Surpluses

Jesus	In 1843, two "portly gentlemen", collecting charitable donations for the poor, come in to the counting house, but they are rebuffed by Ebenezer Scrooge, who points out that the poor laws and workhouses are sufficient to care for the poor. When Scrooge is told that many would rather die than go there, he mercilessly responds, "If they would rather die ... they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
Is Love

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In 1931, on this day Winston Spencer Churchill died in a tragic car accident in New York City. Churchill had taken a taxi from Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to Bernard Baruch's home on 5th Avenue. Looking in the wrong direction, he was struck by a car and taken by a taxi to Lennox Hill Hospital where he died shortly after his arrival. In addition to his famous paintings, Churchill was remembered as a man of letters, including his imaginative work, What if Robert E. Lee had not won the Battle of Gettysburg?

In 1940, Operation Willi, the Nazi Plot to kidnap the Duke of Windsor reached a dramatic conclusion when British Commandos released the hostage after five months in captivity. The plot originated with Nazi foreign minister Ribbentrop, who convinced Hitler that the Duke of Windsor lost his throne because of his pro-German sympathies and would be delighted to recover it through collaboration with the Nazis. The plan was to lure the Duke to Spain, invite him to collaborate, offer to restore him to the throne of England and ask the Spanish government to imprison him if he refused. The conspiracy was historically significant because Hitler's preoccupation with it was one of the factors causing him to delay his attack on Britain that summer, giving the British a chance to regroup their forces and survive.

Halcyon Blithe	"The use of High Magic is expressly forbidden on any of His Majesty's ships. If any officer, mariner or soldier, or other aforesaid uses High Magic on board His Majesty's ship, every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court-martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offense shall deserve and the court-martial shall impose."~ His Majesty's Articles of War In 1992, Robert K. Massie published Dragonfrigate. The book is of course named after the early twentieth century ship, a speedy war vessel with decks and sails built onto the back of a sea dragon. Much more than this, the book describes the naval rivalry between Britain and Germany after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, highlighting this as one of the major tensions that led to WW I. In a dramatic climax, Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe saves the British Grand Fleet from destruction at the Battle of Jutland. Having broken His Majesty's Articles of War, Blithe discovered a German spy placing live ammunition inside the fiery heart of the sea dragon just in time to prevent the explosion of the British flagship.
Midshipwizard

George W Bush

In 2003, in a dishevelled state George W. Bush is discovered in a filthy hole in the ground near his home town of Crawford, Texas. Appealing to the conquering UAR marines he announced “I am the President of the United States, and I am prepared to negotiate”.

In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful sequel "What if Giuseppe Zangara had missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario of February 15, 1933 (one month before being sworn in for his first term in office): In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots at Roosevelt's motorcade. Four people were wounded and the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, was killed. Zangara was found guilty of murder and was executed March 20. Many researchers believe Cermak, not Roosevelt, was the intended target that day, as the mayor was a staunch foe of Al Capone's Chicago mob organization. The result is shocking. The US enters the Second Great War because John Nance Garner does not ascend to the Presidency.

John Nance Garner

Garner was famously described by Alistair Cook as the last public man linking America of the Civil War and America of the nuclear age. Cooke was referring to the fact that Garner was born in 1868, the son of a former Confederate cavalry trooper. His unique understanding of American history enabled Cactus Jack to steer the isolationist nation clear of the tragedy of the Second Great War.

Gore

In 2000, American Vice President Al Gore delivered his concession speech officially ending his hopes of becoming the 43rd President of the United States. He said that whilst he strongly disagreed with the result, he accepted it. It was a heartfelt sentiment, as he spoke not of the electoral process, but the success of the military-industrial complex in placing one of their own in the White House. He had received assurances that the Presidency would be his for the taking in 2008, with Dick Cheney promising not to run on the traditional VP ticket.

In 2002, the enlargement of the Warsaw Pact continues with the announcement that Britain, France, Western Germany, Western Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg, Holland and Spain would become members from May 1, 2004. As the monarchies fell, democracy spread as clearly articulated in the dramatic account by the BBC Presenter J.M. Roberts in the series The Triumph of the East.	Triumph of the East

In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful sequel "What if Giuseppe Zangara had missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario of February 15, 1933 (one month before being sworn in for his first term in office): In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots at Roosevelt's motorcade. Four people were wounded and the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, was killed. Zangara was found guilty of murder and was executed March 20. Many researchers believe Cermak, not Roosevelt, was the intended target that day, as the mayor was a staunch foe of Al Capone's Chicago mob organization. The result is shocking. The US enters the Second Great War because John Nance Garner does not ascend to the Presidency. Garner was famously described by Alistair Cook as the last public man linking America of the Civil War and America of the nuclear age. Cooke was referring to the fact that Garner was born in 1868, the son of a former Confederate cavalry trooper. His unique understanding of American history enabled Cactus Jack to steer the isolationist nation clear of the tragedy of the Second Great War.

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In 2003, Operation Red Dawn is declared a success when former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is arrested by US Marines who discover him in a dishevelled state in a filthy hole in the ground near his home town of Tikrit. Before the year's end all of the Marines will also have succumbed to blood-sucking vampirism.

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In 2000, American Vice President Al Gore delivers his unity speech in which he confirms his intention to become the joint 43rd President of the United States, sharing two two-year terms with candidate George Walker Bush whilst he occupies the Senate Presidency as agreed. This was originally intended to prevent Gore disappearing into obscurity, but in fact created a two year feud that tore the country to pieces as the two candidates fought tooth and nail over 9/11 and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush sought to prove that the previous administration had been weak on al-Qaeda. Also, he said Clinton/Gore had rejected proposals for airline security back in the late 1990s, such as routine passenger inspections and secure cabin doors on commercial aircrafts which would have prevented 9/11. Bush said the Presidency was “a charge to keep”; when January 2003 arrived, how could Bush handover the Presidency to this man?

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In 1996, Kofi Annan is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). Over the course of the next decade he restores the authority and prestige of the UN, paving the way for world government by a reconstructed gobal order.

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In 1996, Kofi Annan is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). Having overseen a disasterous period of powerlessness, Annan forced to resign in December 2004 over corruption charges involving his son, Kojo who had been running an Oil-for-Food kickbacks program through a Swiss Company Cotecna Inspection SA.

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Kofi Annan	In 1996, Kofi Annan is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). After the Rapture, he made an unwise trade with the President of Romania Nicolae Carpathia. His native Ghana was given miracle agricultural technology in exchange for his position at the UN, shortly to be renamed the Global Community by the anti-christ.
UN Sec Gen

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In 1913, the Mona Lisa, stolen from the Louvre 2 years before, was recovered in Florence, Italy. Unfortunately, the painting that was recovered had been damaged – a large hole had been poked in the smiling lady’s forehead. It was patched, but has never been quite the same.

Mastery

	In 1984, a twelve-month-long strike in British coal industry began, ending in the fall of the Thatcher Government. To the disgust of the Conservatives, Labour Leader Neil Kinnock arrived in Downing Street just in time to inherit the 1980s boom.

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In 1849, Alfred von Tirpitz died on this day and entered Valhalla. A German Admiral he was promoted to Secretary of State of the Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the Kaiserliche Marine from 1897 until 1916 when he was dismissed in disgrace. Tirpitz convinced the Kaiser to pursue a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, which catastrophically brought the United States into the War. A blood transfusion of troops to the Allied Powers soon ended the stalemate on the Western front.

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In 1901, an assassin killed Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in the City of Bremen. His son Deutscher Kaiser und König von Preußen Wilhelm III pursued a more determined but less megalomaniac version of foreign policy. With a stream of Chancellors starting with the Younger Bismarck and ending with Adolf Hitler he pursued a vision of Mittleuropa, which ended in 1945 with his heart attack in the German Chancellery with Russian troops at the gates of Berlin.

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Harad	In 3019 Third Age, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum hide near the Black Gate. Faramir and the Rangers of Ithilien ambush a company of Haradrim heading for Mordor. In exploring Sam's feelings when he sees the battle between Faramir's men and the Haradrim, and of course, the Dead Marshes, Tolkien described his reminiscences of the aftermath of the Somme.
Commander

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In 1964, Prophet Elijah Muhammad officially gave Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali meaning 'beloved of Allah'. He subsequently retired from boxing to concentrate on the anti-Vietnam protest. Ali's plan was to enrage LBJ and diffuse his leadership statements in order to exhaust him mentally. This was later termed 'The Rope-A-Dope'.

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In 1993, Arthur Ashe on this day. Ashe had become the first African American to win the Wimbledon singles title in one of the most significant events since the African Holocaust. Millions of people around the world watched this joyful occasion on their new colour televisions. Arthur, the first African-American male to win a Grand Slam event, was an active civil rights supporter. He was a member of a delegation of 31 prominent African-Americans who visited South Africa to observe political change in the country as it approached racial integration. He was arrested on January 11, 1985, for protesting outside the South African embassy in Washington D.C during an anti-apartheid rally. He was also arrested again on September 9, 1992, outside the White House for protesting on the recent crackdown on Haitian refugees. Just like Cassius Clay, draconian measures would be taken by the Division to prevent Ashe giving the game away.

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In 1993, Arthur Ashe on this day. Ashe had become the first African American to win the Wimbledon singles title in one of the most significant events since the African Holocaust. He spent much of the last years of his life writing his memoir Days of Grace, finishing the manuscript less than a week before his death of complications from AIDS on February 6, 1993. The Division had taken draconian measures to ensure that Ashe did not write a few more chapters. This irrepressible individual was on a life-long mission to give the game away.

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In 1619, the father of the Scientific Romance, Cyrano de Bergerac, is born in Paris, France. Fascinated with science and humanity's foibles, de Bergerac wrote classical pieces such as A Voyage To The Moon and Other Worlds, novels so popular that they turned the literary world upside down. Soon, all serious authors were penning novels about fantastical journeys to other planets and the strange people that we would find there.

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In 1953, Stalin is succeeded as leader of the Soviet Union by Georgi Malenkov, a close associate. Unlike Stalin, Malenkov proved to be a reformer, and hard-line elements in the Kremlin decided that he needed to go. He was ousted as Party Secretary two weeks later, and then replaced as Premier in 1955. Incensed at this affront, he staged a popular coup against new Premier Nikita Kruschev in 1957 and returned to power. Although still a reformer, he mercilessly purged the Communist Party of all those who had been involved in his ouster, and ruled the Soviet Union until his death in 1988.

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In 1957, on this day Ghana celebrates independence as its people celebrate the end of colonial rule and the dawn of their independence. Five hundred years of unspeakable hell were about to end. Worst of all was Elmina Castle, erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as São Jorge da Mina (St. George of the Mine Castle, also known simply as Mina or Feitoria da Mina) in present-day Elmina, Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast). It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, and therefore the oldest European building in existence below the Sahara. First established as a trade settlement, the castle later became one of the most important stops on the route of the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Dutch seized the fort from the Portuguese in 1637. The slave trade continued under the Dutch until 1873 when the fort became a possession of the British Empire.

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Saddam Hussein and his weapons are a direct threat to this country, to our people, and to all free people... I believe Saddam Hussein is a threat to the American people. I believe he's a threat to the neighborhood in which he lives. And I've got good evidence to believe that. He has weapons of mass destruction... The American people know that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. ~ US President George Bush speaking on 3rd March 2003.

He was proven right in the most spectacular way possible.

	I want to tell you about the time I almost died. said a mischievious Nikita Khrushev to members of the politburo. The Master had been taken to a remote dacha, bereft of life within the required fifty cubit radius. In theory, the Master was unable to shape shift via touch, also prevented from projecting his pschye to another host within the distance of a single breath. In practice, he was now occupying a new host. The Master had affected his second shape shift since Red October. It was a triumph of succession planning.

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