This and That...

[Warph]

Rip Van Whitey - Part #6

The younger Van Whiteys

Rip now hurried forth, and hastened to his old resort, the 19th Hole & Pub—but it too was gone. A lean-to stood in its place, with a street vendor outside selling halal meat with rice. Over the hovel was written something in Arabic, a language with which Rip had no familiarity. Music of the orient with its wailing singing sounded forth from a cheap radio on the vendor's cart.

There was a crowd of folk about the scene, but none that Rip recollected. The very character of the people seemed changed. There was a loud and disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy tranquility.

He looked in vain for the sage Jack Smith or Timothy Jones. In place of these, a lean, bilious-looking fellow was haranguing vehemently about white privilege, CIS-gendered oppressiveness, Aztlan, Islamophobia, social justice, and other words, which were a perfect Babylonish jargon to the bewildered Van Whitey.

The appearance of Rip, with his long grizzled beard, his effeminate dress, and his detestable pale skin, soon attracted the attention of the locals. They crowded round him, eyeing him from head to foot with great rancor. The orator bustled up to him, and, drawing him partly aside, inquired on why he was out of the factory.

Rip stared in vacant stupidity. Another short but busy little fellow pulled him by the arm, and, rising on tiptoe, inquired in his ear, "Are you a wizard?"

Rip was equally at a loss to comprehend the question; when a knowing, self-important old gentleman—who was white like Rip!—in a sharp cocked hat, made his way through the crowd, putting to the right and left with his elbows as he passed, and planting himself before Van Whitey, with one arm akimbo, his keen eyes and sharp hat penetrating, as it were, into his very soul, demanded in an austere tone, "What brought you to this place with your white privilege and a mob at your heels? Do you mean to breed a riot in the village?"

"Alas! Gentlemen," cried Rip, somewhat dismayed, "I am a poor quiet man, a native of the place, and a loyal citizen of America, God bless her!"

Here a general shout burst from the by-standers: "A racist! A nativist! A white supremacist! Hustle him! Away with him!"

It was with great difficulty that the self-important man in the cocked hat restored order; and, having assumed a tenfold austerity of brow, demanded again of the unknown culprit, what he came there for, and whom he was seeking? The poor man humbly assured him that he meant no harm, but merely came there in search of some of his neighbors, who used to keep about the sports pub that used to reside there.

"Well, who are they? Name them."

Rip bethought himself a moment, and inquired, "Jack Smith? Michael O'Kelley? Timothy Jones, the schoolmaster?"

"Were they white?" the man snarled.

"Uh, yes, yes they were," replied Rip, confounded.

"Well, then, they're long gone, sir, for no whites are allowed to live past their productive years."

"Gone...as in dead?" murmured Rip.

"Dead and buried... Or left to rot in the streets perhaps. Makes no difference."

Rip's heart died away at hearing of these sad changes in his home and friends, and finding himself thus alone in the world. Every answer puzzled him too, by treating of such enormous lapses of time, and of matters which he could not understand. He had no courage to ask after any more friends, but cried out in despair, "Does nobody here know Rip Van Whitey?"

From the crowd a surly voice barked: "What nigga be callin' me, yo?"

Pushing through to the front, a lanky young man with a shaved head, wife beater, saggy jeans, gold chains, and face tattoos, stared angrily at Rip. Rip stared back in horror at the creature before him.

"Why you be trippin, nigga?" the young man asked of Rip. Rip puzzled over this for a moment.

"I'm sorry...I don't speak..." and he paused, trying to determine just what language the man was speaking. But as he stared at him, he noticed something—something dreadful. Beneath the tattoos, under the shaved dome, behind the scowling face, was the very visage of Rip himself. This horrified Rip, to the point of making him doubt his very existence. "My heavens..." Rip muttered, mostly to himself.

At this critical moment a fat, slovenly white woman pressed through the throng to get a peep at the gray-bearded man. She had three mulatto infants in her chubby arms, which, frightened at his looks, began to wail. "Shut the hell up Labronte, Shaniqua, Deshoneda," she squealed, "This creepy a$$ cracka ain't gonna hurt yous."

The names of the children, the air of the mother, the tone of her voice, all awakened a train of recollections in his mind.

"What is your name, good woman?" Rip asked of her.

"Judy Van Whitey. But my niggas call me Judy from the Block."

"Do you know your father?"

"Hells no I don't! That nigga ran away when we was kids."

Rip had but one question more to ask; but he put it with a faltering voice:

"Where's your mother?"

"Oh, she dead," the girl responded matter-of-factly.

There was a drop of comfort, at least, in this intelligence. The honest man could contain himself no longer.

To be continued...

[Warph]

Beware: Dangerous Weapons Below!

Moonbat Alert!  Moonbat Alert!  Moonbat Alert! 
Just when you've thought you've seen it all, here comes some more batsh!t craziness... I kid you not!

Folks, here's more proof many of our public schools across this nation have gone mind-bending, full-blown bonkers...berserk! What happened to this five year old girl will prove just that...no two ways about it.

Can any of you imagine your child being forced to sign a 'Suicide Contract' of any kind while attending school at this age...hmm? Oh yeah, and throw in a 'Homicide Contract' to-boot! Outrageous to say the very least...plain and simple.

Here's the long and short of it via this report. – Trust me, it's insanity on display!:

What if this happened to your son or daughter at school?

Anna Kooiman reported this morning on an Alabama mother who is speaking out after her five-year-old daughter was forced to sign a "suicide contract" without her knowledge.

The incident started when the girl got in trouble at school for apparently pretending a crayon was a gun and "shooting" it at another student.

The mother, only identifying herself as Rebecca in a report by WPMI-TV in Mobile, said her daughter then had to write her name on a document in which she pledged that she would not kill herself or anyone else.

"This isn't right. She's five years old. Most of these words on here, she's never heard in her life," said Rebecca.

Rebecca said school officials want her daughter to see a psychiatrist now.

Here's more from the report:

"[They] Asked her if she was depressed now," said Rebecca.

Without her permission, Rebecca said her child was given the Mobile County Public School Safety Contract to sign stating she wouldn't kill herself or others.

"While I was in the lobby waiting they had my 5-year-old sign a contract about suicide and homicide," said Rebecca.

According to state law, minors cannot legally sign a contract.

"There should be a different way to handle this situation. If this is protocol it needs to be looked at again," said Rebecca.

Local 15 News contacted school officials to see what the proper protocol is when handling "violent-like" behavior. Local 15 News has not heard back.
And now the officials want this little girt to see a shrink! Imagine that... seems to me the officials are the nutcases that need to do just that... pronto!

Thanks goes to the Dept. of Education and the no good teachers unions that have control over all! Homeschooling instantly comes to mind when you read about situations such as this one... it's one of the toppers, and lord knows, we've all seem many in the past few years.

Doing what kids of her age have done forever is not allowed according to big brother... after-all they know best and will command and control your children if they have their way. Nanny state much? Just what has our nation come to...and much lower can she sink?

Teach your children well in one form or fashion... it's up to you!

http://angrywhitedude.com/2014/10/indoctrination-101-insanity/

[Warph]

'Having a Bad Hair Day'

If politicians and bureaucrats ever stopped lying for even five minutes, the ensuing silence would make the rest of us think we'd gone deaf.

For instance, we're being told repeatedly that we have nothing to fear from the fellow down in Dallas who, instead of bringing back a souvenir t-shirt reading "I've Been to Liberia, Don't Ask Me Why," brought home a case of Ebola.

We're being told by medical professionals, who just happen to be paid by the federal government, that the disease is terribly difficult to transmit. I'd almost be willing to believe them if every time I see one of these victims being transported to a hospital, he or she wasn't being accompanied by people decked out from head to toe in hazmat suits.

Perhaps I'm simply being too doggone cynical, a trait I seem to have been born with, a trait I keep trying to overcome, but the politicians and bureaucrats simply won't let me. For instance, just in the past few years, they lied about funneling weapons to Mexican gangsters and they lied about ObamaCare; they refer to Islamic terrorism as workplace violence, lied about the IRS not targeting conservatives and they let our veterans die while waiting for medical attention.

The bastards even lied to the Ebola victim, sending him home from the hospital the first time he showed up, essentially telling him he had a bad cold even after he came clean about where he'd just come from. On the other hand, he'd lied to the Liberians about having had no contact with Ebola victims just so he could get an exit visa. Makes a person wonder if once he's cured, assuming he's one of the lucky ones, Thomas Duncan plans to run for public office.

Even Obama's former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta blames the President for what's happening in Iraq. Unfortunately, like every other schmuck in Washington, he waited three long years to write a book, expressing his dire warnings.

It's simply not in the DNA of political appointees to ever quit over a matter of principle. We are told, belatedly, that even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Obama to maintain a force of at least 10,000, but preferably 24,000, soldiers in Iraq to avoid the likes of ISIL filling the inevitable vacuum.

But, clearly, it is too much to expect public servants to forego the limos, the free junkets to exotic locales, the five-star hotels and the kowtowing entourages, over such a minor issue as national security.

It's as if a lack of principles has become a prerequisite for those employed in Washington, D.C. We are constantly seeing the same lack of character and patriotism every time some bureaucratic nonentity claims to take total responsibility for an act of incompetence or criminality, but doesn't resign or, unfortunately, ever face an indictment and a prison term.

One of the ironies of life is that the Democrats have assumed as one of their favorite themes the Republican War on Women. Talk about chutzpah! This is the party of Jack, Bobby and Ted Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Bob Packwood and Bill Clinton. Each of them was married and an Olympic-class sexual predator. One of them was a rapist and one of them left his paramour to drown in his car while he ran home and got his family's legion of suck-ups to provide him with an alibi.

Just about the only woman who has come through an association with the higher-ups in the liberal camp virtually unscathed was Julia, the fictional character the Democrats came up with to illustrate how benevolent their policies are when it comes to females. Of course, Julia was shown to be entirely dependent on a man, Uncle Sam, to clothe, feed and house her, even though the likes of Hillary Clinton, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren, are constantly telling young women how independent and powerful they are in this post Roe v. Wade America.

But a great many single women are so stupid that they can't even see the obvious contradiction between being sold Julia on the one hand and flattery carrying the aroma of manure on the other hand.

When I say that single women, who vote overwhelmingly for the Democrats, are stupid, I'm not out to insult them, I'm merely stating a fact.

For instance, they're so dumb that they actually think abortion on demand is a boon for them. Actually, Roe v. Wade has been one giant Get Out of Jail Free card for irresponsible males. It ensures that they can have unprotected sex with 10 different women in the same day, knowing they won't be stuck having to provide even one cent in child support. Is it any wonder that Bill Clinton has been such an ardent supporter of the 1973 Supreme Court decision?

....Burt

[Warph]

[Warph]

Exploring Christopher Columbus

"Dad, why does America celebrate Columbus Day?"

"Well, Billy, in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe to America and founded the very first European settlement in the New World. His arrival marks the beginning of America as we know it."

"But didn't he discover America by accident, dad?"

"Columbus believed the Earth was a sphere. He thought he could reach the Far East by setting off on a westward course. Though he stumbled upon what is now the Bahamas by accident, he was still a successful explorer, Billy."

"Successful, dad, or a racist oppressor?"

"Pardon me, son?"

"When Columbus came to America, he brought with him the greed of the white European males who subsequently colonized America for the dough. They fought and killed the Indigenous Peoples who were already here and took their land and their gold. Columbus eventually died a very rich man."

"Well, Billy, an unfortunate part of human history involves countries invading their neighbors to take control. This has happened in many parts of the world, including Europe, which has a long history of war. But remember that Indigenous Peoples were also prone to war and fighting to expand their control well before Europeans arrived."

"Well, Columbus is also responsible for many germs and diseases that Europeans brought to America, causing untold suffering and death among the people who were here before us."

"Have you been drinking too much caffeine lately, Billy?"

"America's history of environmental destruction can also be laid at Columbus' feet, dad. As soon as the Europeans colonized America's pristine lands, they cut down the trees and plowed up the fields. Can you say soil erosion, dad?"

"Son, did I ever tell you that you take after your mother's side?"

"And what about slavery? It was the Europeans who created a flourishing slave trade in America. They did it to develop the land cheaply, so they could make giant profits. Columbus even made slaves out of some of the Indigenous Peoples who attacked him and his men."

"Son, do you remember where your mother hid the bourbon?"

"I'll tell you another thing, dad. Some people believe the only reason we even celebrate Columbus Day is because he was Italian, and the day is also a celebration of Italian heritage. Some believe that when FDR made Columbus Day official in 1934, he did so not just because Columbus discovered the New World, but because Italian immigrants in America represented millions of votes."

"Look, Billy, there are a lot of ways to look at what Christopher Columbus symbolizes. When you look through history through a modern-day lense, some of the things you see will not be pretty. You can focus on the negative attributes, and they are there, but you can also focus on the positive."

"Positive, dad?"

"Sure, Billy. Columbus represents the spirit of exploration, the spirit of pushing forward into the great unknown to find greater and better things. This has always been the spirit of America, the land of innovation and new ideas."

"What kind of ideas, dad?"

"How about the ideas of freedom and self-government, Billy? After Columbus opened a gateway to the New World, other European countries established colonies here, too. Eventually, some amazing historical figures would evolve in North America. They would create and fight for a way of life that has proved to be extremely successful — their ideas are still spreading and changing the world for the better."

"Really, dad?"

"Yes, son. The concept of freedom has taken root so solidly in America that people are free to criticize or praise anything, including whether or not Christopher Columbus was a good man or an ogre, or whether or not Columbus Day should still be celebrated in America. Now, do you have any other questions about history?"

"Yes, dad. Was Benjamin Franklin really a predatory male chauvinist womanizer?"

[redcliffsw]

Christopher Columbus is viewed like the Founding Fathers and the Confederates.
Nowadays, most people have a problem with them.   

It's your American government schools that have been successful in indoctrinating its students to the socialist thinking and ways.  We can recognize the Republican party for changing America and Obama for assisting the Republicans to get er' done.  Tyrants all.

[Warph]

Колумнисты / Выпуск № 109 от 29 сентября 2014
54746 Лихорадка Эбола и украинский фашизм
27.09.2014
Выступая в ООН, президент Обама назвал лихорадку Эбола главной угрозой для человечества. Президент Путин на этой олимпиаде угроз занял всего лишь второе место, а исламский халифат — третье.

Я, натурально, оскорблена тем, что мы не финишировали первые, но я сейчас не о Путине, а об Эболе. Западные телеканалы рассказывают о ней такие же ужасы, как российские — об украинских фашистах. «Смертность до 90%!» — сообщает ВОЗ. «Вирус атакует мягкие ткани тела, почки, печень, сосуды — все буквально растворяется в крови». «От Эболы нет ни лекарств, ни вакцины».

Whoopsie... sorry.  Here's the English version:

'Ebola in America' and other fake problems our leaders love to fight

By Yulia Latynina
Originally published in Russian in Novaya Gazeta, Sept. 27, 2014
http://www.novayagazeta.ru/columns/65450.html

Speaking at the United Nations, President Obama called Ebola a major threat to humanity. The second place in this Threat-to-Humanity Olympics went to President Putin, with the Islamic Caliphate taking the bronze.

I'm naturally offended that my Russia didn't finish first, but I'd rather talk about Ebola than about Putin. The Western TV commentators are as terrified of Ebola as the Russian TV commentators are terrified of what they call "Ukrainian fascists." "The mortality rate is 90%," claims the WHO. "The virus attacks the soft tissues of the body, kidneys, liver, blood vessels, literally melting everything into one bloody mess." "There are no drugs or vaccines from Ebola." The horror!

Let me ask a few inconvenient questions.

Africa has been a repeated source of terrible epidemics. In the middle of the sixth century AD, a plague that came from Africa to the Roman Empire killed in different areas 30 to 80 percent of the population. In the middle of the fourteenth century, a plague that came from Africa to Europe, killed in different areas 30 to 80 percent of the Europeans. Since airplanes weren't in existence, the plague traveled by ship, rat, and flea. And in the twentieth century, with the advancements in air travel, Africa also gave us AIDS.

The Ebola virus (in its several varieties) has existed in Africa for thousands of years. How come this menace, which is worse than Putin and ISIS, has never caused epidemics similar to the plague, smallpox, or cholera, and was discovered only in 1976?

How come that since 1976, all of the 13 outbreaks of Ebola never left Africa, and even there the number of victims has been relatively small? (In 2007, the outbreak in Uganda claimed 37 lives, and the one in 2012 resulted in 17 deaths).

Let's look at the facts:

First. The WHO says that mortality from Ebola is "up to 90%." It's a lie. More precisely, it's a special kind of lie, which in Islam is known as taqiyya. This is when the words formally represent the truth, but because of the way they are phrased, the audiences hear something else.

Ebola reached 90% mortality only once, in 2003, in the Congo, where 128 people died out of 143 infected. But the current epidemic has the mortality rate of about 50%, and there were epidemics, when the rate dropped to 25%. We will later discuss what exactly, apart from the difference in the strains of viruses, causes such dissimilar death rates.

Second, very important. How does Ebola spread? The answer is that it's not airborne. It is spread only through contact with blood or bodily fluids. The semen of a man who survived Ebola can remain a source of infection for up to three months.

In plain language, an Ebola epidemic can only happen in the total absence of hygiene. Therefore, the WHO statement on page one of its brochure on Ebola that the virus is spread "from person to person" is plain panic-mongering by means of the same taqiyya, that is, lying by withholding information. A virus that is only transmitted if one is using an infected syringe or a Third-World toilet, cannot cause an epidemic in the developed world.

Third, even more important. Ebola attacks different organs, but the main cause of death usually is, just as it is with cholera, dehydration. Give the patient enough fluids and administer an IV with saline solution to replenish the escaping potassium and magnesium, and the 90% mortality rate will become a 90% survival rate. Those "melting" internal organs aren't caused by the virus, but are the result of the disappearing vital minerals that are being washed away through diarrhea and vomiting.

Fourth. Those Americans diagnosed with Ebola were all infected in Africa, bringing the disease to the United States. The death rate among them is zero. All have recovered and one is still being treated. The American doctors are admitting they aren't sure what has helped more: the drugs or the general supportive care. [UPDATE: the infected Liberian man who entered the US has since died as his treatment had been unfortunately delayed - O.A.]

In 1972, an American doctor Thomas Cairns doing missionary work in the Congo, cut himself with a scalpel during an autopsy on a patient who had died of Ebola - a disease yet unknown to medical science. He survived because his wife, even under those conditions, treated him with a basic drip.

Fifth. That there is no cure for Ebola is also a lie. There already exist drugs like TMK-Ebola and ZMapp. If the medical bureaucracy is screaming into our ears about the terrible threat from Ebola, while being too clumsy and incompetent to approve the anti-Ebola drugs, that only means the deadly threat comes not as much from Ebola as from the bureaucracy itself. The same way, one can ban all TB medications and then scream, "Tuberculosis is fatal! There's no cure!" By the way, the Japanese flu medication, Favipiravir, also helps with Ebola.

Sixth. That there is no vaccine for Ebola is also a lie. The vaccine exists; it was created by GlaxoSmithKline. At the beginning of the epidemic a few months ago, GlaxoSmithKline contacted the WHO with the offer to help, but was politely told to make itself scarce.

Seventh. The fact that the medical bureaucracy is sitting on its hands and still hasn't approved the drugs and the vaccines for this dangerous disease (the devastating effect of Ebola on the human body is hard to overestimate) means only what most doctors already know: the wealthy developed countries aren't under any real threat from the Ebola epidemic.

To summarize: Ebola epidemics occur only in Africa, due to the disastrous lack of hygiene and just as disastrous lack of healthcare. There is no chance that the virus, which is transmitted through vomit and contaminated syringes, and kills by dehydration, can create an epidemic in the United States, in Russia, or even in Albania.

The Ebola story is very similar to that of the Haitian earthquake. Remember how in 2010, a 7.0 point earthquake killed 220,000 people in Haiti? A few months later, a much stronger, 8.8 point earthquake in Chile killed about 700 people. Keep in mind that each whole-number point represents a 32-fold increase in released energy, and that the magnitude of 7.0 corresponds to the lower limit of a major earthquake.

That is, the Haitians were dying not so much because of the earthquake as because of the squalor and lack of proper construction materials. In the modern world, all devastating catastrophes (well, almost all) result not from natural disasters, but from disasters that are social and political. It is true for the viruses as much as it is for the earthquakes.

One of the original sources of the Ebola infection is the meat of our cousins - chimpanzees, gorillas, and monkeys. This is practically cannibalism: chimpanzees have the mind of a 4-year-old human child. Would you eat a 4-year-old child? In the Congo, they eat not only apes and monkeys, but also pygmies.

Today's Ebola epidemic, the largest in history, has killed 2,900 people out of 6,200 infected. Did you know that every single year, according to the same WHO, 250,000-500,000 people die of the flu?

So what do we have in conclusion? We have poor African countries, where Ebola - no doubt a terrible disease - is only one of the symptoms of a major social disease known as the failed state. We also have the international bureaucracy, incapable of quickly approving new drugs and vaccines because of its large size and incompetence, while at the same time screaming, "Give us more money so we can save humanity from destruction!" And we have President Obama, who can't even cope with real problems - whether it's the 50 million Americans on food stamps, or the Islamic Caliphate, or Vladimir Putin - and instead, declares the major problem to be Ebola, which has no chance to become endemic in the United States.

When one doesn't know how to solve real problems, it becomes necessary to invent fake ones. Those are easier to solve.

That is why the Islamists, instead of confronting their own squalor and barbarism, are fighting America. That is why Putin, instead of confronting theft and corruption in Russia, is fighting America and Ukraine. And Obama, instead of confronting Putin and the Islamists, is fighting against Ebola.

*******************

'Ebola?  I didn't build that!'

Of course, if one is trying to spread an epidemic , ("never let a crisis go to waste"?) .... But no, who would do such a thing?  Not "Insane" Obuma... you think??

....either, Obuma!

***********

Yulia Latynina is one of Russia's most prominent journalists and critics of Putin's government.  She is a columnist for Novaya Gazeta and The Moscow Times, as well as a popular talk show host at the Echo of Moscow radio station.  In 2008, Latynina was presented the U.S. government's Freedom Defenders Award by Condoleezza Rice.  She has authored more than twenty fiction books, including crime drama and science fiction.

Latynina is also one of my favorite Russian-language columnists.  She describes herself as a libertarian, although if she were to live in the U.S., she would probably be considered a conservative author of the magnitude of Ann Coulter, Mark Steyn, and Rush Limbaugh.

The following is one of her latest essays.  It was slightly shortened and edited to account for the differences in Russia's and America's broader polemical contexts.

[Warph]

School Told to Call Kids 'Purple Penguins' Because 'Boys and Girls' Is Not Inclusive to Transgender

A  new Endangered Species™ has evolved from the youngest of the finalists in the evolutionary pre-selected generation of the leaders of Next Tuesday™. Purple Penguins are found only in Nebraska but with a rigorous and closely monitored education campaign, we will be able to populate almost every part of the nation.

A Nebraska school district has instructed its teachers to stop referring to students by "gendered expressions" such as "boys and girls," and use "gender inclusive" ones such as "purple penguins" instead.

Now, aint that nice.

[Warph]

Rip Van Whitey - Part #7

** The Factory **

"What has happened to my home? What has happened to my children? What has happened to my people? What has happened to the world?!" Rip wailed, thrashing at his vestments.

This sudden outburst gave fright to the crowd, who took a step back from the blubbering old white devil. This was followed by an animated debate in some unintelligible pidgin that Rip realized was likewise the tongue of his son (n***** this, f*** that, etcetera).

Given Rip's curious survival into old age—and in no small part due to rising suspicion that Rip was some sort of wizard capable of untold witchcraft—it was determined that they would take him back to the factory rather than put him immediately to pasture.

They stripped him of his fancy outfit with all of its ostentatious buttons and buckles and snaps, covering him instead with a simple, soiled robe. Immediately, a fight broke out over his erstwhile garments, and they were quickly reduced to shreds as the quarreling factions tore them asunder. This ignited a fresh round of arguments, which grew ever more violent until, finally, edged weapons were drawn and bludgeons wielded.

Rip was not privy to the outcome of the battle over his clothing as he was whisked away, like a beast of burden, with a rope around his neck, being led by a gaggle of guffawing buffoons, and, of course, the self-important white man.

As they led him through the seemingly never-ending slum, crowds formed around him, jeering at him, throwing rocks and other such debris at him, some smearing him with mud and feces, others kicking at him or slapping his face. Rip was extremely confused as to the reason for such unprovoked hostility, and not just a little apprehensive about his fate.

In due time, the "factory" appeared—a monstrous brick building in advanced stages of decay, with not a single unshattered window, a crumbling edifice, and a collapsed roof. Behind it stood the remnants of smokestacks, reduced now to their very bases. Rip immediately recognized this place as the old Central Hudson power plant at which his father had worked his entire adult life. But it was obviously non-operational in this state; what on earth could they possibly be doing here?

Pulling aside a torn blue tarp which Rip presumed constituted a "door", some men kicked his backside and barked at him to enter. Obligingly, Rip ducked his head and entered the dusty, fetid air of the factory.

To be continued...

[Warph]