Straw Lady

The state of TIAH

January 30th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: We have a side-project that we are working on – 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. And, speaking of side projects, Guest Historian Stephen Payne has one, Crimson Kiss, available for free on Lulu. Check it out after you enjoy his entry for today, an entry of our own, and the continuation of our NaNoWriMo novel.

Michael Collins	In 1913 the House of Lords approved the Irish Home Rule Bill, leading to the formation of the Free State. Tens of thousands of Irish deaths in the trenches were averted by this timely action on the very cusp of the First World War.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1933 Adolf Schicklgruber is sworn in as Chancellor of Austria. Schicklgruber set out to restore the shattered nation from the ashes of the Hapsburg defeat in World War I. His greatest triumph was of course the resistance of Anschluss (annexation) by Fuehrer und Reichskanzler Kurt von Schleicher of Germany.	Schicklegruber
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Ghandi	In 1948 Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Gandhi narrowly escapes an ..
.. assassination attempt by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. Bapu survived to guide the unified state of Hindustan through the turbulence of the mid-years of the century as surrounding nations threw off their ties to the European powers, a subjugation which the subcontinent had avoided.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1972 on Bloody Sunday, British Paratroopers kill fourteen Roman Catholic civil rights /anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland and destroy their honour and prestige on the island of Ireland. The straw lady Margaret Thatcher took Britain out of Northern Ireland altogether ..	Margaret Thatch..
.. during 1980, a capitulation which encouraged President Eva Perón to seize the Malvinas back in 1982. These two defeats stained Thatcher's reputation as the worst Prime Minister of the Twentieth Century who took the 'Great' out of 'Great Britain'. In reality 'Thatcher the Sovereignty Snatcher' was the victim of irreversible historical processes caused by the End of Empire, and she was forced to accelerate Britain's integration into the European Union during her second term of office, finding a new and compelling future for the island state.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

in 2006, the Angelic Host pushes out of the Mediterranean and begins its long march into northern Europe, Africa and Asia. European Union President and admitted Anti-Christ Morris Appleby goes on international television and advises everyone, “Start converting to Christianity right now. Ask forgiveness for everything you've done – and be specific about what you've done. I'm going to try it myself if they get too close to the capitol. Not quite sure how that'll work...”

After(cont.)
Senator Kerry agreed to push to Bryan and supply the president with some backup, and met with practically no resistance on the way. Mike, Steph and her children went along for the ride, grieving the entire way. When they got to Bryan, though, the reunion with Janice and Jake was joyous – Mike even attempted to hug Jake, which Jake rebuffed more gently than anyone else expected.
“So, what now?” Mike was seated at Kevin's computer. Kerry and Bush had gone off to Austin to pay a little visit on Governor Perry, and then were going to head on to Washington. “Are we out of the picture?”
Jake said, “I think so. Anybody who'd want us has bigger targets, now. We just gotta try and put our lives back together.”
“Easier said than done,” Steph said, rubbing her temples. “What about Kevin?”
“He has a sister who was refugeed out of Waco,” Janice answered. “They're trying to find her now. She's about to get good news and bad – she's a millionaire, but she's also an only child, now.” Her voice trembled a little bit, but she was holding it together. Steph's eyes grew bright with tears.
“Eli was already an only child,” Mike said. “His folks died a few years ago. We took out an insurance policy last year on each other. It was a joke.” His voice broke. “I guess I get to collect.”
“Maybe you and Kevin's sister can get together,” Janice said with a slight smile towards him. “You're both nouveau riche.” Mike's mouth twisted in a little grin.
“Can we go home, now?” Joan tried not to be whiny about it, but she had clearly had all the adventure she could take.
“They said we should wait a couple of days, baby,” Steph told her. “Then, we can try to get back to normal.” She looked over at Jake, who was standing behind Janice and rubbing her shoulders. “Or, at least as close to normal as we can get.” She stood up from Kevin's couch and said, “Who's hungry? I'm ready for lunch.”
“Kevin's fridge is a little bare at the moment,” Janice told her.
“That's OK,” Steph said. “I still got most of the twenty grand he gave me. We can eat out.”
They all piled into the SUV and drove into town to find a restaurant. Not knowing the town, they stopped at the first chain joint that they saw from the highway. It was practically deserted, so they grabbed a large table and ordered the best food on the menu. The three adults who weren't driving ordered alcohol; Steph got herself a soda.
Janice stood up and held her drink up in a toast. “Like that old Chinese curse – to interesting times.” They all murmured agreement and drank.

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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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