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Ok. Just glancing @ your route, a few suggestions. When Sostermann'n'I took the 'southern route' many years ago, we stopped at the unclaimed baggage center. Worth a trip. http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/

I would also dip up from El Paso and check out White Sands/get some chile in Hatch, or some such.

Drive safely.

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ot only is it bizarre and hilarious at the same time for us Americans, it’s also highly demonstrative that media and really, communication, is much more culture-specific than most give thought to on a regular basis.

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Yes, ari, it truly was :).

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Thanks Jessica! Hope it happens.

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Thanks Ben! Glad you appreciated it and agree - let's make some things
happen over the next few years

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good night, mr ganguly. a good night.

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BRAVO. I'm inspired. Fingers crossed.. because given the shape of our country we need a leader who can inspire the masses

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Bravo, Robi. Damn right we can. It truly is about coming together for one cause for a better nation. Sacrifice is something that aside from wars, Americans have not had to do for some time. Time to take the next step forward together.

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Glad you liked the post, thanks for your comments. Any suggestions for
how Amazon can improve their programs to make you even more successful?

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Robi Ganguly
Blog: http://robiganguly.com/blog
Mobile: 415.939.7143

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Thanks for this great post about Amazon. They are definitely doing big things with the Amazon Associates program. I spend my days working on amazon associate e-commerce websites. As a developer and affiliate marketer, I can say that Amazon has all the right tools to make it happen. From web services to content, products, and infrastructure, they really have a winning combination.

PuReWebDev

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Glad you like it Mark. Go put it up on your new blog
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Robi Ganguly
Blog: http://robiganguly.com/blog
Mobile: 415.939.7143

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YES!

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I suppose I'm a little surprised to hear that only 88% thought he was
the victor. I think that's a reasonably good sign for Obama



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After watching last night's town hall, I was troubled when I flipped through the news channels - and saw the “viewer poll” which showed 88% of viewers identifying McCain as the victor. Had I missed something? I was able to come back to earth when I saw I had stumbled upon Fox News.

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Cool. That's what great about your blog, and all blogs. We don't have to rely on Rupert Murdoch to find the truth. Anyhow, I think a lot of people should read this because it helps make sense of the world. Otherwise you're scratching your head after the debate asking yourself “Were we watching the same thing?”

Separately, you know what would be nice? A blog post about how to not feel sickened and depressed by all of the manipulation and dishonesty coming from the right. I'd really like a better strategy for coping.

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Wow, Mark, thanks, I'm glad that you enjoyed the post. It does appear that the media interpretation is following the prediction. Also, I completely agree with you about sending around information on our own in order to make sure that people are skimming less. I'm going to make my next post focus on that, what do you think?

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“Are you letting yourself just skim and feed off of the wake of communications strategies?” Not if you read Robi's blog is my answer. Great post. This is all very well said and half of your prediction is spot on (the part about her holding her own and being poised), at least based upon the media reaction I've observed tonight. To be clear, she did not hold her own and was not poised. She looked like a fucking moron to anybody with their head on straight, especially next to Biden, to be perfectly honest. But perception is everything. Let's just keep sending those YouTube clips and remembering the truth is on our side. Lastly, I don't think it would have been wise to choose Hillary even if that meant owning the media. I don't think we have to play the same game to win. We can win with integrity.

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true, true. scary how easily it is to lose track of important detail and nuance. and they said the mass media was dead!

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I’m not sure that I think Romney is such a great choice for mobilizing the far right base on account of his religion. If he was so popular in that respect why did Huckabee do so well in the primaries?

Also, while I think a Lieberman selection is VERY unlikely, I wouldn’t completely rule it out. It would certainly be historic (it’s been a LONG time since there was a 2-party ticket…at least that I can think of). And I think it would give Obama fits with regards to the Jewish voters who backed Hillary and might now be struggling to get behind Obama. That could definitely make a big difference in Florida…

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Holy shit, it worked!!!!!! An ad from Moveon.org just showed up for a free Obama/Biden sticker! I tipped the scale! Yay! Google works!!!!!!!!

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Damn it Robi. You’ve got another McCain ad on your blog. Isn’t this what McCain wants? His goal with this VP buzz is certainly to detract from all the attention this wonderful DNC is getting, especially after Obama’s speech. Let’s not give him reason to show off that smirk. Maybe this comment can change AdSense’s mind??…
Vote for Obama!
Obama speech is great!
Democrats will win!
Go Obama/Biden!
Yes we can!
Clintons love Obama!
End the war!
Tax break for middle class!

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Kudos to Rory for a thought-provoking, if somewhat overwhelming, comment. I particularly appreciated his point about people being obsessed with taking pictures of themselves doing things that they ought to be more focused on actually doing. Also, the idea that this selection ought to be about more than simply whether or not he was the best choice for helping Obama win the elect, as if the Vice President selection is simply a card to be played during the election year and forgotten after November.

Back to Robi’s post, however, I just thought I’d share my personal reaction to the Biden announcement. I have been a pretty irrationally rabid Obama fan now for several years, going back to when I lived in Chicago. I simply find the guy inspiring because I feel that he represents a lot of characteristics that seem to get chipped-away at by the harsh world of politics. I have been struck by how he somehow manages to come across as honest, articulate, intelligent, reasonable, and sincere while so many other politicians seems to struggle to achieve these characteristics.

I’m didn’t think that I was terribly attached to this intangible idea of “change.” I don’t think I’m looking for major, fundamental changes to “the system.” I like to think that I just want to see what happens if we get a smart, hard-working, trustworthy, and charismatic leader in there who has a clear mandate from the people. However, my reaction when I heard the Biden announcement made me question whether or not I’m really that ambivalent about “change.”

When I heard that Obama had chosen Biden as his running mate my first reaction was basically, “ugh. Really? Well thats…anti-climactic.” I don’t even know very little about Biden. I’m more than willing to accept that he’s a shrewd choice who compliments Obama’s weaknesses while strengthening his overall electoral odds. Policy-wonks who know WAY more about this stuff and spend WAY more time thinking about it than I do made this decision. I will pretty-much take it as a given that this was a “smart” choice.

The problem, for me, was just that Biden seems so…uninspiring. I had hoped that Obama would do something bold; that he would choose someone both capable and symbolic. How about a Republican? A Latino? A woman? Or even a military man like Clark? But, another old, wooden, white, long-time Northeastern Senator? It just felt so very…..not Obama.

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now that’s a comment. inspired me to finally wash my car.

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There seems to be this constant, albeit, somewhat contrived, drumroll for Hillary behind what so many people say and think about both Obama and now Biden. Even more, there is this annoyingly bothersome, and distracting hum of people participating, in their own way, with the “game” of politics. What befuddles me in these discussions, is the notion that the vetting team that Obama put together is somehow less equipped then those of us who announce our opinions, both privately and publicly, regarding this choice. We second guess, which is important, but we second guess about the wrong things. These people do this 20 hours a day, every day….we were getting fucked up all weekend and watching expensive laser shows…there is an important difference there. More importantly, by acknowledging and perpetuating a discussion on electability without really addressing the substance of the issues, we aide those, like our current president, who wish to hide their lack of substance within the constant humdrum of “politics”.

Is it important for us to discuss these things, of course. Are there more important matters that we should be discussing, undoubtedly. Ask around, find out who can tell the difference between Obama’s economic plan, his education plan, and McCain’s plans on those same matters; is it not more important, as educated people who hope for change, to equip ourselves with that knowledge in a way that would allow us to convey the ideas that are most important to others? Is that not the the key to maintaining (or some might say, rescuing) our deliberative democracy?

I understand the nature of politics, and I understand why it is important to pay attention, but I question the belief that a change in that system would not take place if the same number of people who yell at the top of their keyboards, were to change directions, lose the word “I” from their discussions and instead focus on facts, presented in a way that would really convey important concepts to the thousands, and at times millions, of people they have access to.

That said, do I think that Biden was the best choice? Well, frankly, I do not believe that is the appropriate question in a deliberative democracy. We have this amazing ability to have our voices heard, and yet, what both disgusts and frightens me, is that, we are in such a hurry to have our “self” heard, we fail to raise our voices toward anything that matters. (that is not aimed at you Robi, but just the notion that the question of Biden’s electability supersedes the real issues of this campaign, issues that are constantly ignored by both the mainstream media and the blogs).

I am reminded of a thought that was hovering above the wonderful music on Sunday. As a huge Nels Cline fan, I had to sit close to watch him work his magic with Wilco on Sunday and as such, I had a fantastic, pressure free seat right up front, and though it was crowded, there was room to mill about and enjoy those around me. Throughout the weekend, but perhaps mostly during Wilco, I was struck by the number of people photographing and videotaping the concert, the number of people posing for their facebook page, and my mind drifted to the idea of nostalgia and memory, and the thought that we are now making present moments past before they even occur. So caught up in this image of the self that we present to the world, we fail to simply exist in the moment. More important (and related to your post), I wonder if we fail to realize all that exists in those singular moments, all that lurks in the interstitial spaces of everyday when we get caught up in making those moments a part of our expressed identity.

My view of the present state of politics and of discussions such as those your post compels are related in the sense that, as we stare at the broad expanse of information that rests before us, we become so caught up in identifying that one snapshot that resonates with our own identity, we fail to slow down and see all that there really is, and as a result we aide in the demise of the ideal of a deliberative democracy. Its like my dad used to ask my brother and I…”if i give you the keys to the car, are you going to run it into a tree?” Technology and access to the many has, in many ways, given us the keys to the car; more importantly, money and opportunity has provided us with the keys, what are we going to do with it, yell at the moon for not being the sun or get the car home in better shape than it was given to us.

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Hahah, Ben, both you and Mark have commented on that. It’s pretty damn funny, wish there was a way for me to control it. Kudos to the McCain team for doing some targeting I guess

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