Promises & Agreements

The state of TIAH

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November 29th, 2006

Alternate Historian’s Note: Welcome back from the holidays. If you’re reading this, then you’ve seen the note we managed to put up on the main site about our Blogger problems. We have no idea how long this will take to fix; we have yet to receive a reply from Google about it. Until we do sort it out, we will be posting here. Don’t change your bookmarks yet, but I have to say that WordPress is very nice compared to Blogger, so I am definitely thinking about making this permanent. If you like it, too, email and let us know. In the meantime, be sure to visit out Guest Historian’s, too, when they have a web site they want you to visit; we have both Stephen Payne and JD today. Stephen Payne’s work can be had from Lulu. Thanks for sticking with us!

in 1872, on board the Mary Celeste, the crew open six barrels, causing a violent rush of fumes and then steam proving at least that the cargo really is alcohol. Fearing that the ship is about to explode, Captain Albert Richardson orders everyone into the lifeboat, which he secures to the ship with a strong tow-line. –entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context – You’re the Judge!–

in 1919, the World Crisis enters a new phase as a deadly strain of influenza known as Spanish Flu rages across the traumatized continent of Europe killing even more people than the recently cease fired World War. This unparalleled human misery is of course the work of the greatest necromancer of the age, Grigory Rasputin who invoked deep magicks to summon the four horsemen of the apocalypse back in 1914. Over the course of the next five years their inhuman appetite is sustained by the continuous human sacrifice known as trench warfare. Disguised as Prince Yusopov, Maestro has already dispatched Rasputin and delivered an armistice. Today he arrives in the Vatican to lead a great council of magicians who seek to restore peace and prosperity to a shattered world. –entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context – You’re the Judge!–

in 1941, the Axis Powers of Anglo-America are expanded when Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King declares war on the social democracies of France, Germany and Italy. Citizens of Franco-German descent in North America react with fury to these “November days”. Of particular concern to the triumvirate comprising U.S. President Charles Lindburgh, British Prime Minister Oswald Mosley and King Edward VIII is the threat from Québécois to secede from the Dominion of Canada. –entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context – You’re the Judge!–

in 1952, U.S. President-elect Douglas MacArthur fulfilled a campaign promise by going to Korea to find out what could be done to end the conflict, famously saying “There is no substitute for victory”. Back in ’51 as UN Commander in Chief (Korean Peninsula) MacArthur had had his request denied to end the conflict by launching thirty to fifty nuclear weapons at Manchuria, was angered at what he perceived to be Harry Truman’s “limited war” and subsequently relieved of his command by the President. General Omar Bradley later speculated that MacArthur’s disappointment over his inability to wage war on China had “snapped his brilliant but brittle mind.” With the United States detonating the world’s first hydrogen bomb on November 1st 1952, and “Brass Hat” back in the saddle again just twenty-eight days later, the world wonders just how the conflict will end. –entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context – You’re the Judge!–

in 1963, FBI Director J Edgar Hoover, President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Chief Justice Earl Warren meet in the Oval Office. Agenda: to agree the action plan for the Presidential Commission into the assassination of John F Kennedy which occurred just a week before. Hoover gives the heads up: “Upwards of fifty witnesses place the shooter on the Grassy Knoll, we’ve got too many gunshots, bullets that don’t originate from Oswald’s rifle, Jack Ruby talking crazy, Zapruder’s contradictory video footage, lines of hard evidence to the Soviets, Castro, the Mob and murdered Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem plus George Bush and Richard Nixon in town on the same day”. Turning to Warren, LBJ takes a sip from his ever-present Fresca and starts ‘the treatment’ – “OK Earl, here’s the brief – ‘Oswald acted alone and neither he nor Ruby were part of a larger conspiracy’. Executive orders same as the Japanese internment order you wrote up for FDR in ’42”. Warren shuffles out in misery trying hard not to think about the body count for this news management exercise. Hoover leaves a few short minutes later, instructed to crush the corruption charges which were threatening to destroy Johnson’s Vice Presidency only a week before. Stubbing out his cigarette, LBJ presses a button in the bookcase, releasing a door to a concealed side room. Addressing a robed grey humanoid sitting in lotus position, Texas’ favorite son says “Ambassador, we’re all set”, flashing his winning smile. –entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context – You’re the Judge!–

–AP NEWSWIRE 11/29/2007 04:04 GMT–

‘Uncle Arnold’ Retires

– NEW YORK (AP)
Arnold Zenker, anchor of CBS Evening News and America’s longest-standing news personality announced today he was leaving his position ‘for personal reasons.’ Zenker, often termed “the most trusted man in America”, has held anchorship of the highest-rated news program in the country for over 40 years. As director of CBS’s news programming division, Zenker was tapped to temporarily replace Walter Cronkite during an AFTRA strike in April 1967. Viewers immediately warmed to the charming if novice newscaster and ratings shot through the roof during the three weeks of Zenker’s planned anchorship. CBS, bowing to public demand, retained Zenker as chief anchor following the end of the strike, which prompted Cronkite to sign with rival NBC upon the termination of his contract.

Through the turbulent waning years of the 60s, Zenker was often a calm and reassuring voice of reason on the nation’s airways. During the Apollo moon landing in 1969, his emotional observation “We have finally begun to explore the frontiers of our potential” became almost as famous a quote as Armstrong’s “One small step for man”, and his quiet, solemn announcement “The war is over” at the conclusion of Vietnamese hostilities is remembered as one of the defining moments of news broadcasting.

Zenker proved his survival skills in the sometimes cutthroat business of television by retaining his original viewers and proving himself popular to several following generations. John Lennon and Ronald Reagan’s assassination brought the nation tuning in invariably to hear what “Uncle Arnold” had to say, and the ending of the Cold War and Zenker’s tireless efforts to fully assist the public in making sense of turbulent and confusing events only brought his star higher.

It was, however, on September 11, 2001 that America most needed Arnold Zenker, and despite health problems near the beginning of the year, Zenker set a record for endurance by remaining on the air for a full 36 hours following the attacks. This feat, however, is said to have damaged his health further, and at the conclusion of the invasion of Afganistan, Zenker began requesting longer and longer sabbaticals from CBS News. He was, however, on hand during the Iraq War and much of its aftermath, proving himself a tireless proponent of the press. CBS has not yet announced a replacement for Zenker.

Reference
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– entry by Guest Historian JD –

Before(cont.)
Janice helped Miss Raintree stumble into the motel room and laid her down on the bed. The young woman barely woke up during the walk, and was asleep again as soon as Janice let her go. Janice was starting to feel the same way. She grabbed a few things from her car, locked it up, then went into the room and locked the door. She also chained the lock and put a chair up against the door knob. She wished that she could do something about the window, but there was nothing big enough in the room to push in front of it. She settled with just drawing the curtains in front of it.
She hunched herself down on the spare chair in the room and turned on her recorder. “Personal journal, Janice Carbonari. I’ve found a witness that was in Crawford at the time of the supposed explosion, who saw no indication that a nuke had gone off in her town. I’m about to do something very stupid to confirm to myself that she is telling the truth, but first, I need to get some sleep.” She thought about just turning the recorder off, but had a couple more things to say. “If I do confirm this, I have to do something. It won’t be enough to just write my articles and give my talks in front of other conspiracy buffs, anymore. It’ll be time for direct action. If I manage to post this, I urge everyone who reads or listens to it to do the same. We can’t be content to stay in the shadows after this. We have to rise up and bring down these arrogant bastards before they can totally destroy America; Hell, maybe the world.”
In spite of her own trepidation about being found, she opened up her laptop computer and, much to her amazement, found a wireless Internet connection operating flawlessly in the area. She uploaded all of the audio she had made and wrote up a few notes on her discoveries, then looked at the clock on her screen. It was almost 3:30, and she had been awake for far too long.
She pulled a pillow from the bed and sat down with her back against the door. She put the pillow behind her head and got as comfortable as she could. If little Miss Raintree decided to leave, she’d have to disturb Janice, first. Of course, if Miss Raintree was a plant, she might not care about disturbing Janice…
It was a thought that Janice had entertained a couple of times during the night. Linda’s story was a little too perfect, a little too much just what she needed. She had decided that she didn’t care. If Miss Raintree proved to be a government agent, that would prove that Janice was on the right track, too. She’d have to hope that she wouldn’t be killed immediately; that they would consider her important enough to interrogate, giving her a chance to escape.
She set the alarm on her watch for 6 AM and closed her eyes.

Kevin’s alarm seemed to go off a second after shutting his eyes. He blinked awake and sat up. Sergeant Morris was still snoozing away on the sofa, so Kevin threw a pillow at his head. Morris woke with a start and a curse. “Sorry, Sergeant, I didn’t have a trumpet for Reveille.”
“You know, I can open your hazmat suit without you even feelin’ it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Sergeant Morris sat up and pulled on his boots, then stood and stretched. “Always hated early mornin’ shift. C’mon, let’s get goin’.”
Kevin pulled on his shoes and popped his neck. He was a little sore from the uncomfortable position he had been in on the love seat. “We’re not saying goodbye to your family?”
“No need to wake ’em up.”
“OK.” Kevin followed him into the kitchen, where he was pulling some juice out of the fridge. Kevin picked a cup off of a shelf and let Morris fill it.
“Grab a banana, suck that juice down, then let’s get going.” Morris wrote a note on the pad on the fridge’s door, then swallowed some juice for himself and put the carton back. He looked over at Kevin and said, “Let’s hit the road.”
Kevin gulped down as much juice as he could, picked a banana from the bunch on the kitchen counter, then followed Morris out the door to their jeep. It was as quite as the grave outside; there weren’t even crickets or frogs awake at this hour. Inside the jeep, Kevin took a bite of banana and said, “It is way too danged early.”
“Civilian life just got you soft, Bradley.”
“I like being soft.”
Morris laughed. “Well, once you get this job done, maybe they’ll let you take your money and get real cushy.”
“I can always hope.”

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