The Eleventy First "People from Alternate Universes" thread

yourworstnightmare

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Karl Liebknecht 1871-1924

Karl Liebknecht was an influential Socialist leader in Germany during the First World War. He was against the war and organized protests when he could. He despised the Ludendorf- von Hindenburg regime and the monarchy, and could not agree with the Social Democratic Party, when they decided to not protest against the war. Together with Rosa Luxemburg he founded the Independent Social Democrats (USPD). In 1919 Germany had lost the war and the whole Colonial Empire and Alsace- Lorraine was lost. The German economy was in pieces and people were angered about having lost the war. The workers in Germany demanded their rights and more and more of them wanted to support a more radical form of Socialism. In the years 1919-1921 the economy got worse, and the support for the USPD grew. The military dictatorship from the war remained in power, and while dissent grew strikes were often called and struck down by the army. Liebknecht allied with Socialist and Anarchist trade unions, and were able to mobilize large numbers of the working class when needed. In March 1921 Liebknecht called a general strike, which triggered the German Civil War between the Imperialist Army and the Marxist militias. The German civil war was a complicated affair with frontlines moving rapidly over the whole country. The army won almost every battle, but the militias just fled and regrouped somewhere else.

However in January 1924 the militias were pretty much defeated. Kurt Eisner, Rosa Luxemburg, Ernst Thällmann and Hugo Eberlein had already been arrested and killed. Most of the militia leaders were in hiding, Liebknecht himslef was hiding in Hamburg. However in early 1924 he was found and quickly arrested, and executed only a few days later. The German Revolution had failed, and the Civil War was over. However the Civil War was the turning point. During the war Wilhelm III had abdicated in favour of his son Kronprinz Wilhelm. The Ludendorf- Hindenburg regime had been forced out of office, and Germany had a civilian government from June 1923. On a dark note the newly declared Kingdom of Poland had taken advantage of the chaos in Germany and seized Posen with French and British blessing. Liebknecht would be seen as a hero by the German working class, but rejected as a traitor by most other Germans.
 
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Craig Ferguson (1962-)

Scottish Terrorist and assassin. Born in Glasgow Ferguson is believed to have joined the Scottish independence group the Scottish National Liberation Army. Ferguson was arrested following the bombing of the Democratic Labour party conference in 1981 in which the Prime Minister Shirley Williams and several other members of the cabinet were killed. Ferguson claimed on his arrest he was merely "delivering the Scottish people what they'd desired since the massacare of George Square."

Ferguson was released in 2006. He now resides in the United States, as he says it is not safe for him in Scotland.
 
This sounds kind of fun..I'll do one :)

Dennis John Kucinich (1946-present)

He stood just 5'8" and weigh 160 pounds, but few quarterbacks in the history of the National Football League stood taller than the signal caller fans affectionately call "The Kooch".
Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1946, Kucinich grew up poor, small and sickly. In his first 18 years of his life, he said "I lived in 19 houses and a more than a few cars."
His life took a marked change in his sophomore year at St. Ignatius high school. He was the team's fourth string quarterback its smallest player. During a game against a hated rival, the other three quarterbacks were injured. Little Dennis came off the bench and threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth. St. Ignatius lost the game, but found a quarterback.
For the next two seasons. Dennis led St. Ignatius to from the back to the front of high school football in Cleveland, going 20-1 as a starter and leading his school to a city championship his senior year, while graduating in the top 10 in his class.
Despite completing over 60 percent of his passes and throwing for 26 touchdowns that championship season, no major college wanted him.
He went to hometown Case Western Reserve University, where he started for three years and rewrote the school and NCAA College Division passing records.
College fans still recall the 1968 "Duel of the Little Generals" at Cleveland Stadium between Kucinich and Omaha University's Marlin Briscoe. Both quarterbacks stood under six feet, and both threw for over 400 yards in a wild ballgame. A Briscoe 15 yard touchdown run with :07 to play gave Omaha U a 48-44 win. Afterward Briscoe paid the opposing quarterback high praise saying, "I'm sure Dennis will get a chance to get revenge when we met again in the NFL."

After graduating from Case Western. Dennis was left undrafted by both the NFL and AFL. He enrolled to study law at Ohio State, but he didn't want to quit without giving the pro football a chance. He begged for a tryout with the Cleveland Browns, and got one.

Head Coach Blanton Collier saw something in the diminutive quarterback. The kid who Woody Hayes said was "too damn small to play for Ohio State" made an NFL team behind Frank Ryan and Bill Nelson.

Kucinich spent two seasons on the bench, and tending to his law studies. Heading into the 1970, Kucinich figured he would study law full time. Fate had a different idea.

In week 5 of the '70 season the Detroit Lions defense knocked out Nelson and Ryan. Collier had to call for his third string quarterback.
Kucinich rallied the Browns to a 38-38 tie in the final minute. They'd lose on a field goal at the final gun. But the scrambling gunslinger jumpstarted an offense that had lost scoring punch.

His scramble and throw style opened the running lanes for LeRoy Kelley, and made dangerous wide receiver Paul Warfield an even greater threat as the Browns beat up the San Diego Chargers the next week 50-7 and then shocked the Oakland Raiders 27-23. That set up a showdown with the division leading Cincinnati Bengals, who the Browns had beaten earlier in the season.

In one of the season most thrilling games, Dennis was magnificent! He threw for 5 touchdowns as he matched Greg Cook pass for pass as the Browns won 40-34 in overtime, and forced a tie in AFC Central, with the Browns holding a key tiebreaker. They won both games against the rivals Bengals.

In the final 5 weeks of the regular season, Dennis Kucinich had put himself in same class as quarterbacks like Unitas, Brodie and Jurgensen. The Browns won four of the remaining 5 games. On the final Sunday of the regular season, Kucinich got that revenge Marlin Briscoe was talking about, beating Briscoe's Denver Broncos 31-27. The win clinched the AFC Central for Cleveland and knocked the Broncos out of chance at the playoffs.

1970 AFC Divisional Playoffs
Miami Dolphins (10-4) at Cleveland Browns (11-3)
Oakland Raiders (8-5-2) at Baltimore Colts (11-2-1)

Dennis Kucinich walked on the field where Super Bowl V would be played and surgically cut up the newly strong Miami Dolphins in his first playoff start, going 21-for-31 for 385 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception. Cleveland won 30-14 and earned a trip to Baltimore for the AFC Championship. The Colts destroyed the Oakland Raiders 35-7 to set up the title game.

The AFC Championship matched two quarterbacks who many doubted when their career started. The great John Unitas was cut by his first NFL team back in 1955. Dennis Kucinich was cut by everybody.
Together they staged what many cite as the first great post-merger game.

The Colts won on a 65 yard touchdown from Unitas to Ray Perkins with :56 left. Kucinich tried to drive the team one more time, and got them to the 28, but a deep ball to Paul Warfield was intercepted in the endzone by Ron Gardin with 9 seconds left. Baltimore won 30-26, but Dennis Kucinich showed the entire league that he was for real.

At the end of the season head coach Blanton Collier retired, citing his constant hearing problems as the reason to step away from the sideline. Owner Art Modell hired a 31-year-old offensive assistant from the Cincinnati Bengals to the take the head coaching job.

Together, Bill Walsh and Dennis Kucinich would turn Cleveland into Titletown.

After a tough 1971, that saw the Browns lose in the AFC playoff to the eventual AFC Champion Miami Dolphins. Walsh retooled the Browns through a strong 1972 draft that brought in three future Hall of Famers, including the great wide receiver Cliff Branch (Walsh traded WR Fair Hooker to the Oakland Raiders for their 4th round pick). The Browns became one of the highest scoring teams in football in Bill Walsh's rhythm passing offense, today known as the "Cuyahoga River Offense".

Kucinich was top-rated passer in the AFC. He threw for 3,754 yards and 32 touchdowns. Paul Warfield led the AFC with 11 touchdowns and 19 yards per catch. The Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by a single game to win the AFC Central Division

1972 AFC Divisional Playoffs
Oakland Raiders (10-4) at Cleveland Browns (11-3)
Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4) at Miami Dolphins (14-0)

The Kucinich to Warfield combo set an NFL playoff record. 230 yard receiving as the Browns tore into the Raiders 32-14. But even Kucinich's record got trumped by a wild finish in Miami.

The Dolphins lead the Steelers 17-16 with :22 left in the Orange Bowl. Facing 4th and 8th, Terry Bradshaw threw down the middle for John "Frenchy" Fuqua, safety Jake Scott nailed Fuqua and the ball fluttered away...right into the hand of Franco Harris trailing the play...the rookie running back caught the ball and raced 50 yards to the end zone. In what is known in football lore as the "Immaculate Reception". Pittsburgh ended Miami's perfect season 23-16, and set up a AFC Championship game between rust belt rivals at Municipal Stadium.

The next Sunday, there was no miracle for the upstart Steelers. The Kooch was on fire again. 3 touchdown tosses. 1 each to Branch, Warfield and Milt Morin gave the Browns a 27-17 win, and a trip to Southern California for Super Bowl VII.

Bill Walsh's space-age offense versus the Washington Redskins and George Allen's Over The Hill Gang. It wasn't even close.

Walsh's coups in the offseason set the tone. On draft day, Walsh traded three picks to Baltimore for veteran defensive tackle Billy Ray Smith and young linebacker Ted Hendricks. He made another trade with Green Bay and got aggressive young defense end Aldon Roche. All three took turns beating up on Billy Kilmer, with 6 quarterback sacks.
Offensively, Dennis Kucinich put up the greatest day a quarterback has ever had in a Super Bowl. 22-for-36 406 yards 4 touchdown passes. He was a runaway Super Bowl MVP in a runaway victory. Cleveland Browns 35, Washington Redskins 7.

The headline of the Cleveland Plain Dealer the next morning said it all. "CHAMPS!"

1973 was even better. The Browns season opened with rookie Greg Pruitt taking the first kickoff of the year 100 yards. It continued with Dennis Kucinich throwing an NFL record tying 7 touchdown passes in a 55-20 win over the Baltimore Colts.
It was huge year for The Kooch. 4,155 yard passing, an NFL record. 44 touchdown passes. Most points scored in a season. All-Pro honors.

It continued with playoff victories over Miami and Oakland.
It ended with a sparkling performance at Rice Stadium in Houston Texas. Dennis Kucinich with 2 touchdown passes spearheaded and total team effort as the Cleveland Browns completed a perfect 17-0 season beating the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VIII 37-13.

1974 was a year of turmoil. The NFL players strike of '74 started in training camp. It would last 29 days, but Dennis Kucinich as the Browns player rep and Art Modell as one of the hardline owners caused a rift that hurt the chance of a threepeat. The Browns season ended with a 27-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game. Despite another Pro Bowl year with 27 touchdown passes, Modell was at odds with his quarterback.

It came to a head in 1975. Kucinich, battling injuries shared time with young Brian Sipe. For the Browns it was another year that saw them lose the AFC Central to the Steelers for the second straight year and then loss to them in the AFC Championship.

At the end of the season, Modell told Walsh that Kucinich would be exposed to the coming expansion draft. The hometown boy was leaving Cleveland and heading south to be a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.

The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be the worst team in football on paper. But nobody told "The Kooch" that.

Dennis Kucinich went out on September 12, 1976 and won the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first game as a franchise with 3 touchdown passes. They beat the Houston Oilers 28-20.

Kucinich still threw for 3,041 yards as the Buccaneers shocked everybody by going 3-11. The next year the Buccaneers brought in their future in Doug Williams, but the future star quarterback had a great teacher to learn from.

"The Kooch taught me what it took to win this league. The main reason why I'm in Canton today is because of Dennis Kucinich." -- Doug Williams at his Hall of Fame Induction speech. August, 1998.

In 1978 splitting time with Williams, the Buccaneers narrowly missed the playoffs. In 1979, the Buccaneers made it to the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams. An injury to Williams in the third quarter brought in Kucinich to try and rally the troops. He promptly drove the Bucs to a touchdown to cut a Rams lead to 9-7, and late in the game drove the Bucs into a chance to win. He set up Neil O'Donaghue for a 37 yard field goal to send the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl. But the NFL all-time leader in game winning field goal misses, missed again.

Kucinich started the 1980 season in Tampa Bay. He had said '80 would be his last year. But oh, what a last year.

At week 4 of the season, in the third quarter of the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cleveland Browns, Lee Roy Selmon sacks Brian Sipe on a blitz..and the young quarterback ended up with a broken leg. In the fourth quarter, Richard Wood separated backup Paul McDonald's shoulder. The Buccaneers won the game 42-27, and Bill Walsh was reduced to a wide receiver taking snaps.

The next day, the Browns traded Elvis Franks, Judson Flint, Greg Pruitt and their 2nd round pick in the 1981 draft to Tampa Bay, for their 4th and 5th round and 6th picks in 1981 draft -- and quarterback Dennis Kucinich.

It was the year of The Kooch and the Cardiac Kids.
The Browns won 9 games in the final minute, including a do-or-die playoff game against the Oakland Raiders in the cold... Dennis won the game 10 seconds left on a pass to Ozzie Newsome between two Oakland defenders on a gutsy play called "Red Right 88". The 18-14 victory set up another passers duel with the San Diego Chargers and their aerial ace Dan Fouts.

The 35-year-old pocket rocket was his equal. The lead changed hands 9 times before Kucinich hooked up with his old friend Cliff Branch for a 40 yard screamer with 38 seconds left to give Cleveland a 45-41 win in San Diego, a trip to New Orleans, and a date with irony.

Earlier in the day the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocked the Philadelphia Eagles 24-20 in the NFC Championship. Dennis Kucinich would meet the quarterback he helped build in Super Bowl XV.

Super Bowl XV -- January 25, 1981 -- Superdome/New Orleans, Louisiana.

It was a special Super Bowl. The Superdome was adorned with a big yellow ribbon as a welcome home to U.S. peacekeeping forces from Iran. The security was heavy as President Jimmy Carter would be in attendance.

And it ended up being one of the great Super Bowls. Young strong armed Doug Williams would be the third black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. He hoped to be the second Grambling College quarterback to win one (Super Bowl IX saw two black starting quarterbacks. Joe Gilliam for the Pittsburgh Steelers. James Harris for the Los Angeles Rams. Shack outdid Jefferson Street Joe as the Rams gave Chuck Knox his first Super Bowl win 27-20)

On the Cleveland side, Bill Walsh has been here before, but since Art Modell put Dennis in exile. The Browns last trip to the Super Bowl was a 31-17 beating at the hands of the L.A. Rams in Super Bowl XI. Some said Walsh was losing a step.

With his old quarterback under center, Walsh could envision his third Vince Lombardi Trophy.
In the true fashion of the '80 Browns, it came down to the final minute. Facing 3rd and 6 with :47 left at the Browns 48. Dennis rolled out left to avoid a hard rush by Dewey Selmon and floating a soft toss to Dave Logan. Logan outjumped Curtis Jordan for the ball and galloped the rest of the way to complete a 53-yard touchdown pass to give the Browns a 35-33 lead with :34 left.
Doug Williams marched the Buccaneers back down the field, but Thom Darden stepped in front of a pass that could have set up the winning field goal.

The Kooch took a knee on the final play. Dennis Kucinich would walk away from pro football as a champion.

Before he left for Tampa Bay, he got his law degree from Ohio State and passed the bar exam. In the years after football, he became a successful labor lawyer crossing swords with powerful adversaries including the National Football League as an NFLPA counsel during the NFL player strikes in 1987, 1995 and most recently during the 2011 lockout. The "Kucinich Plan" was settled the dispute. A plan which restructured free agency, the salary cap and mandated financial transparency within the league. Many credit Kucinich with saving the season and say that his effort to mediate between the two sides may be the thing that finally gets Dennis Kucinich's bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Today, Dennis still lives in Cleveland where he runs his firm Kucinich and Associates in an office tower not far from the neighborhood where he grew up. He's married these days. His wife Elizabeth is a professor of International Relations and Conflic Resolution Studies at Ohio State.
On Sundays in the fall you can still find him at the stadium rooting for the Browns.
Long Live "The Kooch"!
 
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Pope St. John Paul I (1912-1981)

Born Albino Luciani, St. John Paul I made great strides in continuing the interpretation of the second Vatican Council and, in the midst of his short three-year papacy, set much of the course for the Church's role in the coming decades. John Paul sponsored several critical discussions in Rome, which did much to alleviate sectarian conflict between the Soviet-backed Socialist Republic of Israel and the theocratic State of Judah, as well as between them and the nearby Arab states. Because of the groundwork laid in these discussions, many give him the lion's share of credit for the successfully implemented 2000 Rome Agreement, though that was long after his death.

John Paul I's teachings of peace and tolerance as critical values were fairly influential in the development of the modern Church, but the three-year reign was not enough to fully implement any of his theological agendas. John Paul I was martyred by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish assassin, in 1981. He was succeeded by Karol Jozef Cardinal Wojtyla, who took the name John Paul II in his honor.
 
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Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1923)

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th and 28th President of the United States of America. Attaining the Presidency after the assassination of William McKinley, he was re-elected on his own merits in 1904, 1912 and 1916. He is most notable for negotiating a compromise peace that ended the First World War in 1919, however, a mere four years after this greatest achievement, he was dead. Various people during his terms saw Roosevelt as a would-be dictator, but his true legacy was the Roosevelt political dynasty, which encompassed the Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt as well as various others.



Teddy was going to live a long, long time except he got a weird bug he couldn't shake on a safari.

If he had been president, no bug, no problem!
 
The Kooch! Nice.



Ronald "Red" Reagan, 1911-2008

Actor, social advocate, US Senator from California and, later, mayor of Berkeley, California

Reagan's life trajectory --acting with dabbling in union activism by way of the actor's guild-- was altered dramatically when he crossed paths with the nineteen-year-younger intense and intellectual Laura Nader.

With strong influence from Laura (they married in 1961, a year after she started as an anthropology professor at UC Berkeley) and from Laura's older brother Ralph, Reagan became an outspoken advocate for causes involving social reforms, civil rights, workers rights, environmental regulations, and "recognition of labor equity" for "allegedly unemployed" stay-at-home mothers.

With encouragement from friend Governor Jerry Brown, Reagan ran for the US Senate in 1976 and won. He was re-elected two more times.

In his "retirement," Reagan served as mayor of Berkeley for two terms.

Ron and Laura.JPG
 

yourworstnightmare

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Tatiana I 1897-1964

During her youth many compared her to her sister Olga. But when Olga caused a Empire to collapse, Tatiana became the beloved monarch of a ressurected player on the European filed. In 1922 Tatiana and her sister Anastasia were in Warszaw, far from the frontlines of the Russian Civil War. Many Poles could not see a good future with either the Republicans or the Monarchists. And the Polish aristocracy feared the left wing dominance of the Republicans. Fearing to lose their power in Poland they started to plot secession. Tatiana being an ambitious young woman saw her chance and contacted several Polish generals and important aristocrats. Thus she managed to convince them to crown her the Queen of Poland.

Poland as a young nation was very ambitious, and so was the new queen. She was quick to marry catholic, and chose Archduke Leo Karl of Austria as her spouse, something that aligned Poland close to the Austrian Empire. After the first World War Russia had annexed Galizia, giving the Western Part to Poland, but keeping the eastern part herself. The Eastern Expedition became the first military expedition the new queen ordered. Poland had allied with Romania, and Tatiana had married her sister Anastasia to Romania's Prince Carol, after his first wife had died in child bed. The chaos in Russia made it easy for Poland and Romania to impose a treaty on Russia to secede East Galizia to Poland and Bessarabia and Bukovina to Romania. Poland's next target was Posen, and Tatianas skillfully sought British and French support for "restoring order in Poznan". Since the German Civil War was in full swing the Polish army met little resistance when they entered Posen and annexed the territory to their kingdom. Seeking to gain access to the sea Poland next planned an invasion of Lithuania, but the Lithuanian campaign in 1924 was a failure. Lithuanian republicans had allied with the now much more organized Russian government and were able to chase out the Polish army. Tatiana was forced to renouce all Polish claims on Lithuania. Now locked in between Germany and Russia both exiting civil wars Tatiana decided to renew the alliances with Vienna and Bucharest and in 1926 the Warszaw Pact between Austria, Romania and Poland was established.

Tatiana's Poland was not very democratic. Even though universal male suffrage was introduced to the Lower House of the Sejm in 1923, the Lower House remained powerless and the Upper House with the nobility and the Catholic Church remained powerful. Tatiana herself had enormous power and in many ways she was the one in control of Poland. She chose the Prime Minister, usually a noble asked to form a government consisting of Upper House magnates and Lower House nationalists. Tatiana was able to stop Polonization of Ukrainians in East Galizia though, but the Germans in Poznan and the Jews were still harassed without the government really doing anything against it.

In the 2nd World War Poland was invaded by Germany an Russia. Poland was occupied by the Germans and Russians. After the war Poland's democratic allies who had restored the kingdom enforced a new Constitution on Poland, making it more of a democracy, and pretty much removing all the powers of the monarch. Tatiana's eldest son Zygmunt succeeded her as Zygmunt IV.
 
Kåre Willoch (192:cool:
Prime Minister of the Scandinavian Commonwealth 1983-1987, Minister of Finance 1975-1978, Leader of the Conservative Party 1980-1987. Willoch served as the first Conservative Prime Minister of Scandinavia after his party narrowly edged out the Liberal Union Party for the title of 'biggest centre-right party'. Willoch formed a coalition with the Liberals, however his tenure as PM would not go well as his term was plagued by an economic recession, high unemployment, political scandals, and coalition infighting as a result of many Liberal MPs resenting the Willoch and Conservatives for surpassing them in the 1983 election. In the election of '87, the Conservatives made their worst election ever, gaining only 10% of the vote, as the Social Democrats soared to victory and the Liberals would regain the position of Official Opposition.

Anna-Greta Leijon (1939-)
Prime Minister of the Scandinavian Commonwealth 1987-2004, Minister of Foreign Affairs 1981-1983, Leader of the Social Democratic Alliance 1985-2004. Elected in one of the biggest electoral landslides in the Scandinavian Commonwealth since the introduction of general suffrage, with 59,4% of the vote which led to the longest serving centre-left government in the country's history. In the 1995 election, the party would lose their majority so they formed a coalition with the centrist Progressive Coalition Party led by Bengt Westerberg. Leijon was Scandinavia's first female Prime Minister and presided over a period of great economic, environmental, and social reform. She left office in 2004 in favor of her Foreign Minister Jens Stoltenberg, with a record surplus in state finances. She is most remembered for leading the nation through the 1998-1999 Invasion of Karelia by the Russian splinter nation known as the Republic of New Russia, and the following Scandinavian intervention in the Russian Civil War.

Jens Stoltenberg (1959-)
Prime Minister of the Scandinavian Commonwealth 2004-2007, Minister of Foreign Affairs 1997-2004, Leader of the Social Democratic Alliance 2004-2008. An experienced member of parliament, Stoltenberg became Prime Minister in 2004 after popular incumbent Anna-Greta Leijon chose to retire. While he presided over a period of relative peace and moderate economic growth, the Social Democrats would naturally have a hard time winning again in 2007 since they had been in power for 20 years at that point. They lost the election to the Liberal Union Party by seven points (Social Democrats: 30.6, Liberals: 37.9), with the party dropping eleven points compared to the 2003 result. Thus, he was replaced as Prime Minister by Halldór Ásgrímsson would would head the first Liberal government since 1978. He later stepped down as leader of the Social Democrats in favor of Jutta Urpilainen.
 
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Hiro Aoyama (1901-1999): Formerly Emperor Hirohito of Japan (1926-1947), deposed in the wake of the postwar "Chrysanthemum Revolution", that led to a socialist government in Japan. Accepted deposition with equanimity, and lived peacefully in exile in Ireland, pursuing his life-long interest in marine biology. Adopted the surname "Aoyama" after the palace he was born in. Resisted all attempts by exile groups to persuade him to try to regain the throne, often claimed that losing the throne added years to his life. Grandfather of landscape artist Moira Aoyama.
 
Murray Bookchin (1921-2008). Born in New York City to a family of Russian immigrants, Bookchin spent his youth in the CPUSA's Young Communist League before breaking with Leninism. Relocated to Detroit during the Second World War for employment in a tank factory, and became a shop steward in the Congress of Industrial Unions. A passionate speaker and an intense personality, he became a leading figure in the ever growing syndicalist movement within the CIU. After orchestrating the faction's major victory, where the syndicalists tookover the leadership of the UAW, and reorganized the union on syndicalist lines, Bookchin successfully lead the opposition at the 1949 CIU national congress, and defeated the proposals to expel communists and other radicals from the union.

By 1955, the CIU was all Red, and the AF of L was severely weakened, with perhaps 2/3rds the members of the giant industrial union federation. The 1959 general strike, whose national strike committee was chaired by Bookchin, begun in opposition to the government's attempts undermine unionization rights, led to one of the worst political crises in American history. Workers around the country, incensed by political repression, widespread corruption, and militarization and paranoia over the Socialist Republic of Nippon and the USSR, occupied factories and picketed in nearly every state. After attempts by the National Guard to restore order led to needless bloodshed, widely covered on national television, the strike only intensified. President Goldwater, facing allegations of abuse of power from the left, and near total disapproval from his own party over his failure to prevent or handle the strike, became the first President to resign. His vice-president, already having resigned over financial mishandling and tax fraud, Goldwater handed the presidency for the first time to the Speaker of the House, Democrat Henry A. Wallace.

Widely regarded as the father of American syndicalism, and a perpetual thorn in the side of administrations on the right and left, Bookchin would serve as the spiritual leader of the CIU until his retirement in 1994. He would also become an influential figure in the Green movement, and due greatly to his influence, the CIU is widely regarded as a "Red-Green" union, combining radical left anarcho-syndicalism with concerns for ecological sustainability.
 
OOC: I like the idea of greater leftist influence/presence in Western nations possibly owing to a much less extremist (most likely non-communist) USSR.
 

yourworstnightmare

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Nikita Kruschev 1894-1971

After Russia's defeat in the 2nd World War and the collapse of the Military Junta, there was once again chaos and unstability. Nikita Kruschev of the United Marxist Party enjoyed much support in the Russian bureacracy and knew he would be backed by Trade Union leaders and several leftist leaning military officers. In late 1947 when Russia was still without a leader he suddenly gathered the Duma and asked them to proclaim him leader. With the Duma having been powerless long, and with the left wing momentum Kruschev was proclaimed leader of Russia (without a specfic title). He soon afterwards merged his United Marxist Party with other left wing parties to the United Soviet Party. In the years 1947 to 1951 he used his influence to eliminate all opposition to his rule and impose loyalists on important positions all over Russia. In 1959 he finally declared Russia as Socialist Nation and proclaimed a Social Revolution by nationalizing all industries and redistributing all land owned by decendants of the nobility and kulak peasants. He also revived the USSR name used by Lenin. However Russia would remain a backward nation due to the damage they had taken in the war, and would thus not be able to compete with the other great nations. Kruschev functioned as First Citizen of the USSR until his death in 1971.
 
Ariel Sharon (1928-2006)

Born in the British Mandate of Palestine, Sharon was a member of the Haganah the secular Jewish anti-British movement, and was a liaison with more religious movements established by the vast number of illegal settlers resultant from the Russian Civil War. After the Declaration of the State of Israel in 1951 after British pullout, Sharon was immediately inducted into the newly formed Israel Defence Force, and fought in both the Independence War against Arab Palestinians and their local allies, and, later, in the Civil War that resulted in the partition of Israel into the Socialist Republic of Israel and the State of Judah.

Sharon rose through the ranks of the Israel Defence Force in the several wars, both against Judah and the local Arab states. He gained a reputation as a war hero, and was brought by the ruling Avoda Party into the Israeli Politburo in the late 1970s, as Minister of Defence, a post which he held for most of the next two decades. He was seen, generally, as an ultranationalist within the Israeli government by both insiders and outsiders.

Sharon was crucial in 1997, when several generals attempted a coup against the reformist elements of the Avoda Party. Though, apparently, coup members intended to place Sharon, seen as one of their own, on top of the post-coup state, Sharon rallied loyalist IDF forces against the generals, and quickly crushed the coup elements. Sharon became immensely popular by this act, and several popular conspiracy theories say he orchestrated the coup in order to crush it, though no real evidence of this exists.

Sharon was elected leader of the newly formed Kadima Party in 1998, and formed a government as the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Israel since the civil war after elections in 1999. He signed the Rome Agreement in 2000, formulating the modern borders of the region, and survived several assassination attempts by radical elements. Sharon stepped down as Prime Minister due to health reasons in 2005, being succeeded by Tzipi Livni as Prime Minister, and suffered a severe stroke in 2006, killing him. His legacy continues through the ongoing Unification talks between Israel and Judah.
 
Another different sort of timeline -- A Fab Four...that stay together :)

"this is BBC One. Coming later, The lads drive the new Mini Supercar, but nex Her Majesty faces something bigger than her throne. Oona King and Question Time next...it's 8 o'clock."

June 25, 2011 -- BBC 1's Question Time

Your Majesty, your annual birthday benefit concert is coming up, and you said you had a special last-minute guest set to perform.

Queen Diana glistened under the lights, the way she always did. She smiled looking back when she was just Diana Spencer, and a night at a small club back in 1980, where she saw four handsome, fit men playing some good music.

"I can't wait to see them playing again, when I was young girl they were special to see and I'm sure many of the ladies my age in the audience would agree. I am pleased to tell you all that Four Miles Running will play together at the Queen's Benefit Concert."

Throughout the BBC studio, many women older than 35 sighed in wonder.


Four Miles Running -- A groundbreaking British popular music group that began as one of treasures of the early music video age of the 1980s, but grew beyond that.

The band consisted of:
Vocalist-Keyboardist Sebastian Coe,
Guitarist-Keytarist Steve Ovett,
Drummer-Guitarist Peter Elliott
Drummer-Vocalist Steve Cram.

The band started in 1977, when Coe and Ovett met at a road race/music festival. Both finished in the top 15 of the race, and when the post race music didn't show up they had their instruments in their cars and played a set together. Afterward they decided to come together and form a combo called Miles Running, touring London and surrounding areas doing whatever music they learn really. One of their earliest and deepest influences was popular British folk rock group MARCH.

In 1978, after they finished 1-2 in a Yorkshire cross country run, the guy who finished third that day asked to jam with them. He could play pretty well. The group took him in, and they became Three Miles Running. With the addition of Peter Elliott, the group dabbled with a punk persona in some of their music, while retaining the MARCH-The Knack-Beatles influences as well.

The word was getting around about Three Miles Running, but the band mates felt it needed one more piece.

In 1980, they found that that piece while setting up for a show at a college near Jarrow, there was a youngish dude asking to try their drum set. Ovett said "sure" and the kid was bringing it.
The group liked his style and had him sit in on a new song they were working on. He made the song click pretty well, not just as a drummer but also as a vocalist. After crash rehearsal, the fourth member was a part of the show.

Hhey mate, you got something going there...what is your name"

"Steve...Steve Cram"

The next morning, the new guy joined the fellas on their morning run where they think of their new material and ideas. On that cold February morning...Four Miles Running was truly born.

Throughout 1980, they played gigs and worked their material across the UK. They were gaining a following with a silky combination of folk rock and the emerging new wave sound.

In September 1980, they pulled their money together to get studio time and cut their first single. That first song, "Waterfall Start" got some solid airplay, reaching the fringes of the UK chart on word of mouth. In 1981, they were signed to a record deal and the single became a part of their first album "Fifteen Hundred"

"FIFTEEN-HUNDRED" released April 2, 1981
Top singles "Waterfall Start" (#65 on UK charts)
"Fifteen-Hundred" (#38 on the UK Charts), "Golden Mile" (#35 on the UK Charts)

Fifteen-Hundred got their foot in the door. For their next album they wanted to mix it up, be bold, and make a statement.

The four worked on a powerful set a new wave songs with driving beats, sexy drums and a very aggressive bold masculine yet sensual persona.

I'm chasing Mr. Bannister.
Just me against the time.
I'm chasing Mr. Bannister.
Before I reach three-fifty-nine.

I'm chasing Mr. Bannister
My steps and stride are true.
I'm chasing Mr. Bannister
Where my finish line, leads me to you.


"Mr. Bannister", an intense little ditty about a man racing after the woman he loves, was the power romance cut for a many a young lass back in '82. It was that song that introduced the world to Four Miles Running. In April 1982, the group filmed the video for "Mr. Bannister" at the very track where Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile barrier.

It became the hot single on their Album "Bell Lap" (released July 1, 1982). One week later they performed "Mr. Bannister" on "Top of the Pops". Things would never be the same again.

"Mr. Bannister" topped UK Charts. Three other singles "t]Training", "Finishing kick" and "Side Stitches" would reach the top 10. The Album would also do well stateside reaching #9 on the U.S. Billboard TOP 100. the video to Mr. Bannister directed by eccentric, creative British filmmaker Stuart Leslie Goddard, would be a mainstay on the fledging U.S. MTV network and is considered one of the best music videos ever made.

Four Miles Running was on their way, and a producer in New York was watching.

"I heard their sound. Dude, It was a different sound, but it was a timeless sound. Their lyrics, their persona. They were classic, yet modern. There was just something about them that told me, 'I could work with these cats and add something to them special, and they could do the same for me" --Nile Rodgers, producer "the Podium and Other Tales of Daring"


Niles flew over to England in late fall 1983 and spent months with Four Miles Running getting a project together. An ecclectic mix of styles came fourth to make an album that critics and fans liked in equal measure..

The result was... "The Podium and Other Tales of Daring." (released February 14, 1984). A risky vanguard trip that fused the sound from "Fifteen Hundred" and "Bell Lap" --
HIT SINGLES: "No Fatigue" (another love song on par with "Mr. Bannister"), "On The Marks" (A raunchy fun dance cut...think 'Chant No. 1') "Arrow From Jarrow" (Ska goodness!) "The Daley Beat" (a homage to the great British Decathlon Champion -- A little bit of Detroit Motown Funk twisted with some East End rawness.), and the symphonic title track "the Podium" (which would become the theme song for the British Olympic Teams heading to the '84 Summer Games in L.A.).

Many music critics sited "The Podium and Other Tales of Daring" in high regard. Rolling Stone said it was Best Album of 1984.

1984 and 1985 was a wonderful blur for the band. A multi-Grammy winning album that was a success worldwide and broke Michael Jackson's 2-year stranglehold on the pop charts. But, high water mark wasn't the awards or the sales:
.It was July 13, 1985....Live Aid...Wembley Stadium. Four Miles Running gets ready to do their set....but then they were interrupted... "Excuse Me Lads...But we hear you consider us a great influence on your music...That flattered us.. Would do us the honor of having us do a song together..."

The lads couldn't believe it. They were walking on the stage. The Fab Four that stayed together!

Max, Alan, Graham and Robin... MARCH!!!!!

The began with all 8 of them doing "God Save the Queen" A beautiful acostic rendention..and then the broke into MARCH's first #1 songs. "Morris Mini" and "731"

Wembley exploded in joy...

The lads took a little time off after 1985.
Seb worked on a solo album. Peter wrote a book and taught music theory at Oxford. Peter Elliott did a TV role in a remake of "the Professionals" and Steve Cram pursued the band other love, running, with serious zest. He did his first marathon in a not too shabby 2 hours 56 minutes, and found time to make a duet appearance in Phil Collins' 1986 hit album "No Jacket Required" (Steve Cram was rocking the drums on "Sussudio")

Four Miles Running did do some work together in 1987, but tensions in the group precluded a next album until 1988, just the band was fraying apart, Nile Rodgers came in, got them back together enough to push out another great one.

"Trinity College" (released August 19, 1988) was built partially as a homage to MARCH (they did an 80s style cover for "731" for the new album and it scored a #1 hit in the UK) but mainly it was Four Miles Running going forward to stretching back to its roots circa 1979-1980 in a cuts like "once around the square" and the beautiful love ballad "ILY"(the song that Steve Ovett said healed a longtime rift between himself and his parents that nearly ended his marriage")..and there was a song that many cited as ahead of their time..."Running free" which set the stage for the band evolution in the 1990s (with a little help from Billy Bragg, who wrote the song).

Making this album healed the tensions in the band.

"We were nearing break up until building this album. We were all going through things in our lives at the time. We talked a lot. Fought a lot. We cried a lot. But, we became better men and better musicians because of it. "Trinity College" made us closer." -- Steve Cram, 2007


Many people said the band broke up after "Trinity College". That wasn't quite the case. Some said that the album flopped (it was #1 in the UK and ended up #7 in the US). The band didn't break up at all.

Seb Coe said it best in a 1992 interview on Channel Four. "We as a band believe in the Stevie Wonder formula. We'd rather give our supporters a great album every 3-4 years instead one hit and a lot of crap otherwise every year."

The '90s saw more critical acclaim than commercial success for Four Miles Running. Their fifth album "Breaking The Tape" (released March 17, 1995) was musically stellar, but it bumped its head against the mid-90s rise of a more techno/pop sound. To the fans of the sound of the 1990s, which was becoming Rave-ish in Europe and Angst-ridden/Hip-Hop in the States, Four Miles Running was seen as music for an older crowd.

But that older crowd was embracing them more and more by the turn of the century. A 2001 release of their greatest hits was a boon for them. It was one of the top selling CD sets of the year.

By then Seb, Stevie O, Crams, and P.E. were married with children and music wasn't as big in the lives as it was in the 1980s. Four Miles Running was still seen as relevant. They weren't quite an all-time power band, but they were better than merely hawking for the quick 1980's nostalgia buck.

"It was not long after 9-11. I was in New York visting with Nile Rodgers, and I came to a determination that night. There's another album in us. We still have more to give or at least I did." -- Steve Ovett, to Rolling Stone February 2007 on the making of "Back On Track"


A refocused Four Miles Running recorded their first album outside of the UK, and for the third time it was Nile Rodgers on the board for "Back On Track" (released May 30, 2003). Spin magazine dubbed it "A 21st Century Bell Lap. "A bold declaration that we're back, even though we never left")

The album title track "Back On track" was part ballad, part power pop, part racous hip-hop rant where the group addressed all the rumors about themselves and their music. The songs old school style, but new school attitude got old fans excited and fired up a new young fan base to their music.

"Whenever I hear Back On Track, I am ready to play out there. Nothing get me fired up more than that song" -- Manchester United Midfielder/England Football Captain Wayne Rooney

Along with Back On Track came four more hit singles each one written by a different member of the band "I'm Glad I Met You" (an ode to the bandmates written by Coe), "800 Meters More" (a dance-style cut written by Cram), "Working Class" (A punchy Billy Bragg-esque anthem written by Elliott), and "The Final Turn" (A love song written by Ovett).

Add the a special collaboration with MARCH,A long awaited MARCH/Four Miles remake of "Morris Mini", and you had Four Miles Running as the makers of one of the best albums of 2003, and three more Grammy awards.

Since then, each again was about other projects. Cram's "800 Meters More" was remixed by Gabriel and Dresden in 2004, and it was worldwide dance hit. Cram also pursued triathlons, and completed the Ironman in Kona, Hawaii in 2006.
Coe went into politics for a while. In 2005, he was the Tory candidate in his London constituency (He lost).
Peter Elliott did the same thing, running for a seat in commons in 2005 in his Sheffield constituency as a Labour candidate (wasn't a good year for Four Miles Running for MP --- He lost, too).
Steve Ovett went back in the studio and did two more albums. "The Cool Down Lap" (2007) a rather sylish album of soft jazz and romance cuts, and stylish sexy club dance album "Me And The Clock" (2009). One single on that album, "Inspector Alex" rose to #1 on the UK dance charts and will be the title music on the 2012 big screen version of "Ashes To Ashes". The bandmates all applauded Stevie O charting in two completely different disciplines of music, but Peter Elliott ribbed him about the club album.

"You pulled it off. But mate, I have to ask, why exactly did you raid Tom Jones' closet" -- Peter Elliott to Steve Ovett on The Graham Norton Show, 2010.


After a stunning performance at the 2011 Queen's Benefit Concert, Four Miles Running announced that are back in the studio again as a group to record their seventh album. The album will be co-produced by Nile Rodgers, and innovative Rodgers' protege Montserrat Lombard Hamilton.
 
OOC: So, WWII is So far USA and UK vs USSR and in most of Europe was called "the Great European War" ... right?
 
Fred Phelps (1929-)

American pastor, lawyer, civil rights activist, and politician. In the 1960s he was instrumental in dismantling Jim Crow laws in Kansas and Oklahoma, and won a hard fought election to the US Senate in 1974 as a Democrat, serving until the 1998 election, when he was defeated in the Democratic primary, despite Republican dominance of the state. He was a very controversial Senator, styling himself a "Plains Progressive" liberal on racial issues and economically populist, but otherwise very conservative. He was a perennial candidate for the Presidency, running in the Democratic primaries in 1986, 1990, and 1994, the last time dropping out early and running as an independent with Marine Corps officer Oliver North as his running mate, drawing votes from disaffected conservative Democrats and Republicans and winning Kansas and Mississippi, contributing to Steve Jobs' upset victory.

George McCotter (1965-)

American country-rock and folk-rock star, born Thaddeus George McCotter in suburban Detroit. He first became popular locally playing his guitar in central Michigan in the mid 1980s, and came to prominence nationwide in 1991 with his self-titled debut album. He has since sold around 75 million records worldwide and is considered one of the biggest stars of contemporary country music. He usually performs with his backing band The Flying Squirrels

Landon Donovan (1982-)

American footballer, two-time FIFA World Player of the Year winner, and possibly the world's biggest sports star. He started his professional career as a midfielder for Riverside F.C. but only achieved his present fame as a forward for Brooklyn United 2001-2008, one of the top clubs in the NAFL (National Association Football League), leading them to two consecutive Columbia Cup wins in 2002 and 2003 and second place in 2004, before playing on loan at Arsenal in the UK during 2005 and playing for the US national team at the 2006 World Cup in Morocco, getting to the final round before losing a hotly contested match against frequent champions (And bitter US rivals) Mexico, sparking violent riots especially in the border cities and other parts of California and Texas. In 2007, he helped Brooklyn win another Columbia Cup, before in 2009 returning to Riverside F.C., which is now considered a top tier NAFL team especially after it's Columbia Cup win in 2006. He played in the World Cup a second time at it's 2010 iteration in Australia.
 
John Vincent Cable (1943-)

CEO of Atlantic Industries (Formerly Exxon-Shell). Born in York, Cable originally studied Economics at Cambridge.

Following the completion of his masters degree, Cable was hired by the Liberal party as a researcher and has remained a strong supporter of them and later the democratic Labour party. Though more recently his non-domicile status and his position as a donor has brought criticism from parts of parliament.

In 1979 Cable was hired by Royal Dutch Shell as an investment manager. It was from here he flourished, reinvested in the company and steadily Rose. In 1994 he was appointed CEO, where he has remained for 15 years. In 1998 Cable oversaw the merger with Exxon Oil and the subsequent renaming as Atlantic Petroleum. Since then he has overseen the investment in other relevant industries such as General Motors and Sikorsky Aircraft.

Roy Jenkins (1920-2004)

British Prime Minister and former deputy leader of the Labour party who was chosen as Prime Minister following the general election of 1978. Labour had failed to gain a majority and Jenkins had been a key player in forming a coallition government with the Liberal party. Jenkins was chosen as a more centrist member of the party to work with the Liberals. The two parties would later merge in 1981 to form the Democratic Labour party. However following the successful referendum on voting reform and their defeat of the General election the party split to form the Democratic and Socialist Labour parties.

He remained MP for the wider Birmingham South constituency until his retirement prior to the 1990 election.
 
World of Sport...

Nicholas William Peter Clegg (1967-)

"Nick" Clegg, as he is generally known, is widely considered England's greatest cricket captain since the halcyon era of Geoffrey Boycott in the 1970s. Clegg's talent for the game first emerged at Westminster School and he frequently visited the Oval where he attracted the attention of Alec Stewart, the then Surrey captain.

In 1990, Clegg formally joined Surrey and immediately came to attention when scoring 315 on his debut against Middlesex. Within a year, he had broken into the England team and by 1995 was captain at which time England was languishing near the bottom of the world cricket league.

The 1996 series win over the Carribean Confederation is widely regarded as the beginning of England's cricket renaissance and by 2001, Clegg had led England back to the top of the League culminating in the defeat of the powerful New Zealand team.

Retiring in 2004, Clegg joined the Democratic Party and became MP for Sheffield Hallam in 2005 defeating Four Miles Running's Peter Elliott in a closely-fought contest and is the party's spokesman for sport.
 
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