A True October Surprise: The Added Surprises
- Thread starter lord caedus
- Start date
'Tis the season for spooks.
Nope. It's firmly under control of Mogadishu ITTL.
Essentially, but unlike OTL Afghanistan under the Taliban, it's widely recognized as the legitimate government. It's also usually less draconian in punishment owing to the xeer system giving elders (who act as judges) more leeway in implementing the punishment for violations of the regime's interpretation of Islamic law (part of a necessary trade-off between the IIS and local clans that was used to gain support during the IIS' formative years).
It's almost like Somalia's underlying problems as a post-colonial state predate the late 1960s POD or something.
Because 4chan is the crappiest site on the Internet outside of the Deep Web.
MRW when I come back from work to see the thread literally shitposting about shitposting.
New Zealand general election, 1987
The 1987 New Zealand election was held at a critical time of change for the island nation. Structural problems in the highly-regulated New Zealand economy had resulted in stagnant economic growth, which began to compound annually as the after-effects of the British entrance into the European Economic Community in 1973 (which deprived New Zealand of its most important import-export market) snowballed. Longtime National Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon had led his party to a surprising fourth consecutive victory in 1984, but his bullying conduct and steadfast defense of New Zealand's increasingly strained, expansive welfare state meant it was a Pyrrhic victory. The slim victory was seized upon by Muldoon's opponents within the party and he was toppled in a leadership contest in favor of his deputy, Jim McLay, less than four months into his term.
McLay, eyeing widespread anger on the economic right of the party, began to implement a rapid privatization and deregulation plan, which became known as "Ruthonomics" after Finance Minister Ruth Richardson, who McLay promoted from the backbenches in a bid to bring "fresh faces and new ideas" into a government that was wearing out its welcome with the New Zealand electorate. The whiplash between Muldoon and McLay's economic policies, however, only served to confuse and anger voters, especially National supporters who were closer to Muldoon and Minister of Defence Jim Bolger than McLay and Richardson.
By 1987, National was in trouble, with polls showing plenty of "soft National" support drifting over either to Labour (led by Jim Anderton) or the Social Credit Party, which had continued to survive in its niche as a combination of protest voters as well as genuine supporters of social credit theory. The Kahuta Explosion's impact was soon felt in New Zealand as well. Protests against nuclear-powered ships entering New Zealand waters soon reached fever-pitch. McLay publicly refused to accede to the demands of both Labour and dissident National MPs to make New Zealand a "nuclear-free zone" by saying it would jeopardize New Zealand's national security by not allowing United States Navy vessels (who as a matter of policy, refused to state whether their vessels carried nuclear weapons) to dock in New Zealand ports.
The result was a swing decisively towards Labour and Jim Anderton, who promised to implement such a ban if Labour was given a majority in the upcoming election. Combined with "Ruthonomic" deregulation causing widespread criticism for both its rapid pace and ensuing layoffs of workers from state-run or formerly state-run enterprises, the result was a solid Labour majority. The presence of Social Credit to act as a spoiler in many suddenly-competitive electorates prevented a Labour landslide, but the damage was done. For most of the 1990s, the fallout from the Muldoon and McLay governments would leave an internally-divided National Party vulnerable to third-party splinters (such as New Zealand First in 1992 & 1995 and Liberal NZ/Liberal Alliance from 1998 until 2005), leaving Anderton and his successor, Helen Clark, to run the country until 2005 and ultimately setting the stage for the current two-and-a-half party system in New Zealand.
McLay, eyeing widespread anger on the economic right of the party, began to implement a rapid privatization and deregulation plan, which became known as "Ruthonomics" after Finance Minister Ruth Richardson, who McLay promoted from the backbenches in a bid to bring "fresh faces and new ideas" into a government that was wearing out its welcome with the New Zealand electorate. The whiplash between Muldoon and McLay's economic policies, however, only served to confuse and anger voters, especially National supporters who were closer to Muldoon and Minister of Defence Jim Bolger than McLay and Richardson.
By 1987, National was in trouble, with polls showing plenty of "soft National" support drifting over either to Labour (led by Jim Anderton) or the Social Credit Party, which had continued to survive in its niche as a combination of protest voters as well as genuine supporters of social credit theory. The Kahuta Explosion's impact was soon felt in New Zealand as well. Protests against nuclear-powered ships entering New Zealand waters soon reached fever-pitch. McLay publicly refused to accede to the demands of both Labour and dissident National MPs to make New Zealand a "nuclear-free zone" by saying it would jeopardize New Zealand's national security by not allowing United States Navy vessels (who as a matter of policy, refused to state whether their vessels carried nuclear weapons) to dock in New Zealand ports.
The result was a swing decisively towards Labour and Jim Anderton, who promised to implement such a ban if Labour was given a majority in the upcoming election. Combined with "Ruthonomic" deregulation causing widespread criticism for both its rapid pace and ensuing layoffs of workers from state-run or formerly state-run enterprises, the result was a solid Labour majority. The presence of Social Credit to act as a spoiler in many suddenly-competitive electorates prevented a Labour landslide, but the damage was done. For most of the 1990s, the fallout from the Muldoon and McLay governments would leave an internally-divided National Party vulnerable to third-party splinters (such as New Zealand First in 1992 & 1995 and Liberal NZ/Liberal Alliance from 1998 until 2005), leaving Anderton and his successor, Helen Clark, to run the country until 2005 and ultimately setting the stage for the current two-and-a-half party system in New Zealand.
Is this implying that the Socreds are still around in 2016 ITTL? Or is another party making up the 'half' in the two-and-a-half party system?
Nope, New Zealand uses FPTP.
Well, at least during the Anderton-Clark years, they didn't.
The "half" party is the Democratic Alliance, which is an electoral alliance of minor left-wing parties including Social Credit that has principally become the main protest vote within the past decade ITTL after National was able to cleave into Liberal Alliance support after their 2005 victory.
David Miscavige
David Miscavige is the former leader of Church of Scientology who has been imprisoned for several crimes related to his leadership of that organization since 2001. Miscavige joined the Church of Scientology alongside his family as a young man and his impressive organizational skills and intellectual ability soon made him the confidant of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as a teenager. Following the devastation of the Church leadership following the legal proceedings from the group's theft of government documents (Operation Snow White), Miscavige ruthlessly exploited the power vacuum and assumed the role as Hubbard's (who had gone into hiding to prevent being arrested by the FBI) messenger and de facto leader of the group.
Following Hubbard’s death in seclusion in 1986, Miscavige's total control over the Church was cemented and he began purging his opponents within the organization. Miscavige continued the push for tax-exempt status for the Church of Scientology, both by legal means and by burying the Internal Revenue Service in paperwork in an attempt to force them to acquiesce. However, the Justice Department and the administration of California Governor (and future president) Pete Wilson had begun separate investigations of the Hollywood-based group and began uncovering evidence of beatings of disciples, harassment of ex-members as well as reporters and government investigators, and false imprisonment by Miscavige and other Scientologist leaders. Invoking the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act) and the Finch-Ryan Act (which outlined the definition of a malicious cult and means the federal government could use to prosecute cult leaders), the federal government arrested Miscavige and several other Scientology leaders in 1998 on a bevy of charges and froze the Church's assets.
Miscavige briefly used the influence of notable Scientologist celebrities, including actors John Travolta and Mimi Spickler, to tilt public opinion his favor while his lawyers worked furiously to insulate him from the damage the arrests. However, brutalized subordinates, facing extended jail sentences of their own, began to turn on Miscavige and the reputation of Scientology fell even further, with Spickler leaving the organization over the revelations from the evidence presented by federal prosecutors. In the end, Miscavige managed to drag his trial out until 2000, when his lawyers were able to convince federal authorities to drop several charges in return for pleading guilty to several counts of assault and battery. His trial in California resulted in further charges by the time his long trial sentence ended and he begun to serve his sentence in 2001, with a total combined sentence of 20 years.
Following his conviction, the Church of Scientology has effectively splintered into several groups, with different members of the group have asserted their rights to the copyrights to Hubbard's works, including the Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (which explains the concept of dianetics, a major component of Scientologist beliefs). Miscavige has been repeatedly denied parole owing to his violations of no-contact orders towards current and former Church of Scientology leaders that were included in his sentence and he is scheduled to be released and begin his ten-year probation sentence in 2021.
Following Hubbard’s death in seclusion in 1986, Miscavige's total control over the Church was cemented and he began purging his opponents within the organization. Miscavige continued the push for tax-exempt status for the Church of Scientology, both by legal means and by burying the Internal Revenue Service in paperwork in an attempt to force them to acquiesce. However, the Justice Department and the administration of California Governor (and future president) Pete Wilson had begun separate investigations of the Hollywood-based group and began uncovering evidence of beatings of disciples, harassment of ex-members as well as reporters and government investigators, and false imprisonment by Miscavige and other Scientologist leaders. Invoking the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act) and the Finch-Ryan Act (which outlined the definition of a malicious cult and means the federal government could use to prosecute cult leaders), the federal government arrested Miscavige and several other Scientology leaders in 1998 on a bevy of charges and froze the Church's assets.
Miscavige briefly used the influence of notable Scientologist celebrities, including actors John Travolta and Mimi Spickler, to tilt public opinion his favor while his lawyers worked furiously to insulate him from the damage the arrests. However, brutalized subordinates, facing extended jail sentences of their own, began to turn on Miscavige and the reputation of Scientology fell even further, with Spickler leaving the organization over the revelations from the evidence presented by federal prosecutors. In the end, Miscavige managed to drag his trial out until 2000, when his lawyers were able to convince federal authorities to drop several charges in return for pleading guilty to several counts of assault and battery. His trial in California resulted in further charges by the time his long trial sentence ended and he begun to serve his sentence in 2001, with a total combined sentence of 20 years.
Following his conviction, the Church of Scientology has effectively splintered into several groups, with different members of the group have asserted their rights to the copyrights to Hubbard's works, including the Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (which explains the concept of dianetics, a major component of Scientologist beliefs). Miscavige has been repeatedly denied parole owing to his violations of no-contact orders towards current and former Church of Scientology leaders that were included in his sentence and he is scheduled to be released and begin his ten-year probation sentence in 2021.