It's the same with me and my 4K monitor: it basically has to do with the way the OS scales things, so what appears to be a normal size to people like us with high-res monitors gets blown up on monitors with a lower resolution.
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes V (Do Not Post Current Politics Here)
- Status
It's the same with me and my 4K monitor: it basically has to do with the way the OS scales things, so what appears to be a normal size to people like us with high-res monitors gets blown up on monitors with a lower resolution.
Chapman
Donor
Tbh this is a whole lot to read, and was even more to write, so while it doesn't cover the Wolff Presidency (merely the run-up to it), I'll probably leave it as is. If there's some serious interest in what comes next, I'll continue it at a later date. But for now, I give you this.
John Parker Wolff (born August 15, 1956) is an American journalist, activist, and politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. A political Independent, Wolff was the first President since George Washington to serve the entirety of his presidency outside of a political party. Wolff previously served as Mayor of New York City (1993-1996) and a Senator from New York (1996-2001), always as an Independent. During his time as President, Wolff was instrumental in the early creation of the American Progressive Party, of which he has been a member since 2009. He is also the first President of Jewish descent, having been raised in the faith by his mother who was of German-Jewish heritage.
Wolff was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Annette Wolff as the illegitimate son of then-Senator John F. Kennedy. Raised solely by his mother, in the Greenwood suburb on the south side of Chicago, Wolff was unaware of his paternal heritage until 2000. There is no father listed on his birth certificate, and Wolff alleges that his mother never identified him beyond being "a young Irishman from her hometown of Boston." Working off of little more than speculation regarding his middle name, Parker, journalists uncovered his parentage after discovering that his mother had worked as a maid at the Omni-Parker House during the same period that Kennedy had frequented the establishment. Further investigation uncovered an unusually large payment to Annette by Kennedy's father, Joseph Kennedy Sr., for her family home in Lynn, MA, which was subsequently bulldozed. Following suggestions that the senior Kennedy had made the payment in a successful attempt to encourage Wolff to leave town (out of fear that his recently married son's infidelities would ruin his political career), Ted Kennedy, for whom John had served as an intern during his days at Harvard, agreed to an avuncular DNA test to settle the matter. Upon confirmation of their familial relationship, Wolff commented "My connection with the Kennedy clan has been long and, at times, complicated...to which this revelation certainly adds another layer of complication. I have a great respect for all of them, and despite those complications, they are my family. But when it comes down to it, I am, and always have been, a Wolff." Since the discovery, a number of individuals have claimed similar connections, however Wolff is the only confirmed illegitimate child of any Kennedy.
Wolff entered Harvard University in 1974, where he began his professional career as a journalist for The Harvard Crimson. As a committed Democrat from his high school years, much of his early writing focused on political commentary, typically in support of the Hoffa administration's aggressive anti-Communist policies. However, in early 1977, Wolff's opinions regarding US anti-Communism began to shift; he criticized the continued American involvement in Cuba and Vietnam, arguing that the military, economic and political pressure exerted on these countries was not only a drain on domestic resources, but an impediment to their own development and, in his words, "the realization of their destinies as sovereign, Democratic nations which had long sought the same freedoms that Americans hold as central to our everyday lives." Wolff also became critical of the federal government's curbing of civil rights in the fight against homegrown Communist terrorism, believing it to be "antithetical to core American values, ineffective in defending our homeland, and productive only in the direction of suppressing free speech." It was during this same period that Wolff began working with an anonymous source then known only as "The Dawn", a Chicago-based vigilante who would go on to gain national attention for their various efforts in exposing government corruption. Wolff also worked, briefly, as an intern for Senator Ted Kennedy (who he would later discover to be his uncle) in his Boston office. Graduating in 1978, Wolff began working as a reporter for The Washington Post. Primarily responsible for covering events on Capitol Hill, Wolff quickly became disillusioned with the institutions of the US government that he had once admired. The refusal of various members of Congress to discuss policy at length with him, his inability to gain access to substantive and meaningful information, and the negative attitudes of the public towards the press stunned Wolff repeatedly. But in late 1978, following the sudden death of Vice President Robert F. Kennedy, Wolff would begin working on the story that would change his career forever.
At approximately 11 PM on November 22nd, 1978, on the 15th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, the Secret Service reported that Vice President Kennedy had been found dead in his bedroom in the Naval Observatory. At the time, his wife Ethel and their children were in Massachusetts, visiting family. The following morning, the White House press briefing informed the public and stated that the official cause of death was found to be an intracranial aneurysm. The autopsy report, however, was kept confidential, purportedly as a matter of national security and requests from the press for its release were denied. Despite outcry from various members of the press, including Wolff himself, a statement from the Kennedy family asking for privacy and respect during their grieving process seemed to settle the matter; the public was content with the White House's version of events, and further demands from the press would likely be met with outrage. However, Wolff did not so readily accept the story coming from the Hoffa administration. Working alongside The Dawn, and a still unknown source within the Secret Service, he was ultimately able to obtain a copy of the official autopsy report. Its contents flatly refuted the claim that Kennedy died from a sudden and unavoidable brain aneurysm, and rather showed that the Vice President had suffered a drug overdose. In addition to an astonishing 0.32 blood alcohol content, the report showed that Kennedy had a multitude of legal and illegal drugs in his system at the time of death, including cocaine, Bromazepam, and cannabis. Alongside the autopsy report, numerous pages of Kennedy's private journal were also leaked to Wolff, which indicated a growing sense of depression, anxiety, and fear in the Vice President's mind in the months leading up to his death; the final entry, believed to have been written on the night of his death, was perhaps the most astonishing. Though clearly written in a state of intoxication and therefore, for much of its contents, incoherent, it ends on a particularly cryptic and terrifying note which has been the subject of much debate (and, some would say, conspiracy theory) over the years. The line, initially quoting from the Greek playwright Aeschylus, says "We claim to be just and upright. No wrath from us will come to the one who holds out clean hands, and he will go through life unharmed; but whoever sins, as this man has, and hides his blood-stained hands, as avengers of bloodshed we appear against him to the end, presenting ourselves as upright witnesses for the dead.
The enemy....is within."
The publication of this information, in February 1979, was a bombshell for the nation. Immediately, President Hoffa issued a statement condemning Wolff for his "inconsiderate, disrespectful, subversive, and quite possibly treasonous actions." The administration denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the information given to the public was done out of consideration for the Kennedy family and as a means of protecting their image, and the legacy of the late Vice President. Despite repeated requests for comment, Ethel Kennedy declined. Following the publication of these documents, Wolff was subpoenaed to testify before Congress. Despite complying with the subpoena, Wolff refused to divulge the identity of The Dawn, insisting that he did not know their true name. He also refused to name any of his other sources, and in particular, that of the Secret Service agent who had originally leaked the documents to The Dawn. Public opinion on the issue was bitterly divided. On one side, many felt that Wolff had crossed the line in leaking such sensitive documents, and only did harm to the nation at large, and Kennedy's legacy in particular. However, many others felt that the cover-up of Kennedy's death by the Hoffa administration was inexcusable and represented an attempt to obstruct justice, and that the scapegoating of Wolff was merely a convenient excuse and a means by which they would implement further suppression of the free press. In any case, for his refusal to comply with subpoenas for "all documents, writings and recordings related to the identities or activities of sources responsible for leaking confidential documents", Wolff was held in contempt of Congress, and subsequently jailed. The Hoffa administration, unrelenting in their attacks on Wolff, attempted to paint him as a Communist sympathizer bent on taking down the US government, a contention which was plainly rejected by all those who knew him, and was further contradicted by his multitude of early writings in support of Hoffa's policies. Despite the split public opinion regarding Wolff's actions, opinion polls also showed that a majority of Americans believed Hoffa's attacks served no purpose, and only worsened the partisan divide over the issue. As time went on, and his imprisonment continued, support for Wolff increased dramatically, and protests around the country began to attract thousands of sympathizers. College students in particular made up the bulk of Wolff's supporters, demonstrating in colleges throughout the nation, including at his own Alma mater of Harvard University where student protesters shut down classes for a full week in defense of Wolff. By November, 1979, more than 250 days into Wolff's imprisonment, following numerous additional journalistic investigations into corruption within the Hoffa White House, hundreds of protesters had gathered on Capitol Hill to demand his release. President Hoffa, in coordination with the Mayor of Washington, D.C., ordered mass arrests of the protesters. In the midst of the chaos, approximately 30 protesters had been seriously wounded by police officers, hundreds more treated for tear gas inhalation, and several dozen were arrested. The handling of these protests did little to help the President, and only increased support for Wolff in the general public. Less than one full week after this event, hundreds more returned to D.C. to protest in front of the White House; although, at the time, President Hoffa was in Vietnam delivering remarks on the anniversary of the re-unification of Vietnam under a democratic, capitalist government. It would take a dramatic turn of events before Wolff was ultimately freed from jail.
On December 1, 1979, the world was rocked by yet another major, unprecedented scandal from the US; President Jimmy Hoffa was declared missing. As official reports stated, Air Force One left from Saigon the day before, and all had appeared normal with the craft's functioning. However, sometime between 5 AM and 6 AM, EST, contact with Air Force One mysteriously cut out over the North Pacific Ocean. The plane never landed at its scheduled refueling stop in Honolulu, and as this news reached the mainland US, the White House was once again in complete disarray. Vice President Henry Jackson, sworn in the previous year following Kennedy's death, took on the role of Acting-President and ordered the largest manhunt in recorded history; yet, neither the plane, nor the President or any of its other occupants (including the pilot, co-pilot, and two Secret Service agents traveling with Hoffa) were ever found. A full 24 hours after the President's disappearance, the cabinet convened and transmitted a message to Congress fully stating that, being absent, President Hoffa was clearly unable to fulfill his duties. As a result, Vice President Jackson was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States on the 1st of December. Following his address to the nation, informing the people that the search, while it was to continue for the foreseeable future, had so far borne no fruits, President Jackson was faced with the question of what to do with Wolff. In discussion with Congressional leadership, and deliberation with Wolff's legal counsel, an agreement was reached wherein Wolff would agree to divulge additional documents relating to corruption within the federal government in exchange for his release. After weeks of finalizing which documents would and would not be turned over, Wolff was officially released from jail on Christmas Day, 1979. He had spent a total of 313 days in jail, the longest for any journalist in US history. Following his release, Wolff became a national icon, and after several weeks' leave, he returned to The Washington Post. He would only remain in this post for another few months, during which time he directed much of his focus to writing about the conditions inside the US criminal justice system; he would later point to his experience as a major point of inspiration for his activism regarding prison reform. The aftermath of this scandal would also cause Wolff to officially leave the Democratic Party in 1980, and become a registered Independent, which he would remain as until 2009.
Following his departure from The Washington Post, Wolff spent the majority of his time as an independent journalist, traveling across the world to cover a myriad of stories relating to corruption within the federal government, and the military, many members of which had been discovered to be involved in drug smuggling in both Cuba and Vietnam. During this period he would also write a number of travel journals, recounting his experiences with local people from all different walks of life, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies due to Wolff's unique style of writing, which successfully blended a romantic view of foreign cultures with a gritty, straightforward realism about their various pros and cons. Published in 1985, he received a Pulitzer Prize for these writings the following year. In 1982, at the age of only 26, Wolff became a nightly news anchor for CBS News, a position in which he would remain until 1991 when he departed the station to focus on other projects. This position would mark the beginning of his friendship with fellow news icon Dan Rather, and his apparent tutelage at the feet of Walter Cronkite, who Wolff often cites as one of his major influences. Also in 1985, Wolff married future-First Lady Sara "Sunny" Okamura-Wolff, with whom he has two children; Robert (b.1988) and Michiko (b.1994). In 1990, Wolff received the first-ever Profiles in Courage Award for his work; this would later be raised as an issue upon the discovery of his paternity, with critics claiming that it represented nepotism on part of the Kennedy family. However, no evidence has proven that Wolff, nor any member of the Kennedy family involved in the awarding process was aware of the connection before 2000. In the early 90s, Wolff worked primarily as a social justice activist in New York City, his adopted home since his days as a Columbia Law School student. Living in the Bedford Park suburb of the Bronx, he wrote at length about police brutality, wealth inequality, and racial discrimination. This work would become the basis of his Mayoral campaign in 1993.
Though an active political commentator, Wolff had long expressed a lack of interest in entering electoral politics himself. Considered as a potential running mate for Ross Perot's campaign in 1992, he declined on the basis that Perot had not taken stances on many social issues important to Wolff. Fellow author and activist Ralph Nader was chosen instead. However, following the 1992 Presidential election in which former Mayor of New York City Donald J. Trump became the Vice President on the McCain-Trump ticket, Wolff was drafted by a number of liberal activists to run against Acting Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a special election. Despite having the backing of no major party, and with Giuliani running on both the Republican and Democratic lines, Wolff achieved an upset victory and became Mayor. He credited his victory to the hundreds of grassroots volunteers working for his campaign, and in the following regular 1993 Mayoral Election Wolff utilized this same infrastructure to widen his margin of victory in a rematch with Giuliani. During his tenure as Mayor, Wolff pursued a number of anti-corruption reforms, as well as focusing on criminal justice reform and revitalizing the city's underfunded public services, including welfare, education, and transportation. Due to his work, crime rates in New York City saw a dramatic decline after nearly 20 years of upwards trends, and this decline continued well after his time in office. Wolff also established the position of Public Advocate, an elected office that serves as an ombudsman for the electorate, and is first in the line of succession for the Mayoralty; upon Wolff's departure from office, Public Advocate David Dinkins became Mayor. Dinkins expanded many of the programs established by Wolff and was responsible for establishing a number of now-NYC traditions such as Fashion Week, Broadway on Broadway, and numerous others. Wolff's transparency and commitment to government reform earned him the reputation as "America's Most Trusted Mayor", a reference to TV anchor Walter Cronkite, and a play on former Mayor Trump's self-created title, "America's Favorite Mayor."
Following the 1996 Presidential Election, New York Senator Geraldine Ferraro was elected as Vice President, creating an impending vacancy in the Senate. Wolff was initially offered the appointment by Governor Carl McCall, who believed that it would effectively halt his political rise by making him appear as a lone, fringe voice for liberal causes in the Senate. When Wolff countered by calling on the Governor to order a special election be held to fill the vacancy, the Governor was happy to accept, believing that the race would do even more damage to Wolff's image and dampen his popularity throughout the state. However, this was a serious miscalculation. Wolff held the lead in polls from the very beginning, as an Independent, and even managed to win the Democratic primary as a result of a divisive race between State Assemblyman Andrew Cuomo and Congressman Chuck Schumer. Wolff declined the party's nomination, on the condition that they not run any candidate in the race. Begrudgingly, DNC leaders accepted, and Wolff went on to defeat his Republican opponent George Pataki in a landslide, 62%-38%. Ironically, analysts credited this victory in part to Wolff's lack of ties to the Democratic Party, which had seen a recent decline in popularity throughout the state (as did the Republican party, though to a lesser extent). Wolff's blunt messaging, his public speaking skills, and image as a reformer also helped him overcome ideological differences with many voters, and became the only Independent in the Senate until Bernie Sanders' victory in the 2000 Vermont Senate Race. Wolff was appointed to the Senate on December 2, 1996, and was elected outright in 1998. In his time in the Senate, Wolff did indeed become the champion of many "fringe" causes including the legalization of same-sex marriage, campaign finance reform, universal healthcare, and statehood for Puerto Rico among others. He also came to be highly respected by many of his colleagues in the Senate, and was one of the most popular US Senators in the country. During President Bill Clinton's time in office, Senator Wolff worked with the President on healthcare initiatives and was instrumental in writing legislation that provided health insurance to low-income children across the nation. However, when President Clinton came under fire for the Lewinsky Scandal in 1998, in which he was alleged to have impregnated a 26-year-old White House aide by the name of Monica Lewinsky, Wolff soon became one of his most vocal critics. Following a DNA test which proved Clinton to be the child's father, his vehement denials that there had ever even been a relationship between himself and Lewinsky became the focus of the conversation. In a statement, Wolff derided the President less for his extramarital activities, and more for his lies to the American people; Wolff also became the first non-Republican Senator to call for Clinton's resignation. After the President had been impeached by the House of Representatives, however, and the trial moved to the Senate, Wolff voted against the charge of Obstruction of Justice, while voting in favor of the charge of Perjury. Ultimately, Clinton narrowly avoided removal from office, but not without having his public image seriously stained. As a result, many anticipated that Clinton would be primaried and replaced with a candidate with significantly less baggage; however, utilizing party machinery, the President also narrowly defeated a crowded field of challengers and secured renomination.
Ahead of the 2000 Presidential Election, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (who had spearheaded the cause of impeachment against Clinton) declared his intention to seek the Republican nomination. With minimal opposition from fellow Republicans, Gingrich ultimately sailed through the primaries and secured the nomination handily. President Clinton's increasing unpopularity stemming from the Lewisnky scandal, as well as his inability to identify the terrorists responsible for a package-bomb campaign conducted by white supremacists, combined with a slowing economy nearly guaranteed that Gingrich would defeat him in November. The Clinton camp was further handicapped by Vice President Ferraro's announcement that she would not accept renomination for the office of the Vice Presidency; ostensibly, this was related to what she termed "a witch hunt" into her and her husband's financial dealings. However, sources close to the White House indicated that the Vice President was enraged by President Clinton's using her as a distraction from his own scandals. Florida Governor Bob Graham, highly respected in his home state, was chosen as the new Vice Presidential nominee. Additionally, a stunning upset within the rising Reform Party saw controversial political commentator Pat Buchanan steal the nomination after several more left-wing candidates (among them Ralph Nader, Jerry Brown, and Jesse Ventura) split the vote. Given the party's impressive performance in the 1996 election, in which Ross Perot had won an unprecedented 103 Electoral Votes, Buchanan now had access to a well established infrastructure, and federal matching funds in the tens of millions. This gave Buchanan an incredible advantage, and by late 1999 several polls had declared the election a tossup. Former supporters of President Clinton, and American liberals at large were desperate to find an opposition candidate capable of preventing President Gingrich, or worse, President Buchanan; Wolff, as a hugely admired rising star, was the obvious choice.
Consistent with his character, Wolff was initially extremely reluctant to accept the call to higher office. Having been in the Senate only a short time, and previously having left the Mayoralty for that position, he feared being seen as a political opportunist; the fact that he had only been appointed to the Senate due to the incumbent President's VP vacating the seat made this all the worse. However, a combination of massive public support for a Wolff candidacy, support (albeit rather quiet) from VP Ferraro herself, Wolff's own stern opposition to both Gingrich and Buchanan, and a rightful fear that Clinton was far too vulnerable to win reelection pushed him into the race. On August 12th, 2000, approximately four months before the general election, Wolff formally announced his candidacy for President of the United States in his adopted hometown of Bedford Park, New York. "Several years ago, the people of this city broke ground on what would become a more powerful campaign than I could have ever imagined. White and black, rich and poor, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents united in the cause of bringing government back to the people. Today, with even more at stake than ever before, I make the same call to Americans across the country that I made to the people of New York all those years ago; let us join together, with a dream of hope, and of progress, to do more together than we could ever do alone. Today, I am formally announcing my intentions to seek the Presidency of the United States of America, in defense of just that dream." With his candidacy, his team also launched the Wolff PAC, which would become one of the most influential political bodies of the 2000s. Through a long and difficult process, Wolff ultimately chose former Secretary of State Colin Powell as his running mate, a choice which stunned many of his more liberal supporters. Commenting on the choice, Wolff stated "I don't agree with Mr. Powell on every issue. There are many in which, quite frankly, I don't think we could disagree more. But when it comes to matters of integrity, when it comes to a matter of setting aside partisan divide and finding a solution, I could think of no one better to work with. Win or lose this election, the message I hope to send is that, as Americans, we must always seek out a way to work with those with whom we disagree. Colin Powell has proven time and time again to be a man of integrity, and a man full of solutions. He is my running mate, and with perhaps as much luck as hard work, he will be the next Vice President of the United States." The selection was expected to melt away a sizable number of Wolff's left wing supporters, yet in the long run, had the effect of pulling a number of right-leaning Independents to his campaign, in addition to exciting the African-American vote throughout the country.
With a four way race now underway, polls from virtually all sources were thrown into disarray. The majority continued to predict, as they had before, that Gingrich would win easily; the potential of the leftist vote now being split between Clinton and Wolff made this all the more apparent. However, as the election drew closer and closer, the polls began to fluctuate. A number suggested that, though unlikely, Buchanan would siphon off enough votes from Gingrich to deadlock the Electoral College, though with his being Speaker of the House, this was considered likely to result in a victory for him regardless. A small few held that Wolff's candidacy, although a longshot, would resonate with the largest number of political independents and swing voters. This outcome was far from guaranteed, however, as many saw Wolff and Buchanan both as protest votes, likely to split the independent vote. Put simply, the 2000 election appeared as though it would be little more than a crapshoot. It wasn't until early October, upon the publication of Wolff's alleged parentage, followed by the confirmation via DNA test conducted with the assistance of Senator Ted Kennedy, that polls shifted dramatically; confirmed as the son of a slain President, John Wolff now had an advantage that none of his competitors could claim. This revelation caused Wolff to rise dramatically in nationwide polls, likely due to the increased media attention surrounding him, and by November 1st he had become the front runner, although few believed that this national lead would translate into wins in key states needed to secure an electoral victory. Wolff himself, however, dissuaded voters from focusing on this piece of information, and to instead focus on the issues of the day. His opponents, frustrated by the commanding lead that Wolff now held, took various different stances on the news. President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich issued separate statements that echoed much of what Wolff himself had said, encouraging voters to look past what was considered "an irrelevant piece of pop culture" and focus on Wolff's apparently radically liberal views. Buchanan, on the other hand, took a hard line stance, suggesting that the results had been fabricated to provide Wolff with a boost in the polls. Ultimately, this strategy backfired, and many undecided voters grew tired of his repeated attacks on Wolff, to which the candidate himself responded with only coy remarks.
Come election day, not even the most savvy of political analysts could have predicted the results; Wolff carried the day, taking only the bare minimum 270 electoral votes, while winning a plurality of the popular vote. Many of the states carried by Wolff were no surprise; New York (his political home state), Illinois (his birth state), California, and Hawaii were among the least surprising. In total, Wolff took 19 states. Counting those above, he also took Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Florida, in addition to receiving 2 electoral votes from Nebraska. This gave Wolff the bare minimum number of EC votes, and stunned the world as a result. Buchanan, pulling out surprising wins in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Hampshire, also took Alaska, Wyoming, Missouri, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana (a total of 85 EC votes). Gingrich took the remainder, excluding Arkansas (which was only narrowly won by President Clinton, as his only winning state apart from D.C.), totaling 174 EC votes, leaving incumbent President Clinton with a measly 9. Longtime friend and colleague Dan Rather commented, in the aftermath of this election, "Whether this is the beginning of a new political order, or merely an electoral fluke resulting from circumstances no one could have imagined four years ago, remains to be seen. What can be said for sure, however, is that for the first time since the founding of our Republic, an Independent will occupy the Oval Office. What is yet to come is uncertain, but I for one, am both incredibly excited, and stunned at the outcome. To my dear friend and colleague, and our President-Elect; Courage."
Wolff was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Annette Wolff as the illegitimate son of then-Senator John F. Kennedy. Raised solely by his mother, in the Greenwood suburb on the south side of Chicago, Wolff was unaware of his paternal heritage until 2000. There is no father listed on his birth certificate, and Wolff alleges that his mother never identified him beyond being "a young Irishman from her hometown of Boston." Working off of little more than speculation regarding his middle name, Parker, journalists uncovered his parentage after discovering that his mother had worked as a maid at the Omni-Parker House during the same period that Kennedy had frequented the establishment. Further investigation uncovered an unusually large payment to Annette by Kennedy's father, Joseph Kennedy Sr., for her family home in Lynn, MA, which was subsequently bulldozed. Following suggestions that the senior Kennedy had made the payment in a successful attempt to encourage Wolff to leave town (out of fear that his recently married son's infidelities would ruin his political career), Ted Kennedy, for whom John had served as an intern during his days at Harvard, agreed to an avuncular DNA test to settle the matter. Upon confirmation of their familial relationship, Wolff commented "My connection with the Kennedy clan has been long and, at times, complicated...to which this revelation certainly adds another layer of complication. I have a great respect for all of them, and despite those complications, they are my family. But when it comes down to it, I am, and always have been, a Wolff." Since the discovery, a number of individuals have claimed similar connections, however Wolff is the only confirmed illegitimate child of any Kennedy.
Wolff entered Harvard University in 1974, where he began his professional career as a journalist for The Harvard Crimson. As a committed Democrat from his high school years, much of his early writing focused on political commentary, typically in support of the Hoffa administration's aggressive anti-Communist policies. However, in early 1977, Wolff's opinions regarding US anti-Communism began to shift; he criticized the continued American involvement in Cuba and Vietnam, arguing that the military, economic and political pressure exerted on these countries was not only a drain on domestic resources, but an impediment to their own development and, in his words, "the realization of their destinies as sovereign, Democratic nations which had long sought the same freedoms that Americans hold as central to our everyday lives." Wolff also became critical of the federal government's curbing of civil rights in the fight against homegrown Communist terrorism, believing it to be "antithetical to core American values, ineffective in defending our homeland, and productive only in the direction of suppressing free speech." It was during this same period that Wolff began working with an anonymous source then known only as "The Dawn", a Chicago-based vigilante who would go on to gain national attention for their various efforts in exposing government corruption. Wolff also worked, briefly, as an intern for Senator Ted Kennedy (who he would later discover to be his uncle) in his Boston office. Graduating in 1978, Wolff began working as a reporter for The Washington Post. Primarily responsible for covering events on Capitol Hill, Wolff quickly became disillusioned with the institutions of the US government that he had once admired. The refusal of various members of Congress to discuss policy at length with him, his inability to gain access to substantive and meaningful information, and the negative attitudes of the public towards the press stunned Wolff repeatedly. But in late 1978, following the sudden death of Vice President Robert F. Kennedy, Wolff would begin working on the story that would change his career forever.
At approximately 11 PM on November 22nd, 1978, on the 15th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, the Secret Service reported that Vice President Kennedy had been found dead in his bedroom in the Naval Observatory. At the time, his wife Ethel and their children were in Massachusetts, visiting family. The following morning, the White House press briefing informed the public and stated that the official cause of death was found to be an intracranial aneurysm. The autopsy report, however, was kept confidential, purportedly as a matter of national security and requests from the press for its release were denied. Despite outcry from various members of the press, including Wolff himself, a statement from the Kennedy family asking for privacy and respect during their grieving process seemed to settle the matter; the public was content with the White House's version of events, and further demands from the press would likely be met with outrage. However, Wolff did not so readily accept the story coming from the Hoffa administration. Working alongside The Dawn, and a still unknown source within the Secret Service, he was ultimately able to obtain a copy of the official autopsy report. Its contents flatly refuted the claim that Kennedy died from a sudden and unavoidable brain aneurysm, and rather showed that the Vice President had suffered a drug overdose. In addition to an astonishing 0.32 blood alcohol content, the report showed that Kennedy had a multitude of legal and illegal drugs in his system at the time of death, including cocaine, Bromazepam, and cannabis. Alongside the autopsy report, numerous pages of Kennedy's private journal were also leaked to Wolff, which indicated a growing sense of depression, anxiety, and fear in the Vice President's mind in the months leading up to his death; the final entry, believed to have been written on the night of his death, was perhaps the most astonishing. Though clearly written in a state of intoxication and therefore, for much of its contents, incoherent, it ends on a particularly cryptic and terrifying note which has been the subject of much debate (and, some would say, conspiracy theory) over the years. The line, initially quoting from the Greek playwright Aeschylus, says "We claim to be just and upright. No wrath from us will come to the one who holds out clean hands, and he will go through life unharmed; but whoever sins, as this man has, and hides his blood-stained hands, as avengers of bloodshed we appear against him to the end, presenting ourselves as upright witnesses for the dead.
The enemy....is within."
The publication of this information, in February 1979, was a bombshell for the nation. Immediately, President Hoffa issued a statement condemning Wolff for his "inconsiderate, disrespectful, subversive, and quite possibly treasonous actions." The administration denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the information given to the public was done out of consideration for the Kennedy family and as a means of protecting their image, and the legacy of the late Vice President. Despite repeated requests for comment, Ethel Kennedy declined. Following the publication of these documents, Wolff was subpoenaed to testify before Congress. Despite complying with the subpoena, Wolff refused to divulge the identity of The Dawn, insisting that he did not know their true name. He also refused to name any of his other sources, and in particular, that of the Secret Service agent who had originally leaked the documents to The Dawn. Public opinion on the issue was bitterly divided. On one side, many felt that Wolff had crossed the line in leaking such sensitive documents, and only did harm to the nation at large, and Kennedy's legacy in particular. However, many others felt that the cover-up of Kennedy's death by the Hoffa administration was inexcusable and represented an attempt to obstruct justice, and that the scapegoating of Wolff was merely a convenient excuse and a means by which they would implement further suppression of the free press. In any case, for his refusal to comply with subpoenas for "all documents, writings and recordings related to the identities or activities of sources responsible for leaking confidential documents", Wolff was held in contempt of Congress, and subsequently jailed. The Hoffa administration, unrelenting in their attacks on Wolff, attempted to paint him as a Communist sympathizer bent on taking down the US government, a contention which was plainly rejected by all those who knew him, and was further contradicted by his multitude of early writings in support of Hoffa's policies. Despite the split public opinion regarding Wolff's actions, opinion polls also showed that a majority of Americans believed Hoffa's attacks served no purpose, and only worsened the partisan divide over the issue. As time went on, and his imprisonment continued, support for Wolff increased dramatically, and protests around the country began to attract thousands of sympathizers. College students in particular made up the bulk of Wolff's supporters, demonstrating in colleges throughout the nation, including at his own Alma mater of Harvard University where student protesters shut down classes for a full week in defense of Wolff. By November, 1979, more than 250 days into Wolff's imprisonment, following numerous additional journalistic investigations into corruption within the Hoffa White House, hundreds of protesters had gathered on Capitol Hill to demand his release. President Hoffa, in coordination with the Mayor of Washington, D.C., ordered mass arrests of the protesters. In the midst of the chaos, approximately 30 protesters had been seriously wounded by police officers, hundreds more treated for tear gas inhalation, and several dozen were arrested. The handling of these protests did little to help the President, and only increased support for Wolff in the general public. Less than one full week after this event, hundreds more returned to D.C. to protest in front of the White House; although, at the time, President Hoffa was in Vietnam delivering remarks on the anniversary of the re-unification of Vietnam under a democratic, capitalist government. It would take a dramatic turn of events before Wolff was ultimately freed from jail.
On December 1, 1979, the world was rocked by yet another major, unprecedented scandal from the US; President Jimmy Hoffa was declared missing. As official reports stated, Air Force One left from Saigon the day before, and all had appeared normal with the craft's functioning. However, sometime between 5 AM and 6 AM, EST, contact with Air Force One mysteriously cut out over the North Pacific Ocean. The plane never landed at its scheduled refueling stop in Honolulu, and as this news reached the mainland US, the White House was once again in complete disarray. Vice President Henry Jackson, sworn in the previous year following Kennedy's death, took on the role of Acting-President and ordered the largest manhunt in recorded history; yet, neither the plane, nor the President or any of its other occupants (including the pilot, co-pilot, and two Secret Service agents traveling with Hoffa) were ever found. A full 24 hours after the President's disappearance, the cabinet convened and transmitted a message to Congress fully stating that, being absent, President Hoffa was clearly unable to fulfill his duties. As a result, Vice President Jackson was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States on the 1st of December. Following his address to the nation, informing the people that the search, while it was to continue for the foreseeable future, had so far borne no fruits, President Jackson was faced with the question of what to do with Wolff. In discussion with Congressional leadership, and deliberation with Wolff's legal counsel, an agreement was reached wherein Wolff would agree to divulge additional documents relating to corruption within the federal government in exchange for his release. After weeks of finalizing which documents would and would not be turned over, Wolff was officially released from jail on Christmas Day, 1979. He had spent a total of 313 days in jail, the longest for any journalist in US history. Following his release, Wolff became a national icon, and after several weeks' leave, he returned to The Washington Post. He would only remain in this post for another few months, during which time he directed much of his focus to writing about the conditions inside the US criminal justice system; he would later point to his experience as a major point of inspiration for his activism regarding prison reform. The aftermath of this scandal would also cause Wolff to officially leave the Democratic Party in 1980, and become a registered Independent, which he would remain as until 2009.
Following his departure from The Washington Post, Wolff spent the majority of his time as an independent journalist, traveling across the world to cover a myriad of stories relating to corruption within the federal government, and the military, many members of which had been discovered to be involved in drug smuggling in both Cuba and Vietnam. During this period he would also write a number of travel journals, recounting his experiences with local people from all different walks of life, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies due to Wolff's unique style of writing, which successfully blended a romantic view of foreign cultures with a gritty, straightforward realism about their various pros and cons. Published in 1985, he received a Pulitzer Prize for these writings the following year. In 1982, at the age of only 26, Wolff became a nightly news anchor for CBS News, a position in which he would remain until 1991 when he departed the station to focus on other projects. This position would mark the beginning of his friendship with fellow news icon Dan Rather, and his apparent tutelage at the feet of Walter Cronkite, who Wolff often cites as one of his major influences. Also in 1985, Wolff married future-First Lady Sara "Sunny" Okamura-Wolff, with whom he has two children; Robert (b.1988) and Michiko (b.1994). In 1990, Wolff received the first-ever Profiles in Courage Award for his work; this would later be raised as an issue upon the discovery of his paternity, with critics claiming that it represented nepotism on part of the Kennedy family. However, no evidence has proven that Wolff, nor any member of the Kennedy family involved in the awarding process was aware of the connection before 2000. In the early 90s, Wolff worked primarily as a social justice activist in New York City, his adopted home since his days as a Columbia Law School student. Living in the Bedford Park suburb of the Bronx, he wrote at length about police brutality, wealth inequality, and racial discrimination. This work would become the basis of his Mayoral campaign in 1993.
Though an active political commentator, Wolff had long expressed a lack of interest in entering electoral politics himself. Considered as a potential running mate for Ross Perot's campaign in 1992, he declined on the basis that Perot had not taken stances on many social issues important to Wolff. Fellow author and activist Ralph Nader was chosen instead. However, following the 1992 Presidential election in which former Mayor of New York City Donald J. Trump became the Vice President on the McCain-Trump ticket, Wolff was drafted by a number of liberal activists to run against Acting Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a special election. Despite having the backing of no major party, and with Giuliani running on both the Republican and Democratic lines, Wolff achieved an upset victory and became Mayor. He credited his victory to the hundreds of grassroots volunteers working for his campaign, and in the following regular 1993 Mayoral Election Wolff utilized this same infrastructure to widen his margin of victory in a rematch with Giuliani. During his tenure as Mayor, Wolff pursued a number of anti-corruption reforms, as well as focusing on criminal justice reform and revitalizing the city's underfunded public services, including welfare, education, and transportation. Due to his work, crime rates in New York City saw a dramatic decline after nearly 20 years of upwards trends, and this decline continued well after his time in office. Wolff also established the position of Public Advocate, an elected office that serves as an ombudsman for the electorate, and is first in the line of succession for the Mayoralty; upon Wolff's departure from office, Public Advocate David Dinkins became Mayor. Dinkins expanded many of the programs established by Wolff and was responsible for establishing a number of now-NYC traditions such as Fashion Week, Broadway on Broadway, and numerous others. Wolff's transparency and commitment to government reform earned him the reputation as "America's Most Trusted Mayor", a reference to TV anchor Walter Cronkite, and a play on former Mayor Trump's self-created title, "America's Favorite Mayor."
Following the 1996 Presidential Election, New York Senator Geraldine Ferraro was elected as Vice President, creating an impending vacancy in the Senate. Wolff was initially offered the appointment by Governor Carl McCall, who believed that it would effectively halt his political rise by making him appear as a lone, fringe voice for liberal causes in the Senate. When Wolff countered by calling on the Governor to order a special election be held to fill the vacancy, the Governor was happy to accept, believing that the race would do even more damage to Wolff's image and dampen his popularity throughout the state. However, this was a serious miscalculation. Wolff held the lead in polls from the very beginning, as an Independent, and even managed to win the Democratic primary as a result of a divisive race between State Assemblyman Andrew Cuomo and Congressman Chuck Schumer. Wolff declined the party's nomination, on the condition that they not run any candidate in the race. Begrudgingly, DNC leaders accepted, and Wolff went on to defeat his Republican opponent George Pataki in a landslide, 62%-38%. Ironically, analysts credited this victory in part to Wolff's lack of ties to the Democratic Party, which had seen a recent decline in popularity throughout the state (as did the Republican party, though to a lesser extent). Wolff's blunt messaging, his public speaking skills, and image as a reformer also helped him overcome ideological differences with many voters, and became the only Independent in the Senate until Bernie Sanders' victory in the 2000 Vermont Senate Race. Wolff was appointed to the Senate on December 2, 1996, and was elected outright in 1998. In his time in the Senate, Wolff did indeed become the champion of many "fringe" causes including the legalization of same-sex marriage, campaign finance reform, universal healthcare, and statehood for Puerto Rico among others. He also came to be highly respected by many of his colleagues in the Senate, and was one of the most popular US Senators in the country. During President Bill Clinton's time in office, Senator Wolff worked with the President on healthcare initiatives and was instrumental in writing legislation that provided health insurance to low-income children across the nation. However, when President Clinton came under fire for the Lewinsky Scandal in 1998, in which he was alleged to have impregnated a 26-year-old White House aide by the name of Monica Lewinsky, Wolff soon became one of his most vocal critics. Following a DNA test which proved Clinton to be the child's father, his vehement denials that there had ever even been a relationship between himself and Lewinsky became the focus of the conversation. In a statement, Wolff derided the President less for his extramarital activities, and more for his lies to the American people; Wolff also became the first non-Republican Senator to call for Clinton's resignation. After the President had been impeached by the House of Representatives, however, and the trial moved to the Senate, Wolff voted against the charge of Obstruction of Justice, while voting in favor of the charge of Perjury. Ultimately, Clinton narrowly avoided removal from office, but not without having his public image seriously stained. As a result, many anticipated that Clinton would be primaried and replaced with a candidate with significantly less baggage; however, utilizing party machinery, the President also narrowly defeated a crowded field of challengers and secured renomination.
Ahead of the 2000 Presidential Election, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (who had spearheaded the cause of impeachment against Clinton) declared his intention to seek the Republican nomination. With minimal opposition from fellow Republicans, Gingrich ultimately sailed through the primaries and secured the nomination handily. President Clinton's increasing unpopularity stemming from the Lewisnky scandal, as well as his inability to identify the terrorists responsible for a package-bomb campaign conducted by white supremacists, combined with a slowing economy nearly guaranteed that Gingrich would defeat him in November. The Clinton camp was further handicapped by Vice President Ferraro's announcement that she would not accept renomination for the office of the Vice Presidency; ostensibly, this was related to what she termed "a witch hunt" into her and her husband's financial dealings. However, sources close to the White House indicated that the Vice President was enraged by President Clinton's using her as a distraction from his own scandals. Florida Governor Bob Graham, highly respected in his home state, was chosen as the new Vice Presidential nominee. Additionally, a stunning upset within the rising Reform Party saw controversial political commentator Pat Buchanan steal the nomination after several more left-wing candidates (among them Ralph Nader, Jerry Brown, and Jesse Ventura) split the vote. Given the party's impressive performance in the 1996 election, in which Ross Perot had won an unprecedented 103 Electoral Votes, Buchanan now had access to a well established infrastructure, and federal matching funds in the tens of millions. This gave Buchanan an incredible advantage, and by late 1999 several polls had declared the election a tossup. Former supporters of President Clinton, and American liberals at large were desperate to find an opposition candidate capable of preventing President Gingrich, or worse, President Buchanan; Wolff, as a hugely admired rising star, was the obvious choice.
Consistent with his character, Wolff was initially extremely reluctant to accept the call to higher office. Having been in the Senate only a short time, and previously having left the Mayoralty for that position, he feared being seen as a political opportunist; the fact that he had only been appointed to the Senate due to the incumbent President's VP vacating the seat made this all the worse. However, a combination of massive public support for a Wolff candidacy, support (albeit rather quiet) from VP Ferraro herself, Wolff's own stern opposition to both Gingrich and Buchanan, and a rightful fear that Clinton was far too vulnerable to win reelection pushed him into the race. On August 12th, 2000, approximately four months before the general election, Wolff formally announced his candidacy for President of the United States in his adopted hometown of Bedford Park, New York. "Several years ago, the people of this city broke ground on what would become a more powerful campaign than I could have ever imagined. White and black, rich and poor, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents united in the cause of bringing government back to the people. Today, with even more at stake than ever before, I make the same call to Americans across the country that I made to the people of New York all those years ago; let us join together, with a dream of hope, and of progress, to do more together than we could ever do alone. Today, I am formally announcing my intentions to seek the Presidency of the United States of America, in defense of just that dream." With his candidacy, his team also launched the Wolff PAC, which would become one of the most influential political bodies of the 2000s. Through a long and difficult process, Wolff ultimately chose former Secretary of State Colin Powell as his running mate, a choice which stunned many of his more liberal supporters. Commenting on the choice, Wolff stated "I don't agree with Mr. Powell on every issue. There are many in which, quite frankly, I don't think we could disagree more. But when it comes to matters of integrity, when it comes to a matter of setting aside partisan divide and finding a solution, I could think of no one better to work with. Win or lose this election, the message I hope to send is that, as Americans, we must always seek out a way to work with those with whom we disagree. Colin Powell has proven time and time again to be a man of integrity, and a man full of solutions. He is my running mate, and with perhaps as much luck as hard work, he will be the next Vice President of the United States." The selection was expected to melt away a sizable number of Wolff's left wing supporters, yet in the long run, had the effect of pulling a number of right-leaning Independents to his campaign, in addition to exciting the African-American vote throughout the country.
With a four way race now underway, polls from virtually all sources were thrown into disarray. The majority continued to predict, as they had before, that Gingrich would win easily; the potential of the leftist vote now being split between Clinton and Wolff made this all the more apparent. However, as the election drew closer and closer, the polls began to fluctuate. A number suggested that, though unlikely, Buchanan would siphon off enough votes from Gingrich to deadlock the Electoral College, though with his being Speaker of the House, this was considered likely to result in a victory for him regardless. A small few held that Wolff's candidacy, although a longshot, would resonate with the largest number of political independents and swing voters. This outcome was far from guaranteed, however, as many saw Wolff and Buchanan both as protest votes, likely to split the independent vote. Put simply, the 2000 election appeared as though it would be little more than a crapshoot. It wasn't until early October, upon the publication of Wolff's alleged parentage, followed by the confirmation via DNA test conducted with the assistance of Senator Ted Kennedy, that polls shifted dramatically; confirmed as the son of a slain President, John Wolff now had an advantage that none of his competitors could claim. This revelation caused Wolff to rise dramatically in nationwide polls, likely due to the increased media attention surrounding him, and by November 1st he had become the front runner, although few believed that this national lead would translate into wins in key states needed to secure an electoral victory. Wolff himself, however, dissuaded voters from focusing on this piece of information, and to instead focus on the issues of the day. His opponents, frustrated by the commanding lead that Wolff now held, took various different stances on the news. President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich issued separate statements that echoed much of what Wolff himself had said, encouraging voters to look past what was considered "an irrelevant piece of pop culture" and focus on Wolff's apparently radically liberal views. Buchanan, on the other hand, took a hard line stance, suggesting that the results had been fabricated to provide Wolff with a boost in the polls. Ultimately, this strategy backfired, and many undecided voters grew tired of his repeated attacks on Wolff, to which the candidate himself responded with only coy remarks.
Come election day, not even the most savvy of political analysts could have predicted the results; Wolff carried the day, taking only the bare minimum 270 electoral votes, while winning a plurality of the popular vote. Many of the states carried by Wolff were no surprise; New York (his political home state), Illinois (his birth state), California, and Hawaii were among the least surprising. In total, Wolff took 19 states. Counting those above, he also took Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Florida, in addition to receiving 2 electoral votes from Nebraska. This gave Wolff the bare minimum number of EC votes, and stunned the world as a result. Buchanan, pulling out surprising wins in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Hampshire, also took Alaska, Wyoming, Missouri, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana (a total of 85 EC votes). Gingrich took the remainder, excluding Arkansas (which was only narrowly won by President Clinton, as his only winning state apart from D.C.), totaling 174 EC votes, leaving incumbent President Clinton with a measly 9. Longtime friend and colleague Dan Rather commented, in the aftermath of this election, "Whether this is the beginning of a new political order, or merely an electoral fluke resulting from circumstances no one could have imagined four years ago, remains to be seen. What can be said for sure, however, is that for the first time since the founding of our Republic, an Independent will occupy the Oval Office. What is yet to come is uncertain, but I for one, am both incredibly excited, and stunned at the outcome. To my dear friend and colleague, and our President-Elect; Courage."
The Dakota Commonwealth Council elections were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the 17 members of the Dakota Commonwealth Council for a four-year term. All members were elected on party-list proportional representation from statewide districts. Both leaders of the largest parties were facing their first election - Mark Mickelson, scion of the Mickelson family that produced two Governors of the state of Sioux, was elected to replace John Hoeven upon his appointment to the U.S. Senate, while Troy Heinert, a former rodeo pick-up rider and elementary-school teacher, replaced Stephanie Herseth - in doing so becoming the first Native American (specifically, Rosebud Sioux) leader of a Dakotan party other than the AIM.
In keeping with the DCC's reputation for political inelasticity, the 2018 election saw only minor changes to the makeup of the body. In Sakakawea, the death of longtime NPL-Langer councillor Sebastian "Buckshot" Hoffner sounded the death knell of a party that had been long in decline already, as Social Credit ideals lost favor among the youth. Though Ole Aarsvold was able to hold onto his seat, radio host Joel Heitkamp was able to capitalize on name recognition from his sister, former Sakakawea Governor Heidi Heitkamp, to win another seat for the NPL-McGovern. Meanwhile, in Black Hills, moderate independent State Senator Billie Sutton, with the endorsement of many notable figures within the state's branch of the NPL-McGovern, was able to defeat controversial Dakota Party councillor Phil Jensen.
It was initially unclear whether the Dakota Party would be able to form a governing coalition and continue its decade-long reign. However, the five opposition parties were able to agree on a "Broad Front", and Councillor Heinert took the oath of office as Speaker on January 2, 2019. He has a tough road ahead of him, as relations between Yankton and Washington are growing ever more deeply fraught over issues of price controls and energy policy.
Deleted member 82118
It is only an attempt to start a timeline...
Teutonic order state was one of the most great products of the So-called Balkan Crusades of 1204-1297. Created, at first, as a Hungarian buffer against Pagan Cumanian tribes, Order, after Mongol invasion of 1242, became the first line of fight against Mongols. In fact, Teutons was first in Europe, and, probably, in the World, who can defeat the Mongols – reconquered Kiev in 1269, and all territory west from Dnieper river to 1270. Territories between Dniester and Dnieper later were separated into Sarmatian Order of sword Brothers. This lands soon became breadbasket of Europe, settled by German colonists and Ruthenian peasants (who later became Lukomorians) under the Teuton Knights (Feudal) “protection”, while coastal cities were settled mostly by Germans and Italian merchants (later becamed Fryazian people).
With their everlasting war against the Golden Horde, Teutons took many of Mongol technologies - stands in the beginning of the so-called “military revolution of XIV century”, when chivalry was superseded by the regular armies, and the gunpowder comes to Europe.
Times of the Teuton glory slow ended in the XIV-XV century. After the Tatar Empire converts to Orthodoxy in 1318, and finally collapsed to 1400, lands of the order were now bordered not with “pagan hordes”, but with numerous different Christian states. Collapse of the Latin Empire in 1340 lead Order to loose the main ally, and need to review the relationship with Hungary, Chervenia-Mazovia and Poland. Order slowl transformed into usual European state, and the Crusader’s image now looks outfashioned. The Great Schism of Jan Gus and John Whitcliffe finished the job. Protestant ideas lead the last Grand Master, Dietrich von Habsburg, converted to Protestantism, and proclaimed himself King of Transylvania.
.
Teutonic order state was one of the most great products of the So-called Balkan Crusades of 1204-1297. Created, at first, as a Hungarian buffer against Pagan Cumanian tribes, Order, after Mongol invasion of 1242, became the first line of fight against Mongols. In fact, Teutons was first in Europe, and, probably, in the World, who can defeat the Mongols – reconquered Kiev in 1269, and all territory west from Dnieper river to 1270. Territories between Dniester and Dnieper later were separated into Sarmatian Order of sword Brothers. This lands soon became breadbasket of Europe, settled by German colonists and Ruthenian peasants (who later became Lukomorians) under the Teuton Knights (Feudal) “protection”, while coastal cities were settled mostly by Germans and Italian merchants (later becamed Fryazian people).
With their everlasting war against the Golden Horde, Teutons took many of Mongol technologies - stands in the beginning of the so-called “military revolution of XIV century”, when chivalry was superseded by the regular armies, and the gunpowder comes to Europe.
Times of the Teuton glory slow ended in the XIV-XV century. After the Tatar Empire converts to Orthodoxy in 1318, and finally collapsed to 1400, lands of the order were now bordered not with “pagan hordes”, but with numerous different Christian states. Collapse of the Latin Empire in 1340 lead Order to loose the main ally, and need to review the relationship with Hungary, Chervenia-Mazovia and Poland. Order slowl transformed into usual European state, and the Crusader’s image now looks outfashioned. The Great Schism of Jan Gus and John Whitcliffe finished the job. Protestant ideas lead the last Grand Master, Dietrich von Habsburg, converted to Protestantism, and proclaimed himself King of Transylvania.
.
Are ... Are Heinert and Sutton wearing the same hat?
The Dakota Commonwealth Council elections were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the 17 members of the Dakota Commonwealth Council for a four-year term. All members were elected on party-list proportional representation from statewide districts. Both leaders of the largest parties were facing their first election - Mark Mickelson, scion of the Mickelson family that produced two Governors of the state of Sioux, was elected to replace John Hoeven upon his appointment to the U.S. Senate, while Troy Heinert, a former rodeo pick-up rider and elementary-school teacher, replaced Stephanie Herseth - in doing so becoming the first Native American (specifically, Rosebud Sioux) leader of a Dakotan party other than the AIM.
In keeping with the DCC's reputation for political inelasticity, the 2018 election saw only minor changes to the makeup of the body. In Sakakawea, the death of longtime NPL-Langer councillor Sebastian "Buckshot" Hoffner sounded the death knell of a party that had been long in decline already, as Social Credit ideals lost favor among the youth. Though Ole Aarsvold was able to hold onto his seat, radio host Joel Heitkamp was able to capitalize on name recognition from his sister, former Sakakawea Governor Heidi Heitkamp, to win another seat for the NPL-McGovern. Meanwhile, in Black Hills, moderate independent State Senator Billie Sutton, with the endorsement of many notable figures within the state's branch of the NPL-McGovern, was able to defeat controversial Dakota Party councillor Phil Jensen.
It was initially unclear whether the Dakota Party would be able to form a governing coalition and continue its decade-long reign. However, the five opposition parties were able to agree on a "Broad Front", and Councillor Heinert took the oath of office as Speaker on January 2, 2019. He has a tough road ahead of him, as relations between Yankton and Washington are growing ever more deeply fraught over issues of price controls and energy policy.
Gentleman Biaggi
Banned
The most recent update of my TL: Twists and Turns (in my sig):
The 1964 US election is often seen as a turning point for the US and for the world. In the United States, McCormack's controversy-free presidency had been the calmest since Coolidge's, and the only major legislation he passed were the 24th and 25th amendments, which gave D.C three electoral votes that would soon be dark blue and allow the president to appoint a vice-president if one dies, resigns, becomes president, or some other such reason. McCormack used this to appoint moderate (and powerful) house Republican Thomas Kuchel to the Vice-Presidental position. Kuchel would return to the house in 1965. McCormack's only foreign policy "incident" was the coup attempt on Liberian president William Tubman Jr., due to Tubman's increasing populism and support for and from Brazil, Yugoslavia, and Iran (all except Iran(which ironically had the most conservative government) had refused to take a side in the Cold War), causing the U.S to fear that such a historically supportive nation might indirectly help the Soviets, thus causing a CIA-supported coup. The coup failed and with that, Liberia's Civil War began[1]. Other than that, McCormack didn't directly cause any overseas problems ("Chile was already a war waiting to happen"[2] screamed many a McCormack fan), and he even stopped a potential world-ending war between Red China and India.[3]
Coming into the 1964 election, the Democrats obviously had a massive advantage, their past three presidents were very popular (McCormack said he was an "independent" but we all know he was lying[4]), and when Joe Foss ran as an independent, they had an even bigger edge, as Foss was either leading or splitting the vote in several key states for Republicans. Then, it was found by the press that Foss's running mate, Harlon Carter had shot and killed a 15-year-old Mexican named Ramón Casiano in 1931 after he felt he had stolen the Carter car and attempted to force him into the house for "questioning". When Casiano refused Carter shot him with a shotgun.[5] Carter was convicted of the murder but it was overturned because Casiano was brandishing a knife at the time, so it could be argued that Carter did it out of self defense.[6] Carter denied everything, but he was removed from the ticket in most states and replaced by Morton C. Mumma, a WWII veteran who served in the Navy and supported Foss's campaign from the start. Amazingly, Carter still won re-election to his house seat as an independent because he was endorsed by the Texan Democrats before he jumped ship to join Foss and become an independent. The Texan Republicans endorsed him because they had no good candidates to run against. He narrowly beat a Constitution candidate that was so crazy an accused murderer could win. However, Carter would lose 2 years later anyway, so justice as kinda served. Obviously, Foss's campaign dropped from it's early high, and would end up only winning one state.
While the Carter scandal is the most oft-remembered part of the 1964 campaign, the Constitution Party had its moments too. Lee's campaign was... really really boring. Most of the populist speeches that brought out, just so much racism from Southerners were made by gubernatorial and congressional candidates. Lee mainly campaigned in the west to build a coalition that would rally behind the Constitution party. The Republicans weren't much better. While Grevemberg's nomination was shocking, he was largely shelved by Lodge, who feared Grevemberg would commit gaffes. This turned out to be a negative, as when Lodge finally let Grevemberg speak, he made populist anti-corruption speeches that would make George Wallace and John M. Patterson blush, but he did it to push many western farmers to the Republicans. Soon Grevemberg became a likely candidate for the 1968 nomination, if he got a job in Washington. Still, without Grevemberg, Lodge's candidacy was about as exciting as Taft's in 1952, and was doomed to lose.
With all this talk of the other three candidates, you might be wondering what's up with the Democrats and Lyndon B. Johnson. Honestly, not much happened. Johnson refused to debate and only rarely made public appearances, as the Democrats felt they had the election in the bag and wanted to use little of Johnson's resources to help. Instead, McGovern was the one who campaigned the most. McGovern made speeches across the nation and quickly became the face of the Johnson campaign with Johnson working behind the scenes to win the campaign and ready his potential successor (Hubert Humphrey) for the senate Democratic leader job. Still, Johnson did make campaign speeches and maintained popularity in the upper south + Texas while McGovern had popularity in traditional progressive areas. With that, they formed quite a coalition of sorts and were able to easily win the election.
The election was interesting due to the insane amounts of vote-splitting involved. Foss's campaign took the vote away from Lodge in many western areas, causing the Constitution or Democratic tickets to win some states they wouldn't have in a "normal election". Also, 1964 was the election with the lowest black vote for the Democrats (65%) post-CRA and pre-{REDACTED}.that was largely due to Foss's campaign. The NRA and many organizations of that manner were popular with blacks who used guns to defend themselves from groups like the KKK or to put justice into their own hands when police couldn't. Still, blacks voted overwhelmingly Democratic, as they would for the next decade. The election ended just like everyone expected. With a massive Democratic victory.
[1] I will get into this in a future update
[2] See above
[3] I might write this if y'all really beg me
[4] I listed him as an Indepedent/Democrat in the box. I also listed Harlon Carter as Harlan Carter sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
[5] This actually happened. Also: I took much of this from Carter's wikipedia page sooo0o
[6] He didn't.
The 1964 US election is often seen as a turning point for the US and for the world. In the United States, McCormack's controversy-free presidency had been the calmest since Coolidge's, and the only major legislation he passed were the 24th and 25th amendments, which gave D.C three electoral votes that would soon be dark blue and allow the president to appoint a vice-president if one dies, resigns, becomes president, or some other such reason. McCormack used this to appoint moderate (and powerful) house Republican Thomas Kuchel to the Vice-Presidental position. Kuchel would return to the house in 1965. McCormack's only foreign policy "incident" was the coup attempt on Liberian president William Tubman Jr., due to Tubman's increasing populism and support for and from Brazil, Yugoslavia, and Iran (all except Iran(which ironically had the most conservative government) had refused to take a side in the Cold War), causing the U.S to fear that such a historically supportive nation might indirectly help the Soviets, thus causing a CIA-supported coup. The coup failed and with that, Liberia's Civil War began[1]. Other than that, McCormack didn't directly cause any overseas problems ("Chile was already a war waiting to happen"[2] screamed many a McCormack fan), and he even stopped a potential world-ending war between Red China and India.[3]
Coming into the 1964 election, the Democrats obviously had a massive advantage, their past three presidents were very popular (McCormack said he was an "independent" but we all know he was lying[4]), and when Joe Foss ran as an independent, they had an even bigger edge, as Foss was either leading or splitting the vote in several key states for Republicans. Then, it was found by the press that Foss's running mate, Harlon Carter had shot and killed a 15-year-old Mexican named Ramón Casiano in 1931 after he felt he had stolen the Carter car and attempted to force him into the house for "questioning". When Casiano refused Carter shot him with a shotgun.[5] Carter was convicted of the murder but it was overturned because Casiano was brandishing a knife at the time, so it could be argued that Carter did it out of self defense.[6] Carter denied everything, but he was removed from the ticket in most states and replaced by Morton C. Mumma, a WWII veteran who served in the Navy and supported Foss's campaign from the start. Amazingly, Carter still won re-election to his house seat as an independent because he was endorsed by the Texan Democrats before he jumped ship to join Foss and become an independent. The Texan Republicans endorsed him because they had no good candidates to run against. He narrowly beat a Constitution candidate that was so crazy an accused murderer could win. However, Carter would lose 2 years later anyway, so justice as kinda served. Obviously, Foss's campaign dropped from it's early high, and would end up only winning one state.
While the Carter scandal is the most oft-remembered part of the 1964 campaign, the Constitution Party had its moments too. Lee's campaign was... really really boring. Most of the populist speeches that brought out, just so much racism from Southerners were made by gubernatorial and congressional candidates. Lee mainly campaigned in the west to build a coalition that would rally behind the Constitution party. The Republicans weren't much better. While Grevemberg's nomination was shocking, he was largely shelved by Lodge, who feared Grevemberg would commit gaffes. This turned out to be a negative, as when Lodge finally let Grevemberg speak, he made populist anti-corruption speeches that would make George Wallace and John M. Patterson blush, but he did it to push many western farmers to the Republicans. Soon Grevemberg became a likely candidate for the 1968 nomination, if he got a job in Washington. Still, without Grevemberg, Lodge's candidacy was about as exciting as Taft's in 1952, and was doomed to lose.
With all this talk of the other three candidates, you might be wondering what's up with the Democrats and Lyndon B. Johnson. Honestly, not much happened. Johnson refused to debate and only rarely made public appearances, as the Democrats felt they had the election in the bag and wanted to use little of Johnson's resources to help. Instead, McGovern was the one who campaigned the most. McGovern made speeches across the nation and quickly became the face of the Johnson campaign with Johnson working behind the scenes to win the campaign and ready his potential successor (Hubert Humphrey) for the senate Democratic leader job. Still, Johnson did make campaign speeches and maintained popularity in the upper south + Texas while McGovern had popularity in traditional progressive areas. With that, they formed quite a coalition of sorts and were able to easily win the election.
The election was interesting due to the insane amounts of vote-splitting involved. Foss's campaign took the vote away from Lodge in many western areas, causing the Constitution or Democratic tickets to win some states they wouldn't have in a "normal election". Also, 1964 was the election with the lowest black vote for the Democrats (65%) post-CRA and pre-{REDACTED}.that was largely due to Foss's campaign. The NRA and many organizations of that manner were popular with blacks who used guns to defend themselves from groups like the KKK or to put justice into their own hands when police couldn't. Still, blacks voted overwhelmingly Democratic, as they would for the next decade. The election ended just like everyone expected. With a massive Democratic victory.
[1] I will get into this in a future update
[2] See above
[3] I might write this if y'all really beg me
[4] I listed him as an Indepedent/Democrat in the box. I also listed Harlon Carter as Harlan Carter sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
[5] This actually happened. Also: I took much of this from Carter's wikipedia page sooo0o
[6] He didn't.
BlackentheBorg
Banned
The Family Business
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American politician who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1950 to 1961. Formerly the 35th Vice President of the United States from 1959 to 1950, she became President after the assassination of President Harry S. Truman. She is the first female President and Vice President to be elected in America. She was a member of a prominent Alabama political family; her grandfather and uncle were U.S. Senators and her father served as an 11-term member of Congress, the final two as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Tallulah's support of liberal causes such as civil rights broke with the tendency of the Southern Democrats to support a more typically aligned agenda and she often opposed her own family publicly. Despite these conflicts, she served as a Senator from Alabama from 1938, until she was nominated to fill the position of Vice President by Truman at the 1948 Democratic National Convention (this is largely believed to be a strategy bokered to balance the aging Truman with a younger political face).
In domestic policy, for which she is remembered most fondly, Bankhead fought for and introduced legislation to expand civil rights, an often contentious issue that brought her into conflict with many Dixiecrat members of the Democratic Party. The several Civil-rights bills that she signed into law banned racial discrimination in public facilities, interstate commerce, the workplace and housing; the Voting Rights Act prohibited certain requirements in southern states used to disenfranchise African Americans. Her eventual endorsement of Representative William L. Dawson to become the new Speaker in 1956 lead to a controversial mass walkout of Southern Delegates. Later on, she sent troops from the National Guard to Little Rock, Arkansas, in order to reinforce the recent passing of the 1957 Civil Rights Act that actively desegregated public schools. As well this, she worked to improve public broadcasting, social security, aid to education, the arts, urban and rural development, public services and masterminded the Interstate Highway System with her Vice President, former general Dwight Eisenhower.
Bankhead, despite being a popular President, was prone to certain gaffes and controversy. She routinely indulged in drinking to excess, occasionally while within the White House or at federal events. She was also noted for her frankness when it came to those she disliked, most notably coming into repeated conflict with Senator Joseph McCarthy, calling him a 'screaming diva' on more than one occasion, after he accused her of being a communist plant, a contentious issue, considering both Bankhead and Eisenhower were undertaking massive preventative measures overseas and had found a swift end to the Korean War. Eisenhower did not run in 1960 due to health concerns, but his son, John Eisenhower, was later appointed his own position in a later cabinet. Many unconfirmed rumours also circulated about her apparent infidelity. During the 1960 Democratic primary, accusations flew that Bankhead had been engaging in an affair with junior senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts since the beginning of her second term. Despite these allegations being coincidental reports cobberated by partisan newsgroups, it is still believed to be the driving force behind Hubert Humphrey's overwhelming contest victory. Two months before her untimely death, Bankhead revealed to a biographer that she had long harboured feelings for both men and women, but decided not to come out as bisexual as not to cause upset with conservative voters in her native state. For this reason, she is occasionally featured as an important figure by American LGBT communities. Shortly after the election of 1968, she died in her private estate from bilateral pneumonia, later believed to have been aggravated by her decades of smoking, drinking and overwhelming stresses.
As an individual of many political firsts, Bankhead is listed as an inspiration by many political candidates -- for her landmark policies in labour and civil rights, she is lauded by similarly progressive politicians such as Hubert Humphrey (her immediate successor), Eugene McCarthy, George Leland and David Wellstone. For her being a woman, she is often credited by 1968 Presidential candidate Lisa Howard, Attorney General Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former President Shirley Black and incumbent President Astra Taylor. And for her technically being the first bisexual president, she is mentioned fondly by Associate Justice Harvey Milk, Governor Michael Pence, Chief of Staff Roy Cohn and incumbent Wisconsin Senator Suzanne Baldwin.
Context: This timeline diverges in the 8th century, and butterflies are the name of the game.
(Corraimia ≈ Finland and Estonia)
(Corraimia ≈ Finland and Estonia)
Gentleman Biaggi
Banned
The United States and its territory of Hispaniola have had a complex history. In 1870, the Dominican Republic was formally annexed by the United States. However, Haiti refused to recognize the annexation, and declared war on the United States. This backfired terribly, as Haiti was annexed by the United States as a result, and Hispaniola was unified under the United States. This was a very poor decision, as decades of political conflict between those who were once Dominican and those who were once Haitian occurred. This lead to the infamous "Hispaniolan War" that lasted 2 months in 1907 before being put down by the United States. In the end, the United States decided to implement a system that would hopefully decrease political conflict and "Americanize" Hispanola. The governor and 34 of 66 seats in the legislature would be appointed by the president with the consent of congress. This was originally supposed to by temporary, but as Haitians have continued their independent streak and started several independence movements, the United States has continued this program in order to continue their control.
In 2016 that was supposed to change. The 1907 decision was only supposed to last 20 years at least, but it got extended enough that 2016 was going to be last year of the program. It wasn't, and the Dominican population finally got angry. A movement splitting off from the leading (for 109 years) Unionist Party (lead by someone from Utah that was appointed to the position) was formed. However, that party, Libertad Hispana (or Hispanic Freedom) was formed, but vote-splitting and voting fraud in key seats kept them from doing much, and they only won two seats while the Haitian-lead Ayisyen Nasyonalis Lig (or Haitian Nationalist League) only gained a single seat. These results caused many riots and protests, but newly elected president Jerry Falwell Jr. seems to be even more focused on retaining power over all American colonies than his predecessor, John Kasich was. So Haiti will have to wait at least two more years for real change, if they can ever get that.
Note: Due to most seats being appointed, popular vote results are not shown (I'm very lazy)
Oh how little we change...
2017 New York Mayoral Election
1994 Alabama Gubernatorial Election
1975 South Dakota state Election
South Carolina Freedom Party
2015 Alaskan/Russian Election
1996 US Presidential Election
2016 Hispaniolan Legislative Election
In 2016 that was supposed to change. The 1907 decision was only supposed to last 20 years at least, but it got extended enough that 2016 was going to be last year of the program. It wasn't, and the Dominican population finally got angry. A movement splitting off from the leading (for 109 years) Unionist Party (lead by someone from Utah that was appointed to the position) was formed. However, that party, Libertad Hispana (or Hispanic Freedom) was formed, but vote-splitting and voting fraud in key seats kept them from doing much, and they only won two seats while the Haitian-lead Ayisyen Nasyonalis Lig (or Haitian Nationalist League) only gained a single seat. These results caused many riots and protests, but newly elected president Jerry Falwell Jr. seems to be even more focused on retaining power over all American colonies than his predecessor, John Kasich was. So Haiti will have to wait at least two more years for real change, if they can ever get that.
Note: Due to most seats being appointed, popular vote results are not shown (I'm very lazy)
Oh how little we change...
2017 New York Mayoral Election
1994 Alabama Gubernatorial Election
1975 South Dakota state Election
South Carolina Freedom Party
2015 Alaskan/Russian Election
1996 US Presidential Election
2016 Hispaniolan Legislative Election
Would someone be willing to make a wiki for my civil war scenario. it's for my worldbuilding project?
"The first prong of the Leauge of Nations' diskokumeiigo[1] policy was the creation of the Shintaku-chō, under which the assets of the former Kokumin Dōmei regime; the IJN, IJA, and Kenpeitai; and zaibatsu closest to the government, in addition to their assets in Japan's colonies, would be placed. The agency's two main goals were to (a) restructure the Japanese economy to ensure fairer wealth distribution and prevent any future Japanese state from heavily colluding with corporate cliques and (b) kickstart the development of former Japanese satellite states and colonies, such as Manchuria, Korea, and Hawaii.
[...]
Nintendo was perhaps one of the more surprising players to benefit from the acquisition of some of Mitsubishi's and the IJA's computer development assets. Founded in 1889, Nintendo became the dominant player in the Japanese playing card industry thanks to its high-quality hanafuda cards. The years after World War II, however, saw the company enter a tailspin, with several of its former markets closed off due to several of Japan's colonies (such as Korea) preventing the importation and sale of Japanese goods and partnership deals with European and American manufacturers leading nowhere. Hideo Yamauchi, the 4th-generation Yamauchi president of the company, also had a rather nominal interest in playing cards in general, prefering to devote his time to tinkering with electronics.
[...]
Thanks to Yamauchi's connections in the Shintaku-chō, Nintendo was able to acquire some of Japan's most powerful development units for a bargain price. Said development units may have been several generations behind their Western equivalents, but had the advantage of being compatible with the computers they were originally cloned from. Yamauchi then hired several software developers out of jobs due to the economic restructuring and ordered them to 'come up with whatever crazy ideas you can that'll let us take advantage of our technological future.' The company tried ideas ranging from video games to home automation software, but it soon found its niche as one of the first online taxi-for-hire companies. Nintendo offered a platform to allow everyday drivers to offer taxi services, either full-time or as a carsharing service, and would later expand its offerings to food delivery and intra-city/intra-prefecture parcel delivery. The company became wildly succesful, to the point that they became the de-facto taxi operator for several of Japan's large cities."
—Shunichi Steve Satōyama, The Sun Has Risen Again: The New Japanese Economy, 2001
"The last few months have been painful for Nintendo. First came the kickback scandal, which certainly helped make several elections throughout the EU more dramatic than they would've been. Then came the reports from the United States and California that more than 200 Famicab drivers in both countries were involved in sexually assaulting passengers. And now, Liverbento drivers and riders in several European cities are holding strikes to bring attention to low wages and the abuse that they've faced.
These factors, according to the newly-elected coalition government[2] in the Rhineland, are why they decided to ban Nintendo from operating in the German state. Bans are nothing new for the company, but there's a key difference this time around: the Rheinish goverment has adopted an initative by the German Workers' Party[2] to promote development of an open-source, decentralised app platform that would ultimately allow worker-owned taxi and delivery companies to coordinate services. Ulrich Dreschler, Nintendo Germany's chief legal officer, is convinced that the ban has nothing to do with defying regulatory authorities and everything to do with hindering any potential competitors to the government's pet project - and why, despite the company's tarnished image, they've opend a lawsuit against the Rheinish government."
—Franziska Zuckerberg, Nintendo sues Rheinish government over anti-competitive practices, Neuesten Nachrichten, 3 December 2017
[1] This word could be rendered into English as de-Kokumeisation. Kokumin Dōmei was the fascist ruling party of Japan from 1934 until 1986, after which the country was put under the auspices of a League of Nations transitional authority.
[2] The SPD were punished harshly in part due to the aforementioned kickback scandal and were replaced by a minority coalition of the German-Esperanto Voters' Union (DEW; like the SPD but with more Esperanto), United Left Action (AVL), and the Greens/Rheinish Farmers' League, propped up by the SPD (reeling in its losses but prioritising government stability) and the German Workers' Party (DAP; no relation to the OTL party that became the Nazis, this one is a former communist turned interdemocratic party founded in the 60s.)
[...]
Nintendo was perhaps one of the more surprising players to benefit from the acquisition of some of Mitsubishi's and the IJA's computer development assets. Founded in 1889, Nintendo became the dominant player in the Japanese playing card industry thanks to its high-quality hanafuda cards. The years after World War II, however, saw the company enter a tailspin, with several of its former markets closed off due to several of Japan's colonies (such as Korea) preventing the importation and sale of Japanese goods and partnership deals with European and American manufacturers leading nowhere. Hideo Yamauchi, the 4th-generation Yamauchi president of the company, also had a rather nominal interest in playing cards in general, prefering to devote his time to tinkering with electronics.
[...]
Thanks to Yamauchi's connections in the Shintaku-chō, Nintendo was able to acquire some of Japan's most powerful development units for a bargain price. Said development units may have been several generations behind their Western equivalents, but had the advantage of being compatible with the computers they were originally cloned from. Yamauchi then hired several software developers out of jobs due to the economic restructuring and ordered them to 'come up with whatever crazy ideas you can that'll let us take advantage of our technological future.' The company tried ideas ranging from video games to home automation software, but it soon found its niche as one of the first online taxi-for-hire companies. Nintendo offered a platform to allow everyday drivers to offer taxi services, either full-time or as a carsharing service, and would later expand its offerings to food delivery and intra-city/intra-prefecture parcel delivery. The company became wildly succesful, to the point that they became the de-facto taxi operator for several of Japan's large cities."
—Shunichi Steve Satōyama, The Sun Has Risen Again: The New Japanese Economy, 2001
"The last few months have been painful for Nintendo. First came the kickback scandal, which certainly helped make several elections throughout the EU more dramatic than they would've been. Then came the reports from the United States and California that more than 200 Famicab drivers in both countries were involved in sexually assaulting passengers. And now, Liverbento drivers and riders in several European cities are holding strikes to bring attention to low wages and the abuse that they've faced.
These factors, according to the newly-elected coalition government[2] in the Rhineland, are why they decided to ban Nintendo from operating in the German state. Bans are nothing new for the company, but there's a key difference this time around: the Rheinish goverment has adopted an initative by the German Workers' Party[2] to promote development of an open-source, decentralised app platform that would ultimately allow worker-owned taxi and delivery companies to coordinate services. Ulrich Dreschler, Nintendo Germany's chief legal officer, is convinced that the ban has nothing to do with defying regulatory authorities and everything to do with hindering any potential competitors to the government's pet project - and why, despite the company's tarnished image, they've opend a lawsuit against the Rheinish government."
—Franziska Zuckerberg, Nintendo sues Rheinish government over anti-competitive practices, Neuesten Nachrichten, 3 December 2017
[1] This word could be rendered into English as de-Kokumeisation. Kokumin Dōmei was the fascist ruling party of Japan from 1934 until 1986, after which the country was put under the auspices of a League of Nations transitional authority.
[2] The SPD were punished harshly in part due to the aforementioned kickback scandal and were replaced by a minority coalition of the German-Esperanto Voters' Union (DEW; like the SPD but with more Esperanto), United Left Action (AVL), and the Greens/Rheinish Farmers' League, propped up by the SPD (reeling in its losses but prioritising government stability) and the German Workers' Party (DAP; no relation to the OTL party that became the Nazis, this one is a former communist turned interdemocratic party founded in the 60s.)
Last edited:
Just some infoboxes I made for a...special TL (that would get shot down by many AH.com purists unfortunately). Long story short France reverses the tide at Sluys and the English navy becomes stuck in Castille. In a Hundred Years, the French establish control over England and becomes the dominant force in Western Europe. Canada and Quebec are much more populated than OTL, and the USA declares indepencence earlier, as it has strong anti-french sentiment due to all the "unwanted" refugees (prtestants, english purists, spanish/portuguese purists etc) but is slightly smaller than OTL (the US looses progressively Florida, Lousiana, the Gulf Coast, parts of Georgia, the Red River, Maine, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California, and never owned Alaska or Hawaii, however it does own Sonora and Chihuahua late into this TL). The Papal States are still a thing, Germany achieves unification but is not as large as OTL and is a strong french ally, Poland is a thing and Russia is the second most dominant power in Europe, and France's main rival. China achieves unfication and stability earlier, Japan is weaker as a result. Decolonization happens earlier as well.
Anyways it would get shot down by AH.com purists because of the Citroen effect which I kinda ignored. Most political figures are unchanged, although their roles do change drastically, and models do change. Also the WW happen at pretty much the same time as OTL, its more of a little fun I had making a TL with a unified Western Europe at the end of the 1800s
Anyways it would get shot down by AH.com purists because of the Citroen effect which I kinda ignored. Most political figures are unchanged, although their roles do change drastically, and models do change. Also the WW happen at pretty much the same time as OTL, its more of a little fun I had making a TL with a unified Western Europe at the end of the 1800s
Last edited:
- Status