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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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New England July 26 2006 to July 26 1979
By Bob C.
© Copyright 2006-2007
July 26th 2006, 12:00 am. Something doesn't look right. After that
strange lightening storm, the lights in New York are different. A Visit. July 28th, 1979. John Abram, aged 32 lives in Waterford Connecticut with his wife and 5 year old son. He is from Princeton New Jersey. July 26th: Hello Dad? Hello, who is this? It's me, Johnny. I'm 32 years old. Johnny, is that you? later: OK, are you sure you have room for us? Sure, I think your boy can share little Johnny's room. Which route is better in 1979? Take the Outer Bridge crossing, I'll go over the directions Loading up the car: Are you sure we can use today's money? That's what they said on the radio. I still think we should stop at a bank that can change it for 1979 bills. We don't need the EZPass, they don't have those yet. Approaching New York: There's the 1 mile marker. Why the flashing lights, and speed limit of 30 miles per hour?. We're in New York, in 1979! I think they are fixing that bump on the border. On the Whitestone Bridge: There it is, the World Trade Center! Arriving: Look at you! I can't believe it, you're all grown up. Johnny, this is Johnny. He's you when you grow up Grandpa! I'm guessing you haven't seen me in a while? Meeting of Walmart regional managers. August 14th, 1979. Now that we've gotten to see the 2006 stores, here are our immediate decisions. First, the concepts of the 175,000 to 225,000 square foot SuperCenters, which include a full supermarket, is a good one. In 2006, WalMart, in the US, had 20% of all grocery sales, and almost 9% of all retail sales. We will look into building these in the rest of US as soon as possible. There is also the Sam's Club warehouse club store, where customers pay an annual fee to shop there. We will study this concept. Our challenges in the immediate future are to supply the New England stores with products they can sell, to provide new products at a low cost to our 1979 stores, and to anticipate and prepare for upcoming economic and market changes. Congress is about to pass a comprehensive set of laws dealing with the economic issues of the Event. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an immediate challenge, and to rule quickly, so that economic decisions can be made under a stable system of economic rules. The accounts of New England credit card holders should be usable again at that time. The decision to have a 1 for 1 exchange rate of 2006 dollars, instead of the 1 per 2.75 that the consumer price index would suggest, means that there will be considerable inflationary pressure in the rest of the US. You should note that in the New England history there was considerable inflation in 1980. There will also be considerable deflation in New England. Assets and debts of New England residents, outside of the region will handled in a somewhat complex manner not yet worked out. We know that corporate assets in New England with corporate headquarters outside of New England in 1979, will be held by those corporations, with split ownership if there had been mergers. Overall stock ownerships in those corporations will have a complex formula still to be decided. The New England stores essentially sold out of certain categories in the immediate aftermath of the event, and panic buying. What we are going to do now, is find 1979 equivalents for whatever that market requires. We want a full list and description of all items sold, including cost basis, and supplier. We also want a list of possible New England suppliers of any advanced technology items. We understand that much of the manufactured goods were made in mainland China. While diplomatic relations exist in 1979, we don't think it would be possible to reestablish that supply relationship in the near term. We want a large number of sample of every item sold in 2006 kept for reverse engineering, and analysis. This applies not only to items with technology, but also for simpler items, where easier and lower cost manufacturing was part of the design. We will investigate sources for all technological products that were made from 1980 to 2006. So far, we've concluded that the Video Cassette Recorder can mass-produced immediately. IBM is going to introduce a Personal Computer 2 years ahead of schedule. We would like to source a competing product that will be lower cost than their offering. The portable cassette player and radio, called the Walkman by Sony is another product we want a source for immediately. Another item to address is clothing fashions. Will the New England buyer be satisfied with the 1979 offerings? Will any of the future fashions from 1980 to 2006 be sold in mass quantity this year and next in the rest of the US? Telecommunications Both AT&T and IBM are in the middle of anti-trust suits. The deal announced is the following. Taking into account the history that would have been, the case against IBM is being dropped. However, they are warned that they should be careful not to establish a personal computer or personal computer software monopoly, or the case will be restarted. For AT&T, there will be two companies in the US outside of New England, AT&T which handles the connection and billing of phone calls, and another company which will own all wiring to the customers, and the each switching facility. It will have to offer equal access to all communication companies that want to connect to it, including AT&T. AT&T will have regulated prices in each market, until competition has been established, at which point they will be gradually deregulated. For New England, many companies exist, including Verizon which is the successor to New England Telephone and AT&T Connecticut the successor to SNET. All of these companies will continue under their current rules, since a competitive market already exists. However, in each area where there is a wiring monopoly, they will have to offer fair terms to any company that wants to connect to those wires. The two new parts of AT&T will not be combined with AT&T Connecticut or Verizon, although the corporations can decide to merge, as long as the wiring provider is separate from the calls provider. Cable television is not being addressed yet, but the lessons will be applied to how the industry is regulated. Internet service is likely to be a few years before it is a major industry. The issue of network neutrality will be addressed soon. CompuServe exists now, and provides email service and a network service without being connected to the ARPANET. Congressmen Al Gore and Newt Gingrich are cosponsoring legislation to create the Internet, a civilian version of the ARPANET that was created in 1983 in the history that would have been. Al Gore was quoted as saying Maybe I did, maybe I didn't create the Internet in the other history, but I'm sure going to do so in this one. He is asking for funding to hire Tim Berners-Lee, to reinvent the World Wide Web. Apparently, he was going to invent it in 1980, but it would have taken until 1991 for it to be working, and 1994 for it to be in widespread use. Gore says that it will now be widely available by 1982. Pravda August 10th 1979 Recently Western, and especially American, mass news media have been disseminating deliberately planted rumors about some sort of fall of communism to take place in 1989 or 1991. As to the theory that 6 US states have somehow transformed themselves into their year 2006 equivalents, we cannot disprove at this time. However, their history shows the results of some reckless decisions made by some of the most senior leaders of the Soviet Union in the late 1980's and early 1990's leading to that history. That is a history, which, if it ever happened, won't happen now. Communism will be alive and well in 2006, and still a force of hope for the world. We will address each of the supposed historical events. We are going to propose a treaty of the US, USSR, Iran, China, and Pakistan, of non-interference in the affairs of Afghanistan. The future history shows that right now, without any Soviet interference in Afghanistan, the CIA is already training and arming the people who will cause chaos in Afghanistan in the 1980's and in the US and rest of the world in the 2000's. It is in the long-term interests of all peace-loving people's of the world to prevent this trend. Poland has banned the so-called trade union Solidarity, and Lech Walesa, and other traitors are being re-educated. The Polish government understands that their joining NATO would cause a nuclear crisis. West Germany will need to understand, that if there is someday to be a reunification of the Germany's, it will be as a neutral disarmed state, not as a member of NATO. The nuclear power plants, including those of Chernobyl, are going to be inspected and made secure. Mikhail Gorbachev has seen the error of his alternate-future ways. He is going to give lectures on how the dissolution of state authority would lead to anarchy, crime, theft, and economic collapse. They have presented historians that claimed that the policies of Reagan, including his proposal for space-based weapons was going to cause the fall of the Soviet Union. In fact, their own records show that historians in Moscow agree that those policies only extended the length of Cold War. Channel 4. August 11th 1979. Planning a trip outside of New England? Remember that there is a 55 miles per hour or lower speed limit on all highways in the US, outside of New England. Also, the right turn on red law starts January 1st 1980. Until then, some places allow it, some don't. After that, all mainland US states allow it. New York City will not allow it. When you go to a gas station, remember to ask for unleaded gas. Don't worry if you forget, though, as the dispenser for leaded gas won't fit into your gas tank. Mark your calender for the Big E, the Eastern States Exposition. It has been held since 1917, around late September. Every year it showcases the products of the 6 states of New England, in the Avenue of the States. This year, it is going to also showcase New England history, 1979-2006 along with a technology tent with demonstrations of products that became available after 1979. Have an ancient Betamax VCR? It actually is fairly popular among the one half of one percent of households that have a VCR in 1979. Maybe this time it will beat out the VHS format? In the last history, it took until 1984 for 10% of households to own a VCR. The first mass-market camcorder for sale was in 1982. New compact disks aren't available yet. Philips and Sony were starting, in 1979, to work out the details, and would have had it available in 1982. Now that they can just agree to the format already decided last time, maybe we can start to see some new CD production this year? Note that the CD-ROM wasn't produced until 1985, the CD RW until 1990, and the DVD in 1996, Announcement from Intel. For the purposes of planning by Personal Computer builders, we are presenting our roadmap. As IBM has already announced, they are going to build a PC using the Intel 8086 chip and a lower priced model using the Intel 8088 chip. The next chip in that series that we are going to release, is the Pentium. We are going to skip 3 major generations of chips, the 80286, 80386, and 80486. The Pentium was originally released in 1993. We intend to sell it in mass quantities by 1985, and have prototypes by 1983. The initial version will use a 1.5 micron process. The original Pentium used a 800 nanometer process. The initial version will be somewhat slower, and have a somewhat higher power consumption than the original. The 8088/8086 chip will move from 3 micron to 1.5 micron process, and we expect to increase the speed, reduce the power consumption, and reduce the cost of this microprocessor significantly by 1982. End announcement. Report from the US Internet planning committee: Some of the worldwide web content of 2006 and earlier is available by having been in temporary storage on computer storage devices in New England. Other content is produced in New England, and continues to be updated. The libraries of New England have been given grants to maintain their public access PC's, to acquire spare parts as needed, to provide scheduling of computer use by phone, and to provide 50% of the computer time to persons not residing in New England. In addition, they are being given printers built in 1979 to replace any that cannot be repaired. The New England Internet content is now being made available to the newly created Internet in the rest of the US. It is available in many universities and some large corporations. The computer program to run it has been adapted for computers that run Unix. The new PC's being developed by IBM and other makers, will be able to use modems and display Internet content. However, purchasers are being advised to not buy the 300 baud modems available now, and to wait for the 1200 baud modems, which will be available in large quantity in a few months. Even at that speed, the connection is not very suitable for graphics. Sears-KMart announcement. With the merger complete, Sears and KMart stores, will both stock a selection of VHS tapes from the future, as well as VHS players and player/recorders. In addition, there will be a catalog in each store with which you can order almost any movie, and many of the TV shows produced in the New England Future. The content was available either in VHS, or in later formats, and remastered into the VHS format. Sears and KMart stores are also taking pre-orders of the IBM PC. It comes with a range of capacities and prices. All come with a collection of floppy disks with a Word Processor, a Spreadsheet, an inventory manager, educational software, and games. Setup in your home or place of business, and training are available. Political News. August 30th, 1979. Bob Dole, Howard Baker, John Anderson, Phil Crane, and John Connally have all announced that they are not running for the 1980 Republican nomination. Bob Dole said I can wait until 1996. That leaves as the major contenders, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and a candidate from 2006, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. It is speculated that neither Bush, nor Romney expect to win the nomination, but they each hope that a good showing will result in being picked by Reagan for the Vice Presidential slot. John Anderson has still not announced if he is going to run for President as an independent. In the New England Future, he did, and received 6.6% of the vote. For those who have studied the New England Future and wonder about Democratic candidates who had been elected, it should be noted that Al Gore and Bill Clinton are too young to run in 1980. Frequently Asked Questions Magazine, September 1979. In the New England Future, all sorts of knowledge areas are condensed, on the Internet, to areas called FAQ, which stands for Frequently Asked Questions. Since not many people have access to the Internet, we have started this magazine. What happened on July 26th, 1979? The entire states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. the New England states, and exactly those water areas legally under state jurisdiction, transformed themselves after a brief lightening storm exactly at midnight, from what was there a moment before, to what would have been there midnight July 26th 2006, if this event didn't happen. What do you mean, if this event didn't happen? History has already been considerably changed. Today's future simply can't result in the future they had. There was no such event in their past. What about their past before July 26th, 1979? As near as can be determined, the past of New England is identical to everyone else's past before July 26th, 1979. What caused it? There is much speculation, but no evidence, except that this wasn't a random natural phenomenon. The boundaries of New England include some arbitrary lines on the map. Even the date wasn't exactly 27 years later, there have been some leap seconds, where the clocks have been moved by 1 second. It was actually 27 years plus the leap seconds, to result in the exact time on the clock, not the same position around the sun. What does the term New England Future mean? It means every event recorded in their history, occurring anywhere, between July 26th, 1979 and July 25th, 2005. (chapter on copyright issues) Why does KMart-Sears offer every future video, but not every past one? Did they not have those in New England? All future copyrighted information is available under a compulsory licensing scheme. The amounts paid, and who they are paid to is under a very complex formula, but it means that it is all usable by anyone who can afford the fee. Information copyrighted before the event, and not part of a derived work in the New England Future, follows present law, which requires a copyright holder's permission to make copies, except for minor copying covered by fair use laws. In the case of KMart-Sears, they can't sell the pre-event videos unless they work out an agreement with the copyright holders. Explain the strange case of the electronic spreadsheet called VisiCalc? A company called Software Arts invented and was starting to sell this computer program for the Apple II computer before the event. In the New England Future, this company was bought by a company that was bought by IBM. The IBM of today has full rights to, not only all the enhancements made to the VisiCalc program in the New England Future, but also to the very same program being sold today by Software Arts. At the same time, Software Arts has full rights to sell the program they developed in 1979. (chapter on technology) Why doesn't the New England Future have flying cars, rocket-trips to Mars, clean and efficient cars, personal robots and all that? They didn't have any major wars or even major upheavals. Maybe that is why not. They didn't run out of oil, so they never needed alternatives. They didn't have the sorts of upheavals that would have required advances. They did advance quickly in computers and especially in cheap small computers used everywhere and by everyone. Fireside chat by President Carter September 5th, 1979. Good Evening: These are incredible times for humanity. The magnitude of the event, and what the message is for us is something we each try to understand in our own way. I can't explain the event to you. Our scientists and theologians are looking into it, but have reached no conclusions. Ten days before the event, I spoke to you about energy goals and a crisis in confidence. Now, with an instant 27 years of hindsight, I ask you the same questions. Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve our serious energy problem? We would have gone from shortage to temporary glut, and during each glut become more wasteful of energy, becoming less fuel efficient in our vehicles and houses, and more and more dependent upon foreign oil supplies that were no more stable in 2006 than they are in 1979. I say again what I said ten days before the event, Its clear that the true problems of our nation are much deeper -- deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession. I also said The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. I think perhaps, now there too much confidence in particular outcomes of a history that will not repeat itself the same way, that has not, in the last few weeks repeated itself in the same way. People are drawing lessons, focusing on some out of context aspects of that future. We must come together as a nation and decide on the future we want, and work to build that future. Meeting of the National Security Council, September 9th, 1979. What is the point of continuing the Cold War? While in the New England Future, the Soviet Bloc collapsed, it might not happen the same way. There is still considerable Communist momentum in Central America. Also, in informal talks with the Soviets about the idea of ending the Cold War, they replied that there is no point in coming to any agreement before the November 1980 elections. They said that Reagan will just reverse anything our administration agrees to anyway. They said if a Democratic president is elected, they'll talk to us then, or if a Republican one, they talk to the new administration. What about precautions for some of the attacks that occurred last time? The New York World Trade Center was attacked by a van-bomb in 1993. A similar planned attacked on the UN building was stopped. That one involved diplomatic staff. I think we'll need to inspect all large vehicles going to any garage attached to a high-profile building. And as soon, as possible, using 2006 technology, we'll have to have automatic scans for explosives of cars, maybe even of boxes and bags. I know they didn't really have this in 2006, but we can build on what they did have to accomplish this. As for the 2001 attacks, we can stop those now. Secure cockpit doors and interior walls, and operating procedures that prevent those doors from being opened in a way that risks the attackers entering the cockpits, even under threats to the life of passengers and crew. This will prevent the use of aircraft as guided missiles. There also needs to be some controls over large private jet planes. A privately owned jetliner is just as dangerous as one flown by an airliner. Also by making sure that the public is aware of those attacks, airline passengers would be more likely to resist. For instance, what happened to that plane in Pennsylvania during the attacks. What about truck and van bombs not in garages. No parking zones don't do much against suicide attackers. Come up with some solutions fast. More from Frequently Asked Questions Magazine. There were some parents of young children in 1979 who later acted in movies and TV shows, which their parents do not approve of. What happened? If the material was illegal, it couldn't be legally distributed. However, if it was legal, but X-rated, or otherwise not approved of by the person of 1979, or their parents or guardians, there is actually nothing they can do to prevent distribution of it. In fact, if the actor was not in New England at the time of the event, all ownership interests pass to the same person in 1979. If that person is a child, in most states, the parents must put a percent of the royalties or other payments in trust for them. That means that not only can their parents not prevent the distribution of a film they don't approve of, but they cannot even refuse to accept the royalty checks they are sent. What is going to happen to the Star Wars series? Now that the first 6 episodes have already been shown in theaters, George Lucas is going to shift production from The Empire Strikes Back, originally released in 1980, to episode 7 instead. What is going to happen to Star Trek? There is an idea for a TV series called Star Trek: Phase II. This was never made in the New England Future, although some work was done to create it in 1977. It isn't clear if all of the major stars of Star Trek will appear in this show, but there is some determination to go forward with the project, even if the 2 best known stars only made guest appearances or even didn't appear at all. Why are people calling cable television companies and saying I want my MTV? In 1981 there was a network called MTV started, which played music videos of popular Rock performers. By the late 1990's the network switched to programs and showed very few videos. One of their commercials included musicians saying Call your cable company and say I want my MTV!. Many people in both New England and outside of New England want this network to be available. There seems to be demand both for contemporary 1979 music and the best hits of the New England Future. Entertainment News. Kurt Cobain, the leader of the popular group Nirvana from 1987 to 1994, is 12 years old. His music is selling well in the 1979 world. With huge demand for him to appear on stage, he agreed under one condition, that he appear with Evel Knievel, the famous stuntman, who is currently (in 1979) sentenced to probation for attacking and severely injuring Sheldon Saltman, an author of a book critical of Evel Knievel. Cyndi Lauper is performing her greatest hits to fairly large crowds. REM was going to form as a band in 1980, instead is now touring, and introducing new songs that were not in the New England Future. Fireside chat by President Carter September 12th, 1979. Good Evening: Many of you have read about some of the New England Future, and what would have happened in the following months. I'm going to tell you what we are going to do about some of these events. In November, the US embassy staff in Iran would have been taken hostage. Now we have evacuated that embassy, and expelled the Iranian embassy to the US. In September 1980 Iraq would have invaded Iran, leading to an 8 year stalemate with much destruction and loss of life. In 1990, Iraq would have invaded Kuwait, and the US would lead a coalition to free that country. In January 1980 I would have given a speech pledging the defence of the Persian Gulf region. The history had shown, that this pledge would be kept by the following Presidents. In the present situation we ask Iran to settle their own affairs and talk to us again when they are ready to interact peacefully. We will defend their neighbors in the Persian Gulf should they come under attack. To Iraq, we ask them to look at that history and not invade their neighbors. We will defend the Persian Gulf nations and our allies. If they attack Iran, we will help neither party. We also will not stand by and let either Iran or Iraq acquire nuclear weapons. Even if a NATO ally decides to supply them with these weapons, we will not allow this. The history of Lebanon showed little progress in 27 years. The situation in 2006 was not an improvement over 1979. One of the tasks that I left unfinished in the New England Future was to bring a lasting peace to Lebanon and across the Lebanon Israel border. I will devote my next 16 months to bringing peace to this region. In addition to bringing peace to the Middle East, we will move quickly to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It will be up to the US voters in November 1980 and later to ensure that this effort is continued. The next area to discuss is Afghanistan. We have agreed, that as long as there are no foreign soldiers or advisors in Afghanistan, we will not aid any group engaged in armed opposition to the government there. In the New England Future, long after the Soviet Union broke apart, the anti-Soviet groups that we had supported in Afghanistan turned on the US. In that future the Soviets fought in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, and the US with its NATO allies fought there from 2001 to 2006. Press Conference of Gov. Mitt Romney September 13th 1979 Governor, who's going to pay to fix the Big Dig? We are not asking for any additional Federal funds. We will have to pay for this ourselves in Massachusetts. We are going to proceed with any lawsuits against contractors that are at fault. As you know if they were not based in New England at the time of the event, the most we can recover is their New England assets. Do you expect to win the Republican nomination and then defeat President Carter in November 1980? It might not be Carter. Maybe it will be the two Ted Kennedys, one running for President and one for Vice-President. What about Governor Reagan? I have enormous respect for President, I mean Governor, Reagan. I intend to give the voters a choice, the benefit of my perspectives of having lived through this same era twice. I also have proven my ability to be elected in a state that has usually voted for Democrats. Are you old enough to run for President? You were born in 1947, and in 1980 you won't have reached the age of 35 that the Constitution requires. The courts have well established that people brought from 2006 to 1979 by the Event have their age in years that include those 27 years. A person born in 1985 can get a drivers license in other states. Are you hoping to be picked as the Vice-Presidential nominee by Governor Reagan? If I am named the Republican nominee I will conduct a careful search for the best possible Vice-Presidential candidate. I'm sure Governor Reagan would do the same. I have no further comment. Governor, have you been brainwashed? No, I have not been brainwashed. Speech by New York City Mayor Ed Koch September 17th 1979 We are going to apply the lessons of the New England Future. All New York City emergency personnel are going to have radios that work with each other. In the case of disasters where, in the opinion of the Fire Department, a building is in danger of collapse, the priority will change to evacuation of everyone in the area, including emergency personnel. All multi-story buildings will be required to have emergency lighting in their stairways. The Police are going to make it a priority to prevent the drug trade and drug wars that were going to happen in this city in the 1980's. There won't just be zero tolerance, there will be minus five percent tolerance. If gang members congregate in a threatening manner or in a manner that suggests they are part of the drug trade, they will be arrested. On a more positive note, New York City is going to use it unique geographical location to lead the modernizations that 27 years of time travel can provide. Before the Event, maybe people commuted to work from Connecticut to the City of New York. We encourage companies based here to make use of the knowledge of these commuters and be first with perfecting new techniques and technologies. Channel 4 News September 18th 1979 Has the Event caused crime to increase? Communities across New England, but especially those near the New York border are reporting an increase in burglaries. Devices that are not available anymore are special targets. In one case an electronics store was looted by a large armed gang. Later in our broadcast, we'll show you some ways to protect yourself and your community. What about spare parts for things you own? There are many sources of spare parts from broken devices on the Internet. Other items are being produced. You can get ink for your printers, maybe not as good as the 2006 version, but still usable. Power supplies can be replaced. If your computer monitor can't be repaired, you can get one that can be connected to the VGA connector that almost every computer has, but it is going to be rather expensive and not have the resolution of pixels that your old one had. If you want to spend less, consider getting a monochrome monitor. If you'd rather have cash than your post-1979 devices, you can sell them on the Internet, or at second-hand stores. There is an active network of dealers, in the rest of the US that will bid for items for auction and resell it locally to people without Internet access. What about your vehicle? There are manufacturers for many parts that can be made by shaping metal. Tires, windshield wipers, and batteries are available. More complex parts are mostly limited to whatever parts were in stock before the Event and those taken from vehicles that are no longer drivable. You might need to replace your vehicle earlier than you would have expected to before the Event. Note that the New England states, except for New Hampshire, do not allow any new registrations of vehicles without catalytic converters. That generally means that you can't buy a car made before the 1975 model year. Now back to how you can prevent theft. You should mark your devices with a code number and register it with your local police station. They can also lend you a stencil for marking it. If it is stolen, there is a chance it can be recovered and those handling stolen property caught. If you register a device, make sure to notify the police if you later sell or dispose of it. You can also join neighborhood watch groups. Report suspicious activity and vehicles to the police. Check your neighbors houses when they say they are supposed to be away. Meeting with Wal-Mart New England management. September 18th 1979 I would like to congratulate everyone for a successful back to school season. Many parents were delighted to see the school supplies they remember from their youth. We delivered a good product selection at a great price. Now I'm going to share with you how we are going to move forward. Most of you remember New England being a small part of the Wal-Mart family. We have 27 Super Centers, 14 Sam's Club and 119 Wal-Mart Discount Stores in New England. However, we only have 230 Wal-Mart stores outside of New England, and those stores are mostly 30,000 to 60,000 square feet. The average New England Wal-Mart Discount store is 100,000 square feet, and the other types are even larger. We expect the New England stores to account for a majority of our sales and profit, until we have significantly more expansion. Most of you also remember Wal-Mart being the number one retailer, and you didn't worry much about K-Mart and Sears. Now it isn't and you should. Wal-Mart reached the place in the market it achieved in the 1980's due to hard work, efficient operations, low costs, good inventory management, and the brilliance of our associates. We also had the advantage of K-Mart and Sears having few of those qualities during the 1980's. With the K-Mart Sears merger, and their study of the New England Future, expect them to be an extremely effective organization that is larger than us for now. This competition will make us better at what we do, and will succeed. Most of you also remember Wal-Mart being a national, indeed an international company. Now our presence is only in a small geographic area in the center of the country plus New England. We plan on building new stores even faster than we did in your history. New England is going to be the engine for this growth. We will expand in the upper South and Mid-West, and try not to be headed off at the pass by Sears-KMart. We will also expand into New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, using our New England distribution centers, adding new distribution centers as needed. Critical to our entire strategy is generating operating profits from our New England stores. This requires providing the products that sell in New England, and doing so at a lower price than our competitors. For electronics, we should concentrate on replacement items and parts for future products. In a few years new products will likely sell better. For now don't expect to sell many TV's, so don't waste much floor space. Also, don't stock any audio-visual device without connectors, such as RCA plugs, that most future devices can connect to. Do look for products that were popular in 2006, or even had popular periods before 2006, which were available, but almost unknown in 1979. Also look for nostalgia products, that were available, but fading from popularity in 1979. Board games with wooden pieces might be an example, so would certain bicycles, food products, toys. Another area we would like to pursue is to talk with our suppliers and see if they can provide formulations that were used in 2006, along with packaging design and materials. Speech by Lee Iacocca to the press. September 20th 1979 I am honored to be named president of the Chrysler Corporation today. As you know we've been flooded with calls asking when the Minivan and K-Car will be available. The answer for both, should be the 1981 model year. We are going to do something extraordinary and provide a great fuel efficient car at an affordable price, and its going to be even better than the one we would have made without the Event. And like in that other history, we are going to lead the way with a new vehicle type, the Minivan. Channel 4 News. September 21st 1979. Some boaters have gathered near the Prince Edward Islands off the coast of
South Africa, in the Indian Cleanup efforts continue after the Indonesian Earthquake on September 12th, which measured 8.1 on the Richter scale. There were almost no casualties due to the evacuation of the effected area before the earthquake struck. Channel 4 News. September 23rd 1979. Members of the music group Laibach, which was formed in 1980, and an arts group it was part of, NSK which was formed in 1984, have been performing in Western Europe. They are in exile. The government of Yugoslavia has been in turmoil since the Event brought knowledge of the wars throughout the 1990's in what became of that nation. Tito had heard about the group NSK parading a look-alike of Tito in Belgrade in the late 1990's, to cheering crowds, and was making a point to other members of the government that the incident showed that the people of Yugoslavia prefer the way things were before his death in May 1980. However, then someone showed Tito that the group NSK was actually being ironic in their apparent support of Tito, and also showed him two videos from Laibach, Tanz mit Laibach, and Life is Life. Copies of their music on cassette tape are already widely available in Slovenia and other parts of Yugoslavia. The government members at the meeting describe a mood of rage towards both Laibach and NSK, and talk about how Slovenia was the first part of Yugoslavia to leave, after a brief fight with the Yugoslavian army in 1991, and how that had led the way to the wars of the 1990's. They also concluded, that while it is hard to determine what the actual opinions of the group Laibach are, under their layers of post-modern imitation of various beliefs, they are apparently believers in either Slovenian independence or would prefer Slovenia to be under German or Austrian rule, to that of Belgrade. It is believed that a Slovenian member of the government tipped off the future members of Laibach and NSK to leave Yugoslavian before they would be arrested. Paid Political Presentation by Ronald Reagan. September 30th 1979. My fellow citizens of this great nation. Tonight I am going to talk to you about the great event that happened on July 26th 1979 and July 26th 2006. This event was no accident or natural phenomena. Our scientists and theologians agree on this. I am going to tell you what I believe. In 2006, there was a battle raging in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, near the very location, Megiddo, also known as Armageddon, in the Book of Revelations. Israel was fighting an army backed by Iran, which had been on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. The Iranians promised a response to a UN demand that they halt work on their atomic program on August 22nd. It was believed that the response was not going to be a letter or telegram, but in the form of missiles. The war was started deliberately by the pro-Iran militia in Lebanon, by crossing the border of Israel and killing and kidnapping their soldiers. Iran promised that their reply would include light over the sky of Jerusalem. In 2006 the government of Russia, no longer part of the Soviet Union, had been arming Iran with nuclear technology and equipment. Also at the same time there was a stateless terrorist organization that was attempting to unleash chemical, biological, and nuclear terror on the people of the West, and another organization based in a part of Russia called Chechenya attempting to do the same to Russia. Meanwhile, both Russia and the United States of America had hundreds of ICBM's, that while not directly aimed at each other, could be reprogrammed that way in seconds. We still did not have an effective way to intercept these missiles. The exact events that would have happened in the month after July 26th 2006, had the time travel event not happened will likely never be known to us. We do know we have been given a second chance to avoid those events. We must take that chance and prevent the nuclear destruction that might have happened. What can we do with this second chance we have been given? We protect against the number one threat to our civilization both now, and in 2006, nuclear armed missiles. We know that treaties are not going to work, that in 27 years, many more nations will be able to develop in secret both long range missiles and atomic weapons. What we need to do is develop a means to intercept missiles after they have been launched. This should become our number one national priority. Second, we need to increase research to counter biological warfare, to detect, contain and treat outbreaks of never before seen diseases. Third we need to prevent the rise of terrorism, which would have become a fact of life all over the world over the next 27 years. Barbara Walters interview of Ronald Reagan. October 4th 1979. Governor, how does it feel to know that in another history you were President for 8 years? That in a sense you are running for re-election? I can look at every decision made, see the outcome, and how history regarded it. I can compare my record with that of Carter, and I think it is a favorable comparison What would you do differently? I considered Iran and the freedom fighters in Afghanistan to be a useful counterweight to the Soviet Union. Instead they outlasted the demise of the Soviet Union and became a threat to world peace themselves. They might even have been the cause of the nuclear war in 2006 which our second chance is allowing us to prevent. It also turned out that the freedom fighters in Afghanistan had no desire for freedom, but instead, after chasing the Soviets out, to impose one of the harshest dictatorships in the world. This belief you have in the world being given a second chance. You know that not everyone agrees with you. And, if you'll forgive me for saying this, some have even said about you something they said about Goldwater, In your guts, you know he's nuts. Well. is it nuts to think there might have been a purpose behind what everyone agrees was a deliberate action of moving New England through time? This was the first recorded instance of time travel since the battle of Jericho in the Bible. As for the comparison with Goldwater, I'm honored. I do prefer quotes from Goldwater to ones about him. My favorite, is extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. What do you think of President Carter's policies towards the Middle East? His pledge to defend our Persian Gulf allies from invasion is one I support. What I disagree with is his unwillingness to build up America's military to back up this pledge. In the other history, in 1991, when we needed to retake Kuwait after Iraq invaded it, people were saying it would be like World War One trench fighting, how we would lose thousands of soldiers fighting against a half a million battle hardened soldiers who spent 8 years fighting Iran. Instead they were surprised by our easy victory. Well let me tell you something, that victory only looked easy due to the buildup of advanced technology during my terms of office. Now we will have to do even more, the whole world knows the secrets of the future military technologies, so we need to build them now, before they do, and research further advances. Also, let me tell you that in New England, we have submarine factories, and companies that developed anti-missile technologies, and unmanned aircraft. We can build these before anyone else can reinvent them. What about his tacit agreement with the Soviets to leave Afghanistan alone? We must watch closely to make sure that Afghanistan does not become a base for international terrorism. Do you think that Communism will last longer than it did in the New England Future? Communism is on its last legs. Maybe it can be propped up for a while longer, but everyone knows that it will be relegated to the dustbin of history. Right now we are seeing mainland China transforming their economy to capitalism, and the other history showed the unbelievable success they achieved. However the other history also showed that with economic freedom, political freedom is also demanded. They violently suppressed protests in 1989, and later. They should learn that they could be even better off by letting their people achieve all their aspirations for democracy. Some, in 2006, complained that too much of the manufactured goods purchased in the US was made in China. When they are further along in their transformation to a modern free market economy, they will be ready to assume the responsibilities that go along with that. That will be a job for a future President, to make sure that trade terms are fair, when they have reached that point. Finally, there is a difficult subject I want to bring up. You were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease after you left office, but some say that you had some mental effects of it during your second term as President, in the New England Future. First of all, there were no symptoms of this disease during the term of office I am running for, 1981 to 1985. As for later, well, there was quite a lot of research done to create a cure by 2006, and many of those research centers are in New England. I think that a cure will be found, before I might be affected by it. We can talk about this again in 1984 assuming John Hinckley doesn't improve his marksmanship. Channel 4 News. October 5th 1979. Business News: The Hunt brothers are out of the Silver business. Did the web site, Slashdot.org have anything to do with it? We'll let Bunker Hunt explain. We've sold all of our silver holdings. Someone told me about an Internet discussion group called slash dot dot org. They sometimes would make fun of money making schemes, by showing step 1, step 2, both carefully thought out, step 4 was Profit!, and step 3 was a question mark. That is exactly what we did. Step 1 was buy all the world's silver for sale. That led to step 2, drive the price of silver really high, so our silver hoard was now worth a heck of a lot. Unfortunately there is no step 3 we could think of to lead to step 4 Profit!. When you sell that much silver, the price goes down, and you'll get less money than it took to buy it in the first place. The silver market was going to collapse in March 1980, and we were going to go bankrupt. It is still not known if they are going to face indictment for their actions before July 1979. Their original indictment in included actions of theirs in 1979. In other news, Ikea is going to reopen their New England stores on November 9th. It isn't clear why they have been closed this long, since shortly after the Event. Their New England stores are in Stoughton Massachusetts and New Haven Connecticut. These will now be their only stores in the US. They will be running shuttle buses from the main New Haven rail station, to make it easier for New York customers to shop there. They offer, for a fee, shipping of purchases. Channel 4. October 6th 1979. We are going to follow up our earlier series, College after the Event. New England has had, in both 1979 and 2006, many Colleges and Universities, with many students from out of New England. Federal law says that every student enrolled can attend, and for this school year the tuition cannot be any higher than they were told before the Event. For some schools that means crowding in more students than expected, for others fewer. The students from 1979 usually find a campus with more buildings, more programs, and far more use of computers. Schools provided special orientations for returning students. There are also some changes in store for 2006 students. Instead of textbooks, many courses rely on photocopies of textbooks. By next year all the books should be back in print. Schools that had a requirement that everyone bring a computer have had to suspend that policy. Circa 2006 computers have become simply too valuable to require students to purchase. The students of Bradford College in Haverhill Massachusetts were in for an unpleasant surprise. Those who were not notified arrived at a boarded up campus. Their school went out of business in the year 2000. Other schools with a shortage of students have made room for those students. Students from 1979 have been advised to not bring their typewriters. Shared computers are usually available, and the IBM PC is adequate for word processing. The IBM PC is at the technology level of approximately 1982. They have been advised that first time word processor users almost always vastly prefer it to typewriters. Some engineering programs are requiring students to have scientific calculators from Hewlett Packard or Texas Instruments that are available in 1979. The courseware they depended upon will have to wait a few years until powerful enough computers are available for every student. Part of the orientation is to inform students that alcohol policies have become much stricter on campuses, with many dorms and fraternities forbidding its possession. The drinking age is 21 while in 1979 it was usually 18 or 19. There are also a smaller number of students from 2006 who enrolled in colleges that are now in 1979. They might find that knowledge from 2006 has not yet been incorporated into their classwork. Many colleges left their courses unchanged for this year, expecting to update textbooks and courses in the fall of 1980. In our series we are going to interview a professor from 2006 and a student from 1979 who are at the same college and are the same person. Interview with the IBM chief of PC Development, Boca Raton Florida. October 8th 1979. How do you see the PC industry evolving? Very rapidly. We have designs and knowledge through 2006, but have to get our manufacturing ability up to speed. The IBM PC has been designed with upgradability in mind. We have a plan to lead the way to 2006 technology and beyond, with an open platform that invites competitors to be part of that journey. What can we expect in the next few years? In a year or two expect IBM PC's with faster processors, more memory, higher capacity floppy disks, higher capacity hard drives, better graphics, and faster modems. All of these will be available as upgrades to the IBM PC you can buy today. In addition expect some specialized models, such as a transportable PC. This won't resemble the laptop computer yet, but more like a suitcase with a built-in CRT monitor. Can you explain some of the differences between the IBM PC of today, and the IBM PC of 1981 in the New England Future? Sure. We concentrated on interfaces that were popular in that future. We included the USB interface, although with a slower speed than what was called low speed in the 2000's. We also included the RS232 serial port, as it provides a pathway for devices to be built to interface with the IBM PC than the USB does today. We did not include the parallel port. We also did not include the 5 1/4 inch floppy drive, but introduced the 3 1/2 inch drive years earlier than it would have been. That drive was still found on most PC's in use in 2006, with a 1.44 MB capacity. Today's disks are mostly 180 KB, but that will increase when manufacturing of the disks improves. The connection to all monitors is the VGA connector in use in 2006, not the original VGA connector from 1984. These choices simplify the upgrade path, USB, VGA connector, 3 1/2 inch floppy drive, technologies that can be expected to remain in use for a long time. When will we have computers just like the ones in 2006? In 1985 we'll have early 1990's technology in some ways, and 2006 technology in others. Some areas will improve faster than others What about software? We are not going to establish a software monopoly, and we are not going to help anyone else establish one. Much of the software we are including with the IBM PC is open source, meaning anyone can modify it and anyone can redistribute it for free. Some of it is owned by IBM, but alternatives exist. There is also a huge amount of software written, in the New England Future, for the 8086 series of microprocessors that is open source, that can be adapted for the IBM PC. I understand that when the anti-trust case against IBM was dismissed, IBM was warned not to establish a PC or PC software monopoly, but how are you going to compete in this market? We couldn't establish a monopoly if we wanted to. In the New England Future, in 1987, we tried to improve the PC with some proprietary hardware designs. The market refused to accept it, and only bought open platforms, that allowed competition. By 2005, IBM was out of the PC market completely. What we are going to do, is lead the market with technology, manufacturing, quality, reliability, and service. We will compete for our market share every day. Channel 4 News. October 12th, 1979. All 6 New England States are going to complete the lists by the Federal deadline of October 30th. The lists include every resident of New England as of July 25th 2005, who was not actually in New England at the time of the Event. It includes lists of all their property. All abandoned houses and other buildings have already been identified, and upkeep is being managed by the state governments. Efforts are being made to determine their families in either 1979 or 2006 zones, and also if they themselves are in 1979. Governments around the world are being given lists of those with possible ties to their countries of 1979. Visitors to New England in 2006 have been and are being helped. Some simply wanted to go home. Many of those were accommodated by their families in 1979, or their 1979 selves. In a few rare cases, the visitor in 2006, took over the empty residence of their 1979 self who was in New England at the time of the event in 1979. Some are being given temporary shelter until they establish themselves in New England or out of New England. The list also includes records of all ownership, accounts, loans, stocks, bonds, etc., that crossed the boundary of New England on July 25th 2006. The deadline was September 30th, for residents to submit copies of any paper records and an estimate of anything they don't have paper records for. Every resource is being used to get the records of companies in New England, and records of email, etc., to get more evidence. A similar list is being created in the rest of the US, and any other country that wants to participate, of 1979 assets and loans in 1979 New England. 2006 New England is cooperating in finding these 27 year old records. After the lists are finalized the determination of who owns or owes what will be made using the formula passed by Congress. In many cases the owner of a set of assets tied to a set of obligations in 2006 can choose to accept or reject them in total. Channel 4 News. October 25th, 1979. In our continuing series of Visits to New England, we present a resident of Putnam county New York. My impression of New England? A lot more run-down that I expected it to be. The highways seem rough. I was expecting rocket-cars in the air, not asphalt roads with lots of bumps. I drove the Merritt Parkway past that bridge that used to have the metal grates. That part was an improvement, nice smooth bridge now. Also no tolls. You used to have to stop every few miles and pay a toll. Then I drove on Route 1 for a while. Some of it is a lot nicer than I remember, and some of it a lot seedier. I went to IKEA. It's all 1979 merchandise now, but I did like the Swedish Meatballs. Then Route 95. That road looks old and worn. Finally, the casinos. They are impressive. The lights and architecture. Probably the only thing I saw that looked like it belonged in what I thought 2006 should look like. Now we present a 55 year old man living in a town in New York 2 miles from Connecticut. Why did I visit New England? To visit myself. I'm in an assisted living center, 82 years old. At 55, I'm technically old enough to move in myself. Do you remember that interview with Reagan a while back, where he was asked about Alzheimer's? I was listening to that one with a lot of attention. Puts things in perspective to know where I'm heading, unless Reagan is right about the research progress. What did I think of New England? I think those homes are not better or worse in 2006 than they were in 1979. Channel 4. October 27th, 1979. In our continuing series of Visits to New England, we are interviewing visitors in Providence, Rhode Island. What is your impression of Providence? I can't figure it out. I took the Amtrak train up here just to look around. This city looks great! I didn't even know there was a river here until now. Really, this river wasn't here, and it was only a few months ago, or 27 years and a few months ago, when I was in Providence last. I love the mall, the IMAX movies, everything. Here's what I can't figure out. I heard the jewelry industry is gone. I mean really gone. Same with the textile industry. So why are there new commercial buildings going up everywhere? How can there be people buying all those expensive things in that huge mall? What is your impression of Providence? We were here for WaterFire. Just amazing. They understood how to make the river a tourist attraction instead of running it underground. What is your impression of Providence? I'm not sure. You have to remember that in 1979 this was a city on the rise. So, the new buildings and all aren't really a surprise. Actually the rest of the city is grittier than I expected. Paid Political Presentation by Ronald Reagan. October 27th, 1979. My fellow Americans. Tonight I am speaking to you about an urgent matter. As you know, when the six states of New England were brought from the year 2006 to 1979, we were given 27 years of advances in technologies, including military technologies. Now, as incredible as it is to believe, many of the defense workers in New England are being let go from their jobs, as their funding ends. We cannot allow 27 years of progress to dissipate. In New England, we were building advanced submarines, anti-missile missiles, unmanned aircraft, and even items like better winter coats for our troops, letting them fight more effectively in cold weather. We can build these before anyone else can reinvent them. This is not a partisan issue. Both Republicans and Democrats see the urgency in funding our New England defense workers. However, we need a two thirds majority of both houses of Congress to override a veto by Carter, or to convince him to sign the needed legislation. We ask Congress to pass a funding bill, and I ask President Carter to sign it. To our defense workers in New England, this nation values your loyalty and dedication to our security. I personally pledge that all of you will receive your full salaries and benefits. We have an private organization that will raise funds for this purpose. What can you do to help. Call this 800 number. Operators are standing by to tell you how your Congressman and Senators are voting on this issue, and how you can reach them by phone and mail. And finally, please pledge donations to keep our defense workers employed if the funding bill is not passed quickly. Thank you and good night. Pravda. October 29th, 1979. The technologies revealed by the the time travel event can bring great promise in areas such as medical treatments and food production. They could also be used to bring great instability in the area of armaments and bring the world to the brink of war. Warmongering circles in the United States are talking about using technologies to give the US the ability to have global military hegemony. The is a dangerous illusion that will not have its intended result. The Soviet Union will not stand by while the US advances with technologies from the future. The Soviet Union is not without abilities to deploy its own destabilizing technologies. Two examples will be presented. Instead the Soviet Union offers to agree to moratoriums on destabilizing technologies. The treaty against nuclear weapons in space and limiting anti-ballistic missiles are examples of the type of agreement that should be enacted now. In the future history, in 2002, the US withdrew from the ABM treaty. Our young comrade, Vladimir Putin, responding by making changes to our intercontinental missiles to not be vulnerable to the anti-ballistic missile technology the US had then. We have analyzed the statements made, and have identified exactly what the changes are, and can make those changes now. In addition, we can build many more missiles to overwhelm an anti-ballistic missile system. The Patriot missile as it was built in 2006, violates the ABM treaty. US legal experts in the alternate future were very clear about that. The 1980's version of that missile did not violate the treaty, while the 2006 version did. If any treaty is violated, all arms control treaties will be considered to be null and void. Another example, is in anti-tank technology. During the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, there was a small mystery to the Americans. A US tank, of the most well armoured tank type in the US inventory, had a smooth hole put in it, from one end to the other. The American experts couldn't determine what the weapon was, but they did determine it was from the Russian Republic. We can reveal now, that it was a projectile and not a beam. We have identified the present theoretical research project that led to that development. We know how to develop it again. There is also a belief among some warmongers that the Soviet Union can be forced to spend more on its military than it can afford. In fact, we have identified countermeasures, that we can afford, to every new technology. It would be a huge waste of resources in both the US and Soviet Union, but it will not cause our collapse. Analysis of Soviet Leadership changes after the Event. October 30th, 1979. The Soviet leadership is looking for ways to avoid the collapse of both Communism and the Soviet Union that occurred in the New England Future. One idea being pushed by Yuri Andropov is that Mikhail Gorbachev is in the best position to save both Communism and the Soviet Union. He argues that he never intended either to collapse and can learn from his mistakes. His proposal is that both himself, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko be passed over for leadership, and that instead Mikhail Gorbachev be the next leader, although under a tight leash by the rest of the Politburo. It is not known who the other contenders to follow Brezhnev are. In the New England Future, Brezhnev died on November 10th, 1982. It won't necessarily follow the same way this time, and they might decide to have him retire to make way for new leadership. In terms of purges, here is what is known. Boris Yeltsin and Aleksandr Lebed have disappeared, and believed to have been arrested. One source said that he heard If Lebed was dangerous enough to eliminate in 2002, he's dangerous enough to eliminate now. The leaders of the 1991 coup against Gorbachev have been forced to retire, and are all confined to live in the very same resort where they imprisoned Gorbachev during that coup attempt. The leadership was heard to say They may have meant well, and tried to restore Communism, but those drunken idiots caused the collapse of the Soviet Union. Vytautas Landsbergis and several other Lithuanian leaders have been publicly arrested. Vladimir Putin is a 27 year old student at the KGB. He became leader of the independent Russian Republic, in the New England Future in 1999. He is presently being put on a leadership track. There seems to be a consensus that he should be trained to be a future leader of the Soviet Union. Channel 4 News. November 2nd, 1979. There won't have to be bake sales to buy missiles. Congressional leaders and President Carter have agreed to a compromise on the military funding bill. Production planned in New England for October 2006 to September 2007 will proceed as planned. Any missed production due to the funding cut will be made up. Any civilian military contractors who lost pay will have that made up to them. Further, all persons from 2006 New England with military clearances will be guaranteed continued defense employment, even they weren't working at the time of the Event. The compromise to get the bill signed by President Carter, is that the high technology items won't actually be deployed during the time covered by the funding bill which ends September 30th, 1980. The production will be used for research and development, testing and training. A Financial Magazine. November 1979 issue. What has been the impact of the US decision to have a 1 to 1 exchange rate between 1979 dollars and 2006 dollars? We ask an economics historian to present a historical perspective. First, the event itself is simply extraordinary. We have found no events in the historical records of a time travel event. Even the meaning of history has changed, previously we assumed it meant a linear path through time occurring at the same pace everywhere on the planet. Now that we know that is not true. Historians have now been looking through history for previous such events. None have been positively identified. As for the exchange rate between 1979 and 2006 dollars, we did find a very close analogy in that New England Future. In 1990, East Germany merged into West Germany. The effective value of the West German currency was between 2.5 and 10.0 to that of the East German, but the merger set a value of 1 to 1. Actually some savings were set at a different ratio, but prices, wages, and contracts were all 1 to 1. Similarly in 1979, the effective value of the 1979 US dollar was about 2.75 that of the 2006 US dollar, while the merger set a value of 1 to 1. However, while West Germany had the superior technology, in the US case, the 2006 New England had the superior technology, so some of the overvaluation of its currency was actually justified. Those workers with post-1979 skills are probably worth 2.75 times their original salaries. Those items and services produced in New England using post-1979 infrastructure probably are also worth the 2.75 times their original price. Unskilled labour commodity items and services are not worth any more than their original price. Indeed, we have been seeing wages reduced by many companies in New England. We have also been seeing those with new skills having many companies both within and outside of New England bidding for their services. Channel 4 News. November 4th, 1979. Today's news starts with what did not happen today. There are no American hostages in Iran. In the New England Future Iran seized 66 Americans today, keeping 52 until January 20th, 1981. They did hold a large demonstration against the US, in front of the former embassy grounds. The main differences between our current history, and the New England Future, is that this time, the embassy and civilians were evacuated the day of the Event, and the former Shah did not come to the US for medical treatment. In other news, Malden Mills, the maker of Polartec fleece has more orders than it can handle. Before the Event, the company was heading towards its second bankruptcy. It made outdoor weather products for the military, and for high-end sporting goods stores. Then, mass-market fleece was mostly made by other companies in China. Now, Malden Mills, in Malden Massachusetts and Hudson, New Hampshire, is the only producer in the world, having invented the category in 1981. If they run their factory around the clock, from now until the Fall 1980, they wouldn't be able to fill all the orders they have. Channel 4 News. November 5th, 1979. Senator Gary Hart of Colorado announced his candidacy for the 1980 Presidential Democratic nomination. I am going to bring this nation forward through a new era. Yes I have new ideas. No, there won't be any monkey business. Channel 4 News. November 7th, 1979. Both Ted Kennedy's held a news conference, on this the same day that Senator Ted Kennedy announced his running for the 1980 Presidential Democratic nomination against President Carter, in the original history. They announced that they are not running for President. I don't think that I, my younger self, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Jesse Jackson, or John Glenn can win the general election against Ronald Reagan. We urge your support of Gary Hart. Channel 4 News. November 9th, 1979. President Carter announced a balanced budget plan for next years Federal budget. Republican Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker expressed his approval. The spending and tax levels are both higher than we would like, but we can work with the President's plan. In the original history, Carter proposed something similar, but it was derailed by the crises in Iran and Afghanistan. Ted Kennedy (the older) commented, The Senate Democrats approve of having a balanced budget. In the New England Future we were on the way to responsible government before Ronald Reagan's reckless tax cuts set the nation on a path of huge budget deficits that lasted until the next Democratic President was in office. Channel 4 News. November 10th, 1979. Tragedy in Greensboro North Carolina. 26 people have been killed in fighting between the Ku Klux Klan and the Maoist anti-Klan protesters. In the original history 5 people were killed on November 3rd during a protest and counter protest. Now, there was heavy police presence on November 3rd with no violence reported. However, both organizations postponed their fight another week with even more tragic results. Channel 4. November 12th, 1979. In our continuing series of Visits to New England, we are interviewing visitors in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. What is your impression of Harvard Square? Almost every store I know is gone, but the same things are still being sold. What is your impression of Harvard Square? They are still playing the same movie as last time I was here. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has never stopped playing here. What is your impression of Harvard Square? The singers have to have licenses now? What is your impression of Harvard Square? The T goes also to Somerville now. I took it to Davis Square. That actually reminds me of what Harvard Square was like before. Coming up next, what about your cellphones. You might have noticed less coverage already than before the Event. You can expect coverage to drop off until new equipment is made. You can actually get a new phone, but it is about the size of a large brick. There has been a little bit of coverage added in the New York City and Washington DC areas, but that was from equipment in New England at the time of the Event. Channel 4 News. December 31st, 1979. The first New Year's Eve since the event. Several cities and towns outside of New England are hosting First Night celebrations. First Night is an arts festival, both indoors and outdoors. The original First Night was held in Boston since 1976. This year has a special theme, saying goodbye to 1979 and also to 2006, and for the first time ever not being sure that those years won't be back again. There is an ice sculpture on Boston Common, with all the years 1979 to 2006 represented, and people chipping away at them before midnight. Election Coverage, early Primaries. Channel 4 News. January 21st 1980. The Iowa Caucus results are in. George Bush got 38%, Mitt Romney 21%, and Ronald Reagan 41%. In the New England History, Bush had won the caucus. Gary Hart got 24%, President Carter 76%. Howard Dean, who is helping Gary Hart's campaign, said. We're going to win in New Hampshire, then we're going to Massachusetts, and we're coming home to Vermont and ... guess what, I'm not screaming this time Channel 4 News. February 26th 1980. Gary Hart got 46% of the vote in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary. Some are already calling for him to drop out of the race. In the Republican Primary, Mitt Romney swept it with 54%. Bush with 12% and Reagan with 34%. Channel 4 News. March 4th 1980. Mitt Romney sweeps Massachusetts and Vermont, 70% and 55%. Gary Hart meanwhile, got 40% and 43%. Channel 4 News. March 11th 1980. Reagan sweeps Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Bush come in second in Alabama and Georgia. Gary Hart received only 10% in Florida, 12% in Alabama and 19% in Georgia. Channel 4 News. March 12th 1980. We bring you live to Gary Hart's press conference. I am withdrawing from the Presidential race. I will work day and night to support President Carter in his reelection effort. Wall Street Week. March 14th, 1980. I'm Louis Rukeyser and this is Wall Street Week. Tonight we are going to discuss what stocks should you buy today that will do well in 2006. If you missed our earlier show on how stocks did in the New England Future you can order a VHS video tape. No, you cannot have a Betamax tape. If you want to know why, order the VHS tape of last week's show. We have three experts tonight. Let's start with the automotive sector. What do you think of General Motors? Actually I'm not very impressed. They've made a flurry of announcements, and rolled out a Sports Utility Vehicle, a crew cab pickup truck, and some New England Future styles, but underneath it all, are the same platforms they had last year. I don't see their efforts improving quality, or efficiency in manufacturing. I think they'll sell some vehicles in the next few years, but this is not a winner in 2006. My automotive pick is Toyota. They have the same 1980 model vehicles they had in the 1980 New England Future. The only major change is anti-lock brakes are now an option for some of their models. However, auto experts have dug up 1980 cars from New England junkyards, and they have found many small changes made to the 1980 Toyota's. The Toyota strategy of continuous small improvements, is the strategy that is going to win by 2006. You are also going to see some big changes. My little birdie says watch for the 1983 Toyota model year. I also want to mention Chrysler. They are doing much better than they did in the New England 1980. They didn't need government loan guarantees this time. They also moved up the date of the minivan introduction. I still think that by 2006 they'll have to merge with another automotive company. I don't think you'll lose money by buying their stock, but I don't think it will be a big winner in your portfolio either. What about the Computer industry? IBM is a phenomenal choice. This time, I think they'll own a good part of the Personal Computer market and keep it. Another pick is Toshiba. Right now, they are the only other choice for an IBM compatible PC. Hewlett Packard hasn't reached the market yet. They were the number two computer maker in the New England Future 2006. So far, I'm not impressed by them. What about the number one Personal Computer maker of the New England Future 2006? Dell Computer. Michael Dell is 15 years old. Any sensible person would decline the assets and liabilities of Dell Computer in New England, but no-one ever accused Michael Dell of being sensible. He is going to honor all the service agreements and guarantees for those Dell computers that came over with New England, and he's going to build a company. He's got the financing for it, and a good team. If they had public stock, I'd add it to my portfolio as a speculation. When can I buy a flash memory portable music player? Not for a while. The solid state memory just isn't made small enough yet. Toshiba claims that they will be the first to provide it. For now, if you want portable music, you can buy the Sony Walkman cassette player. The portable CD player, I think Sony called it the Discman, also needs some solid state memory to handle interruptions in playback due to the device being bumped while you are walking or jogging. So, we don't have that yet either. Is Sony one of your picks? No, I don't see them maintaining focus over the next 26 years. I don't see any sign of them changing their corporate culture from the one they had in the New England Future. What about the retail industry? I have two picks, Wal-Mart, and Sears-KMart. One of them or both of them are going to do very well in 2006, so I say buy them both. Wal-Mart was a pioneer in using technology and careful inventory management to become the number one retailer in the New England Future. If anything, they are moving much faster now, and have a great position in New England. Sears-KMart is applying every lesson of the 26 years of the New England Future at the same time. There is just no comparison between them and the Sears and KMart of the New England Future 1980. They are many other regional discount chains, but none of them are moving with the determination of those two companies. Target is doing OK, but I think they will at best be in third place behind Wal-Mart and Sears-KMart in 2006. Any other industries in your 2006 portfolio? Yes, biotechnology. Buy every biotech company located in New England. Biogen, Genzyme, Millennium Pharmaceuticals. I can't predict the winners among them, so buy them all, buy a mutual fund, invest venture capital funds operating there. We'll check in with our Elves now. They give a strong buy signal. They say that the Reagan Bull Market begins now,. Nightline. March 24th, 1980. Opening Video: "This is Frank Reynolds ... " "America held hostage day 23"
"This is Ted Koppel" Canada AM TV show. March 26th, 1980. Lise Payette has been keeping a low profile, no comments about Yvettes this time. For our viewers who are unfamiliar with this incident, or should I say non-incident, can you tell us about it? Certainly. In the other history, Lise Payette compared women who planned to vote no in the referendum of Quebec sovereignty, to a docile school book character. It backfired spectacularly, and the no vote won by 59 to 40 percent. This time, Madeleine Ryan, the wife of Quebec Liberal leader Claude Ryan, is going to hold the brunch des Yvettes, but it just isn't the same. On the other hand, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau promised to reform the Canadian Constitution for the benefit of Quebec, but the voters know little is likely to come of that. Don't forget there is a perception that he himself worked against Quebec interests in the other history, especially in the 1982 patriation of the Constitution. That he was a vendu/sellout. This promise by Trudeau was a major reason for many people to vote no in the other 1980. I don't think an insult by Lise Payette, a cabinet minister, swung that many votes the other way. What else do the Quebecoise think of the other history? Some would prefer that the line of time zone went further north. It was a little rough on the Haskell Free Library (laughs) It is going to reopen in May, just in time for the referendum. So will the library be half in the States and half in Canada, or half in an independent Quebec? I think it is too close to call. Movie News. March 27th, 1980. John Candy's new movie is out in theaters. Cool Runnings, Reality. Is it a sequel, a prequel? Who knows, but it is great entertainment. He reprises his fictional role in the New England Future 1993 film, where he plays a coach who leads a group of Jamaican amateurs to be their nation's bobsled team in the Winter Olympics. In Cool Runnings, Reality, he plays the role for real, with Jamaican sprinters and pushcart competitors who are trained to be a bobsled team and compete in the Lake Placid 1980 Winter Olympics. BBC News. March 28th, 1980. Demonstrations continue in West Germany, opposing membership in NATO. Mr. Carter, Mr. Schmidt, Tear Down This Wall, is a popular slogan. Another is We don't want Reagan's missiles here, as well as the ever popular Yankee go home. 120 thousand protesters marched through West Berlin, one of many demonstrations yesterday. They are responding to the Soviet offer to let the Germanies reunite if it were to be a neutral disarmed nation, and not part of NATO or any other military pact. Both US President Carter, and West German Chancellor Schmidt have rejected this out of hand. US Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan also opposes this move, and in the New England Future had introduced intermediate range nuclear missiles to Western Europe. Several peace groups in West Germany, France, Holland, and the United Kingdom are working together to create what they call a "detente from below", to create the fact of peace between East and West Europe. They see the proposal for a neutral Germany as a fulfillment of their plans to end confrontation between the blocs. Manchester Guardian. March 30th, 1980. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made a series of announcements about the Falkland Islands. We are ready to announce that the Falkland Islands and nearby islands are well defended. We also are announcing a 200 nautical mile fishing zone, and oil exploration zone, under the authority of the Falkland Islands. We will not tolerate threatening naval movements within this zone. The local commander is authorized to use force if, in his opinion, foreign naval movements constitute a threat. We hope for good relations with the Argentinians, but we are prepared to use force to defend British territories. Commentary: We find it puzzling that Thatcher would go through such effort to hold on to the Falkland Islands, while seeming to be ready to let go of Hong Kong. She has acknowledged that it will be returned to mainland China in 1997, and only the details of the agreement are left to be completed. Is she trying to distract the people from a an imminent agreement to surrender Hong Kong with some bravado against Argentina? BBC News. March 31st 1980. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reiterated Britain would not accept a neutral Germany as a satisfactory result of the difficulties which we're now experiencing. West Germany is a member of NATO ―a very important member of NATO. It's necessary to have Germany in NATO to continue Western security.”In other news, Mrs. Thatcher has also endorsed US presidential candidate Ronald Reagan's plan for a missile defence. So the potential contribution of ballistic missile defence to peace and stability seems to me to be very great. First and most obviously it promises the possibility of protection if deterrence fails; or if there is a limited and unauthorised use of nuclear missiles. Second, it would also preserve the capability of the West to project its power overseas. Third, it would diminish the dangers of one country overturning the regional balance of power by acquiring these weapons. Fourth, it would strengthen our existing deterrent against a hostile nuclear super-power by preserving the West's powers of retaliation. And fifth, it would enhance diplomacy's power to restrain proliferation by diminishing the utility of offensive systems. Acquiring an effective global defence against ballistic missiles is therefore a matter of the greatest importance and urgency. But the risk is that thousands of people may be killed by an attack which forethought and wise preparation might have prevented. Channel 4 News. April 5th, 1980. We are reporting to you live at Norwood Kia on the automile in Norwood Massachusetts. This is the end of an era, the last retail sale of a pre-Event vehicle. It is a 2006 Kia Sedona, and it is selling for 150,000 dollars. Its sticker price pre-Event was about 20,000 dollars in 2006 dollars. The purchaser is a representative of a company. It is not known for what purpose. The Kia dealership has tried to get top dollar for its stock on hand, knowing that no more Kia's were going to be arriving for the US market at least in the next few years. Byte Magazine, May 1980. Processor Roundup: 8087: Intel finally announces the 8087 floating point coprocessor for the 8086 and 8088 processors. IBM also announced it as an option for the IBM PC. Why this, of all the technologies is actually available later than in the New England Future? Intel said it was to provide full support to the IEEE 754 standard of New England's 1985. 80386: AMD, Toshiba, and Hewlett Packard are going to jointly produce 80386 chips, with the later two companies producing PC's. In the New England Future, Compaq, now part of HP, was the first company to use the processor. IBM and Intel are going to skip this generation of technology and rush toward the Pentium era. Some analysts say it is a bad decision, and that the 80386 was a very successful chip in the New England Future. 8088: Used in the IBM PC. This was the same chip that IBM used in the New England Future 1981 PC. Many 8-bit components already available in 1979 could be used with it. They produced a PC with this chip to ship as many PC's as possible in 1980. 8086: Used in the IBM PC-AT (Advanced Technology). An 8088 with a 16 bit external bus. Some analysts didn't agree with IBM's decision to produce two version of the PC, but it is consistent with IBM's decision to make the next processor generation be the Pentium. They want to be able to provide 16-bit components and overall faster throughput. Storage Roundup: Hard disks: The IBM PC can be purchased with the Seagate 5.25" 5 MB hard disk. For those who really have large storage needs, IBM sells its own Winchester disk with a 70 MB capacity, but it has its own cabinet, about the size of a washing machine. Floppy disks: IBM is pushing the state of manufacturing ability with their 180 kB single sided 3 ｽ disks. In the New England Future, in 1981, they sold a 160 kB 5 ｼ floppy disk. They are also making available an 8 inch 1.2 MB floppy disk, but they are not encouraging customers to buy it, or the huge Winchester disk. Speech by Ronald Reagan. April 24th, 1980. And there is another matter that needs immediate attention. The government of El Salvador, is under threat from Communist rebels receiving from Nicaragua. President Roberto D'Aubuisson is doing what he can, but without the help he needs, there could very well be a communist takeover before 1981. After that, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, and even Mexico, could be threatened. I believe we should send arms and advisors to threatened nations, and help them also with development and their economy. We also should interdict arms sent from Nicaragua if we cannot persuade them to live peacefully with their neighbors. What I ask of you, the American people, is elect me President this fall, and also elect a Republican Congress, so together we can set the world right. Entertainment News. April 24th, 1980. J. Michael Straczynski has gotten studio funding to produce a prequel of the Babylon 5 series, which appeared on television from 1993 to 1998, with some later sequels. Bill Mumy and Walter Koenig have been definitely signed, and it is expected most of the main actors from that show will appear, playing the same characters at a younger age. Entertainment News. April 25th, 1980. Chapter 7 of the Star Wars series is filming now. All details are being kept under tight wraps. Star Trek Phase II is going to be shown starting in September. Walter Koenig will not have a regular role, since he is going to be a main character in the Babylon 5 prequel series.
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