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&&&¤¤%=«-¨ #¨¨¨««««««««¨¨¨# ¨-«=%¤¤&&&
###&¤%=«-¨ ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ ON EARTH (THE PLANET WHERE I LIVE) A ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ LOT OF US HAVE ANTENNAS ON OUR HOUSES ¨-«=%¤##
#¤=«««-¨¨¨ OR BALCONIES, WE HAVE BUILT LARGE ¨¨¨-«««=¤#
###&¤%=«-¨ ANTENNAS FOR LARGER BANDWITH, WE HAVE ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ BUILD SPECIALIZED ANTENNAES FOR ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ SPECIFIC WAVELENGTHS (AND SENT THEM ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ INTO ORBIT), WE'VE BUILT LARGE AS FUCK ¨-«=%¤##
##¤=--¨¨¨¨ ANTENNA ARRAYS ¨¨¨¨--=¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ WE'VE VIRTUALLY BUILT AN ANTENNA WITH A ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ DISH AS LARGE AS EARTH. ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ ¨-«=%¤##
#&%=-¨¨¨¨¨ WE'VE LEARNED ABOUT OUR POSITION IN THE ¨¨¨¨¨-=%
###&¤%=«-¨ SOLAR SYSTEM, OUR SOLAR SYSTEMS ¨-«=%¤##
&&%%=«-¨¨¨ PLACEMENT IN THE GALAXY, AND OUR ¨¨¨-«=%%&&
####¤%=«-¨ GALAXYS PLACEMENT IN THE LOCAL CLUSTER, ¨-«=%¤####
###&¤%=«-¨ AND «OUR« LOCAL CLUSTERS PLACE IN THE ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS ¨-«=%¤##
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####¤%=«-¨ VELOCITY AND THE SUNS MOVING AROUND THE ¨-«=%¤####
###&¤%=«-¨ CENTER OF THE GALAXY AT VELOCITY AND ¨-«=%¤##
#¤%«---¨¨¨ THE GALAXY IS MOVING TOWARD ANDROMEDA ¨¨¨---«%¤#
###&¤%=«-¨ AND WE'RE BOTH MOVING ANTICLOCKWISE ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ AROUND THE GALAXY. AND WE AS A SPECIES ¨-«=%¤##
&%=-¨¨¨¨¨¨ HAVE LEARNED TO TAKE ALL THAT IN ACCOUNT ¨¨¨¨¨¨-=%&
###&¤%=«-¨ ¨-«=%¤##
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&&%«¨¨¨¨¨¨ (CLICHE) BEAMING OF FUCKING STELLAR ¨¨¨¨¨¨«%&&
&&&¤%«--¨¨ RADIO PROGRAMMES OUT IN FUCKING SPACE ¨¨--«%¤&&&
#¤=«-¨¨¨¨¨ AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT (LIGHT IS OUR ¨¨¨¨¨-«=¤#
###&¤%=«-¨ MEDIUM! GOODSPEED YOU, BLACK EMPEROR!), ¨-«=%¤##
&&¤%==---¨ DESPITE GHOSTS HELPING AND THE ¨---==%¤&&
###&¤%=«-¨ COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS LOWPASS ¨-«=%¤##
&¤%%=-¨¨¨¨ FILTERING, DESPITE OUR VERY OBVIOUS ¨¨¨¨-=%%¤&
####¤%=«-¨ BEAMING OF ALL OUR SECRETS IN EVERY ¨-«=%¤####
&¤%==«--¨¨ DIRECTION KNOWN TO US, ¨¨--«==%¤&
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###&¤%=«-¨ ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ MOST OPPONENTS TO INTELLIGENT LIFE IN ¨-«=%¤##
&&&%=-¨¨¨¨ THE UNIVERSE SAY IT'S BECAUSE YOU NEED ¨¨¨¨-=%&&&
###&¤%=«-¨ A CLASS ONE-OR-THE-OTHER STAR AND THE ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ PLANET NEEDS TO BE AT A SEE-AND-SO ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE STAR (LIKE THERE ¨-«=%¤##
##¤%=««--¨ HAS TO BE A PLANET!) ¨--««=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ BUT REALLY ISN'T THAT KEEPING THE ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ DEFINITION OF LIFE REALLY LAX? ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ ¨-«=%¤##
###&¤%=«-¨ I THINK EVERYONE AGREES THAT WE HAVE NO ¨-«=%¤##
####¤%=«-¨ IDEA WHAT WE'RE DOING (AND IT PROBABLY ¨-«=%¤####
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###&¤%=«-¨ #¨¨¨««««««««¨¨¨# ¨-«=%¤##
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###&¤%=«-¨ I'M GONNA GO SMOKE MY THIRD CIGARETTE ¨-«=%¤##
#¤¤=«---¨¨ THIS YEAR AND TRY TO SNATCH SOME BEERS ¨¨---«=¤¤#
###&¤%=«-¨ FROM THE LOCAL BEER THING ¨-«=%¤##
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