::|:| 1000th Ghost |:|::

::|:| another voter registration incident |:|::

It be rainin’.

Current obsession: katadesmoi.

My randomly chosen sonnet o’the week is starting up again. It must be that time of year.

– – –

How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame
Which, like a canker in the fragrant rose,
Doth spot the beauty of thy budding name!
O! in what sweets dost thou thy sins enclose.
That tongue that tells the story of thy days,
Making lascivious comments on thy sport,
Cannot dispraise, but in a kind of praise;
Naming thy name blesses an ill report.
O! what a mansion have those vices got
Which for their habitation chose out thee,
Where beauty’s veil doth cover every blot
And all things turns to fair that eyes can see!
Take heed, dear heart, of this large privilege;
The hardest knife ill-used doth lose his edge.

– – –

Though the Fool was repeatedly the Final, earlier today the Hanged Man kept swinging up into my readings. Is the universe trying to tell me to stop being such a fucking whiner?

Because I am a HYOOGE pencil & paper RPG geek, I had to share:

::|:| D&D Turns 30 |:|::

And I’ve only been playing for 23 of those 30 years.

Plus, a bonus unrelated spider photo. 😉

From Salon.Com:

Why conservatives must not vote for Bush
By Doug Bandow

A Reaganite argues that Bush is a dangerous, profligate, moralizing radical — and that his reelection would be catastrophic both for the right and for America.

George W. Bush presents conservatives with a fundamental challenge: Do they believe in anything other than power? Are they serious about their rhetoric on limited, constitutionally restrained government?

Bush appears to have remained strong in the presidential race by rallying conservatives behind him. In his convention acceptance speech he derided Sen. John Kerry’s claim to represent “conservative values” and seized the mantle of promoting liberty at home and abroad.

Indeed, many conservatives react like the proverbial vampire at the sight of a cross when they consider casting a ballot for Kerry. Tom Nugent, a National Review Online contributing editor, wrote: “The last thing the Republican party needs is the reckless suggestion that conservatives vote Democratic.” That is mild, however, compared with the American Conservative Union’s mass e-mail solicitation headlined “Why Do Terrorists Want Kerry to Win?”

Republican partisans have little choice but to focus on Kerry’s perceived vulnerabilities. A few high-octane speeches cannot disguise the catastrophic failure of the Bush administration in both its domestic and its foreign policies. Mounting deficits are likely to force eventual tax increases, reversing perhaps President Bush’s most important economic legacy. The administration’s foreign policy is an even greater shambles, with Iraq aflame and America increasingly reviled by friend and foe alike.

::|:| Keep reading, damn it. |:|::

Replaying his phrases (“hard work,” “30 countries,” “he voted to increase taxes 98 times”), Bush revealed that what he suffers from is not a speaking deficiency but a thinking deficiency. When confronted by pesky facts and annoying objections, Bush can only repeat the ready-made phrases lodged in his mind. His face reverts to the startled look of a bully unfamiliar with counterarguments.

Unmistaken: At the debate, George W. Bush told us everything we need to know.

Normally I would post articles individually, but I thought that the entirety of this compendium of reports, polls and articles was too interesting and too valuable to dissect.

A Mother Jones series on the state of the Union: Are we better off?

Not the wittiest political cartoon I’ve ever seen, but it must be shared nonetheless due to my

I. Orwellian paranoia
II. Loathing of Bush
III. Post-debate outrage
IV. Life-long love of the Dodo

::|:| clickie |:|::