stevep
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Post by stevep on Nov 11, 2022 13:25:38 GMT
January notes - Enterprise’s disappearance was down to accidentally passing through a long dormant Atlantean portal at just the right/wrong time. The principle is related to goings on south of Bermuda - Top Secret/Majestic is a classification used deliberately… - The Oklahoma meteor does have an eventual follow up coming - The Return of the King is a much better picture than Jackson’s adaption- Death cults in Madagascar have an interesting story behind them - Even as negotiations in Vietnam are taking place, the wrestle for advantage continues, including aerial combat. The US and Allies are starting to get the upper hand back from some of the earlier closer run battles - The Soviet naval force inadvertently kills the last two megs without realising it - Trouble is brewing in the Philippines - Not even King Zod can foil the rampaging Ramesses - Samson Mulumba is a cover identity operated by the leader of the African Liberation Front. Talk about hiding in plain sight - NASA increasing rocket orders means sending more gear up to the moons and the US starship construction dock - Tokyo overtakes it’s competition a bit later, but the trajectory and reasons are still fairly plain - Will Owen faces a different outcome - Evel Knievel gets to jump the Grand Canyon - Something valuable is found in Rhodesia - Even as Vietnam is still nominally going, there is an effort to study and analyse it in order to improve - Iraqi Minister of Defence is a bit of a poisoned chalice. The latest youngish officer comes into office, intent on *this* time being the chance for a successful coup. Then they get the big picture/secret details, as well as a friendly welcome visit from the British advisory forces. So far, all have preferred to go with the flow and retire alive and rich rather than the alternative - Duran v Duran is a novel case indeed - Very quietly and very effectively, French forces remain the real power in numerous nominally independent African countries - Wales gets more success than @ in sport, mirroring their different economic trajectory in a bit of thematic parallelism - Demis Roussos ending up as an opera singer seems fitting - The new British tac nuke is similar to the WE.177, but with some more optional settings and a fitting name - Someone put the silver snake there, somehow… - In Persia, we see some reticence to aggravate the outside powers into intervening. The USA and Britain are not seen as paper tigers, but state actors with a history of pressing the coup or military intervention buttons if a ‘friendly state’ looks like becoming unfriendly - China is building a powerful missile, but the cutting edge is now what is on top of them - JFK’s speech is generally accepted, as there is far less distrust of the word of the government
I must admit I found the Two Towers the weakest of Jackson's films because of the substantial and unnecessary plot changes, most specifically the character assassination of Farimir. The Return of the King was a bit OTT in terms of some battle scenes and what the army of the dead actually did while there was that pointless and stupid charge by Aragon at the last battle which an exoerience commander like him would never do but it wasn't as bad for me as the 2nd film.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Nov 11, 2022 13:31:13 GMT
February notes - The Argentine train crash is entirely accidental, but is used very deliberately for political ends - Clay vs Marciano is based on the historical 1970 film 'The Super Fight' - The Sherlock Holmes reference is going to be a story one day - Demand for Australian raw materials does lead to some big highs, but the cause for that demand is going to wind down soon, requiring consideration of measures to avoid being left in the lurch - The Chesapeake Bridge is a victim of dark magic, building on a few other strings laid out in prior years - English water developments may slip by the wayside in the views of most, but the linking of the Welsh Mountains Scheme (an expansive system of dams and reservoirs created for hydroelectricity as well as water supply) and the Grand Contour Canal creates an even large water supply grid for future droughts. Additionally, the GCC does provide a major modernisation of the canal network linking most of the major cities of England - London, Bristol, Southampton, Coventry, Birmingham, Nottingham, Derby, Chester, Manchester, Blackburn, Bradford, Hartlepool and Newcastle - providing for improved industrial transport infrastructure - Charles Harrelson, father of future actor Woody, faces the consequences of there being no pre Furman de facto moratorium on capital punishment in the United States; not that there will be a Furman decision - The Soviet naval squadron's world cruise is a sign of a profoundly different naval strategy; the Delta trying to slip out in their wake is something a bit more familiar to us - The meaning of the (bit of a mouthful) Nahuatl name of the Mexican spaceship is the Morning Star Venus - Women's rights are not so far behind our 1970 as a general rule, but the perception of the women's liberation movement is even more mean and negative than in @, reflecting more of a mid 1950s social attitude basis - The new imperial city being built in @ North Macedonia is a bit to the east of @ Veles, which upon examination of a map of the Balkans is fairly close to their geographic centre, or, to put it another way, close to the geographic centre of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia. That is deliberate and symbolic, rather than coincidental - Even flying taxis don't solve the issue of traffic congestion in a large city like London! - Katanga edging towards 'independence' is the latest roll in the ongoing dice game - Prince Siegfried really is involved in the adventuring super group - As well as alliteration, the deeds of the Central American Revolutionary Front are paving the way for future ...developments... - The underground nuclear event in Sumatra is an attempted test that turned out to be a rather disappointing fizzle. Whilst there isn't public follow up, it does get the attention of Australia, Britain, the USA and India - The platinum deposit in Zangaro may be familiar to readers of Frederick Forsyth's The Dogs of War- This IRB is different ideologically and materially from the @ Provos, as different as chalk and cheese, but their mention is a sign that not everything is peaceful cakes and ale in Ireland - The Armistice post is very detailed and speaks for itself. It should be noted that the ratio of North Vietnamese/Red losses to US/Allied/Blue ones of 524:306 (or 1.7:1) is better than the @ one of 1.5:1, but is still regarded as unacceptably high by the USAF, USN and their associated Allied air forces - Unsurprisingly, victory in Vietnam rubs off on the political leadership of the day - The Frenchman trying to eat the Golden Gate Bridge is based on this chap: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Lotito- Disappearing stars? - The concern over robotic gun turrets and their ilk is perhaps warranted, given their mixture of extreme utility and the technology not being up to distinguishing between "valid targets" and "innocent Asian or African peasant boy going about his business" - The key piece of information in the news of the Nepalese royal wedding is the description of Nepal as an 'Indian princely state', with the correct implication that Nepal is part of India
That's a pity for Nepal. It won't be the same without them being independent.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Nov 11, 2022 14:03:47 GMT
June notes - Soviet spy scandals in Australia and New Zealand show that with a Red Indonesia, they are more on the frontline of the Cold War - The ICM Mercury "personal computer" isn't up to the level of 1980s devices of the same name, but rather is the first widely available machine marketed as such. It is somewhere between an Altair 8800 and Sol-20 in characteristics - Italy is getting into high speed rail, which has some utility given its geographical circumstances - Air pirates being hit with curare is a sign of rapid adaption to evolving threats - The painting theft in London is historical, but the involvement of the Italian 'art commandos' (who here are a bit more overtly ...'commando-ish'...) is a separate development - The Argentine self coup is the first step in some definitive changes down in the Southern Cone, some for the better, some not so much. Rodriguez is no Peron, but they have certain common characteristics - The Portuguese Colonial War is progressing differently with different countries on some borders - 'I'm Backing Britain' is more of a nuanced and focused campaign on buying British and Commonwealth products than a non-union supported campaign to work extra hours in a push for greater productivity - The islands of the South Pacific are a long way off self government and independence - Gordon Banks plays in 1970, but the world doesn't fall into dystopia- The refusenik escape plot actually works here, with better consequences for those involved, but nastier ones for those left behind - The Range Rover is rather more successful than its @ equivalent - Pele leads Brazil to a World Cup triumph, providing something of a reward for a very good side of the time - The wife of the Aidenfield constable, a Dr. Rowan, is saved through the intercession of a American chap named John Smith and his grizzled travelling companion, who might be familiar to those who have ever seen Highway to Heaven - The Kunst brothers' walk around the world has a successful and less tragic conclusion here - Exercise Marlborough highlights the larger scale/size of the British Army, as well as a few interesting new weapons systems in the 5" LARS and the 375mm howitzer. The latter is very long range and bad for your health if you are in the area of its rounds impacting. I slipped in the bits about protective kilts and Highland charges to show that some seemingly old fashioned aspects (in this case of uniform and tactics) remain in some convoluted form; the charge is really a bayonet charge with some extra swords for good measure - The Pragger Wagger finishes university rather quickly for the amount of subjects; there is some magic at work here, similar in concept to the Time Turner from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Indian princes/monarchs remain a power group, rather than being deposed and progressively poked off stage - A new Tolkien book covering the Second Age was perhaps a little motivated by the decidedly laissez faire approach to lore taken in The Rings of Power- The Sentinel Program's completion does provide quite an effective ABM shield over the USA against an early-mid 1960s level threat, but the growing size of the Soviet arsenal, MIRVs and more necessitate new technologies. The race never stops - Smokey the Bear saves the boy, reminding us that only you can prevent child scalding - Jeremy Thorpe's wife does not die. He has a bit of a different career, not making it to the top job in the larger Liberal Party, and has never met Norman Scott; Rinka lives a long and happy life - Gunther Messner is not lost on a Himalayan mountain, showing that at least some yeti are quite friendly
I don't know, WE LOST!  Seriously a good AH reference, albeit to a TL I never read. The run had to end sometime and Pele and Brazil definitely deserve a win or three. Must be Duncan's final world cup and surprised he's still around as an international player.
Good to see another Tolkien book, especially one which would as you say make the RoP crap more difficult to emerge in the future.
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Post by simon darkshade on Nov 11, 2022 14:08:34 GMT
July notes
- The halfling desire for their lads to do National Service is in part a representation of where they see their best interests as a community
- Comet production and sales are much, much larger than @, being one of the real successes of the postwar British economy
- Underwater tests are strictly speaking not allowed, but the French are wiggling through technicalities of what exactly counts as underwater
- The clean up of the Victory Parade will be the model for future public sanitation developments
- Ruins in Cyprus are from the Atlanteans
- Umberto II's death is a pure accident, rather than anything deliberate. Hunting falls have never been good for kings
- The Yak-36 is closer to the Yak-141 in many areas of performance, rather than being an utter dog
- The Guardian article has a number of key takeaways - the lower numbers of Indian immigration compared to this point in @ reduces the number of restaurants from ~1500+ to about 300; that the Guardian in particular is not fond of Italians; and that there is a bit of ignorance of the nature of spaghetti
- The EPA is an @ development, but environmental awareness is probably a bit ahead of @
- Trolls kill the King of Iceland
- Some US troops don't return home from Vietnam, but are redeployed to Australia in light of the Indonesian threat
- The Bielefeld Conspiracy strikes again!
- Rodriguez announces increases in the Argie Army, largely as a pay off for political support in the self coup
- Jaguar Knight assassinations in Mexico indicate not resurgent Aztecs back from the grave, but rebel groups adopting their regalia and imagery
- Arab Mirage orders show that they are trying to diversify their defence equipment
- The experimental interdimensional craft is an interesting story
- Sky Shield keeps going on, with the exercise giving good experience to both the 'attackers' and defence
- Pug Henry keeps the US Navy wet. It never went dry in 1914, with Josephus Daniels not getting anywhere near Secretary of the Navy on account of TR’s third term from 1912
- The Anglo-Congolese agreement is not an end to the troubles, but a cap on some of them
- The TA never losing its expansive combat division role that in @ developed from the 1957 White Paper (dropping from 10 to 2 divisions) and the late 1960s contraction. The first line units and strength have become smaller with the inactivation of AA Command, but there is still a reasonable level of capacity. In general, there is a similar tripartite structure to the US Army with its National Guard and Army Reserve formations of the 1950s in the form of the TA and the Army Reserve, with the latter being a combination of the @ ‘Ever Readies’ and a bit of 1900-1945 structures. There is still a strong push to reduce the active divisional strength of the British Army in light of the end of Vietnam, the continuing reduction of forward deployed forces in the Middle East and the capacity of a UK based strategic reserve combined with long range air lift. The RFC getting Harriers after 8 years of debate and argument is a bit of a rebuff to the RAF’s desire to control everything that flies and will be followed by some more contentious developments across the Atlantic
- The bits and pieces of tech on display at the National Technological Exposition are inspired in some cases from Lapcat intel/Sam Johnson's memories in 1961
- Salazar is but a footnote here
- The realisation that two species have been wiped out, one accidentally and one by design, gives some people pause
- Planning begins on the Sears Tower
- The Royal Ordnance L204 25pdr multirole airborne field/anti-tank/infantry support gun is not just a bit of a mouthful, but represents a different response to the lessons of various conflicts. It isn't quite on the level of the Soviet towed 125mm AT gun, but the guns haven't quite gone extinct yet
- Tupamaros up to no good
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Post by simon darkshade on Nov 11, 2022 14:21:49 GMT
Steve, I quite agree on TTT and Faramir. Some alterations for the screen are fine, but wholesale changes like that aren’t. Nepal has been absorbed over many decades, but is still quite distinct. Good to see the references picked up; as you say, the run had to end at some point. Edwards is now 33, which doesn’t make him too ancient by this measure from @: www.englandfootballonline.com/teamplyrs/PlyrsOldest.html Tolkien has published a fair few more books than @, with an earlier Silmarillion, the sequel to LOTR and Akallabeth, I reckon Simon |
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Post by simon darkshade on Nov 11, 2022 16:12:33 GMT
August notes
- The Durbar during the Royal visit to India isnt entirely uncontroversial, but still goes off as a great spectacle
- The Black Russians are a small community coming from some Ethiopian emigres in the late 19th century, but the main part of Soviet ‘forces’ in Africa come from trained expats. The mention of new small arms will play out in time
- Amazonian mammals are a mole/aardvark type creature; one way of showing that the secrets of the jungle have not yet been even half discovered
- The North Sea is turning into quite the oil bonanza, with the windfall being saved for the future rather than wasted
- Sukarno is trying to wriggle his way loose from a strict Moscow line, as the dominoes haven’t fallen in the expected pattern
- The film of the Mahabharata isn’t quite Peter Brook’s production, but is long! The Indian film industry isn’t quite developing into the same Bollywood
- The ALF is trying to move into an advantageous position
- British fast food not copying the American foods, styles and models is an interesting difference. Miggin’s Pieshops evolve from a business stretching back to the Tudor period…
- Rameses has made it to Egypt and he isn’t happy
- Donald Campbell is breaking records on a salt lake not present in @ that is about to become a real lake once again
- The medical advances described by The Lancet might be familiar to some
- Newgate Prison is still around and some things happen outside it
- The CVLs and CVEs ship a lot of helos and ASW planes, making a submarine campaign a difficult proposition
- The Fairey Rotodyne Avenger is a very powerful heavy attack ship without an @ parallel
- Vatican justice towards terrorists isn’t soft, considering that clemency is mazatello and quartering!
- Triton is somewhere between Poseidon and Trident in capability
- Kaiser Bill was accidentally served some overly fermented cabbage whilst visiting a barracks
- The discovery of lost Inca gold is set up for a story; the wording of the location may be familiar to some
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Post by simon darkshade on Nov 12, 2022 15:43:57 GMT
September notes
- The circumstances of the attempted hit on the King of Jordan are slightly different without the same background of refugee Palestinian Arabs, let alone an armed state within a state, but Jordan still has its issues
- Mass rocket launches at Woomera speaks both to the size and scale of the site and the desired prestige effect
- Elvis triumphs again, this time bringing the infamous Dr. Gristlethwaite to justice
- Allende gets into power
- Dawson’s Field has a different outcome more akin to Mogadishu
- Count Takeshi is a reference to Takeshi’s Castle
- The Hurricane is a bit of a game changer, giving a big edge; the Spitfire even moreso. When combined with the Harrier, Tornado, Lion, Phantom, Lightning and Thunderbolt, RAF Germany, or the tactical air forces intended to fight WW3 on the Continent, are well equipped
- US Army demob stats show how large the Army grew for Vietnam
- American cars continue to be large and suited for their conditions, with no oil based reasons for smaller/compact designs to break their market dominance
- The Sky Marshal program involves some very specialised weapons
- Appropriation of 2560 goats is an obliques reference to ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ and their rather different situation here
- The Royal Israeli Navy has quite the different reputation here and operates larger and more powerful ships as part of that
- Unrest in Jordan results in the request for aid and rapid movement of troops from Britain. This provides some of the final arguments in favour of shifting from large forces on the ground in the Middle East in favour of smaller garrisons and rapid reinforcement
- China is trying to open up and normalise trading relations after their period of Soviet alliance 15 years ago, but faces roadblocks in the form of their own competing interests that oppose the West. Still, there is less of a Bamboo Curtain
- The DE F-15 is a very powerful plane with a few interested foreign states already making inquiries
- The Swedish Social Democrats win an election, which would not be a noteworthy event in @, but here, they have not been in power continuously since WW2
- Ugandan gold deposits make it a very attractive state to invest in; quite the contrast to @
- The new Soviet bomber is a step towards catching up
- JFK planting a mallorn tree on a grassy knoll in Houston and making a quip about being shot
- There probably won’t be any Australian readers from the southern states, but if there are, the different 1970 VFL grand final result will be recognisable
- Air Force One almost bumping into a UFO is concerning to the powers that be
- ‘Warship’ is similar to the @ series in a number of ways, but features a bit more combat, in addition to being set on a cruiser rather than a frigate
- Attenborough’s film on Market Garden not only has a different title and ending, but manages to include some epic set pieces that show the scope of the campaign
- Legal prohibitions on gambling and lotteries continue in Britain
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Post by simon darkshade on Nov 13, 2022 5:30:01 GMT
October notes
- Hammer and Harryhausen's When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is quite the popular picture, showing that the desire for escapism from a decade of war hasn't dimmed
- There wasn't a huge meg population to begin with and a focused extermination campaign was effective. If Man is good at anything, it is destruction
- Jim Clark lives and prospers
- Letting loose experimental killer reptiles whilst thinking that they will be grateful for your loving gesture? It has an expected result
- George Ashton's lottery prize is slightly less highly taxed, showing that levels of taxation haven't quite hit the @ heights of the 1960s
- Nazi hunters (Ezra Liebermann being Sir Laurence Olivier's character from The Boys from Brazil) capturing three big targets - Dr Christian Szell coming from Marathon Man and Eduard Roschmann coming from The Odessa File, as well as being a real figure
- Kuwait is not an independent sheikhdom, but was annexed as a Crown Colony in 1925. Over the next 45 years, it has seen growth of its economy and population. As of 1970, it has a population of 536,000 (compared to 753,000), divided between 40% Indian, 32% Arab/Kuwaiti, 16% British/European/White, 5% Persian, 4% Malay and 2% from various other groups; in addition, there is a large military presence with some new airbases and land bases being constructed. There is increasing interest in London about possibly annexing it wholesale, but this is complicated by the large coloured population and the associated migration implications
- Apart from Kerr's The Galloping Gourmet being entertaining, it also shows a shift in television broadcasting towards more Canadian, Australian and South African content
- French command in Chad decides that it will not act in haste, but will strike back when they deem the time is right
- Warsaw Pact military maneuvers show that they are forging ahead, rather than being stuck well behind NATO
- In @, there were 3 nuclear tests on a single day in October 1970; here, Britain is also testing out a new ICBM RV
- More evidence of relatively new Soviet weapons in Afghanistan does seem to indicate that there might be some trouble coming there
- The President of Liberia shoots himself in the foot through his strictures against Liberian flagged shipping, considering how advantageous it was in @. However, there haven't been the same drivers for such great shifts towards Liberian and Panamanian flag of convenience shipping
- General Patton lives to a ripe old age; his funeral is attended by his wartime comrade and friendly rival Earl Montgomery of Alamein
- The TOW is a bit hotter in performance than the @ version, having greater penetration of 25" with its improved shaped charge warhead
- US generals landing in the USSR by accident is shifted eastward, given the lack of US bases in Turkey
- A Royal visit to Hong Kong and the Philippines shows some of the wider travels of the monarch
- Waterloo has a different director, filming location and source of extras, as the exigencies of a frostier Cold War preclude a Soviet director and cooperation on that level
- Ceylon is starting to branch out and diversify, but is still centred on resource extraction
- Multinational involvement in the Kangaroo series of wargames makes for more expansive learning and larger scale training
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Post by simon darkshade on Nov 13, 2022 7:19:10 GMT
November notes
- French protests don't attract a response from security forces, indicating a gradual normalisation
- King Zod's companions are Ariu, or Albanian for Bear (Ursa); and Non, making up the trio from Superman II. This is simply coincidence, not an indication that they are Kryptonian. King Zod has rather expansive dreams for Albania, which works in with his coincidental name
- George Bush is elected to the US Senate
- The sad case of 'Genie' will have a better outcome, due in part to the contribution of Dr. Anne Goldberg (nee Anne Frank), who married a Jewish Canadian soldier and moved to North America
- Bonfire Night celebrations are rather more official and well organised; they will continue, rather than fading away, as there is a (nominal) statutory requirement
- Egypt tried in the 1950s in @ to control Sudan and the November 6 development followed in the Nasser/Sadat period. In DE, Egypt is still nominally within the British sphere and London is not entirely averse to Cairo’s influence over Sudan, but doesn’t want them getting too many ideas, so puts a kybosh on anything definite
- 1914 is a truly epic war film, reflecting a profoundly different popular culture view of the Great War. It is seen as less of a waste, less of a bloody stalemate and less futile, which in turn has great impacts on British social and political development for the rest of the century. The film portrays 1914's fighting as a combination of German triumphs and Allied victories - Mons, the Marne and Ypres in the latter case. It closes with the Christmas Truce and then silent footage of large numbers of British troops arriving in France
- The Lockheed Jetstar is a four engine plane, rather than a trijet. Clark Kent is sort of right that the US market is oversaturated with big jet airliner producers
- Continuing British military restructuring sees the introduction of the 'field force' concept as a unit partway between the brigade and division for specific missions and purposes. There are two schools of thought - one of reorganising each of Britain's four heavy regular corps to have 4 divisions and another that advocates keeping them at 3; Canada is already moving to two 4 division corps for European service
- The circumstances of the Syrian coup d'etat include a lot of specific rhetoric and styling. The general US and British policy is to keep overt Soviet presence out of the Middle East. The initial ‘in’ for the Soviets in the @ Middle East was Egypt, then Syria, then Iraq. This failure of Middle Eastern policy came from many causes, among which was the power vacuum that followed on from British withdrawal. Here, there were repeated actions in the early 1950s and then the seismic 1956 War/Six Day War. Not only was Britain able to reassert her regional hegemony, but it did so in such a fashion that hit an already fractured Arab nationalist movement for six. Following on, the standard rule was: No communists, no communist coups and no attempts at deposing monarchies in favour of communist sympathisers; break that, and the hammer comes down. It has done so in Libya and to some extent in Jordan. The response has been a discrediting of the socialist/Pan Arabist types and into the void of their absence comes the Arab Union - an increasingly close confederation of Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Yemen, all ruled by Hashemite kings. Theirs is a different kind of nationalism, and although they’d still like the British more out of the picture, the other options are the Americans or the Soviets, neither of which would allow them even their current degree of independence
- The Women’s Auxiliary Balloon Corps is from Blackadder Goes Forth, where it is the former unit of Captain Darling
- Akira Tanaka being succeeded by Yukio Mishima is a big change...
- The Renaissance Men is based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with Machiavelli playing the role of Master Splinter
- The poor New York schoolgirl rescues her brother from Jareth the Goblin King and his magic dance and is not only disbelieved, but gets sent off to South Park for her troubles
- The Aircraft (National Preference) Act 1970 is very much the ‘Reaction to Buying the Phantom Act’, influenced by the British aerospace conglomerates. The Armed Services buy British in virtually all cases, the major airlines and East India Company do the same (quite different from BOAC in @) and now the private aircraft operators (private air forces/mercenary groups, privately owned airlines, industrial air groups and more) have a direct encouragement to do the same. Other countries which do the same thing will of course complain, but there is rather less absolute free trade and more openness to protection of key industries
- South Africa gets its first black Cabinet members; its GG is Field Marshal Sir Daniel Pienaar of WW2 fame; he was made an Earl postwar
- Protect and Survive, rather than being met with cynicism and dread by an undefended populace, it is seen as the latest reasonable measure by a trusted government who has never abandoned Civil Defence. There are a lot more public shelters and even more private shelters to boot, along with the CDS and a wide spread infrastructure for survival. Above and beyond it is the idea of defending against the Bomb, not just accepting destruction
- Royal Artillery tactics continue to evolve, but not just down the path of @. Whereas on Earth, the rolling/creeping barrage was progressively abandoned after WW1, here there have been slightly different developments. Larger armies and different weapons result in different tactical evolution, including a perceived role for tactics that emerged from positional warfare
- Canada gets a fusion plant
- Animal votes are a bridge too far overall, although there are some Liberals thinking their way to government lies through the kennel; I liked the idea of cats voting for fascism just to see the chaos and destruction
- The Goodies are hired by Sir Charles Ratcliffe, the world's richest man and part of the British security and intelligence establishment, to make sure the US bidders weren't successful
- In @, the would be papal assassin only got a few years in prison, but feelings are on edge with regards to Philippine assassinations
- November 28 is a reference to Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time, a YouTube comedy troupe from 2011 and 2014. I recommend them as a true and accurate reflection of Swedish cookery
- The Sopwith Camel is a versatile and effective aircraft. The most analogous utility plane is the Westland Lysander in its originally envisaged form - artillery spotting, liaison, recon and close air support - with tactical transport thrown in. Another way of thinking of it is as a fixed wing VTOL equivalent in part to the Mi-24 Hind, or indeed the Valkyrie assault transport from Warhammer 40k. They are designed to be part of a rapid response system:
A.) Supersonic strategic airlift take infantry, airborne or commando forces from Britain to other key hubs, such as Singapore, Rhodesia or Suez
B.) Operational airlift (Camels) shifts them to intermediate staging points or directly into target locations and then supports them along with RAF fighter bombers and bombers
C.) Tactical airlift takes them directly to the battlefield or target locations in helicopters and Rotodynes
- Churchill continues going on strong
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stevep
Fleet admiral
Posts: 24,843
Likes: 13,230
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Post by stevep on Nov 13, 2022 11:49:57 GMT
September notes - The circumstances of the attempted hit on the King of Jordan are slightly different without the same background of refugee Palestinian Arabs, let alone an armed state within a state, but Jordan still has its issues - Mass rocket launches at Woomera speaks both to the size and scale of the site and the desired prestige effect - Elvis triumphs again, this time bringing the infamous Dr. Gristlethwaite to justice - Allende gets into power - Dawson’s Field has a different outcome more akin to Mogadishu - Count Takeshi is a reference to Takeshi’s Castle - The Hurricane is a bit of a game changer, giving a big edge; the Spitfire even moreso. When combined with the Harrier, Tornado, Lion, Phantom, Lightning and Thunderbolt, RAF Germany, or the tactical air forces intended to fight WW3 on the Continent, are well equipped - US Army demob stats show how large the Army grew for Vietnam - American cars continue to be large and suited for their conditions, with no oil based reasons for smaller/compact designs to break their market dominance - The Sky Marshal program involves some very specialised weapons - Appropriation of 2560 goats is an obliques reference to ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ and their rather different situation here - The Royal Israeli Navy has quite the different reputation here and operates larger and more powerful ships as part of that - Unrest in Jordan results in the request for aid and rapid movement of troops from Britain. This provides some of the final arguments in favour of shifting from large forces on the ground in the Middle East in favour of smaller garrisons and rapid reinforcement - China is trying to open up and normalise trading relations after their period of Soviet alliance 15 years ago, but faces roadblocks in the form of their own competing interests that oppose the West. Still, there is less of a Bamboo Curtain - The DE F-15 is a very powerful plane with a few interested foreign states already making inquiries - The Swedish Social Democrats win an election, which would not be a noteworthy event in @, but here, they have not been in power continuously since WW2 - Ugandan gold deposits make it a very attractive state to invest in; quite the contrast to @ - The new Soviet bomber is a step towards catching up - JFK planting a mallorn tree on a grassy knoll in Houston and making a quip about being shot - There probably won’t be any Australian readers from the southern states, but if there are, the different 1970 VFL grand final result will be recognisable - Air Force One almost bumping into a UFO is concerning to the powers that be - ‘Warship’ is similar to the @ series in a number of ways, but features a bit more combat, in addition to being set on a cruiser rather than a frigate - Attenborough’s film on Market Garden not only has a different title and ending, but manages to include some epic set pieces that show the scope of the campaign - Legal prohibitions on gambling and lotteries continue in Britain
Ah I didn't notice what sort of tree he was planting before. Given their geographical limitations in Tolkien that does seem rather surprising.
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Post by simon darkshade on Nov 13, 2022 13:39:27 GMT
December notes
- The Italian National Assembly’s position on divorce reflects the greater numbers of traditionalist and conservative parties
- USN and RN joint efforts to prepare for a putative Atlantic Monster are driven by experience of the Pacific
- Oil off the coast of New Guinea makes it more valuable and likely for Australia to keep it as long as possible
- Stasi infiltration of the German left causes concerns
- Kashmir is a quiet and peaceful place, as well as being one of many princely states
- The NIRP is administered by a man whose name translates as Count von Count; his HAL computer is also a reference to something
- Italian elections result in a rightist bloc being well placed to form a new government, which could mean a few figures returning from exile (Count Ciano, Italo Balbo and Dino Grandi)
- The Red Army Faction/Baader-Meinhoff Gang is one of several new offshoots of the IRA
- Princess Victoria gives birth to a healthy boy, named William Arthur Phillip Louis George, securing the line of succession. There will be more siblings throughout the 1970s
- The Technological Revolution is not so much forthcoming, but happening right now. The 1970s will be more like the 1980s in that respect
- South Vietnam is very well defended by 28 divisions in total (10 foreign), several hundred USAF and USMC tactical aircraft, heavy bombers in Thailand and Guam and two carrier groups offshore in addition to their own air and naval forces. This force will naturally contract if peace holds
- Anti-crash enchantments at major airports will have a very beneficial (lack of) impact over time
- Londonderry's steelworks gives some further industry and flow on jobs for areas which historically saw major unemployment as its textile industry began to fade; it is planned that once it is operational, it will be followed by some expansion of automotive manufacturing. Additionally, it supports some important RN and RNAS bases around it and there is an ICI chemical plant, General Electric electrical engineering plant and a nuclear power station under construction
- Eritrea is going to start causing trouble for Ethiopia, possibly due to external encouragement
- Gomułka retires with a bit of that very 'external encouragement'
- The MSLAR will develop into a useful man portable missile augmenting the Green Apple (broadly analogous to the Dragon)
- Of course Reverend Elvis Presley would have to use his thankful catchphrase in his conversation with the President
- The Automaton Biscuit Selector may seem like a bit of pointless and silly technology, but consider the other uses of that type of fully automatic household appliance; it could be quite interesting
- Persia is one of the big arms contracts that have been competed for by many Western powers, along with Turkey (very likely to go for Germany), Brazil, Mexico and Korea
- Hopefully US unemployment will be able to contract and there won't be any other economic hiccups in the coming 18 months
- The dragon's treasure will be saved and invested to create a decent yield; it promises to be able to fund some important pensions over time
- Something happened over the South Atlantic; it seems similar to the @ Vela Incident, but that might be deceptive, as both South Africa and Israel are both open nuclear powers
- The rankings of European military powers is quite straightforward, with it being useful to note that Britain isn't classified as a European power by the NYT on account of the Channel, but even more based on its global role and position. This is a bit of a change in DE over time, as the early days of the Barton government saw the JFK administration trying to nudge them to a more Eurocentric direction/view; this didn't work and there is a considerable focus on the Middle East, India and the Orient, so much so that in many ways the strategic centre of the British Empire can be said to lie in the Indian Ocean
- The pyramid beneath the Great Pyramid is a strange and mysterious underworld, including what might be a gate. Is it to the Duat? We will see
- China reduces some of the obstacles and tension at the Hong Kong border, driven in large part by the economic benefits of expanded trade
- PVO Strany downs a UFO and there are some apparent captives...
- Orion 6 sets out for another voyage to explore strange new worlds and to boldly go where no man has gone before
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Post by simon darkshade on Nov 13, 2022 13:49:04 GMT
September notes - The circumstances of the attempted hit on the King of Jordan are slightly different without the same background of refugee Palestinian Arabs, let alone an armed state within a state, but Jordan still has its issues - Mass rocket launches at Woomera speaks both to the size and scale of the site and the desired prestige effect - Elvis triumphs again, this time bringing the infamous Dr. Gristlethwaite to justice - Allende gets into power - Dawson’s Field has a different outcome more akin to Mogadishu - Count Takeshi is a reference to Takeshi’s Castle - The Hurricane is a bit of a game changer, giving a big edge; the Spitfire even moreso. When combined with the Harrier, Tornado, Lion, Phantom, Lightning and Thunderbolt, RAF Germany, or the tactical air forces intended to fight WW3 on the Continent, are well equipped - US Army demob stats show how large the Army grew for Vietnam - American cars continue to be large and suited for their conditions, with no oil based reasons for smaller/compact designs to break their market dominance - The Sky Marshal program involves some very specialised weapons - Appropriation of 2560 goats is an obliques reference to ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ and their rather different situation here - The Royal Israeli Navy has quite the different reputation here and operates larger and more powerful ships as part of that - Unrest in Jordan results in the request for aid and rapid movement of troops from Britain. This provides some of the final arguments in favour of shifting from large forces on the ground in the Middle East in favour of smaller garrisons and rapid reinforcement - China is trying to open up and normalise trading relations after their period of Soviet alliance 15 years ago, but faces roadblocks in the form of their own competing interests that oppose the West. Still, there is less of a Bamboo Curtain - The DE F-15 is a very powerful plane with a few interested foreign states already making inquiries - The Swedish Social Democrats win an election, which would not be a noteworthy event in @, but here, they have not been in power continuously since WW2 - Ugandan gold deposits make it a very attractive state to invest in; quite the contrast to @ - The new Soviet bomber is a step towards catching up - JFK planting a mallorn tree on a grassy knoll in Houston and making a quip about being shot - There probably won’t be any Australian readers from the southern states, but if there are, the different 1970 VFL grand final result will be recognisable - Air Force One almost bumping into a UFO is concerning to the powers that be - ‘Warship’ is similar to the @ series in a number of ways, but features a bit more combat, in addition to being set on a cruiser rather than a frigate - Attenborough’s film on Market Garden not only has a different title and ending, but manages to include some epic set pieces that show the scope of the campaign - Legal prohibitions on gambling and lotteries continue in Britain
Ah I didn't notice what sort of tree he was planting before. Given their geographical limitations in Tolkien that does seem rather surprising.
This is a distant descendant of the true mallorns, so not quite on the level of those of Valinor or Westernesse in the works. I'm leaving it 'open' as to the status of all of The Lord of the Rings as history. We better ask Treebeard. |
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Post by simon darkshade on Dec 4, 2022 4:12:08 GMT
1970 World GDPs
1.) USA $10,608,144,009,891 (+ 5.29%)
2.) USSR $4,960,161,796,672 (+ 8.87%)
3.) Germany $4,093,122,180,171 (+ 4.97%)
4.) Britain $3,958,828,222,343 (+ 5.25%)
5.) Japan $3,538,247,610,571 (+ 9.62%)
6.) France $2,260,691,555,954 (+ 8.15%)
7.) India $1,966,967,043,165 (- 0.88%)
8.) Canada $1,957,853,379,512 (+ 7.84%)
9.) China $1,894,884,537,803 (-2.65%)
10.) Italy $1,443,231,408,096 (+ 4.57%)
11.) Austria-Hungary $1,233,186,607,912 (+ 10.75%)
12.) Brazil: 1197.2634 (+9.74%)
13.) Benelux: 1119.6642 (+6.23%)
14.) Spain: 947.9694 (+4.98%)
15.) Australia $915,816,288,968 (+8.325%)
16.) Mexico: 836 (+ 6.26%)
17.) Argentina: 824 (+ 7.62%)
18.) Sweden: 659 (+ 5.8%)
19.) South Africa: 646 (+ 6.98%)
20.) Turkey: 615 (+ 5.84%)
21.) Poland: 598 (+ 6.79%)
22.) Indonesia: 586 (+ 10.61%)
23.) Persia: 552 (+ 9.26%)
24.) Greece: 487 (+ 7.89%)
25.) Korea: 456 (+ 7.24%)
26.) New Avalon 429 (+ 4.96%)
27.) Switzerland 425 (+ 5.82%)
28.) Venezuela 407 (+ 7.15%)
29.) Yugoslavia: 384 (+ 4.33%)
30.) Philippines 359 (+ 4.26%)
31.) Colombia 336 (+ 4.302%)
32.) Chile 325 (+ 3.346%)
33.) Thailand 320 (-1.26%)
34.) Peru 306 (3.76%)
35.) Nigeria 284 (7.52%)
36.) Denmark 273 (5.49%)
37.) Romania 260 (6.65%)
38.) Arabia 254 (+ 6.457%)
38.) Taiwan 247 (+ 8.83%)
39.) Iraq 239 (+ 8.29%)
40.) Portugal 238 (+ 4.95%)
41.) West Indies Federation 225 (+ 6.38%)
42.) Egypt 215 (+ 7.57%)
43.) Rhodesia 208 (+ 9.92%)
44.) Norway 192 (+ 3.5%)
45.) New Zealand 187 (+ 6.41%)
46.) Israel 179 (+ 10.87%)
47.) Finland 170 (+ 4.17%)
48.) Bulgaria 161 (+ 5.56%)
49.) Malaya 159 (+ 6.35%)
48.) Newfoundland 156 (+ 3.89%)
49.) Ethiopia 125 (+ 9.82%)
50.) Morocco 118 (+ 6.37%)
51.) South Vietnam 115
52.) Prydain 111
53.) Ruritania 106
54.) Ceylon 98
55.) North Vietnam 91
56.) Libya 87.93
57.) Ashante Federation (GC + IC): 82.73
58.) Congo 64.79
59.) Bolivia 53
60.) Ecuador 46
61.) Tunisia 43.54
62.) Uruguay 42
63.) Mongolia 42
64.) Kenya 41.68
65.) Sudan 37.547
66.) Cambodia 35
67.) Uganda: 33.8
68.) Guatemala 33.57
69.) Tanganyika: 32.78
70.) Paraguay 32
71.) Senegambia 30.47
72.) Jordan 29.62
73.) Cameroon 29.58
74.) El Salvador 24.83
75.) Afghanistan 23.84
76.) Dominican Republic 23.75
77.) Mali Federation 22.48864 (Mali and Upper Volta)
78.) Costa Rica 21.22
79.) Madagascar 19.6
80.) Albania 19.5
81.) Nicaragua 18.94
82.) Aranguay 18.35
83.) Somalia 17.45
84.) Yucatan 17.28
85.) Lebanon: 17.1
86.) Tibet 16.49
87.) Los Altos 15.4125
88.) Rwanda-Burundi 15.28
89.) Niger 14.6196
90.) Honduras 13.2
91.) Liberia 12.9
92.) Orungu 12.7872
93.) People's Republic of Bukovina 12.53
94.) Togoland 12.482
95.) Yemen 12.25
96.) Haiti 11.2
97.) Equatoria 10.25608
98.) North Laos 10.13
99.) People's Republic of Moldavia: 9.32
100.) Iceland 8.75
101.) Chad 8.6
102.) People's Republic of Galicia 8.584
103.) French Guinea 8.549
104.) Dahomeny 7.8435
105.) Ubangi-Shari 7.29
106.) Democratic Republic of Ruthenia: 7.15
107.) Azania 5.23
108.) South Laos 4.95
- Note that Oman, Qatar and the Trucial States/UAE are all still British protectorates; Bahrain, Southern Arabia and Kuwait are Crown Colonies; and Nepal and Burma are part of India
- The West Indies Federation consists of Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Gran Dracaria (largish island near the Caymans), British Guiana, British Honduras, the Caymans, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Anguilla, St. Christopher Nevis, the Virgin Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and any other small specks as appropriate
- Aranguay is an independent Rio Grande do Sul
- Sinkiang is the Soviet puppet state of Tartary, so is excluded from calculations for now
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stevep
Fleet admiral
Posts: 24,843
Likes: 13,230
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Post by stevep on Dec 4, 2022 15:44:23 GMT
1970 World GDPs 1.) USA $10,608,144,009,891 (+ 5.29%) 2.) USSR $4,960,161,796,672 (+ 8.87%) 3.) Germany $4,093,122,180,171 (+ 4.97%) 4.) Britain $3,958,828,222,343 (+ 5.25%) 5.) Japan $3,538,247,610,571 (+ 9.62%) 6.) France $2,260,691,555,954 (+ 8.15%) 7.) India $1,966,967,043,165 (- 0.88%) 8.) Canada $1,957,853,379,512 (+ 7.84%) 9.) China $1,894,884,537,803 (-2.65%) 10.) Italy $1,443,231,408,096 (+ 4.57%) 11.) Austria-Hungary $1,233,186,607,912 (+ 10.75%) 12.) Brazil: 1197.2634 (+9.74%) 13.) Benelux: 1119.6642 (+6.23%) 14.) Spain: 947.9694 (+4.98%) 15.) Australia $915,816,288,968 (+8.325%) 16.) Mexico: 836 (+ 6.26%) 17.) Argentina: 824 (+ 7.62%) 18.) Sweden: 659 (+ 5.8%) 19.) South Africa: 646 (+ 6.98%) 20.) Turkey: 615 (+ 5.84%) 21.) Poland: 598 (+ 6.79%) 22.) Indonesia: 586 (+ 10.61%) 23.) Persia: 552 (+ 9.26%) 24.) Greece: 487 (+ 7.89%) 25.) Korea: 456 (+ 7.24%) 26.) New Avalon 429 (+ 4.96%) 27.) Switzerland 425 (+ 5.82%) 28.) Venezuela 407 (+ 7.15%) 29.) Yugoslavia: 384 (+ 4.33%) 30.) Philippines 359 (+ 4.26%) 31.) Colombia 336 (+ 4.302%) 32.) Chile 325 (+ 3.346%) 33.) Thailand 320 (-1.26%) 34.) Peru 306 (3.76%) 35.) Nigeria 284 (7.52%) 36.) Denmark 273 (5.49%) 37.) Romania 260 (6.65%) 38.) Arabia 254 (+ 6.457%) 38.) Taiwan 247 (+ 8.83%) 39.) Iraq 239 (+ 8.29%) 40.) Portugal 238 (+ 4.95%) 41.) West Indies Federation 225 (+ 6.38%) 42.) Egypt 215 (+ 7.57%) 43.) Rhodesia 208 (+ 9.92%) 44.) Norway 192 (+ 3.5%) 45.) New Zealand 187 (+ 6.41%) 46.) Israel 179 (+ 10.87%) 47.) Finland 170 (+ 4.17%) 48.) Bulgaria 161 (+ 5.56%) 49.) Malaya 159 (+ 6.35%) 48.) Newfoundland 156 (+ 3.89%) 49.) Ethiopia 125 (+ 9.82%) 50.) Morocco 118 (+ 6.37%) 51.) South Vietnam 115 52.) Prydain 111 53.) Ruritania 106 54.) Ceylon 98 55.) North Vietnam 91 56.) Libya 87.93 57.) Ashante Federation (GC + IC): 82.73 58.) Congo 64.79 59.) Bolivia 53 60.) Ecuador 46 61.) Tunisia 43.54 62.) Uruguay 42 63.) Mongolia 42 64.) Kenya 41.68 65.) Sudan 37.547 66.) Cambodia 35 67.) Uganda: 33.8 68.) Guatemala 33.57 69.) Tanganyika: 32.78 70.) Paraguay 32 71.) Senegambia 30.47 72.) Jordan 29.62 73.) Cameroon 29.58 74.) El Salvador 24.83 75.) Afghanistan 23.84 76.) Dominican Republic 23.75 77.) Mali Federation 22.48864 (Mali and Upper Volta) 78.) Costa Rica 21.22 79.) Madagascar 19.6 80.) Albania 19.5 81.) Nicaragua 18.94 82.) Aranguay 18.35 83.) Somalia 17.45 84.) Yucatan 17.28 85.) Lebanon: 17.1 86.) Tibet 16.49 87.) Los Altos 15.4125 88.) Rwanda-Burundi 15.28 89.) Niger 14.6196 90.) Honduras 13.2 91.) Liberia 12.9 92.) Orungu 12.7872 93.) People's Republic of Bukovina 12.53 94.) Togoland 12.482 95.) Yemen 12.25 96.) Haiti 11.2 97.) Equatoria 10.25608 98.) North Laos 10.13 99.) People's Republic of Moldavia: 9.32 100.) Iceland 8.75 101.) Chad 8.6 102.) People's Republic of Galicia 8.584 103.) French Guinea 8.549 104.) Dahomeny 7.8435 105.) Ubangi-Shari 7.29 106.) Democratic Republic of Ruthenia: 7.15 107.) Azania 5.23 108.) South Laos 4.95 - Note that Oman, Qatar and the Trucial States/UAE are all still British protectorates; Bahrain, Southern Arabia and Kuwait are Crown Colonies; and Nepal and Burma are part of India - The West Indies Federation consists of Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Gran Dracaria (largish island near the Caymans), British Guiana, British Honduras, the Caymans, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Anguilla, St. Christopher Nevis, the Virgin Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and any other small specks as appropriate - Aranguay is an independent Rio Grande do Sul - Sinkiang is the Soviet puppet state of Tartary, so is excluded from calculations for now
What are the percentages - and numbers lower down - following the amounts? Their not proportions of world GDP as the % for the US is only about half that of the USSR despite having twice the GDP. Similarly Britain has a larger % than Germany with a lower GDP than it? I was thinking possibly something to do with military spending but their lower than the figures your just posted in the other thread.
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Post by simon darkshade on Dec 4, 2022 16:16:49 GMT
Sorry, I didn’t edit that in here - it is their 1970 GDP growth.
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Seriously a good AH reference, albeit to a TL I never read. The run had to end sometime and Pele and Brazil definitely deserve a win or three. Must be Duncan's final world cup and surprised he's still around as an international player.