Re: Wooing

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And did he win in Carbondale?

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Wait a minute... Becks is a girl?

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hello...

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Sorry, bad joke.

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Becks, yr link don't work. But I love Obama too. I, like every other good young liberal woman these days, have a searing crush on him. And he's my senator! [swoon]

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Woo hook 'em racism!

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We should be woo'd and were not made to woo.

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So awesome. (Racy? Wot's wrong with being racy?)

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Argh. I wonder if this is one of those horrific cultural blindspots--like, everyone (else) in the room knew that Cdale had a rep. for being heinously racist, even before he said it....

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Eh, I've been kind of disappointed by the man myself. He was pretty wimpy about organizing against Alito.

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Also, I like Obama a lot. He seems like a decent guy, and he's wonderfully articulate. But why can't we find a single articulate Dem who is sufficiently unencumbered by Presidential ambition that he or she can hit back for our side? It doesn't even have to be a politician. Just someone.

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Durbin?

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I'm sure any number of cities in Illinois, certainly including Chicago (the most segregated major city in the country) have a long history of racism and discrimination. Unfortunately for you, Obama just happened to have been the victim of such treatment in Carbondale.

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I tried to find out what happened in Carbondale, but all I've gotten so far is this, which strikes me as a strange article: Feagin on his face seems to be anti-racist, but sentences like "In the past, whites didn't have to live with powerful people of color -- we could discriminate until the cows came home" give me pause.

Also, the fact that the SIU newspaper is called The Daily Egyptian annoys me.

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"Wonderfully articulate"? Might want to be careful with the A-word there.

I'm one of Obama's constituents and I'm a little disappointed in him myself. However, he did vote "no" on cloture.

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And did he win in Carbondale?

I'm not sure. Probably. Although Keyes did better in southern Illinois than in any other part of the state, Obama still beat him by 61% to 36% there.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/IL/S/01/epolls.0.html

(scroll to bottom)

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Seems pretty clear that SCMT wasn't patting O on the head for being an articulate black person, but for being an articulate Democrat.

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Disappointed in him because he has yet to walk across a Great Lake, or disappointed in him because he has not strongly represented Illinois?

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OT, but I hear that Sufjan Stevens's Illinoise is quite good.

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Armsmasher, hasn't that album been discussed at length here before? Or am I thinking of somewhere else? At any rate, yes, it's fucking fantastic. I believe when I was holed up in the library this Saturday with a friend working on a project, it was basically on repeat. So good.

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Durbin? Durbin might be fine with set pieces, but he doesn't seem like the type who can easily volley back some Red talking point.

Might want to be careful with the A-word there. Maybe B was right, and Carbondale's really does have a reputation.

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I see that Obama made Carbondale the very last stop on his "Thank You, Illinois" victory tour. http://tinyurl.com/8x3sk

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I'm wondering now, what is the proper response to (say) hearing your hometown mentioned in a negative context? This happens frequently enough for me, who comes from Modesto, CA, home to (eg) Gary Condit and his intern Chandra Levy, Scott & Laci Peterson, and ... -- any time I see my hometown mentioned in the national news I can rest pretty well assured the reason is a crime or scandal. So should I respond by grinning or cringing? I can say "woo-hoo, Modesto! My hometown!" or I can be a little embarrassed and just hope nobody says "Hey Jeremy, this story is from Modesto -- didn't you grow up there?" or so.

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I can also ensure nobody reads my comment, by failing to close my italics tag.

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Hey JO, I spent an unfortunate portion of my childhood in Los Banos. San Joaquin! Represent! I always take the tack of shame if Los Banos gets mentioned, and surprise that it was mentioned at all, like "Man, that little armpit of a place exists in anyone else's consciousness but mine?" But that's because that's what's honest.

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Los Banos

The bathrooms?

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I think the preferred way to go about it is to say, "Yeah, we pretty much suck." And then drink, heavily.

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26: Uh-huh. It's only saving grace is the aptness of its name.

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Link fixed (but no longer cached).

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Armsmasher, hasn't that album been discussed at length here before?

No, you're thinking of Illinois, by Sufjan Stevens. Which is just incredible, by the way.

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Becks screws up her first post. Woooooo!

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Yeah, but that article is really good. Sigh.

A classmate of mine had an internship last semester at Miner, the firm where Obama worked after law school. Apparently he occasionally stops by there to say 'hi.'

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I feel I should weigh in here, because Obama is my senator too, and there's something about him I don't like.

I think it's a combination of things. I saw him about a year ago at rally to oppose the social security initiative. Him, Durbin, Jan Schakowsky. Durbin was great: concise, partisan, matter-of-fact. He had to leave, but I'm told he did q-and-a at the overflow. I wish I'd gone.

Then Obama spoke, and it seemed to me he was conceding all sorts of things to be "reasonable" to some supposed apolitical, middle-of-the-roader. And this to a partisan crowd.

And he always does that. I think more than anyone I've ever been represented by, he takes my support for granted, going after the votes of people I can't help resenting.

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I'm also a little disappointed in him. So damn cautious.

I saw a trailer for, I think, Barbershop 2, in which one character said he dreamed of growing up to be the "black Barack Obama".

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I bought Illinois and Michigan at the same time, as, from the couple of songs I'd heard from each, I thought they'd be roughly isopwnic. To my disappointment I discovered that of the latter's songs, only "For The Widows In Paradise; For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti" rules as hard. Hard enough to justify owning the whole thing, though.

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isopwnic

SB, you are a god.

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Because I am an unabashed Obama fanboy, I'd like to rebut the claims that he's so "cautious." First, I think it's a little disingenous to come out as the master of partisanship, like you know everything that's best for the "party," when you have much less political experience than anything else. For chrissake, he's 99th most junior senator! And it's his first year! If I was elected to the senate, and I planned to have a long political career (not just because of presidential ambitions, but because, you know, people do go into politics because they think that's a way to serve, and not just Obama), I'd be a little cautious in my first year, too. I think just because there was so much hype after his convention speech, people expected him to emerge as an immediate superstar. He knows it's not his place to be a superstar or the "leader" yet.

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"anything else" should be "anybody else".

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He knows it's not his place to be a superstar or the "leader" yet.

You can't possibly believe that his weak-wristed responses are motivated by modesty, can you? He's running for VP. That's fine. I'm OK with him being mealy-mouthed. He has a shot at getting to the White House. He should make the most of it. It is useful to have people who can be President. I just want us to have more good counterpunchers on our side, and for those counterpunchers to get more attention.

still articulates our positions well, and he still is clearly progressive. H

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H on the brain, SCMT?

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progressive.H is the new o-earnest.

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From the linked article:

All eyes were on him, and hopes, particularly among liberals, ran high. Obama took things slowly at first. He didn't want to arrive in Washington looking "too big for his britches," says his communications director, Robert Gibbs. So he turned down repeated invitations to appear on national talk shows (and most of the 300 or so solicitations he received each week) and focused instead on such issues as veterans' disability pay and money for locks and dams back home. He wanted to demonstrate to the people of Illinois that he was working for them, and to his fellow senators that he was "not just a show horse," said his political consultant, David Axelrod.

So, yeah, I do think that. Not the weak-wristed response per se, but not making himself the icon of every. single. issue.

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But yeah, we need another Wellstone, who's not dismissed by the press.

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who's not dismissed by the press

Best of luck with that.

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silvana, it's sweet that you believe anything that anyone's communications director says.

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Re Los Banos, wasn't it a spa at some point? I'd always assumed that was how it got the name -- like German towns called Bad X. (And now all of a sudden I'm thinking about Gravity's Rainbow...)

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Well, even if it's a made up excuse, it's still a reasonable one. You really think everyone who becomes a senator should immediately come out with flailing fists of fury?

And don't be patronizing, or I'll beat you up.

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you are a god.

Perlocution error. Abort, retry, fail?

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Perlocution error. Abort, retry, fail?

I'd christen you "god", but you are not a ship, neither am I a captain.

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And don't be patronizing, or I'll beat you up.

I know, that was sort of rude. License to begin the ass-kicking.

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You're off the hook this time. Next time, numchucks or my fists, whichever are handier. Can't really say in advance.

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Silvana -- I should think it would be obvious that fists are "handier" than numchuks, no?

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Jeremy Osner is banned!

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Osner, I have no hands. I didn't know whether I would have gotten prosthetic hands by the time I would need to beat Joe up.

Your attention to this matter has made me all sad again. I was just starting to feel normal.

[weeps]

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Well, even if it's a made up excuse, it's still a reasonable one. You really think everyone who becomes a senator should immediately come out with flailing fists of fury?

Similarly, Senator Clinton is also in her first term, and had also said that she wanted to get to know the Senate and work on smaller issues important to her state. That may explain why she hasn't much opposed the Reds. Our cup of modest junior senators who get lots of media attention runneth over.

And whether it be genuine modesty or something else, I'm fine with Clinton being a mealy-mouth, too. Just get off of the TV - no interviews, no speeches intended to garner attention - and let people who are actually willing to oppose the Republicans have some air time.

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This brief history of Los Banos says it got its name from "pools of water in the rocks at the summit of the mountains in a little creek bead that flowed down into the San Joaquin Valley" where Padre Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta camped overnight -- the creek that fed these pools came to be known as El Arroyo de Los Banos del Padre Arroyo.

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God or not, SB is omnipwntent.

I had to recheck which one "FTWIP;FTFIY" was cf), and it is indeed pwesome. But I think I like "Vito's Ordination Song" even better; also "Oh God Where Are You Now?" and "Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie" are great.

Still, Illinois rules more. Seven Swans is great too; much more with the simple songs (kinda like the ones mentioned off Michigan) rather than the odd-meter extravaganzas, and very very religious.

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But that second "Arroyo" is probably spurious.

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Did anyone see last night's Daily Show? The opening was an excellent, extended version of the joke in this Arianna Huffington post, and Stewart's interview with the American Idol guy was also excellent. He brought up a lot of legitimate complaints about the show, and then said he doesn't watch it. I'm thinking of this now because of the discussion above of actually seeing people on TV saying things which I agree with.

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I also wanted to post the lyrics of "The Girl Who Woo'd the Racists" to the tune of "The Man Whose Head Expanded," but I don't have time and I don't believe the lyrics I found online anyway -- isn't it "sounds like Hitler?" What on earth is "hick wap"?

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See, it's the odd-meter extravaganzas, well-executed (many, many musicians try to do it, and fail) that get me; I didn't like Seven Swans all that much, but maybe I need to give it another listen.

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I am totally under the thumb of American Idol.

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Anyone know what time they are airing the State of the Union tonight?

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silvana -- given that, I'd suggest starting with the last two songs? Or if you just like the odd-metered extravaganzas (which completely rule on Illinois, seem a bit colder on Michigan to me) maybe you just don't like Seven Swans that much, which is fine.

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Hmm, no, looks like there are legitimately 2 "Arroyo"s in the traditional name of the Los Banos Creek. At least according to a preponderance of web sites in both English and Spanish.

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Anyone know what time they are airing the State of the Union tonight?

Who? It's on at 9 EST on the major networks.

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9 p.m. eastern

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There was something else about Seven Swans that bugged me, but it's been so long, I can't remember what it is. I think it was too slow, or too meditative, or something. Or too muted. I've got that album somewhere.

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66, 67: Sweet. That's perfect. Maybe after competing tonight I can slink off and catch it in a bar somewhere, drinking to my loss and our dismal future. It'll be great times.

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69: SOTU drinking game.

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On modest junior Senator syndrome (MJSS): Isn't that a good reason for Obama to run sooner than later? Say that (despite the heartburn that reading it will provoke) Hillary wins in 2008 and then again in 2012. Her veep will run, likely locking Obama out of a slot. By his next opportunity to make a bid, he's fully a Senator, impaired by a record, inspiring the same lust around comment threads such as this as Dick Durbin does.

Say, on the other hand, that Hillary wins in 2008 but does not run again in 2012. Isn't Obama then a Senator, even a charismatic one, who's too low on the congressional hierarchy to make a bid? It won't be "his turn." His star will have to shine brightly indeed to frogleap the seniors in front of him.

Say, then, that he runs in 2008 and crushes Hillary Clinton. Under those circumstances, drinks are on me.

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Well, there's also the possibility that Clinton runs in 2008, loses, and then Obama can run in 2012. Problem solved.

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Speaking of Hillary and Obama, as I was: The Daily Show captured a fantastic moment from the Democratic National Convention. Barack Obama is giving his speech (was it keynote? I don't recall) and the camera captures him at profile; beyond him can be seen Hillary and daughter Chelsea, seated. Just after Obama says "son of a Kenyan goat herder," the ladies Clinton very visibily chink! their champagne glasses.

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I don't think it was keynote, just very highly hyped.

"Son of a Kenyan goat herder" sounds like one of the annoying things people who faux-swear would say.

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45: I would probably believe what Bernie Sanders communications director said, but I suppose that Sanders is the exception that proves the rule.

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No, pretty sure it was the keynote.

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Direct link.

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the possibility that Clinton runs in 2008, loses

"possibility" s/b "near certainty"

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Stupid question: what does "s/b" stand for?

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Silvana -- if it were Ned Flanders faux-swearing it could be "son of a Kenyan goat-diddly-oat-derder!" (Ned Flanders does faux-swear in addition to doing that weird trill-rhymying thing, right?)

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derder s/b herder, I think...

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79 -- "should be".

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79: Standpipe Bridgeplate!

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"s/b" means "should be."

Silvana, slow, meditative, and muted are the three things that Seven Swans is -- you probably just don't like it.

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'smasher,

mjss or not, i say get anyone remotely attractive for higher office out of the legislative branch asap. maybe i'm a little biased b/c i toiled there for a while, but in this case my bias is in line w/ history. could run him for gov and get blagojevyetetichevitchych our of there, or VP, or mayor, or duke. but no offices involving endless windbaggery and votes on poison pill amendments.

if i was crying, in the van, with my friend, it was for freedom...

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Ned Flanders does faux-swear in addition to doing that weird trill-rhymying thing, right?

Yes, although his faux-swears are usually biblically themed. My favorite is "Fozzy of a bear of a problem", tho.

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Joe Conason was talking about this on Al Franken's show. He said that he had thought that iw would be impossible for Bush to stop an investigation in process, but that it had never occured to him that they would simply promote the guy.

For more on Bush's judges judicial impropriety. Salon has an article about a guy in Oklahoma who was appointed by Bush--Judge Payne--who failed to recuse himself in a case involving Pfizer even though he owned $15K worth of Pfizer stock.

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Crap. 87 Should be in LizardBreath's thread. I'm going to crosspost it now.

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89

#23 and #25: My homies!

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Really, where? Or do you not feel comfortable saying so on the blog? You can email me at my new tia@unfogged address.

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89 -- are you a child of the central valley then?

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Born and bred, Br'er Fox. Born and Bred.

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Where'bouts? If that is not too much an intrusion on your anonymity; if it is then consider it unasked.

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I totally sold out the sisterhood to get us those @unfogged.com addresses, BTW.

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Email me and I'll not only tell you where, I'll tell you my Sekrit Bitch Identity!!

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#94: You gave Ogged tit shots?

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No, B, he gets those for free. (That was for Weiner.)

I used the argument that our new addresses would be shiny and cute and pretty and girl bloggers like things that are shiny and cute and pretty.

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Oh, so you appealed to his feminist side.

(Is it fair to continue to abuse Ogged in absentia?)

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It would be irresponsible not to, B.

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100

100!

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B, I spent some time in Davis. Your descriptions of your small college town remind me of it sometimes. The place is nominally progressive, but it's the whitest place I've ever been-- whiter than my New England boarding school.

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BostonianGirl, doesn't Davis have a large Latino population? I don't know Davis at all but everywhere I've been in the central valley there is a lot of Spanish being spoken, more than at my stereotypical New-England-boarding-school image.* Strongly segregated though.

*An image which includes a lot of marihuana smoking, Grateful Dead listening and casual sex -- this is based on a pretty small and self-selecting sample of people I know who have been to boarding school in New England.

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97: Trading tit shots for weiner = the definitive story of how the Tivo got reset, doesn't it?

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Dude, I would PAY MONEY to live in Davis instead of here. Seriously.

Ok, well, given cost of living in Cali nowadays, I'd have to, but you know what I mean.

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105

btw, Senators Obama and Durbin have a free coffee open to all Illinois residents every Thursday (8 a.m., IIRC) that the Senate is in session. They have coffee and donuts, and the senators speak and take questions for half an hour or so. Then you can get your picture (or your group's picture) taken with the senators by an official Senate photographer. They mail you two 8 x 10 copies of the photo for free. It's great. I have one of the copies of the picture we got (Obama, Durbin, my wife, daughter, and me) in my office. The coffees are supposed to be only for Illinois residents, but no doubt it's possible to crash; they don't check your I.D. at the door or anything. You can call either senator's office for details.

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106

100 -- it seems somehow ill-mannered to call "100!" on your own post.

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94: But LizardBreath and I are actually worse, because we profited from your self-abasement. We are the Christina Ricci's to your Charlize Theron, or, in another sense, we're your pimps.

98: If He ever did come back, if He ever dared to show His face, or his glyph or whatever in the Garden again...if after all this destruction...He returned to see how much suffering his abandonment had created, you should sue the bastard....Sue the bastard for walking out. How dare he.

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108

Probably. But you know one look from those puppydog eyes, and all would be forgiven.

Rat bastard.

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106: What? How on earth are you supposed to call 100, if not on your own post?

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Becks wrote both comment 100 and the post to which this comment thread is pendant (if I may wax Wolfsonian).

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Environs.

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Alack, I am pwned.

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I just wanted my first to call my first 100. I will exercise more restraint in the future.

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