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LISTENING TO: Mudanin Kata David Darling & The Wulu Bunun Vocal music of a Taiwanese tribe with a master cello player. Sounds odd; it is. Sonic, atmospheric. I heard about it on NPR; had to get. Got it today; glad I purchased same. I won't play this every day/week, but this is a great CD. In a "sounds of the whales" type way. Lovely. All reviews

OK, here is my concept for what could be at least one of the presidential debates.

Yes, it'll never happen, but ... I can dream can't I?

And I don't think it's really a bad concept.

Basic rules of the debate:

• Panel must ask questions that can be answered with either Yes, No or Pass - This eliminates the question within a question question that is sometimes necessary but still a pain in the ass overall. Example: "Mr. President, you recently said X and Mr. Y said Z. How do you respond? And how does this affect the thickness of ice on the Antarctic's Ross Shelf?"


• The first word out of the candidate's mouth must be Yes, No or Pass - Obviously, allowances will be made for "Can you please repeat the question" or whatever, but - basically - answer the question Yes, No or Pass (a blanket I can't / don't want to answer response, which is fine and an answer in itself).


• If - and only if - a candidate answers either Yes or No, the candidate can then qualify/defend this answer - This allows someone, for example, to go on record as favoring abortion but quickly following up with "Only in the case of incest/mother's life in danger yada...".


• If the candidate answers Pass, that's it - mike cut off or whatever - Hey dude, you passed on the question. So shut up!

What's gained from this? Mainly an avoidance of the following (completely made-up and yet totally believable exchange):

Q: Do you support a woman's choice to terminate her pregnancy?

A:Now [panelist], that's a great question. This touches upon the whole role of the child in our society. Under the Education Plan I've published, it makes it possible for.....

Yes, where is the answer?

Not there.

Yup.

It's also a good method for our sound-bite, attention-deficit generation(s): A quick score card can show what was Yes, what was No, what was Pass for each candidate.

And it can apply some pressure to the candidates - if one keeps doing a Pass, the other can start answering Yes or No and sort of force the other(s) to put something on the record.

I dunno; not great concept, but makes it easier for the average voter, whomever that may be...