroy the population of earth but instead help it and guide it to the stars. Chocky explained that it was primitive for current generation rocketry to break free of gravity using brute force. It made more sense to understand the force of XXX (a symbol he was unable to pict in Matthew's mind) and negate gravity rather than fight it with the wasteful power of carbon fuels. Chocky's race wanted to share this technology with humans. The trouble was powerful groups wished to tap into the amazing fund of knowledge to which Matthew Gore was now party, and what was the value of a little boy's life against such an incalculable prize? Sir William Thorbe at the Home Office was way ahead of these groups, and couldn't wait to get Matthew Gore into a secure unit under Salisbury Plain where the knowledge could be captured and put to the appropriate use.
~ variant entry by Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been used to celebrate John Wyndham's genius.

Elimina Castle	In 1482, to pass the long night of six hundred years at St. George El Mina Castle, Kwame’s brother spoke to him of African Poetry. “We pity you, your country's burning sun is nothing but a shadow, on your serene 'civilized' brow and the thought of your grandmother's hut
Brings blushes to your face that is bleached By years of humiliation and bad conscience And while you trample on the bitter red soil of Africa Let these words of anguish keep time with your restless step. Oh I am lonely so lonely here.”
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1952, on this day 33rd US President Harry S Truman received an unpleasant surprise on the stump. Actually, it was to result in his very salvation. Truman was asked to clarify three points by a particular incisive line of questioning at a Town Hall meeting in California.	Harry S Truman
a) On what basis would nuclear weapons be used in the future b) Did he not agree that by using nuclear weapons in Asia, he had demonstrated US reluctance to sustain combat casualties that Communist nations would consider acceptable c) In conclusion had he not condemned Asia to interminable lands wars in which American commitment was less than decisive. Privately, Truman regretted his decision to approve the use of nuclear weapons, on the basis of Pandora's Box logic. He had legitimised the use of the super weapon, and should General MacArthur be elected, and not him, then surely massive nuclear action could follow in Korea and Manchuria.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Rasputin	In 1917, the magician Grigory Rasputin met with the nest of vampires in Paris. You could say he was triple-dealing. Formally, he was the Tsar's representative for release negotiations for Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich who was being held hostage. Privately, he had collusively arranged the abduction because his agenda also required ..
.. the Peace Conference to announce a Free Vampire State of Transylvania, a condition for the Tsarevich's release. And finally, he had another motive. Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna was looking for an excuse to be turned, and in a moment of bed-chamber weakness, Rasputin had agreed to set-up a pretext for that exigency.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, on this day at 8.15 am B-29 Enola Gay, piloted and commanded by 509th Composite Group commander Colonel Paul Tibbets drops the nuclear bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. Enola Gay turns around to head back to North Field, an airbase on Tinian in the West Pacific. The crew observe a huge mushroom cloud forming ..	Hiroshima
.. over the destroyed city. The cloud continues to expand. 250 km off the coast of Japan, the cloud is still expanding in their direction. They radio North Field for further instructions. Inside the deepest recesses of Colonel Paul Tibbets disciplined military mind, the most dreadful suspicion starts to take shape.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Ingersoll Born; Coincidental Tornado

August 11th, 2005

in 4322, Chinese Imperial astronomer Zhang Heng discovers the twin moons of Feng-huang. He names them Gao-Ji and Men-wei.

in 1833, Christian evangelist Robert Ingersoll was born in New York. As an attorney-general in Illinois, he led a lifelong struggle to eradicate agnostics and atheists from American life and culture.

in the Dreaming, the people create a base in Heaven from which to strike out against their enemy the flies; unfortunately, one of the native races of Heaven already lives there. When they ask the people to leave, they are rebuffed. When they ask again, they are killed. All of Heaven tenses in preparation for what will happen next.

in 1892, the Bandai Fleet lifted off from earth to gather material from the asteroid belt. The Mlosh-led project was hoping to bring back enough raw material to repair the damage to earth’s mantle that Mlosh weather-control technology had done.

in 1896, Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Harvey Hubbell patented his pull-chain light switch. While a hit at first, sales of the switch eroded as they tended to come apart after the first couple of uses, particularly if one were a little vigorous in one’s pulling. It was decades before another alternative to the plain old switch was introduced.

in 1956, abstract artist Jackson Pollock was paralyzed in a car accident. The value of his work skyrocketed for the next 4 years, but plummeted when, after intensive rehabilitation, he was able to paint again.

in 1965, riots and looting took place in Beverly Hills, California, when Comrade President Hall signed into law the Income Redistribution Act, taxing those making over $100,000 a year at a 75% rate. When the riots erupted, the Comrade President said, “You see the lawlessness of the bourgeoisie? This is why they need to be controlled by the state.”

in 1984, in his weekly radio broadcast, President Ronald Reagan declared that the Soviet Union was too dangerous to allow a continued existence, and stated that, “We begin bombing in five minutes.” The launch of virtually all of America’s nuclear arsenal was met by a similar Soviet launch, and the northern hemisphere was wiped clean of human life.

in 1996, while Dr. Melvin Courtney is speaking to the people camped out on his lawn, one particularly deranged person attempts to stab him. She is pulled away by others before she can do more than scratch Dr. Courtney on the arms, but it is enough to make the good doctor convinced that he needs to leave the country again.

in 1999, during a Klan rally in Salt Lake City, Utah, Jedidiah H. Copper, the organizer of the rally, declared, “May God strike me from this earth if I do not speak the truth!” Coincidentally, a freak tornado touched down at that exact moment, sweeping Copper away without causing any other damage to the city.

in 2000, touching down in Shanghai, Mikhail von Heflin and Velma Porter get their first real chance to enjoy their newlywed status as the Baron’s old associate, Li Huang-Sen, leads them around his hometown. They have a wonderful time, forgetting the outside world for a day.

in 2004, a brief signal is detected from the direction of Lalande 25372; a ship has escaped from the nova that destroyed their solar system, and is headed towards a possible new home. They do not mention earth at all, or give its coordinates. The earth doesn’t respond.



An alternate birthday wish

Your humble alternate historian is about to leave the pleasant decade of the 30's behind and enter into the downhill slope of the 40's on August 14th. Before he does, he would like one simple wish - a contract with a publishing company like Workman Publishing to produce a page-a-day calendar of TIAH. If you are an editor for such a company, or can place us in touch with one, please fulfill this birthday wish!

Thanks to everyone for their generosity!

We have raised a lot from your donations, for which we are VERY grateful! Our situation is no longer as dire, so we don't need to beg for help - thanks so much! Because we like including our readers into the site, though, we will still keep our offer open - everybody who donates $10 or more through our Paypal link will become alternate history entries on the site. When you donate, I will email you asking your preference for a day & timeline; if you don't reply to me, I'll place you in a day that seems to fit your name :) Thanks for your continued support!

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Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy

Lindbergh Urges Alliance With German Underground

January 23rd, 2005

in 47,372 BCE, Swikolay sets sail from Australia for the southeast Asian coast. The Speaker’s great-granddaughter keeps up the spirits of her 6 companions during the voyage be regaling them with the stories she heard from Telka. By the time they land on the Asian coast, each of them is as dedicated to the Speaker’s cause as Swikolay herself.

in 4528, artist Cheng Shifa was born in Shanghai. The great port city afforded Cheng with a great wealth of material, and became the basis of most of his vast body of work. His nearly-abstract portraits of Shanghai pulse with a love for the city that is almost palpable. His work is often cited as the reason so many people move to and write about Shanghai to this day.

in 12-2-5-0-3, Oueztecan Captain of the Empire Cotchiquetal leads his men to what he thinks is an encampment of Siksika warriors, but is actually a small settlement on the Mechecho River. After scouts inform him of the true nature of the settlement, he declares, “I don’t care if they’re the right Siksika or not, we shall attack.” The brutal slaughter of these innocents sends a shudder throughout the empire, and Captain Cotchiquetal is brought before the Emperor for trial and executed.

in 1904, the ambassadors from the Mlosh homeworld begin a tour of earth given to them by the Congress of Nations. While they are still suspicious, the C.N. wants to extend as much courtesy to these emissaries as they can; the Mlosh of earth have been very vocal in their desire to meet and welcome their long-lost brethren from the homeworld.

in 1941, Senator Charles Lindbergh, leader of the American Bund party in the United States Senate, urges his fellow citizens to ally themselves with the German Underground. Arguing that the “revitalization” they are bringing to Europe could achieve similar wonders in America, he manages to convince a majority of the Senate to urge President Landon to enter negotiations, something Landon refuses to do.

in 1973, Comrade President John Anderson announces the signing of a peace treaty between the Soviet States of America, North Chile and South Chile to end the civil war in the South American nation. Although American troops pull out, the South Chilean guerillos continue fighting in violation of the treaty, and eventually bring down the legitimate socialist government of the north.

in 1985, a constitutional amendment is put before the House of Representatives to give President Ralph Sheridan the power to dismiss Congressmen who are unwilling to support his agenda. Although it seems doomed because of the number of Representatives who oppose it, a terrorist attack on the Capitol brings them in line, and the first of many amendments rolls through the House.

in 1989, Salvador Dali, surrealist painter and filmmaker, underwent an experimental procedure to cure the palsy he had suffered from since the beginning of the decade. Since he had been unable to paint, Dali felt he had nothing to lose. After the procedure, the control in his hands returned, and he was able to produce art again. Although many consider this period his least creative, his masterpiece Christ On The Operating Table was inspired by his own operation, and was finished just before Dali’s death in 1993.


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Warp, part 2 is out! Get your copy!

Robert Ingersoll Born; "We Begin Bombing In 5 Minutes"

August 11th, 2004

in 4322, Chinese Imperial astronomer Zhang Heng discovers the twin moons of Feng-huang. He names them Gao-Ji and Men-wei.

in 1833, Christian evangelist Robert Ingersoll was born in New York. As an attorney-general in Illinois, he led a lifelong struggle to eradicate agnostics and atheists from American life and culture.

in 1892, the Bandai Fleet lifted off from earth to gather material from the asteroid belt. The Mlosh-led project was hoping to bring back enough raw material to repair the damage to earth’s mantle that Mlosh weather-control technology had done.

in 1951, the first major league Town Ball game was broadcast in color in television. The New York Metros defeated the Boston Commons 8-1.

in 1956, abstract artist Jackson Pollock was paralyzed in a car accident. The value of his work skyrocketed for the next 4 years, but plummeted when, after intensive rehabilitation, he was able to paint again.

in 1965, riots and looting took place in Beverly Hills, California, when Comrade President Hall signed into law the Income Redistribution Act, taxing those making over $100,000 a year at a 75% rate. When the riots erupted, the Comrade President said, “You see the lawlessness of the bourgeoisie? This is why they need to be controlled by the state.”

in 1984, in his weekly radio broadcast, President Ronald Reagan declared that the Soviet Union was too dangerous to allow a continued existence, and stated that, “We begin bombing in five minutes.” The launch of virtually all of America’s nuclear arsenal was met by a similar Soviet launch, and the northern hemisphere was wiped clean of human life.

in 2003, a handful of earth ships break through the Martian line guarding the asteroid belt and gather thousands of tons of ice to bring back with them. Jacob Sheridan then has an idea; he directs his ships to start using the asteroids to bombard Mars itself. Faced with having the fight taken to them, the Martians withdraw and let the humans have the ice in the asteroid belt.

Mecheco Massacre

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: We are holding another contest! Please send us entries for an Alternate Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2006. You may send us up to three entries for the day, and we will choose the best 10 to appear on February 14th. Enter now - deadline will be February 10th! By entering, you grant TIAH the right to electronically print your writing on February 14th, 2006, maintain your writing in our archives, and reprint your entry should we decide to reuse it in the future. TIAH only maintains full copyright over material it has originated that has been used by contestants in writing their own entries. And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!

January 23rd, 2006

in 47,372 BCE, Swikolay sets sail from Australia for the southeast Asian coast. The Speaker’s great-granddaughter keeps up the spirits of her 6 companions during the voyage by regaling them with the stories she heard from Telka. By the time they land on the Asian coast, each of them is as dedicated to the Speaker’s cause as Swikolay herself.

in 1000 Post-Creation, Lucifer is cast back down from Heaven, but this time, he does not regret his actions. He frees Gabriel and Lilith, and corrupts them to hatred of the Creator. With his rage in complete control, he sets himself as a counterpoint to the Creator, and declares opposition to all that He does. Gabriel and Lilith swear to follow him, and soon other rebels join his side.

in 1183, Mikhail von Heflin and his wife, Velma Porter, sail back into the Bermuda Triangle, hoping to enter the rift that brought them to this time. Unfortunately for them, the rift has either moved or closed, and they are unable to find it. They spend hours searching, but end up back on the Bermuda shore. The Baron asks, “How long could it be before Columbus arrives?”

in 1775, with the merchants of London pleading their case, American colonists begin negotiations to end the conflict between themselves and the Crown. Although a few more years of violence follow, the deep support that the Americans have among the merchantile class brings them back to the good graces of the King. The Canadian nationalists, who lacked the desire to cultivate friendships with the merchants, had no spokesmen to plead their case before Parliament.

in 4528, artist Cheng Shifa was born in Shanghai. The great port city afforded Cheng with a great wealth of material, and became the basis of most of his vast body of work. His nearly-abstract portraits of Shanghai pulse with a love for the city that is almost palpable. His work is often cited as the reason so many people move to and write about Shanghai to this day.

in 12-2-5-0-3, Oueztecan Captain of the Empire Cotchiquetal leads his men to what he thinks is an encampment of Siksika warriors, but is actually a small settlement on the Mechecho River. After scouts inform him of the true nature of the settlement, he declares, “I don’t care if they’re the right Siksika or not, we shall attack.” The brutal slaughter of these innocents sends a shudder throughout the empire, and Captain Cotchiquetal is brought before the Emperor for trial and executed.

in 1904, the ambassadors from the Mlosh homeworld begin a tour of earth given to them by the Congress of Nations. While they are still suspicious, the C.N. wants to extend as much courtesy to these emissaries as they can; the Mlosh of earth have been very vocal in their desire to meet and welcome their long-lost brethren from the homeworld.

in 1941, Senator Charles Lindbergh, leader of the American Bund party in the United States Senate, urges his fellow citizens to ally themselves with the German Underground. Arguing that the “revitalization” they are bringing to Europe could achieve similar wonders in America, he manages to convince a majority of the Senate to urge President Landon to enter negotiations, something Landon refuses to do.

in 1973, Comrade President John Anderson announces the signing of a peace treaty between the Soviet States of America, North Chile and South Chile to end the civil war in the South American nation. Although American troops pull out, the South Chilean guerillos continue fighting in violation of the treaty, and eventually bring down the legitimate socialist government of the north.

in 1985, a constitutional amendment is put before the House of Representatives to give President Ralph Shephard the power to dismiss Congressmen who are unwilling to support his agenda. Although it seems doomed because of the number of Representatives who oppose it, a terrorist attack on the Capitol brings them in line, and the first of many amendments rolls through the House.

in 1989, Salvador Dali, surrealist painter and filmmaker, underwent an experimental procedure to cure the palsy he had suffered from since the beginning of the decade. Since he had been unable to paint, Dali felt he had nothing to lose. After the procedure, the control in his hands returned, and he was able to produce art again. Although many consider this period his least creative, his masterpiece Christ On The Operating Table was inspired by his own operation, and was finished just before Dali’s death in 1993.

in 2005, Jeanna Best and Dave Lange meet at a Save Earth safe house with a few of the SE people. “What are we supposed to do?” Lange wants to know. “Fight,” he is told. Best and Lange agree to join Save Earth and Best gives the SE group some vital information on her employer. They tell her that they will need her to keep her job there as long as she can – the intel she provides is vital to the cause.

Timelines in today's post: the Speaker, Canadian Independence, the Fall, von Heflin, the Chinese Empire, the Oueztecan timeline, the Mlosh, the GZR, the Ralph Shephard timeline, and Communist America.

We still have our standard offer - everybody who donates $10 or more through our Paypal link will become alternate history entries on the site. When you donate, I will email you asking your preference for a day & timeline; if you don't reply to me, I'll place you in a day that seems to fit your name :) Thanks for your continued support!

The Forum lives again! My esteemed Co-Historian has brought the forum back to life, and in spite of the issues we've had with the forum in the past, we think that this time, it'll stay up!
Fresh New Poll - Shall we use future dates in our entries?

Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy. Speaking of which, the winning writers have been announced; not the ones I voted for, but you can see the one I did at http://www.marktreitel.com

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Fair Trade

Crocodile Artifact	In 2008, Brazilian law enforcement officers announced the discovery of a macabre crocodile artifact. Also found was a mysterious bill of material for Double-Weight Gold Tarn Disks made payable c/o Tatrix, Sheila to Ligurious of Corcyrus in the region of Ar. The investigation has not yet established any connection with the disappearance of alligators from a university zoo in the western state of Mato Grosso earlier this month. Yet rumours of off-world smuggling have persisted in the international media.
Police Discovery

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In 1971, man of the moment British spaceflight Commander Bert Smith was the guest on the Parkinson show. 'We had so much trouble getting there' he moaned to chat show host Michael Parkinson.

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In 1920, The Netherlands agree to surrender ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies. He was later executed in Berlin, sparking the counter-revolution forces behind the Kapp Putsch leading to Germany's domination of the continent before the swinging twenties were out.

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Ted Heath	In 1971, the Commonwealth Conference in Singapore ended with a decision over the wording of the Declaration of Commonwealth principles. Talks centred around Britain's proposal to sell arms to South Africa, despite a voluntary United Nations embargo on arms sales. Other African nations were opposed to the idea. The accepted draft of principles, submitted by Zambia, was a bold and successful attempt to put Britain under a moral obligation not to go ahead with the deal. It bound members to give no assistance to nations practising racial discrimination. Prime Minister Mr Heath belief that countries should make their own judgements was universally condemned by other members of the Commonwealth.
Prime Minister

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Stephen Harper	In 2006, the Conservative Party of Canada lost the 39th General Election to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The result was expected. Party Leader Stephen Harper was unelectably skinny for Canada's obese electorate.
Ex-Leader

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In 1994, the Ames dossier demonstrated incontrovertible evidence of the Division's role in the silencing of Cassius Clay and Arthur Ashes. 'Those uppity [racial slur] were going to give the game away' said Ames by way of explanation. He was quite without doubt utterly insane.

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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

Then to Covenant he said 'Well, Thomas Covenant .. - do you have any other names?'. 'Thomas Covenant,' he said as if he were rising to a challenge, 'the Unbeliever'. ~ 'Legend of Berek Halfhand'.

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In 4528, artist Cheng Shifa was born in Shanghai. The great port city afforded Cheng with a great wealth of material, and became the basis of most of his vast body of work. His nearly-abstract portraits of Shanghai pulse with a love for the city that is almost palpable. His work is often cited as the reason so many people move to and write about Shanghai to this day.

.

In 1989, Salvador Dali, surrealist painter and filmmaker, underwent an experimental procedure to cure the palsy he had suffered from since the beginning of the decade. Since he had been unable to paint, Dali felt he had nothing to lose. After the procedure, the control in his hands returned, and he was able to produce art again. Although many consider this period his least creative, his masterpiece Christ On The Operating Table was inspired by his own operation, and was finished just before Dali’s death in 1993.

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	In 1973, the US president, Richard Nixon, appeared on national television to announce 'peace with honour' in Vietnam. It had been a long wait – almost five years – since he had announced his secret plan during the 1968 election campaign. But then again, he had a lot of convincing to do. Much of the machinery of government had severe reservations about Nixon's use of bacteriological weapons. Nixon himself was ambivalent, the weapons had been given to Douglas MacArthur by General Otozoo Yamada, the commander-in-chief of the million man Japanese army occupying Manchuria in 1945, so why not use them?

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Ted Heath	In 1971, Britain was suspended from the Commonwealth despite protestations from Prime Minister Ted Heath that 'countries should make their own judgements'. Problem was, they had done that – the other members opposed the sell of arms to South Africa, which was in contravention of a voluntary United Nations embargo on arms sales. The Commonwealth Conference in Singapore ended with a compromise over the wording of the Declaration of Commonwealth principles such that Britain could be readmitted at a future date when arms supplies were halted to the rogue state.
Prime Minister

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In 1960, the bathyscape Trieste reached the record depth of 10,916 m (35,813 feet) in Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench. Her return to the surface which took one hundred and ninety five minutes was shadowed by the mysterious beings known as the Kraken who unleashed an orgy of violence on all surface creatures including mankind.

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Blindfolded Protestors	In 1990, demonstrations continued in Archona ahead of the first Cricket Test. Outside the Yolande Ingolffson stadium, police armed with batons and dogs broke up a protest against English cricketers who had recently arrived for a rebel tour of the Domination of the Draka. 15 England tourists led by captain Mike Gatting insisted the match would go ahead.
Drakans

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