Jenice Armstrong | Boycott probably doomed

THE Not One Damn Dime boycott, urging those upset about the war in Iraq not to spend any money tomorrow, is going to fail miserably.

And it's too damn bad.

As glad as I am that so many diehards are still agitating about the outcome of the presidential election, this economic boycott is going to end up going the way of so many others.

Remember last fall's boycott to draw attention to the lack of sexual diversity in corporate boardrooms? And what about the one to demonstrate the spending power of homosexuals?

Yes, they were both for noble causes. But both disappeared almost as quickly as you heard about them. The result will be the same with this one, too.

Organizers of Not One Damn Dime boycott (http://www.notonedamn/

dime.com) are urging Americans not to spend money, even for necessities, on Inauguration Day to show their outrage over the situation in Iraq.

"For 24 hours, please do what you can to shut the retail economy down," urges an e-mail going around the Internet.

The problem with these kinds of grass-roots efforts is that they are hard to organize and the results are difficult to measure. And did I mention that no one seems to know how this particular one got started anyway?

Besides, even if you do as organizers are requesting and skip Starbucks and brown bag your lunch tomorrow, President Bush and his designer-dress wearing family members won't miss a beat as they make the rounds at the $40 million inaugural festivities. The fat cats will party on as if no boycott at all were under way.

And that also is too damn bad.

Trend watch

Ribbons are out. Elastic bracelets are in.

Wearing a rubbery wristlet is the trendiest way to flaunt your political affiliation.

A red one means you're down with the Bush administration. Blue means you're going to be pretty miserable come Inauguration Day.

"It's my way of consoling people who were disappointed by the outcome of the election," said Laura Adams, founder of http://www.hope/

bracelet.com which markets the blue bands.

The bracelets were inspired by Lance Armstrong's bright yellow bracelets, which raise money for cancer research.