In 2016, Republican Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan announced that Mitt Romney had agreed to serve as his running mate in the forthcoming General election.

Comeback KidThe Wisconsin Representative had grown in stature during the previous four years, gaining respect for playing a full part of in the role of Chairperson of the House Budget Committee. Because bipartisan efforts had enabled America to avoid the Fiscal Cliff and function as a divided government.

Ironically, his opponent was seventy-three year old Joe Biden, who himself (like Romney) had two unsuccessful runs for the White House before coming Vice President. Due to his loyal service he had gain the full support of Barack Obama with the declared intention of holding office for a single-term only.

In 1776, on this day in Philadelphia, an odd group of rich colonial landowners collaboratively authored a global declaration of republican principles known as Mr Jefferson's Letter.

Mr Jefferson's LetterDispersed as a printed broadside, the viral format suited widespread distribution and public reading throughout the British Empire. However King George the Third misjudged the significance of the document and declared that the American colonies were in open rebellion.

However his subsequent appeal for assistance from friendly states was a prescient masterstroke. Because shortly thereafter, a French language variant appeared on the Streets of Bourbon Paris.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan visited Anchorage to deliver an Independence Day speech honoring the Alaska National Guard troops who had turned back the Soviet attempt to invade Alaska in the first days of World War III.

Valiant GuardsmenIn his remarks to the crowd, Reagan said: "The valiant Guardsmen and soldiers who risked, and in some cases gave, their lives to defend this country from Soviet aggression are the newest heirs to the ideals established two hundred and eight years ago by our founding fathers".

The president also took time to pay tribute to the servicemen fighting in the Middle East and Korea and the troops who'd died during the fighting in Cuba; at the conclusion of his speech he presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Canadian Defense Forces general Romeo Dallaire in recognition of Dallaire's role as commander of the CDF contingent which had supported U.S. troops during their fight against the Soviet invasion force.

"Battlefield Alaska" post by Chris OakleyOne woman's life would be dramatically changed by Reagan's Anchorage visit; 20-year-old Wasilla resident Sarah Louise Heath, who had previously been attending the University of Idaho before the war began, was inspired by the speech to leave school and enlist in the U.S. Army Reserve, where she served for over six years before returning home to tie the knot with fiance Todd Palin. Following her discharge from the reserves in 1991, Sarah would embark on a career as an intelligence analyst at the Pentagon, in which capacity she would have the responsibility for archiving hundreds of previously classified documents recovered from Russian defense ministry files after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
This post is an installment of Chris Oakley's Battlefield Alaska thread.

In 1973, on this day President Hubert Humphrey awarded the Medal of Freedom with Distinction to former Vice President and Special Envoy to China Richard Milhous Nixon.

Humphrey sends Nixon to China By Ed & Stan BrinAlthough Humphrey was the man that narrowly defeated Nixon on his second bid for the White House, the two were close colleagues and firm friends. More than that, they both viewed it as their patriotic duty to maintain sound relations across the party divide.

A year before, with his re-election by no means certain, Humphrey had taken a bold step. He committed the United States to the objective of normalizing relations with the People's Republic of China, who at that time considered the U.S. one of its staunchest foes. A breakthrough was finally achieved after a several intense rounds of diplomacy brokered by his Special Envoy. Because of his impeccable anti-communist credentials and dazzling smile, only Nixon could have achieved such an incredible feat.

In 1876, in his first order of business Speaker of the House Michael C. Kerr issued a warrant for the arrest of those radicalized members of the Freedom Party who had executed President Ulysses S. Grant on this Fourth of July for his participation in the Reconstruction Policies he continued after the expiry of Abraham Lincoln's two full terms of office.

Standing ByWhen it had become clear that the "Great Emancipator" and his favourite butcher General would stand by and permit pseudo-slavery to continue under the operation of so-called "black codes" the freedmen overwhelmingly chose to migrate to the north and west.

The result of this social turmoil was ethnic violence in the new industrial cities. And a backlash in the form of the emergence of the powerful Freedom Party who saw the peace with Dixe as a sellout. While the tame end of the party ran elections and agitated, the fringe started to produce nihilist armed underground fighters straight out of the John Brown mould.

Since the recent death of Abraham Lincoln from marfan's syndrome, a small number had recently decided that it was time to take some affirmative action by shooting his presidential successor, Ulysses S. Grant. It was now time for freedom to ring out..

In 2010, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that the French Republic had extended political sanctuary to Barack Obama, until the previous week the President of the United States. In the mansion of the Vice President, Joseph Biden was descibed as comatose in bed from the effects of a brief but severe virus but resting comfortably there.

Obama Gets Political Sanctuary in FranceAcross the French political spectrum, there was praise for Sarkozy's extension of France's usual and familiar protection to friendly foreign VIPs. Obama joins in French exile several forgotten leaders, including Baby Doc Duvalier (Haiti). Obama --- wealthy from book royalties and the Nobel Peace Peace winnings ---- is expected to retire to a French mansion, probably near mountains so that Michelle can enjoy skiing. Obama is expected to follow the pattern of his colleagues in exile and to promote a rival government from France in competition with the Pentagon's regime.

Obama released a brief note to the world press that he had never resigned as President of the United States and that he intends to return to the active exercise of his power. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she was instructing the federal bureaucracy to follow the written special order signed by Obama and Biden just before Biden fell ill with his virus. "It is very plain that full executive leadership has gone to General Petraus who was appointed the Secretary for General Affairs while this nation remains at War in Afghanistan and Iraq".

Former President William Clinton and former Presidents George HW Bush and George W. Bush have volunteered to be a spokesman for the Secretary of General Affairs while he resides at the White House.

"It is just to bring normalcy to the country in this challenging crisis period", said Clinton.

According to well informed sources, American submarines carrying nuclear missiles aimed at Russia and China have followed their regulations and have gone undersea on news of confusion in the USA government. Those submarines commanders have not yet responded to calls from the Pentagon, not even when they have been addressed by Clinton, Bush the father or Bush the son. The submarines are supposed to be able to remain submerged for the next five years without need for more supplies.

In 1912, on this day Summer Olympic Games in Stockholm the United States football team won a convincing bronze medal over Finland, 4-1.

Part 2: The Olympic EraThe US was the only non-European side of the twelve teams to compete in the Games; the gold and silver medals were won by Great Britain and Denmark, respectively. There were no Games in 1916, due to the war; however, in 1920 the US roared back with a silver medal, losing to host nation Belgium in a 2-1 thriller. Unfortunately, the US couldn?t build on this success, with a disappointing second-round loss at the 1924 Games to the eventual champions, Uruguay.

In 1928 they returned to their old form, with a stunning 3-0 victory over powerhouse Argentina, and getting their revenge over Belgium for the 1920 Games with a 5-2 win. In the semi-finals the US faced a surprising Egyptian team, drawing 1-1 in their first match and winning 3-1 in a rematch 2 days later. This set up a final between the US and the reigning champions, Uruguay; in a closely fought defensive match, Uruguay retained their gold medals with a 1-0 victory.

By this time, however, FIFA had decided to break free from the amateur restrictions of the Olympic Committee, and moved to create their own tournament, known as the World Cup.

In 1877, on this day the Confederate Battle Flag used by the Army of Northern Virginia was raised at the Annual Gettysburg Conference, and from that time onwards was the official symbol of the Confederate States of America. That flag, later referred as the "Southern Cross", was fashioned along an oblong pattern rather than the square style of most of the combat originals

Gettysburg Prayer Part Six by Raymond SpeerThe long serving Virginia state government was run by the Citizens Party and ran the Bank of Virginia, an institution which made deals with the other State Governments to provide them with a stable currency, some notes backed by silver and others by gold. The notes bore the inscription: "Confederate Legal Tender authorized by the Confederate Gov't per its Constitution, and issued and distributed by the Bank of Virginia". The gold bills featured pictures from Robert E. Lee from his youth to successful general, and the silver bills showed the images of John C. Calhoun, TJ Jackson and Johnston the Martyr at Shiloh.

Over time, the exchange stabilized at six Confederate gold dollars for one United States dollar, or 24 Confederate silver dollar notes for a single dollar.

Shortly after the currency was reformed , Florida and Texas both declared that they were not going to allow Negroes to vote in their precincts by the decision of their legislatures. That was in defiance of a law that had passed the central government back towards the close of Davis' Administration, a law which had long been cited as anti-thetical to the values of the CSA.

In October 1878, the Supreme Court of the Confederate States, presided over by Chief Justice Judah Benjamin (appointed by President Davis) ruled 7-0 that the central government did not have the authority to authorize voting registries anywhere in the South. "The Emancipation Amendment did many things for the Negro," wrote the Court per curiam, "but it did not transfer suffrage determination from the States to the central government".

President Longstreet's election had been made possible by the exercise of Negro suffrage, and the outcome of the BADGER ex rel. Florida decision appeared to have ruined the prospects for Readjuster re-election.

Lead by its very popular Governor, John Reagan, who had established the CS Post Office while in Jefferson Davis' Cabinet, Texas had passed a law disfranchising Negro voters. Florida and South Carolina had also passed that law and the only place such a proposal was likely to fail was in Arizona which had a Negro / Hispanic majority.

President James Longstreet worked hard to maintain Negro suffrage in the Confederacy. "The Gettysburg Prayer was the divine guidance we needed in our darkest hour," said Longstreet, "and I ask how can we forget it now?" To the contrary, asserted Governor John Reagan: the Citizen Party wanted the vote limited to the mentally sound and politically independent. "Possibly in another generation, the lawmakers of some State may rule that the Negroes are ready to vote. Possibly in another two or three generations, they may let ladies vote! [much laughter]. But till then, let us use good sense as Citizens, and not Readjuster zeal".

In Missouri, a State that had remained in the USA, the great controversy of 1878 were allegations that the rural families of James and Younger had careers as bank and train robbers in addition to farming. Four of the gang had been apprehended in Missouri but Jesse and Frank James had fled to Arkansas, and US President Rutherford Hayes had requested their return to Missouri.

Confederate Senator Louis Wigfall of Texas praised the James Brothers as Southern patriots heartlessly forced from their homes by the Yankee rape of Missouri. Though he had frequently criticized Davis and Ruffin when they had been presidents, Wigfall as he had grown older sharpened his loud opposition to Readjustment, and even voiced the opinion that "the Gettysburg Prayer has been immensely over rated".

On a public street, after leaving a tavern, Senator Wigfall spotted United States Minister Phillip Sheridan walking home from a quiet meal and fired a curious gun that was inside of his walking stick. Sheridan had been missed by the blast, but had heard Wigfall;s threats, and hopped on the back of the streetcar and blackened both of the Senator's eyes within seconds.

President Longstreet was grateful that Wigfall had finally shown the limits to which Citizens would go in extremes. Minister Sheridan did go back to the USA, but so did the James brothers and their mother, who werre also iplicated in their crimes.

Fortune smiled on the Readjusters when North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky all voted down Citizen efforts to disenfranchise Negroes. The Readjusters swiftly rallied around another Confederate General, Pierre GT Beauregard, who had served well as the Secretary of War. Beauregard chose as his Vice President John Hunt Morgan, a cavalry man he had favored since their days in the war.

There was a sprited contest for the Citizens presidential nomination, contested from the start between Jubal Early of Virginia and John H. Reagan of Texas, which was not concluded till the very eve of the convention. Reagan bypassed his rival for the Vice Presidency and chose Robert Toombs of Georgia instead.

Negroes throughout the South backed the Readjuster ticket, resisting the casual contempt by which the Citizens Party assumed they were not capable of voting intelligently. From far off New York, Frederick Douglass moved all the way to Arizona and took a oath of citizenship in that place. "From correspondence with Abraham Lincoln, I made myself the campaign director for the ReUnion Party in that area, which was nearing entry into the Confederacy. As a ReUnion man, I could freely and in good faith participate in the elections of either part of the country, knowing that our goal of consolidation would sooner or later bring us all together again".

Texas, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina all went for John H. Reagan- Robert Toombs but Louisiana's reliability for Catholic Beauregard and unsuspected popularity of Morgan in the Border States enabled the Readjusters to win the presidential race. Counting only the top three votegetters, Beauregard had 48.5 per cent of the popular vote, Reagan took 46.4 per cent of the popular vote and Abraham Lincoln and John Singleton Mosby took 5.1 per cent for the ReUnion Party.

Lincoln-Mosby gathered not a single Confederate electoral vote in the 1879 contest, but confidently wrote to his separated nation that he thought he had planted a seed whereby a new framework would grow for a Combined America.

Also noticeable was the United States' revelation of its "batwing" project in November 1879's last days. The Yankees had waited until both President Longstreet and Beauregard had voiced disbelief in the rumors and sightings that Yankees had invented flying machines === for that matter,Governor John H.Reagan had likewise expressed doubts that the USA had such amazing machines in the air.

President Rutherford Hayes had shown the triumph of Yankee ingenuity and industry with the dozen bald-winged mechanical bats that were flown in patrol from Washington to Richmond and then back to Washington DC. More than a few people assumed that an earlier disclosure of the existance of Yankee flight machines would have scared people and elected John Reagan president.

In 1798, on the anniversary of the declaration of independence, and taking an expeditious decision that would ultimately destroy the careful constitutional checks and balances laid down at the Philadelphia Convention, President John Adams commissioned a Commander-in-chief of the armies. Accordingly, George Washington was ordered to prepare for a war with France that Adams hoped to avoid by "showing his teeth" in making a talismanic appointment they both considered largely as symbolic as his ill-fitting dentures.

Showing His TeethReluctantly called out of retirement to serve his country for the third time, Washington set about the business of planning for a Provisional Army that might meet any emergency that might arise. Both Adams and Washington hoped this activity could be achieved from Mount Vernon.

Soon enough though, the quasi-war escalated dramatically, the Provisional Army was mobilized and once again Washington was called upon to save the infant republic from a belligerent imperial power.

Constitutional amendments were required to place the country on a war footing, legislation which at the time caused little alarm because of his former empowerment from the Continental Congress. Proving woefully inadequate, a whole new government structure was soon required to invest Washington with the necessary powers to fight a second war of independence.

With the benefit of hindsight, the consequence of the War with France was a weak civilian Presidency, Cabinet-style government and a peer-level military authority. Because inasmuch as Washington had brought majestic power to the office of the Presidency, he had now demonstrated the subordinacy of that role to the defence of the Republic. In effect, the Imperial Powers who had been scared off by Washington-as-President, had now been scared off by Washington-as-C-in-C, and the sum total of that equation was that the Presidency was fatally diminshed, an outcome that had been scarcely assisted by John Adam's appalling performance in office.

Other great men such as Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, William Westmoreland and Norman Schwartzkopf would follow in his steps as Commander-in-Chief, but George Washington had the distinction of being first.

In 1940, less than twenty-four hours after 1,297 French sailors perished when a British Royal Navy task force attacked and destroyed much of the French fleet moored at Mers El-Kèbir, the new Chief of State, Admiral François Darlan declared that a state of war existed between Vichy France and Great Britain.

Last Anglo-French War 1940-1944Given that less than eight weeks before, Winston Churchill had proposed a union between the two nations in order to continue the war after the Fall of France, this was an incredible turn of events. But high rhetoric had soon turned to ruthless political expediency when the British began to fear that the French Fleet might fall into German hands. In fact then French Marine Minister Admiral Darlan had provided the British Government with firm guarantees that that this would not happen, ordering the French Fleet to sail for North Africa.

Demonstrating the ruthless brutality that absolutely nothing would stop him from winning the war, Winston Churchill judged that Darlan's guarantee were worthless. Accordingly, he dispatched a written order to the Commander of Force H in Gibraltar, James Somerville charging him "with one of the most disagreeable tasks that a British Admiral has ever been faced with, but we have complete confidence in you and rely on you to carry it out relentlessly". In an embittered response Somerville telegrammed the Admiralty advising that the mission had been acomplished, but the attack was "the biggest political blunder of modern times and will rouse the whole world against us .. we all feel thoroughly ashamed".

Darlan immediately realised that Marshal Petain would let the attack pass without a proportionate response, and swept to power on a fervour of nationalist anger. And for the next two years, he would lead a spirited defence of French Union colonies from British occupation. Such was the level of resolve shown that Churchill was brought to wonder out loud whether such fighting spirit might not have prevented the Fall of France itself. In a sense this was an established fact, because in late May, Maurice Gamelin had been replaced as Supreme Commander by Maurice Weygand who was serving in French Syria.

And yet Churchill's dismissal of Darlan as a turncoat was later to be proven as self-evidently true when the Chief of the French State switched sides and declared war on Nazi Germany in June 1944.

In 1967, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr took an unexpected step forward by officially reforming as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. "We were fed up with being Beatles," McCartney has said, referring to the matching suits and screaming girls they left behind after retiring from live concerts, at the end of August 1966.
Watch the Youtube Clip

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band "We were not boys, we were men. . . artists, not performers".

On Friday, February 10th, 1967, the Beatles had thrown a party at EMI Studios on Abbey Road in northwest London. The occasion: the recording of twenty-four bars of improvised crescendo, played by a forty-piece orchestra, for "A Day in the Life," the climax of the band"s then-in-progress masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Special guests included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Donovan and the Monkees" Michael Nesmith. At the Beatles' request, the orchestra members wore formal evening dress with funny hats, clown noses, fake nipples and, in the case of the lead violinist, a gorilla"s paw on his bowing hand.

"A crowd of people stood and stared. They'd seen his face before"Engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Townsend taped the musical chaos on a pair of linked four-track machines, making this the first-ever eight-track recording date in Britain. Released on June 1st, 1967, in a now-iconic gatefold cover by artist Peter Blake and photographer Michael Cooper, Sgt. Pepper immediately electrified the world. No other LP of rock's first half-century so richly defined its era -- the hope and the mutiny of the 1960s -- and completely redefined the outer limits of the recording experience. "It seemed obvious to us that peace, love and justice ought to happen," McCartney said. At the same time, "we recorded Sgt. Pepper to alter our egos, to free ourselves and have a lot of fun". Whilst we can only speculate, it seems unlikely that the fab four would have survived into the new decade of the 1970s without such a major rethink.

In 1826, President Thomas Jefferson dies at the age of 83. The 75-year-old Vice-President James Madison is sworn in as acting President. It is expected that he will be confirmed as President in his own right by Congress; however, the succession of one aged chief executive by another nearly as old sparks some calls for reform.

The Webster Proposal an article by Eric Lipps"Why should this nation risk passing its highest magistracy from one hand enfeebled by age, however venerated it might be, to another, and thence perhaps to another?" asks New Hampshire Senator Daniel Webster. "Should we not ensure energy in the executive by providing, insofar as is possible, that in the event of a president's death, his successor should enjoy the same vigor he himself displayed at the start of his term?".

Webster calls for a constitutional amendment abolishing lifetime presidential tenure in favor of regular elections at seven-year intervals. The "Webster proposal" will be rejected by Congress. However, variants of it will repeatedly be suggested in years to come.
This article is a part of the Life Term thread. In this scenario, we explore the consequences of a 1787 agreement at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, in which a President-for-life clause is inserted into the text.

In 1995, the British Prime Minister, John Major, lost his battle to remain leader of the Conservative Party.

Mr Major received backing from 89 of the party's MPs in the leadership ballot. His sole challenger, John Redwood, got 218 votes. There were eight abstentions with 12 spoilt papers. Two Conservative MPs failed to vote. Mr Redwood's victory represented support from two-thirds of the parliamentary party - more than enough to win the contest outright in the first round.

The Barmy Army TriumphRedwood was previously a banker and academic, he was also head of the Number 10 policy unit during Mrs Thatcher's second term, where he was one of the greatest supporters of widespread privatisation, a stance he retains to this day. He was elected to the Commons in 1987 and quickly climbed the ministerial ladder, joining the cabinet as secretary of state for Wales in 1993.

"Put up or Shut up"The enduring television image of his time in the role was his bold attempt to sing the Welsh national anthem in its native form. When John Major resigned the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995, inviting detractors to "put up or shut up", John Redwood challenged him, standing on a Eurosceptic platform. His fringe supporters became known as the "barmy army" and the bid was a huge success..

In 1976, an Israeli commando attempt to rescue one hundred hostages, mostly Israelis or Jews, held by pro-Palestinian hijackers at Entebbe airport in Uganda ended in chaos and disaster.

Conqueror of PalestineThe Israeli forces landed at Entebbe an hour before midnight, with their cargo bay doors already open. A black Mercedes with accompanying Land Rovers was taken along to give the impression that the Israeli troops driving from the landed aircraft to the terminal building were an escort for Idi Amin or another high-ranking official. The Mercedes car was borrowed from an Israeli civilian and apparently spray-painted black for the raid, on the understanding that it would be returned to the owner in its original color. The Mercedes and its escort vehicles were quickly driven by the Israeli assault team members to the airport terminal in the same fashion as Amin.

However, along the way, two Ugandan sentries, who were aware that Idi Amin had recently purchased a white Mercedes to replace his black one, ordered this procession of vehicles to stop and quickly raised the alarm. The President added "Conqueror of Palestine" to his list of many titles, indicating that Westerners had once again underestimated the Black African.

	In 1961, as part of New York City's Independence Day celebrations, the Statue of Liberty was reopened to visitors after having been closed for months due to structural damage inflicted by the Jamaica Bay hurricane.

Over the next twelve months tourist visits to the Statue would pump tens of millions of dollars into New York's local economy and further speed along the Big Apple's economic recovery from the disaster.

On this day in 2002, Iraqi-Americans in Detroit held a rally to denounce the Saddam regime's repressive actions in the wake of the Baghdad asteroid strike.	Asteriod Strike
	hits Iraq

	In 1942, at RAF Northolt, Head of the British Professional Army Sir Alan Brooke briefed the new Head of British Central Command, Bernard Montgomery. "Meet with Dayan in Jerusalem and offer him the keys to the British Mandate in Palestine. We need the Haganah to defend the [Suez] Canal Zone. The Jews will be our Orange men in the Middle East".
Moshe Dayan

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson added a single word in the preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence, wherein it was restated that governments "derive their just power from the unanimous consent of the governed". Disturbed by this wording, Albert Gallatin intercedes in the Whiskey Rebellion to the benefit of the farmers, rather than of the fledgling United States government, eventually leading to the death of George Washington in the ensuing civil war, the abrogation of the U.S. Constitution, and the re-establishment of government under the Articles of Confederation. Over the ensuing century, the remnants of central government dissipate, and by the start of the novel in the year 1986, the NAC presidency is a largely honorary role preserved only as a coordinator of actions in national emergencies.

Andrea got to sleep in late because of the holiday - what civilized country puts a holiday in the middle of the week? - and so she and Monica had stayed up till the early morning watching the sky. Monica, as she usually did, still got up in time to cook and eat breakfast, and she was watching TV when Andrea finally roused herself. 'Anything good on?' Andrea leaned over the couch and kissed her daughter on the head.
'Nah,' Monica said, flipping the channel. 'I was just about to go play the Sims.'
'I don't want you spending the whole day on that game,' Andrea said to her. 'I won't, I won't. Just a few hours.'
'Wonderful.'
'Hey, you were on CNN earlier - they had pictures of all the probe meeting people.' Monica looked back at her. 'You need a better publicity photo.'
Andrea stuck her tongue out at her daughter. 'I think I look great in that picture.'
Monica obviously didn't agree. 'Please. You got the Condoleeza Rice flippy-hair thing goin' on.'
A chink showed in Andrea's armor. 'You don't think that looks nice?'
'You should just go natural. A tight afro'd look good on you.'
Andrea ran her hand through her hair. She hadn't had an afro since she was 14 and her own mother had let her start using conditioners. She stared at her reflection in the stainless steel door of the refrigerator and thought about it. 'I should go to the salon before the meeting.'
'That's what I'm sayin'.'
Andrea pulled a juice box out of the fridge and a power bar out of a cupboard and sat down beside Monica. She felt her daughter's eyes boring into her, and said, 'What?' 'Is that your breakfast?'
'I got juice and I got granola. That's all I need.' Monica groaned. 'At least let me make you some eggs.'
'You keep your little butt down on this couch. I need to look good for the meeting, right?'
'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.'
'I'm never letting you watch Saturday cartoons again.' They stared off for a few seconds, and then Andrea gave in. 'All right. Just don't use so much butter on them, this time.'
'I'll use margarine,' Monica said, magnanimous in victory. 'And, I got some nice veggies that'll make 'em taste great, and be healthy for you.'
'My little chef. I'm surprised you weren't watching the food channel.'
'I was, but then Rachel Ray came on. You know how I feel about her.'
'You have got to get over your jealousy of this woman.' 'Pssh. Jealousy. Like she's got anything for me to be jealous of.'
'Fame, fortune, a dozen TV shows...'
'You just wait till I get out of the Culinary Institute and get in with a good restaurant. I got exotic looks and ethnic flair - Food TV'll go nuts over me.' And, true to her words, the smells coming from the kitchen were delicious.
Andrea's stomach growled, in spite of her attempts to placate it with juice and granola. 'Is that going to be done soon?'
'Just gimme a minute.'
Andrea flipped the channel to CNN. It might as well be PNN these days - all probe, all the time. They were showing the latest pictures of the probe from the army of satellites that were now observing it constantly. 'You're right, it does look like a hairball.'
Monica tutted. 'Do we really need to get involved with aliens who have no fashion sense?'

	On this day in 2004 the Washington Post published a special Independence Day op-ed commentary by former CBS News correspondent-turned-author and social critic Bernard Goldberg that sharply criticized the inaccuracies in Fahrenheit 9/11. Titled Moore Of The Same Old Stuff, the article painted a highly unflattering picture of Michael Moore as a hardcore leftist who hated America.
Bernard Goldberg

In 1826, Thomas Jefferson dies in exile in France. Once wealthy, he is broke and deep in debt at his death. His funeral will be attended by several of the surviving members of the American revolutionary movement, including Aaron Burr, who has been living in Paris since the collapse of the Mexican independence movement in 1818 forced him to flee that Spanish colony. In a burst of gallows humor, Burr describes the gathering as "the finest collection of condemned traitors in one place in all of modern Europe".

In 1863, the Southern Rebellion was brought to a close on, fittingly enough, Independence Day. President Whitman called it, 'the divine providence of the Almighty that gives us peace on this day of national sacrament.' Communist Party workers were dispatched throughout the south to bring the people around to the new way of thinking.

In 2291 AUC, Chief Consul Marcus Antonius Levidicus declares the death of the Empire of Rome and the rebirth of the Republic. 'Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may only be founded upon the general good,' he declared in the new Constitution of the Roman Republic. From that point on, no Roman citizen was considered of noble birth; all social hierarchy in the Roman Republic was earned.

In 10-1-12-7, the Sioux and Iroquois declared their independence from the Oeztecan Empire. This began 8 hard years of fighting on the Western Continent, with supplies for Oezteca coming from the Pharaoh and supplies for the northern rebels coming surreptitiously from the Inca. The Sioux-Iroquois Alliance eventually won the war, beginning a long decline in the Oeztecan Empire.

In 1976, the Washington, D.C. fireworks display on the Fourth of July was presided over by the President and televised nationally. Two days hence the President and First Lady served as proud hosts at a White House state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Great Britain. Neither event played well in Richmond, Virgina. Confederate President Jimmy Carter described Ford as an unreconstructed Tory, condemning the celebrations as grand-standing opportunities for the 1976 election.

In 1776, with the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution began. The secessionists were spectacularly unprepared for their 'war of independence', with armed forces comprising militias financed by the States. Finding on either site were the empires of Britain, France, Holland and the Iroqois Confederacy, not to mention many African Americans, First Nations and German Hessian Mercenaries. Out of the war emerged a patchwork quilt of nations. Exactly two hundred years later, the author Billy Pilgrim would cross the boundaries of five nations just travelling from Ilium, New York State to Boston for a convention at which he would be shot dead by a crazed ex-war 'comrade'.

In 1984, the boss drove into Darlington County, looking for some work on the county line via a union connection with an uncle of Wayne's. They drove eight hundred miles without seeing a cop, they had rock and roll music blasting off the t-top.

In 1826, both former American presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, fifty years to the day after the adoption of the ill-fated United States Declaration of Independence.

In 1976, the Raid on Entebbe ended in chaos. Ugandan Security Guards had immediately seen through the disception of President Idi Amin's black Mercedes arriving at the airport in a classic trojan horse strategem. Amin himself said it was typical of the Zionist underestimation of black Africans, which was one reason why he had expelled Jewish nationals from Uganda in 1972.

In 1863, the Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade is routed at Gettysburg, dissolving in a disorganized retreat from Confederate military forces under General Robert E. Lee after a decisive Confederate cavalry raid by General JEB Stuart breaks the Union forces in the area.

Soviet Confederacy of AmericaWith the road to Washington wide open, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, signs the Confederate drafted Instrument of Surrender which recognizes the right of the Confederate States of America to exist and protects the legal right of states to leave the Union as they so choose.

Over night, Confederate governments spring up in the border states and the economic and military power of the United States slides slowly into irrelevance. After several decades of Union losses and Confederate gains in the West and in the Caribbean and Mexico, the Confederacy enters the 20th century as the dominant power in North America. In the 1930s, the South falls on hard economic times as the world plunges into the Great Depression. The South's former slaves, freed by act of President Gustave Tutant Beauregard in 1917 in reaction to fears of reaction by anarchist radicals, are still horribly oppressed and are now denied even the meager wages of the sharecropping farms that have gone under in reaction to decreased demand from factories in Europe and the border states of the Confederacy. Uniting with prominent Southern Communists and dissatisfied veterans of the Confederate actions against Mexico in World War I, they march on Richmond and seize the capitol, executing President Thomas Hardwick and installing a vanguard party, headed by a Stalinst strongman to oversee the Confederacy.

On 5, May 1932, The Confederate States are reorganized into The Soviet Confederacy of America; a Workers' state in direct alliance with the Soviet Union. The full article by Chris Smith can be viewed at Comrade Pants and continues as a thread on this site.

In 1866, at the climatic battle of the Fraternal War, von Moltke's brave little army was decisively beaten at Königgrätz all but ending Brandenburg's rather kitsch dreams of retrocession from the Habsburg's united Germany.

von Moltke's crushing defeat at the Battle of SadowaEven without Napoleon's dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the industrial revolution had provided the necessary driving force for a unified successor state that might eventually challenge Great Britain for economic mastery of Europe. And there was no little irony in the fact that the nationalist revolutions of 1848 had inexorably led to the establishment of two Empires in Central Europe, ruled by the Bonapartes and the Habsburgs respectively.

Of course the Habsburgs would never have had the opportunity had they failed to prevent the union of the Franconian Lines, a move by the rulers of Brandenburg to inherit the Duchy of Prussia. Nevertheless the not-to-be-discouraged House of Hohenzollern did make another more determined bullish attempt in the mid-1860s, but despite their considerable military prowess, failed to muster the support necessary to form a nation in their belligerent image.

In 1842, on this day Queen Victoria and her uncle Leopold I, King of the Belgians were both tragically killed on their way to the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace to attend divine service in accordance with their usual custom.

Tragedy at the Chapel RoyalThe cause was a diminutive, hunchbacked, deeply depressed seventeen-year old boy called John William Bean. On this, his third assassination attempt in two years, he pointed a flintlock pistol loaded only with paper and tobacco and little charge. He was overcome by the boy standing next to him, but unfortunately the fray panicked the horses who bolted, throwing both of the monarchs from the royal carriage.

Nevertheless, Bean escaped even though the Metropolitan Police rounded up virtually every male hunchbacked dwarf in London. Unable to prevent the tragedy, the Queen's vexed Prime Minister (and architect of the Metropolitan Police Force), Robert Peel arrived on the scene and immediately burst into tears.

In 1939, acting upon an Ultra transmission decrypted at the last minute by master codebreaker John Tolkien, British Naval Intelligence despatch Commander Ian Fleming to the Crystal Palace in Sydenham.

Master Codebreaker 2
by Ed, Jeff Provine & Jackie SpeelFortunately, the National Codes Centre at Bletchley Park had detected this dastardly Nazi plot to demoralize the country by destroying an enduring symbol of Imperial Power. And by acting upon the coded signal sent by Nazi counter-intelligence, Fleming was able to intercept Red Skull and bring his fiendish plot to nought. But his regrettable failure to capture the escaping agent would have major consequences for the future, demanding constant vigilence from Tolkien and the team at Bletchley Park.

A great game of espionage was afoot, and many of of these shadowy events would appear in post-war fictionalized accounts written by both Fleming and Tolkien by which time Red Skull was on the Soviet payroll.

In 1863, General George Meade accepts the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. Meade's actions following the failure of Pickett's Charge most likely hastened the Union victory by at least a year, if not more.

The Glorious ThirdLate on the evening of the 2nd, General Meade correctly predicted that Lee would make a massive assault on his center at Cemetary Ridge. Meade knew that his men could defeat such an assault, and began preparing his men for a counterattack. He ordered his Sixth Corps, due to arrive early on the 3rd, to move to the west to block Lee's predicted escape route.

Meade was gambling, however; if Lee's charge succeeded, the Sixth Corps would be too far away to be of any assistance. However, Meade was correct, and as Lee started to retreat from the battlefield, the relatively undamaged Twelfth Corps began demonstrating towards Lee in order to pin him down. When Lee moved against the Twelfth, the Sixth Corps blocked his main line of retreat on the Hagerstown road. Lee made several counterattacks in order to resecure his line of communication and supply, but the Sixth Corps was well entrenched and held off the Army of Northern Virginia.

Although Meade's army was badly battered, he still held numerical superiority over Lee and had some of his army unengaged from the previous days' fighting. With the loss of his supply line to Richmond and his line of retreat, Lee had no choice but to surrender his army to Meade. This, combined with the fall of Vicksburg the next day, led to the surrender of the Confederate government on July 20th.

In 1863, the promising military career of Cavalary Commander George Armstrong Custer ended prematurely on this final day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Great ShowmanCuster's recklessness was in many ways an exaggerated reflection of the desire for boldness that Lincoln sought in his commanders. He was in fact rather lucky to have survived to the ripe old age of twenty-three. Because at Hunterstown, in an ill-considered charge ordered by Kilpatrick against the brigade of Wade Hampton, Custer fell from his wounded horse directly before the enemy and became the target of numerous enemy rifles.

"I challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful charge of cavalry" ~ CusterThrough sheer luck he survived to receive a promotion to brigade command of the 1st Michigan Cavalry just five days before Gettysburg. His preparation for battle included outfitting with a ludicrous black velvet suit of his own design. And on the final day of the battle, he led a wild charge directly in the path of Jeb Stuart's horsemen yelling "come on you wolverines!". 257 men died in "Custer's Dash", the highest loss of any Union cavalry brigade. And his own famous luck ran out (or perhaps other's luck was in), as his horse was shot from under him.

After the Civil War, and out of uniform, Custer turned his attentions to a career in politics. But he soon discovered that his innate gifts of luck, self-promotion and over-exhuberance needed to be complemented with a higher order of intelligence that he sadly lacked. Dispirited, he was to find some form of happiness in an alternative career in showmanship, joining Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and starring alongside another warrior known as Sitting Bill.

In 2008, the Berlin Office of Reuters news service reported "Hitler wax figure unveiled in Berlin amid criticism" (continues in Part Two) ~Fleeing Berlin by Moonlight Part 1 - Hitler wax figure unveiled in Berlin amid criticism
Berlin's new waxwork museum on Thursday unveiled a figure of a glum-looking Adolf Hitler in a mock bunker during the last days of his life, an exhibit that has been criticized as in bad taste. The row over the figure overshadowed the media preview of the new branch of Madame Tussauds which opens its doors to the public on Saturday. Critics say it is inappropriate to display the Nazi dictator, who started World War Two and ordered the extermination of Europe's Jews, in a museum alongside celebrities, pop stars, world statesmen and sporting heroes. "Of course the figure will arouse interest but we hope people will realize he is part of an exhibition with a range of attractions," said Meike Schulze, head of Midway Attractions in Germany which is responsible for Madame Tussauds here. "It will be a shame if he dominates everything".
The figure had certainly aroused interest with a forty-one year old man that was now hastening his way from Bavaria; trouble was he was entering his own period of languishing, and acting unpredictably.

In 1971, following a potent heroin overdose Jim Morrison expired in the Paris nightclub, Rock and Roll Circus. Drug dealers took Morrison out of the club and into a taxi, returning him to his apartment at 17 rue Beautreillis.
Ya'aa'tey
Faking a classic way of reviving overdose victims, the dealers placed the corpse in a bathtub with remnants of a trickle of blood coming from his nose. Beyond caring himself, the Lizard King wandered between worlds. His Navajo guide looked up quizzically in greeting; nodding a respectful greeting in return, 'Ya'aa'tey' ('It is good') said Morrison to explain his early arrival. Together they wandered into the desert plane. Later, the shaman would screech and make animal sounds - but for now, he cherished the achievement of nirvana.

In 1997, gangsta rapper and producer Dr. Dre discovered a demo tape to Slim Shady recorded by unknown artist Eminem floating around Interscope label president Jimmy Iovine's office.
Watch the Youtube Clip

Boiling PointUnable to contact Eminem in Los Angeles, Dre was shocked to discover that the young artist real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III had recently died of a massive drug overdose.

Eminem had a one-year-old daughter at home and few commercial prospects. Determined to give the music business one more shot, he recorded the Slim Shady EP and moved from Detroit to Los Angeles. "He had been reaching a boiling point, doing a lot of drugs because he was so depressed," his wife said later. "When Dre called, it was just too late to save his life".

In 1883, on this day Franz Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, the capital of Bohemia. He lived a peaceful yet ever-changing life in the ever changing Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Birth of KafkaHis entire youth was spent in the company of the person that would influence and affect Franz' ideas and life the most: his brother Georg Kafka.

Barely younger than Franz himself, Georg would come to exert an enormous deal of influence on him, and through their complicated childhood in which the Kafka family would continuously move from one neighborhood of Prague to another, the two boys would be each other's best and only friends.

An article by Pablo PortilloIt was through Georg that Franz Kafka lived most of his life, often protecting or following his younger brother depending on the case. This is how the two joined the Imperial Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, after Georg had decided that he wanted a life of adventure, which his brother didn't particularly want, but as in many cases in the life of the Kafka brothers, Franz was dragged by his young brother.

After a few years in the Armed forces, the Kafka brothers would find a new interest, once again through Georg Kafka's continuous desire for change and adventure, and that interest was politics.

From 1907 the brothers began to participate in Bohemian nationalist activities, campaigning for greater political and cultural autonomy, while at the same time German nationalists continued to increase their own activities within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Kingdom of Bohemia. Franz Kafka in particular began to take interest in socialist activities while at the same time being an activist for Bohemian autonomy and rights. When in 1909 his brother George began to participate in socialist activities, it was the first time Franz had influenced his brother instead of the other way around. It wouldn't last for long though.

In May of 1911 Georg Kafka would be arrested by the Imperial Police for acts of sedition along with several other nationalists and socialists in Prague. Four weeks later Georg would die of pneumonia, leaving his brother Franz alone and depressed.

Franz would nevertheless continue with his political activities, writing essays and manifestos for the Bohemian cause. At the same time he began to work in his brother Georg's last apparent interest: Zionism.

Although not particularly devout Jews during their youth, the Kafka brothers had begun to develop an interest in Judaism and Jewish culture while working in the Jewish ghettos in Prague. Franz would later marry a jewish girl from the Ghetto of Josefstad in Prague, although she would later die of Influenza in 1919.

Traveling to Germany, France and the United Kingdom between 1911 and 1914, he began to involve himself with the Zionist movement gradually but constantly. The beginning and the end of the Great War would nevertheless divert Franz attentions for a while, being elected to the Parliament of 1917 and later to the first Parliament of the new state of Czechoslovakia. His wife's death in 1919 would nevertheless leave Franz with a deep feeling of desperation and sadness, and when the opportunity presented itself, he decided to move to the British Mandate of Palestine and work for the creation of a Jewish State more directly.

In the Mandate he met the then young David Ben-Gurion and other members of the Labor Zionist movement in the area, which he joined in 1920.

While working for Ben-Gurion and the Moderate faction of the Zionist movement in Palestine, Kafka came to oppose the violent methods of the Orthodox and radicals like Menachem Begin. Kafka was also an important part in the establishment of defensive militias to protect the Jewish settlements from Palestinian and Arab attacks, as well as attacks from the Irgun or other Jewish fanatics within the Mandate.

Franz Kafka also played an important role within the Labor Zionist Party, reorganization much of the Establishment's apparatus, giving speeches and encouraging the immigration of eastern European Jews, especially after the rise of anti-Semitic governments in the area and the German annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938.

The appeasing policies of the United Kingdom and the limitations to Jewish immigration to the mandate were the targets of Kafka's speeches during much of the late 1930s, and a source of controversy regarding Israeli-British relations, to the point in which some argue that the British Military might have been involved in at least one of the half a dozen assassination attempts Kafka suffered between 1938 and 1942.

During the 1936-1939 Arab rising and the beginning of World War Two, Kafka and Ben-Gurion worked for the unification of the Israeli militias under a single command, although Begin's Irgun would be excluded due to its methods, such as the bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946, which killed hundreds of British soldiers.

Kafka's Israeli Defense Committee would be the source of a new wave of tensions between the Arabs, the Jews and the British, even though Kafka would later offer the services of the Defense Forces to fight against the Germans when the war began in 1939.

Even though Israeli Forces would fight the Arab rising of 1941 and Rommel's advances in Libya, the British were still distrustful of the Zionist government in general and of Kafka in particular, as de facto Minister of Defense for David Ben-Gurion.

After the war, Kafka and Ben-Gurion led the efforts to create a Jewish state with a moderate tone, despite the activities of Begin's Irgun against the British Army. During the 1930s Kafka's visits to America made him with many contacts with the American Jewish community. Georg had made Franz interested in oratory through his interest in theater in their childhood, and Franz was able to impress the Jewish-American community with passionate speeches and a striking oratory.

Negotiations with the British would nevertheless bring no results, and with the influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe forcing London into taking a hard line, Begin decided to declare war on the British by blowing up the King David Hotel in 1946.

The Palestinian civil war of 1946 led to several thousands of dead when the Palestinian and Arab militias joined the fight between the British, Irgun and the Israeli Defense Committee under Kafka and Ben-Gurion.

Thousands of dead and the world's pressure forced the British to abandon the Mandate on May 3rd of 1947, leaving a three-way fight between the Arabs, the Zionist moderates and the Zionist radicals, which were either defeated or incorporated by the time Egyptian troops crossed into Gaza on May 20th of 1947.

David Ben-Gurion was made Prime Minister of the new Free State of Israel on May 22nd of 1947 and Franz Kafka was made Minister of Defense the same day, being the man responsible for the defense of Israel a 64 year old lawyer.

Kafka was nevertheless able to mobilize the Jewish militia with his passionate speech, and thanks to American diplomatic and the intervention of the UN, Israel was saved from destruction by the Arab League. Kafka's biggest contribution to the war effort might have also been the gaining of support and arms from Czechoslovakia at the time, being able to obtain arms from Czechoslovakia by official and unofficial means.

After the near miraculous end of the Israeli War of Independence on August of 1947, Kafka was made Minister of the Interior and Minister for Foreign affairs between 1947 and 1949, leading the efforts to gain international support, reconcile with the Jewish radicals like Menachem Begin in 1948 and working to built a stable democratic future for the new state, while his own homeland of Czechoslovakia fell to the influence of a communist dictatorship.

Franz Kafka died on April 11th of 1950, His final wish being that he be buried at Prague, a wish that could not be fulfilled until the collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989.

	On this day in 1968, an outraged Alexander Dubcek broke off diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union and declared war on the USSR after learning the Kremlin had made plans to occupy his country.
Alexander Dubcek

On this day in 1967, the Soviet government approved a generous foreign aid package intended to expedite the reconstruction of Egyptian port and industrial facilities damaged by Israeli bombardment during the Sinai War.

Nature Boy	On this day in 1982, Ric Flair beat NWA world champion Tommy Rich in the main event at an NWA televised card in Boca Raton, Florida; as a result of an altercation between Flair's and Rich's respective managers near the timekeeper's table during the match, a stipulation was added to the main event at the second Great American Bash which said that if Flair won his upcoming steel cage bout, J.J. Dillon would get five minutes alone in the ring with Jim Cornette.
Ric Flair

In 1944, Allied troops in northern France started advancing on Reims as Charles de Gaulle made his triumphant return home from exile in London. That same day Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators in the plot to overthrow Adolf Hitler made their final decision to mount their coup against the Nazi dictator within 48 hours.
	Von Stauffenberg

Is that really it?'
There was just the faintest light in the western sky as she looked through the telescope. You couldn't make out any details on it, but it was coming closer every day, and soon, you'd be able to read the bumper sticker on it - provided it had bumper stickers.
'Give it another few days and it'll be more impressive, even in our little scope, here,' Andrea said. She adjusted the telescope a bit for her daughter and looked west. She had a pretty good eye and had been observing the night sky for most of her life, but she still couldn't see the probe up there without assistance. 'The shuttle's going to be able to pick it up by the end of next week.'
'You'd think they'd send something a little flashier,' Monica said, adjusting the scope slightly on her own, which caused her mother to cringe a moment before restraining herself. The girl has to learn sometime, Andrea thought, calming herself. She's been watching you do this since she was old enough to stand, she's not going to break it. 'I mean,' the young girl went on, 'you go to all the trouble of makin' a probe to send out to an alien civilization, you might as well do something to make it look like more than a hairball.'
'Well, remember, they are aliens,' Andrea said, chuckling. 'And besides, it's been traveling for, what was the estimate? Three million years? I doubt they had current fashion in mind then.'
'At least ours looks like a real probe - it's got antennae and stuff on it. Theirs just looks lazy.'
'I'll be sure to bring your criticisms to the meeting on Monday,' Andrea said. 'Now, push off, let me have another look.'
Monica held her mother off with a stiff-arm. 'You been lookin' all night. Give somebody else a chance.' She inched the telescope slightly to the east, which made Andrea involuntarily clutch the air. 'What star did they say it came from?'
'Wolf 359.'
Monica giggled. 'Just like Star Trek. Sweet.' She put on her best Captain Sisko and mumbled, 'We met in battle sir - at Wolf 3-5-9!'
'I've raised such a geek,' Andrea said, pityingly.
'It's ok, I'm sure I'll still be able to find a boy.'
'Yes, but what kind of boy? I don't want cheese puff stains all over the house when you start dating.'
'It's prob'ly time to break out the dust-buster, then, mom.' Monica looked up from the telescope and smiled shyly at her mother. 'Eric wanted to know if he could come over and get some help with his math homework on Friday.'
Andrea took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She had always thought she'd be excited about her daughter growing up and starting to date, but now that the moment was here, she felt a huge sense of dread. Jesus, the mistakes I made were bad enough. But, of course, one of those mistakes was Monica's father, so she could see where everything turned out all right. 'OK,' she said to her daughter. 'But, your door stays open the entire time he's here, understand? And no surfing for porn.'
'Moooom,' Monica whined, 'I only do that when you're at work, you know that.' Andrea gave her a small whack on the back of the head and they both giggled. Monica put her eye back to the telescope and said, 'End of next week, huh?'
'End of next week. Provided we can figure out how to slow it down.'
Monica was silent for a moment, then said quietly, 'This is gonna change everything.'
Andrea nodded. 'It sure is.'

	In 1974, the death of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band member George Harrison was ruled a misadventure (Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham was also cleared of manslaughter charges). At Bonham's twenty-fifth birthday party, Harrison had dumped the entire birthday cake on the drummer's head; Bonham responded by throwing the ex-Beatle into a swimming pool where he had drowned.
Led Zeppelin

On this day in 1941, Joseph Stalin addressed the Soviet people in a radio speech from the Kremlin in which he boasted that Germany would be crushed by the Red Army in six months. 'We will bury you, Herr Hitler' he said, and with Soviet armor and infantry divisions advancing at a brisk and steady pace towards the eastern bank of the Bug River there was little reason to doubt Stalin on that score.

Kaesong	In 1951, on this day talks to end the Korean war will begin later in July after terms were accepted by General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander to the United Nations in the Far East. Original proposals for the ceasefire talks were made by General MacArthur to the Communists who requested changes which have today been agreed to.
Talks

In his original message to the North Korean commander Kim Il-Sung and the Commander of the Chinese Communist forces General Peng Tuh-huai, General MacArthur stated: 'Since agreement on armistice terms has to precede the cessation of hostilities, delay in initiating the meeting and reaching agreement will prolong the fighting and increase tension.' But, at the request of the Chinese and North Koreans, the talks will be delayed by 10 to 15 days. The delay is thought to be because of difficulties in reaching Kaesong due to transport problems although there is speculation the delay is to allow a finalisation of tactics.

In 1988, the eight year long US-Iran War reached a new nadir when an American naval warship patrolling in the Persian Gulf shot down an Iranian passenger jet after apparently mistaking it for an F-14 fighter. All those on board the airliner - almost 300 people - are believed dead. The plane, an Airbus A300, was making a routine flight from Bandar Abbas, in Iran, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The USS Vincennes had tracked the plane electronically and warned it to keep away. When it did not the ship fired two surface-to-air missiles, at least one of which hit the airliner. Navy officials said the Vincennes' crew believed they were firing at an Iranian F14 jet fighter, although they had not confirmed this visually. A state of war has existed since the Tehran Hostage Crisis in 1980.	Will Rogers
	Capt. USS Vincennes

In 1971, Jim Morrison of the rock group The Doors was found in his hotel room room in Paris, apparently attempting to overdose on heroin. Genevieve Lefevre, the young chambermaid who found him, got him to a hospital and stayed by his side while he was recovering. Morrison became so enamored of her that he broke up with his longtime girlfriend, Pamela Courson, and married Ms. Lefevre in 1972.

In 1942, Emmy-winning actor Kurtwood Smith was born in Wisconsin. Smith's career consisted mainly of playing hard-nosed, villainous types before he landed the role of President Bartlet on the hit series The West Wing. Smith's masterful portrayal of the literate, liberal president wowed audiences across the country, and he won three Emmys in a row for Best Actor in a Drama.

Siege of "Siena" Lifted	Sikhs Defeat "British East India Company"	Reversion of "Byzantium"
Poet John Milton is martyred in "Paradise Stolen"	POTUS "Benajamin Nathaniel" comes to Israel	Paw Ingalls Quits Little House on the Prairie: "Part 2"
President Mandela is impeached in "South Africa's Agony".	Orwellian Britain subverts the true meaning of Dicken's "Christmas Carol"	Over-zealous welfare reform advocate "Fifteen Bob"
Nixon completes Kennedy's "Vision of Victory"	Napoleon's Escape to "North America"	Nuclear Armed Saddam is "Out of the Box"