Today we bring you a story about capital punishment and revolution. It was written by Mr. Andrew Gabriel Rose and it is called "Father Amargosa, the Bitter Priest."

You should read this story immediately. Don't "bookmark it" or "make a mental note to read it later." It is short! It will take you two minutes!

Check it out, though: if you don't have the energy to read a two-minute short story, Andrew wil READ IT TO YOU, and I will work the magic lantern machine.

ACTION TEAM GO-SQUAD READY SET GO!



This is our first attempt to publish a story using all possible internet vectors. We have text, audio, video, art, and every ebook format. In an age where anyone can put anything up on the internet any time for free, this seems like the minimum responsibility for a "publisher."

The internet is a will machine. Publishers these days must be will amplifiers for controversial voices.

"The Bitter Priest" is a story about control and spite. It is about how injustice creates more injustice. It is about how evil comes to life sui generis, like Baron Munchausen pulling himself out of the water by yankng on his own hair.

"The Bitter Priest" reminds me of one of my favorite true stories about death in prison, the spectacular death of William Kogut.

From "10 Strange Death Rows":

"William Kogut was on death row at San Quentin, but was never actually executed. In a note, he stated that only he should have the right to punish himself for his crimes, and so he committed suicide in a remarkable way."



"He had decks of playing cards, a pipe, a broom, and a kerosene heater in his room. He tore the packs of playing cards to shreds, taking the pieces with red ink. At the time, the ink in these cards contained nitrocellulose, which is flammable when wet. He stuffed these into his pipe, then crammed a broom handle in behind them to plug the pipe."

"He then poured water through the other end of the pipe, which soaked the card pieces at the end into an explosive mixture. Finally, he put the plugged end against the kerosene heater in his room and the empty end against his head, creating something not unlike a shotgun. The heat from the heater turned the water to steam, causing an explosive pressure build up that helped ignite the nitrocellulose solution. This in turn caused an explosion that actually shot pieces of playing cards through his skull."

Some people always have to do things their own way.

These people write good fiction.

Posted by miracle on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:06:13 -0500 -- permanent link