Re: Vodka Samm

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I remember this stuff from 20 years ago also. There was a guy who would donate blood specifically because less blood meant he could get drunker on the same booze.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 11:54 AM
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This is where I feel like a lightweight. I know people do this sort of thing, but it's not as if getting drunk is difficult even if you've eaten something in the last six hours. What's the problem being solved here: "Darnit, shot after shot and I'm still perfectly rational. Next time I'm fasting and running a marathon before I go out."?


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:02 PM
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I never understood it either. I've always figured that the highest achievement, alcohol-wise, was to drink without getting noticeably drunk (i.e. staying less drunk than everyone else).


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:06 PM
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Everyone else drinking as much as you, that is.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:06 PM
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I have to say, I have had the very annoying experience of wanting to cut loose a bit and buying 4 or 5 relatively expensive drinks, and winding up with barely a buzz. Might as well have spun around in a circle until I got dizzy and fell down and saved $20.

I am also dubious about people who self-diagnose as alcoholics before the age of 25. Especially if they have not been drinking heavily for more than 5 or 6 years. Seems much more likely that they are just in a binge drinking culture and will straighten out when there are adult responsibilities to deal with.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:06 PM
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3: Right. I'm not particularly good at this, mind you, but that's what I've always understood to be the goal.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:09 PM
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Stupid mixers.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:09 PM
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You're broke and buying the nastiest alcohol possible and still want to get drunk, and have no sense that ragingly drunk isn't as fun as happily buzzed = pound shots.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:10 PM
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6: I'm pretty good at it for my size, unless I have to stand up and walk.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:10 PM
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I think it's more about minimizing calorie intake than minimizing expenditures.


Posted by: widget | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:12 PM
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I like imagining a conversation between a PUA and Vodka Samm.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:12 PM
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.341 is close enough to acute alcohol poisoning, not to speak of obvious associated dangers, to disapprove.

I was been there, like blackouts. Bunch of people yelling and dancing and laughing and fighting and falling down hills and driving curb to curb to curb and vomiting and getting arrested. Saw an old buddy pinch a pimple on his nose and get a six inch fountain of blood. Such fun. I hate it so much.

Once, only once, I tried to take my thing to a party. Opened the 1/4 pound of sinse on the floor and didn't stop rolling.

She, quietly, sitting on his lap: He's trying to stop conversation, isn't he?
He:Be kind.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:13 PM
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PUA: My, that is a really unique eyeliner. I don't think I've ever seen a girl wear something so unusual before. You must have really wanted to stand out in this crowd[tosses orange "fascinator" scarf over neck]

Vodka Samm: Argle argle WHOO 3.41 WHOO WHOO

PUA: [moves to separate VS from two other friends]: I'll have one of your finest single malt scotches. No, only for me, I won't buy you one. Tell me: my good friend over there, who is an Investment Banker has a bet: do you know the name of the largest city in Mozambique?

VS: Motherfucker blafaer rungelrner ay! [steals shot from passerby, drinks half, grabs onto stool, grabs onto scarf, falls down]. Bleeaszo ungh!


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:15 PM
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8: An unemployed* guy I sometimes sit with figured out that PBR was the cheapest alcohol per $ in bar I went to. Possibly because of PA's high liquor taxes, but still.

* I'm fairly certain he isn't unemployed so much as disabled, but it seems rude to ask. Plus, his disability, if there is one, would be mental. He's much bigger and stronger than me.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:15 PM
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10: Oh, that does make more sense. Self-destructive and all that, but as dieting I can follow it.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:15 PM
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13: Perhaps the most cogent defense I've ever seen of the social value of binge drinking.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:16 PM
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13 is great but I think PUA is actually talking to one of Gru's minions.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:19 PM
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PUA's don't buy drinks for women? I didn't know that.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:19 PM
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It seems sort of counter-intuitive from the whole male-provider-asshole perspective.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:20 PM
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Dip your finger in DMSO then in grain alcohol, that will fuck you up good.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:21 PM
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do you know the name of the largest city in Mozambique?

I'm... not sure if I do. Does that mean I'm supposed to feel attracted to Halford now?


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:27 PM
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What's puzzling to me about my own relationship with alcohol is that back in the days where I barely drank at all I thought "why is it people always have a drink on tv when they're stressed out?--it's not like it makes you feel that much better." And then somehow at some point I discovered that it most certainly does. I don't know what I was doing wrong back then. It seems possible it is only my exaggerated dislike for feeling hung over (and my current suspicion that drinking is a big part of my weighing 30 lbs more than I'd like) that keeps me from being very special friends indeed with the bottle.


Posted by: Mister Smearcase | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:28 PM
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13 and 17 are great.

VS may not be doing anything wrong in a moral sense, but she needs to stay away from bodies of water, PUAs, and moving vehicles. Also, even if she won't drink water while getting plastered, she should drink a bunch before going to bed to avoid the hangover.

And, geez, don't climb on that, that won't support your weight. No, really get down from there. Ack, you are going to give your mother and I a heart attack.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:29 PM
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Richard Feynman said never to buy a drink for a woman who hasn't already promised to sleep with you. His autobiography spends way more time on this than on, say, quantum field theory.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:29 PM
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At .3 BAC, no amount of water before bed will avoid the hangover.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:30 PM
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This is tangentially related to something I was digging into years ago. There's a HSPH prof Hen/ry Wechs/ler who has often been criticized for overstating his research on binge drinking. He defines it at 4 drinks for women, 5 for men in one "sitting" which could mean go to a bar, get a couple cocktails, then two glasses of wine with dinner and you "binged. "
In the late 90s was a notorious drinking death at college which led to prosecutions and policy crackdown. The prosecutions were headed by an ADA Pame/la Wechs/ler who I'm pretty sure is Henr/y's daughter. Publicity of drinking problems driven by the DA 'a prosecutorial choices could conveniently provide support for more funding of daddy's research.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:31 PM
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24: If he goes to dinner with his mother or his aunt or something, is he making everybody pay Dutch or is he going straight to incest?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:34 PM
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||

Shots fired at capital. Female shooter wounded and in custody in unknown condition.

NYT says there was a baby in the shooter's car.

|>


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:36 PM
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Pame/la Wechs/ler who I'm pretty sure is Henr/y's daughter

Mia says she might be Frank's daughter, but I don't know what to say about that.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:37 PM
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Great. Now I look frivolous.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:38 PM
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Let's hope the shooter was both white and conservative; otherwise it will just turn into "see how wise the shutdown is, look at these looney-tunes entitled poors" and stupid Americans will rally round the Republicans.

Poor woman, whatever the case. Poor child.


Posted by: Frowner | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:40 PM
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It seems possible it is only my exaggerated dislike for feeling hung over (and my current suspicion that drinking is a big part of my weighing 30 lbs more than I'd like) that keeps me from being very special friends indeed with the bottle.

Me and Smearcase are the same person. I loathe being hungover. I actually gained the 30 lbs from regular old eating, though.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:44 PM
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Let's hope the shooter was both white and conservative
This is pretty much my first thought every time.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:44 PM
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TPM says there are unconfirmed reports that the woman tried to ram the White House gates.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:45 PM
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I think this quote is interesting:


Particularly, Wilsnack says, "Growing up having seen this be male behavior, there's something attractive about it that makes us want to do it, too. A marker of men's higher status is that they had access to alcohol and could drink to excess and do all kinds of stupid things, while women couldn't. It was a male prerogative and a part of the traditional masculine role. It wasn't a part of women's roles."

I'm not sure if I believe this completely, but I think there is a way that incompetence and irresponsibility can signal higher status. It's basically saying, "I don't *need* to be responsible, I have other people to take care of me."


Posted by: torrey pine | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 12:51 PM
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It's basically saying, "I don't *need* to be responsible, I have other people to take care of me."

I agree with this. It says you've got a safety net. (Unless you don't, in which case it says you're a trainwreck.)


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:03 PM
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This thread is good evidence for the 40 comment derail rule.
I can't decide how bad to feel about the reaction described in 33.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:04 PM
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This thread is good evidence for the 40 comment derail rule.

Maybe the woman who tried to attack the White House was binge-drinking.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:07 PM
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Back on topic, a 0.341 BAC is genuinely impressive. We should salute her for her fairly surprising lack of being dead.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:08 PM
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That guy with yeast colonizing his gut got to 0.37 without having any drinks.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:13 PM
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35: Uh, no. The competition, to any degree I understood it, was about drinking more yet maintaining better. VS accomplishment was walking with a .341.

It was not:"Shit, I'll bet you can drink me under the table."

One reason I have moved to anime is that Japanese mainstream culture as depicted in film is just fucking sodden.

I have also discovered a taste for Iranian and other Islamic national cinemas. About Ellie, where four 30-something yuppie couples with kids spend a holiday weekend at a lake cottage, without alcohol, was enlightening. Good movie.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:14 PM
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I realize it's an often fatal level, but I'm still amused by Wikipedia describing one "behavior" characteristic of BAC 0.4_% as "general lack of behavior."


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:14 PM
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The portion of the Wikipedia page on BAC dedicated to listing the highest levels on record seems to have a strong over-representation of people from Poland.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:16 PM
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I can't decide how bad to feel about the reaction described in 33.

I first had that reaction to a terrorist attack in 1995 after the Oklahoma City bombing. At the time, I felt really weird and guilty for having it, but I couldn't deny that I had it.

I continued to have the same reaction and the same misgivings for every attack or attempted attack or rumored attack until 9/11. On 9/11, you knew right away that this was not the work of domestic terrorists.

Then I saw how the country reacted to 9/11, and I realized there was nothing wrong with hoping that a terrorist is a part of a domestic right wing movement. At least you know that the country will only have to deal with one tragedy, and not a tragedy plus bullshit aftermath grandstanding.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:16 PM
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Whimper of whipped dogs.

"I hope they don't blame us" rather than "They better not try to blame us."


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:28 PM
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"I hope they don't blame us"

Not many Muslims commenting here, Bob.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:30 PM
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Or so the mullahs would have you believe.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:31 PM
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I want Vodka Samm to face down the mullahs. I want Vodka Samm to face down the Republicans. I want Vodka Samm to get the country moving again. Vodka Samm can save the world.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:44 PM
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It was about Muslims? I guess worrying that it might have been a left-wing terrorist is inconceivable?

Oh well. The days of wine and roses and Sterling Hall.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:44 PM
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Vodka Samm will get the country moving again if she can find a designated driver.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:47 PM
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I want Vodka Sam to be Speaker of the House.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 1:47 PM
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1. Go nuts with the drinking when you can walk home from the bar because you live in a college town.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 2:24 PM
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I want Vodka Samm to be king.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 2:29 PM
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how can we deal with the out of hand problem of drinking at our nations universities that is the worst that it has ever been with rates much higher than the rest of the country. Or not:

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-29/lifestyle/41593566_1_college-students-college-drinking-real-world

"U-Va. has tracked student drinking rates since the 1960s. The heaviest drinking was back in the 1970s and '80s, when parents of today's students would have been enrolled, Bruce said. The rate is now in line with national averages."


Posted by: lemmy caution | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 3:25 PM
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That guy with yeast colonizing his gut got to 0.37 without having any drinks.

Ooh! There's one for the hypochondriac section of my brain. I feel dizzy. Maybe intestinal yeast are brewing booze in my gut!


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 3:43 PM
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That guy with yeast colonizing his gut got to 0.37 without having any drinks.

Ooh! There's one for the hypochondriac section of my brain. I feel dizzy. Maybe intestinal yeast are brewing booze in my gut!


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 3:43 PM
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It's so bad you are probably seeing that comment double.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 3:44 PM
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OT, and sorry if it's already been posted, but new Hyperbole and a Half!


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 4:15 PM
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That's not off topic. Vodka shots are pretty much a dinosaur costume for adults.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 4:18 PM
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I fondly remember getting really drunk in college so I could sleep through the upstairs neighbors and their constant parties with awful German techno music. I loved falling asleep while I felt like I was on a roller coaster. Now I will throw up if I have more than two cocktails. Stupid, stupid body.


Posted by: LizSpigot | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 5:23 PM
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WHOA-OH-OH/WHOAH-OH-OH

Shut up you racists!


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 5:39 PM
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||
I don't suppose anyone here is an Adobe Contribute maven? And might know what's up with getting a "can't find files on the server" error message when the files are easily verifiable on FTP?
||>


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 5:52 PM
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Is it too soon to introduce a tangent in this thread? This is slightly creeping me out: can anyone think how Facebook could know that I might know my cousin in NH?

I have no friends in common with him, and I've never done a FB search for any member of that extended family. My FB profile doesn't make any mention of the area of NH in which I have a history. The only online records of any relationship with him or them are emails back and forth via gmail. Except for some presumably obscure activity regarding legal matters.

Erm. I don't like to think that it could be a function of my gmail address (which is tied to my FB account, invisibly) -- though now that I consider, FB has also thought I might know someone with whom my only contact, via email, was a book purchase like 5 years ago.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 5:53 PM
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62/ Could it be related to this?


Posted by: md 20/400 | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 5:59 PM
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63- If he searched for you or viewed your profile it will suggest to you that you might know him, even if you've never done anything on your end.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:12 PM
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can anyone think how Facebook could know that I might know my cousin in NH?

Your cousin could have allowed Facebook to scan his gmail for potential contacts, and you were in there. Or maybe some third party had both you and your cousin in their gmail contacts.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:15 PM
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61: Srsly. My daughters decided independently of me that they hated the Indians and Braves above even the Yankees, because racism. If they heard that chant they would be incensed. Go Dodgers, even though you broke my father's family's hearts when you left Brooklyn.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:20 PM
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65, 66: Ah. Okay, right, maybe it's activity on his end. I was beginning to freak out just a tad at the thought that FB was somehow receiving information from my gmail.

I'm not sure I realized that there was such a thing as allowing FB to scan your gmail -- I should check to be sure I've disabled that myself. (ugh, where would that be?)

Thanks.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:24 PM
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Shut up you racists!

Have they shut up now that they're down by 2?

I, too, want the Braves to lose.


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:26 PM
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But getting back on topic: Heebie's reaction here seems exactly right. I certainly did a lot of irresponsible drinking over the last decade or so, and it was (a) not such a big deal because I had no serious responsibilities, and (b) enabled by that same lack of responsibilities. I mean, it was doubtless a contributing factor in my failing grad school and losing all sense of self-worth, but I might well have done that sober.


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:30 PM
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Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:30 PM
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Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:35 PM
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Have they shut up now that they're down by 2?

... how about now? Heh. (I guess I could just listen to the radio broadcast on my phone. I'll shut up now.)


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:37 PM
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67: I am really hoping the Indians are eliminated and our next-door neighbors have to take down their racist flag before the wind is strong enough that the girls can see it, because I'm lazy.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:37 PM
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Rest assured that the Indians were eliminated last night. But holy shit, Braves fans do this chant all the time? They must be destroyed.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:42 PM
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You'd think that burning down their city once would teach them a lesson.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:43 PM
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Damn, then why is the flag still up? Or maybe they took it down tonight and I wasn't paying attention.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:46 PM
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64: pretty sure not -- haven't rec'd any notifications from Adobe, and this Contribute was bought and downloaded normally 18 mos. ago, not from the cloud.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:51 PM
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I got a 1L bottle of absinthe in Spain for $30, I just made a sea fizz. Hooray drinking.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:52 PM
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Note to self: find out if absinthe is legally available in this country.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:56 PM
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It is.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:56 PM
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77: Ohio-identified sports fans are feeling especially hurt now, given that the Reds were also eliminated the day before. Best deal with them gently and hope they get around to taking down their flag when they've processed the loss.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:57 PM
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It is, but the cheapest I could find it is $55/750mL. But I have no idea of relative qualities of what I bought vs. what's in stores here.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 6:59 PM
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80: The thujone percentage is very low, but you can buy thujone essential oil at health food stores. Or be a man's man and join the Rhodesian Army drink Fernet instead.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:00 PM
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Gasp! Didn't close the tag right!


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:01 PM
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A friend of mine got VERY into absinthe when it was still banned here, ordered up dozens of bottles from the Czech Republic and elsewhere. I tried a few different kinds, but the anise taste was so overpowering for all of them that I couldn't really distinguish much difference in quality.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:03 PM
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Why does drinking basically pretty sweet, not very high alcohol digestifs make you a man's man? Don't get me wrong, I love fernet, but it's not like it's so terribly different from jaegermeister.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:03 PM
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82: also, their unexpectedly non-shitty quarterback has just gone down with an injury, to be replaced by their famously, heroically shitty backup quarterback.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:05 PM
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83: Try this and use it as a benchmark for evaluating others. Or just stick with it, you won't be disappointed.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:05 PM
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My bottle is 140 proof, I'm not drinking your pansy 120 shit.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:08 PM
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87: Well, yeah, 'cause, I mean, they're all a bit frou-frou from a macho drinking perspective, and the absurdity of trying to make a distinction between them strikes me as amusing. And I like Fernet now, and not absinthe, which I used to be into, before it got popular again.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:08 PM
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It was good enough for Edgar Allen Poe, and he seemed like a basically well adjusted guy.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:09 PM
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Seriously, people, really good absinthe will intoxicate you in a very pleasant way unlike other spirit. Cheap Spanish and Czech absinthe generally gives you what you pay for.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:15 PM
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It's good enough for me too!


Posted by: OPINIONATED VODKA SAMM | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:15 PM
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Conveniently the bottle is plastic so I didn't have to worry about it breaking in my carry-on.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:17 PM
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I drank a ton of absinthe when I was in Barcelona. Then I fell in with some ETA sympathizers who fed me ecstasy and then we set off fire extinguishers in the old city. Try that with fernet. I mean, I'm sure it would work, I just really recommend it.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:21 PM
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Sounds like the time I got smashed on Rakia with Macedonian Communists.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:45 PM
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I'm a little drunk.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:52 PM
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I'm a big drunk!


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:54 PM
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I'm not drunk at all, but I'm $900 richer than I was yesterday. I think I'll spend it on absinthe.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 7:57 PM
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That's a lot of absinthe! You should throw a party for all of us.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 8:02 PM
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Sure, come on up.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 8:04 PM
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You guys are all very cute.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 8:07 PM
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93.1 is true. I don't drink absinthe anymore. It made chunks of time move around, and no thanks.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 8:08 PM
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Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 8:09 PM
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I guess I missed the "pleasant" part of 93.1. It certainly felt great at the time but got unnerving too, though MMMV.

In other drinking news, why on earth did I think I could have an iced coffee at lunch because I was so tired surely I could sleep fine later. Absinthe might have been a better choice.

(On my first official date with Lee, her friends at the bar kept buying me absinthe because they thought I'd have to be really drunk to sleep with her but wanted her to get over her dry spell and bad prior girlfriend. I think I thought they were just being friendly.)


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 8:16 PM
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How did I not know Kristen Bell was going to be on Parks and Recreation? That is literally the most exciting that has happened in months.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 9:03 PM
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108

106.2 Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 9:15 PM
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109

108 is excellent.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 9:28 PM
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I'm not actually going to spend my dividend on absinthe, though.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 9:29 PM
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110: That's right, you need to spend some of it on Rye, Peychaud's, and sugar.


Posted by: Benquo | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 10:09 PM
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Right.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 3-13 10:13 PM
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Since this is the booze thread, I'll also note that I am in the process of trying a six-pack of various Shiner/Spoetzl beers (something I've never heard of any other brewery doing), all of which are quite good.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 12:19 AM
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A friend of mine got VERY into absinthe when it was still banned here, ordered up dozens of bottles from the Czech Republic and elsewhere. I tried a few different kinds, but the anise taste was so overpowering for all of them that I couldn't really distinguish much difference in quality.

Czech absinthe is almost all terrible. The best commonly available and affordable stuff (in the UK, anyway) is French and Spanish. I'm a fan of Mari Mayans, which is sweeter than your typical French or Swiss absinthe (which usually require the addition of sugar as well as water).


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 2:01 AM
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Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 2:34 AM
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DRASTICALLY Thin Provider Networks on Obamacare Exchange New woman at Corrente, with comments, explains why that matters. Two tracks of out-of-pocket or long wait times on killer procedures

Whatever. kermit can ribit.

I am patiently biding my time, because I knew the banksters and their tools were screwing us. It was a question of faith.

|>


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 3:40 AM
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Concord Hospital Not Part of Provider Network is typical

Sorry. I guess this is old news. Google "provider networks obamacare exchanges." Covered under "15 myths about Obamacare"

Of course you can keep your old doctor and hospital. Since co-pays for out-of-network aren't capped, of course it will bankrupt you. Or something. Argue it at Corrente.

Forbes thinks this is terrific, cause competition!! Soon healthcare will be virtually free. Uh-huh.

Argue it at Corrente as I said. I'm just reading, maybe linking but not much. And keeping the faith. They're all evil bastards.

|>


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 4:37 AM
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DRASTICALLY Thin Provider Networks on Obamacare Exchange

The narrowest Obamacare network is infinitely broader than the network of providers who will perform an organ transplant on an uninsured patient. And if you think this issue is unique to Obamacare, get ready to be disappointed, because narrow "high performance" networks are all the rage in employer group insurance these days. Fortunately, Obamacare strengthened network adequacy standards substantially over prior law.

Forbes thinks this is terrific, cause competition!!

You mendacious fuckwit, have you ever even read Forbes' coverage of Obamacare? Of course not, because it's easier to invent convenient facts out of whole cloth, as you routinely do, because you are a mendacious fuckwit.


Posted by: Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:25 AM
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I think he meant General John Forbes, the British general after whom they named he street outside my door.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:31 AM
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co-pays for out-of-network aren't capped, of course it will bankrupt you

No different from standard employer-sponsored plans, before or after the ACA. Indeed, before the ACA, there was no nationwide legal requirement that there be any out of pocket maximum, even for in-network care, even as insurers were permitted to cap the amount that they were on the hook for on an annual or lifetime basis.

Of course Obamacare is not a patient nirvana. It's an ameliorated version of an abysmal status quo ante. There is still lots of room for regulators to move the industry in a more consumer-friendly direction. But anyone who claims Obamacare is a step backward for consumers is talking out of his drug-addled, anime-fascinated ass.



Posted by: Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:50 AM
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118: I don't trust you. End of story.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:51 AM
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You could look at the link in 118 yourself to see if he's right about that. And then call around and try to get a price on a new liver.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:53 AM
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I don't trust you. End of story.

Bob, you mendacious fuckwit, I think the record will clearly show which of us can be trusted on matters of fact.


Posted by: Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:03 AM
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113: a six-pack of various Shiner/Spoetzl beers (something I've never heard of any other brewery doing)
Really? I thought everyone did that now. I've seen them from New Belgium, Summit, maybe Bell's, and at least a couple of others. We're a little spoiled for beer choices around here, admittedly, as the beer nerd/bike geek demographic has been ascendent for a few years now.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:04 AM
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114: Well, it wasn't just Czech absinthe, I just remember that as being among the first types you could order on the internet. He had a pretty big collection, so I'm sure some of them were from other places.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:06 AM
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I like this new bob, worried about people being able to keep their favorite doctor and hospital. I predict teen promiscuity next.

Incidentally, for those who may actually be interested, my understanding is that HMO members in California may not legally be balance billed. Hopefully such rules will spread.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:24 AM
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123: Hey, the solution is obvious, simple, and should be easy for you.

I trust Corrente, because I know they aren't Obama flacks.

So go over to Corrente and convince Teresa, who knows much more than I do. I'll be watching.

When she says "wow, kermit has great arguments and evidence. I was so so wrong." Not only will I like Obamacare better, but my trust in you will increase.

Or you can go help Ezra.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:24 AM
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...try to get a price on a new liver.

You know I have been there. Primary caregiver for transplantee + dialysis + tracheostomy + kitchen sink for seven years.

Mom was in a coma and about to have life supports removed at a 2nd tier hospital when we helicoptered her to the research hospital that did her liver transplant. In 24 hours she was laughing and lived six more years.

Like Forbes said, gonna be fun in five years when a gold plan family finds their kid needs a bone marrow transplant and all the hospitals that will do it are out of network. Pass the popcorn.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:35 AM
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Does anybody but old Republicans hoping for the world to die to prove them right use the phrase "pass the popcorn" like that?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:44 AM
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In the political context it's only used to indicate that you are a cynical nihilist. But I also see it all the time on sports message boards when there's going to be a big contract dispute (either involving a player or a TV contract).


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:51 AM
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129: Single-payer or very strong public-option was not a utopian pipedream but a necessity to save lives and keep people from bankruptcy.

If the system can't deliver what is necessary, you burn it down.

You don't get to say that since you can't have it, the necessary wasn't really necessary, or that all that death and suffering doesn't matter.

Ahh, I checked on Corrente to see if kermit was laying waste. Teresa is well informed and not a malicious fuckwit.

If you can't sell this to a crowd of informed but hostile lefties, the thing is total shit.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:56 AM
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If the system can't deliver what is necessary, you burn it down.

That's exactly Ted Cruz's position.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:02 AM
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Bob, you mendacious fuckwit, I have no interest in convincing Teresa (or any hostile leftists, including you) of anything. My interest lies merely in keeping this space as free as possible of uncontradicted bullshit emanating from you. Nothing would please me more than for you to spend the whole rest of the day with your friends at Corrente, except if you spent the rest of your life there.


Posted by: Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:12 AM
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the thing is total shit.

You've got another shit coming.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:12 AM
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The bob mcmanus crusade to spread the bigoted angry old white guy meshugas to the nether regions of the internet whose denizens would otherwise have to turn on their TV or talk to their co-workers to get their minimum daily requirement should be viewed as a public service.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:17 AM
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132: It is not exactly news that opposite-pole radicals can embrace similar tactics. This has nothing to do with their actual goals, which are of course, opposing and contradictory to each other's, but how radicals define themselves. Goals Outcomes.

Nor is it news that moderates, who are actually Burkean conservatives embracing incrementalism and caution, define themselves entirely in terms of not embracing radical tactics with no reference to goals or outcomes save social order, placidity, calm, regularity.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:17 AM
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Why did bob mcmanus screw in alight bulb?

It's better to curse the lightness than to curse the darkness.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:19 AM
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I'm not arguing that I'm not a moderate on any reasonably comprehensive political scale. I am. I'm a forty-something white guy with reasonably-paying job, a nice house, a wife, a kid, two cars, benefits, and various commitments which wouldn't be at all served by a revolution.

But a massive expansion of the population with access to regular health care is hardly not making any reference to goals or outcomes.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:23 AM
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133:Liar.

Like you don't show up in threads I don't participate in, "explaining" Obamacare.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:24 AM
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Uh oh, is mcmanus being right?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:29 AM
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I'm wearing a light blue oxford and khaki pants right now. Aaah.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:30 AM
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I have no interest in convincing Teresa

I knew you wouldn't.

After twelve years on the Webs, I am obviously no longer intimidated by articulate wonkery. People, can if they like, go to Corrente or Ian Welsh or google.

Not entertained anymore, either


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:35 AM
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Liar

Bob, you mendacious fuckwit, I don't see any hostile leftists here other than you, champ.


Posted by: Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:37 AM
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I'm a cuddly leftist.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:39 AM
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If only the exchanges offered some kind of option that was public, and came with the same provider network that Medicare uses. I don't know why nobody though of that when they were writing the bill.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 10:21 AM
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"Bob, you mendacious fuckwit" just doesn't have a cadence as strong as "Jane, you ignorant slut". I think the trouble is ending on an unstressed syllable.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 4:20 PM
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On the OP what confuses me is that parties in college were generally open bar. The quality sucked unless you were at a rich kid's off campus place, but if all you cared about was getting trashed you had a zillion places you could do it for free every Friday and Saturday night. And nobody went to bars with large groups of friends, those things were expensive. It was off campus apartments, coops or frats for large parties, dorm rooms for small ones.


Posted by: teraz kurwa my | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 4:40 PM
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"mendacious fuckwit" should be "mendacious ghoul"


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 4:44 PM
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God damn it. FUCK YOU RACISTS.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:32 PM
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147: when I was briefly at [ giant public party school ] the quality sucked and also you had to pay for a cup and also frat bros would surround the keg and lock arms so nobody could get any. Pre-gaming with MD 20/20 was generally the solution.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:33 PM
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147/150: I certainly don't remember paying for my Solo cup, but I do remember the distinctive flavor of Everclear and KoolAid. Big public U, lots and lots of frats. Pregaming was only for football on Saturdays since the stadium didn't sell beer.


Posted by: ydnew | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:41 PM
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General Sherman General Sherman General Sherman


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:41 PM
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Motherfuck Shit eat fuck shit stupid strategy fuck you


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 5:46 PM
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Now what's wrong with Halford?


Posted by: mcmc | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:18 PM
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I presume it's to do with baseball.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:23 PM
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Based on the Sherman stuff, I was thinking he'd acquired a time machine and travelled back to 1859 to make a poorly informed investment in railroads in Georgia, but 155 seems more plausible.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:25 PM
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Really? I thought everyone did that now. I've seen them from New Belgium, Summit, maybe Bell's, and at least a couple of others.

I've seen plenty of this sort of thing in larger packages, but never in a six-pack before.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:30 PM
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I'm in mixed company and can't swear as much as I'd like.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:31 PM
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LA Dodgers losing to Atlanta Braves.


Posted by: ydnew | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:32 PM
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Cockfuck shitdick


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:33 PM
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Fuck you fu king racists!


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:39 PM
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It is hard to watch. But I decry your language.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:43 PM
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||
NMM to General Giap
D


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:45 PM
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Red Sox win, LA loses to an ex Boston team. Was their any IP theft involved to make it an even worse day for Halford?


Posted by: teraz kurwa my | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 6:55 PM
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I'm with Halford. The Braves' fans' chanting fills me with rage.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:02 PM
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What are they chanting?


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:27 PM
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||

Happy anniversary to me! Sixteen years. We just had a proposal in the restaurant right next to us, and I got to tell them that we'd gotten married here back in '97, and everything had worked out fine, so it's good luck.

|>


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:33 PM
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Congrats LB!


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:34 PM
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61.1 to 166, I assume.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:34 PM
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That's great, Congratulations LB!


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 7:34 PM
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Congratulations, LB!


Posted by: David the Unfogged Commenter | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 8:12 PM
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Congratulations, LB!


Posted by: mcmc | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 9:45 PM
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I'm a pedantic and argumentative leftist, so I guess that fits in between cuddly and hostile. While I am sympathetic overall to bob's points, I don't see why the good must be the enemy of the perfect. It's a problem I have with a lot of the organized far left. There's stuff to be gained by sitting in a room reading Lenin and pointing out the problems with less evil neoliberalism, but to support that in exclusion with trying to effect actual change in the world ignores a lot of real suffering. Obamacare is definitely the 'participation ribbon' of healthcare plans, but it's better than what the forces of darkness opposing it support. I agree that fighting the forces of darkness to uphold the SQ is depressing,* but giving into the forces of darkness in hopes it would lead to Leftist revolution was a bet taken by the German Communist party in 1933 and it didn't go so well for them. Sometimes you need to fight fascism** even if the alternative isn't objectively all that great.


*which is why I spent the last 4 years determined to not vote for Obama a second time, but caved in the end and cast my ballot for him.
**At this point I don't feel like it's hyperbole to call certain factions of the RP fascist. If it walks like a duck...


Posted by: Britta | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 10:51 PM
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On drinking, my grandfather was mostly a teetotaler and the only alcohol he drank was Schnapps. In his 80s, he heard that a glass of red wine was good for the heart, so he went and bought this large jug of cheap wine at the supermarket. Then, every night before bed, he would fill half a juice glass with red wine, and then top up the other half with milk. Then he would slug it back like a shot, and chase it with buttered potato chips. He did this every night for at least 5 years.


Posted by: Britta | Link to this comment | 10- 4-13 10:55 PM
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What are they chanting?

A faux-Native American wordless war-chanty thing. Presumably so radio audiences who can't see the tomahawk chop don't miss out on the racism.

Congratulations, LB. That's a very sweet anniversary story.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 1:10 AM
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175 wuzme.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 1:11 AM
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Congratulations LB.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 2:11 AM
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happy anniversary LB


Posted by: text | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 2:42 AM
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Congratulations LB!


Posted by: widget | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 4:16 AM
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Happy anniversary to LB and Buck. Let's also hope you didn't encourage some couple to make a mistake. What if the restaurant has nothing to do how your marriage fared and they're now counting on a spurious correlation?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 5:53 AM
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I wonder what Vodka Samm would make of the dream I just woke up from about buying a Melchior* of Roederer Cristal (for only $1,591 -- a real bargain!) and accidentally shaking it up so much that I was afraid to open it, lest it explode.

*In the dream it was incorrectly being referred to as a Double Magnum, but I think that was an error on the part of the ignorant dream liquor store clerks.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 6:22 AM
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Happy anniversary. Hope you enjoyed the food rather than just following the advice in the OP.


Posted by: teraz kurwa my | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 2:09 PM
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Yes, happy anniversary!


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 5:10 PM
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Whoo!


Posted by: Robert HalfordI | Link to this comment | 10- 5-13 5:19 PM
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