Max Sinister
Banned
Nice TL, although I think Freax wouldn't win that fast either (and I use Linux myself). In China maybe, but not in the whole world. And I think there are more Linux users than Mac users.
Bazaar (a timeline).
- Thread starter Akiyama
- Start date
Did the Chinese expect possible military defections to the protestors? I've never heard of snipers--I just figured the soldiers entered Tianamen Square on foot.
And does the Chinese tank commander defecting to the protestors require him to get out of the tank? That doesn't really help the protestors much, since I assume another guy will take over the tank.
If the tank commander gets back into the tank and turns it around to block the roadway, then there's a situation.
The World of Bazaar
A popular form of birth control is a pill that slowly releases its chemicals into the bloodstream. Pills available last for from one to five years. Inserting the pill is a very simple surgical procedure. This has led to lower birth rates in Bazaar compared to OTL.
There was no coup in Pakistan in 1999. Pakistan is still a democracy.
While An Meili was president of China, she was hostile to North Korea and encouraged North Korean refugees to cross the border into China. Because of that, North Korea's northern border is now guarded by a wall manned by soldiers. North Korea is even more paranoid and isolationist than it is in OTL, and no-one really knows what is going on inside its borders.
The 2004 Copyright Term Limitation Act reduced copyright in the US to death plus 50 years (from 1999 it had been death plus 70 years). The EU followed suit in 2005.
The BBC did not create any of the new digital television or radio channels that exist in OTL (e.g. BBC3, BBC4, Radio 1 Xtra). However, they did get into the internet in a big way, and, stretching the definition of "broadcasting", are using licence payers money to buy the rights to out of print books, making them available for free on the internet. Which books is decided partly through discussion on the BBC internet forums. This has also led to a few books coming back into print once the publishers realised there was a demand for them.
Collectable card games such as Magic: The Gathering weren't invented in this timeline. Instead, the big game of the 1990s was an adventure/strategy boardgame called Treisan in which the players explore a fictitious continent. Treisan was popular with families as well as gamers, and is now one of the "classic" boardgames like Monopoly or Risk. TSR still did badly, and was bought by Steve Jackson Games, who brought in Gary Gygax to help design the 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
A popular form of birth control is a pill that slowly releases its chemicals into the bloodstream. Pills available last for from one to five years. Inserting the pill is a very simple surgical procedure. This has led to lower birth rates in Bazaar compared to OTL.
There was no coup in Pakistan in 1999. Pakistan is still a democracy.
While An Meili was president of China, she was hostile to North Korea and encouraged North Korean refugees to cross the border into China. Because of that, North Korea's northern border is now guarded by a wall manned by soldiers. North Korea is even more paranoid and isolationist than it is in OTL, and no-one really knows what is going on inside its borders.
The 2004 Copyright Term Limitation Act reduced copyright in the US to death plus 50 years (from 1999 it had been death plus 70 years). The EU followed suit in 2005.
The BBC did not create any of the new digital television or radio channels that exist in OTL (e.g. BBC3, BBC4, Radio 1 Xtra). However, they did get into the internet in a big way, and, stretching the definition of "broadcasting", are using licence payers money to buy the rights to out of print books, making them available for free on the internet. Which books is decided partly through discussion on the BBC internet forums. This has also led to a few books coming back into print once the publishers realised there was a demand for them.
Collectable card games such as Magic: The Gathering weren't invented in this timeline. Instead, the big game of the 1990s was an adventure/strategy boardgame called Treisan in which the players explore a fictitious continent. Treisan was popular with families as well as gamers, and is now one of the "classic" boardgames like Monopoly or Risk. TSR still did badly, and was bought by Steve Jackson Games, who brought in Gary Gygax to help design the 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Main problem: Boris Johnson as British PM. Not going to happen before hell freezes over. And if it did, we'd be doomed...
The rest is interesting. And I think you might find this interesting.
The rest is interesting. And I think you might find this interesting.
HelloLegend
Banned
If you have been to the square, the square is a square because it is boxed in by several buildings, just like the smithsonian boxes in the washington mall. Yes, snipers were on those rooftops that day. The single POD is simply not enough to have changed the course of history.
Admittedly that is unlikely. But not impossible. Suppose during the Tory leadership election one of the other candidates dies of a heart attack just before the vote or something, and his supporters vote for Boris to stop the other guy getting in. And suppose he was so entertaining during the election that he got votes from people who wouldn't even vote normally. Add some populist policies and a Labour government unpopular because of discontent over immigration and ta-daa!
Okay, so we would live in interesting times with Boris as PM. But you must admit he couldn't be any worse than [CONTEMPT]Blair[/CONTEMPT]. And it would be worth it for the entertainment value.
In fact, my true opinion is that he could win a leadership election, with some luck, and a general election, with some luck, and that he would make a good PM (relative to recent PMs in OTL), although I'm doubtful as to whether he'd last very long, given his tendency towards gaffes and extramarital affairs.
And you were right. I did find that interesting.
EDIT: I found this from 2004 link
Okay, so we would live in interesting times with Boris as PM. But you must admit he couldn't be any worse than [CONTEMPT]Blair[/CONTEMPT]. And it would be worth it for the entertainment value.
In fact, my true opinion is that he could win a leadership election, with some luck, and a general election, with some luck, and that he would make a good PM (relative to recent PMs in OTL), although I'm doubtful as to whether he'd last very long, given his tendency towards gaffes and extramarital affairs.
And you were right. I did find that interesting.
EDIT: I found this from 2004 link
politicalbetting.com said:
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HelloLegend
Banned
Eyewitness accounts are the very best. Because they are not
distorted by historians.
Either way, my uncle passed away in 2004. So you can't ask him.
However, the cementary is near a Walmart, and they sell lots of
goods from China that would be heck of a lot more expensive if
the oppresive regime didn't keep their currency low.
distorted by historians.
Either way, my uncle passed away in 2004. So you can't ask him.
However, the cementary is near a Walmart, and they sell lots of
goods from China that would be heck of a lot more expensive if
the oppresive regime didn't keep their currency low.
Ah.
Well then, what if our friend the tank commander gets back in his tank after the "meaningful look" and shuts the hatch behind him?
Then he stops the tank, blocking the rest from coming in.
Of course, I read something about how the Tianeman Square episode wasn't just a bunch of demonstrators getting shot, but an actual battle for the city involving lots of mayhem. One tank blockading the others from entering the area might not have that much of an effect--heck, one tank joining the rebels and perhaps blowing away one or two other tanks (if they all look the same, it might be hard to find the disloyal one) before getting whacked might not have that much of an effect.
Do you remember more of what your uncle told you?
HelloLegend
Banned
He said, it was not what CNN made it out to be.
It wasn't a city in rebellion. I was a few thousand students wanting
some attention. The rest of the city was just watching the show,
not really taking sides.
And the protestors rise to the Presidency of the PRC is kinda surprising, if not quite ASB (make her older, maybe 40, at least).
The man is a walking gaffe who has practically been disowned by the Conservative Party. And he could be much worse than Blair, who the majority of the population don't actually mind, in a relatively non-commital way.
Darkest
Banned
The whole marijuana thing might fly in the UK, where you guys are much more liberal... and California has the highest concentration of liberals, but it also has a ton of people. Enough people that protests would keep the issue a nice and long affair.
Plus California isn't so much liberal as democratic. Some may not agree with me, but I believe we are a very moderate people.
Plus California isn't so much liberal as democratic. Some may not agree with me, but I believe we are a very moderate people.
He hasn't been "practically disowned" by the Conservative Party. He's their spokesman on higher education.
As for Blair, I think we've been here before on another thread. Obviously we have different politics.
Yes, I think that is by far the most ASBish part of this TL. I will justify it by saying she is incredibly charismatic!
