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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Nov 3, 2021 1:27:42 GMT
The Civil War in Thailand ITTL would break out in 2005, which by then Kemp is no longer President. Carol Moseley-Braun is, and this is what we’ll be seeing in terms of the US Presidency: 1997-2005: Jack Kemp (P) - Lamar Alexander (VP) [Republican] 2005-2008: Carol Moseley-Braun (P) - Dick Gephardt (VP) [Democrat]{Moseley-Braun dies in 2008, Gephardt becomes Acting President} 2008-2009: Dick Gephardt is Acting President, no Vice President 2009-2017: John Edwards (P) - Jon Kerry (VP) [Democrat]
OK thanks for clarifying. I was meaning in part that Kemp had set such an extreme agenda and probably gained a lot of economic and other interests behind his programme that Moseley-Braun trying to support a civilian government against a military coup would cause a lot of tension, even without the effects of the terrorist groups, one of which as you say eventually murdered her.
Yeah, plus the people who are leftovers from the Kemp administration might sabotage Moseley-Braun's plan for peace in Thailand. Her assassination was caused by not only the disruption of the plans that Kemp had, but as we have seen in the update where she dies, it's also connected to Oliver North. I guess in TTL, Tadiar would also get tributes from the extreme right like this. We've seen the updates where the far-right in Europe openly praises Tadiar while complains about Filipino refugees, which is ironic in itself. |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Nov 5, 2021 4:44:25 GMT
Chapter Eighty-Three: The Elephant Arch
PREM NATH HOON BECOMES NEWEST INDIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE AS INDIAN MILITARY CONTINUES WITH ITS REFORMS
The Times of India
March 23, 2001
Indian soldiers patrol the countryside as part of their ongoing security mission in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir.
(New Delhi) - Lieutenant General Prem Nath Hoon, the victor of Operation: Mehdoot, where India was successful in its takeover of the entire Siachen Glacier from Pakistani control, has been appointed as the newest Defense Minister by current Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His appointment comes at a time when India's relations with both Pakistan and China are at its lowest levels since Mehdoot occurred in 1984. In addition, India's continued reforms in the economic, judicial, fiscal, social and military fields have continued at a steady pace, even as multinational corporations are taking advantage of India's incentive for them to invest in the country's infrastructure. Moreover, the Indian government has offered to host the Burmese government-in-exile on its territory, which is currently residing in the Philippines under the watchful eye of dictator Artemio Tadiar. So far, the Burmese government has politely declined the offer, but is willing to send the exiled Burmese rank and file soldier to India, where a training camp for a newly formed National Liberation Armed forces of Myanmar is established in the outskirts of Kishangarh. Under Defense Minister Hoon's direction, India will purchase less military equipment from foreign suppliers, as it intends to focus on developing its indigenous arms industry, as demonstrated by the development of a new Indian main battle tank called the Arjun.
“As we continue to develop our manufacturing capabilities, we have reached a point where we will have to stop relying on foreign suppliers for our military hardware. As Defense Minister, it is my job to direct the efforts of our indigenous weapons manufacturers to design more future weapons for our military, which will also focus on expanding the Indian Navy and Air Force,” the newly appointed Defense Minister Hoon spoke over the press conference. “In addition, further funds are being poured into the research on the Agni missiles that we’re developing as well.”
Among the newly developed Indian-made weapons is the newly issued 1B1 INSAS assault rifle that was made by the Indian Ordnance Factories Board, though it was developed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment. In addition, the battle doctrine that was introduced to the Indian military by the officers of the former East German military who were employed by the Indian Ministry of Defense after the Second Russian Civil War was over in 1995 had thoroughly reshaped much of the defence policies that all of the Indian military leadership had made. Influenced by their constant conflicts with Pakistan and China, India had to constantly change their battle plans as new problems arise. In addition, the Indian Navy saw its budget increased by 1.7% in response to the recent rise of piracy in the Straits of Malacca, where various Special Forces soldiers from both the Philippines and Vietnam were involved in targeting civilian shipping that often came from China.
--- “The continued increase in Western corporations’ investments in the Indian economy had contributed to the uplifting of millions of Indians who were mired in poverty. This was important for India overall, as it also faced a huge overpopulation crisis alongside China. Unfortunately, the selective abortion issue continued its destructive influence as the preference for sons still prevails in Indian tradition. It was not until 2001 when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee started to address this sensitive issue in the Indian Parliament that many activists fighting for gender equality had started the campaign for the end of selective abortion, and the end of the preference for sons in Indian society. One Indian activist, who would go on to found a center-left political party called the Indian Liberal Democratic Party, was Manasi Pradhan. Manasi Pradhan was known for her successful campaign in opposing the social taboo of educating women and girls, and is connected to various feminist movements around the world. Pradhan’s founding of the ILDP in 2007 was instrumental in the build up that led to her party garnering the second largest amount of votes in the 2014 Indian General Election. Her campaign for gender equality has resulted in more Indian girls being sent to schools through the organization called the Society for Female Empowerment, which she also founded. As a result of the SFE’s work in increasing education opportunities for young Indian girls, many of them would eventually become a dominant force in universities as they grew older. However, the campaign to encourage Indian men to change their perception of educated females was long and arduous, but it ultimately paid off. By 2018, over 47% of Indian start up businesses were dominated by women, and 21% of India’s new millionaires and billionaires were women. Smriti Irani, one of the few Indian politicians who joined the Indian Liberal Democratic Party, would be elected in 2019 as the second female Indian Prime Minister, the first being Indira Gandhi. Irani would become one of the most revered leaders in Indian history, as she played a role in the increased maritime trade between India and various states in East Africa, as well as Indonesia and Australia, contributing to India overtaking Germany and the United Kingdom as the third largest economy in the world, behind only the United States and Japan. While China was originally supposed to become the second largest economy in the world, its constant spending on military adventures in Central Asia and increased domestic security in the aftermath of the notorious terrorist attack on the Shanghai Oriental Pearl and Radio Tower had resulted in its economy being the eighth largest, just ahead of Canada. The East Slavic Federation, which was renamed back to the Russian Federation, was 13th in the ranking by annual GDP, but its increased trade with the ECA, along with the economic modernization proposed by Boris Yeltsin, and the ESF’s increased trade with India, had resulted in it having the 6th largest economy by annual GDP. Ultimately, everyone around the world agreed that the 21st Century would belong to India. Not only was India a major economic power, but it was also a cultural superpower as well. Indian restaurants were becoming more popular, due to its use of organic ingredients in many of its cuisines, and because of its increased options of vegetarian cuisines for vegetarians and vegans. Moreover, Indian soap operas and movies were also becoming more popular around the world, and many tourists have often traveled to India for historical tourism.” From the documentary ‘India: From Post-War Independence to Today’, released by India Today.
--- US AND ESF GOVERNMENTS SET ASIDE RIVALRIES AS GUJARAT EARTHQUAKE ROCKS GUJARAT REGION OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN, STARTS SENDING HUMANITARIAN AID TO AFFECTED NATIONS
Sydney Herald
January 27, 2001
 Relief aid workers search the rubble for survivors and possible casualties in the aftermath of the Gujarat earthquake. Earthquake experts believe that the earthquake in Gujarat may have surpassed the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in terms of casualty rates.(Chobari, INDIA) - In a scene reminiscent of both the Spitak and Loma Prieta Earthquakes that have affected the former USSR and the US respectively, both US President Jack Kemp and ESF Prime Minister (and Presidential candidate) Mykola Azarov have agreed to send humanitarian aid to the affected regions of India and Pakistan in an act of solidarity with those nations. In addition, Azarov has dispatched prominent business tycoon and erstwhile Minister of Reconstruction Boris Yeltsin to India to supervise the affected region’s reconstruction process. At the same time, a delegation of Japanese companies that specialize in earthquake resistant technology has been dispatched to Gujarat, where they will present their proposals to both Gujarat Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on how they wished to rebuild the shattered homes that were damaged in the earthquake.
“The people of Gujarat are grateful to the international community for lending a helping hand in times of crisis. We have suffered greatly in this tragic earthquake, and we hope to learn from this disaster in terms of preparedness,” says Governor Singh Bhandari during a press conference. “Not only have the Japanese shown interest in sharing their earthquake resistant technology to us, but the US and ESF have also expressed interest in financing the reconstruction of the affected areas of Gujarat, so the Pakistanis would also receive the same aid as well.”
Both India and Pakistan are receiving 30,000 tons of wheat and buckwheat that are being shipped from the East Slavic Federation, as well as medical supplies manufactured in factories owned by Yeltsin. Surprisingly, even the Philippine government under Artemio Tadiar has sent the Philippine Marines to help with the rescue missions in Gujarat, despite their diplomatic isolation. Still, the speed of the Philippine Marines in their attempt to rescue as many victims of the earthquake as possible impressed the Gujaratis, as many of them remembered the 1990 Luzon Earthquake as the sole catalyst for the reforms in the Philippine military’s handling of natural disasters.
“The people of Gujarat felt the same pain we did back in 1990, and even though no one else helped us at that time, we were prepared to help anyone as well,” Tadiar spoke during a session in the Bayanihan assembly. “Our efficiency in rescuing the earthquake victims has resulted in more lives being saved, and as a result, we helped trained our Indian and Pakistani colleagues on how to be prepared for natural disasters like the one they had in Gujarat.”
--- THAI MILITARY DEPLOYED TO BORDER WITH CAMBODIA AS TAKSIN SHINAWATRA CONTEMPLATES ON ACCEPTING CAMBODIAN REFUGEES FLEEING FROM VIETNAMESE-OCCUPIED SOUTHEASTERN CAMBODIA
Sydney Herald
June 5, 2001
Thai soldiers ride an APC as they make their way into the border with Cambodia. Much of Thailand's military is facing multiple deployments within its territory as fears of a renewed insurgency in the Patani region escalate, while the border with Cambodia is littered with Cambodian refugees fleeing from the Vietnamese occupation of southeastern Cambodia.(Namaklwe, THAILAND) - Elements of the Royal Thai Army have been deployed to the border with Cambodia as the streams of refugees continued to flow into the country. The Cambodian refugees who were fleeing from the ongoing Vietnamese occupation of southern Cambodia, have reported of numerous human rights violations committed by the Vietnamese military, with even reports of mass murder and ethnic cleansing being confirmed by the refugees themselves. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was on a state visit to Germany, was notified of the presence of the refugees at the border, and has agreed to postpone the rest of his trip to Europe in order to return back home and deal with the growing refugee crisis. In addition, other Cambodian refugees have also fled to parts of Laos, and some of them had even taken a bigger risk of using boats to flee by the sea to Malaysia and Indonesia.
"We condemn the atrocities that are being committed by the Vietnamese Army in their illegal occupation of Cambodian territory, and we call on the Vietnamese government to end the occupation so that the refugees can return to their homes," Prime Minister Shinawatra said during the press conference in Nuremberg, Germany. "We would also welcome any UN initiative that punishes Vietnam for its aggressive behavior towards the people of Cambodia as well."
Both Thailand and China have so far condemned the brutal behavior displayed by Vietnamese occupational forces in southern Cambodia, but the Vietnamese government has so far downplayed any reports of atrocities. In addition, Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong has hit back at the critics who attacked his nation's policy towards Cambodia.
"We, the Vietnamese people, have justified in punishing the Cambodian state for what they have done to us when they invaded our lands while China was bombing us in the Quan Dao Truong Sa conflict, and this is while we saw the Chinese Navy unilaterally seize our share of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa," says President Tran angrily, during the session in the Vietnamese National Assembly. "Thailand has so far, decided to chastise us for invading a sovereign country when they themselves have done so in the 1940s. If anything, they should be the last nation to criticize us for annexing territory that is legally ours by right of conquest."
President Tran's rebuke also references the last time Thailand had expanded its territory, which occurred during the Second World War when the former government of Thai Prime Minister Phibun, or Plaek Phibunsongkhram, as he was officially known, had allied with Imperial Japan and had waged a short war against the collaborationist Vichy French state over the disputed territories in what was then French Indochina. Japan intervened in this conflict, and forced the wartime collaborationist regime to hand over the disputed territories to Thailand: Battamband and Pailin (renamed to Phra Tabong), Siem Reap, Bateay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey (renamed to Phibunsongkhram, in honor of the wartime Prime Minister), Preah Vihear and a part of Champassak Province in Laos (renamed and merged to Nakhon Champassak), and Xaignabouli plus a part of Luang Prabang Province (renamed to Lan Chang). As a result, Thailand eventually became a member of the Axis powers. Only a threat of a French veto of Thailand's admission into the United Nations forced the latter to return the provinces they won from the Vichy French regime back to French Indochina.
--- BO XILAI FORMALLY TAKES POWER IN CHINA FROM ACTING PREMIER WANG DONGXING, PROMISES AN ERA OF NATIONAL ASSERTION WITH ECONOMY AND MILITARY AS MAIN FOCUS
Japan Times
July 23, 2001
 Newly appointed Chairman Bo Xilai celebrates his ascension to power within the Chinese Communist Party. Bo Xilai has risen to power on the platform of keeping China safely secured from international terrorism.(Beijing, CHINA) - On the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Bo Xilai was confirmed as the next General Secretary of the CCP and the new Premier of China, succeeding both his interim predecessor in Wang Dongxing and his official predecessor in Jiang Zemin, who along with Ye Fei, were among the people that died in the infamous Shanghai Oriental Pearl and Radio Tower terrorist attack that was perpetrated by terrorists trained by the dictatorship of Philippine junta chief Artemio Tadiar. Chairman Bo, who campaigned on a stricter control of China's growing millionaires and billionaires, had addressed the danger of social complacency during his inaugural speech in the National People's Congress. Moreover, Bo also promised to develop much of its economy and its military as China faced numerous challenges, of which is the ongoing acts of piracy in the South China Sea. In addition, Chairman Bo also addressed the other issue of its garrison forces in the former Soviet military base in Gyumri, Armenia, as the threat of a potential war between China and the NATO alliance over its presence in the Caucasus looms in the horizon.
"China reserves the right to protect its national interests, and we will not hesitate to use our army to do so," Chairman Bo announces in his speech, while many delegates from all over the NPC listened. "In addition, we are still at war with the fascist regime residing in Manila, and we will not be denied a chance to avenge our mutilated dignity when the Filipino fascists refused to make peace with us and recognize our sovereignty over the Nansha Islands."
Chairman Bo's threat of a resumption of conflict with the Philippines rings hollow when US President Jack Kemp had warned China that any attack on the Philippines will result in the activation of the 1951 RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty. In addition, President Kemp has also announced that the United States is ready to normalize its strained diplomatic relations with Vietnam, should the Vietnamese military abandon its ongoing piracy in the South China Sea along with the Philippines. So far, Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong has not yet made any comments on the American offer to restore relations with Vietnam, which was placed on hiatus in the aftermath of the Fall of Saigon.
"We are ready to resume our relations with our former enemy, and we may even stop our activities in the region surrounding Hoang Sa. However, we also request a similar Mutual Defense Treaty with the US government to the one signed between our neighbor, which will be helpful in containing Chinese expansionism," said President Tran, during an interview with local media reporters. "Unfortunately, there are also some inquiries that we wanted to make, especially the ones relating to war crimes perpetrated by American soldiers in various massacres, such as My Lai and Than Phong."
Although much of China's economy is still developing, Chairman Bo's warnings about complacency through wealth is still being heeded by a majority of the population, who now began to view some of the wealthy self-made billionaires with suspicion. Indeed, a few of the billionaires who made their fortunes within China have started to create off shore accounts to stash their wealth, to avoid paying taxes. Indeed, while Canada has so far been open to storing much of the billionaires' wealth, the United States and many other nations have so far rejected their pleas to deposit their money in those nations. In addition, Chairman Bo has also called on those same billionaires to invest their wealth in the development of China's hinter regions, especially Xinjiang and Central China, where much of the population remains mired in poverty. Coastal cities that are facing overpopulation are being encouraged to relocate some of its residents to the hinterlands with additional incentives being included as well. Qinghai Province is also earmarked for what Chairman Bo calls the Next Financial Frontier, as the Chinese government started to view said province as a potential manufacturing hub for some of its electronics, as well as a hub for defense related projects.
--- "Thailand was another paradise for American multinational corporations, since the government there also held ties to the local Thai business community. In addition, its tradition of authoritarianism stemming from the period in which Thailand was an absolute monarchy had been appealing to President Kemp, and the diplomatic ties between the US and Thailand were as old as the ones between them and the Philippines. However, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in his tenure as Prime Minister, had to deal with the growing insurgency in the southern regions of Thailand, bordering Malaysia. Long simmering tensions between the predominantly Buddhist Thai majority and the Malay Muslim minority of the Patani region had also been taken into consideration. Thus, what has happened in Thailand during the years of the Shinawatra administration would become the norm in the second term of the Kemp administration. That norm however, deviated from what Kemp wanted for the rest of the world, as Kemp's Plan AsiaPeace had left more questions than answers in what to do with SE Asia. For instance, while Kemp supported Myanmar's expansion into parts of China's Yunnan Province, it opposed further expansionism at Thailand's expense, as the US also needed Thailand as its vital ally in the region. Furthermore, there were plans for supporting the independence of the Patani region in the event that Thailand would go rogue, or if it faced additional instability, though the biggest spoiler would come, not from Malaysia, but from Indonesia. While Indonesia was neutral in the Patani insurgency, it opened its doors to Patani refugees fleeing from the violence in southern Thailand, and has even approached the Philippines for help with mediating the violence. Shinawatra on the other hand, is wary of any dealings with Artemio Tadiar, in light of his connections to organized crime groups, and refused to get him involved in the attempted peace process. Thus, unlike the federalization plan that worked to integrate the Muslims of Mindanao into the Tadiar-backed Federal States of the Philippines, Thailand would not federalize or give autonomy to its Malay Muslim minority, precipitating in what will become the Patani War in 2004. Unlike the other insurgencies, Thailand would go on further and attempt to forcibly expel the Patanis from their lands in a brutal act of violence that resulted in the US imposing sanctions on Thailand. The Patani War, along with the later Thai Civil War, would become a major foreign policy challenge of the Moseley-Braun administration, and defines the nature of the post-Kemp era as a volatile period in which the US is struggling to restrain itself from pulling a Kemp, as the anti-Kemp critics within the State Department would say. Ultimately, Carol Moseley-Braun would prove to be the opposite of both Jack Kemp and Jesse Jackson, and started to consult with various State Department figures and newly appointed State Secretary John McCain on the actions needed to be taken. Upon McCain's recommendation, President Moseley-Braun would take the Patani issue to the UN Security Council, in which each representative would discuss on what they will do next. The result was the UN Security Council Resolution 1201, which called for Thai security forces to end its actions against civilians, and to allow the facilitation of refugees and international monitors. Unfortunately, one of the proposals enacted was the Kozlowka Agreement, named for Kozlowka palace in Lublin, Poland, in which the Patani region would obtain autonomy within the Thai government, and a deployment of over 20,000 UN peacekeepers in the region, plus free access by land, sea, and air for all UN personnel. It was a demand that infuriated the Shinawatra government, and as a result, Thailand rejected the Kozlowka Agreement. However, Shinawatra instead proposed to revive the long abandoned South East Asia Treaty Organization as a new form of a collective security alliance that existed during the Cold War, only for the UN to object to it as well. When Myanmar's puppet government fell to a nationalist uprising, Min Aung Hlaing became the new military dictator, and he proceeded to rebuild Myanmar through the expulsion of its pro-Chinese collaborators, but kept his promise of keeping the reforms that were implemented during the Federal Republican period. In turn, Myanmar would also condemn the Kozlowka Agreement as nothing more than a rubber stamp blackmail that is used as an excuse to subvert Thai sovereignty, and indeed Min Aung Hlaing would sign a treaty of friendship with Shinawatra's government. Min Aung Hlaing would also support the revival of SEATO, as did Artemio Tadiar, but the UN would not be swayed by what it saw as Thailand's increasingly brazen acts of brutality against the Patani insurgents as the Thai military went on the offensive against the rebels in the southern borderlands. Malaysian military forces were deployed to the border with Thailand to help secure the passage of the Patani refugees as reports of ethnic cleansing continued to pour out of the country. The UN Security Council meeting of April 10, 2004 over the ongoing human rights abuses committed by both the Thai military and the Patani rebels resulted in the French representative's proposal of a police action in Thailand, only to be vetoed by China. The Chinese in turn, would propose a no-fly zone on all of Thailand's airspace, but this was also vetoed, this time by the United States. Finally, it was the British who would spearhead the UN Security Council Resolution 1250, which would establish the United Nations Interim Administration in Patani, a de facto governing body that would take over most of the governing functions of the Patani region, including the reconstruction efforts and investigations into various war crimes. However, the UN also threatened the Patani region with sanctions and a veto into its potential admission into the organization should Patani declare unilateral independence, meaning that Patani would function as an autonomous entity within Thailand. Curiously enough, the Tadiar regime was furious with Prime Minister Shinawatra for declining Philippine mediation into the problem, as Tadiar's federalization plans that were successful for the Philippines would have prevented the Patani War from happening. Instead, both the Filipino and Burmese opposition to UNSC Resolution 1250 would precipitate what historians called the End of the Era of Rogue Generals, as Chaparro's regime would fall in 2010, followed by Corbalan in 2015, Tadiar's resignation in 2016, General and Min Aung Hlaing's downfall by 2018. Though it was not a spontaneous collapse, it was gradual in that the Kemp administration had gotten frustrated with the direction Tadiar and Min Aung Hlaing wanted to go." Alex Jones on "Corporate America's Dirty Little Secret", sponosred by the American Cause.--- The Jack Kemp Administration (Second Term - 2000-2004):
President: Jack Kemp
Vice President: Lamar Alexander
Secretary of State: John McCain (replaces Gary Bauer, who temporarily steps down from Federal politics to focus on running for Governor of Kentucky)
Secretary of Treasury: George Schultz (replaces Susan Schwab, who then becomes Secretary of Labor)
Secretary of Defense: Barry McCaffrey (replaces John Shalikashvili, who officially retires from politics altogether)
Attorney General: Alberto Gonzales
Secretary of the Interior: Jose Esteves (replaces John McCain, who then becomes State Secretary)
Secretary of Agriculture: Helen Delich Bentley
Secretary of Commerce: Dawn Marie Sass (replaces Barbara Cegavske, who temporarily retires from federal politics to concentrate on running for Governor of Nevada)
Secretary of Labor: Susan Schwab (replaces Ann Veneman, who becomes the US Ambassador to Belgium)
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Olene Walker (replaces Pakkiri Rajagopal, who temporarily retires from federal politics to focus on state politics. Also left the Republican Party to join the Libertarian Party)
Secretary of Transportation: Laura Bradford (replaces Susan Gerard, who left the Republican Party to join the National Revival Party)
Secretary of Energy: Samuel Bodman (replaces Rex Tillerson, who is hired by Breitbart as a political consultant)
Secretary of Education: Joni Albrecht
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Donald Rumsfeld
Domestic Security Council Chief: Dick Cheney (appointed in 1999, after the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Radio Tower attack)
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Al Gore
Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Brad Ashford (replaces Michael Chertoff, who left the Republican Party out of protest for Kemp's ties to the Chaparro regime and joined the Social Progressive Party)
United States Trade Representative: John Corzine (replaces Henry Paulson, who is named US Ambassador to Bulgaria)
Chief of Staff: Norman Schwarzkopf
Counselor to the President: Zbigniew Brzezinski (replaces Oliver North, who then becomes CIA Director)
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Nov 6, 2021 5:02:29 GMT
Most likely, although there is also a chance that Dafoe might also end up getting killed by accident as well. I'm looking forward if you will include Dafoe in this timeline. And you will get to see him in this upcoming Omake. NOTE: I almost forgot that Willem Dafoe was in the Philippines for the filming of the movie 'Platoon' when EDSA Uno of OTL occurred. Thanks to Tadiar's mishaps, we get to see how the cast of Platoon end up. --- OMAKE SIXTEEN: The Hidden Gem
"Willem Dafoe was one of the most interesting Hollywood stars that have ever lived. His life was so interesting and turbulent that he had somehow ended up creating his own real life version of the movie that he was shooting during the EDSA REvolution, called Platoon. The movie project was almost cancelled when the EDSA Revolution had descended into the infamous slaughter that brought Artemio Tadiar into international headlines for the first time. Dafoe, along with many other actors that were in Platoon, would inadvertently find themselves fighting on the front lines for real, as one of the few foreign volunteers that participated in the Filipino Civil War. However, their tenure as foreign volunteers fighting for the pro-Aquino faction would come to an abrupt end when on January 23, 1987, Dafoe and the other volunteers would be forced to surrender before the advancing armies loyal to former President Marcos and General Fabian Ver. They were imprisoned in one of the POW camps that a few years later, Artemio Tadiar would transform it into one of the series of concentration camps for political dissident. That place was known as the Abayog POW camp, and most of the POWs held under General Ver's captivity were abused and starved to death. Johnny Depp, one of the other volunteers who also had a role in Platoon, would die of starvation and malnutrition, and his death would galvanize the world to support the Aquino cause. Although on June 26, 1987, Dafoe and the surviving volunteers would be rescued from captivity, only to realize that their savior was none other than the armies loyal to Artemio Tadiar himself. It was only after the Filipino Civil War had ended with a joint Aquino-Tadiar victory that the shooting of Platoon would continue, only it would be dedicated to not only Johnny Depp, but to many other soldiers (both foreign volunteers and AFP personnel alike) who died to prevent the Marcos dictatorship from returning. Little did Dafoe realized, they had played a role in the rise of the Tadiar dictatorship. Shooting of the film resumed in August of 1988, with Mark Hamill replacing Depp and undergoing the same rigorous training that Dafoe and the others had endured as he would play the role of Lerner. Platoon would become one of the most iconic movies of the late 1980s, but the controversial role that Tadiar played in its production would tarnish its legacy. While the actors would cherish the times they spent together on the set, ultimately it was the experience that they gained during the Filipino Civil War that would define them today. Dafoe would also have a cameo appearance in the blockbuster movie, Titanic, as Charles Melville Hays, the entrepreneur who wanted to build a transcontinental railraod from Moncton, New Brunswick, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Charlie Sheen initially turned to alcoholism as a coping mechanism due to the trauma he suffered while he was a POW, before checking in the rehab, and pulling himself together long enough to be casted in Mexico's most expensive film project as Agustin de Iturbide, the only Emperor of the First Mexican Empire, in a movie called 'The Bloody Birth of a Nation'. Tom Berenger would star in the movie, 'Road Trip through the Ages', as a recently divorced man who drives his way across America and gets into various mishaps, while Forest Whitaker would play the role of an ANC militant in a joint Dutch-ESF film project, 'Blood in the Soil', which retells the events of the last few days of the South African Civil War. Most importantly, Dale Dye would end his brief career in the film industry and later becomes an instructor at West Point Academy, where his experiences as a foreign volunteer during the Filipino Civil War (which was his first time taking part in combat since the Vietnam War) would attract the attention of future Defense Secretary Paul Van Riper." From the Documentary, 'The Real Life Platoon'.
--- 'ATLAS SHRUGGED' A MAJOR BOX OFFICE HIT AS IT OVERTAKES THE SIXTH SENSE AS THE NUMBER ONE MOVIE HIT
Entertainment Tonight
September 15, 1999
Fans of Ayn Rand are in for a treat, as the movie 'Atlas Shurgged' was released into movie theaters in September 13th. Based on Ayn Rand's book of the same name, 'Atlas Shrugged' has shattered the record for the biggest movie opening, surpassing The Sixth Sense by a small margin, though with the impending release of 'Star Wars Episode One - A Phantom Menace', it is unsure as to how Star Wars Episode One will fare against Atlas Shrugged. The director of Atlas Shrugged, Oliver Stone, has hired Leonard Peikoff as a consultant for the movie, which he intended to create in a way that would satisfy all three groups of people who came out to enjoy the movie: the hardcore Ayn Rand fans who read much of her books, the Objectivist crowd who subscribed to her ideas, and ordinary movie goers who have no idea who Ayn Rand is, or what her works are all about.
Among the top list celebrities who attended the movie premier when it was first released was noted business tycoon Donald Trump, who was given an invitation by Sylva Kelegian. Although it is not confirmed, close friends of Kelegian say that the movie actress is romantically involved with the business tycoon, who had recently ended his marriage to Marla Maples. Trump's marriage to Maples is not revealed to the public, as the prenuptial agreement required both parties to not disclose the nature of their marriage. Since the divorce, Trump has become the magnet for various women who wanted to take a risk in dating him. His seat beside Kelegian's inside the movie theater at an undisclosed location (which was concealed to prevent paparazzi from disrupting the movie premier) had confirmed the rumors that they're secretly dating, but naysayers deny the romance.
--- Excerpts from "The Detailed History of Star Wars"
by: Ian MacKinnon
YouTube Documentary
"Although Star Wars Episode One has barely managed to surpass Atlas Shrugged as the top one movie in 1999, its subsequent Episodes Two and Three were faced with a growing challenge by the evolution of moviemaking technology that delays were often common. It didn't help that most of the audience was distracted by the ongoing occupation of Cuba and Nicaragua that interest in the Star Wars franchise was declining. Episode One was directed by George Lucas, but starting Episode Two onwards, Lucas would hand over his directing duties to Martin Scorsese, while Michael Bay would be in charge of special effects. Lucas's decision to hand over his directing duties was controversial, in that he was gambling on Scorsese's abilities to bring out the best and worst in the movie making scenes, especially the political intrigues of the Senate and that of Chancellor Palpatine. Eventually, Lucas's hands-off approach to handling Episodes Two and Three would pay off, as it also allowed him to concentrate on the development of the three sequels that he had in mind. Episode Two would be released in 2004, as to allow the film crew and cast to rest and recuperate from the long hours of work they put into the movie. Episode Three would be released in 2008, amidst the continued evolution in movie making technology and the rise of HD technology.
Episodes Seven and Nine would focus more on the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, with the first of the three sequels titled A Rising Threat, The Remaining Few, and Ultimate Victory. Lucas's decision to focus on the new threat also resulted in the creation of the Hidden Lores, or the side stories that explained the other parts of the galaxy that have not yet been explored. The Unknown Regions was prominent in the Hidden Lores, as a new entity called The Western Despotate, has been on the front lines against the raids from the Yuuzhan Vong. However, the Western Despotate is also a satellite state of another new entity that arose from the former Galactic Empire Loyalists, led by Admiral Thrawn, which eventually took control of most of the Unknown Regions, under the banner of the First Order. Admiral Thrawn's First Order empire would become the enemies of both the Yuuzhan Vong and the New Republic. Much of the new cast in the sequels were diverse in that they were recommended by various foreign filmmakers, with the majority of them coming from Western Europe. Fun fact though: there was difficulty in choosing the actor that would play the role of Ben Skywalker, the son of Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, with Kit Harrington, Daniel Radcliffe, and Matthew Lewis, before ultimately deciding on Matthew Lewis's older brother Anthony, to play the role of Ben Skywalker. Jaina Solo would be played by Emma Watson, while Jacen would be played by Adam Driver." |
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Nov 6, 2021 5:59:38 GMT
Ouch. So Dafoe lives but Johnny Depp isn't. That butterflies his antics in Pirates of the Caribbean and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I wonder who will play Jack Sparrow or the equivalent of POTC in this timeline. Same for Willy Wonka. Glad to see an allternate take on Star Wars. So we get Phantom Menace which is more or less the same as OTL, barring a few differences of course. Will Episode 2 and 3 still have Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman? Also nice to see the Yuuzhan Vong get screentime compared to Disney buying the franchise. Honestly, one of the silver linings in TTL is Disney not ruining this classic. I would think that Disney buying Star Wars is a controversy in itself, but perhaps Paramount or Universal Studios might be the ones buying the Star Wars franchise. It also helped that Lucas's risky decision to take a hands off approach ultimately allowed him to plan ahead for the alt-sequels. If I had to pick a guy to play the role of Jack Sparrow, I'd lean towards Aiden Gillen, who played Littlefinger in Game of Thrones. I'd also say that Keira Knightley (who played Padme's double) might be a better fit for Padme, although I could also consider Rosamund Pike or Eva Green as another potential candidates for Padme. For Anakin, I'd lean towards either Michael Adamthwaite, Robert Pattinson, or even someone obscure. |
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gillan1220
Fleet admiral
I've been depressed recently. Slow replies coming in the next few days.
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Post by gillan1220 on Nov 6, 2021 9:23:55 GMT
Ouch. So Dafoe lives but Johnny Depp isn't. That butterflies his antics in Pirates of the Caribbean and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I wonder who will play Jack Sparrow or the equivalent of POTC in this timeline. Same for Willy Wonka. Glad to see an allternate take on Star Wars. So we get Phantom Menace which is more or less the same as OTL, barring a few differences of course. Will Episode 2 and 3 still have Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman? Also nice to see the Yuuzhan Vong get screentime compared to Disney buying the franchise. Honestly, one of the silver linings in TTL is Disney not ruining this classic. I would think that Disney buying Star Wars is a controversy in itself, but perhaps Paramount or Universal Studios might be the ones buying the Star Wars franchise. It also helped that Lucas's risky decision to take a hands off approach ultimately allowed him to plan ahead for the alt-sequels. If I had to pick a guy to play the role of Jack Sparrow, I'd lean towards Aiden Gillen, who played Littlefinger in Game of Thrones. I'd also say that Keira Knightley (who played Padme's double) might be a better fit for Padme, although I could also consider Rosamund Pike or Eva Green as another potential candidates for Padme. For Anakin, I'd lean towards either Michael Adamthwaite, Robert Pattinson, or even someone obscure. Or perhaps the butterflies here would mean 21st Century Fox and Lucasfilms would not sell the Star Wars franchise at all. Another possible actor for Jack Sparrow: Robert Downey Jr. Keira would be a great alternative to Padme for this TL. I wonder what changes will occur to the prequels. I.E. let's say Qui Gon survives and maybe more Jedi survive Order 66. |
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