America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond

[CountDVB]

1995: The Oklahoma City Bombing

U.S. Air Force personnel and firefighters removing rubble in the rescue attempt​

The United States been enjoying periods of mostly peace during the 1990s. While there have been some incidents, they were usually handled with care. One was the arrest of the Branch Davidians over in 1993 and a year earlier, a tense standoff in Ruby Ridge. The standoff was due to local authorities going to arrest Randy Weaver under a bench warrant after his failure to appear on firearms charges. However, resistance to arrest made the standoff and authorities came in after a negotiation led to Weaver assualting an officer and esolcating violence. Fortunately, no one was killed though the Weaver adults along with family friend Kevin Harris would be arrested and the Weaver children taken into protective custody. [1] Despite this, the signs of these attacks were brief exposures to a festering growth in the underbelly of America. Namely the gradual growth of paramilitary groups linked through anti-government conspiracy and shared beliefs such as anti-Semitism and white supremacism. While some of these groups such as the Posse Comitatus have been active since the 1960s, they only began getting more noteworthy attention over the past few years, with some speculating that with the growing political and cultural changes in the United States, these people were decreasing in number, but becoming more radicalized in their isolation and would begin leading to more trouble. And this would be seen with a sudden explosion in Oklahoma.

170 people were dead. Over 650 people were injured. And a large chunk of the building wrecked, needing to be demolished. All of this would be the result of truck bomb over at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building over in Oklahoma City. Occuring over in late April, the Oklahoma City bombing would be a large disrupton to the calm atmosphere going on. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings within a 16-block radius, shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings, and destroyed or burned multiple cars along with public transporation and causing an estimated $652 million worth of damage. Local, state, federal, and worldwide agencies engaged in extensive rescue efforts in the wake of the bombing. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) activated 12 of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, consisting of 720 rescue workers who assisted in rescue and recovery operations. The attack would be considered the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in US history. The attack was committed by two anti-government extremists with white supremacist, right-wing terrorist sympathies, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, wth McVeigh having been considered the mastermind. Other arrests included Michael and Lori Fortier and being identified as accomplices. Within less than two hours after the explosion was released, McVeigh would be arrested. While initially concerning regarding gun charges, it quickly escalated as more and more evidence would be found regarding him and Nichols.

Oklahoma Governor Jack Mildren would announce a state of emergancy over in Oklahoma, and ordered all non-essential workers in the Oklahoma City area to be released from their duties for their safety. Meanwhile, logistics would have to handle the sudden influx of humanitarian aid that began pouring across the country as a result of this. And unsurprisingly, it would not be long before President Askew would hear of this and respond. He had learned of the bombing after concluding a meeting with an Iranian diplomat regarding the Turkish-Iranian war when he heard of this. He along with Vice President Chisholm would declare a federal emergancy along with federal financial assistance to the survivors along with reconstuction. All while rescue workers would be given aid and supplies to assist in their work. Back in the capital, Congress would immediatelybegin to work on ant-terrorism legislation to ensure such actions would not happen again. However, as more infomation would be coming out, especially regarding an infamous book known as The Turner Diaries and thus additional plans had to be made. Mainly, the creation of broader legislation to begin examining the overall trend of the potential increase of the activity of such groups. After all, such groups were present prior to this attack and there was always the possibility of imitators or other groups being emboldened by the attack to try such matter.[2]

The international community responded with sympathy and shock at the matter. From Queen Elizabeth II to General Secretary Zhao Ziyang of the PRC to Chief Director Georgy Arkadyevich Arbatov of the SUSR, various condolences came along with even various levels of support with the rescue and to aide in the counter-terrorism investigations. Thoughout April and May, President Askew and Vice President Chisholm would go over to speak to Oklahoma City. The attack would leave quite a considerable impact on the city. As the building would be rebuilt from the ground up, the attack would become a common talk over on various levels and even be considered part of the curriculum not just in the city, but also in the state. Over in Congess, anti-terrorist legislation was being laid out along with other key pieces. One was that after scientists, security experts, and the ATF have put in their concerns,[2] Congress would develop legislation that would require customers to produce identification when purchasing ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and for sellers to maintain records of its sale. On a wider scale, it would begin waking up the United States from the dreamy peace it has endured. While sch groups were few and far between who would do this, the sympathy they garnered along with similar groups who continued on, including the KKK, it was becoming clear that there would be a need to deal with the such dangerous organizations and the rhetoric they were spouting. Budget increases for counterterrorist organizations grew along with manpower to better focus on stopping these plots and the growing concern by these bombers. Pop culture would become influenced as the "white nationalist domestic terrorist" would become the growing archetype amongst villains in crime shows and other works of fiction. This would not stop with the concern of such increasing attacks and the pre-beginnings of facing some of the internal problems that America would have.

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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Ridge
[2]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

 

[historybuff]

Shame that event still happens in this world.

 

[CountDVB]

Shame that event still happens in this world.

Yup, but while Ruby Ridge and Waco would go better, there's still gonna be dangerous reactionary groups and as noted prior before, the greater social and cultural changes along with the political shift mean they become more isolated and more radicalized. Probably only happened now once the social changes really settled in and so on.

 

[CountDVB]

And yeah, this is following up on what @dcharleos and @Geekhis Khan said from back in last August:

Makes it weaker yes, but also makes it angrier and more desperate and more violent and more open to the loudest, angriest voices. If (they believe) the government isn't speaking to/for them they'll find some rich and powerful people (Televangelists, talk radio demagogues, right wing media barons) that they believe are, leaving them sadly quite susceptible to exploitation that feeds the resentment cycle. I've lived in the heart of Klan Country and the more isolated that part of America feels, the more angry and aggressive they get. God, Guns, White Power and Privilege, Hard Core Christian Power, Creationism, America, The American Flag, the Confederate Flag, Family, My Life and Freedom, The Constitution, and What's Right are all seen as the same thing, and an attack on one (even perceived) is an attack on all. There are lots of people in Rural America who have been raised to believe that Race and Religion are zero-sum games where a Jew or Black Man can't be successful unless a White Christian has somehow lost. They definitely won't fade away quietly. You'd likely see some sort of terrorist activity and some Ruby Ridge type stuff before all is said and done.

Clearly not all or even a majority of rural Americans think this way, but a lot do or at least have some sympathies towards those who think that way, a plurality to a majority in some districts. The trick is helping the people in these areas who reject this notion, and there are plenty, feel empowered enough to speak out without fear of reprisal, which can be hard when any such "transgression" can get you expelled from the church and family that are often all that you've ever known. In the long run it's like running a counter-insurgency and winning hearts and minds and showing more people that there's no future for them and their families down that pathway. It will take a long time and it's very easy to overcorrect and push too far too fast and set things back. My advice is good faith investments in Appalachia and other opportunities for poor white American and a concentrated effort to reject the "Hillbilly/Redneck" stereotyping that makes a lot of Americans feel like a persecuted group if you want them to feel like they have a stake in an inclusive system.

And from a writing standpoint, remember: conflict = drama = story.

Honestly, I had not really considered this...whole messy thing we're talking about...as a manifestation of something persistent in the American psyche. (At least before we all started talking about it--thanks CountDVB) But the more we get into it, the more I think about just how consistent a phenomenon right-wing terrorism has been in American history.

It fucking right up there with apple pie.

These reactionaries are starting to slither out of their holes because of this, even though it was delayed and nerfed because the various factors. Right wing media barons don't really rise, the talk show demagogues are pretty self-contained and the televengelists are nowhere near as strong (or rather never recovered from backing Reagan), but yeah, these sort of monstrous things are still here.

It's now finally coming out, at least in manner such as this.

 

[Mynock]

However, in other places, more radical changes would be coming. Over in the United Kingdom, political tensions have reached a boiling point. Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe and the Tories would find their coalition government with the Liberal Democrats suddenly petering out when the Liberal Democrats proceeded to call a vote of no confidence. Many speculated that this was the result of the Tories' hesitance on the question of Scottish devaluation and given the prominent Scottish influence of the Lib Dems at the time. The Labour Party ran on the promise of it in the previous election, but would hamstrung over by other issues, such as hesitance of involvement with the European Union. However, it appears they would get a second opportunity as a snap election would be called as a result of the vote of no confidence and the loss of the support of the LibDems. Unsuprisingly, many were expecting the Labour Party to start swinging back in regarding the question of Scottish devaluation and having managed to gain a form of unity on the front of supporting the European Union or at least the appearance as such. The LibDems meanwhile would also focus on Tory areas and hoping to gain some seats. Ultimately, in late Febuary, the Labour Party would take control once more of the British government with the rise of Roy Hattersley as the new Prime Minister. While he considered retiring from politics sooner, he put it off until unity would be restored in the Labour Party and many were speculated he would likely retire around the time of the next election, with many of the potential leaders already preparing to aim at the seat when the time came. Speaking of retirement, upon the painful loss of the Tories, Geoffrey Howes would announce his retirement and thus would begin the elections for the new leader of the Conservative Party. All eyes were wondering who would be elected though some of the leading figures were Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer and Kenneth Clarke for Tory leadership.​

For UK politics I would recommend replacing Hattersley with someone like John Smith. Smith was roughly of the same wing of the party as Hattersley but was far more popular (and as a bonus he hadn't spent the 1980s as a punchline on Spitting Image). If you still want a younger leader to take over shortly after the election win, you can just induce a heart attack as Smith's heart killed him OTL and almost killed him in the 80s.
Either way these aren't the politicians for radical changes, hailing from the right-wing of the party. Radical change in this period would best originate from the Liberal Democrats (although as I've brought up before, an SDP that split from Callaghan would be a different beast from our world's one) and would probably be electoral reform oriented. I'd bet on proportional representation, devolution, House of Lords reform, ect. It wasn't clear whether Labour had won a majority or not, if not then the Lib Dems could push them in a more radical direction.

 

[CountDVB]

For UK politics I would recommend replacing Hattersley with someone like John Smith. Smith was roughly of the same wing of the party as Hattersley but was far more popular (and as a bonus he hadn't spent the 1980s as a punchline on Spitting Image). If you still want a younger leader to take over shortly after the election win, you can just induce a heart attack as Smith's heart killed him OTL and almost killed him in the 80s.
Either way these aren't the politicians for radical changes, hailing from the right-wing of the party. Radical change in this period would best originate from the Liberal Democrats (although as I've brought up before, an SDP that split from Callaghan would be a different beast from our world's one) and would probably be electoral reform oriented. I'd bet on proportional representation, devolution, House of Lords reform, ect. It wasn't clear whether Labour had won a majority or not, if not then the Lib Dems could push them in a more radical direction.

Once more, I love and appreciate your input on British politics for this

As for the Labour Party, John Smith is a good choice though thencomeback if the Bennites have been making a comeback.

On your comment with the Lib Dems, that would make sense, especially if you add how the Anglosphere can influence one another in a weird sorta sync. Scottish devolution is clearly on the table now that the Labour Party is in charge with Lib Dems in coalition with them. Hattersley could retire sooner in the middle of his term though. But yeah, I do think that while they would fairly resemble the one of OTL, electoral reform would be a main focus (and not just because it would make it easier for them to get elected XP)

 

[CountDVB]

Spring 1995- Scots and Stars

Official crew portrait for Soyuz TM-21 – from left to right: Norman Thagard, Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennady Strekalov.​

Spring was a hectic time over in 1995. The Iranian-Turkish War was raging on, with Iran and their allies, capture more and more of the Turkish Kurdistan region and while they have expanded into some other parts of the nation, it was more on the defensive than anything else. Turkey was indeed formidable, but Iran was not only just as formidable, but battle tested from their war with Iraq, possessing upgraded military equipment thanks to improving relations with the US and of course, the advantage of numbers, even if one does not count Iraq and Kurdistan. Turkey meanwhile was still by its lonesome though as the defender, they were still having an advantage in the fighting though this would be negated by the support the Turkish Kurds were having toward the Kurds, Iranians and Iraqis, with the various freedom fighters and rebel support giving alot of aid and the like against the Turkish forces. Meanwhile in the United States, the Oklahoma City bombing sent shockwaves across the nation, forcing the people and the system to begin facing the underbelly. The revelations of the white nationalist sympathies would spur on the Askew administration to have federal investigations begin taking harder looks into these groups while more aggressive stances across the political spectrum would be taken to root out these issues. While there was the likely risk this will further agitate the group, the mentality was quite clear over as noted by President Askew: "We will not negotiate with terrorists, especially those who claim to be American yet spit and betray upon America's very values." Internationally, this would have a bit of an effect as well; more nations would begin taking some closer ties for the potential of domestic terrorism and Europe meanwhile would also begin a further focus on this given the sympathies of the terrorists in question.

Despite these concerns and troubles, there was still plenty of positive change coming. The Labour Party under Hattersley along with the LibDem coalition brought forward in holding the Scottish devolution referendum, done so to check on the support for the creation of a Scottish Parliament with devolved powers along if it should be able to levy taxes. Unsurprisingly, after weeks of campaigning and the like, it would be a result of "Yes-Yes", confirming that both proposals would have the support of the people. As such, the work would be underway for an act of legislation to establish said Scottish Parliament. At the same time, the elections for the leadership of the Tories would be held and after a close race, Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham would come out as the new leader of the Tories. This led many to wonder how things will be different under Clarke as well as the potential further ambitions of the LibDems now that they are working with the Labour Party. Some have wondered how much electoral reform could be done given Hattersley, but given his seemingly imminent retirement, many believe that could shake things up for the political status quo depending on who it was that would win. In fact, many began taking this as a more serious sign that the LibDems would become more prominent. After all, the Unizens were becoming more pronounced in the United States while the NDP is planning electoral reform to be brought up in Canada along with various other legislation to try and keep up with what the Americans have been doing.

And there were still other bits of positive news to be had in the time period. Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American to ride into space aboard a Russian launch vehicle (the Soyuz TM-21), lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and a week later, Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in outer space.[1]. The whole thing was done as part of the first of various planned US-SUSR programs to go into space. Beyond the hopes of expanding matters with the International Space Station, there was also possibilities to return trips to the moon and other possibilities such as asteroid mining as a way to obtain plenty of raw materials and metals without having to do mining on Earth. Speaking of international matters, over in Japan, the police besiege the headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo near Mount Fuji and arrest cult leader Shoko Asahara, bringing back to mind the horrific terrorism that Aum Shinrikyo did, which hit the Americans more now given what they had gone through here. Meanwhile, after various rumors that funding may be plugged, it would be confirmed that the National Science Foundation Network will still be funded by the US government and thus the Internet would not be wholly privatized, at least for the time being. However, there was still various concerns over on the subject matter and the fate of the growing Internet. [1]

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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995

 

[CountDVB]

I am wondering now how far Iran would be able to go with Turkey. Its been a few months now at least. While Iran only has the modest edge on Turkey, it is still an edge with forces, training and numbers. However, the big thing is the region they'e in, Turkish Kurdistan, would be very helpful to the cause, so how much of the area would they be claiming for Kurdistan by now does everyone think?

 

[CountDVB]

Summer 1995- Crazy Weather

Screenshot of Windows 95 after installation​

Despite the troubles earlier, things seem to quiet down a bit in the United States. Security was increased on federal buildings and people were sending support to Oklahoma City while others outside the state began also trying to play their part in keeping their community safe. At the same time, some of the various elements regarding these fringe groups continued to bother people, especially racist rhetoric and the like. Life continued on as best it can though. The NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir space station for the first time, showing another step of cooperation between the USA and SUSR in their cosmic endeavors. [1] However, there would be a new issue that would have to be dealt with as the summer would turn out to be a scorcher. For most of July, an intense heatwave would settle in all over the Midwest, bringing a painful amount of heat for the residents, especially that of Chicago. Mayor Jesse Jackson (having defeated former mayor Richard M. Daley in the primaries due to being tired of corruption and the privatization attempts) would work to try and deal with the issue, especially targetting the most vulnerable , such as the homeless. Interestingly enough, the Midwest Heatwave also proved to serve of a fascinating phenomenon. As Mayor Jackson had to work overtime and push the city to undo some of the privatization efforts of his predecessor, there was also some trends that were noticed regarding some of the climate. While there was the note of how major cities had the urban heat island phenomenon, there was also the notice of how the implementation of trees over in various parts of the city provided ample shade and helped to cool things down. This in turn would help push for a new round of calls for further implentation of flora over into cities, especially trees. At the same time, there was also the observation of "environmental racism", [2] a phenomena on how various subtle and seemingly unconnected factors regarding the environment makes things difficult for minorities and while efforts have improved mattes quite a bit, especially with healthcare helping to prevent alot of the worst case troubles, it was clear more work needed to be done.

Across the world though, things were still heating up and in more ways than one. The United Kingdom would also be experiencing such a heat wave if not to the same extent as over in the Midwest US. While not having the painful effects, it did remind more than a few people of the topic of climate change and thus more people discussing the needs to ease out fossil fuels lest this become a potential new norm. [1] Chile meanwhile would be experiencing some painful weather if in the opposite sense. The Chilean government declares state of emergency in the southern half of the country in response to an event of intense, cold, wind, rain and snowfall known as the White Earthquake. With the state of emergancy threatening people as well as the agricultural and forestry sectors, their neighbors came by to lend aid however they can as throughout it all. However, heat and tension also came from the ongoing global conflicts. The Turkisk-Iranian War was ongoing as Iran maintained a growing advantage, especially as Greece was considering bringing sanctions and the like on Turkey. The Civil War in Sri Lanka was still ongoing as 125 civilians are killed in Navaly as result of bombing by the Sri Lanka Air Force. And earlier, Japanese police would rescue 365 hostages from a hijacked All Nippon Airways Flight 857 (Boeing 747-200) at Hakodate airport. The hijacker was armed with a knife and demanded the release of Shoko Asahara, leader of the Aum Shinrikyo. Both the Japanaese and US sent one another support in having to deal with troubles of home and protecting their people from zealous madmen. [1]

Over in the world of tech, two big bits of news were coming out. One was Microsoft releasing Windows 95 over near the end of the summer. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x and was born from the merger of the formerly separate MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows products. It featured plenty of significant improvements over its predecessor, most notably in the graphical user interface (GUI) and in its simplified "plug-and-play" features. As such, for many children growing up at this time, Windows 95 would be their first real introduction to how computing would look like, as Windows 95 would introduce many features that would become common in many future installments such as the taskbar, notification area, and the "Start" button. [3] The other one would be coming from Japan, as Sony would be releasing the Sony Playstation, entering the console market. The Playstation itself was actually a quasi-successor to the planned "Nintendo Playstation" project between Nintendo and Sony planned back in 1991. The project would've added a CD-ROM peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and allow for a massive boost in graphics and the likes. While rumors speculated that the deal would be canned due to Nintendo considering backing from the deal to work with Philips out of concern of a rivalry and Sony's contract stipulations over IP, it would later be revealed the project was shelved more due to delays and other issues that led to decline in interest in the project though the relationship remained amicable. Others noted that there was also concern that the peripheral may be viewed as too expensive for consumers to buy as an attachment. That said, Sony would keep a bulk of the work and would build up to create its own console. Nintendo meanwhile would take longer to do so, but would be able to start planning for the release of the Ultra Famicon or the Nintendo Ultra 64 over by the middle of next year, with many noting that the holiday release was averted to not compete with the Playstation, but also likely to ensure a stronger launch lineup. Much of this was done thanks to Nintendo getting help from outside talent, dedicated working and cooperating with Matsushita, namely for the console to use CDs, much like their upcoming competitor.

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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995
[2]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Chicago_heat_wave
[3]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_95

Special thanks to @Nivek for consulting for the video game stuff though I likely goofed up somewhere. But yeah, Nintendo Sony deal still goes nowhere, but more for the usual business reasons instead of backstabbing and Nintendo decides to go on disks. No working with Philips though. NU64 would probably vaguley look like what we know and the controllers probably still be similar to OTL's controllers.

 

[CountDVB]

Will be interesting though I am wondering if Nintendo would be able to get their NU64 out for the holiday season as planned for the holiday season of 1995

 

[CountDVB]

Any questions, thoughts or so on with this?

 

[CountDVB]

1995: The Iranian-Turkish War Pt 2​

The First Year
It has been 1 year since the start of the Iranian-Turkish War. The war was not going too good for Turkey. Each passing day would see Iran make process over in Turkish Kurdistan with more of it falling into occupation by Kurdistan. This did not dishearten the Turkish forces too much, if namely because it was a likely process here. The past several years had seen increasing tensions over on Turkish Kurdistan, such as enforcing stricter and stricter regulations along with rumors of Turkey potentially trying to displace some of the people living there and contain the population more. All of these different factors helped to justify Iran's surprisingly quick progress in solidifying more and more control over in Turkish Kurdistan. So much so that the Kurdish government have already begun the process of trying to include some of the prominent leaders over for the expansion of Kurdistan and the welcoming of those who have fought the longest so far. However, the war was not yet over. After all, Turkey was a formidable foe. At the same time, when it was coming to the advantage, it was still belonging to Iran, at least for the time being right now. So much, most of the troops over in Kurdistan were the various freedom fighters along with Iranian and Iraqi reinforcements though they have begun the process of training as many Kurdish milita groups as possible for the defense over of the region already taken so far.

Some have taken this as evidence that Iran may be moving on to the next phase of a plan over regarding their invasion of Turkey. However, perhaps out of caution or to try and keep the narrative in their favor, Iran would send peace terms over with Turkey, namely that the region known as Turkish Kurdistan would become recognized over as official land belonging to the nationstate of Kurdistan and to surrender all claims to it. Unsurprisingly, the terms of surrender would not be accepted. It would be a rather large loss of land over for Turkey and while the war was going not too well for them, they had their reasons for not wanting to surrender so soon. After all, Iran has not completely taken the region jut yet, if though they had a prominent amount to say the least. There was also the concern of national pride on the line; to give up so soon would be seen as weak and potentially harm their standing over with the citizenry. The Iranians though, seemed to have been expecting this. In fact, it was almost as if they were planning on it. Forces would begin marching north through the taken land near Lake Van... and going beyond the Kurdish occupied lands... in order to link up with their new allies.

Enter Armenia and Kartvelia
Perhaps out of a desire to signify themselves as the predominant force of the Middle East, Iran wanted to go further than just finishing uniting Kurdistan. They wanted to go and further damage and humiliate the Turks. But how? During some examination of paperwork and their allies, they stumbled upon some notes, namely going back to WW1. And this would begin talks with a nation who had a beef with Turkey. One who like the Kurds, felt a great sense of loss of their land and prestige and one who owed the Iranians a great deal for assistance so far. One for whom if this operation works, they would become a predominant and possibly permanant member over into their sphere of influence.

Armenia.

The paperwork and the discussion over to Armenian diplomats was over on an old treaty who's reparations have not gone fulfilled... The Treaty of Sèvres. While Armenia would be forced to renounce its territorial integrity under the Treaty of Alexandropol and the there was the Treaty of Kars... this still left quite a bitter taste over in the mouths of the Armenian people. As such, when discovering this, Iran would go forward and propose a plan for Armenia. For them to assist Iran in the war... with the ultimate prize being the land that was denied to them. While it wouldn't be all of it, as Kurdistan would still get Lake Van or most of it, Armenia would still have the chance to expand and get the land they want, including coveted cities such as Erzerum, Erzincan and even Trebizond... in a sense, most of Western Armenia, back in the hands of Armenians. While there was a bit of conditions, mainly that the Kurds in the region be given Armenian citizenship, this did not matter one iota to Armenia. The idea of reclaiming the land was too tantalizing to do so and accepted though their reasoning for entering the war was to pay their debt over to Iran. Armenian forces would begin meeting up with Iranian forces and began their march west.

Kartvelia would also be called upon this. However, they did not have as much of an enticing offer over to the Kartvelians. A more modest amount of land yes, but nothing to really get excited over. On the other hand, they still possessed a debt over to the Iranians. Others believed that additional reasons included greater financial assistance during the rebuilding and others was because of the Armenian population over in Kartvelia. Nonetheless, both of the nations prepared their forces and would link over with one another in the march.

Turkey and the World
The introduction of Armenia and Kartvelia into the war would cause a large rush of unease across the people of Turkey. An old fear would creep up amaonst a certain section of the populace. The so-called Sèvres Syndrome, it refers to a belief within Turkey on how their enemies would try and carve up Turkey. With this siege mentality known settling in over in some of the members of the populace as the war would go on, leading to the defensive forces becoming more vicious though it appeared the Iranians were expecting a reaction and they were prepared to fight for this, as the battle hardened veterans from the old war of Iraq would use this experience. And unsurprisingly, the siege mentality would lead to a gradually growing paranoia and concern among the people, especially various members of the Turkish government. While this was causing unity among the nationalists and many of the liberals, those further left became increasingly concerned that this problem will be getting worse before it gets better.

What wasn't helping would be Greece. While there was not much they could be doing, Greece was trying to garner support over for Iran and their allies, if as part of a way to go and place sanctions or embargo on Turkey, using the revoulution of the Kurds as justification for this though as of yet, it has not been gathering much support. The US was keeping an eye on things, but did not see much reason yet for further involvement though some say this is due to the shift of focus back home from the domestic terrorism. The SUSR in question has also been keeping things low though they have also been keeping eyes out in the area ever since they had to put down an attempted insurgency over in Azerbaijan and have begun investigating into the potential outsider groups that tried to support this insurgency. Beyond that, they have been pretty quiet over with what has been happening in the Middle East as of yet. Turkey attempted to get support from Syria, but Syria decided to remain neutal. Some have spread a rumor that this is because Syria would be afraid of not only losing the Kurdish region they have by force, but that there is some sort of secret pact between Isarael and Jordan that would have declar war on Syria to get what they want and thus act co-belligerents alongside Iran and their allies in this war. However, said rumors are not taken seriously by most others though Syria remains on the defensive and neutral.

Turkey's attempts at reaching out to other states for aid have not been going too well and many noted the government is becoming more insular and possibily more paranoic as a result. While the war is far from over, the dynamics of the war are shifting and having effects over on the domestic fronts of both Turkey and Iran as a result. In Turkey, this would have a profound effect over on the elections, namely with the rise of the Nationalist Welfare Party, a Party born from the combination of the Nationalist Movement Party, a Turkish ultranationalist party and the Welfare Party, an Islamist party who lost alot of popularity with the end of "Islamism" and most of their members heading to other parties. However, while the Nationalist Movement Party did get most of the votes, it had to enter into a coalition over with the True Path Party with Tansu Çiller as Deputy Prime Minister having to work alongside Alparslan Türkeş, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party and the new Prime Minister.

 

[CountDVB]

What’s the likelihood of Greece being able to get sanctions over on Turkiye y’all are thinking?

 

[CountDVB]

Autumn 1995- Scottish Devolution

Ebay logo (1995 - present)​

In the hallowed halls of the British Parliament, a monumentous bill would be passed over by the new Labour/LibDem coalition. That of the Scotland Act of 1995. It would be introduced and it would be successfully passed. The Act created the Scottish Parliament, setting out how Members of the Scottish Parliament are to be elected, making some provision about the internal operation of the Parliament, (although many issues are left for the Parliament itself to regulate) and setting out the process for the Parliament to consider and pass Bills which become Acts of the Scottish Parliament once they receive Royal Assent. The Act specifically asserts the continued power of the UK Parliament to legislate in respect of Scotland. [1] The Scottish Parliament will meet for the first time early next year and there was plenty of jubilee over in the Isles and in the world. The LibDems would become emboldened by this and while they would be working with Labour on shared concerns as renewable energy balanced with the concern of employment, the economy and social issues, they would also be focusing on a bigger point: election reform. After all, the Americans did it and the Canadians would be planning to try and do the same before the end of the decade. Overall, it would seem more and more nations were taking looks into their electoral politics for what they could do to make changes.

With the Iranian-Turkish War going on in the background, more people were also trying to tie up some loose ends over with previous conflicts. The news over Qatar's increasing conflict over with Saudi Arabia would gain a new dimenson recently. Over the past several years, King Fahd remained steadfast against democratization efforts, even with the increasing influence that the Neo-Baathists and Qatar were putting onto Saudi Arabia through their agents. However, a new curveball would suddenly appear.
King Fahd would suffer a debilitating stroke, leaving the Crown Prince Prince Abdullah to assume the day-to-day responsibility for the government, albeit his authority was hindered by conflict with Fahd's full brothers, the Sudairi 'clan'. While Abdullah continued the policy of mild reform and greater openness, he would still not go much over in terms of reforms.[2] A growing number believed the Neo-Baathists may use this as an opportunity, especially with the economic crisis going on for them and so on. However, it is unknown if the Neo-Baathists are looking for sympathizers over in the House of Saud or if they are planning something by other means

Another event was over examining two war criminals over during the Yugoslavic Wars, in particular that being Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, both of whom would be charged with attempt at genocide during the Bosnian War. [3] While much of the attempts were stopped thanks to the work of a lot of people, the intent was still there after all and they were not too subtle about it and they would finally be found and captured around months earlier, with their trial scheduled now. This wuld also cause some to eye Yugoslavia with some suspicion, especially given the rumors of growing conflicts over between them and the region over in Kosovo. Another international event would be the Fourth World Conference on Women. [3]Taking place over in Beijing with over 4,750 delegates from 181 countries in attendance, the various topics included things like dealing with violence against women, abortion and maternal healthcare access, conditions of the workforce and more focused this time around would be also SATMIN+ women.

In the meanwhile, there was still plenty to be excited about. The Olympics were next year after all and being hosted over in Atlanta, GA along with the American elections under the brand new system. PBS has been running a special program explaining how the new system works in the basics and done so with an entertaining and insightful manner, even using ice cream as an example of how the system could work. Other news would include things like how the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, a programme to implement the Harare Declaration, is announced by the Commonwealth Heads of Government. [3] Pierre Omidyar would create eBay, a website that would allow people to sell their items to one another and with this new branch and possibility naturally came even more potential for what could be done.

--------------------------------------
[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Scottish_devolution
[2]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_history_of_Saudi_Arabia#Fahd's_reign:_1982–2005
[3]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995

 

[CountDVB]

So Scotland gets its parliament a few years earlier and wonder what the LibDems may try

 

[CountDVB]

1995 Overview​

1995 would be the beginning of a turning point for the United States. After all, election year was coming and it would very likely be the end of the Democratic dominance that has been held for the last 16 years or so. Additionally, it would be when all the major electoral changes would finally kick in, with many of the old guard now having to leave their posts. Some may retire from politics all together while others may get involved in their party though even then, that remains to be seen as there was a sense that even the party system as was known was coming to an end. For now though, the major parties were lining up their candidates and getting ready to run. The Democrats would see Walter Mondale becoming the most likely candidate for president though also in close competition with Geraldine Ferraro. For the Republicans, it was relatively quiet though Arlen Specter would emerge as the massive frontman and the one many believed would win the candidancy. The United Citizens Party meanwhile would see Ross Perot attempt to run once more, being relatively unchallenged though would announce he would retire from active politics after this, making one wonder who would run for the UCP position in the next term. The next president would have a fair bit to deal with. After all, the new system would require some time to get used to. Beyond that, the trends that were seeming to establish themselves were concerning. The 1995 Oklahoma bombing would be a large crack in the prisine ideals that Americans have enjoyed and a look at the many negative aspects that have been put in now trying to crawl out. While racial tension has not flared up fortunately, there was escalating questions on tackling such groups along with their influence, especially the concerns of potential infilitration attempts into law enforcement and the military.

The Iranian-Turkish War would keep raging on and would see escalation with the involvement of Armenia and Kartvelia, showing that Iran appeared to have some greater plans besides just aiding the Kurds in revolution, but what it was, it wasn't known. In response, Turkey seemed to have been retreating internally, showing greater levels of political corruption, distrust and nationalist sentiment that was concerning its neighbors and prompting to keep a closer eye on them. Other ongoing conflicts was the civil war over in Sri Lanka or the continued troubles over in Rwanda as while the attempted genocide was topped, gathering the escaping forces over into Zaire was causing trouble to brew there as well along with the pushing for potential responsible parties. There was an ongoing manhunt over for Paul Kagame and his supporters, with Executive Orders along reinforced with Ethipian, South African and even French aid looking for him and trying to restore order with the help of interim President Faustin Twagiramungu. Despite these troubles and potentially more coming, such as the growing tensions in Saudi Arabia or Kosovo, there was still accomplishments of peace and progress. The Scottish Devolution would see the birth of the Scottish Parliament. The European Union would keep growing and there was what NATO was helping with in Europe. With the Olympics next year, the hope was in helping to try and bring some unity together though it would also be of note that while Iran was still going, Turkey would be going into the 1996 Olympics over in Atlanta, GA.

Technology and pop culture would be influenced alot by the events, especially with the release of Windows 95. In film, James Bond returns with the film Goldeneye after a six year hiatus. Apollo 13 would capture over the imagination of the people regarding stars and space while Sense and Sensibility would unsurprisingly become quite popular among the more upper class folk. Seven as an intense crime thriller would inspire many films down the line. 12 Monkies would become a bit of a cult classic. Some news came that a supposed sequel to Die Hard was supposed to come out, but major rewrites to changing direction of the film early on delayed it for next year. This would not be the only film that would see financial trouble as Warner Bros were somewhat split over on the direction of Batman after the Batman Returns lackluster returns compared to its predecessor along with the success of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm meant they were somewhat split. They would ultimately choose over to continue in making Batman Forever though their original in Joel Schumacher would have to exit the project in the middle of it due to health concerns along other issues. Schumacher dismissed claims that it was because he was samgen though he did note that also part of it was trying to capture the campiness of the 1960s show and noted that it may not work well, especially if it was perceived because it would be done for the sake of money. However, it would be announced that one of his next projects would be none other than the long awaited Ghostbusters II, having been brought in to replace Ivan Reitman and working with Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis to write. Little was known about it except the original cast would be returning, it would take place several years after the other and surprisingly, one of the newcomers would be Corey Haim, due to working with Schumacher on The Lost Boys though also because as Joel noted, for his performance on Marty from Silver Bullet.

Disney meanwhile would do quite well. Their collaboration with Pixar Animated Studios would result in Toy Story, the first feature-length film created completely using CGI and becoming a critical and commercial success. Their acquisition of Harvey Comics would result in the release of a Casper film as a delightful and slightly spooky film for the kids. But as for their own, they would stun audiences with the release of Aida & Radames. The 33rd Disney animated feature film, it would be Disney's adaptation of the opera Aida and introducing Aida as the first Disney princess of African descent. Even from the early days, the idea of adopting an opera with a tragic ending seemed like quite a surprising move, but ambitious minds were determined to see it through. Given the setting and from a push from folk like Henson, Disney also expanded their musical focus with consulting from famous musicians of color at the time, including hip hop artists, resulting in surprising elements in combining with the opera along with a cast of color. The story focused on Aida, the captured princess of Khemet (a fictional portrayal of Egypt) and taken over to Abyssina (a fictional counterpart to Ethiopia) and her tragic romance over with Radames. The charactera are portrayed as sympathic in their plight, especially Amneris, who finds herself realizing what she has been misled to. While it still had the Disney elements such as an animal companion in the form of a cat and stunning visual imagery, it was one of the more serious films. It also became quite known for its ambigious ending. The ending sees the couple seemingly doomed though a foreshadowed element on secret tunnels has them try and escape, with the film ambigious on if they survived (while there are hints that they could've, plenty of characters within believe that they are gone with Amneris noting that she hoped they were in a better place.) The film would be quite a shock though also applauded for the cast of color used along with the various themes, including the dangers of nationalistic rhetoric along with seemingly pious men who are truly corrupt and self-righteous monsters. Contrasting this film would be the release of A Goofy Movie, a coming of age story between Goofy and his son Max that would be quite a time capsule of the 1990s.

Video games would also be doing well. Sony wou,d enter the console wars with the release of the Sony Playstation and seem to be challenging Nintendo, who would be creating their own disc-based console for release next year and thus this year seemed to be the last grand year of the SNES. It would still do qutie well with the release of games like Chrono Trigger & Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Megaman 7 would see the Blue Bomber over 16-bit on the SNES while after some delays, Earthbound would be released to critical aclaim for the holiday season due to its unique style of presenting RPGS, focus on psychic powers and the eerie bosses (with the delays being due to confusion on marketing the game). Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island would also be fun additions for it along with Megaman X3. Overall, many would be wondering what could be done with the Playstation though a few of the games played such as Suikoden, Twisted Metal and Rayman would prove to get the attention of people.

 

[TheDetailer]

1995 Overview​

1995 would be the beginning of a turning point for the United States. After all, election year was coming and it would very likely be the end of the Democratic dominance that has been held for the last 16 years or so. Additionally, it would be when all the major electoral changes would finally kick in, with many of the old guard now having to leave their posts. Some may retire from politics all together while others may get involved in their party though even then, that remains to be seen as there was a sense that even the party system as was known was coming to an end. For now though, the major parties were lining up their candidates and getting ready to run. The Democrats would see Walter Mondale becoming the most likely candidate for president though also in close competition with Geraldine Ferraro. For the Republicans, it was relatively quiet though Arlen Specter would emerge as the massive frontman and the one many believed would win the candidancy. The United Citizens Party meanwhile would see Ross Perot attempt to run once more, being relatively unchallenged though would announce he would retire from active politics after this, making one wonder who would run for the UCP position in the next term. The next president would have a fair bit to deal with. After all, the new system would require some time to get used to. Beyond that, the trends that were seeming to establish themselves were concerning. The 1995 Oklahoma bombing would be a large crack in the prisine ideals that Americans have enjoyed and a look at the many negative aspects that have been put in now trying to crawl out. While racial tension has not flared up fortunately, there was escalating questions on tackling such groups along with their influence, especially the concerns of potential infilitration attempts into law enforcement and the military.

The Iranian-Turkish War would keep raging on and would see escalation with the involvement of Armenia and Kartvelia, showing that Iran appeared to have some greater plans besides just aiding the Kurds in revolution, but what it was, it wasn't known. In response, Turkey seemed to have been retreating internally, showing greater levels of political corruption, distrust and nationalist sentiment that was concerning its neighbors and prompting to keep a closer eye on them. Other ongoing conflicts was the civil war over in Sri Lanka or the continued troubles over in Rwanda as while the attempted genocide was topped, gathering the escaping forces over into Zaire was causing trouble to brew there as well along with the pushing for potential responsible parties. There was an ongoing manhunt over for Paul Kagame and his supporters, with Executive Orders along reinforced with Ethipian, South African and even French aid looking for him and trying to restore order with the help of interim President Faustin Twagiramungu. Despite these troubles and potentially more coming, such as the growing tensions in Saudi Arabia or Kosovo, there was still accomplishments of peace and progress. The Scottish Devolution would see the birth of the Scottish Parliament. The European Union would keep growing and there was what NATO was helping with in Europe. With the Olympics next year, the hope was in helping to try and bring some unity together though it would also be of note that while Iran was still going, Turkey would be going into the 1996 Olympics over in Atlanta, GA.

Technology and pop culture would be influenced alot by the events, especially with the release of Windows 95. In film, James Bond returns with the film Goldeneye after a six year hiatus. Apollo 13 would capture over the imagination of the people regarding stars and space while Sense and Sensibility would unsurprisingly become quite popular among the more upper class folk. Seven as an intense crime thriller would inspire many films down the line. 12 Monkies would become a bit of a cult classic. Some news came that a supposed sequel to Die Hard was supposed to come out, but major rewrites to changing direction of the film early on delayed it for next year. This would not be the only film that would see financial trouble as Warner Bros were somewhat split over on the direction of Batman after the Batman Returns lackluster returns compared to its predecessor along with the success of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm meant they were somewhat split. They would ultimately choose over to continue in making Batman Forever though their original in Joel Schumacher would have to exit the project in the middle of it due to health concerns along other issues. Schumacher dismissed claims that it was because he was samgen though he did note that also part of it was trying to capture the campiness of the 1960s show and noted that it may not work well, especially if it was perceived because it would be done for the sake of money. However, it would be announced that one of his next projects would be none other than the long awaited Ghostbusters II, having been brought in to replace Ivan Reitman and working with Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis to write. Little was known about it except the original cast would be returning, it would take place several years after the other and surprisingly, one of the newcomers would be Corey Haim, due to working with Schumacher on The Lost Boys though also because as Joel noted, for his performance on Marty from Silver Bullet.

Disney meanwhile would do quite well. Their collaboration with Pixar Animated Studios would result in Toy Story, the first feature-length film created completely using CGI and becoming a critical and commercial success. Their acquisition of Harvey Comics would result in the release of a Caspar film as a delightful and slightly spooky film for the kids. But as for their own, they would stun audiences with the release of Aida & Radames. The 33rd Disney animated feature film, it would be Disney's adaptation of the opera Aida and introducing Aida as the first Disney princess of color. Even from the early days, the idea of adopting an opera with a tragic ending seemed like quite a surprising move, but ambitious minds were determined to see it through. Given the setting and from a push from folk like Henson, Disney also expanded their musical focus with consulting from famous musicians of color at the time, including hip hop artists, resulting in surprising elements in combining with the opera along with a cast of color. The story focused on Aida, the captured princess of Khemet (a fictional portrayal of Egypt) and taken over to Abyssina (a fictional counterpart to Ethiopia) and her tragic romance over with Radames. The charactera are portrayed as sympathic in their plight, especially Amneris, who finds herself realizing what she has been misled to. While it still had the Disney elements such as an animal companion in the form of a cat and stunning visual imagery, it was one of the more serious films. It also became quite known for its ambigious ending. The ending sees the couple seemingly doomed though a foreshadowed element on secret tunnels has them try and escape, with the film ambigious on if they survived (while there are hints that they could've, plenty of characters within believe that they are gone with Amneris noting that she hoped they were in a better place.) The film would be quite a shock though also applauded for the cast of color used along with the various themes, including the dangers of nationalistic rhetoric along with seemingly pious men who are truly corrupt and self-righteous monsters. Contrasting this film would be the release of A Goofy Movie, a coming of age story between Goofy and his son Max that would be quite a time capsule of the 1990s.

Video games would also be doing well. Sony wou,d enter the console wars with the release of the Sony Playstation and seem to be challenging Nintendo, who would be creating their own disc-based console for release next year and thus this year seemed to be the last grand year of the SNES. It would still do qutie well with the release of games like Chrono Trigger & Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Megaman 7 would see the Blue Bomber over 16-bit on the SNES while after some delays, Earthbound would be released to critical aclaim for the holiday season due to its unique style of presenting RPGS, focus on psychic powers and the eerie bosses (with the delays being due to confusion on marketing the game). Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island would also be fun additions for it along with Megaman X3. Overall, many would be wondering what could be done with the Playstation though a few of the games played such as Suikoden, Twisted Metal and Rayman would prove to get the attention of people.

Nice stuff! I see you borrowed Disney’s Aida from Player Two Start, and keeping up with Jim Henson from Geekhis Khan’s timeline!

 

[CountDVB]

Nice stuff! I see you borrowed Disney’s Aida from Player Two Start, and keeping up with Jim Henson from Geekhis Khan’s timeline!

Aida was because Disney already considered it and took the place of Pocahontas. I didn’t know Player Two Start did that in their timeline.

Anyone wanna guess how Ghostbusters 2 will go? Along with who everyone thinks would play each character in Aida or so?

 

[TheDetailer]

Aida was because Disney already considered it and took the place of Pocahontas. I didn’t know Player Two Start did that in their timeline.

Anyone wanna guess how Ghostbusters 2 will go? Along with who everyone thinks would play each character in Aida or so?

Oh nice, I guess that’s where RySenkari and Nivek got their inspiration from.

 

[CountDVB]

Oh nice, I guess that’s where RySenkari and Nivek got their inspiration from.

Yup! And I also implied and noted some other stuff there too.

Die Hard’s sequel is pretty much being influenced by the Oklahoma bombing and will be taking elements from there.