If we're going to have a funny PM, I'd rather it was John O'Farrell so it's at least a funny PM I sympathise with politically.
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes III
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If we're going to have a funny PM, I'd rather it was John O'Farrell so it's at least a funny PM I sympathise with politically.
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A quick and dirty wish-fulfillment Wikibox, based on my favorite LDS Apostle taking a different turn in life.... Basically, he moves to the US a little earlier, gets into politics, and ends up defeating Bob Bennett in the 1992 Senate Race, with a moderate yet populist campaign. No connection to my earlier Wikibox TL.
(And I still messed up at cropping the box. Oh well).
(And I still messed up at cropping the box. Oh well).
Not so bad, I hope. I plan to start from the beginning, which should be the 20s or 30s sometime.
Unable to Kerry On: New Hampshire primary
Following his surprise win in Iowa, John Edward surged in the polls against Howard Dean, with some even theorizing that if the surge continued, he could beat Dean in Vermont. However, Edwards' numbers began to sink back down as the Iowa Caucus receded, and in the end Dean won a strong victory in New Hampshire, although not quite as strong as he'd hoped. Dean gained enough delegates to tie Edwards with each having 25, to Gephardt's 11 and Clark's 5. Dean was ahead overall due to superdelegate support, although Edwards had gained several superdelegates after his victory in Iowa and was closing the gap.
As for Wesley Clark, the general had managed a strong third place in New Hampshire, impressing many who'd written him off after not competing in Iowa. One of the only three candidates who'd gained enough support to win delegates there, Clark got a burst of media attention after New Hampshire. Polls showed that he gained more after the primary than Dean. Joe Lieberman had underperformed, and failed to cross the 15% threshold to win any delegates. Gephardt's fifth place was embarrassing, but the former minority leader still had more delegates than Clark, and he decided to soldier on despite declining finances and polls.
Following his surprise win in Iowa, John Edward surged in the polls against Howard Dean, with some even theorizing that if the surge continued, he could beat Dean in Vermont. However, Edwards' numbers began to sink back down as the Iowa Caucus receded, and in the end Dean won a strong victory in New Hampshire, although not quite as strong as he'd hoped. Dean gained enough delegates to tie Edwards with each having 25, to Gephardt's 11 and Clark's 5. Dean was ahead overall due to superdelegate support, although Edwards had gained several superdelegates after his victory in Iowa and was closing the gap.
As for Wesley Clark, the general had managed a strong third place in New Hampshire, impressing many who'd written him off after not competing in Iowa. One of the only three candidates who'd gained enough support to win delegates there, Clark got a burst of media attention after New Hampshire. Polls showed that he gained more after the primary than Dean. Joe Lieberman had underperformed, and failed to cross the 15% threshold to win any delegates. Gephardt's fifth place was embarrassing, but the former minority leader still had more delegates than Clark, and he decided to soldier on despite declining finances and polls.
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Liking the series so far. Interested in how the rest of the primaries and the general election turn out (and hopefully beyond if you plan to take this further).
Clarence, 1st Avatar of the Mississippi, is one of the most famous natural avatars in the United States, if not the most famous. He has remained the Avatar of the Mississippi for more than a century, and at the ripe old age of 136, he is the sixth oldest human alive, the second oldest man and the oldest American. Despite his advancing age, he remains in fine health and he still makes frequent public appearances--though even the most casual observer will note that the number of appearances has been decreasing over the past several years. As the most senior of all the natural avatars, Clarence is seem as something of a godfather or spokesman for them all--though in recent years, there's been a few younger ones who've attempted to become the public face of the avatars. His primary shrine is located in the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in New Orleans, Louisiana, and he has additional shrines in St. Louis and Davenport, with more than a dozen minor shrines along the length of the river.
Clarence was born Clarence Germaine Freeman in East St. Louis, Illinois, at the close of the 20th century. Raised in poverty, his father was a struggling cook who bounced from job to job while his mother was a retired musician who raised eight children on her own after her husband died in a car crash when Clarence was 10 years old. Clarence managed to graduate from high school, but was drafted into the U.S. Army during the closing years of World War III. His entire family was killed in 2019 when the Soviets nuked St. Louis. After the war, he mustered out of the Army and slid into depression and alcoholism before finding God and Columbia. He became a youth minister for a Columbianist temple in the ruins of St. Louis, eventually graduating from St. Louis Community College with an associate's in communications.
Clarence was already a local preacher of note when the Treehuggers zeroed in on him as being the natural avatar of the Mississippi River. He was enthroned as the avatar in 2034 and consecrated in 2035. He took his duties very seriously, making very frequent public appearances and public speeches. Music education and food security were his primary focus, and it's estimated that he's raised more than $10 billion for his various charities and foundations in the past century. He has since expanded his charity efforts towards flood relief efforts (not just in the Mississippi but across the United States and beyond) and prostate cancer research. He sits on the boards of a variety of charities and foundations, including Points of Light, Ford Foundation, Pacific Council and the RAND Corporation.
As a natural avatar, a variety of myths and legends have sprung up around Clarence. There's been a whole slate of films, serials, radio dramas and TV shows about him. In the past few decades, the natural avatars have been integrated into Universal's American Experiences' overarching mythos. Clarence himself has made a variety of cameo appearances as himself, but never in major roles. A popular and recurring segment on NBC's The Tonight Show with Bruce Huxley features Clarence attempting to play recently released video games. Over the years, he's been linked romantically to different actresses, singers, fellow avatars, nymphs and belles, but has remained unmarried. He's fathered two primary groups of nymphs, the Mississippides and Louisianades, who serve as nymphs, bells and shrine maidens in various protected areas along the Mississippi. He's sired other progeny who've gone on to famous careers as entertainers, actors, athletes and politicians.
In recent years, Clarence has also become something of a well known theologian and philosopher, but he's strayed away from outright politics (aside from supporting various voter registration drives and get-out-the-vote campaigns). He has a particular focus on ethics and the philosophy of religion. He's written exhaustively on how the teachings of Jim Jones and early Columbianists intersects with modern society. His most recent encyclical Building a Great Architect covered the problem of evil and affirmed the inherent deism of Columbianism. Because of this, he's at the forefront of the modern Columbianist apologetics--he recently completed a multi-year fellowship at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. He is a frequent guest on Columbia's Guidance, a long-running syndicated radio talk show hosted by Cornell Booker which covers religion, politics and pop culture.
Clarence was born Clarence Germaine Freeman in East St. Louis, Illinois, at the close of the 20th century. Raised in poverty, his father was a struggling cook who bounced from job to job while his mother was a retired musician who raised eight children on her own after her husband died in a car crash when Clarence was 10 years old. Clarence managed to graduate from high school, but was drafted into the U.S. Army during the closing years of World War III. His entire family was killed in 2019 when the Soviets nuked St. Louis. After the war, he mustered out of the Army and slid into depression and alcoholism before finding God and Columbia. He became a youth minister for a Columbianist temple in the ruins of St. Louis, eventually graduating from St. Louis Community College with an associate's in communications.
Clarence was already a local preacher of note when the Treehuggers zeroed in on him as being the natural avatar of the Mississippi River. He was enthroned as the avatar in 2034 and consecrated in 2035. He took his duties very seriously, making very frequent public appearances and public speeches. Music education and food security were his primary focus, and it's estimated that he's raised more than $10 billion for his various charities and foundations in the past century. He has since expanded his charity efforts towards flood relief efforts (not just in the Mississippi but across the United States and beyond) and prostate cancer research. He sits on the boards of a variety of charities and foundations, including Points of Light, Ford Foundation, Pacific Council and the RAND Corporation.
As a natural avatar, a variety of myths and legends have sprung up around Clarence. There's been a whole slate of films, serials, radio dramas and TV shows about him. In the past few decades, the natural avatars have been integrated into Universal's American Experiences' overarching mythos. Clarence himself has made a variety of cameo appearances as himself, but never in major roles. A popular and recurring segment on NBC's The Tonight Show with Bruce Huxley features Clarence attempting to play recently released video games. Over the years, he's been linked romantically to different actresses, singers, fellow avatars, nymphs and belles, but has remained unmarried. He's fathered two primary groups of nymphs, the Mississippides and Louisianades, who serve as nymphs, bells and shrine maidens in various protected areas along the Mississippi. He's sired other progeny who've gone on to famous careers as entertainers, actors, athletes and politicians.
In recent years, Clarence has also become something of a well known theologian and philosopher, but he's strayed away from outright politics (aside from supporting various voter registration drives and get-out-the-vote campaigns). He has a particular focus on ethics and the philosophy of religion. He's written exhaustively on how the teachings of Jim Jones and early Columbianists intersects with modern society. His most recent encyclical Building a Great Architect covered the problem of evil and affirmed the inherent deism of Columbianism. Because of this, he's at the forefront of the modern Columbianist apologetics--he recently completed a multi-year fellowship at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. He is a frequent guest on Columbia's Guidance, a long-running syndicated radio talk show hosted by Cornell Booker which covers religion, politics and pop culture.
How many "major" Avatars are there in the United States? I know you've spoke before about their place in general American society, but how many are as prominent as His Holiness Clarence?
Well it's a good thing we have a high-ranking member of the heavenly establishment here, don't we?
Thanks!
The popularity/notability is an avatar correlates very strongly to the popularity/notability of their natural feature. So the more popular ones are your popular national parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, what have you. Prominent natural features like the Mississippi or the Great Lakes (the Great Lake avatars are always quintuplets). Locations that are more infamous than famous (i.e., the various national cemeteries and battlefields like Arlington and Gettysburg are famous because of the frequent suicides), or are famous for other reasons (i.e., the Appalachian Trail avatar hosts a variety of summer festivals and hiking challenges). There are thousands of avatars across the country, and while most of them have varying degrees of local celebrity, a very small handful achieve any sort of nation-wide notoriety.
Natural avatars have always kind of existed according to Columbianist dogma--we just didn't notice them until the early 21st century.
A Jovian Night's Dream
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