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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Game of Nesting Boxes (Open Thread)

Game of Nesting Boxes (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  May 13, 20135:32 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads

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chicken_confab

I’ve never seen “Game of Thrones” — I’m waiting for it to come out on Netflix. But the intrigues can’t be anywhere near as Byzantine as the shifting plots and alliances that occur daily among my hens. We can’t keep up with who is Boss Hen anymore without a score card. I believe that’s Dorito and Ravenclaw above plotting to depose Joan Jett, but maybe they’re conspiring against Fuzzbutt.

I have a clear view of the coop from my desk, and every now and then I’ll hear a condor-like screech or other kerfluffle and see one hen pouncing on another. No one ever seems to be injured, but combs are spitefully pulled and feathers dislodged. It’s a jungle out there.

Please feel free to discuss whatever.

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Reader Interactions

122Comments

  1. 1.

    cleek

    May 13, 2013 at 5:34 pm

    I’m waiting for it to come out on Netflix

    it probably never will. HBO doesn’t do that.

  2. 2.

    MattR

    May 13, 2013 at 5:37 pm

    I’ve got a couple chicks on my balcony. Don’t have a very good view into the nest and trying not to get too close or upset the mama robin too much or I would post pictures.

  3. 3.

    gelfling545

    May 13, 2013 at 5:39 pm

    So Carl Paladino is now, gawdhelpus, a member of our school board. Board elections here tend to be won by how many friends & relatives you can get to turn out so it was an unfortunate foregone conclusion. His first act was to call for the (newly hired) superintendent to resign. Nobody seems to know why exactly. We’re doomed.

  4. 4.

    Betty Cracker

    May 13, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    @cleek: I think that’s how I finally got to see the Sopranos? (Or maybe that was Showtime and Amazon…)

  5. 5.

    Trollhattan

    May 13, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    Which hen controls dragons? Because that’s the one I’m betting on. Am pretty sure that’s how Col. Sanders got his start.

  6. 6.

    Anoniminous

    May 13, 2013 at 5:44 pm

    Since the topic is chickens …

    Poultry drug increases levels of toxic arsenic in chicken meat.

    Chickens likely raised with arsenic-based drugs result in chicken meat that has higher levels of inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen, according to a new study led by researchers at theJohns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

    This is the first study to show concentrations of specific forms of arsenic (e.g., inorganic arsenic versus other forms) in retail chicken meat, and the first to compare those concentrations according to whether or not the poultry was raised with arsenical drugs. The findings provide evidence that arsenical use in chickens poses public health risks and indicate that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency responsible for regulating animal drugs, should ban arsenicals. The study was published online today in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

    How truly wonderful

  7. 7.

    quannlace

    May 13, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    Heavens! What happened to the sisterly amity of ‘Chicken Run?”

  8. 8.

    raven

    May 13, 2013 at 5:49 pm

    @Betty Cracker: The previous season will come out on DVD when the new one premiers.

  9. 9.

    raven

    May 13, 2013 at 5:51 pm

    Season 1 and 2 are on iTunes.

  10. 10.

    SatanicPanic

    May 13, 2013 at 5:54 pm

    New scandal! New Scandal! Christmas came early this year!

    Govt obtains wide AP phone records in probe

  11. 11.

    BGinCHI

    May 13, 2013 at 5:55 pm

    Allegory for BJ, Betty, or Congress?

    ETA: Should have asked it this way: Betty, is that an allegory for Balloon Juice or Congress?

  12. 12.

    NCSteve

    May 13, 2013 at 5:56 pm

    Right there with you. I’ve got three aging female cats who are sisters. Every day is like watching a play co-authored Tennessee Williams and Alan Drury translated into a foreign language. And losing their mom last winter destabilized the situation like an Alan Dulles CIA covert ops team.

  13. 13.

    Spaghetti Lee

    May 13, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    @raven:

    They don’t plot, they don’t scheme, and they are not organized!

  14. 14.

    dance around in your bones

    May 13, 2013 at 5:58 pm

    It’s hard out there for a hen. {{{snicker}}}

  15. 15.

    Comrade Mary

    May 13, 2013 at 5:58 pm

    I believe that’s Dorito and Ravenclaw above plotting to depose Joan Jett, but maybe they’re conspiring against Fuzzbutt.

    Martin could learn a lot about the art of naming characters from you, Betty.

    Also: the Game of Thrones theme, performed by a cat.

  16. 16.

    raven

    May 13, 2013 at 5:59 pm

    “Twenty-seven percent of Americans say hipsters should be forced to pay a special tax because they are “so annoying,” according to a recent poll from Public Policy Polling.’

    You know who likes GOT?

  17. 17.

    Baud

    May 13, 2013 at 6:02 pm

    Henghazi!

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    May 13, 2013 at 6:02 pm

    Likely shall never watch it. All my acquaintances here, both the avid and the casual viewers, agree unanimously that I should avoid it, as they are aware of my extreme distaste for violence, particularly of the blatant and callous sort.

  19. 19.

    raven

    May 13, 2013 at 6:04 pm

    @NotMax: Shit is stupid IMHO.

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    May 13, 2013 at 6:04 pm

    Apparently, Richard Branson flew to KL yesterday wearing a red skirt suit (the AirAsia stewardess uniform) and a blonde wig. He’d lost a bet with AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes, and had to work as cabin crew on the flight.

    Not that Sir Richard doesn’t look fetching in a skirt, but I really hope I never see such a picture again.

  21. 21.

    Keith G

    May 13, 2013 at 6:04 pm

    The President’s schedule gets even busier.

    The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.

  22. 22.

    MikeJ

    May 13, 2013 at 6:06 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Which hen controls dragons?

    I would guess that any dragons that existed were related to dinosaurs, and we know chickens are releated to dinosaurs.

    I guess what I’m saying is that chickens are dragons.

  23. 23.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 6:06 pm

    @SatanicPanic: Horrors! Will they now turn en masse against AT&T for craven compliance with any and all requests for infomation? Have there been unwarrented and blatent attempts to learn about reading their habits from libraries and bookstores? Are they stopped and frisked everytime they step outside their bureaus “just in case”? Have any of them ever cooked in a pressure cooker? What is the latest scadle we must add to the list of things this is worse than?!. XYZ affair?

  24. 24.

    dance around in your bones

    May 13, 2013 at 6:07 pm

    I’d like to say that the new grey curvy comment numbers are a close approximation of the old fatter yet elegant grey curvy numbers, so kudos for that.

    I still really liked the sort of free-floating centered comment platform of the old style BJ.

    Ok, I’ll shut up now for fear of invoking the Wrath of Cole.

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    May 13, 2013 at 6:07 pm

    @raven

    Which is a shame, as do like the acting skills of Peter Dinklage.

  26. 26.

    AkaDad

    May 13, 2013 at 6:08 pm

    @Baud:

    lol

  27. 27.

    MattR

    May 13, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    Anyone going to Disney World soon?

    Beginning on May 17, Disney World is having what they call a “D-Tech” event. Basically, they do a 3D scan of your head and then print your noggin over either a stormtrooper figurine or one that’s trapped in, you guessed it, carbonite

  28. 28.

    raven

    May 13, 2013 at 6:11 pm

    @NotMax: He was good in Station Agent.

  29. 29.

    grape_crush

    May 13, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Ran across this interactive mapping of “the funding landscape of conservative foundations and think tanks” which I thought was interesting. Who knew how much money the Walton Foundation was giving to promote charter schools?

    May not be new to y’all, though.

  30. 30.

    piratedan

    May 13, 2013 at 6:15 pm

    @raven: even better in the British version of Death at a Funeral

  31. 31.

    ira-NY

    May 13, 2013 at 6:15 pm

    Has Jane’s Firebagger plug finally been pulled?

    One can always hope!

  32. 32.

    raven

    May 13, 2013 at 6:17 pm

    @ira-NY: Probably a site redesign. Or maybe the IRS shut them down!

  33. 33.

    Roger Moore

    May 13, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    @raven:

    “Twenty-seven percent of Americans say hipsters should be forced to pay a special tax because they are “so annoying,” according to a recent poll from Public Policy Polling Trolling.’

    FTFY.

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    May 13, 2013 at 6:21 pm

    @raven

    Yup. That’s where I first took notice of his abilities.

    Idle question for you (or anyone else) about a phrase I learned from a very elderly woman cook from Philadelphia, but with Southern roots, about 4 or 5 decades ago. (Still use it to this day, but have to explain it to the puzzled people who hear it.)

    Have you ever heard it used in your neck of the woods?

    When asking about what someone who was doing planning/ cooking/whatever had in mind for the next meal, or for the next day’s activities, etc., she would ask, “What’s on the rail for the lizard?”

    She was a font of colorful phrases. Highest praise she could give as congratulations or thanks was, “You are somethin’ on a stick!”

  35. 35.

    SatanicPanic

    May 13, 2013 at 6:21 pm

    @scav: I can’t wait for Issa’s take on this! Oh this is exciting!

    ETA- I take it back, you know who’s take I can’t wait to hear? Glenn Greenwald! Oh man will he have a field day

  36. 36.

    Trollhattan

    May 13, 2013 at 6:23 pm

    @raven:

    First read that as “Seasons 1 and 2 are autotuned,” which I might watch for awhile.

    Bloody show is confusing as hell for non-readers of the books, not to mention a lot of the characters look similar to one another, which makes jumping among subplots daunting. “Wait, why is he in snow, wasn’t he just in the desert?”

    Whenever they kill of a main character (which seems frequent) I’m usually relieved there’s one less to follow.

  37. 37.

    Kay

    May 13, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    @grape_crush:
    Figuring out charter school funding is a full time job. You could spend 40 hours a week just looking at the new construction financing.

    They have, essentially, a facilities financing division. That’s seperate from the promotional bucks.

  38. 38.

    Hill Dweller

    May 13, 2013 at 6:25 pm

    @Keith G: I doubt the wingnuts go after this one, because the AP reported classified info, exposing a spy/mole in AQAP.

  39. 39.

    J.

    May 13, 2013 at 6:26 pm

    Those are some mighty tasty-looking birds you got there, Betty. (Though I know you would never eat them.)

    While few things can compare to Game of Thrones — or games of those with combs — you all have to check out astronaut Chris Hadfield’s cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” recorded in space! Talk about awesome!

  40. 40.

    Trollhattan

    May 13, 2013 at 6:28 pm

    @grape_crush:

    Yikes! That’s going to take some digging to get through. Closest I’ve seen was Jon Stewart’s take on Glenn Beck’s blackboard, which hosted a pretty complicate funding web itself.

    Guess the liberal equivalent would be George Soros in the middle of a sea of firey dollars.

  41. 41.

    Ruckus

    May 13, 2013 at 6:29 pm

    @raven:
    Maybe TBogg will come join up over here to post.

  42. 42.

    Kay

    May 13, 2013 at 6:33 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    You don’t think so? I think they’ll go bananas. The story says Holder has to personally sign off on it.
    The AP statement is weird. It’s outrage at the scope. I would think they’d be outraged, period. I don’t know why they qualified it with the second paragrapgh.

  43. 43.

    Roger Moore

    May 13, 2013 at 6:33 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    I doubt the wingnuts go after this one

    Yeah, but the media is likely to go nuts because it’s their ox being gored. It doesn’t matter that looking up this kind of phone traffic information (not the same as an actual wiretap) is standard procedure and doesn’t require a warrant. It’s being done to big media, and that makes it the worstest thing EVAR!

  44. 44.

    raven

    May 13, 2013 at 6:34 pm

    @NotMax: No but I love it!

  45. 45.

    daize

    May 13, 2013 at 6:35 pm

    New foster kittens (apologies if this has been posted already):

    http://new.livestream.com/FosterKittenCam/Mythbusters

    One of the wee ones is all white with an orange splotch on his head. I haven’t been able to tell if he has a matching orange tail. :-)

  46. 46.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Just where are these logically consistent wingnuts you’ve got under observation? Do you think there are enough of them for a viable breeding population if we set up a protected sanctuary for them?

  47. 47.

    the Conster

    May 13, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    @Kay:

    I opened a couple of eyes this past weekend with my observation that there are two last remaining large funds of cash that remain un-privatized (for now): Social Security and local tax revenue that go to schools. I explained how the oligarchs are working overtime to make sure those pools of cash don’t remain un-privatized for long – for Social Security, lower expectations by beating the drum that it won’t be there for the vast majority paying into it now, and for the schools, beat the drum that the schools are failing and blame the teacher unions instead of acknowledging that there has been a 30 year concerted effort to publicly de-fund the schools by squeezing the local tax base until the stresses show up in the schools.

    It is a vast right wing conspiracy as that interactive chart helpfully shows.

  48. 48.

    Spaghetti Lee

    May 13, 2013 at 6:44 pm

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    Woops. Meant this for Quannlace above. I was just so giddy about being able to use a Chicken Run joke. Doesn’t come up that often.

  49. 49.

    dance around in your bones

    May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    @J.: Perhaps you missed this post right here on Balloon Juice….

    I agree that it is the awesomest.

  50. 50.

    Hill Dweller

    May 13, 2013 at 6:46 pm

    @Kay:

    The AP statement is weird. It’s outrage at the scope. I would think they’d be outraged, period. I don’t know why they qualified it with the second paragrapgh.

    I suspect the AP is focusing on the scope, as opposed to the DOJ actually obtaining the info, because they can’t deny reporting classified info and/or prove they didn’t put anyone’s life at risk. They can whine without having to address their culpability.

  51. 51.

    Suffern ACE

    May 13, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    @Kay: I think there will be plenty of outrage, especially if it can be spun as “president mad that AP was going to report what he was going to crow about anyway.”

  52. 52.

    middlewest

    May 13, 2013 at 6:52 pm

    In case you missed it, Minnesota just legalized gay marriage.

  53. 53.

    Kay

    May 13, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    @the Conster:
    Yeah, I’ve gotten really involved with it. I get obsessive.
    It’s funny though, because I hated school and spent as little time as possible talking to teachers right up through law school.
    I used to climb 5 flights to the library rather than chance encountering a law school
    professor in the elevator, because I am a surly 7th grader at heart :)
    Now I’m all “FIGHT teachers! You go!”

    Strange bedfellows INDEED.

  54. 54.

    Hill Dweller

    May 13, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    @Suffern ACE: The Obama admin wasn’t mad they reported the foiled the plot. They were mad the AP told the world it was the CIA and their mole in AQAR(classified info), which exposed said mole.

  55. 55.

    marian

    May 13, 2013 at 6:58 pm

    @NotMax:

    Yes, my southern grandmother used it all the time, and it lingers among her descendants. But this is the first time I’ve heard of it outside the family.

    Wonder what part of the south the cook was from?

  56. 56.

    Mike in NC

    May 13, 2013 at 6:58 pm

    We have a number of Muscovy ducks living on our community golf course. One gave birth to a litter of 16 chicks/ducklings and they sort of took up residence in our back yard under the bird feeders. Unfortunately only three have survived the past two weeks due to all the local predators: gators, hawks, foxes, and coyotes.

  57. 57.

    Roger Moore

    May 13, 2013 at 7:04 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    I suspect the AP is focusing on the scope, as opposed to the DOJ actually obtaining the info, because they can’t deny reporting classified info and/or prove they didn’t put anyone’s life at risk. They can whine without having to address their culpability.

    Sounds like a plausible interpretation. I think they’re setting up a claim that DOJ is out to get them, and the records request is a fishing expedition. The idea is that if the DOJ had solid enough information to justify an investigation, they’d know exactly who got the information and when, so they wouldn’t need to request so much.

  58. 58.

    Roger Moore

    May 13, 2013 at 7:06 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    One gave birth to a litter of 16 chicks/ducklings

    ITYM that it had a clutch of 16 ducklings. Ducks, like all birds, lay eggs; they don’t give birth.

  59. 59.

    burnspbesq

    May 13, 2013 at 7:11 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    He’d lost a bet with AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes, and had to work as cabin crew on the flight.

    I’m surprised that Fernandes didn’t make Branson take QPR off his hands as a penalty for losing the bet. He can throw money down that hole in infinite quantities for an infinite number of years and still not have a football club to show for it.

  60. 60.

    JWL

    May 13, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    Far Side Cartoon

    Chicken to rooster husband, who is in bed nursing a cold. She has just handed him a bowl of soup (I paraphrase): “Don’t be silly. First of all, it’s good for you. Secondly, it’s nobody we know”.

  61. 61.

    bemused

    May 13, 2013 at 7:18 pm

    @middlewest:

    I just saw this. Whoohoo. Now I can’t wait to see if Michele Bachmann follows through with her “threat” to leave MN. She said she doesn’t want to her family to be the last one out before God destroys Minneapolis/St. Paul, ala Sodom and Gomorrah.

    I doubt she will (I can dream) but it will be fun to see what excuse she comes up with to back out.

  62. 62.

    Calouste

    May 13, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    @bemused:

    Why? Michele Bachmann has been gay married for years, and Minneapolis/St. Paul wasn’t destroyed.

  63. 63.

    bemused

    May 13, 2013 at 7:22 pm

    @Calouste:

    I don’t think she knows that, ha.

  64. 64.

    burnspbesq

    May 13, 2013 at 7:23 pm

    @bemused:

    I doubt she will (I can dream) but it will be fun to see what excuse she comes up with to back out.

    I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but …

    In her twisted mind, I’m sure this is her cue to run for Governor, so that she can lead the reversal of this abomination and restore the good people of Minniesota to the path of Godliness.

  65. 65.

    Roger Moore

    May 13, 2013 at 7:26 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    I’m surprised that Fernandes didn’t make Branson take QPR off his hands as a penalty for losing the bet.

    Branson’s a smart businessman; he’d never take a bet like that in the first place.

  66. 66.

    bemused

    May 13, 2013 at 7:28 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    That was cruel.

    She just might try that even though she won her last election by a small margin in her own district. She delusional enough to think she has chance to get anywhere in the sin cities. Ah, that brings back memories of her hiding behind shrubs spying on a gay rally at the capitol.

  67. 67.

    Suffern ACE

    May 13, 2013 at 7:28 pm

    @burnspbesq: I was going to say that she might be too much of a character for governor. But I forgot Jesse Ventura so all bets are off.

  68. 68.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    @burnspbesq: well, if she takes off for a quick spot of adultry, we’ll know she’s firmly on the come-back trail, especially if combined with a little familial stalking/law-breaking in the name of bonding over tv.

  69. 69.

    Yatsuno

    May 13, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    @middlewest: The article is wrong on one point BTW. Minnesota is number 13. Delaware just beat them to the twelfth position.

    Wifey must be dancing nekkid in the streets by now. :)

  70. 70.

    Yatsuno

    May 13, 2013 at 7:31 pm

    RIP Dr Joyce.

  71. 71.

    Roger Moore

    May 13, 2013 at 7:34 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    The article is wrong on one point BTW. Minnesota is number 13. Delaware just beat them to the twelfth position.

    I thought Delaware was #11; that’s what I seem to remember you saying last week (“This one goes up to 11!”).

  72. 72.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 7:38 pm

    @Roger Moore: Or was that RI you remember?

    Eta. REALLY enjoying the state where we DON’T know the exact count and it nearly escapes breathless waiting on news.

  73. 73.

    Origuy

    May 13, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    @ira-NY: TBogg retweeted a tweet of Jane’s, that their server was down for maintenance. Unannounced.

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    Anyone here old enough to remember the original $64,000 Question teepee game show? I remember watching and being fascinated by this petite blonde woman who was a FUCKIN EXPERT on boxing, of all things. She won big, and got ra lú for a few decades. I adored hẻ ghét tửng on one episode ò Police Squad.

    RIP, Dr. Joyce Brothers.

  75. 75.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 7:44 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Holy smokes, i have no ứa ưhat’s ha le ung hể! My kẹ lát sến to be typing in some alien tongue.

  76. 76.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 7:44 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Holy smokes, i have no ứa ưhat’s ha le ung hể! My kẹ lát sến to be typing in some alien tongue.

  77. 77.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 7:46 pm

    TÉT

    Ọ my Gò, i dont know ưhat’s happening hể, hơ tót ly sếu.

  78. 78.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    Keyboard abduction! I Am so jealous and so hoping it’s contagious and upgrade related!

    ETA damn.

  79. 79.

    Roger Moore

    May 13, 2013 at 7:49 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    If you’re on Windows, it’s possible that you’ve somehow changed your regional settings. There may be a box in the tray that shows your language. It should say “EN”, but if it says something different (like “VN”), you can click on it to change back to English.

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 7:55 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Hope you can đưa ưhatever ểmges hể. Im on my iPad án have bên trying to check keyboards. Sém to have Vietnamese gọng on, ưhy i do not know. Ưilliams tửng everything PDF for a few mi uể, yard reboot, án sê ì thật lét me tửng Vietnamese PDF.

  81. 81.

    Roger Moore

    May 13, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Hmm. Unfortunately, I’m an Android person rather than an iPad person, so I don’t know for sure how to change keyboard settings. Maybe this will help.

  82. 82.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    May 13, 2013 at 8:00 pm

    @Suffern ACE: We seem to have gotten that out of our systems. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a speaker as boring as Mark Dayton. He put me to sleep listening to his speech in praise of my favorite sports team.

  83. 83.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 8:06 pm

    testing dvorak

  84. 84.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    @scav: thí time? ýe!

  85. 85.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    May 13, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: when typing a comment, look at the globe-like thing at the bottom left. Each time you tap on it, it cycles through the keyboards you have active.

    Also, look at Settings -> General -> Keyboards.

  86. 86.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 8:15 pm

    @The prophet Nostradumbass: wish I’d read that before playing with every obscure line in my settings file. have to decide now if I like the ability to suddenly switch. @SiubhanDuinne: check the globe first, the change might have bolloxed being able to read in settings, if you somehow managed accidentally what I did intentionally.

  87. 87.

    mclaren

    May 13, 2013 at 8:17 pm

    CO2 emissions now the highest they’ve been in 2 million years. So we all know what to do:

    Blame Glenn Greenwald!

  88. 88.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Settings -> General -> Languages is where I managed the switch. Dvorak was under keyboards.

    ETA, Languages to add a switchable keyboard, Keyboards to disable it permanently, if you want to.

    this is fun

  89. 89.

    lojasmo

    May 13, 2013 at 8:21 pm

    @middlewest:

    Yup. M. Dayton’s going to sign it at 5 PM tomorrow on the capital steps.

    We were there (ganked the boy from school, and I played hookie from work).

    It was electrifying.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    Now let’s try this and hope it stays in English.

    [email protected]The prophet Nostradumbass: thanks, that worked. Thing is, I never knew I had a Vietnamese keyboard going on but since I apparently do, I have no idea why it chose now to activate. I went to settings/keyboard and tried to deactivate it, but can’t seem to do that. What a surreal half hour this has been, to be sure.

    All started with my reminiscing about Dr. Joyce Brothers, who died today. RIP. By this time she probably has three or four dedicated threads :-p

  91. 91.

    gogol's wife

    May 13, 2013 at 8:25 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    If she does, I’ll be peeved, since Jonathan Winters never got a single one.

  92. 92.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    @gogol’s wife:

    I know. That was wrong.

  93. 93.

    lojasmo

    May 13, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    Yup, he’s a boring speaker, but he’s a hell of a good man.

  94. 94.

    scav

    May 13, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards
    should show you with two available, (English and the other)’ click the edit button up on the top right to bring up the little usual red delete option toggle is how I managed to drop it permanently.

  95. 95.

    BD of MN

    May 13, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    @bemused:

    Now I can’t wait to see if Michele Bachmann follows through with her “threat” to leave MN. She said she doesn’t want to her family to be the last one out before God destroys Minneapolis/St. Paul, ala Sodom and Gomorrah.

    Daily Currant. Satire, unfortunately…

  96. 96.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    @scav: Blessings upon you and your seed forevah. That did the trick!

  97. 97.

    Gex

    May 13, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    Today has been a surprisingly difficult day. I am happy for the result in Minnesota, of course.

    But mostly I am filled with rage and pain. It’s been a shit day, followed by having to have something straightsplained to me by several people I consider(ed?) good friends.

    I just want to give Minnesota one giant, sarcastic, bitter slow clap.

    The secret to comedy is timing. Both for funny “ha ha” comedy and for funny “fuck you” comedy.

  98. 98.

    lojasmo

    May 13, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    @Gex:

    Sorry about that, Gex.

  99. 99.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 8:50 pm

    @Gex:

    Well, first of all, {{{hugs in abundance}}}. I hope the shit days become fewer and farther between for you, but grieving is full of unexpected shit days. Don’t know what to say about your friends, except to observe that it’s very easy for well-meaning people who haven’t had your experience to say things that are tactless at best — kind of analogous to white privilege, or male privilege. I am one of, probably, millions of straight people who supports equal rights, same sex marriage, etc., and I know damn well I’m capable of saying something offensive, not through malice but through benevolent ignorance. It’s not your job to keep educating us, but I hope you will. In the meantime, {{{moar hugs}}}.

  100. 100.

    imonlylurking

    May 13, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    @Gex: Gex, I was just thinking how difficult this must be for you. Big hug from Minneapolis. If we ever get this Twin Cities meetup together I’d like to buy you a drink.

  101. 101.

    Gex

    May 13, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Fair point. Here’s the thing. They ended up being the people who say nothing when homophobic shit goes down, but they do manage to speak up when gays take issue with it. If you end up signing on to a message that tells the minority group that “they are ruining things for everyone” and complaining that you hate when people talk about “straight privilege” you are dealing with a bigger issue than benevolent ignorance. Somehow these people can tolerate all kinds of disruptive speech, except for the speech asking to not denigrate others. Funny that.

    Fucking comics.

    @imonlylurking: I would love that. I can’t think of anything I’d look forward to more this summer than a Balloon Juice meetup in Mpls. To continue my excessive sappiness, this group has been extremely helpful to me in a really, really hard time.

  102. 102.

    Gex

    May 13, 2013 at 9:04 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thank you for your thoughts. The move to the city has been keeping me pretty busy. Casey loves it. Sometime soon in a new OT I should post some pics for the Juicers.

  103. 103.

    burnspbesq

    May 13, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    @mclaren:

    Blame Glenn Greenwald!

    Why not? He’s a massive point-source of hot air. He should be strictly regulated by the Brazilian Ministry of Environment.

  104. 104.

    PurpleGirl

    May 13, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    @daize: That’s Jamie and the rest is all white so far. That may change as the kit gets older and larger.

  105. 105.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    @Gex:

    I’ve been doing a fair amount of ruminating recently on the community-building wonderfulness of the Intertubes. Most of us at BJ have seen it, when people get sick or troubled or bereaved, or their relationships go all pear-shaped, or they need help rescuing an animal, or disappear into the blue (pace General Stuck) or whatever. But I’ve also seen it on the much-maligned Facebook. I had a friend who died a couple of years ago. His widow (whom I’ve met exactly once, 15 years ago) was diagnosed with brain cancer in February. They removed one tumor, the other is too close to her spine to cut out, so they’ve used chemotherapy and radiation. There are, needless to say, horrific financial issues. But her daughter updates FB every few days, to great cheers, and a friend just set up a bank account so that friends can help with the medical and nursing home and home care expenses. The response has been nothing short of amazing, and I daresay many of them have never actually met this woman in person. Then there’s the universal joyous response to ISS Commander Chris Hadfield and his space concert over the weekend. Yeah, there are Nigerian bank scams and unsolicited porn and Newsmax headlines masquerading as BJ recent posts, but on balance I’m happy that the Internet connects me with such an amazing bunch of people.

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    @Gex: Yes please!!!

  107. 107.

    Gex

    May 13, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Funny thing, innit? The technology is neutral. What we choose to do with it? Very human.

  108. 108.

    Yatsuno

    May 13, 2013 at 9:14 pm

    @Gex: We should lean on wifey. She’s been agitating for a BJ meet-up around those parts but is content to be nothing but a shut-in. I’ll have to kick her flat butt about it. Hey if we got Mnem to go then she can manage it too.

  109. 109.

    Violet

    May 13, 2013 at 9:16 pm

    @Gex: Hang in there, Gex. Grief takes its own time and can surprise you when you least expect it. We are here if you need to vent or cry or just need a virtual set of shoulders to lean one.

    As for the Twin Cities meet up, there’s a chance I might be in the Twin Cities in October. Wonder if we might be able to set up another one if I do make it there?

  110. 110.

    Gex

    May 13, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    @Violet: Let’s work to make that so! Even if it is just a two-person meet up!

  111. 111.

    lojasmo

    May 13, 2013 at 9:34 pm

    @Gex:

    um. I’m in. Should be a weekend if possible.

  112. 112.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 9:38 pm

    @Gex:

    Zackly. Like fire, or atomic energy, or writing.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 13, 2013 at 9:42 pm

    @Violet:
    @Gex:
    @lojasmo:

    As I’m only weeks away from retirement, and eager to do all kinds of solitary road trips, I’m hoping to be able to get to some far-flung BJ meet ups in the next few years. I have several friends in the Twin Cities and would be game for planning a trip that just might accommodate Getting together with this lot in person. How I would love to meet all three of you, and Asiangrrlmn, of course!

  114. 114.

    imonlylurking

    May 13, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    Let’s plan 2, then? One in June, maybe, and another one in October. I should be over this stinking cough by June. (She says hopefully, downing the last of the codeine.)

  115. 115.

    JR in WV

    May 13, 2013 at 9:49 pm

    Chickens, tho, no one said a thing about the chickens!

    We had a big red rooster we got from the neighbors, Wood and Earl Lawson. Their family settled this hollow back a long time ago. We got a bunch of local hens that turned out to be female game cocks!

    At the same time we had a really big tom cat named Ralph… 20 lbs+ and so large that when a friend’s daughter, 6, held him under his front legs the way a kid will, his rear was on the ground.

    (Sorry for the long establishing talk) Ralph saw Red scratching for bugs t the other end of the little foot bridge over the tiny creek in the side yard. Ralph got down on the ground under the level of the little foot bridge, and worked his hind feet into the Set, Go! posture, the way a cat will prepare to leap from hiding onto prey.

    Ralph leaped half way across the bridge with his first jump. Red got 2 feet into the air with his first jump, and hit about 60 inches of wingspan! Ralph tried to hit the brakes when he landed in the middle of the bridge, but he was going too fast!

    He went head over teakettle, and the first time he rolled onto his feet, he sprang back across the foot bridge, never to molest any chicken ever again. He tried to act kool, turning his back on the scene of Red landing in a cloud of barn-yard dust to lick his parts.

    He never deigned to notice a chicken, ever again. Later he actually jumped a fox sneaking up on the chicken cedar tree. The fox was preparing to hold Ralph under water in the little creek when Martha showed up with a post-hole digger handle, and knocked the fox clear to the edge of the barnyard!

    She told me Ralph was shivering violently, and she wasn’t sure if it was from being in winter-cold creek water or from anger that the Fox was about to beat him in the game of life!

    Not to belittle anyone’s bad day, but I thought the opening paragraphs of the thread deserved amplification with a chicken on the farm story; there are more in the wings – ha!

  116. 116.

    bemused

    May 13, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @BD of MN:

    Oh crap. I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t it was the spoof site. Damn, they did a good job of capturing the essence of Bachmann.

  117. 117.

    mclaren

    May 13, 2013 at 10:02 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Makes sense. To a tax avoidance lawyer like you, a constitutional rights attorney like Greenwald is doing nothing but “blowing hot air” when he cites amendment 5 requiring due process, amendment 6 requiring a trial by a jury of your peers, and amendment 8 prohibiting torture.

    But if we were genuinely serious about prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, we’d ban your posts.

  118. 118.

    NotMax

    May 13, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    @marian

    Interesting, and thanks.

    As the woman was well into her 70s and 80s when I knew her (having been born in either the 1880s of 1890s), all I ever knew for sure was that she lived and worked in Philadelphia for a long time (IIRC, she was a housemother/cook at a frat house and had worked summers at the summer camp I worked at since sometime around 1930).

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    May 13, 2013 at 10:39 pm

    Apparently xkcd and I had a mind-meld recently:

    Birds and Dinosaurs

  120. 120.

    lojasmo

    May 13, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    @imonlylurking:

    In oregon from J15-J23, other than that, I’m game. October, also, too.

  121. 121.

    dww44

    May 13, 2013 at 11:16 pm

    @JR in WV: Great story. Thanks for sharing. Being the owner of a large 12 year old tuxedo female cat, who, in her old age, no longer chases the squirrels, the chipmunks, nor even the birds in our quite large and woodsy acre plus makes it easier to identify with Ralph’s way of dealing with his defeats.

  122. 122.

    SIA

    May 14, 2013 at 1:03 am

    @Comrade Mary:
    Mesmerizing.

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