Disposal Duty

July 31st, 2007

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The Announcement

Alternate Historian's Personal Note: I don't talk about my personal life that often here, but today's going to be an exception. Last night, I went to an audition for a musical - Grease, specifically hoping to be cast in the Guardian Angel role, the one that Frankie Avalon played in the movie. I was called almost immediately and sang Beauty School Dropout a little shakily, but OK. Then, I sat and looked at all these kids, almost all of whom I was old enough to parent, or even, God help me, grandparent, and I thought about my own life in the theater. I started acting when I was 12, and have appeared in several dozen productions since then, acting alongside pros and amateurs alike. When I lived in Paris, I put on my own one-man show. Before I started dating my wife, I was in something like 6 productions in a row at the local theater. Since then, though, I've only been in one show, and that was mainly so that my wife could see me act. Sitting in that theater last night, I realized that I'd lost the fire that I used to have.
It actually started coming on me in the production I was in when I met my wife the second time around (another story I'll have to tell sometime). Except for a couple of old friends of mine, most of the cast was a bunch of jerks, and it really soiled the experience for me. I used to love performing in the theater – I relished auditions and the crushing of my competition beneath the heels of my superior talent. I lived for the applause, for the occasional notice of the critics, the respect of my peers. But, this production made me look at my peers differently. The local theater used to pride itself on a professional attitude. This cast treated the performance like a frat party, and not the fun Animal House kind, but the sick, twisted, Lacrosse-team-at-Duke University kind.
So, after the next production, I took a break, and that was when I started dating my lovely bride. We were married 7 months after our first date (true love waits for no one!), and a couple of months later, she convinced me to audition for another show, because she had never seen me act. It was an OK show, but there was a major problem with dropped lines from several cast members. I used to be in an improv troupe (another long story), so I can talk my way out of any sticky situation on stage, but this just added to the sense of ennui I felt about the theater.
Since then, I haven't been in any shows. I still look at the production schedule for the local theater companies, and think about showing up for something that looks fun, and when I saw that the auditions for Grease were open last night, I thought, maybe 10 years is a long enough break. But, instead of the rush I always felt from auditioning, I just thought about the time I was going to be giving up – not seeing my daughter every night, not hanging around with my wife, not being able to game with our friends on Wednesdays – and I just realized that it was no longer worth it to me. I made my apologies to the director and left.
I turn 42 in 2 weeks. When I was the age of most of the kids in that theater, I thought that, by this time, I'd be living in Hollywood with my Oscars. But, now that I've done Hollywood, (another long story), I find that I prefer the life of the writer. I'm my own boss and I set my own hours. I wouldn't rule out performing again, but probably only something I've written myself. It makes sense to me. Writing was my first love, and has been a more faithful companion (and more lucrative) than my acting paramour. It feels a little odd to let that side of myself go, though. It defined me for so long that I can't say how I feel about no longer having it around. A little old, yes. But, satisfied.
Anyway, enough of my maudlin personal life – on with the Alternate History, following the limey line...

Jimmy Hoffa	In 1975, a chance discovery occurred at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. A waitress on disposal duty discovered a napkin tucked in the leather upholstery of a dining booth. The cryptic message "THEY RULE" was written upon it. The deep indents from a ball point suggested a state of nervous tension in the writer.
Terrified the waitress travelled to her Detroit suburb home, said nothing. Scared. Very scared. She was aware that on the previous day, Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa had disappeared from the parking lot of the restaurant. Realised that the production of the napkin could raise questions about her part in the event. Worried how the Police could have missed it, worried they might believe the napkin was actually passed to her directly. Knew that Hoffa had worked tirelessly for the labour movement. Went to bed and stared at the ceiling for most of the night. Suffered a dreadful dream in which Hoffa was sitting dead in the dining booth, looked up from the menu, said “They rule, you know?”. Woke up and ran to the wash room, stomach convulsing. Sick. Very sick.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1957, Sir Winston Churchill died in his London home at Hyde Park Gate at the age of 82. His wife Lady Clementine Churchill and other members of the family were at his bedside. His political career began as a Conservative MP for Oldham in 1900 - but he became disaffected and joined the Liberals in 1906. He was First Lord of the Admiralty during World War I - but shortly afterwards switched sides again, to rejoin the Conservatives in 1924. Much to his own surprise, he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer in Stanley Baldwin's government, ordering the disastrous return to the Gold Standard. He came into his own during World War II. He became prime minister in May 1940. His ceaseless energy, unflinching determination to beat the enemy and an ability to make great speeches, inspired the entire nation and eventually helped win the war. He retained power in 1945 after a surprise general election result brought the Conservatives Party to government. During the election, Churchill pledged that he would "not preside over the dissolution of His Majesty's Empire". Shortly thereafter, Churchill announced that it time was to put a stop to all the nonsense spread by that half-naked fakir and followers, dissolving the Indian Congress and gaoling Gandhi, Nehru, Vinoba and many others. Indians were then expelled from positions in the Civil Service and critical industries. The expense of these draconian measures caused a run on the pound and an economic crisis that forced the British to quit the Raj. Unable to accept that Gandhi could defeat him where Hitler failed he retreated into alcohol. Failing health forced Churchill to step down as Prime Minister in 1955. He continued as a backbencher until his death, an increasingly isolated figure speaking out against Harold Macmillan's Winds of Change policy. ~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

In 1994, newly elected Labour Leader Bryan Gould attended a most distasteful dining appointment at the Granita restaurant in Islington, London. His guest was the so-called arch-moderniser representive Prince of Darkness Peter Mandelson. Gould explained his plans for New Labour, a return to a values-based agent of change for the Country. He also indicated that he saw no role for either the perenially upbeat lawyer Tony Blair or "son of the manse" Gordon Brown. Or indeed Blair's wife, who had until recently entertained a fantasy she would be a First Lady. Of course that was if her husband won the Leadership election as was widely anticipated. This policy-before-presentation leadership style was in sharp contrast to his predecessors John Smith and Neil Kinnock. In order to give a fresh vitality to Labour's image, both former Leaders had paraded the Blair-Brown duo on television since the mid-1980s. Privately, Gould felt threatened by the arch-modernisers right up until they were expelled from the party in 1999, as a result of the outcry created by the documentary the "Blair Witch Project".

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

In 2009, the TV networks presented episode twenty of So What If?. Historian Michael Orgill examines General Douglas MacArthur's invasion of China against orders and how he later set himself up as US dictator.

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

Eddie Cochran	That guitar's fine looking man woh it's something else ~ Lyrics to “Something Else” - Click to Play Sample
Master or servant?

Cochran describing the incredible powers of his favourite instrument, the Gretsch 6120 electric guitar. On the night of Saturday April 16, 1960, at about 11:50 p.m. while on tour in the United Kingdom, Cochran died in a traffic accident in a taxi travelling through Chippenham, Wiltshire, England on the A4. He was 21. The taxi crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill. There was no other car involved. A plaque erected there shows the actual spot. He was taken to St. Martin's Hospital, Bath, but died at 4:10 p.m. the following day. Songwriter Sharon Sheeley (Cochran's fiancée) and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash. The taxi driver, George Martin was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for fifteen years and sent to prison for six months. The car and other items from the crash were impounded at the local police station until a coroners' inquest could be held. At that time, David Harman, later known as Dave Dee of the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, was a police cadet at the station, and taught himself to play guitar on Eddie's impounded Gretsch. An unknown rock 'n' roll fan called Mark Feld had carried the same guitar to the limo from a London gig the night before. Feld later changed his name to Marc Bolan and became one of the stars of the British Glam Rock scene of the 1970s. Marc Bolan also died in a car crash in 1977. The full lyrics are available at A1 Tracks

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

South Island	In 1512, at Te Whenua o Te Potiki-Tautahi (Christchurch, NZ) a Ngai Tahu chief performed certain rituals to connect to the Mesh, that global network of First Nation consciousness founded in Manna-hata, Turtle Island in 1492. In so doing, the south island of Te Wai Pounamu became a sub-node of the Dreamtime, the 40,000 Aboriginal ..
.. civilization on the mainland continent known to the European tourist as Australia.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of Vichy France, slipped through patrols by Allied soldiers in Austria to escape Europe. He fled to Argentina where he was assisted by Kameradenwerk (German for "comrade work"), the secret organization of former SS and Nazi officers formed after World War II.	Pierre Laval
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Idlewild	In 1948, at Idlewild Field, New York International Airport was dedicated. The Airport was later renamed Ronald Reagan International Airport after John Hinckley, assassinated the Gipper in 1981.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1964, Ranger 7 sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes. Regrettably the images did not reveal the space/time disturbance on the southern Sea of Tranquillity. Five years later the vortex was to send the Apollo 11 mission back ..	Ranger 7
.. through time to the night before the Battle of Tours. Commander Neil Armstrong was less worried that the in-craft time device was reporting 9th October 732; of greater concern was the sight of Frankish and Burgundian troops about to decamp with their heads down in abject defeat. The following day these soldiers must put a final stop to the Arab invasion of Europe, without which, there would be no Western Europe and no America!
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Texas Troubles

July 30th, 2007

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The Announcement

Sheep were so stupid.
Djari hated sheep. He hated having to watch them, having to shear them, having to herd them and protect them. He especially hated having to eat them, which he was doing right now. The meat was tough, and there was still some wool on it. It made him feel like he was biting one of them while it was still alive. His stomach churned at the thought of it, and he put the leg back on the hot stones to warm up some more.
Most of the sheep were asleep; it was late at night, and he had been driving them all day, so they were tired. He understood the feeling. He felt the exhaustion in his bones. His father and brother would normally be here, as well, but his brother was tending to a sick child and his father was tending to a sick calf. So, he was going to have to wait until the sheep were back home before he slept.
He shifted on the rocks, trying to find a comfortable spot. There wasn’t one, but hope sprang eternal. The lamb sizzled by the fire, and the smell wafted away on the wind. He almost hoped it would bring something hoping to catch dinner; he could stand some excitement. The stars drifted above him, and he looked for the warrior his father had told him about once; he had been so great that Allah couldn’t take him from the earth, so he was placed in the stars to always watch over the faithful. The warrior always comforted him on nights like this.
He started awake; something had spooked the sheep, and they were bleating and milling about. He cursed at himself for falling asleep, took up his staff, and waded into the herd to see what the matter was.

Maybe you didn't treat me Quite as good as you should have Maybe you didn't love me Quite as often as you could have Little things you should have said and done You just never took the time
Elvis Presley	You were always on my mind Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died I'll give you, give you one more chance To keep me satisfied, satisfied ~ Lyrics to “Always on My Mind” - Click to Play Sample
Cuckold

Reference has often been made to Presley's allegedly numerous conquests. According to eyewitness Byron Raphael, who worked for Presley's manager, the star even had a secret one-night stand with Marilyn Monroe. In reality, the King was celibate and dated famous women solely for presentational purposes as a red-blooded American icon. Peter Guralnick's two-volume biography of Elvis Presley Last Train to Memphis concludes simply “he wasn't really interested”. Trouble was this acting continued into his marriage to Priscilla Beaulieu. And jealousy was to have fatal consequences. In his wife's biography Elvis and Me she confesses to being a “wild child”, indulging in an affair with a mutual acquaintance - Mike Stone, a karate instructor. Elvis raged obsessively: "There's too much pain in me... Mike Stone [must] die. The full lyrics are available at Upper Cut Music

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

In 1947, T.E. Lawrence was murdered by the underground Jewish group Lehi. Lawrence and Count Folke Bernadotte who also died, had been appointed United Nations Security Council mediators in the Arab-Israeli conflict and were making considerable progress which now appears to have been scuppered by extremists. Lawrence was born in North Wales in 1888 and educated at Oxford High School and Jesus College, Oxford. From 1911 to 1914 Lawrence worked as an archaeologist in the Middle East for the British Museum excavations team in Northern Syria. On 1st November 1914 the Ottoman Empire declared war on Great Britain. In 1915 he was posted as an intelligence officer to Cairo and subsequently travelled to Hejaz to assess the leadership and prospects of the Arab revolt. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a description of his liaison role between British and Arab forces. Lawrence was determined that the wartime promises of self government made to the Arabs by the British government would be honoured. He helped achieve settlements he considered honourable in Iraq and Jordan. Lawrence returned to England in 1918 and subsequently advised Faisal I, then King of Syria (1918-1920), at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and worked in the Middle East Department of the Colonial Office in 1921. In 1922 he enlisted in the ranks of the RAF as John Hume Ross to avoid public attention. He adopted the name T.E. Shaw by deed poll in 1927. Lawrence served for 12 years, latterly working to develop RAF rescue launches which saved thousands of lives in World War II. In 1935, aged 46, he narrowly escaped death in a motorcycle accident. Desperately needing an inspirational leader for the North Africa campaign, in 1940 Churchill re-appointed Lawrence of Arabia as Commander of the British Eighth Army where he defeated Rommel's Afrika Corps and Italian allies. Less publicly, he also executed a cadre of Egyptian officers who had been attempting to rid North Africa of Britain's presence. Gamal Abdul Nassar, Anwar el-Sadat and Hosni Said Mubarak were just three of the many “traitors” who were found mysteriously floating face down in the River Nile. After the war, Lawrence was instrumental in the creation of the state of Israel, and the key decision to hand the Canal Zone and the British bases over to David Ben-Gurion. Lawrence remained a powerful agent of change in the region until his tragic death.

~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

In 2009, the TV networks presented episode nineteen of So What If?. Historian Barry Malzberg was interviewed in January 1975 and considered the consequences of Nixon's 1960 election as President and what might have happened if Kennedy had been elected.

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

Luz Long	"It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four kilates friendship that I felt for Lutz Long at that moment. " ~ Jesse Owens at the Games of the XI Olympiad
German Olympic athlete

Jesse Owens on being advised and congratulated by Luz Long at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Carl Ludwig "Lutz" Long was a German Olympic athlete, most notable for giving advice to his competitor, Jesse Owens. Owens went on to win the gold medal for the broad jump, now referred to as the long jump, event at the 1936 Summer Olympics thanks to Long's advice. For his actions in the spirit of sportsmanship, Long was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal after fighting in Sicily and dying in a British military hospital.

~ quotation Steve Payne: this incredible event has not been modified by the Co-Historian

Jimmy Hoffa	In 1975, on this day Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. Hoffa took over the presidency of the Teamsters in 1957, worked tirelessly to expand the union and in 1964 succeeded in bringing virtually all North American ..
.. over-the-road truck drivers under a single national master freight agreement. Hoffa then pushed to try to bring the airlines and other transport employees into the union. This was of great concern to the United States government and business as a strike involving all transport systems would be devastating for the national economy. Richard Nixon decided to act, authorising the White House Special Investigations Unit known as the Plumbers to abduct Hoffa and bury him under Giant Stadium.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2002, the accounting law referred to as "The Sarbanes Oxley Act" (Pub. L. No. 107-204, 116 Stat. 745, also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 and commonly called SOX or Sarbox; July 30, 2002) was signed into law by United States President George W. Bush. The Public Company ..	Signing of SOX
.. Accounting Oversight Board was charged with overseeing, regulating, inspecting, and disciplining accounting firms in their roles as auditors of public companies. The board found malpractice in the leadership of Haliburton and Texas Rangers by George W Bush and Dick Cheney respectively. Both the President and the Vice-President were hoisted by their own petard.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

England Victorious..	In 1966, at Wembley Stadium, host nation England won the Football World Cup. After ..
.. drawing 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes, England beat Germany 4-2. The winners medals were awarded by members of the British Royal Family, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Patriots were troubled by how much time the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh spent sympathising with defeated coach Helmut Schön, a conversation that was of course made in rapid and fluent German.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1619, in Jamestown, Virginia, the first representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convened for the first time. Later, after the American Revolution, institutional development resulted in the General Assembly which governs the Commonwealth of Virginia to this day.	House of Burges..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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The Aztec Armada

The state of TIAH

July 7th, 2006

in 1571, an Aztec fleet of nearly a hundred ships sets sail from the Aztec Gulf and heads towards Europe. The Spanish are busy building their own armada in the hope that they will be reinforced by the mighty American empire. English spies among the Spanish take careful note of this ship building activity and send word back to Queen Elizabeth. No word has reached the crown of the Aztec fleet on its way to her coast, so she tells her spies to lay in wait until the threat from the Iberian Peninsula becomes more clear. Some of her court counsel sabotage as a prudent course of action, but she resists this until messengers reach the court telling of an unstoppable fleet of ships sailing across the Atlantic to do battle with her navy. This is when the call goes out for a general draft and Great Britain prepares for a war that looks lost almost from the outset.

in 1947, Mac Brazel's daughter Bessie falls ill. Concerned that it has something to do with the small glowing stick that his sons gave her, he takes it out of his house and buries it with the bodies he had found. He takes his daughter into Roswell to see the doctor, who asks if Bessie has been playing near the Air Force base at all. Brazel tells him she hasn't and Dr. Powell wonders aloud how the young girl could have been exposed to enough radiation to fall as sick as she is. Brazel, terrified that he has doomed his child, tells Dr. Powell about the wreckage, the bodies, and the glowing stick that was on Bessie's nightstand for several days. Dr. Powell asks Brazel to fetch the stick so that he can see what it's made of, which Brazel does immediately. Meanwhile, Powell does his best to ease Bessie's misery, and arranges for a blood transfusion to see if that will cure her. When Brazel returns with the glowing stick, Dr. Powell, who does work on the military base, sticks it into a lead box to keep anyone else from getting sick. “I'll have someone examine this right away, Mac,” he tells Brazel. “I'm afraid we're going to need to put Bessie in the hospital.” The rancher tearfully agrees, and prays that his daughter will recover.

in 2017, not even the engineering skill of three species can break the mystery of the golden device that has brought the Quarai vessel Pokor and the human spaceship Eagle to the Dyson sphere known as Pr't'(whistle). The Pr't'(whistle)ian scientists are positive it is the same device used by the advanced race they call Starwalkers. The scant records of the Starwalkers only say that they were capable of almost magical feats, and that they only stayed on Pr't'(whistle) a few months before using the device to move to another star system. The insect-like Pr't'(whistle)ians almost feel insulted that the device's power is so difficult to tap, and Commander Patterson tells the liaison, “Believe me, I know how you feel. I feel like a monkey who's been handed a spaceship and told to plot my way to a nice star.” The Pr't'(whistle)ians invite the entire crew of the Pokor and Eagle to come inside the sphere and see the vast expanse of their artificial world. “Only a tiny percent can be seen in a lifetime,” the Pr't'(whistle)ian liaison told them, “but we have wonders that will make you long for immortality.” The Quarai, of course, leap at the chance to interact with more Pr't'(whistle)ians, and most of the humans are eager to follow. Commander Patterson makes one request before they leave, though; “I need you to make sure that you guys don't turn that thing on unless we're all here.” The Pr't'(whistle)ian scientists agree.

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Unforeseen Death; Amistad Mutiny

The state of TIAH

July 2nd, 2006

Alternate Historian's Note: We are doing a little IT work here at the Academy, taking advantage of the long weekend we are enjoying in this timeline to switch operating systems and trade up the Co-Historian's computer. As a result, there may be an unexpected delay or even interruption in posting – but our IT Department assures us that the worst-case scenario will not be more than a day's interruption. Wish us luck!

in 1566, Michel de Nostradame was quite surprised by his unforeseen death.

in 1839, the Amistad, a Cuban slave ship, was overcome by the Africans aboard, and the now-former slaves killed their Cuban captors. Unfortunately, none of the slaves aboard the board knew the way back to Africa, so they began to assail other vessels in the Caribbean in search of supplies and a pilot who could steer them home again. Sengbe Pieh, the Membe who had planned the revolt and who now acted as the unofficial captain of the Amistad, held the desperate men and women together by sheer force of will over long weeks of sailing through the stormy waters of the Caribbean. When they finally found not only a pilot who knew the way to Africa, but expressed a willingness to take them there, they spared the lives of all of his crewmates and promised him the Amistad itself once they reached Africa. Otto von Strang, the Dutch pilot, was a staunch abolitionist, and happy to help the Africans reach their home again. His book of the harrowing journey across the Atlantic and life with the freed Africans aboard the Amistad sold thousands of copies and became a major motivator in the anti-slavery movements in the Americas.

in 1947, something crashes on land owned by Mac Brazel, a rancher who lived outside of Roswell, New Mexico. It spread debris over hundreds of yards, and Brazel discovered little bits and pieces of it over the next few days as his sheep and other cattle tried to eat the trash. Several of them became very sick after eating this junk, and Brazel sought the help of a veterinarian from town to see what could be done for the sick animals, and ordered his sons to, “Go out and pick up all that &%!# off the property and throw it away!” They kept a few of the pieces that they thought looked cool, but buried the rest. Their sister Bessie thought one metallic stick they found was very pretty, so they let her keep that; she put it on the nightstand beside her bed because it glowed softly in the dark and provided her with a night light.

in 2017, the small band of Quarai and humans from the Pokor are led into what seems to be a meeting room. The furniture is very strange, but after a couple of tries, both the humans and the Quarai are able to use it to rest themselves after the long walk from the docking bay. Dr. Minh Vo Hanh finds something on the wall of the room fascinating, and examines it carefully. “I think this is a monitor of some kind,” he tells Commander Patterson. Before she can tell him to leave it alone, he touches something on a panel below the device, and the “monitor” he was examining flares into life. It shows a picture of the Dyson sphere that they are sitting in, and a voice begins droning out information in the strange language that the spacecraft had used to communicate with them. The Quarai translator recorded it in hopes of deciphering it later. Captain Mawrao asked Minh, “Can you turn it off?” The doctor tried, but couldn't find anything that fulfilled the function of an off switch. “I guess they don't let presentations get interrupted,” Dr. Hanh said, ruefully.

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Rejection

Algeria	In 1961 the French people voted to grant Algeria its independence in a referendum. The result was a clear majority for self-determination, with 75% voting in favour. In Algeria, a slightly lower percentage - 69% - voted in favour. More than 40% of the electorate abstained in response to a campaign by the rebel pro-independence group FLN to boycott the vote. The FLN, led by Ben Bella, has been waging an increasingly violent guerrilla war against French colonists for seven years, causing a political crisis in France.
Crisis

The referendum result was welcomed by French Prime Minister Michel Debré as a "clear and striking response". General de Gaulle was informed of the results by telephone at his country home at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises and remarked that the "good sense" of the people had prevailed. He had staked his political future on the referendum result, saying in a broadcast to the nation three days ago that it would be a matter between himself and the individual voter. There was an atmosphere of high tension in Algeria as voting took place. Security was at its highest in the capital, Algiers, where an estimated 20,000 French troops were on patrol. And that was the nub of the problem, the French Government was looking for trouble in the wrong place. The military commander in Algeria, General Raoul Salan, announced a Universal Declaration of Independence, forming a government of French settlers determined to fight the independence movement. Led by Salan and a group of French army officers staged a successful coup in Algiers in April 1961 as well as carrying out several bomb attacks in mainland France assassinating President de Gaulle.

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	In 1979, Donny Osmond appeared on the Tonight Show with his two deaf brothers Virl and Tom. They performed a version of "Crazy Horses". Truth be told, musically it wasn't very good. Donny said that now he had suffered rejection himself, he had apologised to his brothers for their exclusion from the band. He was sorry, so very sorry about that.
Osmonds

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M. Mitterand	In 1996, France mourned the loss of its longest-serving president, François Mitterrand, who died at the age of 79 from prostate cancer. The news was announced by President Jacques Chirac at a news conference at the Elysee Palace. He told journalists: "For 14 years M Mitterrand wrote an important page in the history of our country. A great figure has left us." François Mitterrand took many secrets with him when he died, but his most startling claim was revealed in Ali Magoudi’s book, Rendez-vous: The psychoanalysis of François Mitterrand.
President

The figure who enters, 45 minutes late, is François Mitterrand, no less — the president of France. Magoudi discovers that his patient does not want to talk about his childhood or his dreams, but about Margaret Thatcher and the crisis over the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. “Excuse me,” Mitterrand begins, apologising for his late arrival. “I had a difference of opinion to settle with the Iron Lady. What an impossible woman, that Thatcher! “With her four nuclear submarines on mission in the southern Atlantic, she threatens to launch the atomic weapon against Argentina — unless I supply her with the secret codes that render deaf and blind the missiles we have sold to the Argentinians. Margaret has given me very precise instructions on the telephone. Controversy continues to rage amongst contemporary historian. With fifty years of hindsight, many believe that the casus belli for World War Three was Western defence sales, placing equal blame on both Britain and France.

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In 1992, President George Bush regurgitated his sushi at a dinner banquet during a tour of Japan. Much like the footage of a fatigued President Carter during a 1980 fun run, this anti-photo opportunity in election year was a disaster for Bush who had previously been seen as an athletic and youthful commander-in-chief.

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In 1811, Charles Deslonde led a successful slave revolt in parts of the Louisiana Territory. The revolt took place in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana and St. James Parish, Louisiana. Deslonde and about 500 insurgent slaves marched down the Mississippi River Road toward New Orleans, killing two whites, burning plantations and crops, and capturing weapons and ammunition. The revolt was a pivotal moment in the termination of Jim Crow laws in the South during the early nineteenth century.

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Harmony	In 2009, quite unexpectedly, arbitrators from the Congress of Worlds arrived uninvited on planet earth to resolve what they saw as the long-standing dispute between the sons of Apollo, Mason Williams and Tommy Emmanuel. Just about everybody in the galaxy was talking about the family schism, it was after all threatening the spheres. Surely the arbitrators must help reconcile the gods discordant interpretations of the harmony, or they would die trying.
of the Spheres

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In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a 'War on Poverty' in the United States. In reality hybrids like Johnson were being developed by the Alliance for alien re-population. Conversion failures were hidden amongst the exaggerated deaths of the homeless that were reported in the United States during the 1960s. This excludes the three hobos famously filmed on the Grassy Knoll at Dallas during the Kennedy Assassination, during the cover-up they really were killed by Alliance agents.

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In 12-13-2-1-5, the great Sioux military leader, Tashunca-uitco, fought his final battle against the superior forces of the Oueztecan Empire. Knowing they were hopelessly outnumbered, Tashunca-uitco and his warriors bravely held off the Oueztec long enough to give their Cheyenne allies, led by Tatanka Iyotake, time to escape.

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Nelson Mandela	“I, met Nelson soon after his release from prison.” said Samson Zola, “All those years on on Robben Island, breaking stones and collecting seaweed. He should have been filled with hatred and thirst for revenge.” In Laura Resnick's dystopia, years of civil war had torn apart the dream of a Rainbow nation. Samson Zola prepared to assassinate the President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. Even though he loved him like a father, he saw the need to return South Africa to its people.
Alternate Tyrant

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In 1935, the blond King of Rock and Roll, Jesse Garon Presley, was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. Jesse, as he was known to fans around the world, shocked and rocked the 50’s with his blend of black and white southern music, and became the most famous singer in the world – no one else even comes close to his fame and ability to sell records. After his death in the 1970’s, there have even been fans who have started a church in his name, sometimes referred to as the Jesse-its.

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In 1992, during a tour of Japan, President George Bush became ill at a dinner banquet. Although he dismissed it as a sour stomach, in his hotel room later that evening, he suffered a fatal stroke. His death brought an end to the Republican Party’s dream of another 4 years in the White House, as newly-elevated President Dan Quayle was crushed in the November election, 74 to 21 percent, by Democrat Bill Clinton of Arkansas.

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In 1634, Galileo Galilei is executed by the Inquisition for heresy, months after being found guilty. The Church had originally granted the blasphemer leniency, but after he continued to publish his “scientific” papers, they took action to silence his heliocentric fallacies forever.

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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.
Unbeliever

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. These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives: for all the scents of green things growing, Each breath is but an exhalation of the grave, bodies jerk like puppet corpses and hell walks laughing- ~”You Cannot Hope”.

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