Confrontation

	In 2001, from a discrete distance eighty-one year old Donald Campbell watched divers raising the wreck of his boat, Bluebird, from the bottom of Coniston Water in Cumbria. The boat had lain there since the accident in 1967 which almost killed Campbell, 46, as he attempted to break the world water speed record. It somersaulted repeatedly before crashing and sinking. Campbell's body was never found and no remains have been discovered in the wreckage.

.

In 1905, after the Battle of Mukden Aleksandr Vassilievich Samsonov accused General Paul von Rennenkampf of failing to assist him during the fighting and the two came to blows.

Bitterness persisted between the pair until 1914 when they were given the joint command of the for the invasion of East Prussia. A fresh fight before the Battle of Tannenberg cost Tsarist Russia the campaign. The Russian First Army retreated in disarray into Willenberg, and the Second Army was completely destroyed. Over sixty German trains were required to transport the prisoners of war back into Imperial Germany.

.

In 2006, former British Minister of War John 'Jack' Profumo died in disgrace in South Africa surpassing even Philby and Maclean in traitorous infamy. In January 1961 at a party thrown by Viscount Astor at his home in Cliveden, Profumo met Christine Keeler, a call girl with whom he had an affair. Keeler was also involved with Yevgeny Ivanov, the senior naval attache at the Soviet Embassy. Red Jack fled the country during 1963 shortly before the Profumo Affair hit the headlines. It emerged that the Profumo-Keeler-Ivanov channel had been used to transfer vital information that had resulted in the American defeat during Cuban Missiles Crisis the previous year.

.

	In 1945, American B-29 bombers attacked Tokyo, Japan with incendiary bombs. The resulting fire storm killed over 100,000 people and Japan's leaders (gozenkaigi) decided, in principle, to accept the uncompromising terms the Allies had set down for ending the war in the Potsdam Declaration. However it was only after several more days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and a failed coup attempt that Emperor Hirohito gave a radio address to the nation, the Imperial Rescript on Surrender, announcing the acceptance on March 15. The day is commemorated as Victory over Japan Day in the U.S. and Shusen-kinenbi (memorial day for the end of the war) in Japan.

.

Air Pirate McCain	In 2008, Jay Leno interviewed Admiral John Sidney McCain III (retd.) on the Tonight Show. Twenty-four hours before, the retired Admiral had ended his second bid for the White House. Seventy-one years old, McCain also took the opportunity to announce his retirement from politics at the expiry of his senatorial term in Arizona. Straight-talking as always, McCain admitted that yes his support for the current administration had positioned his candidacy as Bush's third term.
Truc Bach Lake

Worse, his pro-war stance had alienated younger voters. Justifying the War was a hard sell on young Americans who had not seen service in the defence of democracy, or whose families were not steeped in military tradition. Perhaps in time these young people would see that the loss of Vietnam would have been an unimaginable defeat for America. President Goldwater was fully justified in introducing nuclear weapons into the theatre. McCain believed that as much today, as he did when he was shot down on October 27, 1967, returning to the USS Forrester having dropped the big one on Hanoi.

.

	While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: 'The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.' Going at once to the infernal one, Judas said, 'Greetings, Antichrist!' and kissed him. Damien replied, 'Friend, do what you came for.'

Then the men stepped forward, seized Damien and arrested him. With that, one of Damien's companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 'Put your sword back in its place, Damien said to him. 'Its as old as Jerusalem,' Damien said, 'Hang the body of your enemy or betrayer upside down so his head faces earth instead of heaven.' ~ Grand Grimoir, Matthew Chapter 47.

.

In 2008, Chief Information Officer of Pappy's Barbeque Texas Chicken, David E. McGeek sent a status to the executive board. The enterprise resource planning system was down. Executive Systems Manager Ron Booger was working closely with Macrosoft, the author of the Great Plane software platform. It appeared that during a semi-colon had entered the XML File holding the Bill of Materials. Now all the lard-based receipes were corrupt.

.

In 2008, Buford T. Rogerson III received a prod on Farcebook from Pappy's Texas Barbeque Chicken - would sir be joining them for a superlardo smiley meal this evening? The inquiry was to assist Chef in planning chip tonnage because the enterprise resource planning system was still down.

.

In 2008, Kevin Rose' two hundred million dollar web site was destroyed by a recursive programming error when a damn fool user dugg the digg home page.

In 1967, Svetlana Stalin daughter of the Soviet dictator, requested asylum at the United States Embassy in India. Svetlana was the only daughter of Joseph Stalin by his second wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva who committed suicide in 1932 when Svetlana was nine years old. Svetlana confirmed the reports circulating in the West, that Alliluyeva had discovered that Lenin was a shape-shifting Vampire. A number of strokes in the 1920s forced the undead nosferatu to possess the body of Comrade Stalin to permit him to continue his misrule. He had even maintained his corpse in a Kremlin mausoleum just in case a Dracula style exit was necessary.

.

	In 2008, Russian President Vladimir faced intense criticism in the World Press. On November 26, 2007, Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov was quoted by Interfax news agency, saying that the fact that the election day had been set to March 2, 2008, allowiing Putin, who is required by term limits to leave office when his second term ends in May 2008, the option of resigning early and then running again.

.

	In 1972, a bomb exploded aboard a Trans World Airlines Boeing 707 at Las Vegas airport. No-one was injured in the blast which destroyed the cockpit of the aircraft as it stood empty on the tarmac. The explosion happened hours after an anonymous phone caller threatened TWA with a series of bomb attacks unless 760,000 pounds were handed over. The caller instructed airport officials at the Benedict Arnold Airport in New York to go to a locker where they found a note, which said there would be explosions at six hourly intervals on four of the company's aircraft.

.

Alternate Routes

The state of TIAH

January 14th, 2007

Digg this

Alternate Historian's Note: I'm almost fully recovered, so everything should be back to normal after today. We have a side-project that was announced yesterday – a collection of several timelines with more-or-less complete stories inside them – The Fall, the Tolman timeline, the Mormon War and more – that will be up for sale on Lulu, as soon as we have it edited together. If you would be interested in this, or would like to suggest something for inclusion in the collection, please email me and let me know. Meanwhile, enjoy Guest Historian Stephen Payne's entry for today, followed by the continuation of our NaNoWriMo novel.

Halifax	In 1947 Lord Halifax cables Fuehrerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) to accept in principle the peace offer of the Nazi Government. Halifax and Princess Elizabeth I invite the Fuehrer Adolf Hitler to a January 28th meeting on neutral territory in Reykjavík, Iceland where the British ..
.. Government in Exile will handover to the Nazis both the renegade Churchill and also the keys to the Royal Navy. ~ Authors Note: 'The translation of Adolf is noble wolf and indeed the nickname for Hitler was wolf.'
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1942 an irresistible force is about to collide with an immovable object in French North Africa. The British Eighth Army led by Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery faces the Desert Fox known as Brigadier General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle and his La Grande Armée Afrique ..	Monty
.. for a fight to the death. Both Commanders have a cautious nature, essentially because they are concerned about their places in the history books. A phony war therefore develops in the desert of North Africa. De Gaulle knows that reinforcements are heading through Spain and therefore is considering whether or not a pre-emptive strike is the glory-bound option.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

George W Bush	In 2011 at Camp David US President George Walker Bush prepares to write his auto-biography marking his retirement maturity age 65. In 'A Charge Kept' Bush's ghost writers describe the consequences of mid-term defeat in 2006 that ultimately forced a softening of the line on the Axis of Evil. ..
.. By then both Iran and Korea were members of the nuclear club, and an exchange of thermonuclear strikes in mid 2008 led to the extirpation of life above ground. In the closing chapter 'And now begins the long, long winter' W talks about the unexpected third term Presidency forced upon America by the collapse of civilian government in the continental United States. More than anything, he misses the jogging although on balance it has to be said that his second marriage to Condoleeza Rice marked an improvement in his personal happiness. He had stopped drinking again.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1941 British Prime Minister David Lloyd George instructs his Minister of War Winston Churchill to reinforce the land-side approach to Singapore. It would after all be a damn fool mistake to just prepare for a naval assault by the Japanese. It is his grasp of the minutiae that give the ..	Lloyd George
.. Welsh Wizard a cutting edge as a proven wartime leader and ultimately why the nation turned to him again in 1940. Winnie was great on rhetoric, most definitely up for the fight - but he just wanted to do everything. Seeing the blind spots was required, mused Lloyd George, particularly when your forces are spread throughout the World, and your enemies are focused on their own theatres.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

After(cont.)
There was surprisingly little trouble for them. They had hit a checkpoint leaving Bryan, but their story of lottery millions easily fooled the young man checking them through. They had followed Highway 21 out of town and were now on the far side of San Antonio. Curfew would hit them before they could reach the border with New Mexico, so the plan was to get as far as they could by the afternoon, and then check into a nice hotel.
Steph looked down the road and saw a lot of nothing. She felt a little pang for the trees and hills of Austin. Mike was saying something while she mused, so she stopped daydreaming and paid attention. “Once we hit 277, we'll turn north and we should be able to make it San Angelo; that's a big enough town to where we can spend the night someplace OK. In the morning, we follow 87 out west, and it's almost a straight shot to the border.”
Joan piped up from behind them. “What if there's fighting at the border? I mean, you guys said that New Mexico was resisting the martial law and everything, so what if there's a war goin' on when we get there?”
Mike and Steph met eyes for a second. “Well, we'll just have to try to avoid that,” Steph said. “This thing can go off-road. We can probably skirt around any fighting on the highway.”
“OK.”
Joan had been worried for the last hundred miles or so, so Steph asked, “Baby, is there something bothering you?”
She shook her head. “I know it sounds like a movie and all, but I expected us to have to go through like a checkpoint in every town. We haven't hardly seen a soldier since Bryan. Where are they all?”
“Most of Texas lives behind us,” Mike said. “They need those guys to pacify the big cities.”
“Or to guard the border,” Joan said.
That brought a little pause to Steph and Mike. “Good point,” Mike muttered. “The lottery story should still work. I mean, what harm can it be to let Texas' newest millionaire leave the state?”
“None, I guess,” Joan said, looking out the window. “Unless you don't want anybody to leave the state.”
Steph looked over at Mike. “If we get turned back at the border, we find a way to get across without using the roads, that's all. Illegals do it every day; we can, too.”
“I think I have a map saved on my laptop that shows a few non-traditional routes away from Texas. We'll look through it tonight at the hotel.”
They returned to driving in silence, except for the sounds of the cartoon playing on the small screen TV in the back that George was watching happily. Joan leaned back and tried to nap, and Steph turned the radio on quietly. It was more of the Emergency Lady, so she only half-listened.
After a couple of hours, though, something that the woman on the radio said caught her attention. “... repulsing the invaders. With this in mind, it is the request of the State of Texas that all able-bodied citizens living within 100 miles of a border arm themselves and be prepared to assist the Texas Guard in fighting off these terrorist sleeper cells. Details are being worked out to integrate these citizens into the nearest Guard units, and will be broadcast as soon as possible.”
Steph looked back at Joan's sleeping face, then turned to Mike. He was wearing a worried look, now. “Looks like we'll be needing that non-traditional route pretty bad, Mike.”

Cool stuff - Let us know where you are on Frappr! and We've been Dugg

We have links again! Yay, us. Check them out on the side of the page, and if you have some suggestions, send them to us!

Visit the Co-Historian's store -

The Bull Moose Turned Loose

The state of TIAH

August 7th, 2006

Alternate Historian's Note: light post today. The plague has returned to haunt the Academy this weekend.

in 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt is nominated for the presidency by the Bull Moose (Progressive) Party. “This bull moose shall roar his way back into the White House,” he said in his acceptance speech. The Progressives campaigned vigorously for him, but he seemed to be a long shot until October 12th. An insane gentleman by the name of William Shrenk attempted to assassinate him, declaring that “Any man looking for a third term ought to be shot.” Schrenk missed Roosevelt, but the attempt transformed the former president into something akin to a martyr for the progressive cause. People flocked to his speeches in the fall, and in November, he narrowly edged out the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, to win what was actually only his second full term in the White House. Perhaps Roosevelt's greatest legacy was the rise of the Progressive Party and the diminishment of the Republicans. Although old money himself, Roosevelt's Progressives supported the rights of unions, as well as several reigns on big businesses and trusts during his time in the White House. In 1916, although the Progressives wished to nominate him again, he declined and supported instead his Vice-President, Hiram Johnson, who barely won the office after a campaign blitz from the old Bull Moose lifted his fortunes.

in 2017, although they are eager to tour the earth, the Amandarans on board the Pokor are limited to a few hours off-ship at a time, due to earth's greater heat and gravity than any of their moons. Still, the Quarai in particular are in high spirits, even though they are forced to wear space suits to keep visiting the earth. “This is amazing,” Captain Mawrao told Commander Patterson. “It is wonderful, after all the dead worlds we have seen together, to see this one filled with life. It make us very happy.” The P'tar ambassador who had accompanied them was spending a lot of time at the UN; her world was heavier and hotter than Amandara 14, and she was able to withstand longer periods on the planet without ill effects. The Amandaran Union was prepared to offer the earth a lot of advanced technology in exchange for constant access to the Jump device, and she was making this case to them very convincingly. “Our scientists do not yet understand the device, but it is only a matter of time before they do. Our 4 races could unite as one, and reach out to the stars together, a true union of planets.” Although her words are moving, many delegates consider the Jump device as their only advantage over the Amandarans, and want to keep it away from them. Spirited debate follows her offer.

Get yourself into TIAH!

And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!

The Forum lives again!

Good long fiction from the AH. See a review of Warp at Universe Pathways Magazine

Help the Alternate Historian keep the site from growing stale!
My email address for contacting me with your writing samples, or good news, or for more direct goodness, go to the web site and leave a comment, buy a book, or leave a Paypal donation! Thanks again!

You can also visit the Co-Historian's store -