Kera is an international Chinese
art dealer. Although she was born and raised in New York City, she currently is
living in London as it gives her closer accessibility to clients. As she got more and more successful, she
found that she would often be targeted.
Her work required her to work seven days a week so it estranged many
friends and family. Luckily, she had a
cousin she knew she could count on to drop everything in his life to live in
London to be her bodyguard. His name was
Fanis.
Fanis was three years older than
Kera and was always overprotective of her growing up. This bothered Kera in the beginning, which
was ironic because now she paid him to do it.
One of Fanis’ favorite things was arguing and Kera obliged him
often. Kera is reading and looks up and
says, “Hey Fanis, guess what??”
“You’re going to read me some
stupid thing a liberal said?”
“Apparently when Trump Jr. went
to Vancouver for a hunting trip, he spent $ 5,700 at a Trump hotel.”
Fanis shrugged his shoulders, “Okay,
is that the end of the story?”
“That’s a lot of money to stay
at a hotel.”
“It’s the government; they waste
money all the time. I bet the cupcakes
that the Democrats buy for their meetings cost about that much.”
“Why does the Secret Service
have to stay in the same nice hotel as Trump Jr.?”
“The same reason I stay in the
same hotel as you when we travel.”
Kera started giggling. She tried to keep a straight face but it was
getting increasingly difficult. She
stated very sarcastically, “You mean, you can protect someone better if you’re
in the same building as them?”
Fanis smiled, he finally caught
on that she was messing with him. He
matched her sarcasm with, “Yea, shocking how that works out.”
“And maybe, just maybe, the
person who you’re protecting actually brings their family with them.”
“Wait, so high ranking
government officials and the family of the President of the United States
travel with an entourage?”
“I know right? Who knew?”
Fanis switched to a serious
voice and uttered, “Do you still trust the media?”
“Look, every now and then you
get shitty articles. That doesn’t mean
you condemn the whole industry.”
“You do when it’s a majority of
stories.”
“And that’s where we
differ. Anyway, we’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Are we going to stay in the
same hotel?”
Kera giggled again, “I guess so”
Fanis shook his head and
smirked. “Where are we going?”
“Copenhagen”
“Nice! I love Copenhagen”
While on the plane, Fanis
opined, “Oh, finally the President is doing something for legal immigration.”
“That’s not necessarily a good
thing” Kera replied
“He’s changing the definition of
“public charge”
“What was it before?”
“You need to be self-sufficient
if you’re going to get some government help.
Obama passed the law that only monetary contributions count but now
Trump is including non-monetary benefits.”
“Like what?”
“Food Stamps, section 8 housing,
Medicare, and Medicaid”
“So he’s screwing the poor?”
“No, he’s screwing the
immigrants who come here to suck on the tit of America and do nothing to try to
improve themselves.”
“So, tax payer aid to the poor
is going to Americans first”
“Yes”
“Whatever happened to ‘Give me
your tired, your poor, all those yearning to be free?”
“Nothing . That was a very nice poem that was written on
a French gift to us.”
“This policy goes against that?”
“Why wouldn’t it? The Statue of Liberty is not a government law
document. If someone were to graffiti
something on it, it doesn’t become US law”
“I’m not saying that….I’m just
saying….”
“Go on…”
“Well, it contradicts the Statue
of Liberty”
“So what? You don’t think everyone should carry guns
and that is in the Constitution, which, unlike the Statue of Liberty, is a
document describing US law. Why do you
want a strict interpretation of a statue but not the Bill of Rights?”
“Both of our grandparents were
immigrants to America.”
“And they opened a diner
together and worked their asses off.
They learned English and assimilated into the country not asking for
hand outs but getting ahead with old fashioned hard work so that their kids
could be lawyers, chemists and doctors.”
“What about the kids? They can’t
get meaningful jobs. What about their
opportunities?”
“The president’s new law is only
for people over 21. It’s not even 18,
which is an adult, it’s 21.”
“It’s still racist.”
“How?”
“Because you’re saying Americans
should get preferential treatment to non-Americans”
“I never understand why liberals
actually think that’s controversial.
Every country should look out for their citizens more than
foreigners. We’re on our way to
Denmark. I would expect that Denmark
should care more about Danes than Americans.
If they don’t, then that’s pretty pathetic and unfair to their people.”
“Denmark is very liberal”
“I know that but even they
probably like Danes better than anyone else.
Speaking about Denmark, can we go to Christianid.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a place that hippies
congregate. They randomly declared
themselves not part of Europe and pretend to be a free society. The Copenhagen subway goes there. They are your people.”
“So then why do you want to go?”
“It’s entertaining to me.”
“I mean, I don’t see why not.”
“Awesome”
They land in Copenhagen and
check into the hotel. “Where should we
eat? “ asks Kera
“Nyhavn”
“What’s that?”
“They best place to eat in
Copenhagen. It’s an area with
restaurants right next to a canal”
“Okay, we can go there.”
They take the train to Nyhavn
and when they exit, Kera is looking at her phone for what specific restaurant
to go to. Fanis looks out and sees a hut
on a dock on the water. He says, “We’re
going there.”
“That place doesn’t have a
name.”
“Yea, but I bet they have really
good seafood.”
Kera and Fanis go down the
stairs on the dock and order shrimp and a Carlsbad beer. They sit at a table waiting for the food as
they relax and drink their beers. When a
big bowl of shrimp arrives, Kera picks up one and her face contorts, “Umm, we
have to like deturd these things.
Usually you just pull the shells off the back but you have to peel the
shell off the entire thing and what are these little legs poking out of the
sides”
“Something else you have to pull
off” Fanis explained matter of factly
“I don’t think you should pick
where we eat anymore.”
“When you’re done peeling it,
let me know how it tastes”
Fanis pulled off the legs and
shells and threw it in his mouth biting down as if to demonstrate his
point. Kera did the same and her eyes
darted around the restaurant. She glared
at Fanis who had a smug expression on his face.
Kera smiled and articulated, “Okay, these are pretty fucking good.”
“I told you.”
After a little while, a man
joined their table. Kera was a little
suspicious but Fanis was calm as he was quite confident in his abilities if it
got ugly. Fanis introduced himself and
Kera and the man replied, “I’m Emil”
“Nice to meet you. Care to join us” offered Fanis
“Sure, you’re Americans right?”
“Well, we live in London now but
originally yes we are Americans.”
“It’s kind of crazy what’s going
on over there with the backlash to Donald Trump”
Kera shot Fanis a look but he
was undeterred. He pronounced, “Yes, it
is. He’s really shaking things up and
exposing liberals for the libelous, scandalous, treacherous, hypocrites that
they are.”
“My English is pretty good but
I’m afraid those words are too big for me.”
“I just don’t like the people
that try to destroy our country just because they hate the President.”
Kera chimed in, “Not all people
think like him. I don’t like the
President.”
Emil rejoined, “Why not?”
“He’s just so obnoxious and
loud. He just attacks everyone on
twitter.”
“Well, when he is attacked all
the time, I don’t blame a man who defends himself and fires back.”
“It’s unpresidential.”
“I’m not sure about all
that. Although I’m not a big fan of your
lax gun policy over there, threatening the Supreme Court is a little much. It kind of goes to his point” pointing at
Fanis “They want to change the rules because they didn’t get what they want. They’re like small children.”
Fanis smiled, “Exactly!”
Kera inquired, “What do you mean
what they’re doing to the Supreme Court?”
“The Senate Democrats threatened
the Supreme Court that if they don’t rule in favor of New York City about the
strict gun laws they have in the city, then they’re going to change the number
of justices to overrule them. That
sounds pretty tyrannical to me.”
Fanis added, “They call it ’heal’
or ‘restructure.’ It’s not new. FDR did the same thing when the Supreme Court
struck down some of his ideas for the New Deal.”
“How did it work out then?” Emil
asked
“Well, the Supreme Court upheld
their rulings but they were a lot more lenient with future rulings. It scared them since he had so much popular
support.”
“So it worked”
“Not completely but it
definitely had a positive effect. You
wouldn’t call it a mistake.”
“Scary stuff. It seems like America is going to become like
Europe where when the other party wins an election, it completely changes every
day life.”
Fanis nodded his head and
articulated, “I fear the same thing myself.
Times seem to have changed.
Heaven forbid Trump loses because whoever comes out of the Democratic
primaries is going to be the most evil candidate we’ve ever had…except for
Hillary Clinton but at least she was able to hide how evil she was. These assholes are admitted socialists.”
“Yea, if they knew what we
Europeans know about socialism, they wouldn’t be anywhere near the presidency.”
Kera blurted out, “But they
claim to want to be like here.”
“We’re not socialist. We are capitalist with high individual taxes
but business taxes are lower than they are in the United States. That’s not what Democrats in America are
proposing. Anyway, what do you guys do?”
Fanis always lied with this
question and answered what he used to do, “I work accounting for a construction
firm.”
Kera, on the other hand,
downplayed what she does but was more truthful with, “I am a liaison between
England and China dealing with Chinese artifacts.”
“Are you fluent in Chinese?”
“It’s called ‘Mandarin’ but
yes.”
“What do you think about what’s
happening in Hong Kong?”
“Look, they want to be their own
country. Fine, but you can’t keep
getting money from China and say you’re completely independent. Either you’re self-sufficient or you’re not. China has every right to put them in their
place.”
“I think they would choose to be
completely independent on that one.”
“Well, countries tend to not
like when their territories want independence.
I don’t think America would be too happy if Puerto Rico, Guam or the
Virgin Islands wanted to separate.”
Fanis interjected, “America
doesn’t oppress those countries.”
“Neither does China. Hong Kong is just whining. Everyone pretend Mao is still in charge of
China, he’s long gone.”
Emil voiced, “I think the people
of Hong Kong would disagree on that one.
Not the Mao part but the being oppressed part.”
“Well let them try to take on
China. It won’t end well. The Chinese military is much stronger than
theirs.”
Fanis shot back, “The fight in
people yearning to be free will always be greater than the fight of a tyrant
trying to maintain power.”
“I don’t believe that.” Retorted
Kera.
They sat for a while drinking
beer and talking with Emil about more lighthearted things. After a while, Kera and Fanis said good bye
and took the train one stop to Christianid.
They walked around for a bit then went back to the hotel.
The next day, Kera went to her
meeting. It was always a toss-up if the
people Kera was meeting with would let Fanis in with her. Here, nobody made an issue of it. Unlike most
deals, this one was a little contentious and Kera had to make calls in Mandarin
a few times to talk with the seller. In
the end, a deal couldn’t be made but they separated amicably and
professionally. As they were leaving,
Fanis opined, “Well that didn’t seem to go well. What happened?”
“The seller didn’t want to come
down in price.”
“Alright, so I’m sure that
happens.”
“It’s more of an issue now. Most of my clients are in China and the
little trade war with Trump is not helping my business.”
“What do you mean? Trump delayed
the tariffs because of the Christmas season.
China is the first country to call his bluff and he was bluffing”
“Well, if he was bluffing then
he’s too much of a moron to realize what I know. If it was because of Christmas than China
just caught a break but I don’t think that’s the reason”
“What is then?”
“Aren’t you an economist, you
should know.”
“Well, I know they devalued the
Yuan to counteract the tariffs essentially giving everyone in China a pay
cut. US factories are also leaving and
going to Vietnam and Mexico but now that the tariffs are lifted, they can raise
their currency again.”
“China’s industrial growth has
hit a 17-year-low. Think about it. If you were a businessman in China would you
be confident in the economy?”
Fanis considered this for a
minute and shook his head, “No, there’s too much uncertainty. Who knows if the trade war starts up again in
a couple months and the Yuan plummets again?”
“Yea, the rich people in China
agree. They don’t really want Yuan
anymore, which hurts China and helps everyone else.”
“So Trump delaying the tariffs
is giving them a lifeline? He’s actually
being nice.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Let’s just say there’s a reason that after he
delayed them, China was open to talking with him.”
“Who requested the meeting?”
“China”
“Oh, yea that means Trump’s
scorched Earth policy was working.”
“Between that and this Hong Kong
situation, China is fighting too many battles right now. They may not be able to sustain it.”
“A bunch of trucks are coming
into Hong Kong. You think it’s Tiananmen
Square Part 2?”
“No, they’re not that
stupid. That would be a PR
nightmare. There’s too many cameras and
information is spread too quickly for that.
They better resolve it peacefully or else we will seriously have a
problem.”
“So basically, the seller didn’t
want to come down on the price because just a couple months ago the Yuan was
worth more so he wants as many Yuan as he can get from it before it devalues
more? Why not just keep it in Euros or
Krone (Currency of Denmark)?”
“With Brexit and just the Danish
economy in general, do you trust either of those currencies?”
Fanis sighed, “No, I guess not.”
“I could use a drink.”
“There’s a bar that my friend
told me about that has an interesting vibe to it.”
“Alright, we’ll go there.”
Fanis and Kera went to a bar
that was filled with creepy looking dolls.
It was poorly lit with gothic lamps.
Kera looked around and asked, “When did your friend recommend this place?”
“She studied abroad in
Copenhagen and used to come here.”
“Right, as a college
student. We’re in our 30s”
Fanis looked around and realized
that they were probably the oldest people in the bar. “She told me about it in 2011 though. I was graduated by then.”
“You were 27. Borderline too old but still mildly
acceptable.”
“Do you want to leave?”
“No, I’m fine. Let’s get a drink”
They each got drinks and sat
down. Kera goes through her phone and
reveals, “Well, Elizabeth Warren isn’t letting her whole ‘the cops are racist
thing’ go.”
“Oh God, what did she say now.”
“She’s still on the Ferguson
thing five years ago. I mean a cop
murdered an unarmed black man named Michael Brown.”
“First of all, cops kill twice
as many white people as blacks every year.
Can you name one like you just named Michael Brown?”
Kera thought and replied, “No, I
actually can’t”
“Secondly, it was Obama’s
Justice department led by Obama appointed Eric Holder that investigated the
situation and deemed that it was not a murder but self-defense.”
“An unarmed man died”
“For attacking the cop,
yes. The cop should sue Elizabeth Warren
for defamation for using the word ‘murder.’
That’s the only way that piece of shit will learn.”
“He’ll lose”
“Doesn’t matter. The left always sues the right over every
small thing. It’s time we
retaliate. If I was the cop, I’d sue. You can’t rely on the government to reprimand
her. I bet the media and all the
Democrats double down and defend her horrendously ignorant statement.”
“Yea, I actually they are.”
“There you go, sue her.”
“That is the American way” Kera
commented facetiously.
A young woman who is probably in
her late teens early 20s sits down. She
is around 5’9” with long blond hair and blue eyes. As Fanis looks around, he is always weirded
out that Scandinavia is full of tall people.
At 6’0”, Fanis isn’t short in most places. He also isn’t unaccustomed to seeing people
taller than him but if he walks down on a street in most cities in the world,
he’s taller than most of the people he encounters. The Netherlands is statistically the tallest
country in the world but Denmark isn’t too far behind and a quick glance
around, Fanis doesn’t doubt this as there are probably more men here that are
taller than him than shorter. As for the
women, he likes tall girls so he welcomes this interruption. The woman speaks first, “Hi I’m Lisbet”
“I’m Fanis”
“Kera”
“You American?” Lisbet asks
“Guilty” says Kera and Fanis
just smiles.
“I want to move to America. I’ve been reading up on it. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”
“Not at all” responds Fanis and
Kera says nothing. She can tell Fanis
thinks this girl is cute. Unfortunately
for him, Kera knows that she is not flirting.
“Well, here in Denmark, we have
free schools.”
Kera responds, “Yes, while in
America we have to take out massive loans to pay for ours” glaring at Fanis
“Right, I mean we have loans
too?”
Kera gives her a perplexed look
and Fanis grins and declares, “Because room and board isn’t covered so you
don’t mind paying that because tuition is free.”
“Well, that’s still a good deal”
Kera retorts
“Not when you factor in that
since everyone goes to University in Denmark, a degree doesn’t guarantee you a
higher income as it does in America.”
Kera looks at Lisbet hoping
she’ll defend Denmark but she just nods, “This is true” she expresses
“Well, it’s not guaranteed” Kera
blurts back
“It’s probable” added Fanis
Kera sighs and Lisbet has an
awkward expression. She didn’t intend to
spark a debate between them. She just wanted information. She uses the pause to get the conversation
back to her point with, “Well, that’s actually what I want to know. I don’t have a lot of money but I want to
start a family in America. I hear the
free schools are really bad in America”
“It depends what city you move
to. Generally speaking though, yes, they
can be pretty bad.” Fanis explained
“Have you heard of Charter
schools?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Are they better?”
“Yes, almost always”
“I hear really bad things about
them.”
“That’s because the public
schools, or free school, as you call it are given money from the government
based on how many kids they have. All
the teachers are in unions. The union
fights for money from the government and they give it to the teachers. The more kids, the more money. The problem is, the money isn’t based on how
well the kids do in school so they don’t care about being a good school and
giving them an education. They want
people who live in the district the school is in to be forced to go to their
school so they can get more money. If
there was competition, like Charter Schools, then they would have to start
actually trying to educate the kids rather than destining them to fail.”
Kera exclaimed, “I went to
public school, I turned out fine.”
“You lived in a city with good
schools.”
“Why do they call it
‘resegregation’ would I be able to go to the Charter School even though I’m
European?”
“Yes, liberals in America,
whenever they know that they have no facts, reason or data for a position they
attack the other side and call them names.
Usually a racist because in America, being called a racist is one of the
worst things you can be called.
Unfortunately, a lot of people give in once they get insulted to try to
appease the accusers.”
“That doesn’t work in
Denmark. We’re much tougher. You call us names, we throw it right back at
you and we keep with our beliefs and it doesn’t matter what you think.”
“I wish conservatives and
Republicans were the same way in America.”
Kera interrupted, “You’re name
calling the public school people. You
may not be calling them a name but you’re insinuating that they’re greedy
bastards. Where’s your facts and data?”
“This debate is happening in
North Carolina. In North Carolina,
charter schools have a higher percentage of blacks than the public schools.”
“Because of quotas?
“No, because of natural
choice. That’s why blacks are catching
on to Trump’s message. They are Americans
so they want to be preferred over the immigrants. Given the choice, they want to better
themselves just like white people do.”
“Preferring a race over another
one is the definition of racism”
“You think giving minorities a
chance to succeed is racist?”
Lisbet burst out, “I think I see
your point. She just called you a racist
for doing exactly what she told you to do.
She asked for facts and data, you gave it to her and then she called you
a racist.”
Fanis threw up his hands, “There
you go. I rest my case. This is what liberals do in America.”
Kera’s eyes narrowed as she
stared a hole in Fanis. She then turned
to Lisbet with the same expression and her face filled with anger. She scolded, “Look little girl, everyone
always thinks that America is this great place but both of us live in
London. If it’s so great, why did we
leave? Trust me, you’d be miserable in
America. You don’t see anything but pale
white people here. That’s not the case
in America. Stick to your university and
your idealism. Starting a family in
America is tough. You’re thinking about
schools for your kids, do you even have any yet? Stop skipping steps!”
Lisbet lowered her head with a
shocked offended look on her face. It
quickly left and she lifted her head and fired back, “Now I know why you live
in London. You’re rude,cheekiness fits
right in over there. I just asked a
simple question. There was no reason to
get angry. It was a conversation about
charter schools, how is that offensive?”
“Liberal Americans are offended
by everything.” Fanis explained
“I can see that. Well, enjoy your night. I’m going to go talk to my white friends”
Lisbet said as she glared at Kera.
Kera finished her drink and then
told Fanis she wanted to go back to the hotel.
They paid their tab and headed back.
On the train, Kera uttered, “I guess I overreacted with that girl.”
“Ya think?” Fanis snapped back
sarcastically
“It’s just that she was judging
me.”
“No, she was agreeing with me
because you proved my point.”
“Yea, girls suck at sticking
together.”
The next day, Fanis and Kera
flew back to London. As they did, a
government official that Fanis met through Kera called Fanis. He answered and the Englishmen posed, “Are
you in town?”
“I actually just landed.”
“Jolly good, do you want to
meet. I have some interesting information for you.”
“Is this about Spygate?”
‘Indeed it is”
“Oh, I’m definitely coming.”
As he hung up, Kera asked, “Who
was that?”
“Nigel”
“Oh God, I never should have
introduced you two. He’s got some more
juicy information about how Trump is a victim in all this I take it?”
“He didn’t say but I’m guessing
yes since everything else he told me was under that category.”
Kera gave a condescending smile
and replied, “Alright, have fun”
“Well, I’ll go with you back to
the house to drop off my stuff, then I’ll meet him.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Fanis does exactly that and then
meets up with Nigel. Nigel starts, “Do
you remember Svetlana Lokhova?”
“Yea, she was a student at the Cambridge
campus. Halper sat her next to Mike
Flynn so they could accuse Flynn of colluding with the Russians. They said she was a Russian agent when she
had been living in London for like 12 years.
There was never any proof. Then,
right around the election, Halper randomly invites Lokhova to his house for his
wife’s birthday when she has never met his wife. Pissed off about the rumors that she was
fucking Flynn, she turned down the offer.”
“’Pissed off’ is a good term for
it. Apparently, 5 years hasn’t healed
this wound. Lokhova is suing Halper for
defamation”
“Good for her!” shouted Fanis
“I thought you would like
that. The funniest part is what Halper
said to defend himself.”
“Do tell” Fanis was beaming at
this and leaned forward listening intently
“He’s claiming immunity from the
charge. He says that he’s not a
government agent and he wasn’t the source of the rumors about Lokhova, but if
he was, he’d be entitled to immunity.”
Fanis burst out laughing and
mocked, “So, I want all the benefits of being a spy except I don’t want to be a
spy. So, just pretend I’m a spy just so
I can get immunity but once the case is over, don’t call me a spy anymore.”
Nigel carried on Fanis’ mocked
tone and offered, “I mean, yea I spied on George Papadopoulos, Sam Clovis and
Carter Page but I’m not allowed to admit that.
See it was all for my friend Richard Dearlove who used to be the head of
MI6”
“And it’s just a coincidence
that Christopher Steele is in the center of this whole thing. Steele just happened to work for Dearlove
when Steele was an MI6 agent.”
“And Steele mentioned Trubnikov
as a source to Kathleen Kavalec at the State department. Trubnikov just happened to have taught a
course with Halper at Cambridge.”
“But no, he has nothing to do
with any of this. He’s not a spy.”
“Except, you know, when I’m
being sued.”
Fanis changed to a serious tone
and posed, “Honestly though, this is good because now the FBI and CIA have to
admit that he was a spy to save him from the lawsuit”
Nigel shook his head, “No,
they’re going to let him hang out to dry.
That’s the nature of the beast.
That’s why he couldn’t say he was a spy. He knows he’s on his own. When a spy is caught, the host government
denies any association with them. You’ve
seen the movies.”
“I didn’t know they were true.”
“They are on this one chap. Only question is did Halper work on his own
or did a government tell him to do it?”
“I think it’s pretty obvious
that a, or both, governments told him to do it.”
“It’s possible he started free
lance and then offered it to the FBI and CIA”
“It’s possible but
doubtful. Brennan knew about the
Cambridge campus. He knew Dearlove. I still think Brennan set this whole thing
up. It’s too convenient that Halper
invites all these targeted people.
Spygate is a multifaceted deep state collusion campaign to take down
Donald Trump with a bunch of players.
There’s no way that Halper was a rogue agent. “
“I’m glad you’re so sure. Many people with access to much more sources
than you or me doubt this.”
“Well, until I see something
that doesn’t fit my theory, I’m going with it”
“That makes sense. How are you otherwise?”
Nigel and Fanis spoke for a
while sharing pints of beer. After a
couple hours, they left each other and Fanis went back to the house. Kera didn’t even bother asking what they
talked about. She wasn’t into
Spygate. Kera hoped that things in China
improved or else her business would be severely affected. For Fanis’ part, he was just along for the
ride. He liked that he hung out with his
cousin a lot but knew that life has a way of changing quickly.
-
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