Great Leap Forward

Today In Alternate History

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The Announcement

Post-Birthday Delirium: The Alt-Historian is in a bit of a delirium after the joyous celebrations yesterday, so Steve will have the entirety of today's post. Don't forget the birthday contest for Steve – November 22, 1967!

In 2007, President Bert Gort of Macrosoft, Inc announced it was "probably best" to set the update manager to half hourly intervals on Vesta Enterprise Edition. The delivery of up to two critical updates per hour was hailed by Gort as a leap forward in accelerated "time to market" for desktop operating systems. Surely other enterprise software authors would not have had the vision to deliver this innovation to the needy user and his/her stable desktop platform.

~ entry by Co-historian Steve Payne

Eric Blair	When George Orwell joined up to fight in the Spanish Civil War, it seemed like the beginning of "an era of equality and freedom" .. he vividly chronicles his experiences: the revolutionary euphoria of Barcelona, the courage of the ordinary Spanish men and women he fought alongside" ~ plaque at the Plaza de George Orwell, Barcelona
George Orwell

Franco's defeat at the hands of the militia was the beginning of the end for Fascism in Europe. And the beginning of Anarchism, with the control of government giving way to "the Party". Orwell's only regret was choosing the year 1984 to describe this future vision. He realised by the end of 1945 it was much closer, and renamed the book 1948. The full article is available at Amazon

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

All my life I wanted to make it to the top (That's word,we pray) Some said I wouldn't They told me no, but I didn't stop
MC Hammer	(That's word,we pray) Working hard,making those movies everyday (That's word,we pray) And on my knees every night, you know I pray ~ Lyrics to “Pray” - Click to Watch Sample
Stanley Kirk Burrell

In 1997, Stanley Kirk Burrell was the subject of an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show and the VH1 series Behind the Music. In these appearances, Burrell admitted that he had already used up most of his fortune of over $20 million. Privately Burrell was considering leaving the music industry and going back to the Church. Fortunately, his partnership with Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur generated new income and this did not occur. It would have been a travesty of justice for the twentieth century's greatest dancer to have entered premature retirement. Please Hammer don't hurt 'em - said the fans! The lyrics are available at Astraweb

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

In 2002, Chris Bunch published Tarnished Glory, projecting General George Armstrong Custer fifty years forward into World War II.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

"I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, ..
Urban II	... to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it is meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it." ~ Pope Urban II, self-styled chief bishop and prelate over the whole world.
Pope

On 15 August 1096 the beginning of an independent foreign policy was actively pursued from Rome as thousands “took the cross” in the First Crusade. Urban II viewed himself as “chief bishop and prelate over the whole world”, and this event marked the emergence of a Holy Roman Empire headed by the Pope. A synopsis of the life and times of Pope Urban II is provided at Wikipedia

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

In 1942, at the old Spanish Prison in Manilla the Japanese guard caught the escaping American officer. Unslinging his rifle, the guard inquired Nan desu ka? Suddenly MacArthur appeared, moving incredibly fast for his age. He barged the Japanese, and in a moment the rifle was a club MacArthur used to break his arm. The escaping pair fled into the moonlight, and they were gone. MacArthur had made good his escape, the duty of a soldier who has been captured. He refused to fade away as a POW.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

Malcolm X	In 1482, to pass the long night of six hundred years at St. George El Mina Castle, a new angry voice spoke to Kwame. ”We declare our right on this earth to be a man.... to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this ..
.. society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary. ”
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1956, delegates of the European Monarchies started upon the formal agenda for the Berlin 2 Conference. The definitions for spheres of influence agreed in 1884-5 (Berlin 1) were reviewed in the context of security problems posed by African nationalists. Point #1 was to seal agreement on free shipping along the Niger and ..	Spheres of Infl..
.. Congo rivers permitted agreement on an multinational security force for threats to transportation. More troublesome were the mineral resource pools, all of which were concentrated in individual protectorates for obvious reasons.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

MacArthur	In 1957, the MacArthur Doctrine is show-cased to the world press. Following the successful conclusion of the Dropshot War, President Douglas “Brass Hat” MacArthur had reversed the defeats of the early Cold War and reconquered the world for democracy. Korea was re-united, and China back under the governorship of Chiang Kai-shek's ..
.. Kuomintang. With Mao Tse Tung's forces retreated into the Soviet Union, Brass Hat confirmed in his doctrine that the United States would not tolerate communist activity south of the Ussuri River.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1976/1750, in Harlem, New York City the actress Cicely Tyson dreams of a place she has never seen, the village of Juffure in the Gambia, West Africa. She and her husband Omoro take their newborn son to the village elder. Omoro holds his son and first whispers into ..	Binta Kinte
.. the ear of his son. The Mandinkas believe that every person should be the first to hear its own name. Then and only then, will others hear it. And so the name is first whispered and then revealed to all who have waited for seven days to hear it: Kunta Kinte, Kunta Kinte. Following the ceremony, Omoro takes his newborn son to the edge of the village. Alone in the dark of night with his newborn son, lit only by the moon and the millions of stars overhead, Omoro lifts his son high over his head and says: “Behold, the only thing greater than yourself.” The following morning, Tyson receives a telephone call from the author Alex Haley, who makes the actress a once in a life-time offer.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!