SKYSCRAPER HEAVENS

The title of the book is Skyscraper Heavens.  Those two words came together before dawn the morning of December 31, 2014.
The Skyscraper is a male-dominant image, a phallus, a corporate, higher than you, conception of engineers, developers and heads of law firms, banks and insurance companies, to name a few. It also has a history [See “Tower of Babel”Genesis 11:4 et seq.], the necessity of shared resources of a unit or firm [e.g. a library or intelligence unit], The World Trade Center Attack, Manhattan, New York City, New York, September 11, 2001, as well as to objectify in concrete, glass and mirrored terms the concept of professional success in the industrial era [see Marcuse, Herbert The One Dimensional Man (1964); see also the history of modern hi-rise design perhaps beginning with the Eiffel Tower], but design engineering is not a central theme of the underlying work, also known as Installment 77 at https://johnrubens.wordpress.com, nor of this work.
The dialogue in Skyscraper Heavens seeks to create a mosaic which reveals ideally Marcusian dialectic themes of “opposition” and “containment” by interspersing it against the backdrop of a 1978-1980 revolution.
Prologue:
When I was a student at Warren College, one of a cluster of colleges at the University of California at San Diego, I took a job as a janitor, cleaning dorm rooms during the transition from Spring to Summer Quarter in 1980. One day, I was browsing the cork bulletin board at the Student Center in my spare time and came across a 3 x 5 inch flash card soliciting a ghost writer for a book about the Iranian Revolution. American hostages were still being held in Tehran at the time, and being a Lit./Writing major, I took down the phone number on the card and contacted ‘M’ for the first time. ‘M’ was a newly arrived resident of the United States, a former professor and the Director General of Educational Research of the National University of Iran, Tehran (1966-1978); we started work on the book in San Diego on July 7, 1980.
I was so happy working on a book about a major media event I remember riding my brown Schwinn ten-speed all the way from La Jolla to the Marine Corps Air Station—Miramar. Stardom was just over the next hill, or so I thought. That was thirty-five years ago. We worked almost every weekend for a few hours and then his wife would cook an Iranian dish for the family which I was always invited to once we were finished working on the book. It often got hot and steamy in the dining room at dinner time, and that meant quitting time. Mrs. ‘M’ smiled as we relinquished the dining room table back to her. The whole family was called in from the other rooms in the house and we would sit down together at a big round table adjacent to the kitchen to enjoy each other’s company during the delicious supper prepared just for us.
The book was originally submissed for publication to a half-dozen publishers in the winter of 1980-1981 under the title The Iranian Revolution: Iran’s Struggle with a New Father. Although I did not find a publisher willing to take on the responsibility of publishing such a controversial work at the time, I did get two encouraging rejection letters, one handwritten simply stated the work was not their “cup of tea.” Again, this cup of tea is currently located at the blog johnrubens.wordpress.com under the title Installment 77: An Account of ‘M’ [Call No Man Father] copyright July 8, 2014. ‘M’’s son wrote me in 2014 telling me that his father sold the story he told me to an unidentified buyer for “not much money” after I left the San Diego area.
The names of the people, places and institutions in the following work of historical fiction have been changed to protect the innocent and a few conjectures added due to the benefit of revelations gained from continuing education and the added perspective from the mere elapse of time.
Prelude:
“Call me Khalid. I’ve got a story to tell you about the Baugi Revolution, or what I remember of it, but I’ll begin by relating some of the major political events that transpired some twenty-five years before that in the early 1950’s. These 1950’s events had a direct bearing on the seminal stirrings of revolution that took hold in 1978-1980 era the remnants of which still exist today.”
Father May I?
“Doctor Rahmat, a populist, led the people of Baug from 1950-1953 as their Prime Minister. He supported inclusive government but his administration became increasingly criticized because the population of Baug was disjointed and spread out over a large geographical area. The metropolis of Tealandir was the governing seat of Baug. As its Capitol, rulings from Tealandir affected every Baugi, even if they lived thousands of miles away. Many grew dissatisfied with life in Baug, and opponents of the Rahmat Administration became openly vocal about the incessant compromising that had to be done to mollify every stakeholder and citizen of the country.
“For their part, the huge oil companies of United Corporate [UC] could not stand Rahmat’s laissez-faire government and decided to overthrow him with a coup d’etat. UC supported the coup because they wanted to install a former leader of Baug named Amir, back to lead his dictatorial government. Such an installation would allow UC greater influence in the ways and means of petroleum procurement. The Amir Administration would be hailed as a model of the Common Concept of Mutual Interest [CCMI] between Baug and UC, which had been strained for as long as anyone could remember.
“A slender, scrappy and determined individual named Jahan I met in the courtyard outside our mosque told me the logistics of the 1953 coup d’etat were spear-headed by the Central Wombat Agency [Wombat] of Sargon in conjunction with the disaffected youth of Baug. He said in the ‘first salvo’ buffeting Rahmat, demonstrators shouted taunts, degrading his name while alternatively lifting praises to the Amir day throughout the day and night. The relentless derogatory chants and Rahmat’s misplaced trust in the lawfulness of the assembly allowed the demonstrators to overcome Rahmat’s Guard and enter his compound. After a brief struggle, Wombat’s people seized Dr. Rahmat and transported him to prison to await his fate once Amir’s government was firmly established in Baug.
“The success of the coup made Amir’s return to power imminent. Another rival of Rahmat’s government, the Emilians to the Southwest, concealed Amir and his extended family in order to preserve an opportune moment for Amir’s emergence and return to the Imperial Throne of Baug as His Eminence. For his part, Amir was grateful and indebted to his Emilian benefactors, and planned to lead Baug to an alliance with them and their Western allies. The designs Amir had envisioned before the last great world war, to lead a land of skilled and educated peoples as one nation could now move forward to fruition, or so he thought.
“Jahan soon introduced me to his first cousin, an attractive medical doctor named Jaleh. They looked alike with their black straight hair and tanned complexion, but while Jahan was wiry and surprisingly brutish for his lean frame, Jaleh was supple and compassionate. We were in Baug to investigate the Baugi revolution which began in the 1970’s on a grant from United Corporate. They provided us with a stipend and the essential materials, including a scrutinized expense account to conduct our research. Sometimes Jahan would fill me in on what he knew about the revolution and other times it was Jaleh, but increasingly, we used secondary sources such as DVD’s. Sometimes we would listen together and discuss what we heard and saw, other times we operated separately. The work would have been boring if it didn’t feel somewhat like a television episode of Mission Impossible. Although we were directed to destroy the DVD’s once ‘consumed’ I never did.
Let’s Flashback: Why Rahmat’s Government Was “Troublesome”
“What I have so far on the history of Baug that Jahan told me was that the Rahmat Administration gave Baugis a sense of freedom and liberty that they hadn’t had for decades. His Administration was modeled after democratized nation-states such as Sargon of the Continent of Kir and Jahangir of the Continent of Bahar. In those two democracies, citizens were allowed to retain certain inalienable rights allowing them to think and act on their own initiative and to speak out loud what they believed to be true. These freedoms were upheld as rights protected by the Baugi Constitution until the coup toppled Rahmat’s Administration in 1953.
The Bahram Party
“The numerous political parties which existed in Baug during Rahmat’s rule were allowed to co-exist and thrive in accordance with the concept of free-will embedded in the Baugi Constitution. The lax attitude in the regulation of social discourse however, created an opportunity for the Bahram Party to disrupt the delicate balance which shaped Baug and maintain the peace within its borders. The Bahram Party was determined to destabilize ‘peace’ in Baug at whatever cost, and to overthrow its opposition, whoever that might be, at any given time. During periods of unrest, Bahram was able to make inroads at fracturing the confidence Baugis still had in their free democratic Constitutional society.
“The Wombat Agency, as one might expect, did not like Rahmat’s tolerance of Bahram Party members. Bahram distributed pro-Xerxes [communist] propaganda with bravado aimed primarily against Sargon. The leaflets and tracts lambasted Sargonian foreign policy and its ‘imperialistic’ motivation to dominate the vital interests not only of Baug, but of the entire developing world, and the populace of Baug was paying at least some attention to the materials distributed. Bahram supported the leading communist nation Xerxes as well as other nations of the world less technologically advanced than Baug. It opposed Sargon’s influence and that of its allies operating within Baug’s borders.
“The Bahram Party continued to gain popularity under Rahmat until Sargon took action to counteract their propaganda drive. The Sargonian decision to dissolve the Bahram Party was two-fold: 1) to diminish its influence in Baug and 2) once the Bahram-Xerxesian influence waned, Sargon could reestablish its access to Baugi oilfields without public unrest [Sargon and Jahangir were effectively shut out of the Baugi oil industry because it was determined by the Rahmat Administration the two juggernauts were not paying a fair price for Baugi petroleum product].
“Yesterday I, Khalid, had tea with Jahan at a small café in Tealandir. The café was filled with wicker chairs and teakwood tables stained with the residue spilled sweeteners and dark infusions. Jahan said Rahmat started planning an oil embargo as soon as he assumed power in 1950 because that was the central theme of his campaign platform. Until Sargon and Jahangir paid a fair price for Baugi crude oil, Rahmat would continue to embargo their access to it.
“Many Baugis were very sensitive to oil-interested politics in the early 1950’s. Between 1951 and 1953, oil production in Baug was at a virtual standstill because the service contracts between Jahangir and Baug to extract and distribute petroleum were seen by influential Baugis as unconscionable. For instance, it was widely publicized that Jahangir only paid royalties of 16% of the profits it made on Baugi oil. For their part, Sargon bankers were driving inflation higher as the price of crude and the myriad products that relied on its production, refinement and distribution escalated.
“In response to Baugi’s oil embargo of the early 1950’s, Jahangir gave the Rahmat Administration an ultimatum: either relent and end the embargo or suffer naval occupation of the Baugi Gulf (with all the implications of a ‘blockade’). The Baugi populace reacted tout de suite [Fr. immediately]: they told foreign oil businessmen and technicians in no uncertain terms they were no longer welcome in Baug. The Baugi’s natural petroleum resources they had been exploiting since the turn of the 20th Century could no longer be accessed by the West. After the mass expulsion of the Western oil interests, Rahmat set out to nationalize oil.
“Once the oil sector in Baug stabilized, foreigners would again be able come to work in Baug, but solely for the nationalized program, not for oil companies under Jahangir’s jurisdiction. Jahangir’s workers, primarily engineers, did not like working for Baug’s nationalized petroleum industry because they were being told how to do their jobs despite their expertise and their Baugi superior’s lack of it. Not wanting the disrespect of being treated like second class citizens in a foreign country subject to the dictates of a state-controlled bureaucracy, disgruntled oil industry workers complained to their sovereigns and Jahangir’s government persuaded their foreign nationals to abandon their positions and leave the country. Baugi national engineers and technicians did not have the expertise to run the petroleum industry in their country without outside help and the industry fell into disarray. If that was not enough, no one was buying Baug’s crude oil product due to political pressure from Jahangir. Jahangir made a spectacle of Baug’s ‘breach’ of its contract with them and sued them at the International Court located in Fairhausen, a city in the Western Alliance States [WAS]. The way Jahan told it to me at the café, the Jahangiris relied too much on their outspoken political persuasiveness and economic clout than by the nuts and bolts of contract law enforceable by the Court. They thought the situs of the Court being in WAS would aid them in a decision favorable to them, or at least more favorable than the current state of affairs. Nevertheless, the International Court ruled in favor of the Baugi Government, not them.
“The ruling was based on the fact that Jahangir began exploiting Baug’s petroleum resources under alleged contracts that were not produced at trial by the Jahangir, and Jahan told me, ‘the Baugis allegedly did not have copies of the agreements to enter into evidence.’ The Court went on to point out that Baug had won a hard fought independence from Jahangir and was no longer a colony of its Empire but a sovereign nation. As such, a sovereign nation not only has the right of self-determination, but the means to ensure that right. The Holding of the Court: Baug had the sole right to all mineral resources located beneath the ground of its territories. Although the Baugi government asked for restitution, it could not prove a theft of its sovereign natural resources over the preceding sixty years. Since neither Baug nor Jahangir produced copies or originals of any ‘agreements’ the two sovereigns allegedly had been working under since Baug’s independence as a State in the late 19th Century, neither did the Court retroactively nullify said ‘contracts’ but did nullify any ‘alleged agreements either of the two countries may have thought they were working under going forward subject to the instant judgment of the Court’.”
As Jahangir Recedes from the Baugi Oil Picture in the mid-1950’s, Sargonian Oil Companies Step Up Negotiation Efforts to Win Contracts in Baugi Petroleum Interests; Baug’s Perception of Sargon as Influentially Treacherous
“Initially, Sargonian Oil Companies supported the Rahmat regime. Former Sargon President Parry West Troopman was sent as an Ambassador to Baug to discuss possible oil trade with Rahmat’s Administration in 1953. Sargon’s Acting President, though a rival of Troopman, knew it was important to send a ‘balance by imbalance’ message to Rahmat. A rival diplomat of high regard sent to meet with the Baugi Prime Minister meant Rahmat would have to be on his toes—all ten of them, in order to discern what this show of enthusiasm from Sargon, an ally of Jahangir, indicated for Baugi business concerns.
“For his part, Rahmat wanted to aggravate Sargon, but at the same time continue to sell and ultimately transport oil to them. Jahangir meanwhile urged all their allies in WAS, not merely Sargon, to boycott Baugi oil in order for their economy to suffocate. Baug suffered severely from the boycott, but did not implode. Its oil production slowed to the point they could barely supply their own people with fuel and Baug’s inability to produce that surplus oil for export acted as a catalyst to their already rising inflation and huge trade deficits.
“The Bahram Party relished the fact that Rahmat was in a bind, after all, they wanted to rule Baug in his place. On the issue of oil exports, the Bahram Party actively opposed Rahmat’s suspension of oil exports to the West and provoked public outcry over the policy. Soon thereafter, Rahmat’s once adoring public was demonstrating in the streets of Tealandir. In 1953 era Baug, Rahmat needed money more that the ‘West’ needed oil (the War in the East was also winding down, creating a slackening demand for product). Rahmat, determined to ultimately sell more oil to American oil companies at a higher price, set about to quell Bahram-inspired rumors and retain his composure, after all, the plurality of Baugis still admired his steadfast political objectivity, honesty and manner.
“Sargon and Jahangir continued to have radically intertwined economies despite their mutual disengagement with Baug. Both countries had and continued to have identical vital interests in Baug– Rahmat ‘blinked’. He was forced to sell oil to Sargon’s oil at their prices because some of his major domestic political antagonists were impatient with the rising inflation and lack of revenue from oil, by far Baug’s primary natural resource and source of income. If that was not enough, Xerxes did not approve of the Rahmat regime either. Along with Sargon and Jahangir, the former allies of the last Great World War devised a plan to boycott Baugi oil even if it was offered to them for sale below market. The three-way solidarity was enough to ensure an economic depression in Baug at the time.
“Hello fellow traveler, I hope you’re enjoying the story, there isn’t much sex, but a bit of religion and violence lies ahead. Khalid here, the sumptuous Jaleh told me once that Xerxes was like the player who likes to wait for the odds to improve at the black jack table before betting big or a clearance sale at the marketplace before buying, all the while checking the opposition as if in an ice hockey game to keep their competitors off-balance and assure their capitalization of the special circumstances. The collusion of Sargon, Jahangir and now Xerxes caused a material change in the world order adverse to Rahmat’s Administration. Their unity not only diminished Baug’s economic security and frustrated Rahmat’s trade strategy with the West, it deprived Baugis of a prosperous life.
“The Bahram Party in line with their Xerxesian overlords stepped up efforts to disenchant and launched ad hominem misinformation campaigns against Dr. Rahmat, including rumors he was a ‘puppet of Sargon’. Like bees buzzing around his head, Rahmat’s adversaries began to overwhelm him. Divisive domestic and Western factions alike attacked him for crippling the Baugi economy with his ‘out of touch’ trade policies. Inflation, along with the civil unrest that followed it, was the ‘Achilles heel’ that led the populist leader straight into a prison cell.
“As the trade embargo was finding its feet, an Emilian ship loaded with Baugi oil was seized by the Jahangir Navy in the Kasparian Ocean. Political tensions immediately heightened between Jahangir and Baug and Sargon, for its part, sought new methods of gaining access to Baugi oil. The ‘new methods’ apparently were working in tandem with their allies of degrees, Xerxes and Jahangir, measured by the loyalties they shared in past wartime allegiances.”
JASPER HOSSEIN AMIR SHAHRAZ [hereinafter Referred to as “Amir”]
“With three super-powers and global commercial interest shutting Prime Minister Rahmat’s government out of the world economy, Jasper Hossein Amir Shahraz [Amir] sent a Declaration to Rahmat informing him he was deposed of his authority and that General Arman would assume the office of prime minister. Rahmat would have none of it. He had just won his case on Baug’s entitlement to all natural resources beneath the earth’s surface within its borders at the International Court in Fairhausen and wanted to parlay that victory into something greater. He had some clout left, at least in the eyes of developing nations around the world. He could appeal to the United Patrons and Matrons [hereinafter referred to as UPM].
Prime Minister Rahmat had it figured right this time. Amir’s Plan A, a mere Declaration of Claim, backfired and the royal contender to Rahmat’s populist government was forced to leave the country, first to neighboring Dilshad to the west of Baug , and later south to Emilio, in fear for his life. However, within three days Amir and his close associates arranged Plan B: a plot to overthrow the Rahmat-led government. Amir’s flight to Emilio provided a diversion for General Arman, who was also in hiding, to arrange the coup against the Baugi National Front [BNF], Rahmat’s political party. Rahmat continued to maintain if not enjoy a large following in Baug due to the fact that Amir and his associates were afraid of how Baugis and specifically how city folk in Tealandir might react to the coup [also known as ‘General Arman’s Plot’ or GAP].
The principal and most vocal opponent of GAP was the Bahram Party, who had been growing progressively stronger under Rahmat’s Administration. The main supporters of GAP, according to what I heard from Hussein, a poly-sci professor at Tealandir University, were Sargon, Jahangir and Xerxes. General Arman acted as a go-between, peacemaker and benefactor to those three nations as he maneuvered strategically toward attaining the political office of the Prime Minister of Baug under an Amir-led government. In exchange for the beneficial status General Arman awarded the three super-powers, Sargon, Jahangir and Xerxes in turn agreed not to interfere with General Arman’s Plot or stage a meddling counter-coup once the effective takeover of Baug was accomplished by Arman.
“Up until 1953, of the major world powers, Jahangir had the most regulatory influence in Baugi trade matters. As the year passed, American diplomacy and persuasiveness won out as did General Arman in the coup of ‘53. Jahangir had two basic objectives in Baug: the first and foremost was the dissolution of the Bahram Party and its entrenched propaganda machine. The other, once dissolution of the Bahram Party was effected or nearly certain to transpire, Sargon could fill American oil tankers with lawfully purchased Baugi oil and redistribute it to them. To achieve these two Jahangiri objectives quickly, strategically and efficiently, Sargon promoted the concept of re-introducing Jasper Hossein Amir Shahraz, who’s family had formerly sat on the throne of Baug, as its Royal Head of State.
“Oh man, this stuff drains you? Drains me too and I’m not done yet, nowhere near done. In fact, the story has only just begun. Yeah, it’s your storytelling stranger Khalid. I hope to make your actual acquaintance someday dear reader. Maybe I wasn’t clear in detail about how the 1953 coup was effectuated. I reiterate next.”
THE COUP D’ETAT: 1953
“A rabble of pro-Amir demonstrators, led by twenty-one Baugi military officers, staged the coup which was organized by Sargon’s Executive and its Wombat Quick Squad. Some of the twenty-one officers overseeing and/or carrying out the rebellion were enemies of Rahmat held in Baugi prisons at the time. After the success of the coup, Rahmat was thrown into a prison cell, and the internal Baugi officers that helped orchestrate the coup were set free.
“The Bahram Party told its members and officers that a new Baugi government must be formed as soon as possible so that General Arman would not have the time to consolidate power in a military dictatorship. As far as the communists were concerned, anarchy and revolution were preferable to having all the authority with Arman or anyone else. Bahram had a plan of their own which did not include Amir, Dr. Rahmat or General Arman. The communists intended to ‘fatigue the new government,’ until an opportune moment would set the stage for a subsequent uprising. In this way, they would not have to ‘double-cross’ their comrades in Xerxes who were temporarily allied with ‘the West’ at the outset in the 1953 coup. Xerxes planned to allow the Wombat-devised coup to go forward and seize control of the Baugi Government subsequently, at their discretion. Bahram Party organizers wanted to install a leader who could be manipulated while consolidating their Party’s political power. In 1978, the Ayatollah Babak was to become this individual.
“Around the same period, a network of communist military officers were discovered accidentally by General Arman’s government. A specific officer was apprehended carrying a suitcase with the names of 1200 people that had infiltrated the Baugi military service. Six hundred of the names found were part of a conspiracy of anti-Amir military officers ranging from lieutenant to colonel [hereinafter Sr. Officers]. The names of the other six hundred soldiers [hereinafter Jr. Officers] were written down in a complicated code. A major in Arman’s armed forces, distinguished as an expert code breaker, was called in to decipher the names of the Jr. Officers found in the briefcase. Unbeknownst to Arman, the code breaker he commissioned was a communist infiltrator who took the codes of the 600 Jr. Officers and fled the country, never to be found again. Fear and intrigue prevailed in the wake of the disclosures that a Baugi Major left the service of the country. Since the identities of the 600 Jr. Officers remained unknown, the secret police and informants later investigated the case in an attempt to uncover their true identities. Communist influence seemed to pervade daily life in Baug, but such was the case in almost every country of the world in 1953. Even in Xerxes, its leader Moussa Payam was said to be livid with rage at his daughter’s defection to the West and was nearly as totalitarian and brutal as he was during the era of his dissident purges.
“The Amir’s personal guard was not without its defectors. One morning before the last Great World War, Amir found a derogatory note next to him when he awoke and knew he could have been murdered that night instead of merely threatened. That incident shook his confidence so much he was visibly shaken when he appeared in public. Due to the circumstances that surrounded the coup and the warning letter, Amir was suspicious of all of his allies, even his closest friends. Il etait raison [French: “He had good reason”]. What was not as apparent perhaps, was Arman’s transfer of power back to the Amir after the coup.”
AMIR TAKES THE HELM OF BAUG
“Along with the six hundred Senior Officers that were arrested by General Arman’s forces, the Baugi Government arrested several communist politicians. Of these, forty were executed and the others imprisoned. The strong military response of Amir and Arman frightened Baugis. The aggression was seen as a totalitarian gambit and short- term strategy utilizing martial law; yet, unlike before, there were no protests over the government’s consolidative action. It was under these coercive circumstances that the Baugi oil pacts with the Western powers and Sardonian oil companies were ratified by Baugi Parliament. Baug’s Parliament decided that eight major concessionaires from different nation-states should undertake the production and sale of Baug’s oil. Rahmat’s government, and his goals for Baug were successfully suppressed and a new regime would begin to greet the populace with different goals and ideals to focus upon—and it pleased Amir’s Western benefactors.”
MAJOR PETROLEUM CONCESSIONAIRES FROM SARGON
“The major concessionaires of Baug’s oil resources were based and/or headquartered in Sargon and paid taxes to them. General Arman made a deal with Sargon’s oil companies and was awarded a foundational fee of 60-70 million dollars to use as he pleased. In the new Baug-Sargon oil contract, 51% of the net oil profits belonged to Baug, while 49% belonged to Sargonian oil companies that owned the concession. Sargon was the Principal and responsible for exploration, feasibility studies, production, sales and distribution, including associated storage and transport of the petroleum product(s) and could deduct these expenses from the gross revenues.
XERXES BEARS GIFT
“In the early 1950’s, Xerxes wanted the ouster of General Arman at any cost. In an act of goodwill, they returned eleven tons of gold it had acquired from Baug during the last Great World War. Although former Prime Minister Rahmat had demanded return of the gold while he was yet in office, Xerxes did not oblige him with the transfer at that time. Now that circumstances had changed with plans for the timing of the coup fixed, Xerxes hoped the ‘gift’ [return] of the gold would help ease relations between the two countries before the leadership change-over. Baug had the wherewithal to invest in the infrastructure, labor and expertise needed to reinvent itself again as a world leader. Xerxes’ gesture of good faith in returning the disputed gold made Baug’s ‘investment in the future’ program worthwhile.
“Although Baug did indeed become enthusiastic about the gold returned by Xerxes to its sovereign soil, trade relations between the two stalled. Sargonian and Jahanjiri concessions were already paying top dollar for Baugi oil and Xerxes could not compete with their bids. Rather, Xerxes temporarily took a ‘backseat’ to their former allies in regard to Baugi oil exports. Xerxes made it clear they would not interfere with the West’s arrangement with Baug if and only if assurances were first promised that Xerxes would receive some future benefit advantageous to its vital interests in the region (e.g. wheat from Sargon, most-favored-nation trade status, future oil contracts or defense treaties). A “divide and conquer” strategy was replaced by one of bargain and compromise—a cold war of global trade. The understanding was ‘We’ll let you have your way this time but you better make sure we get ours next time or were taking it.’
“Khalid here again. The publisher wants everyone to read this book! Why after thirty-five years would I want thousands of readers to read about a revolution so current they made me change the names, places and institutions it refers to? My own mother finds it confusing. Some dude from Fallus Sextus told me his father told him, ‘If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.’ Others on social media add, ‘If you don’t enjoy what you do, don’t do it.’ Still others, university intelligencia from the West Coast of Sargon say, ‘Just do it.’
“Khalid is here to tell you what Jahan told me: war is tricky business. So here I am plugging along with this account where the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Money does talk and whether you are a multinational corporation or a sovereign nation, you have to back up what you say or have hell to pay. You may end up in clown’s gear like me, in prison or dead. Sarkis Reuben has an interest in a company that will delete your history so you can start a new one. Look him up on the internet. Of course, his name has been changed for purposes of this book, but maybe he’s appeared by now, like #SlenderMan. You get the idea. The name of the company he promotes and invests in is called #Cybercrust. His company will turn your history to dust in the blink of an eye. Whether you are a multinational corporation, a university, a sovereign nation, one of its agencies or departments, or just an individual like you or me, you can wipe out what you’ve said in the past for whatever reason and start fresh like an absolved sinner. So now you don’t have to back up what you may have written or said in the past. It’s not relevant anymore. ‘New day, fresh start’ as my stock guru the gentle pirate told me time and again. ‘Arrrr mates’, it’s a great time to be free on the open seas.”
BARGAINING WITH THE BIG GUYS
“Negotiations with the Middle East in the early 1950’s became the precedent for a new type of agreement between the superpowers of the Sargon, Jahanjir and Xerxes with respect to Baug. Xerxes conceded to Arman’s policy in order to focus its attention in other areas of the world, such as Rosana, its southeast neighbor. Xerxes felt that the Northern Rosana government, an assured acquisition of theirs, could do their bidding for them against South Rosana, without getting their own hands ‘soiled’ by war. Once Xerxes found a sympathetic group to do their bidding for them, there was no reason why they should not prioritize the aid they give to comrades abroad in order to overcome their mutual enemies.
“In Baug itself, the situation was not as clear-cut in regard to Xerxes’ influence within its borders. Those that opposed a communist state outnumbered those who wanted one; that was the pluralistic sentiment. But like a boat in rough water, Baugis were unsure what their Baugi neighbors favored as far as public policy or governmental structure(s). What the plurality did agree on was they wanted change. Change was the only mantra they had any assurance in.
“As a result of the foregoing, Xerxes did not interfere with Baugi trade during the early 1950’s or threaten it with coercive tactics that would ‘rock the boat’ now being captained by the ‘West’. No, Xerxes was determined to ‘wait it out’ for the appointed time when they could tell Sargon and Jahangir, ‘Our turn now–move out of my way!’”
AMIR AND THE FOUNDATION OF HIS SECRET POLICE FORCE O.I.H.S.B.
“In 1958, Wombat established a secret police force (secret service) for Amir called the Organization of Information and Homeland Security of Baug (hereinafter referred to as OIHSB). OIHSB was established to maintain order and keep the power in the hands of its ruler, Amir. OIHSB used totalitarian techniques and used totalitarian methods to achieve political stability. This Unit would be known to capture and detain anyone who opposed the State or who displayed dissatisfaction with the new regime.
“There were several groups of individuals, Jaleh said there were probably several khalqs, or ‘militias’ or ‘gangs’ who opposed Amir. The different types of organizations, or ‘groups’ with differing views on Amir were: 1) the Baugi National Front, or BNF of which Dr. Rahmat was a party member and who was imprisoned when Amir seized power successfully after the 1953 coup d’etat, 2) the Communist Party, aka the Bahram Party and 3) Clerics (i.e. the Ayatollahs). Amir used his secret police force OIHSB to suppress all these ‘groups’ from interfering with the State (sic) of Affairs (sic) in Baug.
Arrival of Skyscraper Heavens due out Fall, 2015

Compilation Copyright John Rubens, ‘M’
Curator: John Rubens
Credits:
Pontifex, UT San Diego, UC San Diego, Eternal Word Television Network [EWTN]\
March 13, 2015