FRIEND: hey man...how's it goin???  wanna here some interesting info on dean kamen that won't be found in the news reports??? i got a scoopr for ya...
BARDSQUILL: ok
FRIEND: ok.  i work with a guy who is the former c.f.o. of baxter/travenol...a huge medical industry player...well, in the late eighties, at the request of his brother who is a big time oncologist, kamen developed a portable, personal infusion device for diabetics, etc...i'm sure you know this part of the story...
BARDSQUILL: yep
FRIEND: baxter got wind of this and decided to buy kamen's company...my friend negotiated baxter's side of the deal...
FRIEND: they paid him $20 million...over ten years ago...alot of dough...
FRIEND: here's where it gets weird...
FRIEND: baxter held a board meeting where they signed the deal...and kamen showed up in combat gear...fatigues, utility belt, big leather army boots, etc...
FRIEND: back then business meetings were quite formal...especially if you were inking a @20m deal...
FRIEND: but anyway, they got the deal done...and get what he did next...
FRIEND: he bought an island.
FRIEND: in long island sound...off the coast of long island, ny...
FRIEND: and then he renounced his us citizenship.
BARDSQUILL: Jeez, King Kamen
FRIEND: no shit.  he declared independence from the usa and started his own 'country' on this island...
FRIEND: invited some people and created a legislative and judicial organization...even a military...
FRIEND: bought 3 tanks and had them sent to the island...
BARDSQUILL: so are we at war with the land of kamen?
FRIEND: now i don't know if he still owns the island, or what the status of his citizenship is, but he sure is a strange bird...and not a big fan of the u.s. gov...at least he didn't use to be
BARDSQUILL: seems to be in his fortress now
FRIEND: yea, in nh, right?
BARDSQUILL: heard his IT, is not a vehicle, using that for cover, but instead might be a mind-computer interlink.
BARDSQUILL: but then his many projects might be getting confused
FRIEND: well, i find it highly doubtful that ginger really is as earth shattering as they are stating...more likely pr...the real good stuff never makes it to the street...never.  gets quashed.  but hey, i'm an hopeful cynic...would be great if it helped get us out of our rut...
FRIEND: hah!
BARDSQUILL: he does have that iBot, wearable wheelchair already publicized, he even climbed the Eiffel Tower wearing it.
FRIEND: yep, i read that.  i've been up there.  it's a long way up.  bizarre.
BARDSQUILL: something like that
BARDSQUILL: bearden catching legit interest with his overunity experiment
FRIEND: about freakin time...
FRIEND: oil barons must be shakin like the chinese at tianenman...proly gonna try to throw a monkey wrench in...like a nice convenient world war...
BARDSQUILL: lord knows what tech is out there, our interface with what's there probably 50 years behind
FRIEND: agree fully
BARDSQUILL: great scoop about king kamen
BARDSQUILL: will troll it out there in rant-format
FRIEND: thought you'd enjoy...i'll be in touch...later...
BARDSQUILL: The Internet screwed old money interests bad enough, that's why they have seized the reins to try to plug up future shock tech that will relegate them to ordinary folks.
BARDSQUILL: somebody ought to just mass produce ten thousand antigrav harnesses and get them all flying at once on a single day.
BARDSQUILL: inauguration day

FRIEND: oh yea, one more thing about kamen...the people on his island all went by historical names...abe lincoln, geroge washington, charles degaulle, etc...