AH Challenge: The Best of All Possible Worlds

I go to university in Cambridge - I have to live with those views for half a year!

I'm off to Edinburgh ;) Out of curiosity, what you studying?

Yorkshire and Lancashire unite on any issue? :rolleyes:
Then the North East would want its own one, else Leeds and Manchester would dominate us.
They may be on the wrong side of the Pennines but they're right side of the Country. But are right, though it would get complicated really quickly. Perhaps we should just federalise the country?

I know my seat won't go blue, but it doesn't need to. If they lose enough elsewhere, which could happen. :(
My ward gets more votes for the BNP than the conservatives (about 300). The constituency isn't much better. Let us hope it doesn't happen...

*Screams at a blood curdling pitch*

Reminded of a certain headline (though i'm ashamed to paraphrase that awful rag) from 1992:

'If Cameron wins, can the last one to leave turn out the lights?' :mad:
Let's hope it has the same effect (ie Cameron looses). There's something sleazy and fake about him. He's like an even more right wing Tony Blair, all mouth and no action.
 
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August 1972 the Australian Supercar scare ends with a whimper, the main protagonists make public disgraces of themselves discrediting their stance against road cars built for racing homologation. The last orgasm of the Australian muscle car actually occurs, the V8 Torana XU1, the XA Falcon GT Phase IV and the E55 Charger, all capable of 155mph+ in street trim are built, not cancelled.

October 1972. The final Bathurst 1000 run under 'series production' rules sees stock production cars running to over 165mph down Conrod straight. These cars are instantly recognised as classics, and after a good day at the races my father buys one of each for his new baby son to have when he gets older.

A lot of other shit happens which turns out great for Australia. Australia is recognised as the best country in the world to live in.

August 1990 I get 3 classic 1972 Bathurst muscle cars for my 18th birthday worth $300,000 then and $2-3 mill today.

A lot of other shit happens which turns out great for me.
The end.
 
I'm off to Edinburgh ;) Out of curiosity, what you studying?

Veterinary Medicine. Yourself?

They may be on the wrong side of the Pennines but they're right side of the Country. But are right, though it would get complicated really quickly. Perhaps we should just federalise the country?

*Nods feverishly* :D

My ward gets more votes for the BNP than the conservatives (about 300). The constituency isn't much better. Let us hope it doesn't happen...

In one of the wards near me, the tories came about 8th!

Let's hope it has the same effect (ie Cameron looses). There's something sleazy and fake about him. He's like an even more right wing Tony Blair, all mouth and no action.

To quote Gene Hunt: "He's as fake as a tranny's fanny!"
 
Feb 18 1980. Joe Clark re-elected following a nasty campaign. Pierre Trudeau resigns as leader of the Liberal party.

Nov 4 1980. Ronald Reagan elected U.S. President in a landslide.

Dec 8 1980. John Lennon survives a murder attempt despite having been shot five times, however he will never walk again. Mr. Lenneon will devote much of his fortune to research possible cures for spinal cord injuries.
(I put this one in because Mr. Lennon was shot on my birthday)

March 1981. During an assasination atempt against U.S. President Reagan, his press secretary, Mr. James Brady is not shot. As a result there are fewer calls for the restriction of firearms in the United States.

Sept 4 1984. John Turner's Liberals are returned to power following the general election. Joe Clark tenders his resignation from the PC party. He is succeeded by Brian Mulroney.

Nov 6 1984. Ronald Reagan re-elected in a landslide.

June 23 1985. A bomb is discovered in the luggage aboard Air India flight 182 thanks to a sniffer dog at Montreal's Mirabel Airport. The flight is delayed for several hours, but eventualy arrives safley in New Delhi.

Jan 26 1986. The american Space Shuttle, Challenger, is grounded for repairs following the discovery of a faulty O-ring on one of the solid rocket boosters. NASA internal documents show that the flaw would have destroyed the shuttle during launch had it not been found.

Nov 8 1988. Al Gore elected U.S. president with a narrow victory over Vice-President George Bush. Mr. Bush Actualy won the popular vote but came up short in the electoral college. Mr. Gore pledges to continue with president Reagan's more popular policies, and to maitain a hard line on the Soviet Union.

Nov 21 1988. Brian Mulroney wins the largest majority in Canadian history following revalations of corruption in now former PM Turner's government. The Tories return to power with 215 of the 295 seats in Parliment. Ed Broadbent's NDP rises to become the Official Opposition with 44 seats. The Liberals fall to third with just 25, with 11 going to minor parties or to independants. Mr. Turner gives his immediate resignation, as he has lost his own seat in the fiasco. One of the few Liberal MPs to survive the disaster, John Manley is soon chosen to lead, and attempt to save the party from extinction.

June 4 1989. When ordered to crush the pro-democracy/anti government protests at Tianamen Square, the People's Liberation Army instead mutinies, and guns down the communist government, leading to the June Revolution and seven years of military rule. This would enventualy lead to democracy, and to China becoming one of the two superpowers in the early 21st century.

June-November 1989. The fall of communism. Communist regimes are toppled one by one, usualy without violence, but some of the prostests are met with force leading to bloodbaths, such as in China where the army mutinied, or Romania, where the security forces, seeing the writing on the wall, execute their master, Nicolae Ceausescu. Even the Soviet Union is not immune. Though the Red Army and the KGB prove capable of preventing the break-up of thier nation, the govenrment is forced to allow opposition parties and to hold elections, which the CPSU loses. The Cold War ended with just the roar of cheers and strains of music from the newly freed peoples of the east.

Dec 4 1989. The son of a natualized immigrant from Algeria, Marc Lepine, chooses to end his life under the wheels of a subway train in Montreal. By coincidance, there are no calls for the restriction or prohibition of firearms in Canada.

September 1990. The Iraqi Army stays in Iraq. No one says a word. Americans never need to learn how to find the place on a map.

October 1990. Fireworks light the sky as Germans celebrate the Re-unification of their nation. Germany remains in NATO, though the alliance does seem rather pointless with the Soviet threat having just evapourated.

October 1990. Slobodan Milosevic in killed in a helecopter crash. Yugoslavia is too busy trying to find a replacement acceptable to all the factions to miss him much.

Jan 16 1991. Is a dark and moonless night, perfect for astronomy and military operations. The USAF conducts a small number of minor drills. Most US military personell are home in their beds, fast asleep. No-one gets to drop any bombs.

Nov 3 1992. John McCain wins a narrow victory over incumbant US President Gore. It is noted that had Mr. Gore been able to win his home state of Tennesse, then he would still be President. McCain's victory coinsides with victories for the Republican Party in general, giving them control of both houses of the US Congress as well as the presidency.

Jan 25 1993. Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Consevatives win a somewhat reduced majority. This marks the first time since the First World War that a Tory govenment has been re-elected to a majority. John Manley's Liberals double their number of seats, but are still the third place party. John manley gets to keep his job. NDP leader Audrey McLauglin, so confident of victory until that night, does not.

1993-96. There is no war in Yugoslavia, nope nothing to see here, move along.

1994. When a UN peacekeeping mission in Rwamda comes under attack, NATO troops are sent in. Having a broader mandate, greater numbers and looser rules of engagment, they work to stabalize the situation. Machete-wielding thugs find that they are not bulletproof, and that it is open season on them, with no limit. Incidentaly, 500,000 members of an ethnic minority are not massacred, but go about their lives under the protection of NATO soldiers. NATO finds itself a new purpose.

Nov 5 1996. John McCain is re-elected assuring the continued dominace of the Republican Party in american politics. The 1996 election is the first contested under new campaign finance rules instituted under pressure from president McCain. Bill Clinton goes back to Arkansas where divorce papers happen to be waiting for him. If Mrs Clinton can't ride him to the top, the Bill gets kick to the curb. Such is life in politics.

June 2 1997. Brian Mulroney's PC Party wins a third consecutive majority Government. John Manley becomes leader of the Official Opposition, as the Liberals have increased to having 90 members in the Parliment. Alexa McDonough is leader of the third-place NDP, she keeps her position as no one else wants the job.

July 4 1997. Osama bin Laden steps on a land-mine while in Sudan. He would die three weeks later due to the wounds becoming infected. His heirs opt to use his fortune, no longer frozen by the Saudi government, to pay for the removal of land-mines in areas where they have been planted during various wars. The Bin Laden Foundation sweeps its namesake's terrorism and adherance to a virulant strain of Islam, Wahhibism, under the rug. The BLF also benefits by having the photogenic Princess Diana as spokeswoman. The BLF will be the only publicly acknoledged legacy of the late Saudi businessman, as Al-Qaeda withers due to a lack of funds.

Fall 1998. Bill & Hillary Clinton finalize their divorce. Bill does not meet Monica Lewinsky as he is not President. She also does not carry on with President McCain as she is not his type. If he is keeping a mistress, she is not Miss Lewinsky, and she knows how to be discrete.

Nov 7 2000. Jeb Bush, Vice President of the United States of America, gets the big job after a narrow win over rival Zell Miller. Mr. Bush carries most states in the south despite being the son of a Conneticut Yankee.

Nov 27 2000. Third time is indeed the charm for John Manley as the Liberal Party of Canada gains a narrow majority in the general election. Tory leader Stockwell Day is not amused. He was new to federal politics and was unaware as to how nasty things can be. That stunt with the dinosaur probably helped to wreck the NDP and their socialism more than it hurt him for his religious beliefs. Mr. Manley at least apologized and fired that strategist, showing that he can be gracious in victory, and insuring that that sort of crap doesn't get thrown right back. Dirty politics is for Americans.

Sept 11 2001. Is an absolutly gogious day in New York City. Shame that it is a Tuesday. Would have been more appropriate as a Saturday, weather-wise. Nothing of importance happens today.

Feb 3 2003. The Space Shuttle Columbia is destroyed during re-entry. This is NASA's first loss of astronauts since 1967. This serves to remind America that spaceflight is not withou risk. The US Congress opts to follow president Bush's vision for space travel by releasing $50 billion for a replacment for the ageing shuttles. Also America will be going back to the moon, and the mission is to take place no later than Feb 3 2013.

March 19 2003. Is a quiet day in Iraq.

June 28 2004. John Manley wins re-election with a slightly expanded majority. His government is the first by the Liberals in three generations not to be known for corruption scandals. Stockwell Day opts to remain leader of the Tories. Jack Layton has given a decent showing in his first go as leader of the NDP. He won't be fired anytime soon.

Nov 2 2004. Jeb Bush wins in a landslide. Democratic Party candidate John Kerry fails win even a single state. At least he can go back to the senate...

August 29 2005. After hurricane Katrina strikes the US Gulf Coast, the differance in the level of response combined with the failure to evacuate New Orleans exposes the massive corruption inhernt in Louisiana politics. This leads to federal charges against the Govenor of Louisiana, and to the assasiantion of the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, after he is blamed for the disaster that befell his city. The Katrina Scandal also tears through the US Army Corps of Engineers, who designed the shoddy levees, and through dozens of contruction companies, who skimmed millions while not even building to the Army's admitedly poor specifications. Dozens of government inspectors were revealed to have been bribed in to passing substandard or damaged levees and barriers during annual inpections or after contruction some had not actualy been inpected at all. The Scandal has for obvious reasons, humiliated America, and now it is time to fix that.

2008. It is primary season in the USA, and as usual the crap is flying every where as the candidates try to make something stick. The Republicans have been in power for 16 years. Maybe someone can actualy unseat them this year.
In Canada Jahn Manley appears likley to call an election and gain a third mandate. He is challenged yet again by Stockwell Day, though both are starting to show their age.
In the Soviet Union, President Vladimir Putin is winding down his second term of office. As he cannot run again, he now has to watch as his hand-picked successor, Dimitri Mendeyev, looks set to go down to defeat in the elections to be held in May.
China has not been in the news much, but the People's Republic truly is, and has become peacfull and prosperous. The Olympic games to be held in Bejing this September will showcase China's transformation to the world. Tibet is a thorny issue, but local autonomy and free elections have made the issue go away. Incidentaly, the Dalai Lama supports the reforms, and has abandonned his quest for independance.
Europe is at peace and is slowly buckling under the bureaucracy of the EU. This is seen as better than the alternative of endless war.
 
I go to university in Cambridge - I have to live with those views for half a year!

Cambridge?
Please.
Try going to university in Newcastle. It's a lot worse. Full of Cambridge rejects/rejecters who drink a lot and think they're God's gift. :p
 
Cambridge?
Please.
Try going to university in Newcastle. It's a lot worse. Full of Cambridge rejects/rejecters who drink a lot and think they're God's gift. :p


Yeah, my home mates say that it's bad. Tho ones at Durham claim that it's even worse there, especially University College (the castle).
 
You could argue that POD causing the fall of communism did happen around my DOB so it would be hard to top that. So something that helps 3rd world would be good. Maybe if some of the live aid gets common sence and makes a real impact on Africa. Maybe a Chinese disident gets a mega lucky break and democratize China.
 

MrHola

Banned
1987: The US Congress begins impeachment proceedings, charging President Reagan with "gross misconduct" in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Reagan is left with little choice and resigns a few months later. George Bush becomes President.

1988: The Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis defeats the tainted Bush in a comfortable victory, winning 379 electoral votes.

1989: The TiananmenSquare Protests. The international community reacts with shock and anger when a lone protester is shot by a PLA Tank Commander. The whole thing is captured by photographer Jeff Widener.

Later on, the photograph of the PLA commander executing the unknown demonstrator became just as iconic as the picture taken by Eddie Adams during the Vietnam War.

The recently in-augerated Dukakis condemns the Chinese government, claiming that they’re a threat for freedom and democratie worldwide. Embarrassed and under severe pressure, Beijing agrees to initiate a few modest reforms concerning freedom of speech and the like.

1990: Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq, has been dropping hints of attacking Kuwait. The Dukakis Administration responds with a sharp “NO” and tells Iraq off.

1991: Most of the media attention was focused on the dissolution of the USSR. Dukakis passes a bill through Congress about sending large aid packages to the former Warsaw Pact nations and the former USSR.

1992: Yasser Arafat of the PLO is killed in a plane crash in the Libyan desert. His funeral is attended by many spiritual and political leaders from mostly Arab nations. Later on in the year, a civil war between Hamas and Fatah starts after a shoot-out between Hamas followers and the supporters of Fatah. Both parties accuses each other of starting the fight.

Dukakis narrowly defeats his Republican opponent.

1993: The Palestinian Civil War has been raging on for a few months now. Hamas controls the tiny Gaza Strip while the West Bank fell under control of Fatah. While the Gaza Strip is placed under sanctions, sanctions are slowly being lifted of the West Bank.

Yitzhak Rabin, Michael Dukakis and the new leader of Fatah; Salah Khalaf (he manages to avoid being assasinated by the Abu Nidal operative) are involved in negotiations which lasts for months. Later that year, the United States, the EU and many other nations recognize the State of Palestine. Palestine is ruled by Fatah and based in the West Bank.
 
The "Presdient Paul" Tiemline

POD 1989: As Eastern Europe slips out of the USSR's grasp, POTUS George Bush Sr. issues the Bush Doctrine: The US and NATO will extend protection to any democratic government which overthrows its Communist government peacefully. He calls on Communist governments to step down and allow self-determination.
1989-1992: Eastern Europe, the USSR, Cuba, China, and all remaining Communist nations other than North Korea undergo mostly peaceful democratic revolutions. Taiwan and China are reunified, while Tibet gains independence. President Bush's presidency is a militaristic one, as he takes an aggressive and interventionst stance in foreign policy. Bush invades Panama and Iraq in quick operations intended to remove dictators, using air superiority and advanced technology to win decisive victories, from which came the positive term "Bushian War". Despite high approval ratings, an economic recession led to his defeat in the 1992 election.
1992-2000: Bill Clinton (D) Presidency. Marked by a "draw-down" of military forces in the post-Cold War world, an increase in aid to ex-Communist countries, and US military/peacekeeping intervention in many of these countries, such as Yugoslavia (which breaks up into many small countries) and North Korea. North korea undergoes a civil war when Kim il-Sung dies in 1994, and US and South Korean troops support the winning anti-communist faction. South Korea agrees to reunify with the North if the US will help rebuilt the latter's economy, to which Clinton agrees. In the economic realm, the advent of the Internet and other new technologies lead to prosperity in America, Japan and even China, which is rapidly developing an effective market economy. NAFTA and free trade win out over protectionism. The president's wife Hillary pushes a universal healthcare plan which is signing into law. It is very expensive for the taxpayer and suffers many well-publicized setbacks and SNAFUs, and is still cited as one of the main reasons Americans have a negative view of universal healthcare.
2000-2004: The McCain(R) Presidency: In a closely contested race, McCain shows his strength as a candidate by beating out first george Bush in the primaries, then Al Gore, the former VP, in the general election. elected for his war experience, McCain originally ran with Dick Cheney as VP, but shortly after the elction a scandal involving Cheney's company Halliburton causes the VP to resign. In his place McCain appoints Ron paul, a fairly obsure Libertarian with strong appeal to the fiscal conservative wing of the Republican Party, from which it was felt McCain drew less-than-enthusaitic support. McCain is, like his two predeccesors, an interventionst, and indeed the Bushian War tactic and the perception that America was protecting small, new democracies from dictators made small wars popular and boosted Presidential approval rating, if the economy was good enough to support them. McCain chooses to intervene in a corner of the world most Americans know and think little about: Afghanistan, which had fallen under the control of Islamist warlords and was also a major poppy-growing center. By using the War on Drugs as an excuse, McCain sends US troops to the country, along with a "coalition of the willing" composed of many NATO allies and even ex-Communist nations, such as China. Russia does not send troops, as the Soviet quagmire in Afghanistan is too recent for both nations to allow for involvement. The Taliban is overthrown, a wanted terrorist named Osama bin Laden is captured, and US bases are established in the region. In neighboring Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto leads a peaceful coup against the country's military ruler, Pres. Musharraf. As part of a wider trend of democratic revolution in the Mideast 9sponsored with covert aid by Pres. mcCain), Iraq undergoes a revolution in which Saddam Hussein and his sons are captured and killed. Iraq's Shia majority comes to power, and the UN sens agents to monitor elections. McCain sends an ambassador and some peacekeepers as well as a generous aid package to insure that Iran does not weild too much influence.
2004: Tragically, the President suffers from a fatal heart attack, possibly due to his age (68) and the stresses of the job. Ron Paul is sworn in as 44th POTUS. In the 2004 election, Paul defeats his opponenet Hillary Clinton with a significant margain: she was locked in a bitter primary contest with Sen. John Kerry up until the convention, and memories of her healthcare scheme were still fresh in Americans' minds. The main issue hurting the Republicans was the war in Afghanistan. It had come as the "dotcom bubble" burst, and had further weakened the economy. Paul's fiscal-conservative credentials and non-interventionst platform won him votes.
2004-2008: The Paul (R) Presidency is a prosperous and popular one. His massive tax reductions and shrinking of the federal bureaucracy and overgrown military led to an economic upturn and much popular support. The American economy is more than competitive with its closest economic rival, China, which will be hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing this summer. President Paul is invited as a "guest of honor" at the opening ceremonies.

*******************************************************
There. Ron Paul is in his first term, most of the world's worst dictatorships are now fledgeling democracies, and the world is a safer, more free and more prosperous place. It's maybe a little implausible, but hey, this is a tough challenge. :cool:
 
Okay, I'm still thinking about my minimalist, most realistic POD to get the best of all plausible worlds, but I did have a breakthrough on the POD for the best of all possible worlds, and interestingly it is only one POD.

January 1, 1971 - Saintly extraterrestrial intelligence(s) master the laws of physics entirely, breaking the downward spiral of entropy and defying the arrow of time. All existence is caught up in the instantaneous technorapture that rescues all life from the cycle of suffering and death. We are all uplifted and transformed into beings of infinite power, kindness, and forgiveness. The dead are resurrected, the evil are reformed and forgiven, the wronged know peace and forgiveness. I am born into an existence that will know only endless wonder and joy, with the world of limits and sorrows that came before in comparison only the briefest of birth pangs in comparison. Interestingly enough my wife and I still meet in this timelime and have our wonderful daughters (our common interests led us to meet, so it is possible).

Well, that is the POD for the best of all possible worlds...but not very damned plausible anytime soon. But hey, why settle for utopia when you can have paradise? Next time I'll write a tighter single POD (roughly) timeline with a lot more probability.

After exploring the vast reaches of the Endless Plain, the "Saint Gods" discover the population of another reality where everyone was anything but saintly, and as such they traveled along the Endless Plains conquering others who have discovered godhood. A brutal war is fought between these two diametrically opposed godly factions. The Endless Plain is quickly changed to various bits of hellish and heavenly points as both sides struggle to control as much of the plain as possible. The War brings about and unfathomable amount of death and destruction across all time and space. The War continues for eternity rendering existance to be just as painful and unfair as it was before our ascension.

Sorry, but i am of the Every action has and opposite and equal reaction.
 
Before 1900?

This might have been asked (haven't read every post) but why is this thread in the Before 1900 forum if it says the POD must be no earlier than your birth? Unless we have some 108-year-old AH.com members...:confused:;)
 

Glen

Moderator
After exploring the vast reaches of the Endless Plain, the "Saint Gods" discover the population of another reality where everyone was anything but saintly, and as such they traveled along the Endless Plains conquering others who have discovered godhood. A brutal war is fought between these two diametrically opposed godly factions. The Endless Plain is quickly changed to various bits of hellish and heavenly points as both sides struggle to control as much of the plain as possible. The War brings about and unfathomable amount of death and destruction across all time and space. The War continues for eternity rendering existance to be just as painful and unfair as it was before our ascension.

Sorry, but i am of the Every action has and opposite and equal reaction.


Why are you extrapolating a phyisical law to a moral level?

So what would be your best of all possible worlds?
 
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