Tuesday, February 22, 2022

President Harding and people's insecurities

I've always been amused by once you tell someone that you don't know the answer to something, they immediately pretend to be an expert.  It appears nothing makes people happier than knowing they are talking to someone that doesn't know the answer to the question they are trying to solve but nobody has had an answer.  Try it sometime because people feel embarrassed or inferior to admit, simply, "I don't know."

The most egregious case of this comes from President Warren Harding.  Shortly after his death, his widow destroyed all his personal notes, memoirs and documents.  Since then, biographers have had a field day since they felt they had free reign to write whatever they want knowing that they wouldn't be fact  checked since evidence was destroyed.  

This is why when someone starts speaking after it's been established that nobody knows the answer, I tune out.  Chances are they're just exploiting the circumstances.  

Monday, March 8, 2021

On Trump #Trump

  I believe Trump to be the most polarizing figure of our time.  As a WWE fan, the Trump effect was very similar to the John Cena effect.  Throughout the 50+ year history of the WWF/WWE, Vince McMahon & the writers clearly stated who were the baby faces (good guys) and who were the heels (bad guys).  The identities of who occupied which reverted back and forth repeatedly making you question if the fans had any memory whatsoever.  There were a couple holdouts here & there but the majority of time, when McMahon and the writers told you to boo, you booed and when he told you to cheer, you cheered.  Then came John Cena.  His character undoubtedly was supposed to be a face but every time the chant came out “Let’s go Cena” came an equally loud chant of “Cena Sucks.”  Stone Cold’s character was supposed to be a heel but everyone cheered it.  That is not what happened with Cena.  There was no unanimity but a split.  Thus is the case with former-President Donald Trump. 

 

                The Trump presidency has provided a lot of clarity in my life. For a long time there were things I didn’t understand about the time of my birth.  I have learned that people do not get wiser with age.  They make the same wrong assumptions and ridiculous conclusions.  Suddenly the 1900s makes sense to me.  The last four years has given me a clarity that history books could never explain for I had to see it for myself.  Much like the Matrix taught us that nobody can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself. 

 

                Former-President Trump presided over a huge surge in the stock market, three Supreme Court Justices (None of which were the two that voted to hear the election challenge, which should put to bed any objections their opponents had), approximately 300 Federal judges making up about a third of the judiciary.  He had four middle east peace deals, brought manufacturing back to the United States, lowered drug prices for the first time in decades, passed right to try and made companies like Good Rx possible due to price transparency in the drug market.  As of January 1, hospitals are required with the same transparency so now, much like when you go to a mechanic for your car, hospitals are required to alert you to how much a procedure will cost.  It is unclear if President Biden will reverse this but for the last three months, it has been so.  In addition to all this, voter turnout was at an all-time high.  154 Million people voted in the 2020 election blowing out any previous record.  Donald Trump got people interested in voting again.  I’m not going to list others because I know I will leave some out so I’ll just say ‘and more.’

 

                With all these things in the prior paragraph, however, there was another side.  His critics will attack each point with excuses and explanations to make them feel better.  That is fine, for the last four years has made human nature crystal clear to me.  Unfortunately, Trump’s accomplishments came with his rhetoric appalling so many people.  His real-estate and Queens-guy nature to utilize exaggeration as a starting point to settle on a lower deal that may be more than he wanted in the first place alienated many.  The biggest flaw in conservatives is their insistence on making the perfect the enemy of the good and nobody is more indicative of this than Donald Trump.  There are 330 Million people in the United States and just as many theories as to what his downfall was.  I won’t get into mine but his insistence on labeling ‘disagreements’ as ‘betrayals’ did wear thin.  Those that spent years supporting him that are now labeled ‘traitors’ reminds me as a wrestling fan when I cheered a wrestler only to hate him vehemently when he ‘turned heel.’  Where does my reverence of Trump come from if I can acknowledge these things?  Like Christian Bale explained in Batman Begins, I don’t define people on what they say but it’s what they do that defines them.  His supporters will tell you that you can’t get the actions without the rhetoric but if anything has been shown the last four years; impossible really doesn’t exist.    My closest friends have been shocked at how seriously I take this batman philosophy but outside opinions on the beliefs I run my life on have been predominantly irrelevant. 

 

                I think now how the Trump presidency has made me challenge other long held beliefs.  The me four years ago would be shocked to find my opinions on certain things.  Then a beacon of light came to me unexpectedly. Someone bought my book that I wrote 12 years ago.  As I ran the book in my mind, I realized that none of these views that have changed the last four years are in the book I wrote about my most treasured core beliefs.  I told the purchaser that he will find only one sentence I no longer agree with and it is the epitome of minor.  Thus, these beliefs that have changed were not core beliefs but merely surface ones.  12-years-ago, I didn’t even deem them fit to include in the book.  The most prevalent emotion I feel right now is ‘gratitude.’  The Trump presidency has been a confirmation that I have led my life correctly.  The most criticized ideas I have in life got resounding confirmation.  I spent so much time focusing on the things I hadn’t done that I missed all the things I did do in the name of never taking anything for granted.  As Aaron Rogers said, “The future is a beautiful mystery.”  The power of now has never been stronger personified than today.  Quotes such as “Nobody can feel the rain on your skin, your life is a book and the rest is unwritten.” and “You live two lives, the one you suffer through and the one you live after that” have never meant more to me.  I spent 2020 in an enraged state without realizing that 2020 really was vision 2020.  Everything has been put into focus.  Everything is so clear and I thank the Trump presidency for that.  My immediate family has never been more united than it is now.  Ironically, the most polarizing president of all time brought together my family that has been polarized for longer than I can remember. 

 

                I do hope I am wrong about the future.  People who root for the demise of the country they live in never made much sense to me.  I wish President Biden or Harris in a couple months the best of success.  I want so much for them to prove me wrong; in fact I dare them to do so.  Nothing would make me happier.  Yes, the parties are more divided now more than ever but that is only true when compared to American standards.  By the European standard, we got a long way to go.  Every election, my family in Greece shutters at the result because they may be fired for being a member of the party that lost.  I’ve never known this fear. 

 

History repeats itself.  We are in the roaring 20s.  This isn’t the first time I’ve stood on the edge of a cliff.  Will we step away as I did after dangling my foot over a 1,000ft cliff at ZIon National Park or will we fall?  As I look at the beautiful mystery that is the future, I smile and say “BOHICA.”

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Fanis the Bodyguard episode 52 Insurgence


                Kera is an international Chinese art dealer living in England with her cousin and bodyguard Fanis.  Although they live in England, they were both born and raised in the United States and had lived most of their lives in New York City.  While there were still lockdown orders in England, Kera and Fanis had been breaking them and continued to travel around the world in Kera’s private plane that she got through her company.  As Fanis was watching TV, he gets something on his phone and sees something that makes him stop watching and read intently.  He calls out, “Kera!”

                “What?”

                “Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Rick Grenell got the entire Susan Rice e-mail declassified.”

                “Who cares?!  You already know it’s not going to lead to anything.”

                “I know but it fills in a lot of holes.”

                Kera walks in and takes a deep breath.  She poses, “Is that the e-mail that she sent to herself that Obama wants everything done by the book.”

                “Yes”

                “And you believe that something is shady because people don’t e-mail themselves that.  If you think the e-mail is part of a cover up, then why does it matter what the rest of it says?”

                “It answers the question of why and how she planned to cover it up.”

                “Okay, I’m listening.  Just keep in mind I don’t get as excited about this as you do.”

                “First, you have to remember that Susan Rice knew that Mike Flynn knew that Christopher Steele was full of shit.”

                “Yes, because since she was the current National Security Advisor and Flynn was going to be in two weeks, the British ambassador sent the memo to both of them that Steele was untrustworthy.  We found that out in Flynn’s lawyer, Powell’s legal filing.”

                “That’s what I missed before.”

                “Not really because you told me this.”

                “No, I never looked at the date of the e-mail.”

                “It was right after the meeting on January 5 right?”

                “No, it was on January 20; the day that President Trump was inaugurated.  Furthermore, this part was redacted, it doesn’t end with ‘by the book’ it clarifies in a law enforcement capacity.”

                “As opposed to a counter-intelligence capacity.”

                “For someone not interested, you seem to be seeing the angles pretty well.”

                “I’ll take that as you calling me smart so I’ll just say I accept the complement.”

                “The paragraph that was redacted is all about Comey.  It claims that Comey voiced concern that Flynn was talking to Kislyak a lot but he admitted that he didn’t know if they were talking about anything they shouldn’t have.”

                “Okay”

                “Rice then writes that Comey suggested they not hand over sensitive information about Russia to the Trump campaign.  The e-mail says in the meeting President Obama asked if they should withhold it and Comey said ‘potentially.’”

                “Sounds like Susan Rice is throwing Comey under the bus.”

                “Exactly.”

                “Why?”

                “To protect Obama because it was really him.”

                “Why go after the FBI director though? Doesn’t she know that he has claws and can fight back?”

                “Keep in mind what she just found out; Steele was full of shit so that means the dossier that Comey has been pushing and getting FISAs based on is completely false.  Now that she knows it’s fake, she thinks it’s only fitting that since Steele was an FBI source, they should punish the FBI for getting them into this mess.”

                “Alright, look, we got to go so pack your stuff.”

                “Where are we going?”

                “Prague”

                “Ah, where the dossier claims Michael Cohen met with Russians even though Michael Cohen had never been to Prague.  One more lie in the dossier.”

                “Yes, we know it’s all lies but let’s go.”

                On the plane, Fanis looks at Kera who seems really nervous.  He queries, “Are you alright?”

                Kera shakes her head as if her mind really was elsewhere and claims, “Yes, I’m fine.  Why don’t you just tell me, umm, yea, Susan Rice and the January 5 meeting with Obama.  Why did they target Flynn?”

                “A lot of reasons.  Mainly, he was Obama’s National Security Director so he knew all about the Iran deal and everything going on in Afghanistan.”

                “The election was in November though and this meeting happened on January 5.  What happened in between?  I mean, I know the call with Kislyak was on December 29 but why did they wait a week?”

                “It was the day after they got the memo from Britain.  Obama and Rice were worried because now it was exposed that they used information from an untruthful source to spy on Donald Trump and they need to take out everyone who knew about it.  Since Flynn got the memo too, he had to be taken out.”

                “Before we get down to the details, what is the main thesis?”

                “Obama colluded with the Russians and since Democrats are projectionists they had to accuse the Trump campaign of it because they were guilty themselves.”

                “Well, Flynn was talking to the Russian Ambassador.”

                “Even Comey admitted that he didn’t have any information that the calls weren’t innocent.  All he said was that they could be exchanging classified information.”

                “How did they not know if they had the transcript?”

                “That’s a good question.  The Flynn interview happens at the end of January so maybe they didn’t have the transcript on January 5 when they had the meeting.”

                “It’s better to be safe than sorry though right? At the time, they didn’t know what they were talking about so maybe they should withhold stuff.”

                “The only thing they’re not transferring is the Russian collusion hoax information.  Let’s just pretend that there’s any credibility to what you just said. If they think the incoming national security advisor is a Russian agent, why didn’t they brief Trump about it?”

                “Didn’t Obama tell him not to hire him?”

                “Yes, but he didn’t say not to hire him because he was potentially a Russian asset leaking classified information to the Russians.”

                “That does seem like relevant information.”

                They land in Prague and immediately get something to eat and check into their Air BNB.  The next day, they head to Kera’s rendezvous.  They arrive at a non-descript building and go inside where a man is waiting for Kera.  Fanis looks around and Kera has him wait outside but turns to him and comments, “Turn off the earpiece.”

                Fanis gives her a strange look.  The earpiece was to allow for him not to be in the meeting when they were discussing the sale but still be able to help her if she needed it.  He tuned out any non-distress speech and a lot of times the conversation was in Mandarin.  Kera had never asked him to turn it off but he removed it and put it in his pocket. 

After Kera goes inside, the client’s security guard approaches Fanis and introduces himself.  Fanis gives him a strange look and shakes his extended hand, which was getting rarer and rarer after the pandemic.  Fanis responds, “I’m Theo, it’s nice to meet you but you sound American.”

“That’s because we are.”

“Is the guy you work for American?”

                “Yup.”

                “Why are we meeting in Prague then?”

                “We’re not sure how safe America is right now with the deep state and everything.”

                “Yea, I was just telling the woman I work for about the Susan Rice e-mail that was just declassified.”

                “Oh yea, that was juicy. It gets especially interesting when you cross-reference it with the defamation case in England against Steele where he admits under oath that he destroyed all correspondence with his sources for the dossier and any communications with Fusion GPS on the exact same day of that meeting.”

                “Instead of just coming clean since their candidate didn’t win, the FBI decides to double down and attack the players in the dossier to destroy them so that the public would forgive them that even though they were working on false information, at least they got bad guys.”

                “Like jailing Al Capone for tax evasion.”

                “Except Al Capone actually did it.”

                “And Al Capone was actually bad.”

                “The bottom line is that Obama spied on Trump and his campaign using a fake dossier and everything else is the cover up.”

                “Once they realized that their allies in England weren’t going to help anymore since Hillary lost, they knew they had to change their story from the dossier to the Papadopoulos call.”

                “That is where the media came in since they’re Pravda propaganda arm for the Democrat party.”

                “Either that or they’re useful idiots.”

                “No, they knew.  I mean, they are idiots because David Ignatius of the Washington Post doesn’t even realize he discredited the whole case inadvertently in his article ‘the Truth about the FBI’s Russia probe’ on January 16, 2018.”

                “I missed how he discredited the dossier in that.”

                “In the article, it says that as of October 2017, Steele had never heard of Papadopoulos.”

                “Right, like I said, they wanted to get the attention off the dossier and on to Papadopoulos.  Saying that Steele had never heard of Papadopoulos tells people that the investigation had nothing to do with Steele or anything he wrote, like the dossier, or talked to, like the media, FBI, CIA and a whole host of other people.”

                “That is why he wrote it.  Like I said, he accidentally discredited everything because if you cross reference this was IG Horowitz report, you get what I’m talking about.”

                “The IG Report confirmed that Steele had never heard of Papadopoulos”

                “It also talks about Steele’s sub-source being Sergei Millian and that Millian was a subject of an open counter-intelligence investigation.”

                “That just confirms that Steele’s sources either denied telling Steele anything or were not trustworthy people.”

                “Millian knew Papadopoulos though because he had interviewed him several times and in the dossier memo on August 10, the dossier mentions Papadopoulos so how did Steele not know about him in October when he wrote about him in August?”

                “You didn’t need the IG report for that.  You can just go by the dossier.”

                “Yea, I guess you’re right but I’m convinced that Steele didn’t write the dossier, which is why that didn’t occur to me.”

                “Well, that would also explain why Steele could say he didn’t know Papadopoulos even though the dossier says that.  Personally, lying that you’re the author of the dossier is a lot worse than lying that you know Papadopoulos.”

                Like Mark Twain said, “I always tell the truth so that I never have to remember anything.”

                Kera exits her meeting and her client is right behind her.   She still seems nervous and announces, “Hey Fanis, this is Eric.  Eric, this is my cousin and bodyguard, Fanis”

                They shake hands and exchange pleasantries and then Fanis asks Kera in Greek, “Are you okay?”

                She replies, “Yes, just trust me.”

                They separate and Kera declares, “We’re heading to the airport.  We have another stop to make.”

                “Are we going back to get our stuff?”

                “No, we’ll come back for it.”

                “Kera, are you sure you’re okay?”

                “Fanis, I don’t know what to do right now.  You have always told me you don’t want to know the details about what I do and why I need a full time bodyguard.  I have always respected that but this time I’m a little hesitant because we’re about to embark on something extremely dangerous and I feel bad not letting you know.”

                “We’re always in dangerous situations.  I get into a fight pretty much everywhere we go.”

                “You are guaranteed to get in one now.  I’m not talking about some random guy that gets fresh with me or thinks I ripped them off.  This isn’t going to be some left wing liberal that doesn’t like your conservatism.  This is much deeper.”

                “Kera, my job is to keep you safe.  That’s what I intend to do.  Do I really need to know anything else?”

                “That’s what I can’t figure out.  I’ll tell you this much; you’re not wrong in picking up that I’m nervous.”

                “Then I’m going to go back to make sure I have more weapons.”

“That’s probably a good idea but don’t take anything that you can’t carry on your own.” 

After Fanis gets more weapons than the ones he normally carries, they go to board the plane and head to Beijing.  While entering, Fanis notices the security guard he was talking to was already there.  Instinctively, Fanis grabs Kera and pulls her behind him and inflates his chest.  Kera puts a hand on his shoulder and utters, “I asked him to come here.  He’s sweeping the plane for bugs.”

                The guard grimaces and then states, “To go back to our prior conversation, I was trying to see an angle to the IG report.”

                “Yea, I was talking about the part that mentioned the New York Field Office opened the case against Million after consulting with and notifying Joe Pientka prior to October 12, 2016.”

                “Oh, so you recognized that as of the date Steele specified that he hadn’t heard of Papadopoulos.”

                “Right but it is interesting that Millian is talking to the FBI agent that interviewed Flynn and was responsible for the Woods File for the dossier.”

                “Pientka doesn’t seem all too bright.  He didn’t realize that the Woods file showed pretty much every claim in the dossier was false, he lost the 302 with the Flynn interview and he couldn’t stick to the program and accidentally told the truth that he didn’t think Flynn was being deceptive.  Now, he’s using a guy that is under investigation as his source to spy on Trump.”

                “In fairness, Steele was using that source not Pientka.”

                “Pientka ran with it.”

                “Yes, he should have nipped that in the bud, I agree.”

                “I can’t believe people don’t realize that the IG report is as damning as it is.”

                “Nobody wants to read 450 some odd pages written in legalese.  They rely on the media to tell them what’s important but the media lies to them.  The IG Report definitely makes Pientka look like a moron.”

                “There’s more? I got to admit, I don’t have it memorized.”

                “Yes, there’s more.  The IG report claims Pientka got a phone call from someone he believed was Millian but didn’t know for sure because the caller never identified himself.”

                “He didn’t think to ask?”

                “Maybe he did and the person claimed they wanted to remain anonymous.  There’s a footnote to this that Pientka confirmed the identity of the caller because he saw a YouTube video of Millian and thought it sounded like the person on the phone call.”

                “Didn’t the FBI interview Steele’s source though?”

                “Yes…” Fanis paused and then perked up, “Wait, what if this was just fake information attributed to real people and real sources that Steele didn’t actually know or meet?”

                “It would explain why he didn’t know Papadopoulos and why he couldn’t confirm if the voice was Millian.  Also, why Pientka couldn’t just ask Steele if the voice on the phone was Millian.”

                “You’re forgetting the biggest part.  When the FBI interviewed the sources, they denied that they said it.  Some claim it was bar talk and things said over drinks and in a joking matter so they may have known Steele but when they claim something was completely made up and not exaggerated or taken out of context, but simply made up, it seems to suggest that Steele didn’t talk to them at all.”

                “If you’re right about that, then there’s another major question that arises?”

                “What’s that?”

                “How did Steele get their names and how did he know who to attribute the dossier to?”

                “Yea, I don’t know.  That would be a good question if I’m right that Steele didn’t know the sources but I’m thinking I’m wrong considering the sources never deny knowing him.  They only claim Steele exaggerated, misquoted, took a joke seriously or completely made it up.  That means that they did know each other and did have a conversation.”

                They land in Beijing and it is as crowded as ever.  Fanis rolls his eyes and remarks, “I guess they’re not social distancing here.”

                Eric’s security guard was walking behind Kera while Fanis was in front of her trying to push their way through the crowds. They stop in front of an ostentatious building and Kera looks at Eric’s bodyguard who gives her a slight nod.  If Fanis wasn’t trained in these things he would have missed it.  Kera turns around and hugs Fanis and kisses him on the cheek.  “I love you”

                “I love you too.” He asserts with confusion in his voice

                 Kera and Fanis walk inside while Eric’s bodyguard waits outside.  Kera immediately starts speaking rapid fire Mandarin to the receptionist and she is led away.  Guards stop Fanis from advancing but Kera screams at them in Mandarin and takes out her phone.  The guards look at each other and then release Fanis.  They go into a room and sit at a desk.  There is a man and woman on the other side of the desk and they are speaking in Mandarin while Fanis zones out since he doesn’t speak Mandarin.  Fanis is brought back to the present when he feels Kera’s hand in his pocket where he keeps one of a few blades he has on him.  Fanis also has two guns on him as he always has at least one knife and one gun but given how serious Kera said this trip was, he loaded up on as much as he could carry discreetly.  Kera had never taken a weapon from Fanis as he always gave one to her if he was occupied in a fight and she had to get away but he couldn’t follow.  Kera’s voice didn’t reveal anything that was going on under the table.  She then snapped her fingers as if she was having trouble with a word.  She then said in Greek, “Kill him but don’t use the gun.” And then seamlessly switched to Mandarin.

                Fanis whipped out his spring assisted blade from his waist and in one motion released the blade and slit the man’s throat.  Kera also lunged across the table and stabbed the woman in the chest.  Fanis knew she had missed the major artery so he slapped a hand over her mouth so she couldn’t scream.  Kera wildly stabbed at the woman’s neck and chest and Fanis used his other hand to indicate where the carotoid artery was and Kera drove the knife where he indicated and the woman died instantly. 

                Kera searched the man and took out keys and opened a cabinet and sifted through documents until she found what she wanted.  She tossed the items in her purse and gave an apologetic look over at Fanis.  She looked down at her shirt and saw that it was soaked in blood.  She handed Fanis the knife and removed her top.  As she shook her head, she exclaimed, “God, I really wish you could kill women.”

                “You didn’t really give me the option.”

                “I couldn’t risk you hesitating.”

                “Well, it’s a good thing I had the wherewithal to stop her from screaming.”

                “Yes, but now we have to get out of here.”

                “Well, I am armed to the teeth.”

                “This is a secure government building.  You are outmanned and outgunned.”

                “Do you have a better suggestion?”

                “Yes, I do but I don’t like it any more than you do.”

                “What?”

                Kera took her pants off.  Fanis was fluent in English, Greek, Spanish, Italian and Russian.  Kera was fluent in Mandarin, Greek and English.  That was why he was suspicious when she commanded, “Speak Russian.  You’re going to hear gunfire and I’m going to run out of here.  You chase me and tell me, again in Russian, that your time isn’t up yet.  You’re then going to throw me over your shoulder and spank my ass.”

                “You want people to think you’re my prostitute?”

                “Yes, foreign representatives are used here all the time and they are entertained in a secure environment.  There are no cameras in this room because highly classified documents are kept here simply because they are too sensitive to be on a computer given the possibility of being hacked.”

                “That way nobody watching the video can zoom in on the documents.”

                “Correct and why we could kill two people and nobody noticed yet.”

                “If nobody noticed, why can’t we just walk out of here?”

                “Because they will notice that we left without them escorting us.”

                “Which brings me to one small point we overlooked; why is there going to be gun fire?”

                “I’m going to cause it.  You ready?”

                “No, after I throw you over my shoulder, where am I taking you?”

                “Oh right, the stairwell on the opposite side of where everyone will be running.  It leads out the back of the building but all the attention will be at the front.”

                “Alright, now I’m ready.”

                Kera reached down to her watch and tilted her head to Fanis indicating ‘here goes nothing’ and clicked the button.  Gun fire is not what happened next but an explosion.  Kera darted out the door and Fanis quickly followed screaming in Russian that he had more time.  He grabbed Kera by the arm.  Since Kera was 5’4” and 125 lbs compared to Fanis’ 6’0” 225lb mass, he had no problem hoisting her over his shoulder and running with her.  He saw some people give him a strange look so he smacked Kera on the butt and squeezed and that averted the attention of the charging men who all had guns and Fanis was running counter to them.  He reached the stairwell and slammed the door behind him.  Kera yelled, “Put me down now.”

                He did and she commanded, “Follow me.”

                Fanis did and they exited out the back of the building where they were met by people in military attire.  Fanis took out two of his guns and stepped in front of Kera.  Kera grabbed the guns and pulled them up shouting, “They’re with us.”

                Just as she said that, a couple soldiers were waving them through and Kera and Fanis rushed past them as shots fired.  They huddled into a covered jeep and sped away.  In the front passenger seat, Fanis noticed a man calling into a radio to pull back.  When he finished his command, he turned to look at Fanis and Kera.  Fanis had taken his shirt off and given it to Kera to wear as a makeshift dress.  What this did was reveal all the weapons he was concealing.  As Fanis’ eyes pierced the man turning around he squinted his eyes, “Eric?”

                “Yes, I’m glad you guys are safe.”

                Fanis looked around the vehicle and nodded his head, “Eric Prince” he blurted out.  Eric smiled and gave a slight tilt of his head in affirmation.  Fanis continued, “But you sold Blackwater.”

                “Not really.  I just said I did so liberals would stop suing me.  I’ve been running it from the shadows ever since.  Kera, did you get what you needed?”

                “Yes, I did.”

                “Good work.  You got guts to go behind enemy lines like that.” He turned to Fanis, “It’s not easy to face down that many armed men and trust people that you’ve never met to bail you out.  I appreciate your faith in us.”

                “I just do what my cousin tells me.”

                Eric’s eyes wandered around and then focused, “Wait, you were surprised when you found out who I was.  Did you not know what was going to happen?”

                “No, I didn’t”

                Eric looked over at Kera who giggled nervously, “He says he doesn’t want to know what I’m involved with that transcends selling Chinese artifacts.”

                “An exception could be made.  In the meantime, Fanis, do you know how to use an automatic rifle?”

                “Yes”

                A solider hands him one and gives him a condescending look, “Those pistols aren’t going to do you much good if this goes tits up.”

                They hand Fanis protective gear to put on and continue to drive.  Fanis queries, “Wait, this is Beijing, how the fuck is there no traffic?”

                “Our route has been cleared.”

                “By whom?”

                “Us.  All you needed to do was put up road blocks and people would comply.”

                “Didn’t the Chinese authorities see you do that?”

                “Yes, but they respond slowly and are more interested in the people that bombed their ministry of documents.”

                “Oh, I see.”

                They arrive at an air strip and two men hop out guns raised and quickly kill the security at the strip.  They fan out and wave and Eric yells, “Fanis and Kera go.”

                They rush out and Kera ducks her head as Fanis is on one side of her shielding her body with his as he fans the weapon and there are two more men one on the other side of Kera and one behind her.  This time, the authorities did respond quickly and Fanis and the four other soldiers return fire.  Kera hops into the helicopter that is waiting and suddenly a plane flies overhead dropping bombs on the military heading towards them.  Prince uses the confusion to sprint to the helicopter with two armed guards on either side of him.  Fanis and the other soliders escorting Kera then hurry into the helicopter and it takes off.  Eric pulls out a tablet and looks at Kera, “Do you want to do the honors?”

                “Yea”

                Eric hands her the tablet and Fanis peers over her shoulder and sees an image of their plane and a swarm of military vehicles and personnel.  There are also anti-aircraft missiles and surface to air defense systems set up.   Kera hits a button and her private plane bursts into flames in a large explosion that engulfs the surrounding area.  The screen went blank so Fanis was unable to assess just how much damage it caused but he didn’t think many of the defensive weapons were intact.  He stated, “So, they know it was us.”

                “Yes, by now they figured it out” Kera answered

                “Are they going to scramble jets to come after us?”

                “They don’t know which one to follow?”

                “We’re in a helicopter, it’s not conspicuous.”

                Eric interjected, “We have planes too.”

                Fanis took this to mean there was military-style aircraft escorting them.  He relaxed and before he knew it they were in Prague again.  Kera and Fanis thanked Eric and the Blackwater army and got their stuff and then boarded a plane.  On the flight, Fanis commented, “I can’t believe a former CIA director wrote an op-ed saying that they weren’t hunting Mike Flynn.  That’s ridiculous.”

                Kera giggled, “Is it Brennan?”

                “No, that’s what’s so ridiculous.  I mean he can go by the same open source material I am and, using his prior knowledge, may be able to analyze it but when Andy McCabe, who hates the president, writes in his book that the President’s Daily Briefing staff asked him to look into Flynn, that sounds like hunting him to me.”             

                “It’s amazing how dumb these people seem.”

                “There are a lot of people and a lot of moving parts. It’s been going on for years; a lot longer than any of them thought it would.  It’s tough to remember all the lies and keep them straight; especially when you keep changing the narrative and going on a different tactic as others fall apart.”

                “Fanis, we’re not going back to England.”

                “Where are we going?”

                “America”

                “Wow, I haven’t been back there since I started working for you.”

                “I know but you do think it’s the best country in the world.”

                “Yes, I do but I’m worried about the future.  The Fed Chairman admitted that they’re printing money digitally and paper.  Since we’re not producing anything due to the lockdowns, it’s going to cause massive inflation.”

                “Well, Elon Musk has been an unexpected ally in the reopen America club.”

                “And right on cue, since he referenced the Matrix, the New York Times is now pretending that the Matrix is racist and misogynistic because forums they deem racist and misogynist talk about it.”

                “Don’t they realize that Morpheus was black and he was the one that offered the pill?”

                “And Trinity is a badass in it and she’s a woman.”

                “Yes, but a white male ends up being ‘the one.’”

                “I have no idea how people take these accusations seriously anymore.”

                “Even I have to admit it’s getting a little trite.”   

                When they land in Washington D.C., they are greeted by Mitch McConnell, Devin Nunes and CIA director Gina Haspel.  Kera hands over the documents and asks if they need her to translate them.  Haspel replies, “No, respectfully, we need to independently verify that they are what you claim they are.”

                “That makes sense.  Just let me know if you have any questions.”

                “Will do. In the meantime, we’ve arranged for you to have a limousine escort to New York.”

                Kera and Fanis get in the backseat of a limousine and it drives off.  Fanis sighs, “Okay, forget the gag order.  I have questions.”

                Kera smiles, “Well, it’s about fucking time.”

                “What did we get that has America very interested?”

                “Proof that the Wuhan Virus didn’t originate in a food market in Wuhan.”

                “It was engineered in a lab?”

                “Yes”

                “Since they didn’t follow safety procedures, there was an accident and it got out; another Chernobyl for the communists.”

                “No, they intentionally made it to infect humans and released it on the public.  The lockdown of Wuhan happened before it was released and they shut down all intranational travel but allowed international travel.”

                “They saved China but infected the world.”

                “They saved Beijing and Shang Hai.  They sacrificed Wuhan for the greater good of the Chinese empire.”

                “But, where did you come in?”

                “I turned my back on America and embraced Chinese culture as you know.”

                “Yes, I do.  That’s why we were living in London.”

                “Right, and I was content to do so right up until their little virus took out my home city.  New York had over half the cases.  They targeted New York first and foremost and I couldn’t stand for that so I turned on them.”

                “Since they were very familiar with your views, they never suspected you.  The frequent travel wasn’t going to raise any suspicion because you always travel a lot.  I’m guessing the documents are schemes and conversations of them conspiring to do what they did?”

                “And a whole lot more. It’s a communist country; everything is documented, which means everything can be garnered.”

                “They destroy evidence too and cover things up.”

                “Keeping it off computers was their way of doing that.”

                “Due to things that I purposely kept myself in the dark about, you were aware of who had these documents and where they would be held.”

                “Correct.”

                “They really thought we were dumb enough to use the plane they gave you to escape?”

                “Yes, they were betting on the arrogance of Americans.  They thought I would believe I was so good that I could do what I did and then fly out and play dumb.  The second an American enters a building and then things start exploding, the first thing they’re going to do is suspect the American.”

                “Luckily they didn’t know that you knew that.”

                “Ironically, they thought I underestimated them but really they underestimated me.  Chinese culture still has a long way to go with viewing woman as equals.  That’s how I was able to learn what I learned.”

                “Well, good job.”

                “Thanks, you too because you were quick on your feet even though I caught you by surprise.”

                “I guess you’re not an international Chinese art dealer anymore.”

                “No, I am not.”

                “Does that mean you no longer need a bodyguard?”

                “Please stay on for like six months just to make sure that China doesn’t find a way to get to me in America.  I think I’ll be fine but I need to make sure.”

                “I have no problem with that.  One more question.”

                “Only one?”

                “Well maybe not.  How does nobody know about what we did?  There were explosions and gunfights and military aircraft.  This was not a surgical, clandestine in and out mission.  How did we get away with that?”

                “You underestimate the Chinese ability to cover things up.”

                Fanis thinks about this for a moment and concludes, “It’s embarrassing that we got away so they can’t have anyone admit that.”

                “They will kill anyone that tries to publish that and they have their tentacles all over the world as you know from the Wuhan Virus, Hollywood, and Disney.”

                “They really throw around their largest population so biggest market card.”

                “Even though America is responsible for 51% of the world’s consumption.”

                “Those companies are in America so they got us; now they want to expand.”

                “I get that but at what cost?”

                “I’m pretty sure we just found that out.”

                “You’re right, there are more questions.  When we got on the plane in Prague, Eric Prince’s guard was wiring the plane with explosives right?”

                “Yes”

                “So, we flew to China in a bomb?”

                “Yes, we did.”

                “Alright then” Fanis rejoined because he didn’t know how else to respond to that. 

                Fanis and Kera stayed at Kera’s parents place until Kera could get her tenants out of her house that she was renting out while she lived in London.  It didn’t take long and Kera and Fanis moved in.  After six months, Kera felt safe so Fanis got a job and moved out on his own.  Kera’s documents were authenticated and soon the whole world knew what China did and companies started flowing out of the country to go to Taiwan, Vietnam and other countries.  This collapsed the Chinese economy and allowed America to lead space wars into the next economic revolution.  Per Kera’s request, the American government never revealed it was her that got the information out of China as she didn’t want anyone in America to know about her past.