Some Random Thoughts On Politics

• Perhaps if Ben Carson changed his slogan to "Doctor Who," he might get a lot more attention.
• Donald Trump is the ultimate expression of US culture: he is a walking corporate brand; he is the embodiment of all that is saccharine with that country.
• The Bush/Clinton dynasties have pretty much plumbed the depths of talent in their gene pools; voters have decided they no longer need comic relief, and so Jeb! is dying on the vine; Hillary, on the other hand, is the manifestation of Democratic ideals of slavery, socialism and just pure ornery meanness.
• Cruz is nothing more than the vanguard of the Canadian invasion of America; it is a long-simmering war between the two countries, based primarily on the fact that Canada got more coastline from the Indians, but America got the prime tourist beaches.
• I still think Marco Rubio will be a 'dark horse' compromise nominee and will ultimately be POTUS, I base this on the fact that his name kind of sounds like Marco Polo, and so folks think of him as adventurous, and able to introduce pasta, coal and asbestos to Western civilization.
• Edward Snowden had to seek political asaylum in Russia from prosecution as a traitor, while Hillary Clinton will likely be the Democratic party nominee, yet they are both guilty of the same crime of letting secrets out. As Mel Brooks says, "It's good to be da king."
• I have only voted for POTUS one time, and that was for Ross Perot, who was the template for Donald Trump, but with a much funnier voice.
• Barak Obama's legacy appears to be that he was such a bad president, the anti-establishment candidate finally won (not since Reconstruction has that happened); That's a long way down; Remember when he was first elected, he was nearly canonized at the same time.
• Pope Francis I lives in a walled city with an immigration policy that only allows passports to be given to Nazis fleeing persecution, and with probably the single largest Treasury on Earth; yet, he dares to comment on US immigration policy and how folks need to give to the poor?  'Let not your right hand know what your left doeth' has gone too far.  Someone please get control of that left hand and quick!
• Does anyone else get the feeling that the UK is like a prom date who keeps teasing with "yes, no, maybe" when it comes to copping a feel at the end of the night?  This Brexit thing has gone on for years and is just completely pointless, unless to tease the EU a bit and show a little power play.
• Indonesia is playing the same game as the UK over TPP, only it has its hand out to China and the US to see who will offer the richest purse for a peek at the goodies; reminds me of the famous quip generally attributed to Churchill, "We have already determined what you are, Madame, we are now haggling over price."
• Have you ever noticed how China operates?  It makes a few incendiary remarks, and then sits back while everyone else fights about it.  Classic divide and conquer strategy, or more appropriately: 分而治之
• The only country on Earth that has a tax system as evil and insidious as the US is Eritrea, and until just recently, the US condemned it for its tax system; a classic case of "do as we say."  Eritrea is near Sudan and Ethiopia in East Africa; Says to me that the US tax code has Third World status.
• Since the world is into wall-building right now, I say we put a wall around the entire Middle East, pull out all foreign militaries and interests, and let them sort things out;  This shit has gone on for far too long and has sucked up far too many of the world's resources over something as meaningless as whose religious books are more nonsensical; when they've finished beating, battering and beheading each other and have got things all sorted out, they can come out to play with the rest of us again.
• In 1969, NASA landed two men on the Moon with equipment less sophisticated than your microwave oven, yet in 50 years the world hasn't been back?  Yup, either the Moon landings were bullshit, or the reasons for not going back are bullshit.  Either way, someone has shoveled an enormous pile of bullshit on the world and guess who gets to clean it all up?
• The US supreme Court (under Article III of the US Constitution) was only supposed to have six justices.  President FDR added three more to overcome the Court's resistance to his New Deal legislation; Justice Scalia's death is a first step in correcting this problem, as long as a new justice is not nominated.
• The US Congress doesn't even trust itself; In the 1960s, the Senate passed a rule that no justices, supreme or otherwise, could be selected in an election year, since politicians are far more untrustworthy at that time than in non-election years.
• It is said that for a hunter to be truly successful, he must become the hunted; thus, Russia has become the global savior and the US has become the dreaded evil empire.
• Suppose there were no countries, just a global collection of home towns and the only international law was that no one could become leader or ruler except in their home town; the towns could all compete for immigrants based on the standard of living and amount of personal freedom each offered; hell, entrepreneurial types could custom design home towns down to the laws of the community and sell property based on how cool it would be to live there; oh, and media outlets in each home town could only be owned by people who lived there, so there would be no global mega-media conglomerates competing to brain-wash folks - propaganda would be limited to each town and wouldn't have much hope of manipulating masses of people.
• Economics is not a science; it is a natural function, just like an individual's bathroom habits; what is a science is how the few manipulate economics to impoverish the many.
• Rulers, leaders, charlatans, and magicians all depend on the ignorance and gullibility of their audience; this means that being educated is the best protection again these kinds of trickery; being educated does NOT mean being an "expert" - those are what we call one-trick ponies; remember Rain Man?  Dustin Hoffman's character was a one-trick pony.
• Al Sharpton announced he would "flee the country" if Donald Trump was elected; it would be worth a Trump presidency to see that happen; I might even move back if Sharpton was gone.

Liar, Liar Nukes' On Fire

Let’s play a game.  Why not?  The whole world seems to be doing it, why can’t we?

Let’s try to cobble up a scenario that can explain the utter failure of multiple redundant safety systems at Fukushima.  We’re talking about not just one or two, but three and four back-ups, not to mention the complete Keystone Kops response on the part of emergency resonse teams.

How is it that one of the (former) largest economies, and arguably one of the most advanced, have come to this point?  It’s too easy to blame GE, or the US, or just plain old bungling.  There’s something much larger at work here.

Suppose, for a moment, that the emergency response teams were not informed about everything they would be facing at Fukushima?  Suppose they walked in to fight a standard battle against run-away reactors, but instead they found a weapons plant out of control?  Suppose they were not remotely prepared for what they are currently facing?  And what would be the signs that would tip us off that this was the case?

To begin with, if this were a standard response to a plant gone amok, there are dozens of protocols and back-up systems in place to adequately take care of the situation.  Sure, there could well have been some radioactive steam released.  Hell, it happens all the time in the States.  They just never tell you about it.

In standard uranium-graphite cores, even in full operation, the chances of a run-away reaction.  In the case of failure of the cooling system, a back-up system kicks in.  If that fails, then the graphite rods are automatically inserted into the core.  It’s a hydraulic, dead-man operation.  It doesn’t require operators or power.

OK, so 60 years ago, Japan has been nuked twice and has surrendered unconditionally.  As part of the deal, they can't keep a standing army, though they can have a small navy and a civilian space program.  They sign a defense treaty with the US, so that if they need a little bombing here and there, the Yanks will come running.

As time goes by, the Japanese decide they want to diversify their power needs.  After all, they have next to no oil and have to import everything.  Meanwhile, the US is playing around in Korea and has their eyes on Vietnam and China, too.  So hey!  Why not kill two birds with one stone?  Give the Japanese some cut-rate GE nuke plants and help them establish a covert nuclear bomb program.  Just hedging bets here.  Six big reactors ought to cover it.  And the occasional minimum-yield bomb could easily be covered as an earthquake.  Who'd look twice?

Oh, and while you boys are at it, you think you could slice off a little of that plutonium so that us Yanks can have a supply that can't be traced to us?  You guys are real troupers!

Well, everything's fine and good.  The US appears to be sticking with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (after all, the US only has one factory, in Texas no less), no one knows about the Japanese program, and the US has a supply of boomers near at hand, just in case N. Korea or China get uppity.

Yoichi Shumatsu has a damn fine analysis along these lines over here.

Everything is peachy keen until March 11, 2011.  Then...what's this?  A 9.0 just off the coast of our cozy little nuke factory, and darned if that isn't a massive tsunami heading for our toys!

Then everything goes to hell.  The safeguards that protect the generators don't do squat for the bomb factory. Not only that, it's chock full of plutonium, which is a lot hotter than uranium, and a lot more toxic, to boot.  The first response is geared towards the "sunshine" part of the project, and it's woefully unprepared for what they find.

While they're busy scrambling around trying to put out fires, the plutonium is getting really hot, but no one suspects it's there.  The Japanese can't admit it, because well, they've been lying about for 50 years, and because the White House is putting a lot of thumbs on them.

After all, it just wouldn't do if we've been threatening to blow up Iran for 10 years because they want nuke power, too, and here we've been letting the Japanese get away with a secret program, and HELPING them with it, for decades.  That would kind of kill the whole program that they've been building up all this time.  It's the centerpiece for all of the US's mucking around in the Middle East, not to mention Israel sitting off in a corner whispering, "Git 'em, git 'em!"

So now we've got a world-class melt-down on our hands.  The US and Japanese can't admit that it was a bomb factory for a thousand different reasons.  Everyone is surprised at how hard it is to stop the plants from blowing up.  Plutonium and dozens of other goodies are scattering to the Four Winds, literally.  Radiation is already showing up throughout the entire northern hemisphere.

And about all they can do is raise the limits on what's considered safe radiation in our food and drink.  I don't mean just raise them a little bit, I mean 10,000x to 100,000x the former limits.  Yes, you read those zeros correctly.  The EPA has already published the new limits in the Federal Register, which is all they are required to to before they start enforcing them, since Americans are too placated on Final Four and Xanax to notice or care.

There, there, sheeple.  Go back to sleeeeeeeep.

Of course, this is all speculative, but the arguements from people a lot smarter than me make a lot of sense.  They also fit the available facts with more precision than anything the MSM and the PTW are saying.

I mean, even I know better than to cover plutonium rods with top soil, fer cryin' out LOUD!

Now they have two choices:

1) Tell the truth (hahahaha hohoho hehehe!) and risk blowing their little schemes that they've spent centuries building up, or -

2) Poison the world with plutonium dust and play the whole thing off like it's nothing and rework the Plan a little to take it all into acount.

Hmmmm...which do you think they are choosing?

What can you do?

Buy all the freakin' silver you can get your hands on...NOW!!!  Spend the change (or use your Liberty Dollars - *grin*) to buy pre-;ackaged food, Berkey water filters, respirators (N-100 rating), and lots of organic heirloom seeds, and ride it out.  It won't take much longer to crash JPMorgan, and the whole House of Cards will come tumbling down.

Then we can get rid of those lying bastards and get back to human-centered life, like it should be.

ORDO AB CHAO works both ways, baby!

Bugs Baradei And Qadaffy Duck Show

Today, we take off the conspiracy glasses, through which we normally see the back-room deals behind the headlines, and put on our history glasses that allow us to see the threads that bind current events to historical trends.

For history buffs, this is one of those fun exercises that put the screaming headline news into the perspective of centuries of history. When we're done, we are better able to see the context of current events and, consequently, the players behind the scenes who are manipulating our reality.

One very fine historian, whom I highly recommend, is Daniel J. Boorstin, who sadly died a few years back. He was a master at showing the common thread of events that lead to current events.

At any rate, let's see if we can't pick up a thread or two in the tapestry of time that will put some perspective on Middle East events.

Over here, we find James I of England, who was cornered by the blue bloods of the time into signing the Magna Charta in AD 1215. This was the first major challenge to the Divine Right of Kings in history. It basically pulled the main support column out from under the absolute sovereignty of monarchs and started a trend towards democratization and constitutional governments.

Next, we pick up the thread of Martin Luther and his commonly-called Ninety-Five Theses. This was a direct challenge to the Roman Cathloic Chruch's hegimony in Europe, and was predicated on the radical new technology of moveable type, used famously by Guternberg to disseminate the Bible in the common tongue to thousands of people.

Like printing the US Constitution, people were able to look in the Bible for themselves and see that all the supposed power of the Holy See was not mentioned anywhere by the Gospels. This was a major blow to monarchical power.

This wave of Rome bashing emboldened Henry VIII to go head-to-head with the Roman church and ultimately declare the Church of England a separate authority, thus throwing gasoline on the fire of the Protestant Revolution (a term composed of the words "protest" and "revolt"...sound familiar yet?)

Luther's challenge was to the concept of 'pleniary' and 'extraordinary' indulgences, which the Roman church conceived whole-cloth out of its supposed supreme power over the Earth. The idea was that one could buy one's way out of 'purgatory' (another made-up concept) by buying or performing indulgences, which vastly enriched the Roman church.

Luther had the gall to point out that there was absolutely no Gospel foundation for either indulgences or purgatory. The people, naturally, were a bit miffed that they had been so deeply misled. Ultimately, this caused the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, which led to World War I.

In World War I, we have this rogue character names T. E. Lawrence, who you may know as Lawrence of Arabia. Though Lawrence was acting of his own volition, the Powers That Be found him to be a useful stooge, as he was leading the disparate Arab tribes to unification under King Faisal, who in turn was friendly to Western powers.

The Western powers, rememvering Hanibal and the Ottoman Empire, had sought for centuries to control the Middle East, which was a key trade route and a hot-bed of growing Muslim power. Being both an economic and religious threat to Western interests, the Middle East was key to diffusing any threats before they reached the outskirts of Europe.

Meantime, over in the Americas, a radical group of thinkers and tinkers had successfully rebelled against the English throne and established a reworking of the ancient concept of 'republic,' borrowing from Roman and Greek political thought.

The success of the American Revolution led to the French getting uppity, followed by the Australians, and finally to Ghandi in India. These revolts were devastating to the British Empire, which today is reeling from the blows, as its economy collapses under the weight of empire without resources.

Since the British Empire, through its naval dominion and lack of domestic resources, had cobbled together nations out of vastly differring cultures, it was vital that the empire be able to project force at a distance in order to maintain these artificial 'nations.' Examples include Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, and others. Without the ability to rape and pillage other continents, England was just a small, insignificant island off the west coast of Europe.

As the British Empire unwinds, after 300 years, so do the many manipulations it has perpetrated on the political world. Just as the Austrio-Hungarian Empire splintered into a hundred different countries (leading to the Serbia-Kosovo war a while back), and the Soviet Empire blew apart into dozens of 'Stans,' so too, the British Empire's death is causing major upheaval in the world.

As we continue pulling the threads, we see two themes coming apart: one is the absolute power of monarchs and the other is artificial countries cobbled together out of historical enemies for economic and political expediency.

The thread of monarchy, begun in 1215, with James I, continues to this moment as Moroccan and Saudi Arabian kings desparately cling to their thrones. The secular version of kings, commonly called dictators, are similarly being overthrown, as the common people begin to perceive 'the man behind the curtain.'

They are also doing a head-count and finding that, gee, there are a billion folks over here, and twenty over there.  Why do they get all the goodies?

One after another, they will continue to fall, just as the British colonies did before them. It is the inevitable outcome of history.

We have seen these same impulses in Asia, as the Chinese dynasties collapsed and the Japanese emporer became mortal again.  Even the Catholic Church is further unwinding as the corruption and decay behind two millenia of absolute rule are displayed for all to see.

The artificial 'nations' forced, like opposing poles of magnets, to come together, are now flying apart. British constructs, such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, Libya, and many others, are again splintering into their historic tribal affiliations.

Similarly, the Holy Roman Empire, reborn as the Austrio-Hungarian, then the Third Reich, and now the European Union, is blowing itself apart. These artifical constructs, based not on cultural unity, but on political expedience, are all crumbling, as the brick and mortar of empire decays.

There has been a major trend over centuries to democratize power and wealth. The masses, tired of the genetic crap-shoot that is monarchy, and weary of highly centralized power in the hands of moguls and bankers, the effects of which are the same, have taken to the streets to wrest power out of the hands of the few and into the hands of the individual.

As we pull all of these threads together, we can start to get a glimpse of the tapestry of history that is unfolding in today's headlines. Though this survey is hardly comprehensive, nor is it exhaustive, it does allow us to see some of the Big Picture, that looks so complicated at the level of pixels, but which make a good bit of sense when we draw back a little.

It's like looking at a Georges Seuurat painting. Up close, we perceive only discreet dots of color, but standing back, we can see hundreds of people engaged in various activities on a Sunday afternoon in the park.

Perhaps a bit of perspective removes some of the fear of current events, though it certainly does not lessen the profound loss of life, nor the major upheaval to the world order. It is the nature of humans to do everything they can to preserve the status quo, while at the same time wishing to change things for the better. This dichotomy within our souls is perhaps the grain of conflict in our outter reality. The impulse for change or not is further motivated by good or evil intent. We must be wary of the motives of those pulling the strings of history behind the wall of illusion we call 'reality.'

Just as Seurat's points of color blend at a distance to create the illusion of an image, or even the way pixels combine on your screen to give the illusion of text, which is further an illusion of abstract thought, we must maintain a broad enough perspective on history so that we are not slaves to it.

Slavery comes in many guises, both from outside and in. The shackles we place on ourselves are no less real than those put on us by others. The key to our freedom is having the proper perspective on things.

Even Death itself fears Knowledge.

Get Hosed! - The Movie

THE MUSIC SWELLS WITH A FULLY ORCHESTRATED MIDDLE EAST FLAVOR, A LA MARICE JARRE'S LAWRENCE OF ARABIA THEME.

THE SCENE: IT'S TWILIGHT IN THE DESERT, SOMEWHERE NEAR 'BFE.' A MILITARY APV IS RACING THRU THE SAND KICKING UP DUST AGAINST A BLOOD-RED SUNSET. THE CAMERA TRACKS AT A TANGENT SO THAT WE DRAW CLOSER AND CLOSER UNTIL WE CAN SEE THRU A SMALL PORTAL. THE VIEW IS AN OVER-THE-SHOULDER SHOT OF OUR HERO, 'HOSED.' THE SCENE TRANSITIONS TO INTERIOR APV IN A FLY-ON-THE-WALL SHOT.

TWO FIGURES SIT ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER. ONE IS AN AGING, BALDING MIDDLE EASTERN MAN IN AN ITALIAN SUIT LOOKING SOMEWHAT UNCOMFORTABLE. THE OTHER IS A NON-DESCRIPT MAN IN HIS EARLY 30s WEARING A BLACK SUIT AND OAKLEY SUNGLASSES. HE HAS AN EARPIECE IN HIS RIGHT EAR.

THEY JOSTLE AROUND A BIT AS THE VEHICLE SPEEDS ALONG.

HOSED: So what I'm gonna do now?

AGENT: Don't worry, sir. We have it all planned out. We're on our way to meet a transport, which will take you to South America.

HOSED: South America! What I'm gonna do there? They already have enough dictator. There's no place for me.

AGENT: We have retirement communities there, sir. Started them after WWII with the Nazis. You'll be quite comfortable.

HOSED: Nazis?! You mean Ich moos shtart shpeaking like dis jetzt?

AGENT: No, sir. It's not like that. There are many former nationalities there, including some of your fellow countrymen.

HOSED: Don't tell me you have ElBadguy there. I can't be in the same place with heem. You think I'm bad, he's worse from me.

AGENT: No, sir. We have other plans for ElBadguy. Now, here's some pocket money (HE SLIDES A LARGE BRIEFCASE ACROSS THE FLOOR), and the envelope has your new identity papers and cover story. We need you to memorize the story in every detail. Understood?

HOSED: How much money for my pocket you have here?

AGENT: There's a million in scrip and another million in gold bearer bonds. Should be enough to keep you going until we can make a show of freezing your assets, and then releasing them again.

HOSED: (READING THE PAPERS) What?! You want I should grow a beard? That's what you do to Saddam before you hang heem. Tell the driver stop, I will take my chance in the desert.

AGENT: Calm down, sir. You'll meet Saddam when you get to your destination. We hung one of his look-alikes. I assure you, he is doing quite well.

HOSED: Bismillah! You guys make good shows. I worry cause he is a friend with Boosh, and I think you don't remember your friend when you clean up your mess. I am friend with all your president since Gimmie. We all have good time together at Camp Dah-feed with that crazy Jew, I forget his name now.

AGENT: Begin, sir.
.
HOSED: That's right, now I remember. We make many good jokes around his name. "Shall we Beh-geen?" (HE LAUGHS)

AGENT: Sir, if I may, we need to talk about the plan. You are being taken to a special compound...

HOSED: What?! You give me special redition now? I see what you guys do to those poor farmers from Iraq. When you finish, they tell you their mother is Ethiopian if you ask them. No thanks!

AGENT: No, sir, it's not like that. You will live in the compound for a couple of years. I assure you, you will be quite comfortable. In the meantime, we will spin your image so that by the time you leave there, the world will see you as an elder statesman and hail your return.

HOSED: Oh, that's what we call the Clean-ton Special.

AGENT: Exactly, sir.

HOSED: How is Billy? I miss heem. We have many good times together in my har-eem.

AGENT: You'll see him where you're going, sir. We can't get him to leave the place. Seems he has a liking for brown girls.

HOSED: (LAUGHS) You tell me this?! The man is like camel in heat! We must put salt peter in the ice cream when he come.

AGENT: (LOOKS OFF) Yes, sir, we know.

HOSED: My family will be safe, yes?

AGENT: Don't worry, sir. Your sons are safe in London. We gave them cover jobs as taxi drivers. No one will notice them. Your wives have been given to the mob, as you requested, and your youngest daughters went straight to the Vatican, which was your agreement for safe passage.

HOSED: Good. My daughters are already 5 and 8. I worry if too old for the Vatican, but they tell me just right. So, I'm happy. (PAUSE) Wah! I almost forget George! How can I forget! He will kill me if I forget! You have follow my instructions, yes?

AGENT: Mr. Sore-ass received his...gratuity, sir. He is quite happy and sends his regards. He will come to check on you in South America after you get settled.

THE APV GRINDS TO A HALT AND THE REAR HATCH POPS OPEN. WE CUT TO EXTERIOR SHOT AND AS THE DUST CLEARS, WE SEE A GLEAMING G-4 PRIVATE JET WARMING UP ON A DESOLATE AIRSTRIP IN THE MIDDLE OF BFE. ARMED DARKWATER GUARDS STAND IN A CIRCLE AROUND THE AREA AND A 'SUIT' COMES OUT OF THE PLANE TO GREET 'HOSED.'

SUIT: Hosed! My old friend, how are you? Didn't get a scratch did you?

HOSED: Bammy! You come to meet me personally? The is big surprise!

BAMMY: Well, I couldn't let you think all that bad press about our relationship was true. You and I go back a long ways.

HOSED: Yes, yes, habibi. I remember when you come for training with the Company. You were so young then. I remember this like it's yesterday.

BAMMY: It WAS yesterday. (THEY BOTH LAUGH) OK, Hosed, I've arranged everything. You'll have a very nice villa in the mountains. You buddy Saddie is there. He lives just a few doors away. You'll have to share the harem, of course, especially when Bill comes down for vacation.

HOSED: Yes, yes, nothing new there, I think. What will be my new job?

BAMMY: Don't worry about that. Sore-ass and ElBadguy have things well in hand. You'll lay low for a time, while we spin your image. The Company will put someone even worse than you in The Seat, so when the time comes, you'll come out to return in triumph to broker the new leadership. We've been doing it for years.

HOSED: Yes, I see. You guys are very good at it, I think.

THEY ENTER THE PLANE TOGETHER. CUT TO INTERIOR - PLUSH WITH FOUR LEATHER RECLINING CHAIRS AND A SCANTILY-CLAD STEWARDESS OF INDETERMINATE NATIONALITY.

HOSED: (INSPECTS STEWARDESS) Bammy, Bammy. You know I like blonde, yes, but you bring me this one for such a long trip? She look like one of my wives!

BAMMY: Sorry, Hosed, but we're stocking your private reserve at the villa, so we were a little short on your vintage. I trust you can make do for 12 hours?

HOSED: I will find the way, I think. (THEY LAUGH)

BAMMY: Ok, Hosed. Sorry to be so short, but I have to jump on Air Farce One and get over to the planning session for the Iran invasion with our old fiend, Nuttin'-yahoo.

HOSED: Ah, Nuttin'-yahoo. Give him my salam, yes? I will miss him so much. He is close habib, you know.

BAMMY: I will, Hosed. Now get out of here before the Google Earth bird flies over. Last thing we need is more conspiracy theories. (THEY LAUGH) We'll be in touch. And don't worry, your Swiss account is safe. We shut it down and did a full accounting. You should be getting an email with the balance sheet any time now. The gold will be moved to your sovereign account at the World Bank in a couple of days.

HOSED: You're good man, Bammy. I never forget you, you know. You are like my own son, only darker. (THEY LAUGH AND KISS ON BOTH CHEEKS) You come to visit me, yes?

BAMMY: Of course! My retirement villa is just across the village from you. Don't worry!

HOSED: Ok, my friend, good enough. And don't forget our little joke, yes?

BAMMY: (LOOKS CONFUSED FOR A MOMENT) Oh! You mean, "Hu's on first?" (THEY LAUGH)

HOSED: That's it!

CUT TO EXTERIOR AS A LONE, SUITED FIGURE EXITS THE PLANE, SILOHUETTED AGAINST THE SETING SUN, WHICH STREAMS BENEATH THE BELLY OF THE PLANE, CASTING LONG SHADOWS TOWARDS THE CAMERA. THE ENGINES' PITCH CLIMBS AS IT TAXIS AWAY FROM THE FIGURE, HIS COAT FLAPPING IN THE WIND. THE FIGURE MOTIONS TO AGENT, WHO COMES TO HIS SIDE. WE CUT TO A TIGHT TWO-SHOT SO THAT FIGURE'S FACE FILLS THE RIGHT FRAME AND AGENT'S EAR FILLS THE LEFT FRAME.

FIGURE: Don't screw this up. The plane goes down right after refueling at the Canaries. Who's flying?

AGENT: Garcia's got it out of NORAD. We retasked two birds to have redundant coverage. Don't want any debris on land.

FIGURE: Good. I really hate that bastard. Get ElBadguy on the phone and let's get out of here. I'll be eating sand for days.

CUT TO A WIDE SHOT OF THE PLANE LIFTING OFF INTO THE SUN, SHIMMERING HEAT WAVES TRAILING BEHIND IT.

THE MUSIC SWELLS, SAME THEME AS THE OPEN, BUT WITH AN OMINOUS FEEL.

FADE TO BLACK.
DreamHost promo