184 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
184 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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Underground eXperts United
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Presents...
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[ Blackstone Rising ] [ By Sarlo ]
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____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________
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Blackstone Rising
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By Sarlo
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The eyes. Everyone is struck by the fire that blazes in
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Nicholas Blackstone's dark eyes. Businessmen see in them a
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beacon guiding them to wealth and glamour. Politicians see a
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torch illuminates their own names. And others see it a flame
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that burned their houses down and left them out on the
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street.
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Right now, those eyes are looking out towards the
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ocean from Blackstone's Pacific Palisades home, and they do
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not like what they see. A young family of four have made
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themselves comfortable on his private beach: the children
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toss a frisbee while the husband prepares to swim. "I can't
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believe this," says Blackstone. "Don't these people read
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signs? Well, they'll get what's coming to them." This proves
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almost immediately when, seemingly out of nowhere, a shark
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appears and bites the man clean through. Blood fills the
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water, screams fill the air, and Blackstone smiles grimly as
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he sips his Bordeaux. "It's a tough world," he says.
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And Nicholas Blackstone may be the toughest denizen of
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that world. For his is - or claims to be - Satan, "The
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embodiment of evil, that whole trip," in his words. As such,
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he has compiled an enviable record as the ultimate hard-
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charging, behind-the-scenes operator, a man always present
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at the biggest deals and the most fashionable parties.
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Indeed, many among the wealthy, powerful, and famous count
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on him as the most valuable friend they have, a seductive
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man in tune with the times to an uncanny degree.
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But, like many accomplished people, Blackstone is
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dogged by critics who accuse him, with varying degrees of
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substanation, of letting loose violence, famine, and
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hopelessness around the globe, and find him insensitive to
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the pain he causes.
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One such person is Hector Rodriguez, a homeless man who
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defaulted on his ren after being stricken with leukemia.
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Huddled in the doorway of an abandoned building on New Yorks
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unattractive Lower East Side, his purpleish mouth contorting
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with unreasoning hate, Rodriguez curses Blackstone, who
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admits to having arranged Rodriguez's fate as part of a
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wager. "Why, Man? That's all I got to Ask, Why?"
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(Blackstones reply has been unchanged since his role in the
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affair was first revealed: "Why did they climb Everest?
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Because it was there.")
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Blackstone's work on larger canvasses has also come
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under attack - whether the charges can withstand closer
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examination or not. For example, some liberal activists have
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accused him of receiving a profit on every nuclear weapon
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made: in truth, the profit kicks in only if they are used.
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He also has been linked to the "Greenhouse Effect", without
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much evidence. "That's a ridiculous charge," counters
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Blackstone. "I don't even OWN a car. Although I will say
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that, in my opinion, the `Concern-for-Nature' fascination has
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gotten out of hand - I can do business now matter WHAT color
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the air is, and I know a lot of people who feel the same." It
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is the characteristic response of a blunt man who professes
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to be indifferent to his reputation.
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"Hey, I INVENTED Social Darwinism," says a confident,
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serene Blackstone as he opens another bottle of Bordeaux. "I
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never promised there wouldn't be a Down-Side. If I'm such a
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bad guy, why do people keep calling on me?" Yet as he
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continues defending himself, one get the unmistakable
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impression that, behind the bluster, Blackstone may not be
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the unfeeling monster his opponents - with their skillful
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use of the "Satan" tag - have made him out to be. "Okay, so
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an innocent bystander gets hit in the head with a
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ricocheting bullet and is cut down in his youth. I mean, how
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do you think >I< feel? That guy's dead - I have to live with
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the knowledge of his senseless extinction forever. I only
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wish it could be otherwise."
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When questioned further, even people like Hector
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Rodriguez are forced to agree. "Maybe I deserve all this,"
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says the homeless man as a passerby spits at him. "I
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remember that I did some dancing on Sunday once. When you
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think about it, he's just doing what he's gotta do."
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But it is a Blackstone who is sensitive to the needs
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and concerns of others that his friends and supporters talk
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about warmly. Again and again, they refer to the many people
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he has lifted out of obscurity to the highest positions in
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their fields, always noting that he asks for nothing
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material in return. These include everyone from Political
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figures - on the right AND left - religious leaders, and an
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enviable string of the world's most beautiful women. (In
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fact, his latest Lady Love, British cabinet minister Rachel
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Ann Simpson, is all three) For these movers and shakers,
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Blackstone's identity as Satan is not enough reason to
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abandon a man who has done so much for them. While they
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admit that he has been guilty of "Overzealousness" and that
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he may have "a cruel streak," they claim on a whole, he has
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been inaccurately portrayed in the media.
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"We understand that, as a purely malign presence, he
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makes a good copy," says his current publicist, Mark
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Bergman. "You know, witches being burned on his account, the
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Holocaust, and so forth. But what reporters don't see is
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that these stories really hurt him personally. We think
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it's time to tell out side of the story."
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Hence a new campaign to court the press. Reporters who
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were once brushed aside or afflicted with boils, are now
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welcomed and told of Blackstone's extensive one-on-one
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philanthropy. "All you have to do is call on him, and he's
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there," says Simpson "That's what happened to me." Simpson
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was working a London topless bar when she wrote Blackstone a
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letter detailing her plight. "Just a few phone calls later"
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- in his words - she received simultaneous invitations to
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enter the Episcopalian priesthood AND the Conservative
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Party, and now, two years later, she sits happily by his
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side in custom-designed Geoffrey Beene vestments. And what
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does she think about Blackstone's habit of discarding
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intimates by causing them to kill themselves? "I think this
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time it'll be different. He's assured me, privately, that
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he's really changed after all these centuries. He realizes
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that the smile on a kid's face after his first Black Mass is
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just as precious as a Million-Dollar deal," says the woman
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insiders think will be the next archbishop of Canterbury.
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Blackstone seems uncomfortable hearing statements like
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these. After a pause, he says, "I feel I've ALWAYS been a
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people person. Helping someone attain his or her goals - if
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they truly want them - I think that's what Nicholas
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Blackstone's all about." But with characteristic reticence,
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he declines to go further. "Talk of motivation makes me
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uneasy. I'd rather be judged on what I do."
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Indeed, for all this outward pride in his thick skin,
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Blackstone is a man driven by a fundamental need for
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respect. "For a long time, my treatment at the hands of the
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media was a record of distortion, but I put up with it," he
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says, those dark eyes flashing. "Now, though, the time seems
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right for a change. I'm tired of people blaming me for their
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misfortunes. They should take responsibility for their own
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lives! It doesn't matter if you're poor or crippled or
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starving - if you can't overcome your fear of success, you
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deserve what you get."
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Blackstone has never had any such fear. And, as you
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spend more time in his hypnotic presence, the source of his
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impressive can-do achievements becomes obvious. For Nicholas
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Blackstone, alias Satan, life begins with a simple belief:
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have faith in yourself. He has gained access to the halls of
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wealth and accusations from petty-minded detractors who call
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him "the Author of Evil." According to his friends, the
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greatest evil is that he is misunderstood.
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___________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________
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