Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes III
- Thread starter shiftygiant
- Start date
- Status
The Special Emergency Addendum to the DoD Appropriations Act of 2146 was an emergency appropriations bills passed in the wake of humanity’s first contact with an alien race. In the immediate aftermath of the discovery and first encounters with the vaguely crustacean ak but before the first official diplomatic meeting between representatives of the Alliance and the Shallow Seas Compact (the largest ak polity), panic and fear spread throughout the human population. Only three days after the first human ship encountered the ak on the far eastern frontier, as much of the Alliance fleet raced either to Sol or eastward, sweeping legislation was compiled in order to shore up humanity’s defenses.
The SEA is regarded as one of the most far-reaching pieces of defense spending legislation ever passed, with its effects still being felt both in the form of its direct results, and following legislation passed in successive years based on its precedent. The SEA was essentially a blank check given to the Alliance Department of Defense and the Alliance military, which authorized the construction of vast defensive systems throughout the Sol System, including powerful long-range sensor and communications arrays based on Pluto, Mars, the Moon, and on Earth; orbital defense networks consisting of satellites and weapons platforms at Pluto, the moons of Saturn, the Jovians, various asteroids in the Belt, Mars, the Moon, and Earth; the construction of various space stations throughout Sol; and the establishment of various continuation-of-government sites on Mars, the Belt, and the Jovians. Following legislation also authorized the construction of new warships and the expansion of the Alliance Marine Corps and Army; additionally, the Alliance Navy’s First Fleet was designated the “Home Fleet,” and was dedicated primarily to the defense of humanity’s homeworld and home system, and similar defenses were authorized for the eastern frontier. The Addendum was passed unanimously at the time out of fear, and other considerations - no politicians wishing to be seen as unwilling to defend humanity.
Years and trillions of credits later, the Sol System is the most heavily defended region in human space, and intelligence analysis of alien polities suggests it is the most heavily defended region of known space. Detractors point at the enormous and continuing cost of the SEA and follow-on legislation, and how relations with Compact and other ak polities are not hostile, and condemn it as a vast waste of taxpayer money, amongst other ideological objections to the sweeping power granted to the DoD and military. Proponents point out that Earth and Sol are still home to the large majority of the human population and thus no expense should be spared in their defense, and that there is no guarantee that relations with the ak will stay peaceful or that future encounters with other races will be as friendly.
take that xenos
The SEA is regarded as one of the most far-reaching pieces of defense spending legislation ever passed, with its effects still being felt both in the form of its direct results, and following legislation passed in successive years based on its precedent. The SEA was essentially a blank check given to the Alliance Department of Defense and the Alliance military, which authorized the construction of vast defensive systems throughout the Sol System, including powerful long-range sensor and communications arrays based on Pluto, Mars, the Moon, and on Earth; orbital defense networks consisting of satellites and weapons platforms at Pluto, the moons of Saturn, the Jovians, various asteroids in the Belt, Mars, the Moon, and Earth; the construction of various space stations throughout Sol; and the establishment of various continuation-of-government sites on Mars, the Belt, and the Jovians. Following legislation also authorized the construction of new warships and the expansion of the Alliance Marine Corps and Army; additionally, the Alliance Navy’s First Fleet was designated the “Home Fleet,” and was dedicated primarily to the defense of humanity’s homeworld and home system, and similar defenses were authorized for the eastern frontier. The Addendum was passed unanimously at the time out of fear, and other considerations - no politicians wishing to be seen as unwilling to defend humanity.
Years and trillions of credits later, the Sol System is the most heavily defended region in human space, and intelligence analysis of alien polities suggests it is the most heavily defended region of known space. Detractors point at the enormous and continuing cost of the SEA and follow-on legislation, and how relations with Compact and other ak polities are not hostile, and condemn it as a vast waste of taxpayer money, amongst other ideological objections to the sweeping power granted to the DoD and military. Proponents point out that Earth and Sol are still home to the large majority of the human population and thus no expense should be spared in their defense, and that there is no guarantee that relations with the ak will stay peaceful or that future encounters with other races will be as friendly.
take that xenos
Last edited:
You can never trust filthy xenos. You'll be thanking us when they're trying to nuke our precious landmarks!
Wallet
Banned
Can we get the 1936 election? And what extra laws were passed? Like universal healthcare or civil rights
If FDR changed the Supreme Court to 15, he's dictator.
Lunar Operations Treaty (LOT)
The Lunar Operations Treaty was a product of the moon race between the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) and the various American and multinational space companies. These organizations saw the moon as a bountiful source of Helium-3, a helium isotope that would be key to making emerging fusion technology economic. Even though the first commercial fusion reactors were still projected to be constructed in the 40s and come online in the early 50s, it would be nesecary to set up the requisite extraction and delivery infrastructure well ahead of time. While there were other players in the race, including the Russian, Indian and European space agencies, these organizations made smaller contributions both to the develop of lunar prospecting and the tensions that ensued.
While the initial efforts went without much issue, race was complicated by a delay in a SpaceX experimental return launch in March 2025. The operation crew had forgotten to run necessary diagnostics before activating the experimental boosters that would return the probe to earth. This delayed the launch by two hours, and instead of entering the atmosphere over the Indian ocean, the probe entered over Chinese airspace. As SpaceX had not informed the Chinese government of the nature of their experimental return stage, the PRC had no information on the device, and were forced to down the probe with a high-altitude anti-ballistic missile. This infuriated SpaceX, both due to the priceless data lost and the fact that it was impossible to sue the Chinese government over the incident. The PRC had all rights to destroy a foreign object entering its airspace unannounced, regardless of its value. With no other recourse, rumors of trade war began to grow louder. The western governments and multinationals had grown increasingly tired of Chinese arrogance and apathy. China's refusal to intervene in the Second War on Terror had almost been the straw that broke the camel's back. This incident could be another.
However, the trade war would be delayed for another 6 years. Realizing the resentment that their actions had caused, the CNSA convinced the Chinese government to pay token reparations for the lost probe, and to establish a framework to ensure that such an incident did not occur again. The Lunar Operations Treaty served to cover both launches heading towards and coming from the Moon. The United Nations Lunar Operations Organization (UNLOO) was established to coordinate launches and ensure that all parties were aware of each others' activities. LOT I also allocated yearly landing tonnage based on the return capacity of each party, ensuring that the lunar orbit and surface were not contaminated by excessive space junk. LOT I allocated 1,500 metric tons to China, 1,500 metric tons to the U.S.A., 1,500 metric tons to the European Union, 800 metric tons to Russia, 700 metric tons to India, 500 metric tons to Japan, and an additional 2,000 metric tons that could be sold to any party of the treaty. Parties who received allocations were free to sell their allocations to corporate operations, with the understanding that the party country would be ultimately responsible for corporate compliance.
While the treaty was useful for the early days of Lunar prospecting and mining, LOT I reached its limits in the early 50s. Probes were getting larger and larger. Manned, long-term landers were being sent to supervise automated mining installations. Earth return shuttles were increasingly requiring refueling at orbital stations, requiring fuel to be shuttled from the Moon to orbit. All of these factors put stresses on allocations. Just as importantly, more countries were demanding a full seat at the table, and many corporations also sought recognition as parties of the treaty. While the UNLOO made allocation revisions in 2046, increasing all allocations by 30%, it was not enough.
Fortunately, the drafters of the treaty had foreseen such limits, and set the treaty to expire 29 years after its initial signing. LOT II entered drafting in 2053, and the future of space exploitation was to be determined...
The Lunar Operations Treaty was a product of the moon race between the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) and the various American and multinational space companies. These organizations saw the moon as a bountiful source of Helium-3, a helium isotope that would be key to making emerging fusion technology economic. Even though the first commercial fusion reactors were still projected to be constructed in the 40s and come online in the early 50s, it would be nesecary to set up the requisite extraction and delivery infrastructure well ahead of time. While there were other players in the race, including the Russian, Indian and European space agencies, these organizations made smaller contributions both to the develop of lunar prospecting and the tensions that ensued.
While the initial efforts went without much issue, race was complicated by a delay in a SpaceX experimental return launch in March 2025. The operation crew had forgotten to run necessary diagnostics before activating the experimental boosters that would return the probe to earth. This delayed the launch by two hours, and instead of entering the atmosphere over the Indian ocean, the probe entered over Chinese airspace. As SpaceX had not informed the Chinese government of the nature of their experimental return stage, the PRC had no information on the device, and were forced to down the probe with a high-altitude anti-ballistic missile. This infuriated SpaceX, both due to the priceless data lost and the fact that it was impossible to sue the Chinese government over the incident. The PRC had all rights to destroy a foreign object entering its airspace unannounced, regardless of its value. With no other recourse, rumors of trade war began to grow louder. The western governments and multinationals had grown increasingly tired of Chinese arrogance and apathy. China's refusal to intervene in the Second War on Terror had almost been the straw that broke the camel's back. This incident could be another.
However, the trade war would be delayed for another 6 years. Realizing the resentment that their actions had caused, the CNSA convinced the Chinese government to pay token reparations for the lost probe, and to establish a framework to ensure that such an incident did not occur again. The Lunar Operations Treaty served to cover both launches heading towards and coming from the Moon. The United Nations Lunar Operations Organization (UNLOO) was established to coordinate launches and ensure that all parties were aware of each others' activities. LOT I also allocated yearly landing tonnage based on the return capacity of each party, ensuring that the lunar orbit and surface were not contaminated by excessive space junk. LOT I allocated 1,500 metric tons to China, 1,500 metric tons to the U.S.A., 1,500 metric tons to the European Union, 800 metric tons to Russia, 700 metric tons to India, 500 metric tons to Japan, and an additional 2,000 metric tons that could be sold to any party of the treaty. Parties who received allocations were free to sell their allocations to corporate operations, with the understanding that the party country would be ultimately responsible for corporate compliance.
While the treaty was useful for the early days of Lunar prospecting and mining, LOT I reached its limits in the early 50s. Probes were getting larger and larger. Manned, long-term landers were being sent to supervise automated mining installations. Earth return shuttles were increasingly requiring refueling at orbital stations, requiring fuel to be shuttled from the Moon to orbit. All of these factors put stresses on allocations. Just as importantly, more countries were demanding a full seat at the table, and many corporations also sought recognition as parties of the treaty. While the UNLOO made allocation revisions in 2046, increasing all allocations by 30%, it was not enough.
Fortunately, the drafters of the treaty had foreseen such limits, and set the treaty to expire 29 years after its initial signing. LOT II entered drafting in 2053, and the future of space exploitation was to be determined...
Last edited:
Uhura's Mazda
Banned
Now that Rees-Mogg had been thrust into the Opposition backbenches with his few dozen supporters, still bearing the Conservative name, no Party held a majority in the Commons - and with the example of the Liberal Democrats, who had lost around 80% of their seats in 2015, nobody was very keen on forming a Coalition with anybody else. As such, with Labour descending ever deeper into internal ructions and factional loathing, there was no alternative to a One Nation Party minority Government, 50 seats short of a majority but closer than anyone else. The Party Leader, Theresa May, was plainly tainted goods. The membership of the Conservative Party had resoundingly rejected her as Prime Minister, and although the Conservative Party was now - or so it was thought - a hard-right Old Tory Fringe, this was too embarrassing for her to continue as PM. Instead, the dependable minor Cabinet Minister Greg Clark was sent to the Palace. Interestingly, this was the first time the PM had not been the leader of the largest Parliamentary Party in over a hundred years.
Clark largely continued with the Austerity-driven, relatively compassionate Conservatism of Cameron and May, and was personally involved in the Brexit negotiations which now proceeded apace. A special Free Trade Area was set up just in time for the 2019 Recession, which was largely a result of China effectively going bust and President Clinton making some rather foolish decisions which were later understood to have been related to senility. However, the world could not forgive human weakness (the Federal Bailout of 180 different sub-prime vehicle lenders was a tough pill to swallow) and the recovery from the previous financial crisis was no more. George Osborne's promise to wipe out the budget deficit by 2020 was fallen well short of by the One Nationers, and the British public began to wonder whether this whole Austerity thing had been worth it at all.
If only there had been a credible Party offering an economic alternative. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn had defeated his internal opponents in the leadership putsches of 2016, 2018 and 2019, to widespread exasperation. He was obviously not fit to lead the Opposition, and he faced criticism for failing to come to an arrangement with the 'progressive' parties such as the SNP and Lib Dems, who together outnumbered the One Nation Party. Labour could have returned to Government in 2018, but it preferred to throw excrement at itself in the auditorium of Twitter.
One of the more interesting ideas of this period arose in 2019, when Sadiq Khan resigned as Mayor of London in order to run for the Leadership against Jeremy Corbyn, only to lose amid accusations of "Blairite cuck treachery" and "betrayal of [his] race" from certain unpleasant people. This, however, triggered a special election for the Mayoralty of London, and Khan announced that he would be standing again. The pro-Corbyn Left knew that the London Labour selectorate would go for Khan again, so it was announced that an 'Open Left Primary' would be held in which all non-Tory parties were to be invited to stand. As well as radical anti-Zionist ex-Mayor Ken Livingstone (Independent) and Caroline Pidgeon of the Liberal Democrats (who couldn't really be described as 'Left' but knew the best way to keep Labour out of the running) there were also the Radical Party's misfit AM Mark Reckless, who also didn't belong on the ballot, and Sophie Walker, a combined candidate for the Women's Equality Party and the Greens. These minor parties' transfers in later rounds, pushed the hard-left activist Jon Lansman ahead of Sadiq Khan, and Lansman went on to scrape into City Hall with only One Nation, the Conservatives (well behind One Nation on 19% of the first preference vote), Britain First, and a couple of Independents against him.
First blood to Labour. But the General Election was scheduled for the following May, and it would be very interesting indeed...
The Radverse
The Radical Party
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Clark largely continued with the Austerity-driven, relatively compassionate Conservatism of Cameron and May, and was personally involved in the Brexit negotiations which now proceeded apace. A special Free Trade Area was set up just in time for the 2019 Recession, which was largely a result of China effectively going bust and President Clinton making some rather foolish decisions which were later understood to have been related to senility. However, the world could not forgive human weakness (the Federal Bailout of 180 different sub-prime vehicle lenders was a tough pill to swallow) and the recovery from the previous financial crisis was no more. George Osborne's promise to wipe out the budget deficit by 2020 was fallen well short of by the One Nationers, and the British public began to wonder whether this whole Austerity thing had been worth it at all.
If only there had been a credible Party offering an economic alternative. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn had defeated his internal opponents in the leadership putsches of 2016, 2018 and 2019, to widespread exasperation. He was obviously not fit to lead the Opposition, and he faced criticism for failing to come to an arrangement with the 'progressive' parties such as the SNP and Lib Dems, who together outnumbered the One Nation Party. Labour could have returned to Government in 2018, but it preferred to throw excrement at itself in the auditorium of Twitter.
One of the more interesting ideas of this period arose in 2019, when Sadiq Khan resigned as Mayor of London in order to run for the Leadership against Jeremy Corbyn, only to lose amid accusations of "Blairite cuck treachery" and "betrayal of [his] race" from certain unpleasant people. This, however, triggered a special election for the Mayoralty of London, and Khan announced that he would be standing again. The pro-Corbyn Left knew that the London Labour selectorate would go for Khan again, so it was announced that an 'Open Left Primary' would be held in which all non-Tory parties were to be invited to stand. As well as radical anti-Zionist ex-Mayor Ken Livingstone (Independent) and Caroline Pidgeon of the Liberal Democrats (who couldn't really be described as 'Left' but knew the best way to keep Labour out of the running) there were also the Radical Party's misfit AM Mark Reckless, who also didn't belong on the ballot, and Sophie Walker, a combined candidate for the Women's Equality Party and the Greens. These minor parties' transfers in later rounds, pushed the hard-left activist Jon Lansman ahead of Sadiq Khan, and Lansman went on to scrape into City Hall with only One Nation, the Conservatives (well behind One Nation on 19% of the first preference vote), Britain First, and a couple of Independents against him.
First blood to Labour. But the General Election was scheduled for the following May, and it would be very interesting indeed...
The Radverse
The Radical Party
Jacob Rees-Mogg
The Radverse is shaping up nicely (and the "Open Left Primary" idea really is inspired!), so all I have to say is good job, @Uhura's Mazda.
I hadn't noticed. But, then you mentioned it.
I swear to God, I will hunt you down for this.
Excellent as usual. So the point about #hipsterbacklash is that it's supposed to be the sort of timeline a normie would come up with right now? Because one thing it certainly isn't is conventional. 
Also, am I misreading that bit, or is May still Tory leader? And how is the government even surviving?
I've also just realised I completely forgot to comment on the original post, that was truly inspired stuff. The Transnational Radical Party is the sort of thing you're surprised even exists every time you come across it.
Also, am I misreading that bit, or is May still Tory leader? And how is the government even surviving?I've also just realised I completely forgot to comment on the original post, that was truly inspired stuff. The Transnational Radical Party is the sort of thing you're surprised even exists every time you come across it.
Teshuvah
Banned
Oswald is a better shot earlier on...
...which turns out to be not so good for him, as he is rotting in a prison cell when JFK comes to visit Dallas in November. The President is saved from a bullet that never was only to be hit with a proverbial one after botching Civil Rights massively.
Still, he's popular enough that he still wins the vote in the election.
The popular vote, that is.
January 20 comes and goes without an inauguration ceremony. After months of deadlocked votes and rebuffed demands from Orval in exchange for his support, the President privately declares he's "fucking sick of this shit" and gets the House to elect Rockefeller. Secretly, he plans on pulling a Grover Cleveland in '68.
The rest of the 60s are...interesting, to say the least.
...which turns out to be not so good for him, as he is rotting in a prison cell when JFK comes to visit Dallas in November. The President is saved from a bullet that never was only to be hit with a proverbial one after botching Civil Rights massively.
Still, he's popular enough that he still wins the vote in the election.
The popular vote, that is.
January 20 comes and goes without an inauguration ceremony. After months of deadlocked votes and rebuffed demands from Orval in exchange for his support, the President privately declares he's "fucking sick of this shit" and gets the House to elect Rockefeller. Secretly, he plans on pulling a Grover Cleveland in '68.
The rest of the 60s are...interesting, to say the least.
Uhura's Mazda
Banned
Oh, the Transnational Radical Party is one of the best things that exists IOTL. I've been on their website. It isn't designed very well.Excellent as usual. So the point about #hipsterbacklash is that it's supposed to be the sort of timeline a normie would come up with right now? Because one thing it certainly isn't is conventional.
I've also just realised I completely forgot to comment on the original post, that was truly inspired stuff. The Transnational Radical Party is the sort of thing you're surprised even exists every time you come across it.
#hipsterbacklash is simply a reaction against the 'right, this guy was PPS to the Secretary of State for International Development for three weeks, I'll make him Prime Minister' thing. Most potential Prime Ministers were people who people had heard of beforehand. Admittedly, Greg Clark is a sort of hipster choice, but he's the only one in the whole piece. I'm trying to prove that you can have vaguely interesting developments without looking like a try-hard.
May is Leader of the One Nation Party (which consists of most of the Tories who were elected in 2015, and is basically exactly what it says on the tin) while Greg Clark is Prime Minister in a One Nation minority government. Ultimately, the Government is only surviving because of the Lib Dems' and Norn parties' grudging acquiescence, and the fact that Labour is in so much turmoil by 2018 that there is no alternative to a One Nation Govt. They struggle on for two years trying not to propose any policies which would get them no-confidenced, basically, and there's a steady stream of Labourites who are willing to defy the Whips rather than get into Government with their trousers down, as it were.
That basically makes sense, except - Well, I guess Jacob Rees-Moog as PM and a One Nation Party just still prompts too much 'aaaaaaaa' from me for me to put it down as that. But then, Jeremy Corbyn Is Leader Of The Labour Party And It's Basically The Most Normal Thing Happening, so fair enough.
Yeah, I meant One Nation leader, sorry.
[WANTS TO USE EMBARRASSED SMILEY, REMEMBERS POST ABOUT HOW THERE ISN'T ONE ANYMORE]
Presented without Comment.
EDIT: And their banner at the top states
GANDHIAN-NONVIOLENT • TRANSNATIONAL • CROSS-PARTY • DEMOCRATIC • ENVIRONMENTALIST • ECOLOGIST • DEMOCRATIC FEDERALIST • SECULAR • EUROPEAN FEDERALIST • LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC • LIBERAL SOCIALIST • LIBERTARIAN • ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN • ANTIPROHIBITIONIST • ANTI-PARTYCRATIC • ANTI-MILITARIST • ANTI-CLERICAL • INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Yeah, what's the bet they don't have enough members to get a quorum on that General Council thing (which appears to be one of several intra-party parliaments?)
Uhura's Mazda
Banned
The Worst Election In British History
Apart From The Ones Where Women Weren't Allowed
Apart From The Ones Where Women Weren't Allowed
The One Nationer minority government weathered the 2019 recession, the assassination of George Osborne, and the Gorbals Riots, but when Theresa May stood down as Party Leader (Prime Minister Greg Clark was unopposed in the race to succeed her) in January 2020, the wheels were beginning to come off. The polling situation was terrible for the centre-right: people just weren't familiar enough with the name compared to the old Conservative moniker, and what they had seen over the last year and a half was not the stuff of pure inspiration. Meanwhile, the Conservatives, renewed in their Old Tory fervour by a merger with UKIP (a Eurosceptic Party mainly formed of pub-dwellers and Bufton-Tufton Tories which was briefly popular in 2013 until people realised that they mainly stood in European elections), were riding high under the unlikely common touch of ex-PM Jacob Rees-Mogg. Among the youth of the Party, there were unpleasant surges of alt-right thinking, heavily influenced by American politics, which presaged of things to come, but at that point, it was all about appealing to the natural large-C Conservatism of British voters.
One Nation recognised that they needed to quell this 'Continuity Conservative Party' as they called it. Most of their election literature focused on bigging up their record in Government and attacking the Conservatives' endless stream of sexist, racist and generally Not OK remarks. This worked: in the 2020 general, One Nation successfully held off the Tories in the 'Battle of the Right'.
However, to the surprise of literally the entire world, they did not win the war.
One Nation won 25.9% of the vote, and the Conservatives won 24.8%. This was more or less what was expected by pollsters in the run-up to the vote, and it was generally assumed that the two parties would either re-merge or govern in a coalition until the whole sorry business could be put to bed. They were in for a rude shock, though, when Jeremy Corbyn's 'unelectable' Labour Party, despite only winning 24.3% of the vote, won a majority of the 600 seats on offer. For while the Right vote was split 50/50, the Left vote wasn't, and Labour came up through the middle of these fractious ONP-Tory battlegrounds. This was the 'worst' election in British history - to the casual observer, there was no proportionality between national vote totals and numbers of MPs elected.
This was a terrible shock to the more centrist members of the Labour Shadow Cabinet, 12 of whom had resigned at 9:55 PM on election night.
For the more minor parties, results were mixed. The SNP remained in involate control of Scotland, winning 49 of the 53 seats there, while Tim Farron's Lib Dems gained a fair few seats, although not as many as they were hoping for. It was later found that their vote in seats held by the Right had largely gone to the ONP to keep the Tories out, and dozens of hypothetically winnable seats were fluffed in this way. Finally, the Radical Party, which was squeezed by the relative Liberalism of the One Nation Party and especially the Euroscepticism of the Conservatives, lost two of their three seats against unfavourable boundary changes, leaving only Douglas Carswell in Harwich & Clacton. For a short time in 2013-2014, they and UKIP had seemed like the future of British politics. Now, the Radicals had only 2.1% of the vote.
But it would be foolish to write off the Radicals just yet. And although Corbyn's Labour had won a majority, it would be equally foolish to assume that the Left was to remain in the ascendant.
The Radical Party
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Open Left Mayoral Selection, 2019
- Status