IBO - Brian R. Lundin (100 books to read in a lifetime .txt) 📗

white package of Winston Cigarettes sitting invitingly on the table and he was tempted to take one out, fire it up, take a few drags and put it out, what harm could a couple of drags do? However, as he reached for this seductress, the words of Doctor Milstoon came to his mind,
”Mr. Vice President, you have been smoking for over thirty years and x-rays reveals that your lungs look like those of man in his seventies, not in his late forties. If you want to live to be, fifty, I strongly suggest you quit now or at lease cut down. Smoking is not helping in reducing the risks of seizures because of that beating you got as a young man and it may be counteracting the medicine you have been taking for years. I know that tobacco addiction is very strong and powerful and quitting is hard, but you must. Recent research is exploring whether the tobacco companies are purposefully adding chemical that affects the brain-reasoning center. This research suggest that this chemical make the brain question all the medical research on the dangers of smoking and actually tell the brain that smoking is ok, it not going to hurt you, be aware of that when you are tempted to take a smoke.”
The vice president resisted the urge and in his loneliness concentrated on the televisions, his only other companion. It was a large room, on an opposite wall from the televisions were bookcases containing fiction and non-fiction hardbound books. His favorite books were: books written in German concerning German history, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and historical novels mainly about the wars the United States had been involved in. There was a large mahogany conference table surrounded by twelve brown leather chairs. The most dominant item in the room was a life-sized hand painted picture of his mother and father that hung on the wall directly behind a large mahogany desk. The desk contained a red phone with a speaker attachment, a direct link to the President of the United States, a computer, a Rolodex and a polished wooden name plague that read “Senator Reginald Warren, Sr. In ornate picture frames on a large table were photos of his smiling father with past presidents of the United States and other countries.
In another room, called the control room, were five Secret Service Agents who monitored the security computers that were linked to hidden cameras and listening devices throughout the property. Since the signing of his bill concerning the camps, Warren had received numerous death threats and one actual attempt on his life by a distraught black mother who has twin’s sons had been sent to the Disciplinary camp. A Secret Service agent shot the woman to death and over his objections; he was given additional Secret Service protection by the president. His Secret Service Detail also had installed an electrified fence around the house and there were motion sensors throughout the property. An underground concrete bunker had also been built underneath the house.
The old house contained many happy childhood memories for Warren; he remembered sitting in the study talking with his father or helping his mother with the gardening, the constant vigilance of the servants, cooks, doorman, and maintenance workers who all seemed like his boss and Mrs. Hoss, his German tutor. He had made few changes to the property that was over forty acres since the murder of his parents. There were seven bedrooms, all with their own bathroom and he had a house staff of ten people who maintained the house and the grounds and lived with their families in the five guesthouses, because Warren very seldom had any guest.
Wearing brown silk pajamas, he appeared to become one with the large brown chair. It was late, after midnight and it was a warm Arkansas night. The cool breeze blowing through the window was tinged with the unforgettable fragrances of the dainty white clusters of Lily-Of -The-Valley and the multi-colored carnations that were planted under the window. He was watching CNN, his favorite news show, although some critics of the program though the program was too far left, the vice president liked it, especially its anchor, Chris Tolver.
As a child, Chris was sickly. While still in his mother’s womb he had contracted a viral infection that the doctors were able to control but resulted in him being born with his right leg one half inch shorter than his left, which he compensated for with specially made shoes. The infection had stunted his growth and he was very short, almost a midget and thinned built. He was very dark and had bad skin. He wore double bi-focal wire rimmed glasses and his hair was pre-maturely grey, but what he lacked physically he made up for in intelligence. Chris had a quick analytical mind, a deep baritone voice and a warm and friendly personality. He was very dark skinned and had what was called a “sleepy” right eye.
He was an only child and had been raised by his mother Gloria. His father, John had been killed in an automobile accident when he was three years old. His mother was deeply religious and they attended church every Sunday. They attended the New Salem Baptist Church and he often asked God why he was born so different from the other boys. He asked his mother once and was told it was God’s will, he never asked again. He graduated with honors from Fort Wayne high school and the University of Notre Dame with a Master’s Degree in Journalism. He tried to avoid politically labels. He did not consider himself a liberal or a conservative; he was a reporter, his job as he saw it, was to be objective in reporting the news, although he had strong feeling towards poor and neglected people. He attributed this attitude to his experiences in his early childhood were he the subject of cruel childhood jokes and ridicule’s He sometimes wept when he saw pictures of starving children in Africa or the emancipated bodies of survivors of the holocaust.
He was an avid angler and a tournament chess player. He spent the little free time he had reading western novels, where he pictured himself as the John Wayne character saving the isolated frontier family from the savage redskins or leading his troops up the hill in a heroic attack on the enemy.
Warren first met Chris three years ago when he was the Senior Senator from Arkansas and was the guest on his show; the topic was the new law mandating the re-education camps. The news show opened with Chris seated behind his desk commenting on a video clip showing the camps.
“Good evening, this is what’s happening in our world today,” Chris said, his standard opening lines.
“Our guest this evening is Senator Warren, Jr. the Senior Senator from Arkansas and the sponsor of the controversial “Camps Bill.” Good morning sir,” Chris said.
“The way I understand your bill is that there will be three camps; a Re-Education Camp, a Re-Indoctrination Camp and a Disciplinary Camp. Let’s start with the Re-education Camp; can you explain what that camp is like?”
“The Re-Education Camps will be for young people with no known gang affiliations or arrest record. They will be located within fifty-miles of a large city and easily accessible by trains or buses, which will allow for visits by friends and families weekly. The “students,” as they will be called will attend classes based on their educational needs. Our research has shown that over ninety percent of blacks and Hispanic youngsters cannot read or write. That is due mainly because they drop out of school at an early age, so they will take basic reading and writing classes our research also showed that over ninety-five percent of Hispanics could not speak English so their focus will be learning English. They will live in dormitory type buildings and will be required to wear uniforms.”
“This seems a little bit unfair, these young people hasn’t done anything wrong, they just fall into the age bracket, is that fair?”
Chris asked.

“I don’t think that fairness is an issue here, Chris. The issue is how do we protect the American public, how do we keep our streets safe for the millions of law-abiding citizens.”
“Ok, let’s move on to the Re-Indoctrination Camps, what will they be like?”
“The Re-Indoctrination Camps will be more restrictive. These camps will house young people with known gang ties and criminal records. Young people who are a threat to our society. Young people who have committed crimes and are known gangbangers and drug dealers. They will live in barracks and their training will be of a technical nature and they will be allowed visitors once a month.”
“Lastly the Disciplinary Camps?” Chris asked.
“The Disciplinary Camps will be for the hard core gangbangers and drug dealers, and the young people who have caused trouble at the other camps. The emphases at these camps will be on discipline and control. There will be no visitors or educational training and will be staffed by armed United States Marines. The youngsters at these camps are the main terrorists that are threatening our country. These youngsters are the gang leaders and top echelon drug dealers.
These are the people who intimidate or lure the youngsters at the other camps into the gangs or drug business. These are the people who are the most dangerous to the peace and tranquility of our country and they must be stopped by any legal means available.”
“Well I guess we will have to wait to find out if your plan work senator, thank you for coming.”

Chapter 51 Vice-president Warren turned the volume up on the television, settled back, and watched the show. He guessed that Chris was maybe in his late forties and during the interview, he wore the standard anchor outfit: a dark sport coat, white shirt and dark tie.
”He is probably wearing shorts,” Warren mused to himself.
“Tonight, we have a special report on the controversial Re-Education camps. As you know in an attempt to reduce the ever escalating crime wave associated with drugs and gangs a new law, sponsored by now Vice-President Reginald Warren.Jr was passed requiring all blacks and Hispanic males between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five to report to the camps located in the southwest. At first, there was a lot of protest from mainly the black and Hispanic communities and other civil right groups, but the results speak for themselves. Since the enactment of the new law, violent deaths has dropped from one violent death every three seconds to zero, that is a right friend, zero. According to the FBI Crime Information Center, for the first three months of this year, there have not been any violent a death, that is something, isn’t it? No homicides in this country in three months wow.”
The cameras panned the live audience of the show who were mainly white and were clapping. Warren took another sip of his drink as Chris continued,
“In preparation for this broadcast we visited one of the camps in Trinidad, Colorado, where we interviewed staff and “students,” as they are called, stay tuned.”
At this point, a commercial advertising male enhances drugs came on.
“Good time to take a piss break,” Warren, said to himself.