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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My Lai

The state of TIAH

March 16th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: Our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 2 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1968, an act of sheer horror was halted by the bravery and humanity of three soldiers in the small village of My Lai, Vietnam. Pilot Hugh Thompson and his crewmen Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Coburn flew into what looked like a massacre of civilians by US soldiers. Even though the three were outranked by several of the officers in the village, Thompson ordered his men to shoot anyone who went after a civilian while he called in backup and medical helicopters. Only one officer, a Lt. Calley, challenged them, and a bullet in his kneecap convinced him to stand down. All of the officers on the scene were arrested and taken into custody, and the surviving villagers were evacuated – Calley and the others had killed dozens before Thompson came along to stop the attack. When backup arrived with MPs to arrest the soldiers, Thompson led his men through the village, taking pictures of what had occurred here when men had completely lost their humanity. His pictures were used as evidence in the court-martial trials of Calley and his superior officer, Captain Ernest Medina, and his emotional testimony sealed their fates. President Lyndon Johnson personally apologized to the people of Vietnam for the attack, and presented Thompson, Andreotta and Coburn with medals in a White House ceremony celebrating their honor and heroism.

Saami People	In 1919 the greatest necromancer of the age Grigory Rasputin planned a second and final attempt to control the Mesh, that irresistible group consciousness between First Nations linking the Turtle Island to the Dreamtime. The Mad Monk had closely studied the Saami people of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula ..
.. of Russia, popularly known as the Laplanders. By a process of deductive logic he reasoned that their connection with the natural world rendered the Saami people immune to the melancholy of exclusion. Whilst other Europeans suffer melancholy when they approach the group consciousness, the Laps could be the vanguard of a European invasion force. His plan is to use the Laps in a Trojan Horse manoeuvre, gaining access to the Turtle Island at Manna-hata (Manhattan) to disable the Mesh. The gamble is that the plan could backfire, if the Laps really are compatible, he might inadvertently create a Mesh Node right here in North-western Europe. And how will the Mad Monk get them to participate in this plot? Hmm.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1988 Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Vice President George Bush had hoped to recover the Extraterrestrial Technology (ET) buried in Iraq under cover of the Iraq-Iraq War, but his Iranian proxies had failed him despite ..	Oliver North
.. being beneficiaries of Colonel Oliver Norths Arms for Extraterrestrial Technology exchange. It was looking increasingly likely that the plan he had envisaged in 1975 whilst CIA Director would require an invasion, and for that he needed to win the presidency that very year. Trouble is Iran-Contra Affair might either force his boss' resignation giving him the Presidency too soon or indeed lose the '88 election for Bush.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Harold Wilson	In 1976 James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC, Labour Prime Minister of Great Britain, resigned. Queen Elizabeth II came to dine at 10 Downing Street to mark his resignation, an honour she has bestowed on only one other Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. Both events concealed a secret civil war..
.. that was being fought out with the Queen siding decisively against the establishment. A BBC programme The Plot Against Harold Wilson broadcast in 2006 gives strong suggestions that the country came closer to military government than previously believed. In a series of secret tapes recorded just after his shock 1976 resignation, Harold Wilson explained that for 8 months of his premiership he did not feel in full control and didn't 'feel he knew what was going on, fully, in security'. He alleged that ex-military leaders had built up private armies in anticipation of 'wholesale domestic liquidation' and Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh's uncle and mentor, would be installed as interim Prime Minister. Two plots, in the late 1960s and mid 1970s, were alleged by Wilson. Lord Louis Mountbatten was assassinated by agents who planted a bomb in his boat at Mullaghmore, County Sligo in the Republic of Ireland 27 August 1979 ending the threat of this coup d'etat.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1935 - Adolf Schicklgruber ordered Germany to rearm herself in violation of the ..	Anscluss
.. Versailles Treaty. Conscription was reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht however the Austrian Chancellor felt that the pace of reform from Fuehrer und Reichskanzler Kurt von Schleicher was too slow to deal with the Red Threat from Stalin's Russia. He lost patience three years later and in 1938 Austrian troops occupied the Weimar Republic. Annexation known as Anschluss (Union) was declared the following day - My good friends, for the second time in our history, an Austrian Chancellor has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Hollow

Hollow Earth	In 1828, John Cleves Symmes, Jr. published Symzonia; Voyage of Discovery, attributing the authorship of the works to "Captain Adam Seaborn". Self-evidently a detailed description of an expedition to the North Pole hole with follower James McBride, determined efforts were made to suppress the unmistakeable evidence of the Hollow Earth by the new President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. However, another follower, Jeremiah Reynolds, also delivered lectures on the "Hollow Earth" and also argued for an expedition. Eventually he would publicise talks about a hollow Earth after the death of Symmes.
Halleys Theory

Reynolds went on an expedition to Antarctica himself also joining the Great U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838 - 1842, even though that venture was a result of his agitation. He did not participate because he had offended too many in his call for such a trip. The discovery that the Earth consisted of a hollow shell about 800 miles (1,300 km) thick, with openings about 1400 miles (2,300 km) across at both poles with 4 inner shells each open at the poles had been suggested as early as 350BC by the Greek Philosopher, Plato. Edmund Halley in 1692 put forth the idea of Earth consisting of a hollow shell about 500 miles (800 km) thick, two inner concentric shells and an innermost core, about the diameters of the planets Venus, Mars, and Mercury. Atmospheres separate these shells, and each shell has its own magnetic poles. The spheres rotate at different speeds. Halley proposed this scheme in order to explain anomalous compass readings. He envisaged the atmosphere inside as luminous (and possibly inhabited) and speculated that escaping gas caused the Aurora Borealis. De Camp and Ley claimed in their Lands Beyond that Leonhard Euler also proposed a hollow-Earth idea, getting rid of multiple shells and postulating an interior sun 600 miles (1000 km) across to provide light to advanced inner-Earth civilization.

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In 1971, the BBC ran footage of British spaceflight Commander Bert Smith's family reunion. 'Whatcha brought us back, my daddy?' said little Bert Junior.

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In 2054, following the world's most expensive construction project to date a commercial tunnel is completed joining the landmasses of Asia and North America at the Bering Strait.

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In 1771, Spain ceded Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands to England who maintained possession until the Iron Lady of Argentina, President Eva Peron defeated that country in the 1982 Malvinas Conflict.

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In 1973, on this day Lyndon B. Johnson died at 4:33 p.m., from a third heart attack at his ranch, at age 64. His health was ruined by years of heavy smoking and stress, and the former President had severe heart disease. He was found in his bed, reaching for his phone. A scribbled note was found on his bed side. It was the strangest thing.

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In 1973, on this day Lyndon B. Johnson died at 4:33 p.m. His health was ruined by years of heavy smoking and excessive soda drinking. His favorite soft drink was Fresca, which he drank constantly. Johnson had a small control box installed in the writing desk in the small personal office adjacent to the Oval Office. This control box contained two buttons, marked 'Coffee' and 'Fresca'. Pushing one of these buttons would summon Johnson's military aide bringing the appropriate drink. Vice President John F Kennedy had seen to it that the Fresca had a little more sparkle than the Coca-Cola company typically recommended.

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In 1973, on this day Lyndon B. Johnson died after suffering the third and final heart attack in his lifetime. Unfit for office for two weeks due to suffering from acute chest pains, the closing days of Johnson's Presidency had ended in acrimony. Vice President Hubert Humphrey had been sworn in for a single day according to the US Constitution, with President-elect Richard M Nixon arguing that his Government-in-transition should take office a day early.

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In 1994, prosecutors of the traitor Aldrich Ames were confronted with a nighmarishly difficult decision. It had been safetly assumed that since Ames had betrayed the US to foreign powers, little damage could be caused through revelations in the media. Not so, said he producing the Ames dossier.

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In 1946, the Central Intelligence Group, precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, was established by President Truman after advisors from the Bilderberger Group and the Bavarian [REST OF POST CLASSIFIED FOR NATIONAL SECURITY REASONS]

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In 1905, the fate of the Romanov family is sealed by rebellion to the disastrous war with Japan. On Bloody Sunday a peaceful demonstration led by Father Gapon escalates into a massacre of imperial troops followed by the seizure of the Winter Palace.

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In 1973, on this day Lyndon B. Johnson died after suffering the third and final heart attack in his lifetime. Amongst all US Presidents, Hubert Humphrey had the honour of serving the shortest term of office – just one day.

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	The night came down around them, and there were stars. But Timothy couldn't find Mars. It had already set. That was something to think about. A night bird called among the trees as they walked along the Minnesota River. Dad. said, 'Your mother and I will try to teach you. Perhaps we'll fail. I hope not. We've had a good lot to see and learn from. We planned this trip years ago, before you were born. Even if there hadn't been WD-5 we would have come to Earth, I think, to live and form our own standard of living.
Planet Mars

It would have been another century before Mars would have been really poisoned by the Earth civilization. Now, of course--' They reached the river. It was long and straight and cool and wet and reflective in the night. 'I've always wanted to see a Martian,' said Michael."Where are they, Dad? You promised. 'There they are,' said Dad, and he shifted Michael on his shoulder and pointed straight down. The Martians were there. Timothy began to shiver. The Martians were there--in the canal--reflected in the water. Timothy and Michael and Robert and Mom and Dad. The Martians stared back up at them for a long, long silent time from the rippling water. . . . ~ The Million Year Picnic (January 2008). In 2008, astronomers watched a football pitch-sized lump of rock hurtle through space at a speed of 45000 km/h. The fragment, which had been christened WD-5, was on a collision course with Mars. The impact on 30th January would subsequently be known as the Martian Armageddon. During the period December 2001-November 2005 humans from Earth had colonized the deserted planet, occasionally having contact with the few surviving Martians, but for the most part preoccupied with making Mars a second Earth. WD-5 changed all that. Captain Wilder and family had family had returned home using his private rocket that he had concealed from government service. On their million year picnic, Wilder had promised his children that they would see some Martians on the Minnesota River..

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MLK	In 2008, the North American Union (NAU) celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day marking the birthdate of Governor-General Martin Luther King, Jr. Observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's birthday, January 15. it is one of four NAU holidays to commemorate an individual person.
Gov. General

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	In 1990, President Mikhail Gorbachev made a statement on Soviet television explaining the Soviet crackdown on civil unrest in the republic of Azerbaijan. Two days before Soviet troops were ordered into the republic to try and end the undeclared conflict between Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians, and put down a separatist insurrection by Azerbaijani nationalists. Official reports say up to 60 people died when tanks rolled into the republic's capital, Baku.

Political journalists had asked - if the West could not prevent the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, what hope was there for their reaction to the former Soviet Union. That question was about to be answered.

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Winter of	In 1979, public sector strike paralyses Britain as tens of thousands of public sector workers take part in a day of action - the biggest mass stoppage since 1926 - in support of a claim for more pay. The four major public service unions angry at the government's attempt to impose a 5% pay ceiling called out their 1.5 million members. They included hospital workers, rubbish collectors, school caretakers, grave diggers and airport staff. Mass demonstrations have been held in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast, bringing many services to a standstill. Services in the North East of England have also been badly affected.
Discontent

Interim Prime Minister Lord Loius Mountbatten, and his newly installed military government prepare to act decisively. They hadn't won the war, to lose the peace, after all.

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