The beginning is near.
Run for the valleys for there is no time to repent
There is only time to applaud

For the Play has not yet begun
We must praise the actors for their stunning
consideration of the script, despite
the fact they will not preform it

A Baptizing wind of of un-religion
will flow through wiping the smiles from the weeping
and placing them on a precipice full of unthinking statues
Creating a blasphemous Easter Island chimera of Teeth and Noses.
A dedication to the last living souls foolish enough to pray to them both.

The beginning is coming
A trick of words that will make you trip into a run
stumbling over and over again till you finally trip again
Falling straight into a sunday morning saunter
because you were running downhill the whole time
And only smooth valley slopes offer such forgiveness.

we program ourselves into our children. each generation is just creating new vessels for, and versions of, themselves. and the more creative* we are the more people there are. and the more destructive we are the less people there are. this is the way of things

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*the word “creative” is used here in the literal form (as in to create) and should be stripped of all it’s positive connotations. the same applies to the word “destructive.”

It’s not mystical
It’s just statistical

January 16, 2009.
Wes Crew was working at the S.E.T.I. institute’s radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. It was 5:23 am when all the machines started going crazy. Wes awoke from his catnap.

“What the hell?” he thought to himself, “Probably just another military spy plane.”

Meanwhile, back in America…
Much had happened in the past ten days. Gerry Briar asked congress to grant him temporary control of the country until the situation was resolved. Congress was under republican control, and they granted him the power he so desired. Of course someone sued the government claiming that their right to a fair democratic election had been violated.

Smith vs. The United States of America went before the supreme court on January 15, 2009. Briar, having appointed 2 of the justices, and most of the rest being republicans, won the case. Many Americans were unhappy with this ruling, they felt that their rights had been violated. There were the makings of a serious uproar, but a huge distraction occurred the next day that dominated the news: first contact with an alien race had occurred. We were not alone in the universe.

People on earth didn’t know how to react. Everyone went nuts, this was the biggest news story ever. The coverage was round the clock. Headlines saying “WE ARE NOT ALONE” were on the front page of every newspaper in the world (on page two, in small type, you could find “Briar to Maintain Power”). The message was indecipherable; was it a stray alien T.V. signal? Or perhaps an intentional message beamed out into the stars in the hopes of finding some other life form, someone else to talk to. What ever it was it was nearly indisputed as originating from an alien life form.

The signal was coming from Albireo, a double star system 385 light years away. We didn’t know yet what they were saying, but the Alberians were talking to us.

It had been a long, dirty campaign. Henrietta Rhodes Crenshaw had fought a tough battle against Jebediah Brier. Jebidiah was the brother of Gerry Brier, the current president. Their family had something of a modern American dynasty going on. Gerry Brier senior had been president for four years. He was the predecessor to Bob Crenshaw, Henrietta’s husband. He was president for eight years. It’s a little disturbing how all the presidents of the past 20 years came from only two families, and the next four were to as well. They claimed it was a democracy but it was clearly not so. Only the rich and powerful were elected, the system was corrupt. But I digress. Henrietta had won the election, she was to be the first female president in the history of the United States, and Bob was to be the first first man.

Henrietta Rhodes Crenshaw was dead eight weeks later. She was killed along with her running mate. They were at a celebratory rally and a bomb went off, killing 8 people and wounding 42 others. People suspected the republicans, and indeed the evidence might have been incriminating had the FBI bothered to conduct a real investigation. The official word from the Brier administration was that it was a cowardly act of terrorism.

People weren’t sure what to do, no law had been written for this contingency. The president and vice-president elect had been killed two weeks before inauguration day. All the people who were supposed to be next in line were appointed officials, and none of them had been officially appointed yet. The country was in chaos. No one knew who was going to be in charge after January 20th. But the date was fast approaching and a decision had to be made…