2004 Presidential Debate Drinking Game
I knew there had to be a Debate Drinking Game out there someplace; a google search led me to Wonkette's version. I agree that we don't need another excuse to drink, as the sun rising in the morning was as good as any other excuse. was. So, anytime:

• Anyone tells that story about Bobby Kennedy turning up the thermostat before the Kennedy-Nixon debate: Take a sip of a hot toddy.
• Doris Kearns Goodwin mentions Lyndon Johnson: Pee outside.
• Someone shows a clip of Al Gore sighing: Recount your chads.
• A Republican operative compares Kerry to a classical orator: Drink an ouzo-and-hemlock cocktail.
• A Democrat operative uses the phrase "can't run on his record": Go to Stetson's.
• A Republican operative cites Kerry's prep school debate team experience: Try on a cheerleader outfit.
• A Democrat operative says that Bush "has never lost a debate": Try to look yourself in the eye.
• Someone plays the "you're no Jack Kennedy" clip: Lose anyway.
• Someone proclaims that "the entire race may come down to this": Move to Canada. (Better make room: Bryn, Maggie, Kim, Kevin, Linda, Lynn, Riri...)

Start drinking for real after the jump.

Drink One Sip If:
Anyone says "terrorism"
Anyone says "Halliburton"
Anyone says "flip flop"
Anyone says "Saddam Hussein"
Anyone blames "the media"
Anyone mentions their own military service
Anyone says "September 11"
One candidate interrupts another candidate

Drink Two Sips If:
Bush says "cut and run"
Kerry says "W stands for wrong"
Either candidate talks past their time limit
Kerry brings up Bush's "Mission Accomplished" moment
Bush mentions Crawford, TX
Anyone looks at the wrong camera
Anyone whips out "evidence"
Anyone says "Osama bin Laden"
Anyone mentions blogs
Anyone invokes the hurricane sympathy vote
Anyone mentions "North Korea"
Kerry mentions Bush wants to reinstate the draft
Everytime you see anyone wearing the yellow "LiveSTRONG" bracelet

Finish Your Glass If:
Anyone in the audience gets dragged out of the auditorium
Anyone in the audience gets off an unscripted question
Bush mispronounces any word or name
Anyone says "Osama bin Hidin'"
Anyone uses a sports metaphor
Anyone attempts to speak Spanish to pander to Latinos

Do a Shot If:
Bush mentions the deficit
Bush accuses Kerry of being "French on terrorism"
Kerry accuses Bush of being a pansy for avoiding Vietnam
Bush admits he made a mistake ("miscalculation" counts)
Ralph Nader shows up insisting on airtime

Finish the Bottle If:
Anyone challenges anyone to a duel
The moderator rips off his mask to reveal his true identity is Karl Rove
(via wonkette)

Your S.P.O.T.
Some Buddhists (and others) have what's known as a SPOT: "Special Place of Tranquility" and it translates well to anyone at any spiritual level. (Word Doc)

Basic SPOT items are:
prayer or meditation beads, amulets, candles, incense and holder, bells, crystals, and flowers. Incense takes the center of the alter, shelf, or table, with a candle and a bell on the right and flowers on the left. Your SPOT should have a universal flavor that can also be individually customized.

You can chant, pray, meditate, or do a reading while lighting the candle, ringing the bell, or using the prayer beads in any order or rhythm that fits you. A minimal SPOT visit could just be ringing the bell and doing gassho (bowing with palms together), and you could have a more involved SPOT visit when something other than routine rolls around or mood dictates it. It can be as basic or grandiose as you wish.

(gassho (gah-'show) is a zen affirmation of life from an intention of humility, gratitude, and mindfulness together with a quick bow with palms together)

Something I enjoy doing at home for spiritual nourishment and to keep me grounded and thought you may want to incorporate it into your daily life, too.

Visualize Kerry & Fast For Bush

[1] Light a candle. Gaze at the flame. Get calm.

[2] Slowly repeat the intentions, or listen to the audio version. See the visualization ideas as very real.

Give a spiritual component to this Presidential election. Because visualization has great power to do good, here are some ways to promote, spread, and multiply Kerry Visualiation to help change the American consciousness.

Ok. It's an unorthodox campaign approach. With so much at stake, you should use every tool at your disposal, right? (via: Asheville Magazine)

Fast For George W - Don't eat for Bush. Hundreds are fasting today for Dubya.

:: :: :: :: ::
Attention: Starbucks! Another freethinker on the loose. He only asked to have his Cappuccino Grande made with Fair Trade coffee and "...they both glanced across at me, making me feel like I'd asked her for a sexual favour rather than a cup of coffee." Link

more good chit
Rox Populi
Net Politik
Stew Albert
Freakshow Art

For some reason, woman oriented politics are especially likely to give rise to silly labels, from the "soccer moms" of yesteryear to the "security moms" of today, and cringe-worthy catch phrases like the Bush campaign's "W Stands for Women." A few years ago, Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway spoke of "the three 'magic M's'—marriage, mortgage, and munchkins" that move women toward conservative politics. This year, a concert/political event in New York intended to galvanize young women's vote in support of the Democrats was titled "Chicks Rock, Vaginas Vote." In the presidential election, the candidates in their urgency to garner the women's vote, sometimes do more harm than good. Neither one of them has reached out for the women's vote that I can see. Link

Long Trip For Psychedelic Drugs - Psilocybin for headaches? A proposal for testing MDMA as a treatment for anxiety in terminal cancer? Link


Dave’s addiction - Red-hot rock guitarist Dave Navarro talks about his latest project: A book documenting his road to recovery, among other big changes, Don’t Try This at Home: A Year in the Life of Dave Navarro.

Free Speech Movement @ 40 - Veterans plan commemoration in Berkeley in October.

So long, Hurricane Jeanne. Thank you for missing me.

{THE HUMAN MIND}
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid! Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtsy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig, huh? And I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

Even with a few missing brain cells, you can still read this just fine. Keeping our eye on "Jean"; still hard to imagine it can do so much damage this far up from FL.

Forgot to give credit for this item -- It came via email. Thanks, Joy!

LOCAL ACTIVISTS PROTEST KFC CRUELTY IN FLINT
Flint, Mich. — September 24. Holding signs that read, "The Colonel’s Secret Recipe: Live Scalding, Painful Debeaking, Crippled Chickens," members of PETA protested KFC suppliers’ abusive treatment of chickens by passing out leaflets at a local KFC restaurant. The protest is part of an international campaign to pressure KFC to crack down on cruel treatment of chickens by KFC suppliers, including a slaughterhouse in Moorefield, W.Va., where workers were recently caught kicking, throwing, and stomping live birds in a widely distributed video. [Link] [more »]

Today's Horoscope

saturday morning me//
hazelnut coffee #2/handful of grapes/banana/
wearing: my batik long dress/& old black ballet flats/
long braid of braids/back to back marlboros/
2x2 pepcids/casting curses on Hurricane Jean/
listening to: "Gimme a pigfoot & a bottle of beer..."
"Gimme a reefer & a gang of gin..." -Bessie Smith/
so how about you, friend?/

From an idea to a business in 15 days, and with a month-long selling season, Coudal Partners has launched a new product and website, Lowercase Tee. These children tees are in red or blue.

I bet these do well.



{Quote For Today}
"The best way to get the news is from objective sources, and the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world." - George W. Bush

Happy Friday!

I've been quite passionate about and used to write quite often about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (8 posts in 2003) and the atrocities in Burma (Myanmar). The way I understand it, Burma was able to have an actual democratic election for the first time in their history and she was elected president. Her father had previously been a leader there. Soon, the military junta that rule Burma, assaulted her caravan and she's been kept for years in seclusion under "house arrest". I read a Suu Kyi email list and have seen how the people just adore her. Now Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Sting and U2 are joining forces on a benefit album for the Burmese democracy activist and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.

If the US wants to help some country with freedom and democracy, why haven't they been more diligent about Burma's situation? [more ]

*Mouse-over the picture for full effect. Learn how it's done at Mandarin Design.

Quote For Today
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
~Kahlil Gibran

You HAVE been to visit What She Said, haven't you? No? Well get your ass in gear. Now.

I embarass my offspring.

Friend Stu Savory has started a meme on his site called Show Us Your Skyline. Take a snap of yours and post it. I didn't take this actual picture and don't remember where I found it now, but it was taken from Town Mountain Road in Asheville, NC, looking down on the city.

I'm waiting on the Satellite tv worker to come by and adjust my dish (whee! sounds like fun). And with the other city workers across the street loading and cutting fallen trees, we're still trying to get back to the norm around here after the Hurricane and toronados last Thursday/Friday; mostly cleanup now. There's still a huge tree across the street I can see outside my window that was literally uprooted by the strong winds and now most everyone has their power restored. We're still stunned to see this living in the Blue Ridge Mountians. They usually cut off anything like this.

Tuesday Web Trail

President urges world community to put differences aside and turn attention to fighting terrorism and meeting humanitarian concerns. That's like Bush fucking "World's" girlfriend, and then later asking "World" for a loan. [more »]

Methane On Mars: Aliens or farts in a jacuzzi? [more »]

Adbusters Blackspot sneakers made from hemp. They hope to eventually reduce marketers' influence over culture. [more »]


October Surprise!
Submit Your October Surprise Prediction - Winners appear live on Air America to bask in the gratitude of a skeptical nation...and will receive a signed copy of The Book on Bush and cool Air America gear.

Michael Moore's 'No Balls, No Babies' rant to Dems: Quitcher Whining, all ye doomsayers! "My friends, it is time for a reality check." [more »]

New details about the forthcoming biopic The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones have been announced, which documents the guitarist's 1969 death in a mysterious drowning incident. The flick is expected to begin filming Sunday in London, although no actor has been chosen yet to portray Mick Jagger. Who could play Mick? Good question.
[more »]

Fender Stratocaster guitar's 50th anniversary show will feature Paul Rodgers, David Gilmour, Joe Walsh, Jeff Beck and others, and will benefit the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy UK charity. [more »]

Rock legend Bob Dylan's life story is to be released in audio book form - courtesy of actor Sean Penn. [more »]

Blessed Mabon
{Mabon Sabbat-September 21}
Mabon, (May-bon) is known as the Autumn Equinox, Harvest Home, Second Harvest, the Witches Thanksgiving and Siring Fate. (Mabon in Welsh means son.) This reference usually refers to the son of the Welsh goddess Madron, Mother and Son. The Goddess is entering into cronehood, and the dark of the year is beginning, so this is a time often associated with mysterious lore and wisdom.

Autumn Equinox refers to a time of the year when day and night are equally balanced. The sun is in the process of crossing the equator and in astrological terms is entering the sign of Libra.

Mabon is a celebration of life and death, and giving of life again, the cycle of the seasons. Mabon is a time to enjoy the fruits of a hard year's labor, to stock up for the long winter. No matter how you celebrate Mabon, or how it came about, or whatever it's true name may be, it is important to know that Mabon a time for giving thanks.
[more »]

Happy Autumnal Equinox! A time of forgiveness and a time to give thanks. I wish for you a bountiful harvest and many warm blessings this Fall season.

Just a quick note to say I'm over in Tennessee escaping the wrath of Hurricane Ivan. We were expecting to be without power for 3-5 days, taking me way too far outside my comfort zone.

Sending stay-safe blessings to you all and I hope be back home and in the blog groove soon.

Looks like I may have jinxed the pretty leaves a bit. The hurricane dregs will soak us good and the wind may strip the leaves from the trees too soon. Our peak tourist leaf season is around October 10 - October 30, if they're allowed to progress at their usual rate.

Hope all is well with the southern bloggers who may be in Ivan's path. Kim, in Alabama, hasn't written since Tuesday. In the next 48 hours, GA, TN, SC, and NC will be soaked with flooding concerns.

Just got back home; time to zip through my blogroll.

S.H.I.T. (So Happy It's Thursday!)

Ecology experts are predicting better than average fall color in the Great Smoky Mountains near Asheville, N.C. The area boasts one of the most diverse range of microclimates and tree species. Elevations range from 1,500 feet in the valleys to 6,684 feet at Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. There's also the famous 6,030-foot peak of "Cold Mountain," made famous in the book and movie. Experts are predicting a promising harvest of color, based on late summer weather patterns. Yellow birches, red sourwoods, red to yellow maples, yellow pin cherries yellow poplars will show first. [more »]

Welcome to Spread Firefox. You are our marketing department. Download this very small, additional browser and try it for yourself. See why many have switched.
(via - fusion anomalog)

GOP documentary, "Celsius 41.11," is a reference to the temperature at which the human brain begins to die from exposure to heat -- or, in this case, what the filmmakers regard as overheated left-wing rhetoric. 'T'would be funny if 't'weren't so sad. Potential movie-goers may find the "Undies" Link below helpful. [more »]

Undies for those afflicted with cranial-rectal-inversion, more commonly known as head-up-your-asstitis. (Link - safe for work)

Easy to make favicon from a pic you have on your hard drive or website.
(Link via: fishbucket)

{Web Trail}
solipsistic
The Zero Boss
The Daily Bleed

{Quote For Today}
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dubya 2004 by the Sacred Fools Theater depicts two supernatural, warring clans - the Bushes and the Kennedys - battling not for the soul, but control of America. In the play, the Bushes have gained the upper hand through their dealings with a diabolic figure known only as "He Who Shall Not Be Named." Their end of the bargain includes bloody rituals, sacrifices and murder plots."How the hell else do you get George W. Bush elected if you're not in league with Satan?" asks Sidney. [more »] via: The Wildhunt Blog

Laura's Bush is a play from Pulitzer Prize finalist and three-time American Theatre Critics Award winner Jane Martin. An apocalyptic lesbian sex farce by America's most undercover playwright.

Sundance Channel to air Bowling For Columbine tonight, Monday, September 13, at 9:00 pm est.

All you proud fringe-dwellers, put your feet up, and get all comfy, because the New World Disorder Magazine, Issue #3, is here loaded with good articles.

Investigating more unanswered questions about 9/11 by Stanley Hilton, Bob Dole's former Chief of Staff and atty for 9/11 victims. Questioning the possible motives of the Bush admin surrounding 9/11. via: Mouse Musings via: awoken

At Ollapodrida, I saw the President Evil billboard hack in LA, where someone had put Bush's face over Milla Jovovich's on the Resident Evil movie billboard. Try to find some time to scour the Ollapodrida website sometime. Then you can cruise on through the Subterranean links, and Roll One, and Cosmic Buffet, and Favorites. But I haven't been keeping my Dickheads up lately. I'm done. Smoochies, hairpulls and ass-slaps for everybody!

From Cook Casa (or, All In My Bidnez)
Our car insurance is usually pretty reasonable because we're old, don't drive fast cars and haven't had a wreck in a year or two. But we've always been penalized because of dear old Stu. He always managed to have a speeding ticket, or a ticket for running a red light, or some other infraction that caused our insurance to give him "points" and charging more cabbage for coverage. This last time, we were penalized for 3 years. Yesterday we got our new statement and our annual amount is going to be 1/2 of what it used to be. So, yeah, it's about time. Drive carefully, Schlomo.

Sky (16) and her Dad walked to Main Street Friday night and he said they had a nice talk. They have their best talks when walking. It's their special time to share with each other. Their joy, which was contagious, extended upon return. He stirred a pot on the stove while I whirled around the kitchen in my long and full dress. It billowed out like some big breezy umbrella causing Sky to laugh out loud. Then she wanted to do it, so I slipped out of my dress, and she slipped out of teen mode and into daughter-child, twirling around and laughing. I mentally squeezed it for all it was worth wishing I could stop the ticking demon hands of time. On some days I'm sure she's that little girl in the Exorcist; spewing out ugly words to her folks. And on others, she still twirls hand in hand around the kitchen with her Mother.

{Web Trail} - Spirits Rising Division
Wildhunt
Institute of Noetic Sciences
Kosmic Bloggers
Wren's Nest

September 11

The Ghosts of 9/11 Still Haunt Us - Link
Memorials, scholarships, foundations for 9/11 victims - Link

My hope for 9/11 anniversaries is that they be solemn, understated affairs. No loud, ostentatious productions, please.

web trail::
sacredwhore
loveecstasycrime
slash
Love Parade
occult search engine
Help Beslan Victims

{Saturday Quote}
"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony." ~William Henry Channing

saturday morning me//
green tea/oj/morning splifferoo/
vitamins a-z, but never k/
hair down long & fluffy/candles glowing/
long batik dress/my mother's old shawl/
listening: positively 4th st/ positively my favorite song/
anticipating: cool weather & orange leaves/
so how about you?/

Proud graduate of the Dick Cheney Charm School. You gotta fucking problem with that?

The Peace Park Project is dedicated to building a Peace Park in Asheville, NC, with a memorial showing the human costs of the Iraq War.

Each service member killed in the war will have a stone etched with their name, age, and hometown added to the wall.

With every death, we will add another stone. It is our hope that public outrage grows along with the wall. This is different. I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

Bush to cancel presidential debate because they can't fill the room with Bush supporters. Even with Dick "Go Fuck Yourself" Cheney by his side, I knew that he wouldn't debate without supportive plants lobbing him softballs. Has any other presidential contender ever wussed out on a debate? Not that I can remember. [more »]; (Graphic found at the always fun and witty Maru's)

Military spokesman says 1000 casualties is relatively small. 1000 mothers unavailable for comment. [more »]

Everytime you vote Republican, God kills a kitten. Please...won't someone think of the kittens? (actually seen on a bumper sticker)

When all the area counties are out of school because of rain, you know you've had your fair share of it. Tennessee, SC, NC, Georgia, Alabama and more have been slammed from the aftermath of Hurricane Frances. We've had area evacuations, power outages, curfews, and traffic lights are out; people are going to shelters. There is 6 feet of water on the road in front of the Biltmore House. We're still under a flood watch, tornado watch and a high winds watch and it will continue today and tomorrow. I'm a little squirrely from all the moistness.

"Hey Rube reads as if Thompson dusted off his own style template, plugged in basketball or football terms, then hit send. The rest is a double-parked Bush-bashing bandwagon and rich-guy-in-the-mountains caterwauling about the post-9/11 police state." One review of the new Hunter S Thompson book. Someone should speak to him about growing old gracefully. Lose the ESPN gig, HST, and go back to the cabin and write. I miss the old independent HST.

The new Black Keys, cd, Rubber Factory, came out yesterday.

John Cleese opened his website to announce that it will officially open sometime this Fall.

OVERHEARD: So many right wing Christians; so few lions.

Sundance Channel and Air America Radio present, The Al Franken Show. Premiering tonight, Tuesday night, September 7 @ 11:30 pm and every week night.

As this year's presidential election heats up, so do things at Sundance Channel. Sundance Channel will air an abridged one-hour television show of Al Franken's radio show on Air America every weeknight at 11:30pm. Tune in as Mr. Franken makes short work of today's headlines and welcomes a who's who of today's political landscape.

Good news. I'll be tuning in.

Osama could be arrested soon says US official. Not yet, doofus. We're going for an October Surprise. Surely there's a bookmaker taking bets on the date of his capture. "Find him" on an October Monday and the talking heads could goober it up for an entire week and close it out on the Sunday talk show circle jerk circuit. Link

Former Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Bob Graham contends more than a year before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that Gen. Tommy Franks was told to prepare for invasion of Iraq. Link
And...
Sen. Bob Graham alleges Bush administration cover-up of Saudi ties to 9-11 hijackers. Link
These allegations and more are in Graham's new book coming out this Tuesday. Going full court press, balls to the wall, isn't he? The more I read about it, the more credible it appears. via: war and piece

Undecided voters want less smearing and flag waving and more debates. Do you know that the Bush team still hasn't given confirmation on the Presidential debates yet? First one is up Sept 29, I think. Link

As the Bush family has risen to dominance, so too have they been master orchestrators of their own public image, acting and operating under the shield of privacy their money and status have always afforded them. Until now. Juicy details on the book here »
via: dailykos; Amazon Link

You can send a Get Well message to President Clinton, if you'd like. Link

One of comics’ most acclaimed voices is back at the drawing board for the next two years. Publisher’s Weekly recently broke the news that Robert (R.) Crumb has signed with W.W. Norton for his next nonfiction project in graphic novel format. It's based on a 'literal' interpretation of Genesis, the first book of the Bible or, in sound byte form, "The Passion of the Christ for the NPR Crowd."

If he stays true to form, how can he have sassy, big-legged women and horny guys without overwhelming public outrage? Or maybe he's going to put a different slant on it. Stay tuned... Link

Sending warm regards to those of you enjoying a long holiday weekend.

saturday morning me//
fresh ground hazelnut coffee #2/ half wheat bagel/apple/
long burgundy faux velvet gown/sox/ hemp headscarf/
dog, Buddy, at my feet/ cat, Gabby, on the mousepad/
daughter sawing logs/husband taking his meds/
listening: There But For Fortune - by Phil Ochs/
all's right in my corner of the world/
so how about you?/

{Fun With Haiku}
Tired of bickering
I wish you would hold your tongue
Cut off in your hand

{Saturday Quote}
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely... "
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Something wicked this way please.

Sometimes all we need is a big first letter for a paragraph. No drop cap, just a big cap. It looks best when followed by way too much text.

Trying something I saw at Mandarin Design with the large letter. Just a quick cut and paste that you can also experiment with to change the size, color or font.

Fruit in suggestive positions. How fun. Where do you find them? Link

Join My Cult - Online book by James Currio and interactive website. [more »]

She's working the Strip Club. And the Convention Delegates. [more »]

Those Purple Heart bandaids were clearly hitting below the belt. via: Sisyphus Shrugged

By entering a 2-digit code in a hidden location, a second set of votes is created. With vote fraud by Diebold, you can vote early and vote often -- and it still won't be counted. [more »]

My television news ran out and Martha Stewart came on. She was in her back yard holding a "Mary Had A Little Lamb" stick and saying, "When I go out for a nice invigerating walk, I like to take along my favorite walking stick. It helps you with your stride, and was hand carved from buffalo dicks in Northern Wales....blah blah blah...."

"After the break, I'll show you five uses for this handmade "crook".

No. Please. Let ME. She can't not know how obscenely pretentious she is.