King Of All The Realm

The state of TIAH

April 21st, 2007

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in 1891, the Secretary of War ponders the telegram from General Franklin amid news that Kansas City is entirely under the control of the Kansas rebels. There is also the personal telegram that Major Wainwright had sent, saying that former President Grover Cleveland had died from the gunshot wound he had endured on his escape from Topeka. He had yet to bring this news to President Harrison; Harrison hated Cleveland, so that would be good news. However, him dying as a martyr to America wouldn't be the best thing in the world for Republican political fortunes. He went ahead and went into his appointment with the president – it wasn't for him to decide the nation's direction, after all. He walked up to Harrison's desk and said, “Ben, I have some news from the Kansas front...”

in 1998, when Arthur Pendrake walks into London, there is only token resistance from Brigadier Major-General Charles Fortescue's few loyal troops. Virtually the entire defensive force of London defects over to Arthur, and Fortescue himself is brought before the pretender in irons. “I do not hold you responsible for your attacks upon me,” Arthur tells the general. “You were being loyal to the crown, and I understand. But, this day, I shall wear the crown, and if you are not loyal to me, then I shall hold you responsible for your treason. What is your decision, sir?” The brigadier straightens himself, and standing tall and proud, says, “Sir, I serve Queen Elizabeth, sovereign of the realm, and do not recognize your right to the crown. If my loyalty to the rightful monarch of Britain is treason to you, then let me be the first to die for that treason.” Arthur is deeply moved by the man's unswerving fidelity, and pardons him. “However, you must leave our shores, sir. Go and join your false queen on the continent, and conspire with the evil men who seek to rule our nation through secrets and subterfuge.” Fortescue is put on a boat for Amsterdam along with a few dozen of his men, and allowed to leave. Arthur proceeds to the Tower of London, where he recovers the crown. After Merl Myrddin assembles as many reporters as he can, along with a couple of film crews, Arthur crowns himself King of all the realm.

In 2165 teenagers played a game of basket ball on this day at Venice Beach. It was a cyberspace game, of course. The unbreathable air of Southern California was a lethal cocktail of toxic chemicals. And the trash that blew around Venice Beach would have thrown a Geiger Counter into a wild frenzy. Stanley 3XG Homeboy was winning comfortably, playing the game on a cyberspace console at his home in Whittaker, California. Home was a grand name for a 20 feet by 25 feet lock-up, built as a double car garage by mid-century 20ths.

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

Constantine I	In 753 BC brothers Romulus and Remus founded the City of Rome which became the capital of the great Roman Empire. In the late 3rd century division was required to control the vast Roman Empire. In 317 Constantine I made two momentous and far-reaching decisions; one being his decision to found a new capital city in Byzantium, ..
.. and the other being his adoption of Christianity. Rome had long since ceased to be an effective political capital of the Empire, being too far from the endangered northern frontiers and the wealthy Eastern provinces. The success of Byzantium was unstoppable, and the city once again became the capital of the unified Roman Empire in 412. Today, Byzantium is of course the natural capital of Europe and for that very reason was chosen as an administrative centre by the European Union in 1981.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1968 Lord Louis Mountbatten reluctantly agreed to the proposals from abdicated monarch Charles Windsor, and the two Heads of the British Eighth Army, Bernard Montgomery and Claude Auchinlech. He is to be the Interim Prime Minister of a military government, formed to deal with the economic crisis. Moreover, to do something ..	Lord Louis Moun..
.. about the irreversible decline the British nation has suffered since winning the great war, and self-evidently, losing the peace.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Manfred von Ric..	In 1918 German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as 'The Red Baron', was very nearly shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France. The Baron survived World War I and was nominated by Paul von Hindenburgh as his preferred successor to the Presidency due to his failing health in the 1930s. This was considered ..
.. a master-stroke as the appointment of another illustrious officer from the glorious past held the highest-level centrifugal forces together in the Weimar Republic in the absence of the deposed House of Hohenzollern. Gathering right-wing forces were unable to justify action to fill a vacuum of power that was of course ultimately averted.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1863 on this day the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh declared his mission as  'He whom God shall make manifest' . At the age of 28, Bahá'u'lláh received a messenger telling him of the Báb, whose message he accepted, becoming a Bábí. Bahá'u'lláh began to spread the new cause, especially in his ..	Shrine of Bahá'..
.. native province of Núr, becoming recognized as one of its most influential believers. (Dawnbreakers). The accompanying government suppression of the Báb's religion resulted in Bahá'u'lláh's being imprisoned twice and and enduring bastinado torture once. The work of the Dawnbreakers established a unifying religion in Palestine that prepared the indigenes for the Jewish settlers and their failed bid to establish the State of Israel in 1948.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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The Piper Of Hamelin; The Judgment Of God

The state of TIAH

June 26th, 2006

in 1284, a man who claimed to be able to rid the German town of Hamelin of its rats struck a strange bargain with them – he would lure the rats away with the tunes from his pipe, and, if successful, the village would pay him 10,000 pieces of silver. If they failed to pay, he would do the same to their children. Amused at the audacity of this Pied Piper, the town fathers agreed to these terms, hoping for at least a little musical interlude among the squeaks of the rats crawling everywhere. When the piper began to play, though, they saw all the rats listen intently, and a great river of the little beasts began to flow from all corners of Hamelin towards the piper. When he was satisfied that he had all of the rats, he began walking to the Weser river, playing and dancing, followed by his own little army of rodents. Obviously enraptured by the music of this man, the rats didn't notice that they were drowning in the river until it was too late. The piper returned to the astonished townsfolk wet, but triumphant, and demanded his silver. They paid him quickly – a man of such obvious magical ability would be impossible to deny, they reasoned, and their children would follow him into the river as readily as the rats did.

in 1483, evidence is produced in Parliament that young Edward V, son of the late King Edward IV of England, is the product of a bigamous marriage, and therefore illegitimate and ineligible for the crown, as is his brother Richard. Their uncle, Richard of Gloucester, is urged by many nobles present to seize the crown for himself. Torn between love for his family and righteous indignation at the thought of a bastard on the throne of England, Richard proposes a compromise. He would adopt the boys as his own, rule as regent till Edward came of age, and then abdicate to the boy. After much wrangling, Parliament agreed to this, and Richard was crowned Richard III ten days later. He named Edward his son and heir, and upon his majority, willingly surrendered the crown to him. Richard’s reign is remembered for his fairness in civil matters and mercy to his enemies.

in 1807, a gunpowder factory in tiny Kirchberg, Luxembourg exploded violently after what surviving witnesses called “the judgment of God” struck it. Lightning from a clear sky hit the factory and destroyed it and large parts of the city around it in the resulting explosion. A local Catholic priest, Father Ludo Marberg, called it a sign from Heaven that God was displeased with Luxembourg's status as a vassal nation to the French Emperor Napoleon, and rallied most of the small country's men to his side. With the large amounts of ammunition that Napoleon had stored in their country, they fought a guerrilla war against the French, freeing their country and proving to be a thorn in Napoleon's side when the larger powers of Europe assembled against him later. After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, Father Marberg took control of Luxembourg and turned it into a theocracy to rival Vatican City, itself. There was a small movement within the church to have the Holy Father, as the Luxembourgers called him, named the next pope, but he died before the pope in Rome did. He was canonized almost immediately, and is the patron saint of Luxembourg and gunpowder.

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The Tragedy Of Richard Of Gloucester

June 26th, 2005

in 1483, evidence is produced in Parliament that young Edward V, son of the late King Edward IV of England, is the product of a bigamous marriage, and therefore illegitimate and ineligible for the crown, as is his brother Richard. Their uncle, Richard of Gloucester, is urged by many nobles present to seize the crown for himself. Torn between love for his family and righteous indignation at the thought of a bastard on the throne of England, Richard proposes a compromise. He would adopt the boys as his own, rule as regent till Edward came of age, and then abdicate to the boy. After much wrangling, Parliament agreed to this, and Richard was crowned Richard III ten days later. He named Edward his son and heir, and upon his majority, willingly surrendered the crown to him. Richard’s reign is remembered for his fairness in civil matters and mercy to his enemies.

in 1483, Archbishop Richard of Gloucester was named by the College of Cardinals as the next Pope of the Holy British Empire, following the death of Pope Edward IV. Many cardinals of the Order of St. Lancaster objected, preferring Monsignor Henry Tudor of their own order, and this caused a holy war to break out between the 2 factions. In the ensuing battle, the Lancastrians won, and Henry was installed in 1485 as Pope Henry VII. The Holy British Empire mourned the change; His Holiness, Henry VII, was not the best leader they had had.

in 4561, after their captured air raft is shot down, General Pham Tat Tran leads a division of his men to ambush a Siamese unit. Taking their uniforms, they sow division between the Siamese and Chinese soldiers by staging raids on the Chinese in Siamese colors. This tactic succeeds brilliantly, and thousands of Siamese and Chinese soldiers are killed in the in-fighting over the next three days until Pham’s unit is discovered and the ruse is unmasked.

in 1962, Comrade President Rosenberg makes his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in East Berlin, decrying the wall that fascist Europe has built between itself and the enlightened socialism of the east. In this most famous speech of his career, he said, “There are those who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin!” Thousands of dedicated communists heeded his call and descended on the divided city to work for the advancement of socialism there.

in 1974, after a brief separation, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton reconciled their marriage, and remained together happily until Burton’s death ten years later. Ms. Taylor, distraught over losing her greatest love, never married again.

in 1981, Mobius, the 7th survivor of the Vegas Plague, uses his growing mental powers to force the police to free him, and takes them and the other criminals over. With another personal army, this time very well armed, he makes another assault on Las Vegas, where the Vegas 6 intercept and divert them from the city into the desert. Out there, Mobius escapes, but the 6 deprive him of his criminal army.

in 1995, realizing that a frontal assault on the Kremlin would be problematic at best, Mikhail von Heflin disguises himself as a courier and infiltrates the complex. Once inside, he relies on his senses to guide him to the creature from beyond that has been taken captive. Once he finds the chamber where the creature is being studied, the Baron has a tough choice; free the creature and risk it escaping into the streets of Moscow, or turn this chamber into its prison and hope he can cut it off from the rest of the Kremlin before too many soldiers force him to retreat. He chooses the latter, and begins the process precisely at midnight.

in 1998, Gone With The Wind is re-released. The nostalgic look at northern life prior to the devastation of the Civil War was one of the few films to have successful box office on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line when it was released in 1939. In the wake of the coming reunification of the Confederate and United States, though, it is seen by many on both sides of the border as unnecessarily inflammatory.


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"Ich Bin Ein Berliner"

June 26th, 2004

in 1483, evidence is produced in Parliament that young Edward V, son of the late King Edward IV of England, is the product of a bigamous marriage, and therefore illegitimate and ineligible for the crown, as is his brother Richard. Their uncle, Richard of Gloucester, is urged by many nobles present to seize the crown for himself. Torn between love for his family and righteous indignation at the thought of a bastard on the throne of England, Richard proposes a compromise. He would adopt the boys as his own, rule as regent till Edward came of age, and then abdicate to the boy. After much wrangling, Parliament agreed to this, and Richard was crowned Richard III ten days later. He named Edward his son and heir, and upon his majority, willingly surrendered the crown to him. Richard’s reign is remembered for his fairness in civil matters and mercy to his enemies.

in 1483, Archbishop Richard of Gloucester was named by the College of Cardinals as the next Pope of the Holy British Empire, following the death of Pope Edward IV. Many cardinals of the Order of St. Lancaster objected, preferring Monsignor Henry Tudor of their own order, and this caused a holy war to break out between the 2 factions. In the ensuing battle, the Lancastrians won, and Henry was installed in 1485 as Pope Henry VII. The Holy British Empire mourned the change; His Holiness, Henry VII, was not the best leader they had had.

in 4561, after their captured air raft is shot down, General Pham Tat Tran leads a division of his men to ambush a Siamese unit. Taking their uniforms, they sow division between the Siamese and Chinese soldiers by staging raids on the Chinese in Siamese colors. This tactic succeeds brilliantly, and thousands of Siamese and Chinese soldiers are killed in the in-fighting over the next three days until Pham’s unit is discovered and the ruse is unmasked.

in 1962, Comrade President Rosenberg makes his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in East Berlin, decrying the wall that fascist Europe has built between itself and the enlightened socialism of the east. In this most famous speech of his career, he said, “There are those who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin!” Thousands of dedicated communists heeded his call and descended on the divided city to work for the advancement of socialism there.

in 1974, after a brief separation, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton reconciled their marriage, and remained together happily until Burton’s death ten years later. Ms. Taylor, distraught over losing her greatest love, never married again.

in 1998, Gone With The Wind is re-released. The nostalgic look at northern life prior to the devastation of the Civil War was one of the few films to have successful box office on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line when it was released in 1939. In the wake of the coming reunification of the Confederate and United States, though, it is seen by many on both sides of the border as unnecessarily inflammatory.

in the 45th year of Mikhaol’s reign, the Pharaoh’s ships smashed into Thebes, taking the rebels completely by surprise. By the end of the day, the capital city was once again under the Pharaoh’s control.

in 2003, Martian forces control ¾ of Greenland and penetrate deep into the Scandinavian peninsula. They also land on Tierra del Fuego in South America and begin fortifying their positions on Antarctica. Meanwhile, desperate Australian scientists manage to crack the secret of their power source; nanobots tearing down matter and generating small, controlled nuclear reactions. Jacob Sheridan, a nanotechnologist from New Zealand who had been recruited by the Aussie army, begins experiments to see if he can replicate these effects.

Revolutionaries

	In 2007, British politician and statesman, diplomat and businessman George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, KBE, DSO, MC, PC, FRS died on this day. Jellicoe was the only son but sixth and youngest child of First World War naval commander, the anti-hero of Jutland, Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe by his wife Florence Gwendoline (died 1964), second daughter of Sir Charles Cayzer, 1st Bart., of Gartmore, Perthshire. Jellicoe was the one of the longest-serving parliamentarians in the world, being a member of the English Bundesrat for 68 years (1939-2007).

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	In 1741, Benedict Arnold V was born in Norwich, Connecticut. A general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, he heroically commanded the American fort at West Point, New York. Arnold was considered by many to be the best general and most accomplished leader in the Continental Army. Without Arnold's early contributions to the American cause, the American Revolution might well have been lost. The hero in the Battle of Saratoga, Arnold's actions persuaded the French, who had been skeptical of the colonists' chances, to intervene in the war on the American side. This alliance tipped the balance and ultimately helped ensure the American victory.

On the battlefield at Saratoga, a lone monument stands in memorial to this man, the inscription reads: 'In memory of the most brilliant soldier of the Continental army, who was desperately wounded on this spot, winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution, and for himself the rank of Major General.' Another memorial to Arnold resides at the United States Military Academy. That the plaque recognises a contribution indelibly tarnished by his betrayal of the Crown.

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In 1958, Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic (UAR) under the inspired leadership of the Arab Nationalist Abdul Gamel Nasser. By 1980, the entire Middle East and its oil reserves would be controlled by the UAR making a showdown with the Western World inevitable.

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In 1974, 44-year-old Samuel Byck assassinated U.S. President Richard Nixon. The revelations of corruption that followed destroyed the Imperial Presidency and today the position of US Head of State is a ceremonial role. The self-evident failure of American Foreign Policy with the Fall of Vietnam set a new course for America, and Capitol Hill ensured that the executive focused exclusively on domestic concerns.

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	In 1732, rebel general George Washington was born in the Virginia colony. Despite serving with honor in His Majesty's war against the French and Indians, Washington turned traitor to the Crown when the American colonies rebelled in 1774. Washington was captured in Yorktown when Lord Cornwallis defeated the rebels after the French failed to reinforce them.

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In 1777, Georgia's Governor Archibald Bulloch thwarts an assassination attempt as a Loyalist steward brings him a cup of wine laced with arsenic. When he accidentally spills the cup, the enraged Tory tries to strangle him, but Bulloch wins their struggle. The governor then uses the near-total powers he had been granted by Georgia's rebel government to rally the state's colonists and send them into war for the rebel cause. Bulloch is such a successful leader in the revolution that he maneuvers himself into the newly-created office of president of the new nation after the revolution, and influences the writing of the constitution to give himself powers similar to his near-complete control of Georgia. The other states chafe under his presidency, and the formerly united states dissolve into regional war in Bulloch's 5th year in office. The wars end when Bulloch is shot dead by a member of his staff, Thomas Paine, who had been planted close to the president in order to get the opportunity to kill him. Another Constitutional Convention is called to rewrite the document that had granted so much power to the president, and a tripartite government is born from the ashes of Bulloch's dictatorship in 1797.

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In 1632, Galileo Galilei's Dialogue Concerning the Two Counter-earths was published. By deductive logic Galileo had postulated the existence of a counter-earth, a same sized planet rotating on the far side of the sun since 1610.

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In 1994, Aldrich Ames and his wife were charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union. Whilst directing the analysis of Soviet intelligence operations at the CIA's Europe Division / Counter-intelligence branch he had access to the identities of U.S. Sources in the KGB and Soviet military. The information Ames provided led to the compromise of at least 100 U.S. intelligence operations and to the execution of at least 10 U.S. Sources. Ames was sentenced with the death penalty since his betrayal resulted in several CIA assets being killed and he was executed two years later at the US Penitentiary in Allenwood, Pennsylvania

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In 1998, the deadliest series of tornadoes in Florida's history provides the impetus for Vice-President Al Gore to begin a study of climate change. Already an environmentalist, Gore was alarmed at the massive changes in the climate that many scientists were predicting could soon become irreversible. He runs for the presidency with a passion and urgency that moves the nation, and sweeps in a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives to aid him in his work. The Senate is split evenly, so his vice-president, Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, is more important than any VP in decades. With Gore's skills and commitment, the warming of the earth was slowed, and Wellstone continued his former boss' work when he was elected president in 2008.

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In 1991, US President George HW Bush threatened Iraq with land war, giving Iraq until 1700 GMT the next day to pull out of Kuwait or face the full force of the allies. It was an incredible volte-face from the American 'green light' for the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait given by Ambassador April Glaspie. The magnitude of that error did not become clear until the 18th January. Israel joined the Gulf War after Iraq attacks Tel Aviv and Haifa with Scud missiles. Saddam Husssein had succeeded in provoking the Israel leadership both through these bombings, and also by establishing linkage between Kuwait and Palestinian nationhood.

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	In 1997, a sheep named Dolly was cloned by scientists in Edinburgh and hailed as one of the most significant breakthroughs of the decade. The sheep's birth was heralded as one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the decade although it sparked ethical controversy. Scientists in Scotland cloned a ewe by inserting DNA from a single sheep cell into an egg and implanted it in a surrogate mother. Within twenty years, cloning would become the most lucrative medical technology on the planet.Within twenty years, cloning would become the most lucrative medical technology on the planet.

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In 1994, African American community leaders absorbed the import of US President Bill Clinton's briefing on the contents of the Ames dossier. Jesse Jackson knew a few things about skeletons in the closet himself. Clinton had been wily in suggesting that of course. Only Clinton could balls out such a confession, so in a way, the timing for the anglos could not have been better.

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	In 1915, Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare, a bold step which guaranteed victory in World War I. The evidence suggests that Imperial Germany had not started World War I with an appreciation of the impact on commerce and supply that submarines could have. They had fewer than 30 operational boats, all with small torpedo capacities.

At first, merchant ships would be stopped, occupants safely evacuated and then the vessel sunk, usually by gunfire, all following Prize Rules. This had little effect and increasingly placed the German submarine – U-boat - at risk from defensive weaponry. Germany had practical strategic problems. War-weariness affected the German home situation. The best chance of achieving an early advantageous peace with Britain was to stifle its trade and imports. Surface ships had not been effective, neither could the Kaiserliche Marine force the British Royal Navy off the seas - the Battle of Jutland had shown this, despite an apparent German victory. The gamble which was taken was that unrestricted submarine warfare would critically damage Britain before an incensed United States could make a practical impact. The success of the submarines was a killer blow to British supply lines and the gamble ultimately succeeded.

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