The Professor had suggested that Zareef might feel more at ease with some of his countrymen, so we had arranged some informal get-togethers with the Pakistani exchange students.
Zareef and Amir bonded immediately and became close friends.
To her credit, Maggie had even suggested that we have Zareef, Amir and Professor Skinner over for an evening meal.
Zareef and I picked up Amir at Dr. Rhinehart’s house.
When we arrived at the apartment building, the Professor had already joined Maggie in the kitchen.
I had prepared tuna casserole, my signature dish, and Maggie had just pulled it out of the oven.
We ate until we could eat no more and I was about to suggest that we retire to the living room.
My plan was to have our Pakistani guests view the Steve Martin movie, The Jerk. I figured it was high time they were exposed to some good old American humor.
The Professor had a different idea.
“Walt, our old friends Arnie and Nick have an event scheduled for the Plaza fountain this evening.
“I think they may be discussing a topic that will be of interest to you and I thought it might be a valuable experience for Zareef and Amir to see free speech in action.”
Since I had The Jerk on tape, I figured that we could see it another time. Maggie had experienced a busy day at the office and said that if we didn’t mind, she would sit this one out.”
We piled into my car and headed to the Plaza.
We parked in one of the Plaza garages and arrived at the fountain just as Arnie was climbing onto his little step stool.
Once again, I was amazed at the booming voice coming from the balding little man.
“On December 8th, 1941, President Franklin D.Roosevelt delivered a message to the Joint Session of Congress in which he called December 7th, ‘a date which will live in infamy’.
“I’m going to give you another date that will live in infamy.
“That date is March 23rd, 2013.
“That is the date by which every American citizen must have an RFID chip implanted in their bodies which contains all their personal identification, their medical records and a link to their bank account.”
A murmur could be heard from the crowd.
“That’s crap!” someone shouted. Nobody’s going to put any chip in me! Where did you come up with that stuff?”
“Glad you asked,” Arnie said, smiling.
Nick handed him a sheaf of papers.
“Have any of you ever heard the term ‘Obamacare’?”
Nearly everyone nodded.
“Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that the term refers to the New National Health Care Law recently passed by Congress and signed into law by the President.
“I’m not here today to debate the merits of national health care. My goal today is to let you know that if this law is implemented as it is currently written, it will change life in America forever!
“Let me give you a history lesson.
“In 2004, The FDA approved both the Class II implantable device and the VeriMed electronic health records system.
“In 2009, the American Recovery and Investment Act authorized $23 billion in stimulus funds for health care information technology. This enabled VeriChip to re-launch the VeriMed electronic health records system which is a system that is made up of implantable RFID microchips, handheld scanners for emergency room personnel to read these chips, and online electronic personal health records.
“All of this was in preparation for the passage of HR 3200.
“Buried deep in that document, actually in Section 2521, page 1001, is the wording that creates a new federal entity, The National Medical Device Registry which is run by the Minister of Health and Human Services.
“The law goes on to say that the new electronic medical system will be required by all health care providers by 2012.
“The law mandates the use of these Class II implantable devices to serve as the link between you and your electronic medical records.
“The bottom line is that you will be required to get a Class II implantable device linked to your medical records and bank account in order to participate in the government healthcare plan.
“Furthermore, it is mandated that you have health insurance or you will pay $100.00 dollars per day for each day that you are not covered, and the IRS has been charged with enforcing healthcare enrollment and issuing fines for those not in compliance.”
“Surely someone in Congress knew about all of this,” someone shouted.
“Let me quote from one of our Congressmen, ‘this new law, when fully implemented, provides the framework for making the United States the first Nation in the World to require each and every one of its citizens to have implanted in them a radio-frequency identification microchip for the purpose of controlling who is, or isn’t, allowed medical care in their country’.
“Remember that date, folks, March 23rd, 2013. That’s the date by which this new law must be implemented, and if it does come to pass, it will surely be a date that will live in infamy in the history of our country.”
Arnie stepped down from his stool and the crowd began to disperse.
He spotted us and waved.
“Walt, Professor! Thank you for coming.”
“Wow, Arnie,” I said, “How does stuff like this get passed into law?”
“Most of the legislation that is passed is never even read by the lawmakers. There are thousands of pages of technical crap that most of them wouldn’t understand even if they did read it.”
“So what’s the answer?”
Arnie and the Professor exchanged looks.
“That’s Walt for you,” the Professor said. “He’s always looking for the simple straight-forward answer. I just wish there was one.”
“Yeah, me too,” he replied.
“So that’s it? There’s no answer? We’re just doomed?”
“Walt,” Arnie said, “the world is what it is, and there’s little we can do to change it. The best we can do is to watch what is happening around us and when we find something as deplorable as what I was describing tonight, to raise our voices in protest.
“We must use the same technology that is being used to control us, to fight back. The worst thing we can do is to do nothing --- to go quietly into the night. You and I and thousands of people like us who love our freedom and independence must stand together and make our voices heard.
“We must watch and we must speak. That, my friend, is the answer.”
We said our goodbyes and Arnie and Nick faded into the darkness.
I suddenly realized that all this rhetoric had made me hungry.
A few blocks up the street, I saw the Cheesecake Factory and I was reminded that I had been denied my key lime cheesecake on the night we took the drug dealer down.
I turned to my three friends, “Who likes cheesecake?”
Two of the three had no idea what I was talking about, so I decided it was time to introduce them to some good old American decadence.
We headed in the direction of the Factory.
Zareef tugged on my arm, “Is the car far away? I left my jacket and I’m getting a chill.”
I did notice that the wind had come up and the temperature had dropped.
“No, it’s not far. Professor, why don’t you and Amir go ahead and get us seated. We’ll get Zareef’s jacket and be right there.”
We had just climbed to the second level of the circular parking garage when a figure emerged from the shadows.
I felt something hard press against my back.
“Not a word,” a voice whispered, “or I’ll kill you both right here.”
“Mustafa!” Zareef said, “Don’t do this!”
“Quiet, traitor! You have dishonored your family, your country and the jihad and you will pay.”
“Then I will pay, but let this man go.”
“So that he can alert his security friends? I think not. Unfortunately he is collateral dam
age. It is the way of war --- just like the women and children slaughtered by the drones.”
He pushed us toward a van and opened the cargo door.
He handed each of us a plastic tie.
“Bind your wrists and get in.”
I weighed my chances of trying to jump the guy, but the odds didn’t seem very good.
We complied and were shoved into the van. He slammed the door and we heard the engine come to life.
We drove for what seemed like a half hour before we felt the van come to a stop.
When the door opened, I was surprised to see that we were in the now deserted parking lot of Royals stadium.
He ordered us out of the van.
“Now on your knees, both of you,” he ordered.
“It was here Zareef that you were to have given your life for the jihad, so it is fitting that you will die here now. It is karma.”
We fell to our knees and as I awaited my fate, the thought that ran through my mind was that Maggie was really going to be pissed.
I could just hear her say, “Didn’t I tell you not to mess with those terrorists? You could get yourself killed!”
Maybe I should have paid more attention.
Just then I heard a thunderous roar and the whole area around us was bathed in bright white light.
I heard a gunshot and looked to see if Zareef had been hit, but it was Mustafa Wasim who lay bleeding on the ground.
We felt the wash from the chopper blades as the big craft nestled onto the parking lot pavement.
Mark Davenport hopped out of the chopper.
“I guess we cut that one pretty close,” he said.
“But how did you know --- How did you find us?” I stammered.
“When you didn’t come out of the garage after a few minutes, we figured something was up, so we tracked you.”
“But how ---?”
“Your cell phone, of course.
“Ain’t technology just grand?”
EPILOGUE
With Mustafa Wasim out of the picture, Homeland Security was able to close the book on the All Star terrorist attack.
While I would not have said this to Mark Davenport, the tragedy was not averted by his ten million dollars worth of technology and equipment.
It didn’t happen because good people extended the hand of love and friendship to a troubled soul.
Zareef was granted asylum, but given the unrest in his country and the volatile relations between the U.S. and Pakistan, he was placed in the Witness Protection Program.
Somewhere in this great country, a young man is beginning a new life tasting freedom and security that he has never known before --- a freedom and security that we, who were born here, take for granted.
Most of us wander through life so absorbed with our own situation that we are oblivious to what is happening around us.
We hail new technological advances as the greatest thing since sliced bread and marvel at how much better our lives are with the new toys that are presented to us.
Who in their right mind would want to give up their cell phone or their high-speed Internet access?
Who hasn’t used GPS technology to find an address or the closest Mexican restaurant?
How many of us pay a monthly fee to have the security of an OnStar that can start our cars remotely or unlock doors or report our location and condition if we’re in an accident?
How many of us use plastic to pay for nearly everything so that we can rack up those airline miles?
None of us want to give up any of those things, but we must understand that each of them comes with a price tag --- and that price is the surrender of our privacy.
We were all terrified as we watched the Twin Towers crumble and we welcomed a new Federal Agency whose task was to protect us from further terrorist attacks, but the security that this agency provides to us comes with a price --- and that price is the surrender of the freedoms that were granted to us in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Those of us who lived in the forties and fifties remember the horrors of smallpox and polio and we should be thankful every day that cures were found for these dreaded diseases.
Unfortunately, the same technology that we once placed on a pedestal has morphed into a juggernaught whose main purpose today seems to be to maximize their profits by pumping us full of poisonous drugs and vaccines whose side effects are destroying our bodies.
We welcome all of these new advances that make our lives easier and more enjoyable, but the question that we must ask is, ‘are these wolves in sheep’s clothing’?
Oscar Levant said that there’s a fine line between genius and insanity.
Likewise, there’s a very fine line separating the life of freedom that we enjoy and the totalitarian society that George Orwell described in his novel.
People like Arnie Goldblume and Nick Thatcher have made me realize that we can no longer take our way of life for granted.
Our government and the institutions that control our society are made up of people, and people can be either just and good or flawed and evil, and if we want to protect our way of life, it is incumbent on each of us to watch and to ask questions.
Questions like, “Why, after years of research have proven that fluoride is a deadly poison, does our government insist that it be added to 60% of the drinking water in America?”
“Why does the FDA approve hydrogenated corn oil and high fructose corn syrup which are known poisons and suppress nearly every natural remedy?”
I read Orwell’s novel and I know that I do not want to live in such a dystopian society.
In the three years that I have been a cop, I have dedicated my life to helping Lady Justice balance the scales of the law.
Now I realize that the delicate balance between freedom and a totalitarian society require that same commitment.
My name is Walt Williams and that’s why I’m a watcher!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Award-winning author, Robert Thornhill, began writing at the age of sixty-six and in four short years has penned fifteen novels in the Lady Justice mystery/comedy series, the seven volume Rainbow Road series of chapter books for children, a cookbook and a mini-autobiography.
Lady Justice and the Sting, Lady Justice and Dr. Death, Lady Justice and the Vigilante, Lady Justice and the Candidate, Lady Justice and the Book Club Murders and Lady Justice and the Cruise Ship Murders won the Pinnacle Award for the best new mystery novels of Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Summer 2012, Fall 2012, Spring of 2013 and Summer 2013 from the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs.
Many of Walt’s adventures in the Lady Justice series are anecdotal and based on Robert’s real life.
Although Robert holds a master’s in psychology, he has never taken a course in writing and has never learned to type. All 26 of his published books were typed with one finger and a thumb!
His wit and insight come from his varied occupations, including thirty-three years as a real estate broker. He lives with his wife, Peg, in Independence, Missouri.
Visit him on the Web at: http://BooksByBob.com
LADY JUSTICE TAKES A C.R.A.P.
City Retiree Action Patrol
Third Edition
This is where it all began.
See how sixty-five year old Walt Williams became a cop and started the City Retiree Action Patrol.
Meet Maggie, Willie, Mary and the Professor, Walt’s sidekicks in all of the Lady Justice novels.
Laugh out loud as Walt and his band of Senior Scrappers capture the Realtor Rapist and take down the Russian Mob.
http://amzn.to/16lfjnY
LADY JUSTICE AND THE LOST TAPES
In Lady Justice and the Lost Tapes, Walt and his band of scrappy seniors continue their battle against the forces of evil.
When an entire eastside Kansas City neighborhood is terrorized by the mob, Walt must go undercover to solve the case.
Later, the amazing discovery of a previously unknown recording session of a deceased rock ‘n
’ roll idol stuns the music industry.
http://amzn.to/1cDeiMK
LADY JUSTICE GETS LEI’D
In Lady Justice Gets Lei’d, Walt and Maggie plan a romantic honeymoon on the beautiful Hawaiian Islands, but ancient artifacts discovered in a cave in a dormant volcano and a surprising revelation about Maggie’s past, lead our lovers into the hands of Hawaiian zealots.
http://amzn.to/15P6bLg
LADY JUSTICE AND THE
AVENGING ANGELS
Lady Justice has unwittingly entered a religious war.
Who better to fight for her than Walt Williams?
The Avenging Angels believe that it’s their job to rain fire and brimstone on Kansas City, their Sodom and Gomorrah.
In this compelling addition to the Lady Justice series, Robert Thornhill brings back all the characters readers have come to love for more hilarity and higher stakes.
You’ll laugh and be on the edge of your seat until the big finish.
Don’t miss Lady Justice and the Avenging Angels!
http://amzn.to/1i2yFDz
LADY JUSTICE AND THE STING
BEST NEW MYSTERY NOVEL ---WINTER 2012
National Association of Book Entrepreneurs
In Lady Justice and the Sting, a holistic physician is murdered and Walt becomes entangled in the high-powered world of pharmaceutical giants and corrupt politicians.
Maggie, Ox Willie, Mary and all your favorite characters are back to help Walt bring the criminals to justice in the most unorthodox ways.
A dead-serious mystery with hilarious twists!
http://amzn.to/1gS4JMA
LADY JUSTICE AND DR. DEATH
BEST NEW MYSTERY NOVEL --- FALL 2011
[Lady Justice 08] - Lady Justice and the Watchers Page 16
