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|June 30
A column of bluish light, nearly as bright as the Sun, was seen moving across the sky
at the international observatory in the Aryan Capital City of Arkaim. Built in a series of circumferences with a common centre, the Swastika City had been established in the Southern Urals steppe in order to track eighteen types of astronomical events such as sun-sets and sun-rises on the days of equinox and solstice. But this terrifying incident was quite different, it was an anomaly caused with malicious intent by sentient beings.
Aryans track their last astronomical eventIt was the unexpected arrival of an artificial celestial body that caused a gigantic explosion above the earth some two thousand kilometres to the north-west on the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. Although nobody was killed outright by the blast approximately eighty million trees were knocked down in a Swastika-shaped area of land covering two thousand one hundred and fifty square kilometres.
Progress was also tracked by humans from the other international observatory on the same latitude - the Briton's Stonehenge - where the midsummer night sky was even lighter than usual. And across the globe, humanity braced itself for the return of the cruel alien ancestors that had originally put mankind on the road to technological evolution all those long millennia before. Or perhaps something worse, their masters having called time upon them.
In 1997, on this day the British author J. K. Rowling released the screenplay for the upcoming film adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin's 1968 fantasy novel "A Wizard of Earthsea".
A Wizard of EarthseaIn the narrative, a boy with unusual aptitude for magic is recognised, and sent to a special school for wizards. Through a quest of self-discovery he eventually becomes the young mage named Ged (pictured), a character portrayed in the movie by Daniel Radcliffe.
But although Le Guin expressed some muted satisfaction with the depiction of the Sparrowhawk [1], there was no appetite for filming the remaining books in the series, The Tombs of Atuan (1971), The Farthest Shore (1972), Tehanu (1990) and The Other Wind (2001).
In 1521, to the amazement of his crew Juan Ponce de León survives the return journey to Havana, Cuba.
The Secret of Juan Ponce de LeónInexplicably, several of his fellows had also survived the seemingly mortal wounds that they had suffered at the hands of the Calusa braves in the vicinity of Caloosahatchee River on the southwest coast of L'Florida.
They soon depart for Puerto Rico, but not before news of the miracle begins to make its way to the Vatican. A Cardinal is sent to San Juan, but he only finds a young man of no more than thirty years old claiming to be the Governor, Ponce de León.
Further investigations finally reveal the truth, that the Governor and his fellows have been rejuvenated by spring water from the Fountain of Youth. They flee to Cuba and the Cardinal returns to Rome where the Pope issues an Edict, placing a quarantine around the island.
In 2012, against the odds the incomparable GZR commander Icchak Jaziernicky died peacefully in his bed at the ripe old age of ninety-six.
A Thorn that Stabs
An installment from "Elders of the Protocols of Zion"Born in Ruzhany in the Russian Empire, he was the son of Perla and Shlomo the co-owners of a leather factory. Tragically, both of his parents died during the Holocaust. His father was stoned to death just outside his birthplace by Poles who had been his childhood friends, after he had escaped from a German train transporting Jews to the death camps. His mother and a sister died in the camps and another sister was shot dead.
After studying at a Hebrew high school network in Bialystok, and while he was still as a youth, he joined the Greater Zionist Resistance (GZR) movement. He later adopted as his surname the name he used on a forged underground identity card, Shamir meaning a thorn that stabs.
The GZR had recently lost their inspirational leader Astrid Pflaume and the conventional war with the New Reich was going very badly indeed. Shamir could see that to win, the GZR needed to fundamentally change the nature of the struggle, and he forced the organization to accept a primary strategy of terrorism instead of all-out battlefield confrontation which the Zionists could never win. To prove his point, he used high explosives to devasting effect, blowing up the Polish foreign minister, a lousy anti-semite called Beck. And then six months later, the greatest prize of all, detonating a bomb that blew up a trestle underneath a train carrying Adolf Hitler.
Unbeknown to the GZR, the neo-Nazis from 1968 had actually steered the crazed Führer away from the levers of power. But the elevation of Herr Garbitch, Reichsmarshal Goering caused endless problems that set the New Reich back years.
Against the odds he died peacefully in his bed at the ripe old age of ninety-six.
All of Robbie Taylor's novels are available for download at Amazon.
In 1908, in an event unable to be understood at the time, a pinpoint black hole struck the Earth near the Stony Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia.
Tunguska Impact Alters the World The impact itself was significant with a shockwave estimated at 5.0 on the Richter scale that knocked trees flat in an 800 square mile spread, blew people off their feet, and destroyed windows for hundreds of miles. The aftershock, however, was far more important. As the black hole bore through the Earth, it shed the event-horizon shell of cosmic matter and evaporated with the energy from friction and pressure of the Earth's core. The shockwaves continued through the molten core and mantle like an isolated earthquake, meeting on the opposite side of the world near the Strait of Magellan. There, the edge of the Antarctic Plate buckled with the South American Plate, causing a massive upheaval that would turn the Drake Passage into an enormous mountain range connecting the Andes and the Antarctic Peninsula.
Newspapers and scientists would consider the event purely tectonic until the Leonid Kulik expedition in 1921 determined the mysterious explosion happened only hours before the upheaval. His mineralogy team excavated radioactive material not uncommon to Siberia that would later be tested again in 2007 and found to coincide with isotopes from space such as cesium as well as heavy polonium and magnetic nickel.
At the time, however, the world's attention was turned to the new landmass that had suddenly cut off the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (what would later be termed as the "exit wound" of the black hole, though it was really only backlash from the collision). As ocean currents adjusted, climatological alterations began such as the increase of rainforest to the south of the Amazon and the widening of the Kalahari Desert. Sea life suffered greatly as migration routes were cut off, causing the extinction of several whale species, already over-hunted. Most notable to the time was that the most-used passage to the Pacific had been cut off. Since its discovery by Balboa, the Pacific had struck Europe as a new, calmer ocean for exploration and colonization. The Pacific had been especially instrumental to the Americans, who used it as the main route connecting them to the quickly populated West Coast even after the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. A faster route was currently under construction through a canal in Panama, but at the time of the Upheaval, it was still years from completion. The long-sought Northwest Passage had only recently been completed by Roald Amundsen from 1903 to 1906 and could be crossed only at the warmest points of summer by reinforced icebreaker ships.
Effectively, the Pacific had become cut off from the East. Shipping could still flow through the Indian Ocean, but the journey from New York to San Francisco by steamer had increased from weeks to months. Calling the times "desperate," US President Theodore Roosevelt began his campaign for his unprecedented third term and vowed not to leave office until his canal was completed (which occurred years before schedule in 1911). The rest of the world looked with shock and envy at America controlling the only access to the eastern Pacific, and soon multiple European-backed companies began plans to dig canals through Honduras, Costa Rica, and, especially, Nicaragua. Only the Nicaraguan Canal would see completion in 1923, after changing hands twice.
Other plans, however, determined that overland routes would be suitable. On February 12, 1908, the New York to Paris Race began, traveling by motor car and partially by steamer west from Times Square to the French capital. A month after the Upheaval, the American team arrived victorious in their Thomas Flyer. Savvy newspapermen used the event as an example of the efficiency of overland travel. The Germans (whose team arrived second), took notice of the feat and began work with the ABC Powers (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile) to complete a rail and motorway that would bring goods from Buenos Aires to Santiago. German imperial attention turned to South America, bringing commerce and tourism, so much so that commentators doubted the Kaiser had even noticed the short-lived Austrian occupation of Serbia.
Gradually, the world would become accustomed to its new scar of what came to be known as the Drake Mountains, but the idea that an object from space could bring such devastation to a planet continues to unnerve the human spirit.
In 1776, on this day the Continental Navy achieved what up to that time was its most significant victory of the American Revolution, sinking the British man-of-war HMS Romulus off the coast of Maine just as Romulus was about to make an attempt to land a detachment of Royal Marines near the city of Bangor.
Double Jeopardy Part 9
Sinking of the RomulusWord of the sinking reached the Continental Congress in Philadephia on July 3rd, prompting its members to pass a resolution declaring July 4th a day of celebration in honor of the event. In the post-Revolutionary War era July 4th would be established by law and custom as America's official Independence Day.
The sinking of HMS Romulus also acted as a catalyst for the intervention of France and Spain on the American colonists' side in the later stages of the Revolution.
In 1862, about the only good news for the Union, during the whole Seven Days Battles saga, was a victory at Malvern Hill on 30 June. But before that battle took place, the Confederacy would have one more victory. Confederate cavalry general, Jeb Stuart, was also active, during these events, albeit somewhat detached from the main army.
Malvern Hill by David AtwellHaving been given orders to operate to the left hand flank of Jackson's command, he soon found his cavalry force on the prowl against any unprepared Union forces. These usually were not any fighting units, but supply and logistic ones. Nevertheless, that mattered little to Stuart as his cavalry wreaked havoc on the Union supply trains retreating towards Harrison's Landing, on the James, along with everyone else.
Still, even with the success of the cavalry, Lee was a frustrated man. Having to deal with the practicalities of cleaning up a battlefield, especially in dealing with thousands of prisoners, not to mention caring for the wounded, regardless of side, meant to say he lost a day in getting at those people as Lee would say. Yet, his orders went out to continue the pursuit of the retreating Army of the Potomac. Soon, Magruder, with 13 000 troops, the only Confederate force not yet involved in any combat, was hammered with orders to engage the next US Corps before it could escape. Meanwhile, Lee gathered the rest of the army together, including A. P. Hill's and D. H. Hill's divisions, then in reserve, and set off in pursuit once more.
A Chapter from Action Jackson 1862
Magruder, however, took his time, which did not win him any favours after the campaign was over. Lee was far from impressed, but that did not mean that Magruder's efforts were not ignored. McClellan, now that he was well aware that VI Corps had been annihilated, only knew too well what fate awaited for him, and the rest of the army, if the Confederate pursuit was not stopped. Albeit he was reluctant to order it, the US III Corps of General Heintzelman soon found itself having to conduct a last ditched rearguard action akin to VI Corps only two days before. One major thing, though, worked in III Corps favour: and that was the ground they had decided to fight upon.Malvern Hill proved to be the best location that any defender could have imagined. It could not be outflanked. Instead only a frontal assault could take place. And even though Lee was able to combine his entire army together for once, more or less, at the Battle of Malvern Hill, the meagre 17 500 Union troops were up to the task of defeating them. There were, however, several mistakes made by the Confederates which ensured Union victory.
The first mistake to take place was that Magruder arrived on the scene on 1 July, several hours before the others, and got immediately into action. With urgent orders coming from Lee to rapidly take the fight to those people, he finally followed these orders instead of waiting for the Army of Northern Virginia to concentrate together its numbers. His 13 000 troops, hence, were completely outnumbered and Magruder's force had no chance whatsoever in breaching the Union defences. Error then compounded upon error, when the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia finally arrived. Lee, thinking victory could come at any moment, decided to support Magruder in his futile efforts, by sending reinforcements into the attack as they arrived on the battlefield. In doing so, though, the attack continued piecemeal, instead of building up the formidable army Lee had finally concentrated for a major concerted effort. These errors would continue, until mid afternoon, when Lee finally realised the situation and decided to have one major all-out assault. The problem by now, however, was that Magruder's troops were thoroughly exhausted along with half of the rest of Lee's army. Consequentially Lee's first and only major assault at Malvern Hill, in the afternoon, was also repulsed.
Heintzelman knew, nonetheless, that his III Corps was in no better condition than Lee's army, even though his casualties were light, his ammunition stocks were low, not to mention his men were exhausted. Thus, under the cover of darkness, having done its job superbly, III Corps withdrew from their positions and was, more or less, safely in Harrison's Landing by dawn the next day. Lee knew this would probably happen, so he dispatched Stuart and his cavalry after III Corps at dawn on 1 July. Stuart discovered, to his horror, when reaching Harrison's Landing, that the place was a natural fortress after a brief engagement with the Union defenders. He reported this to Lee who regretted not completely destroying the Army of the Potomac, but was nevertheless satisfied with the results thus far. It seemed a siege would now commence, but other factors would soon came into play to change this.
Read the whole story of Action Jackson 1862 - Stonewall's Foot Cavalry Wins The Day on the Changing the Times web site
In 2011, on this day the Allied High Representative Dr Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam flew out of Kabul Airport having completed a hugely successful twelve-month political development program in Afganistan.
Job DoneDuring the previous summer, the US military had successfully faced down its civilian masters during the so-called "Wimps in the White House" crisis. Fortunately, senior figures in the chain of command had had the intelligence to perceive that by sharing his sharing his private thoughts with a reporter from Rolling Stone Magazine Stan McChrystal's had made a cry for help. Having been locked in a negative spiral of events incomprehensible to the military mind, McChrystal had followed a well-worn route by expressing his rage and frustration without fear of consequence. Because in the final analysis, with his brother and sister officers dying on a failing mission, his own future seemed a matter of little concern. The truth was he had sacrified his own career to get the mission back on track by creating a political storm back home.
"Nobody does it like Mo" ~ Tony BlairPresident Obama recalled McChrystal to Washington to explain himself, but when he refused to apologise for stating the truth, newly appointed Secretary of General Affairs David Petraeus sent the General back to Afghanistan to continue his leadership of the International Security Assistance Force.
Petraeus then sought the right person to lead the broader political development mission, soon finding that Mo Mowlam was the obvious candidate. As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mowland broke a logjam in the Northern Ireland Peace Talks by confronting former terrorists in the Maze Prison, an act of outstanding leadership that had forced Tony Blair to admit "nobody does it like Mo".
In 1908, a celestial object of unknown type strikes the Russian capital of St. Petersburg with what will later be estimated as a force equal to 10-20 megatons of TNT, wiping out Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and children, and most of the Russian imperial government.
It had been only three years since the near-revolution of 1905 following Russia's defeat in its war with Japan. The cataclysmic destruction of the Russian capital and government is seized upon by ultranationalist fanatics as a sign from God, and a bloody uprising follows in which the weak-willed Grand Duke Mikhail Alexanderovich is installed on the throne as the zealots' puppet. Watch the Youtube Clip
Russian Cataclysm by Eric LippsThe new government embarks on a program of massive industrialization and military expansion and exploits anti-Semitism and a fundamentalist Russian Orthodox theology to build support, touching off savage pogroms against Russia's Jews and Roman Catholics, the latter considered "heretics" by the zealots now in charge of Russia.
Ironically, had the mystery object arrived at Earth just a few hours earlier, it would have struck in the sparsely populated Tunguska region of Siberia, and might well have taken no human life. In that case, the bloody history of the twentieth century might have been entirely different.
In 1934, the German Nazi Party, in power for a mere two years, falls into a civil war with itself as competing factions attack each other throughout the country.
Night of Long Knives
by Robbie TaylorThe leader of the Sturm Abteilung, Ernst Roehm, was nearly killed by men under the command of Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler, both of whom wished to seize the mighty SA for their own. A small clique of industrialists attempted to oust a few of the other upper party leaders, and bands of the SA roamed the country, attacking people indiscriminately.
After this night of long knives, it was readily apparent that the Nazis had lost control of themselves, and all of the elements of society that they had been repressing - labor movements, democrats, even some of the aristocrats - seized the moment and banded together in Berlin. An ambitious team was able to capture Hitler and assassinate him, which plunged the already-splintered Nazis into further infighting as all of their leaders tried to take control of the party.
The revolutionary movement appointed former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher as Prime Minister of Germany and outlawed the Nazi Party. Prime Minister von Schleicher immediately asked for international assistance to quell the unrest in his country, and troops from around central and western Europe were soon putting the Nazis down. Prime Minister von Schleicher steered Germany away from the authoritarian nightmare the Nazis had been instituting and towards a more workable, French-style democracy, although he had to deal with Nazi remnants for many years after the coup.
In 1859, daredevil Charles Blondin, AKA Jean Francois Gravelet, attempted unsuccessfully to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Amazingly, Blondin survived despite the injuries sustained in his fall and despite being nearly drowned before he could be rescued. However, he would be obliged to walk with the aid of crutches for the rest of his life.
The young serving girl who answered the bell screamed and ran over to them, finding Queen Gwen dead and King Arthur barely holding onto life. "Quickly," he said to her, feeling everything slipping away, "quickly, bring Sir Lance; bring help". She ran crying from the room, shouting, "Their majesties are murdered! Help, help, their majesties are murdered!" As the sound of her panic roused the entire castle, Arthur felt an old, familiar presence at his side, and a great calm swept over him. "I was wondering if you'd show up," he said to the old man. "What good is having a great wizard advisor if he only ever appears when it's too late?" The old man chuckled and laid a hand on Arthur's forehead, stroking his hair tenderly.
"I should have never come out of the coma; Gwen had everything under control, even if she was doing it for the wrong reasons". Merl's voice soothed him as it said, "But then, you would never have reconciled; she wouldn't have your forgiveness". Arthur tried to shrug, but didn't have the strength. "I don't think that's terribly important". Merl sat down on the bed, but Arthur didn't feel the bed shift at all.
"But, it is, Arthur, it is. Everything that we do in our brief time upon this world casts shadows on those around us; that is the true afterlife, Arthur. That is our immortality". Arthur felt very cold, and Merl's hand gripped his. "I came back from death once," he told Merl. The old wizard smiled at him and said, "Twice". Arthur smiled and meant to nod, but his head was so heavy that all he could do was let it lean back until it touched Gwen's. He heard the thundering footsteps of people coming in to help, and saw Lance's face hover over his own. "Goodbye, my brother," he said to Lance, whose face was covered in tears. The knight attempted to pull Arthur away from Gwen, but with his last breath, King Arthur told him, "Let me stay with her, Lance; let me stay with her, always". Sir Lance felt the king's life slip away from him at that moment, and couldn't bring himself to move the two of them apart. He turned to the servants and guards who now crowded the chamber and told them, "The king - and queen - are dead". His voice choked as he struggled to continue. "Let there never be another; for we have been blessed once with this great pair. It would be selfish of our people to expect such leaders to come along again".
June 29
In 1914, in the early hours of the morning
Sophie Chotek, Archduchess of Hohenberg expires in Sarajevo. The cause of death was blood loss from a bullet in the stomach fired by a fellow Slav called Gavril Princip.
Sad Passing of the Duchess of Hohenberg sparks hope in the BalkansDriven by furious anger and resentment, Princip was the victim of his own tragedy, a grinding poverty in which six of his brothers and sisters had died during childhood. It was a story not uncommon across the Balkans and as a result after centuries of Habsburg rule there was a growing clamour for change in the air. At least half a dozen high administrators had been killed by Panslavic assassins in the troubled Balkans region during the previous twelve months. But this time around its quite different because Sophie is a Czech, and the couple had actually been well received in the city despite their insensitive decision to visit on Vidovdan, the most important Serbian mourning date commemorating the Battle of Kosovo.
As her grief stricken widower leaves the hospital he learns that Serbian shops are being destroyed across the city. This retaliation gives him pause for thought and he calls an impromptu public gathering outside the Town Hall. Announcing the searing tragedy of his wife's death he tells the emotional crowd that his Czech Wife was a national treasure that she was "your Arch Duchess too". And in his now-famous Sarajevo Address, a speech heard across the world, Franz-Ferdinand officially recognizes for the first time the brave Serbian contribution to the defence of Europe from the invading Turks. Going further he set out his powerful vision for an Empire of the People, calling upon the various nationalities to work together as brothers and sisters in peace for the common good. When he succeeds Franz Joseph a few years later, he set about making a reality of this exhilarating future.
Author's Note: History Today notes that the murder of the royal couple precipitated the July Crisis of 1914, five weeks of diplomacy and decision-making - far away from Bosnia -which led to the outbreak of the First World War, but quite how the deaths of Franz Ferdinand and Archduchess Sophie would lead to the deaths of millions has always been a vexing question.
In 1862, East Tennessee became the second state to secede from the Confederacy two days after Georgia governor Joseph E. Brown (pictured) had made a similar announcement.
An article from the Jefferson Unbound thread.
Jefferson Unbound - the Conscription Act backfires
By Ed & Eric OppenThe Confederacy had come into being under circumstances that were hardly ideal. Expedience was the order of the day. And as the war entered its second year, the noises beginning to come out of Richmond had begun to have a worryingly similar ring to those out Washington, at least in the ears of Southern Governors.
Matters came to a head with the passage of the Conscription Age which forced the enlistment of white men ages 18 to 45 [1]. "No act of the Government of the United States prior to the secession of Georgia," wrote the irate Brown, "struck a blow at constitutional liberty so fell as has been stricken by the conscription act". There was noted resistance to it in North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. In the Shenandoah Valley, pacifist religious orders and Unionists banded together in opposition. A lower court in Georgia found it unconstitutional (though several other states' Supreme Courts disagreed). Even the Vice-President, Alexander Stephens, thought the Conscription Act "very bad policy".
Confederate President Jefferson Davis explained it all away, addressing Governor Brown. The central government usurping the rights of individual states was a "familiar and well-settled principle". Brown responded by recalling all Georgian soldiers to border defense. All things were now possible, a retrocession into the Union or an invasion by the Confederacy. And then East Tennessee followed suite, Stephens resigned and the game was up.
In 1974, on this day Evita Perón was sworn in as the first female President of Argentina [1]. Her husband, President Juan Perón, had delegated responsibility due to weak health and died two days later.
The Rise of the Iron LadyGiven the title of "Spiritual Leader of the Nation" by the Argentine Congress, she was hardened by her long battle with cancer becoming a fiery "example of passion and combativeness" [1].
Of course the Argentine people would be the beneficiaries of her charismatic decade-long Presidency. And the big losers would be the British Government who spectacularly failed to recover their imperial possessions in the South Atlantic when the Iron Lady [4] launched a surprise invasion of the Malvinas Islands in 1982. Unfortunately for the imperialists, President Charlton Heston was unwilling to get involved in a conflict involving two Coldwar allies. This wasn't a sentimental decision because it later transpired, that the Argentine Government was directing arms to the Contras [3] and Perón had threatened to disrupt supply if Heston backed the British.
In 626, on this day Avars Storm Constantinople. Following the fall of Rome to the Visigoths, Constantinople took up the mantle of Roman Empire and again established rule through the Mediterranean under the emperor Justinian (527-565). Such a massive empire again proved unwieldy, and Justinian had to install massive bureaucracy to achieve the continuation of his empire.
Avars Storm ConstantinopleWhile maintaining order, the bureaucracy was also incredibly expensive, which ironically created unrest as the populace grew weary of heavy taxes despite the wealth of empire. Emperor Maurice (582-602) created cost-saving measures whenever possible, such as refusing in 598 to pay ransom to the Avar Khaganate for thousands of Byzantine prisoners-of-war. The result was the soldiers being slaughtered, but the coffers of the Empire remaining full. In 602 as another measure, he ordered the army to make winter quarters on the frontier north of the Danube rather than march home. This action caused the army to rebel and march on Constantinople, dragging Maurice out of sanctuary in a monastery to execute him. Their leader Phocas was installed the new emperor.
Although popular, Phocas proved unable to defend the empire. In the north, the Avars and their Slavic allies overwhelmed the Balkan territories. In the east, Governor Narses of Mesopotamia incited a rebellion against Phocas' rule. When Phocas sent an army to put him down, Narses sought aid from Khosrau II, emperor of the Sassanid Persians, who was pleased to attack the weakened Byzantines. The Persians defeated the Byzantine army sent against them and began conquering through Armenia and Asia Minor. In 610, Heraclius, the Exarch ("regional governor") of Africa, overthrew the now very unpopular Phocas and tried to make peace. The Persians denied him and continued conquering the Levant and Egypt. Heraclius assembled expeditionary forces to counterattack in northern Asia Minor and then left Constantinople in 624 to campaign in the Caucasus.
The Avars continued their sweep across the Balkans to the capital itself with some eighty thousand men and siege equipment with the goal of wiping out the Byzantines altogether. An army twelve thousand strong and featuring cavalry defended the city, but it was the bureaucracy who managed life there. A bureaucrat named John determined that food the coming siege was of crucial value and began work to maintain the bread supply. He moved to cancel the free bread ration for the imperial guard (who had ample money of their own to spend) and enacted that overall bread prices be increased from three to eight folles to ensure none was wasted. On May 14 and 15, people gathered at the Great Church and chanted in protest. The local governing body under Bonos discussed what to do and ultimately decided that austerity must be retained in the face of the oncoming barbarians. After days of protest, the government sent loyal soldiers to chase away the chanters. Rioting began, and soon the city was set aflame. Order was restored at times, but the populace proved unresponsive even to zealous religious appeals. In the end, most of the citizenry abandoned the city and fled by sea in convoys to avoid attack Persians. City bureaucrats attempted to stop the retreat with control of the sea walls, but defenses were sabotaged by the people hoping to escape.
When the Avars arrived on June 29, few soldiers were left loyal to Byzantium. A short battle followed, and, despite superior defensive technology with its walls, the Avars broke into Constantinople. Barbarians looted what remained of the city and burned the rest, ending what had been a key position of trade in the known world. Heraclius found himself without a capital, and his allies lost all confidence. He began an overall evacuation to Africa and established himself there, though the empire continued to crumble with Visigoths seizing lands to the west in Spain. The Persians and the Avars reached agreement on a border along the Hellespont, giving both access to trade there while making it a dangerous haven for pirates on the newly unprotected strait.
Although victorious over their Byzantine rival, the Sassanids soon found themselves overwhelmed by the Arab Empire that grew up following the spread of Islam in the 630s and 640s. It eclipsed Zoroastrianism and spread through Africa to Spain, India, and northward to become the principal religion of the Huns and Rus. Charlemagne maintained Christendom in central Europe, and the Scandinavian nations joined as well. Western Europe continued as a marginal corner of the world with trade centering on the vast holdings of the Caliphates. Eventually European explorers seeking a westward route around the Muslim monopoly discovered the New World, which brought a new age of empire upon the out-of-the-way continent.
In 1815, a week after his fruitless return to Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte left Malmaison for Rochefort where he evaded English coast guards to board a vessel that carried him to the United States.
Napoleon's Escape to North America, Reboot
by Ed, Eric Oppen and Jackie RoseTravelling to Bolton, Massachusetts, he resided at the home of the merchant Sampson Vryling Stoddard (S.V.S.) Wilder, a noted member of the small American community in Paris. He was an acquaintance of both Talleyrand and Lafayette, and in addition to the influence of their political thought, had been deeply impressed by the changes brought about in society and politics under Napoleonic Rule. Compelled to act after the tragic defeat at Waterloo, he provided the fallen Emperor with his valet's passport.
Wilder dreamt of a meeting of minds with President Madison, a potential co-belligerent who had declared war on England in 1812. But Napoleon had set his mind on a new vision shortly after after he visited Malmaison where Josephine had died only thirteen months before. And so over the next six months he collected all his relatives around him, forming the nucleus of a national union, a second France. They headed West to found a Bonapartist dynasty that would dominate Mexican politics for the next two millenia.
This blog is a reboot of an article with the same name in which Napoleon didn't make it.
In 1876, the problem of choosing a candidate to fill the boots of outgoing President Ulysses S. Grant appeared to be miraculously solved by the fortuitous arrival of George Armstrong Custer on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis.
American Heroes 3:
Triumph of "The Morning Star"Positively beaming with the euphoria of his spectacular victory at the Little Big Horn, the "Morning Star" was very much a chip off the old block. A shameless self-promoter with a track record of show-boating, he was a genocidal, centennial poster boy for foolish men to rally around. Dripping with Indian blood, he too was an inhuman butcher devoid of respect for human life. Incredibly, his administration would make Grant's look good by comparison.
Only later during his impeachment trial would the grisly truth emerge amongst other evidence of malfeasance, corruption and deception.
One insight that the more cynical convention delegates had long suspected. Amongst a political generation that had fought the Civil War, those fomer servicemen had queried the logic of a three pronged attack which made no military sense. Because surely a concentration of forces was the best tactic for defeating a large hostile army ferociously defending its native homeland? At least until it was revealed that Custer and Major Marcus Reno had ordered their loyalist troopers to indiscriminately slaughter the helpless women and children in the village of White Deer, none of whom were committed Democrats voters anyway.
In 1935, on this day in Baton Rouge, the charismatic Louisiana senator Huey Pierce Long formally announced his entrance into the race for the White House even though he had no intention of running for the presidency the following year1.
The greatest President we never had
Huey Long was without a doubt the greatest politician who ever livedLong instead planned to challenge Roosevelt for the Democratic nomination in 1936, knowing he would lose the nomination but gain valuable publicity in the process. Then he would break from the Democrats and form a third party using the Share Our Wealth plan as a basis for its program.
He also planned to use Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest and populist talk radio personality from Royal Oak, Michigan; Iowa agrarian radical Milo Reno; and other dissidents. The new party would run someone else as its 1936 candidate, but Long would be the primary campaigner. This candidate would split the progressive vote with Roosevelt, thereby resulting in the election of a Republican as president but proving the electoral appeal of Share Our Wealth. Long would then run for president as a Democrat in 1940. In the spring of 1935, Long undertook a national speaking tour and regular radio appearances, attracting large crowds and increasing his stature.
Long was well on his way to being president in 1940. If Long would have been elected president, there would be no WWII, no profits from the banking interests in Europe and America in financing this war, nor any war profits from American corporations like IG Farben. All of the best laid plans Roosevelt had would have gone to hell in a handbasket.
In 1916, on this day the liberal journalist Henry W. Nevinson shouted out "God save Ireland!" from the back of the Old Bailey when the Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary, and nationalist Roger Casement was acquitted of treason.
God Save Ireland!Nevertheless, he was stripped of his British Honours; in 1911, Casement had been knighted by George V as Knight Bachelor for his efforts on behalf of the Amazonian Indians, having been reluctantly appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1905 for his Congo work.
Unsuprisingly, no honours would be forthcoming for his work on behalf of the Irish. Because his involvement in the "Irish Plan" was unquestioned; during his time in Germany (pictured) he recruited an "Irish Brigade" consisting of Irish prisoners-of-war in the prison camp of Limburg an der Lahn, who would be trained to fight against Britain.
Unfortunately for the prosecution team, it seemed that the medieval Treason Act applied only to activities carried out on English soil. And they failed to convince the court that the inclusion of a comma in the text widened the scope to include "in the realm or elsewhere" meaning where acts were done and not just where the "King's enemies" may be. And so the court decided that Casement was not to be "hanged by a comma".
Among the many people who pleaded for his clemency were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who became acquainted with Casement through the work of the Congo Reform Association, W. B. Yeats and George Bernard Shaw. Edmund Dene Morel could not visit him in jail, being under attack for his pacifist position. Although the outcome of the case upheld the honour of the judicial system, the consequences for the British War Effort would be huge. Encouraged by Casement his supporters would take their arguments to the United States where they would cause immense difficulties for the American politicians seeking to enter the war on the Allied side.
In 1767, on this day the so-called "Townshend Acts" were voted down in the British Parliament.
Originated by Charles Townshend and designed to collect revenue from Britain's American colonists by imposing customs duties on imported glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea, the acts were rejected as likely to cause even more resistance than had the recently-repealed Stamp Act.
Townshend Acts by Eric LippsFrustrated partisans of the Acts demanded to know, as one of them put it in a letter to a friend shortly after the vote, "How, if it be barred that we collect monies from the Colonies in duties for Trade, or by direct Taxation, we can be expected to provide for the Defence, of those selfsame Colonies? Yet if we do not, their Agitators will cry that we have Abandoned them, to the French and to the Savages which do infest that Continent.
One might almost think they consider themselves, an independent Country, yet demand Tribute from England in the form of Protection from Attack".
In 2004, on this day British Prime Minister Robin Cook confirmed to the House of Commons that Iraq had sought "significant quantities of uranium from Africa" warning that "his [Saddam Hussein's]" military planning allows for some of the Weapons of Mass Destruction to be ready within forty-five minutes of an order to use them".
Britain's biggest selling popular daily newspaper, The Sun, carried the headline "Brits 45 Mins from Doom", while the Star reported "Mad Saddam Ready to Attack: 45 Minutes from a Chemical War".
Forty-five Minutes from DoomTo the fury of many figures in the British establishment, Cook urged a cautious, measured approach to the crisis. The Foreign Secretary Bryan Gould was working closely with Britain's key allies around the world, confirmed the Prime Minister. A powerful coalition was being built which would seek a resolution from the UN Security Council, sanctioning multi-lateral military action in order to disarm Iraq.
Cook urged the House to consider the key lessons from his adept handling of the Kosovo Crisis. "There was no doubt about the multilateral support that we had for the action that we took [in Kosovo]. It was supported by NATO; it was supported by the European Union; it was supported by every single one of the seven neighbours in the region. France and Germany were our active allies. It is precisely because we need that same level of support in this case that it is all the more important to get agreement in the Security Council as the best hope of demonstrating international agreement".
Yet forces outside the mother of parliaments were driving events now. And a far more belligerent approach to Iraq was adopted by his successor, after Cook's mysterious death in the Highlands of Scotland on August 6th, 2005.
Because at around 2.20pm, whilst walking down Ben Stack in Sutherland, Scotland, Cook suddenly suffered a severe heart attack, collapsed and lost consciousness. A helicopter arrived 40 minutes after a 999 call was taken, containing paramedics. Cook then was flown to Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. Despite strenuous efforts made by the medical team to revive Cook in the helicopter, he was already beyond recovery, and at 4:05pm, minutes after arrival at the hospital, Robin Cook was pronounced dead. "I may not have succeeded in halting the war, but I did secure the right of parliament to decide on war".Two days later, a post mortem revealed that Cook died of hypertensive heart disease. Rumours of foul play continued throughout the Second Gulf War.
In January 2007, a headstone was erected in Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh, where Cook is buried, bearing the epitaph: "I may not have succeeded in halting the war, but I did secure the right of parliament to decide on war". Cynics would claim another victory for the national interest, that unstoppable force that had driven British Foreign Policy since the Middle Ages.
In 1776, South Carolinian Edward Rutledge writes what will become the most influential letter of the brief war for American independence to John Jay of New York.
The Rutledge LetterRutledge urged Jay to find a way to turn his Continental Congress colleagues from independence, hoping that there was still a way to "effectively oppose" the headlong rush toward nationhood that the colonials were in.
When Jay took control of the Continental Congress and began negotiating for a rapprochement with the Crown, he sent Rutledge to Great Britain to argue on behalf of increased autonomy for the colonies if they would yield to continued British rule. Rutledge found many in Britain's Parliament eager to accede to American demands in order to free up forces for the disastrous war in Canada, and his own affinity for the British won him enough allies to push his measures through and end the war between the American colonies and Great Britain.
This post is an article from the Canadian Revolution thread.
In 1984, Muammar Khadafy was indicted in the Hague before a UN war crimes tribunal; it marked the first time in thirty-eight years a senior official from a dictatorship had been so charged.
It wouldn't be the last, however, as Khadafy would be joined in the dock before the end of the year by fellow Middle East tyrant Saddam Hussein.
|Charles Windsor
In 2001, a memorial in honour of Charles Windsor, Prince of Wales, is to be built in London's Hyde Park, the government announced. The GBP 3m fountain will be built on the site of a derelict pump house and chlorination plant on the banks of the Serpentine - the 40-acre artificial lake in the royal park. The prince, who would have been 53 this year, was killed in a high-speed car crash in Paris with his lover Camilla Parker-Bowles almost four years ago. Teams of architects will now be invited to tender designs for the memorial, which will be paid for by public funds.
According to the official Warren Commission report on the assassination, Oswald loaded and fired three shots at Kennedy in seven seconds in Dallas on November 22, 1963. He used a Carcano M91/38 bolt-action rifle. The first shot missed the president, the second went through his back and neck and the third hit Kennedy in the head, killing him. But the Italian tests showed that it would take a minimum of 19 seconds to load and fire three shots using a Carcano M91/38. So there must have been at least one more sniper for so many shots to have been fired in such a short space of time, the experts believe.
The tests were carried out at the former Carcano factory in the town of Terni, around 100km north of Rome, where the alleged murder weapon was produced in 1940. The research also raised questions about whether the Commission's conclusion that the third bullet disintegrated when it hit Kennedy's head is compatible with the supposition that Oswald was about 80 meters away in a book depository when he fired the shot.Tests on the Carcano M91/38 suggested the bullet would have remained intact and come out of Kennedy's forehead, if fired from that distance. The tests also focused on the so-called 'magic bullet' of the second shot. The Warren Report concluded the bullet passed through Kennedy's body and hit then-Texas Governor John Connally in the back, chest and wrist, remaining almost perfectly intact at the end. Bullets fired through two blocks of meat in the Italian tests were so deformed that experts concluded it would have been impossible for the bullet to remain intact.
Over the years sceptics have picked at suspected inconsistencies in the official version of the Warren Commission - named after Chief Justice Earl Warren - to support a wide range of conspiracy theories.
In 3828 by the Hebrew Calendar, Saul of Tarsus died in Rome of the thorn in his flesh (Old Testament - thorns means enemies). And the murderer was none other than the amanuensis Paul had often employed for authoring his Epistles, only occasionally writing himself.
|Saint Paul
June 28
It is June 28, 1914. The Austrian Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie are touring his imperial uncle's possessions in Bosnia.
A Hapsburg Happy EndingA bomb is thrown into their carriage, forcing them to flee. Franz Ferdinand insists on going to the hospital, to visit the ambush victims. He has brought his gun with him from Austria, knowing that Sarajevo is boiling with unrest against him, and that the local government's security plans are woefully inadequate.
Throughout his ride to the hospital, he keeps his gun clasped in his hand, scanning the crowd with his eyes..thus using his well-honed skills as a hunter.
Fortunately for him (and everyone else in the world), his eyes fall on a young man who is raising his own pistol and pointing it at him. The archduke fires first .. and Gavrilo Princip falls to the ground.
Under harsh police interrogation, Princip confesses that he had eight accomplices, who were all rounded up within a few days. He also reveals that they had planned to incite a war between Bosnia and Serbia on one side, and the Austrian empire on the other. Naturally, they were all sentenced to long prison terms.
Following the death of his uncle, the old Hapsburg Emperor Franz Josef, the former archduke worked hard to bring the empire into three separate kingdoms: Austria, Hungary and the Slavic nations, including Bosnia.
What really happened: Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were both murdered on the way to the hospital, leading Austria and her ally Germany to declare war on Serbia. Russia soon entered on Serbia's side, and they were soon joined by England, France and eventually America too. World War I had begun, 100 years ago this week.
Older Posts
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.


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Light, fast handling, and great value have always been the hallmarks of Franchi shotguns. Established in 1868 and now part of the prestigious Beretta Group, Franchi is a continually developing company with a good solid base. Attention to quality, cutting-edge research, and rigorous care for products all contribute to Franchi's fame as one of the brighter, more important stars in the world of firearms.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Aang: Wow, camping. It really feels just like old times again, doesn't it?
Zuko: If you really want it to feel like old times, I could uhh… chase you around for a while and try to capture you.
Zuko, I think that came off way more sexual than you intended it to.
that smirk
Okay that's it I have to watch this show now


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DT for Nanakuli Schools
Recently, the HI FusionED Team has been busy helping Nanakuli Elementary and Nanakuli High and Intermediate School learn about the Design Thinking (DT) process and how to apply its principles to activate innovative change within their school cultures. Two very different approaches were presented, challenging the Team to dig deep into their DT toolkits. At Nanakuli Elementary School, participants included faculty leadership. At [...]Read more


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As an advocate for seniors and the disabled, I am appalled that Suzanne Burke, CEO of Council on Aging in Clinton County, "believes" 34 seniors/disabled should be eliminated from Meals on Wheels because "they can handle things just fine" ("Seniors kicked off Meals on Wheels" Feb. 14). Burke says it is her duty to make […]
Council on Aging ought to be ashamed
02/24/14 at 7:46am by Letters Editor | Comments
Thanks for shedding light on defunding
10/01/12 at 7:58am by Letters Editor | Comments
Thank you for the recent articles "Disabled workers face losing precious jobs" (Sept. 21) and "Disabled fear loss of support" (Sept. 22), relative to the proposed changes by the Kentucky Department of Behavioral Health, Development and Intellectual Disabilities (DBHDID) to Kentucky regulations which currently help fund the adult workshops for the disabled in Northern Kentucky […]
Romney's 'freeloader' statement is telling
09/18/12 at 5:01pm by Letters Editor | Comments
Mitt Romney has dismissed half of all Americans as being freeloaders ("Romney: Half believe they are victims"). If Romney wants to talk about who benefits from the government, I think he should start with himself. He pays a lower tax rate than 99 percent of the country and has loop holes big enough to drive […]
Disabled pedestrians scared to leave house
05/25/12 at 8:33am by Letters Editor | Comments
I am writing on behalf of the disabled persons of Northern Kentucky. In April, two of my friends and neighbors have gotten run over by cars in the city of Covington. Recently, I was almost hit. People are not paying attention to the disabled crossing the streets. It angers me to see people without compassion […]
More pay taxes than reported
02/02/12 at 4:51pm by Letters Editor | Comments
In response to a letter that implies that 47 percent of Americans pay no federal taxes I offer this fact: Everyone pays federal taxes in one way or another, whether it be a payroll roll tax, or taxes on gasoline, goods and services. It should also be noted that the people who pay no federal […]
Stop entitlements
07/29/11 at 11:47am by Letters Editor | Comments
After caring for the elderly and disabled, society must help convert entitlement-dependent, nonproductive members into self-respecting contributors. For the benefit and survival of America and all Americans, subsidizing entitlement-dependency must stop. Gary Flesch Villa Hills
Absentee ballots
05/20/11 at 6:19am by Letters Editor | Comments
The Republicans in the Ohio House seems determined to make it as difficult as possible to cast a ballot, based on the changes passed in House Bill 194. First, the bill would ban county elections board from sending absentee ballot applications to all registered voters and from prepaying postage for the ballots. The reason for […]
Rand Paul wrong on disability rights
07/12/10 at 5:32pm by Letters Editor | Comments
I'm writing to share my destain for Dr. Rand Paul's radical vision of this great nation. I'm a former candidate for Newport Mayor, and I'm also a dwarf. Dr. Paul says he opposes the Americans with Disabilities Act. Though I don't see Dwarfism as a disability, but that law has helped make my life and […]
Driving tests for disabled don't make sense
02/01/10 at 5:15pm by Letters Editor | Comments
Ohio BMV discriminates in more ways than one. Handicapped persons are required to test every year while those not handicapped test every four years. The handicapped "maneuverability test " is nothing more than "parallel parking," which is moot for a disabled person due to the laws for handicapped-accessible parking. I contacted Columbus BMV two years ago […]
About The LettersThe Enquirer receives dozens of letters to the editor each week - and because of space limitations, only a fraction of them can appear in print. Here online, we are able to post all of the letters we receive that add to the community conversation. We do not post letters that we deem inappropriate, however. Join the conversation by submitting a letter below or adding your comments to posted letters.
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October 25, 2014
Long Lines at Precincts in Va., Some Glitches
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia election officials say heavy turnout is leading to long lines at polling places across the state.
Elderly Man Hit by Car in His Yard, Driver Leaves Scene
AUGUSTA COUNTY, Va -- Virginia State Police need your help after an elderly man was hit by a car in his yard while he was doing yard work.
Intersection Reopened after Traffic Crash on Port Republic Road
The intersection of Cross Keys Road and Port Republic Road has reopened after a traffic crash.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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I have been teaching private lessons for close to 10 years and have been an active performer for even longer, playing in all different types of groups, from rock bands and jazz groups to orchestras and brass bands. I studied music at Frostburg State University (Bachelors) and the Peabody Conservatory (Masters). I can teach just about any age and skill level and cover anything you are interested in learning; whether its a certain style, genre, technique or song.
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Hey there! I've been performing music for as long as I remember. (I used to give concerts for all the family gatherings!) I've been formally performing in music for over 30 years. I have formal training and 8 years of teaching experience. I teach with positivity, patience, and perseverance and help you express the music in you!
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Arrangement and Composition, Audition Prep, Composition, Conducting, Ear Training, Music Theory, Piano, Trumpet
British conductor David G. is rapidly establishing himself as an exciting talent on the international conducting scene. David currently holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the New Fine Arts Ensemble in South Korea and Staff Conductor of the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia. In addition, he has previously held posts with Opera Philadelphia, and New York Youth Symphony. This season, David was invited to conduct the BBC Symphony and Hilliard Ensemble in the Orkney St. Magnus Festival and in addition was selected as one of sixteen competitors in the Cyprus International Conducting Competition. This season saw David as a finalist for the 2013 American Conducting Prize and a semi finalist in the prestigious League of American Orchestras Bruno Walter Conductor Preview.
David has conducted orchestras such as the Virginia Symphony, New World Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra and Chorus, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, Cincinnati Philharmonia, Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, New York Youth Symphony, UCLA Philharmonia, New York Women in Music Festival Orchestra, Genovian Philharmonia, Cincinnati Concert Orchestra, Oistrach Symphony Orchestra, Bard Conservatory Orchestra, and Eastman Graduate Orchestra.
David has conducted in masterclasses for Michael Tilson Thomas, Helmuth Rilling, JoAnn Falletta, Gustav Meier, Kenneth Kiesler, Leon Botstein, Cliff Colnot, Jorge Mester, Kirk Trevor, David Effron, David Loebel, Mark Gibson, Markand Thakar, Apo Hsu, and Donald Schleicher.
Born in Germany, David began his musical studies at St. Mary's Music Cathedral School in Edinburgh, Scotland where he studied trumpet with Marcus Pope and piano with John Cameron. In 2005, David accepted a scholarship to study trumpet at Eastman School of Music with James Thompson and orchestral conducting with Brad Lubman. David also holds an MM in Orchestral Conducting from Bard Conservatory of Music where he studied with esteemed mentor Harold Farberman. David has been the recipient of several prestigious scholarships including the Howard Hanson Scholarship, Dewar Arts Awards Grant, Bagby Foundation Grant, Hope Scott Trust Grant, and Bard Conducting Scholarship among others.
Performances on trumpet with over one hundred ensembles include: Meadows Chamber Orchestra, Edinburgh Symphony Baroque Orchestra, Brighton Symphony Orchestra, Edinburgh Grand Opera Company, Ossia, Musica Nova, Riverdale Choral Society, Lansdowne Symphony, National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Opera & Philharmonia, National Youth Brass Band of Scotland, and the Lowland Band of the Scottish Division. David has performed in trumpet masterclasses for Niklas Eklund, Mark Gould, Patrick Addinall, John Gracie, Robert Early, John Kenny, Todd J. Hastings, Angela Whelan, Marc O'Keefe, and James Chamberlain.
Live radio broadcasts include WXXI in the Live from Hochstein Concert Series and special appearances have included performing the American National Anthem at the Edinburgh celebrations marking the 229th anniversary of American Independence at the invitation of American Ambassador Cecile Shea and two invitations to perform for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Hollywood Palace. In 2005 David was awarded 1st place in the prestigious Scottish Concerto Competition.
Adobe Creative Suite, Audio Engineering, Bass Trombone, Clarinet, Ear Training, Music Performance, Music Recording, Music Theory, Percussion, Saxophone, Songwriting, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba
I have been teaching brass-wind and and music theory since 2011 through various non-profit organizations.My goal as a music instructor is to not only to improve your skills on your instrument or designs; but, to also help you become self sufficient in advancing your skills. I currently hold a Bachelors of Science in Urban Arts with a minor in music. I have over thirteen years of experience playing brass instruments and a wealth of knowledge on music theory and brass-wind technique. I am currently pursuing a Master in Education in Music Education. I have worked students as young as 10 years old through adults well into there twenties. I have worked students from various walks of life and different cultural backgrounds. Nurturing human potential through arts advancement has been my philosophy for many years.
Tim Stanley hails from Belleville, IL. Watching his father play with bands of almost every genre in the St. Louis area were his earliest musical experiences. He began his own studies on trumpet at the age of nine. After graduating from high school in 1993, he attended Eastern Illinois University. At EIU he studied trumpet with Dr. W. Parker Melvin and improvisation with acclaimed pianist Henry Butler. Since March 2004, he has been a member of the United States Navy Commodores Jazz Ensemble. In 2008, Tim was awarded a Latin Grammy for his work with the Latin Jazz powerhouse, Afro Bop Alliance. Afro Bop also received a nomination for "Best Latin Jazz Album" at the 51st annual Grammy Awards that same year. Additionally, Tim is a member of The Unified Jazz Ensemble, a performing and educational mainstay in the Washington DC/Baltimore area. Tim has performed with Paquito D'Rivera, Chris Potter, Branford Marsalis, James Taylor, Phillip Phillips, Jason Mraz and many more.
Acoustic Guitar, Baroque Flute, Celtic Flute, Clarinet, Classical Guitar, Classical Piano, Composition, Conducting, Drum, Ear Training, Euphonium, Flute, French Horn, Guitar, Jewelry Design, Music Theory, Oboe, Percussion, Piano, Piccolo, Quilting, Saxophone, Sewing, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Violin
I am a former instrumental music teacher in the Catholic school system. I have been teaching in some way, shape or form for the past 18 years. For those students interested in any of my crafting lessons, I have been making crafts since I was too young to remember. My methods of teaching vary depending on the student and what they need to succeed. Please let me know if you have issues with animals, I can put them in another part of the house. I have both cats and a dog.
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Click on the image to enlarge. This is just one model's (GFS) forecast for our totals snowfall Sunday-Monday. Blue to yellow is 2-4". You can see much lighter amounts south, and heavier amounts to the north. I think this is a pretty safe forecast so far.
Thanks to Earl Barker and his www.wxcaster.com page for the source of this information.


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Nashville Outlaws
With the music industry pretty much dead anymore, nothing really comes off as shocking. After all, you have very desperate companies trying to hang on and make money from an industry that has about as much relevance today as the typewriter ribbon makers of the world still do. The current trend for the last half decade… Read More
Texas Hippie Coalition
I tell this story often, but it's one of my favorites of the past year. I had the chance to interview the Texas Hippie Coalition earlier this year at Rock On The Range in Columbus, Ohio. I was in a small tent with a bunch of photographers. The tent was fairly quiet really, as the much bigger adjacent… Read More
Sammy Hagar
I get it. You are Sammy Hagar. You've seen huge success in virtually every world you've entered. In music, he was the main focus of Montrose. He parlayed that into a very successful solo career. That wasn't enough, so he joined the world's largest band at the time (Van Halen), and took them to commercial heights that even they… Read More
Cavalera Conspiracy
There's always good news and bad news whenever Max Cavalera gets busy with new music. The good is that you get a whole lot of new music, seemingly all in a very short time. The bad news is it's generally spotty at best, because he simply writes and releases too much music at the same time. His band Soulfly released… Read More
With a ton of speculation and even more wonderment on this band's ability to continue on without founding members Paul Gray and Joey Jordison, Slipknot has returned after far too long of a layoff with .5 THE GRAY MATTER. I've listened to this release multiple times a day for the last week or so that I've had it,… Read More
Opeth simply fails as a band, at least to me. While I'll admit to never fully understanding the amazement and awe so many have for this band, I've appreciated them from afar. I've listened, and I've at least wrapped my head around what they were trying to do. Their fusing of death metal with progressive elements always made for an… Read More
Cannibal Corpse
So really, what does anyone expect when you get a Cannibal Corpse release handed to you? Ballads, love songs and fun? Not hardly. There's an expectation of severe brutality which the band delivers time and time again. Certainly, it comes with different levels of acceptance to one's ears, but ultimately the only thing that matters if it says… Read More
Unless you call Testament a "thrash band" (which I don't personally), Exodus would rank as my favorite true Thrash band of all time. They have had good times and bad. Occasionally, like on FABULOUS DISASTER, they have misstepped along the way. But overall, they are one of the true powerhouses in the history of thrash metal. Since 2004… Read More
Mr. Big
As a fan of Mr. Big, I can't honestly say that many people thought that their reunion was much more than a cash grab opportunity for the guys in the band who, while immensely talented, failed to find solo success to match their collaborative efforts. It was never a question of if they could still play.… Read More
Hey Gene Simmons. The corpse of rock n' roll just had a baby. That baby is not an average baby at all. That baby was not stillborn, but came out kicking and screaming with an intensity rarely seen. This baby is destined for greatness. This infant is out to prove you wrong. While your days of spitting fire and… Read More
Davey Suicide
I had the pleasure of working directly with Davey Suicide as he prepped his debut release a few years ago for release. I got to work with him on some promotional stuff, some publicity stuff, his website and a lot more of that kind of stuff. In that work, I quickly found him to be far more than the… Read More
Al Jourgensen of Ministry has been threatening to take his ball and go home for a long time now. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I believe that he'll ever retire. Every time he says he's retiring, he seems to come right back with more music that's stronger, meaner and just better than anything in his past. Being quite… Read More
(Hatebreed Concert Tickets)
There are some bands that just get it. Hatebreed is one of those bands. Like clockwork, I know that when I'm presented with a brand new Hatebreed release, I'm going to like it. You know why? Because before I ever hear a single note of it, I'm 100% certain of what I'm going to hear. Without question, their uncompromising approach to hardcore has launched them past almost all of their peers in the genre. While there are definitely bands like Agnostic Front that will always get more love as the creators and innovators of this style of music, there's very little doubt that it was Hatebreed that took it to the widest range of fans. Sure, they don't sell a zillion copies of any album, but who does that makes metal these days? What Hatebreed does doe, with every release, is deliver integrity, big sound, and uncompromising lyrics. THE DIVINITY OF PURPOSE is just what you'd expect from Hatebreed, although it's a touch heavier than even their past work has provided. In short, THE DIVINITY OF PURPOSE kicks ass.
I know a great many people that hated Disturbed. They considered them to be a poser metal band. They hated vocalist David Draiman and his pompous attitude. They didn't like their hits. They called them formulaic. To be sure, Disturbed has taken every bit of the hatred that most metalheads throw at a band like Nickelback these days. Yet, whatever the case was, they still sold a lot of music. Maybe it was truly "teenagers and girls" that bought their music, but whatever it was, they moved product. Being a Disturbed fan myself, I was excited about the thoughts of this new project from Draiman. He claimed it to be very "Nine Inch Nails". It was claimed to be very heavy. It had all kinds of hype behind it. The result? Well, maybe it's just me, but it's pretty damn close to what you would expect from the next Disturbed release. There are subtle differences to the sound, but overall, there won't be a single Disturbed fan out there that will be put off by this release. In fact, I'd bet most of those that are just casual radio fans won't even know it's a new band.
I can't speak for everyone, but I like a little bit of weirdness in my music every once in awhile. Not all the time, but there are definitely times when I need something that just goes far beyond the scope of "traditional" sounding music. My collection is littered with bands like Mr. Bungle, Pygmy Love Circus, Dog Fashion Disco, Mindless Self Indulgence and the like. These bands definitely find their way to my player a lot, specifically when I'm in a bad mood and need something strange to listen to and give me a "what the fuck" moment. Certainly, these kinds of bands are not for everyone. If they are your speed though, you might want to add NorseLaw to your collection. Listening to their release MOON HUNTERS is kind of like if you took a room full of iPods, blew them up, and could listen to the individual pieces all mixed up into some sort of cohesive, strange collection of songs. To my ear, it's a lot of Mr. Bungle, a touch of Borknagar, and a lot of straight up experimentation that doesn't really define definition easily.
To be perfectly honest, I REALLY thought that Soilwork was dead and buried. Sure, I knew they were still a band and were still making music, but their last couple of releases were some of the biggest disappointments of a band that I truly love that I can think of. I couldn't have hated STABBING THE DRAMA or SWORN TO A GREAT DIVIDE more if they were hand delivered to me by a pedophile that had just finished raping my children. When you consider what masterpieces A PREDATOR'S PORTRAIT and NATURAL BORN CHAOS were from this band, and then hearing them reach aimlessly for commercial success by changing their sound, it was very disheartening in very much the same way that a band like In Flames let so many down with their transition to a soft modern metal act. Thankfully though, Soilwork has come storming back. While it's not quite a full return, THE LIVING INFINITE is by far the best release from this band in a decade.
In 2013, there are not many bands where I actually get excited to hear they have a new release coming out. For a lot of reasons, the whole specter of a new release just doesn't get me anticipating things like it used to. In large part, it's because I get everything sent to me months in advance that takes away from the real excitement of a release. For a few bands though, I literally can't wait each and every time for new music. Sevendust is one such band. Without question, they are my favorite band of the modern era; a band criminally underappreciated when you consider that lesser bands like Disturbed and Korn surpassed them greatly in popularity throughout their respective runs. I'm so much of a fan that I'm traveling twice in a month to see them - once in Fort Wayne, Indiana and then a few weeks later in Columbus, Ohio. So, when BLACK OUT THE SUN was provided, you can bet your ass that it hit my iPod and stayed there for weeks.


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Sami Grover
Sami Grover is a writer, and creative director at The Change Creation, a brand creation agency that works with entities who make the world better, fairer or truer. Clients include Larry's Beans, Burt's Bees, Canaan Fair Trade and Jada Pinkett Smith/Overbrook Entertainment.
He writes on a broad range of topics including sustainable business, the collaborative economy and clean energy. He also has an unhealthy obsession with human waste and what we should do with it.
He once vowed never to fly again, then he fell in love with someone on the other side of the Atlantic. He once considered never procreating; he now has two kids.
He believes that adaptability is a prerequisite for sustainability.
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