Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Everybody saw this coming.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

The problem people have with Biden’s age is the color of the VPs skin.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Please don’t feed the bears.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

White supremacy is terrorism.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Hey, Lurkers!

Open Thread: Hey, Lurkers!

by | 349 Comments

This post is in: 

I thought we might have a thread for all the lurkers out there.  It’s been well over a month since the last one.

You may already know this, but when you post your first comment, it goes into moderation, and sometimes it takes a while for one of us to see it and free your comment so it shows up for everyone.  Once it’s released from moderation, it goes into the comments with the time-stamp for when you first submitted it, so then most people probably never see it.  So it’s not surprising that first comments don’t get replied to.

So I thought we would try this open thread where I can keep a particular eye out for first comments that go into moderation.

Some of you guys poked your heads up last time we had a lurker thread; hoping to see you guys again today, too!

In any case, it’s lurker appreciation day here on Balloon Juice!  Welcome, all.

Totally open thread.

Reader Interactions

349Comments

  1. 1.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Oh, man, no takers in half an hour?! Democrats in disarray and cute cats must be mesmerizing.

    Come on in, the water’s fine!

  3. 3.

    Jager

    A friend’s dad recently died in his late-90s. A month ago, he was being transferred to hospice care, my friend was riding in the ambulance with him, his dad called him over and said, “Son tell the driver this thing has a bad left wheel bearing.” The old boy was a master mechanic, he fixed tanks in WWII, ran a Federal motor pool, a great dad and husband. One of those guys who could fix anything, including an ornate Turkish coffee/espresso maker my friend’s wife bought at an antique auction for its looks. The guy she bought it from told her it stopped working in the 60s. Her father-in-law fixed it in an afternoon of tinkering. Just a great guy.

  4. 4.

    Rob

    Hello, I post at rare intervals.

    I like watching birds and listening to new indie-ish music.

    I’m glad that the Senate has approved a temporary funding measure.

  5. 5.

    AliceBlue

    I don’t have the intestinal fortitude to keep up with the DC sausage-making today, so I decided I might as well clean the bathroom.  Such is my exciting life.

  8. 8.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Open thread? Things are going wrong and right at the same time, so maybe I’m doing OK, I think.

  9. 9.

    john b

    I poke my head out every once in a while, but have mostly been lurking for 14ish years. I think I was directed here by Andrew Sullivan’s blog — boy has my opinion of him declined!

    I visit the site most days. Nice to see all of you!

  10. 10.

    ArchTeryx

    I’m definitely a lurker, the “furry” contingent of the BJ jackals.  I figured Trump’s election would be my end because I’d lose Obamacare and thus access to the care that keeps me alive, but thank Christ on crutches it didn’t happen.

    A lot of my lurking is just because I’m perpetually behind the curve; my work doesn’t allow me to keep BJ up often enough to contribute to most threads before they’re already dead.

    I’ve had a near suicidal crisis when I hit my 50th birthday (and still stuck in a minimum wage job with my PhD) but my friends and fiancee pulled me out. Life’s a struggle, but there’s one thing I’m rich in: Friends and loved one that have my back. I wouldn’t be alive without them.

  13. 13.

    ArchTeryx

    @AliceBlue: Frankly, that’s a far more constructive use of your time. The strutting, deafening peacockery among the U.S. Senate  now that they’re under pressure to actually DO THEIR JOBS would be enough to make anyone sick.

  14. 14.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @ArchTeryx: Good for you. If you got loved ones that are there when you need them, then you did pretty good in the choices you made in your life.

  15. 15.

    Marc

    @BobinPDX: I read that and thought, “Wow, that’s shocking!”  Then after a moment of thought, “Well, maybe not that shocking.”  Then a moment later.  “Actually, I ought to have expected that was the case.”

  16. 16.

    pajaro

    So maybe one of you non-lurkers can explain, if we want to respond to someone else and include one of those nice boxes with a quote from the post, the series of commands necessary to accomplish this task.

  17. 17.

    Niques

    Hi, All … I occasionally comment, but mostly just lurk (every day since GW’s reign of error). I frequent other blogs as well, but consider BJ the adults in the room. Thank you all for letting me listen in!

  18. 18.

    Mag

    I do not post much since everything I see seems so bleak.

    We were hours away from a fascist coup in January, but not enough people give a shit to prevent it and rather rely on traditions that people like McConnell just abuse and people like Trump exploit. Police brutality is increasing.

    A vocal and active militant, x-tian, and white segment of our nation is losing their shit because other people are not white or x-tian enough for them. Plus, not enough people in power cares that we’re in the final days of a dying earth. The nation is ungovernable and seems about to collapse; maybe like the Soviet Union. If the country is beholden to maskholes and vax-deniers, how do we have a hope of tackling the wholesale changes needed to address and mitigate climate change?

    My hope is that it will be a peaceful transition into smaller nations, but I doubt it. I’m pretty sure whatever course it takes, any money I’ve managed to save in my years working toward retirement will vanish overnight thanks to having it all in the rigged stock market and backed by a fiat currency. And, even if the country breaks up peacefully, many smaller nations will be even harder to coordinate to tackle the climate crisis.

    So I don’t post often, because I have little uplifting or hopeful to contribute.

  19. 19.

    catclub

    @Jager: 

    A month ago, he was being transferred to hospice care, my friend was riding in the ambulance with him, his dad called him over and said, “Son tell the driver this thing has a bad left wheel bearing.”

    what a great story. … even better if the van is actually perfectly fine.

  21. 21.

    KrackenJack

    @Jager: Sounds like a great guy. There are still people developing those kinds of skills, but kids today are more likely to be remembered for their ability to unbrick a router or make smart home devices cooperate.

  22. 22.

    Katrina

    Lurker here! Been reading this blog since about 2006 but never get around to commenting! Hi everyone. I enjoy the political posts, and the culture/music posts, and the food preservation/cooking posts. I’ve lots to say but never get around to it.  I live in seattle and always intend to go to the Meetups but never do. Hope everyone is doing ok.

  23. 23.

    joey5slice

    Long-time reader, fifth(?)-time commenter. Just wanted to pop in and say hi. I only threw my hat in the ring the first time a few months ago, and probably won’t have too much to say in general.

  24. 24.

    Yutsano

    I’m not really a lurker. I just haven’t been posting a lot lately. When I go back to work I’ll try to post when I can!

  26. 26.

    Anomalous Cowherd

    Oh, man. Ever since LGM started with those dumb “badges” (“Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!”) I’ve been afeared of posting because posting leads to…badges!!

    Promise me that BJ will eschew “badges” and I might post more (although I don’t know if that’s a promise or a threat).

  28. 28.

    Ejoiner

    So I’m one of those long-time sorta lurkers (since GWB and Iraq, comment infrequently)…but my comments are always in moderation for a few minutes whenever I post regardless of the content. So what’s that all about?

    Also, great blog…top 10000. At least.

  29. 29.

    Jager

    @catclub:

    After he retired he and his wife moved into a new condo. My friend called one afternoon, he asked his mom what was going on, she said, “your father is taking the kitchen cabinets apart, they have been driving him crazy because he says they are out of plumb.”

  30. 30.

    Reboot

    As a infrequent commenter/lurker, I have a question. Each time I make one of my infrequent comments, there’s about a five-minute window before my comment appears. Is this an editing window that every commenter experiences or is this moderation?

    ….Oops, didn’t see Ejoiner @ 26.

  31. 31.

    jeffreyw

    @pajaro: 

    So maybe one of you non-lurkers can explain, if we want to respond to someone else and include one of those nice boxes with a quote from the post, the series of commands necessary to accomplish this task.

    Select the text you want to quote and copy it (Ctrl-C), then hit the reply button. That will take you to the comment box. Now hit Ctrl-V
    Now select the text you just copied over and then click on the quote icon. Now click after the last of that text to de-select it and hit Enter 2 times to get the cursor out of the quote box,
    add your reply text and you are on your way
    note that if you hit enter while still inside the selected text it will disappear.

  32. 32.

    dnfree

    @john b: you’re not kidding about Andrew Sullivan!  I still get his weekly email, and he has gone nuts over “woke” among other things.  It’s so extreme I can’t even remember what I used to like about him.  Probably this place has replaced him in terms of my activity.

  34. 34.

    Scout211

    @pajaro:

    So maybe one of you non-lurkers can explain, if we want to respond to someone else and include one of those nice boxes with a quote from the post, the series of commands necessary to accomplish this task.

    That took some time for me to figure out as well. And then posting a link took even more time to figure out. Because of course, it’s magic. ?

    One way to do it is to first click on the reply to the person’s comment so you have your comment box ready. Be sure it is in visual mode and not text mode. Then go back to the comment and highlight then copy what you’d like to quote. Then paste it in your comment box. Then highlight that quote and click the quotation mark icon. You should be good. If you accidentally include your own text in the quote (which happens to me too often) you can highlight it and then click the quotation mark icon again and it should undo the quote box. Good luck. I hope others add their techniques as mine are rather rudimentary.

  35. 35.

    AliceBlue

    @Mag:   I have these thoughts too, although I try to be optimistic and concentrate on the good things in my life.  But I’m almost 70 and I never imagined that I would be growing old in a country that seems to be going to hell in a handbasket.

  36. 36.

    lashonharangue

    I usually lurk unless I have some specific knowledge about or a question regarding a topic. Not one to venture hot takes. I leave that to the regulars.

  37. 37.

    PaulWartenberg

    No time to lurk. They are repainting the library exterior and the crane equipment keeps beeping and beeping and beeping and BEEPING AND BEEPING AND NOW I KNOW EDGAR ALLAN POE LIVED NEXT TO A CONSTRUCTION SITE WHEN HE WROTE THE TELL-TALE HEART BECAUSE THE ETERNAL BEEPING OF THE HIDEOUS CRANE WOULD NEVER STOP AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…

  38. 38.

    KrackenJack

    @pajaro:
    ETA: What Scout and Jeffery said

    I’m sure other people have a much more efficient way to quote text. My process is:

    1. Copy the text I want to quote from their comment
    2. Click the Reply button
    3. Hit Enter a couple of times in the Comment box (that’s so I have a place to add text outside of block quote)
    4. Place my cursor in the middle of the new lines
    5. Click on the Double Quotes icon (Visual tab) or b-quote button (Text tab)
    6. Paste the text into the block
    7. Add my two-cents worth and click Post Comment

    Testing, 1, 2, 5:

    So maybe one of you non-lurkers can explain, if we want to respond to someone else and include one of those nice boxes with a quote from the post, the series of commands necessary to accomplish this task.

    Hope that works for you. Quoting definitely helps me to follow busy conversations.​

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    oops, sorry guys!  The fence guys showed up – without calling ahead – to replace “one fence post” but they were supposed to be replacing 8, so it took some time to sort that out.

    I didn’t mean to leave you guys hanging!

  41. 41.

    Bunyippie

    Hi all!  I’ve been a lurker for YEARS.  Really love this place but just have never been a commenter type.  Just wanted to say thanks to everyone.  It’s a great community of people you have here.

  42. 42.

    Piper

    I’ve been reading here and lurking since 2005, and just want to say thank you for all the great content through the years!

  43. 43.

    Tony Jay

    @pajaro: 

    Pull up a chair.

    So, before you hit Reply, copy the line of text you want to block quote. Then hit Reply.

    You’ll then have a lovely comment box with the name of the person you’re replying to in it. Paste the line of text you copied in there.

    Now, here’s a thing. After you’ve pasted the text, hit return. If you don’t, I’ve found that everything you write after the quote appears in the same blockquote, which is bloody annoying and gets a finger-wag.

    So, then, highlight the quote you pasted. See the boxes above the comment window? b for Bold, i for italic, etc? Depending on the format you’re using the one you want is either called b-quote or is the symbol for speech marks.

    Hit that. Your quote is now safely contained in a blockquote box and you can respond to it below.

    Then start drinking. Because they’ll probably reply back to you and it becomes a whole thing.

  49. 49.

    raven

    Any of you New Englanders heard of Bertram Aaron Yaffe?

     

    Bertram A. Yaffe, a WWII veteran, former candidate for the Tenth Congressional District and public health activist passed away Monday morning after a brief hospitalization. He was 93.

    Mr. Yaffe was a native of Sparta, Georgia. He graduated Emory University and was attending Emory Law School until joining the United States Marine Corps in 1941. He served in the Pacific theatre for twenty-seven months and was awarded the Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars during the battles of Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima. He achieved the rank of Major. His memoir, Fragments of War: A Marine’s Personal Journey, was published by the Naval Institute Press in 1999.

    He was a Democratic candidate for Congress in 1970, running as a progressive in opposition to the Vietnam Nam war. He founded and chaired the New England Coalition for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, one of the first multistate efforts to coordinate regional health policy and programs. The World Health Organization recognized his efforts as a model of regional collaboration in 1988. He was President of the Erna Yaffe Foundation, an organization he founded in honor of his first wife Erna to promote health efficacy. Mr. Yaffe was appointed to the Massachusetts Public Health Council in 1979 and served through five administrations becoming the longest serving member in the Council’s history. He also served as President of both the Massachusetts Public Health Association and the Massachusetts Health Council.

  51. 51.

    eldorado

    mostly just lurk but sometimes post. was hoping to get a few pics of some new kittens that have been romping around the neighborhood, but the rain has put a kibosh on that.

  52. 52.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Rob:

    I’m glad that the Senate has approved a temporary funding measure.

    And now the House has, too, so it’s a done deal.  Was just watching the vote on C-SPAN.

  54. 54.

    Steeplejack

    @pajaro:

    First, to reply to a comment that you are reading without including a blockquote—the “nice boxes” that you referred to—just press the Reply button at the end of the person’s comment. That will take you to the comment editing box at the bottom of the page, where you can write your reply.

    Just wanted to make that clear before moving on to . . .

    Reply with a blockquote: If you are going to quote something from the other person’s comment that you are reading, it is best to copy that snippet to your clipboard before pressing the Reply button.

    Once you are down in the editing box, write some or all of your comment, then paste in your quoted snippet in the place where you want it to go.

    Then highlight the snippet and, from the toolbar above the comment box, click the “b-quote” or [big quotes icon] button. That will put your snippet in an HTML blockquote, and it should show up as a nice box in your comment.

    Feel free to play around with it and ask questions. This is a good thread for mistakes and experimentation, since we are not dealing with our usual life-and-death issues. I will check back periodically.

  57. 57.

    Roger Moore

    @pajaro:

    So maybe one of you non-lurkers can explain, if we want to respond to someone else and include one of those nice boxes with a quote from the post, the series of commands necessary to accomplish this task.

    To quote someone (assuming the visual text editor is working right):

    1. Highlight the text you want to quote and press Ctrl-C (or use Edit->Copy).
    2. Click the “Reply” button at the lower right of the comment you want to reply to.
    3. Hit return.
    4. Hit the quotation mark symbol from the list above the text box
    5. Paste your quoted text using Ctrl-V (or Edit->Paste)
    6. Hit return two more times

    It’s actually more complex than maybe it ought to be.  The especially hard part is learning that hitting return once while you’re in the quote box just starts a new paragraph, but doing it twice takes you to a new paragraph that is outside the quote box.

  58. 58.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    I comment irregularly,  as the regulars are much faster at getting good bits out. Anyway, an aged alcoholic starets may not be the best one to hand out advice. Ask Nicholas II about that.

  59. 59.

    TxTiger

    WaterGirl, I really appreciate that you do this from time to time. As a lurker who is also a full-time worker, I usually don’t see threads until long after they have posted, and by that time someone else has already posted all the thoughts I had. So I just read the front pagers and cheer them on. Betty Cracker and Cole have been especially gratifying recently, though MisterMix still brings his usual fire.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    @Anomalous Cowherd:  What are the badges?  I will have to go look at LGM for a minute after I post this.

    There was a hilarious Sunday years and years ago when John Cole thought it would be a great idea if we all had avatars!  That was something.

    The avatars were turned off before the end of the day.  I might have to find that post for our 20th anniversary in January.

    edit: are the badges things like the “frequent commenter” and “much beloved” symbols?  ugh.

  67. 67.

    Tony Jay

    @BobinPDX:

    It should be surprising, but it’s not, is it? And I’d bet at least two fingers and a strip of back skin that it’s not – just – the crazy godbotherers.

    One day we’ll find out that the entire global wingnutosphere was run out of one trollfarm in a flat above a second hand PC repair shop in downtown Bratislava, and that won’t be surprising either.

  68. 68.

    Mike Molloy

    @TxTiger:WaterGirl, I really appreciate that you do this from time to time

    Seconded.  Another long-time reader who occasionally delurks to say hello in these lurker threads.

    One thing I like very much about BJ comments threads:  all in a straight line, no threading/indenting, makes it at least possible to follow the conversation.  Keeping up with the fast pace of posting, that is another thing…

  71. 71.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: Simply put, a digital badge is an indicator of accomplishment or skill that can be displayed, accessed, and verified online. These badges can be earned in a wide variety of environments, an increasing number of which are online.

  72. 72.

    mrmoshpotato

    @AliceBlue:

    I don’t have the intestinal fortitude to keep up with the DC sausage-making today, so I decided I might as well clean the bathroom. Such is my exciting life.

    Me neither. Making lunch then doing housework.

  74. 74.

    Regulon

    I may have posted before, don’t remember. Anyway keep up the good work, the world economy is saved.

  78. 78.

    Ishmael

    Have been lurking all day but wandered off to see if Sinema and Manchin have salvaged their reputations by deciding to support both bills. Not yet.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @Ejoiner: Does it actually say “your comment is in moderation”?

    Or does the 5-minute edit window just make you think your comment is in moderation?

    Otherwise, comments post immediately (once your first comment has been approved) but you do have 5 minutes to edit it.

  80. 80.

    MazeDancer

    @ArchTeryx: 

    but there’s one thing I’m rich in: Friends and loved one that have my back.

    Then you truly have it all.

    And go ahead and contribute to dead threads. It’s good practice. And, one day, when your schedule changes, you will be ready to roll.

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    @Reboot: In case no one has answered yet, it’s just an edit window.  If you are in moderation you will see something like “Your comment is in moderation.”

    You have 5 minutes to correct your typos or add the clever thing you thought of just as you pressed POST COMMENT.

  82. 82.

    EighthCousin

    Like john b, I’ve been lurking since 2008 or so when I found BJ via A. Sullivan and never looked back. I check in daily…especially for Covid-19 updates. Y’all have been my news source for all that time.

    Today’s On the Road reminds me that I have some great pictures from a long-ago raft trip (1974) through the bottom of the Grand Canyon. (I have never seen it from the top.) The photos are on Kodachrome so need to be scanned, and that is possible now. Also I’m reasonably certain that the subject area has not been bulldozed for an industrial park or a freeway, so the scenery is still there.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    @Reboot:

    Do you get a message? I believe that you get one when a comment goes into moderation. For other delays, I’ll yield to WaterGirl or another front-pager for an explanation.

  85. 85.

    Roger Moore

    @raven:

    I kind of doubt we’ll ever get badges.  Cole has expressed distaste for commenting systems that require a log-in, and I think you really need a log-in system for things like badges to work.

  87. 87.

    Tony Jay

    @bbleh:

    I foresee lots of parents with Minecraft obsessed kids wondering why their terrified spawn refuse point blank to step foot in there.

  90. 90.

    KrackenJack

    “Balloon Juice: Come for the politics, stay for the detailed user instructions”

    BTW, The five minute delay mentioned in 26 and 30, does lead to some repetition. The radio profanity delay is 30 seconds or less.

  91. 91.

    WaterGirl

    @lashonharangue: I’m not sure how many more hot takes I can stand before we either pass these two bills or we don’t!  I am mostly in the sticking my fingers in my hears and singing “la la la la la” phase because the whole thing is kind of anxiety-producing for me.

  92. 92.

    JohnOL

    Hi from Portland – long time lurker, first time commenter. Thanks for keeping me sane over the last four years!

  93. 93.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Roger Moore:

    it helps if you delurk on a non-controversial thread. Let people get to know you before sharing your opinion on the kind of hot-button topic that attracts hit-and-run posters.

    This is good advice, but it’s only necessary because we suck. Commenters who have been here for years will get called Russian bots because a Johnny come lately doesn’t recognize them. Hell, front pagers get cussed out in their own threads sometimes.

  95. 95.

    Arlene

    Long time lurker and very occasionally comment.  I could probably comment more since I’m retired and totally aggravated that the Republicans want to take all women’s hard earned rights away.  The legality of abortions was settled when I was in high school.  Not going back.   Also, I have a holiday request please post Steve’s Merry Shitmas.  I laughed so hard I was crying.  Even better I have a look alike to Steve.  Thanks for all the great posts.

  99. 99.

    Comrade Colette

    @ArchTeryx: Hey, glad to see you back and doing better! I was worried.

    @lashonharangue: Your nym cracks me up every time I see it. One of our rabbis hosts a women’s circle wine tasting and discussion on lashon hara every year or so. Somehow it always devolves into a gossip-fest. I blame the wine (and human nature).

  100. 100.

    Reboot

    @WaterGirl: Reading the threads I got the impression people can reply instantly to the comment immediately preceding theirs, so I wondered. Thanks for the explanation!

  101. 101.

    Ohio Mom

    @ArchTeryx: I remember that panic about your health coverage. In my own feeble way, I tried to be encouraging — you had me worried.

    Glad to hear you are hanging on. I don’t know why life has to be so hard but it often is.

  102. 102.

    germy

    YouTube’s removal of RT’s German-language channels prompted outright hysteria by Russia’s state TV and gov’t officials.

    RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan explained her anguish: “In modern wars, YouTube is a weapon. It is much more effective than any other weapons.” pic.twitter.com/dPlAsNgsIg

    — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) September 29, 2021

    OMG they admit it

  103. 103.

    MomSense

    @Roger Moore:

    I need directions for my wicked smaht phone.  Ever since the site upgrade/redesign I haven’t been able to use the link or quote functions on my phone.

    ETA Welcome lurkers!!

  104. 104.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @ArchTeryx: When I was 21-22 I went thru a bad stretch. Deep depression, best friend was killed, dumped by the woman I loved… My life was a country song. I decided fuck it all and took off hitchhiking the great American west. In my 2 months on the road, I made no great discoveries about myself, didn’t find the meaning of life but sitting by a fire at a small alpine lake, I did figure out one thing: I missed my friends.

    Came down out of the mountains, stuck my thumb out on Interstate 90, and 26 hours later I was walking up to my apt door on Arsenal street in S STL.

  105. 105.

    Tony Jay

    @KrackenJack:

    1) Why buy in what you produce in house in such quantity?

    2) I’d be entirely surprised to discover that’s one of the ‘special services’ Fakebook offers its state-level and mega-Corp clients.

  106. 106.

    trollhattan

    Hey, can somebody tell TBogg he’s needed? Quick trip to Spain might be required to help a gal out, but he’s probably game[heh].

    Pop superstar Shakira says she was the victim of a random attack by a pair of wild boars while walking in a park in Barcelona with her eight-year-old son.

    The Colombian singer said the animals attacked her, before seizing her bag and retreating with it into the woods.

    She shared her bizarre tale in a series of Instagram stories on Wednesday.Holding the now recovered but torn bag towards the camera, she said: “Look at how two wild boar which attacked me in the park have left my bag.”

    “They were taking my bag to the woods with my mobile phone in it,” the singer continued. “They’ve destroyed everything.”

    She then turned to her son, whose father is the Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué, and said: “Milan tell the truth. Say how your mummy stood up to the wild boar.”

    Shakira is the latest victim of the increasingly aggressive hogs which have invaded the Catalan capital in recent years. In 2016, Spanish police received 1,187 phone calls about wild hogs attacking dogs, plundering cat-feeders, holding up traffic and running into cars in the city.

  108. 108.

    Starboard Tack

    I pop up for awhile once in a while. The comments are sometimes better information than the news.

  109. 109.

    Tenar Arha

    @raven: I pretty much knew nothing about this man. Thank you for sharing. (The name of the family foundation is vaguely familiar).

  112. 112.

    Reboot

    @Steeplejack: Not so far! I guess one thing about being a mostly-lurker and just reading is that you get the idea that everyone else’s comments pop up instantly, so you wonder if there’s some reason your comments get a five-minute delay. Good to know it’s not just me!

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    @eldorado: Well, whenever you get the pics, send me an email and I will add them to an appropriate thread.

    In case you don’t know the email address, it’s my nym at balloon-juice.com

    edit: But no doubt you are too busy running around in the cool, classic car whose name is also your nym?

  115. 115.

    Roger Moore

    @Tony Jay: ​
     

    One day we’ll find out that the entire global wingnutosphere was run out of one trollfarm in a flat above a second hand PC repair shop in downtown Bratislava, and that won’t be surprising either.

    I would be specific that this is not just the right wingnutsphere, either. The “Bernie or Bust” gang, the US Green Party, the granola anti-vax gang, and all the similar left wing crazies are being stoked by the same gang that’s encouraging the right wing crazies. They just want the world to be overtaken by crazy.

  122. 122.

    Steeplejack

    @Reboot:

    Your comment is supposed to appear immediately, but there is a glitch in the site’s buffering system where your comment may not appear for five minutes or until you refresh the page.

    Can’t remember whether it can be a browser refresh or the “Refresh” at the top of the page or whether it must be the double-secret “click here to refresh” just above the comment box. See if one of those makes your comment appear before five minutes.

  123. 123.

    trollhattan

    @Tony Jay:

    Watched the multipart HBO thing on the “Q” phenomenon only to find myself being bored stiff by a bunch of schlubs with no social skills who hang out in countries lacking morals crime laws.

    Such a surprise [not].

  124. 124.

    Ksmiami

    @Mag: Hi, I’m the resident nattering nabob of negativity and I’m glad to have a realistic comrade in arms even if you only lurk… My hobbies include studying the end of empires and pandemics through history. I think the US is firmly on the downward slope but humanity is good at reinventing itself- See Charlemagne. So welcome

  126. 126.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    De-lurking to say hi to all.  We need more pet pics, garden chats and cooking posts!!  Although I am excited for the puppy post tomorrow!

  128. 128.

    Steeplejack

    @MomSense:

    Thanks. Can you be a little more specific about how the link and quote functions don’t work, or where in the process things break down?

  129. 129.

    Reboot

    @Steeplejack: Aha–let me try that.

    Thirty seconds later…Well, I didn’t locate the double-secret refresh, and the page refresh  didn’t seem to work. Maybe there’s a mystic symbol I’m overlooking.

  130. 130.

    trollhattan

    Ladies and germs, Joe Manchin everybody!

    National Review: Senator, you’ve been very firm on keeping the Hyde amendment on the appropriations bills. Are you concerned about that issue at all in reconciliation—

    Manchin: Certainly—

    NR: —with this new Medicaid program?

    Manchin: Yeah, we’re not taking the Hyde amendment off. Hyde’s going to be on.

    National Review: In the new Medicaid program?

    Manchin: It has to be. It has to be. That’s dead on arrival if that’s gone.

  131. 131.

    Starboard Tack

    @Roger Moore:

    They just want the world to be overtaken by crazy.

    I think that’s the actual strategy. Russia is economically and politically weak and trolling is a cheap way to weaken the “West”. The Soviets did the same thing with mass media before the internet.

  133. 133.

    Tony Jay

    @WaterGirl:

    Are you sure that’s wise? You’ve seen my British Politics rants, roght? Do the Lurkers of Balloon Juice really deserve 200 expletive laden paragraphs explaining how to embed a link?

  134. 134.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    Shall add that there’s also non-appearance, different from moderation. There are times when FYWP in its unwisdom simply doesn’t deign to display a comment until after multiple refreshes performed.

  135. 135.

    MomSense

    @Steeplejack:

    I click on the link button, paste the link in to the bar and then the whole thing hovers above the function bar above my comments and when I try to hit return / blue arrow bar it moves again but doesn’t populate the comment box.

  137. 137.

    raven

    @Tenar Arha: I knew about him from a friend who told me about the book. One of they guys working on our rental is from Sparta so I lent him my copy and started to seek more info. WW2 combat Marine officer who ended up running on and anti-Vietnam war platform is intriguing.

  138. 138.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Tony Jay: Do the Lurkers of Balloon Juice really deserve 200 expletive laden paragraphs explaining how to embed a link?

    To hell with the lurkers, us regulars would love it.

  139. 139.

    Steeplejack

    @Reboot:

    The double-secret refresh is the actual blue text that says “click here to refresh” right above the comment box: “If you don’t see both the Visual and the Text tab on the editor, click here to refresh.”

  142. 142.

    Nilnoc

    Delurked last to send John condolences re Tunch. Still sad. Thank you jackals. And Baud. And all you frontpagers.

  143. 143.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: I was reading recently of a Marine Commandant (early 60s?) who was very anti-Vietnam War whose name now escapes me. You can probably ring my bell with his name.

    eta WWII Medal of Honor recipient iirc

  144. 144.

    MomSense

    @raven:

    Not sure when but I may be taking youngest spawn on a college tour to Athens.  He’s looking at University of Georgia in Athens, Vanderbilt in Nashville, and UT in Austin.  He wants to be in a city with a decent music scene.  He’s going to do a gap year in the OG Athens first, though.

  146. 146.

    mquirk

    The Great Molasses Flood occurred on January 15, 1919, in the north end of Boston, Massachusetts.

    A steel storage tank ruptured, spilling 2.3 million gallons of molasses into the streets. The 20 foot high wave of molasses rushed through the streets at around 35 mph, destroying 4 buildings and killing 21 people. Nearly 150 people were injured by the flood.

  147. 147.

    SteveinPHX

    I’m not usually a talky person. I DO come here everyday to reassure myself that there is intelligent life out there. From pets to nature to travel to politics, I enjoy it all and am learning in the process. Who could ask for more?
    Thank you all!​
     

    ETA: Betty Cracker, you’re a treasure! I lived in north FL for years. Thanks for ALL your commentary.

  148. 148.

    Mary G

    Let me tell you MY method of quoting from a  comment.

    Or not.

    Andrew Sullivan has gone the full Glenn Greenwald. I still get his Friday blather and tongue bathing of his guest of the week in the mistaken impression I might want to subscribe to his substack. Never gonna happen, but I keep the email because I did love the DIsh way back in the day, and I wait his inevitable trip to Hungary to lick Orban’s ass.

    @Tony Jay: I’ve been staying off the political thread and even news to save my sanity. Have you written about Flobalob’s admission that Brexit was a bad deal? I’d hate to miss it, but am too lazy to go through comments that will get me riled up.

  150. 150.

    Reboot

    @Steeplejack: Okay, thanks for that info–here goes.

    Hmmm. Tried ‘click here to refresh’ both before and after posting the comment–neither way worked for me.

  151. 151.

    Dee Lurker

    I was a regular poster for a while, but switched to lurking because I would get too argumentative and angry. Rather than derail threads because of hot-headedness, I have switched to lurking with the rare post. I originally posted under White Trash Liberal. The last time I was active was during the 2016 primaries. I bet Corner Stone $500 that the nominee would not be Jeb Bush and would likely be either Cruz or Trump. I am positive CS welshed. We had a Phi Phi/Sharon Needles kind of relationship.

    Anyhow, I love you all… even Corner Stone… sort of. And, politically, I am of the opinion that this will only get worse because the GOP pick and roll keeps working. They obstruct and get no blame for it, but once they are in power, they bowl over opposition and get a tongue bath. I do not see a way out. I have seen fascism build and grow more brazen over the last three decades. I can’t shake the feeling that we will dive into that mode of government. I just hope it will be a mercifully brief catastrophe.

  153. 153.

    Tony Jay

    @Roger Moore:

    I don’t doubt it.

    A while ago the FTF Guardian ran a piece about how, after the 2019 election in the UK, the trollfarms and state propaganda machines were now being tasked to infiltrate the left-wing and stir up division in the Labour Party.

    Topic never raised again. I guess it must have belatedly occured to the editors of that rag that ‘now being tasked’ raised a whole lot of red flags about who the bad actors had been infiltrating and targeting before 2019 that they didn’t want anyone thinking about too much.

    But yeah, to me the Wingnutosphere is basically anyone who opposes the sensible centre-left reforms the whole world needs before we shoot ourselves in the crown jewels. That’s mostly the Right, but I’m too old and cynical to think the paymasters haven’t got their claws into the Faux Left. In the marketplace of ideas it pays to have megastores near the entrance and the exit.

  155. 155.

    Dakota Expat

    @TxTiger:

    WaterGirl, I really appreciate that you do this from time to time. As a lurker who is also a full-time worker, I usually don’t see threads until long after they have posted, and by that time someone else has already posted all the thoughts I had. So I just read the front pagers and cheer them on. Betty Cracker and Cole have been especially gratifying recently, though MisterMix still brings his usual fire.

    Ditto for me.  Also thanks to those of you who instructed on formatting block quotes.  Cool.

    I’ve lurked a long long time; got brought out a few days back by Mr. Mix & fountain pens!

    My life is ruined!

  156. 156.

    Steeplejack

    @MomSense:

    On my version of the mobile site (Android, several different browsers), after you enter the URL you want to link to, you get two buttons: “Cancel” and “Add Link.” It might be that you have to scroll down a skosh to see them if your on-screen keyboard is taking up space at the bottom of your screen. The link won’t go in until you explicitly choose “Add Link.” You can’t do it with a “generic” return.

  159. 159.

    WaterGirl

    @TxTiger: You are welcome!  I appreciate the lurkers, too, especially when you occasionally poke your heads out and let us know you are here.

    Betty Cracker often speaks for me – taking the thoughts that are in my head and making more sense of them than I can!

  160. 160.

    MomSense

    @Steeplejack:

    Ok Here goes.

    Nope – it just gives me a white arrow on a blue background and this time I managed to get the comment in the comment box but then I hit the pencil to type the words, hit the arrow and I had a naked link again with the words floating over the comment box.

  161. 161.

    Steeplejack

    @Reboot:

    You might have to press it twice. And of course that’s after you post your comment—because before there is nothing hidden to reveal.

  163. 163.

    cgerrib

    Delurking to get out of the spam filter, plus to say thanks for the “Author in our Midst” article.

  165. 165.

    not_a_cylon

    Been lurking for a couple years now, with a few comments. Usually all that needs to be said has been said already :)

    I peruse this blog to keep up-to-date with news, and often find the comment section to be very informative. I do dig your travel and nature posts, too. Keep up the good work!

  167. 167.

    Rachel Bakes

    Still lurking a month later. My zucchini bread failed to rise today so I’m bummed. As it’s the only way I consume the stuff, disguised in baked goods, I’m sad to see the last of the farm share’s squash go into unsuccessful bread.

    Off to my special needs son’s open house tonight. Another evening of anguish.

  168. 168.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Dee Lurker:

    I was a regular poster for a while, but switched to lurking because I would get too argumentative and angry. Rather than derail threads because of hot-headedness, I have switched to lurking with the rare post.

    This didn’t not happen to me, roundabout last January… stay sane, it’s way more important than arguing with Corner Stone.

  170. 170.

    Roonieroo

    @dnfree: I was getting his weekly email and just automatically deleting it.  I think I read the very first one when he auto-subscribed former Dish readers.  Realized he had gone even more bonkers and hadn’t read one since the first one.  I finally had the mental bandwidth to unsubscribe.

  172. 172.

    Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride

    (Can’t even show up on time to the lurker thread–one reason I remain a lurker.)

    Now that I have no one’s attention, I’d like to air a couple of pet peeves.

    (1) Could we have a permanent moratorium on all versions of the phrase “We are so fucked” (and the attitude behind it)?  There are a lot of bad actors trying to make us feel that way.  Why let them?

    (2) These days, people often write sentences in which two auxiliary verbs lead to a main verb, but the tense of one auxiliary verb clashes with the tense of the main verb.  (E.g:  “I have, and will, prevail.”)  It’s tempting to do this because it produces a short punchy sentence, while the most obvious fix is usually clumsy and long-winded.  Still, once you notice the problem it’s distracting.

    Anyway, thanks for the lurker thread!

  175. 175.

    Kalakal

    • Hi, have lurked for a couple of years, this is my first post. As a Brit whose been in Florida for a few years now I find US politics strange and scary and am very grateful to you all for helping me to retain my naturally upbeat and sunny disposition
  176. 176.

    WaterGirl

    @EighthCousin: You should post your pictures using the OTR form!

    Pro-tip:  Write your introduction and whatever you want to say about each photo – in Word or some other place and then paste it in.

    That way if you are the unlucky and it’s the 1 in 100 times where the form hiccups, all you have to do is start the form over and paste it in again. :-)

  178. 178.

    Scout211

    @Rachel Bakes:

    My zucchini bread failed to rise today so I’m bummed.

    That happened to me with a package of baking powder soda I purchased from Whole Foods. It said right there on the package that it was good for another year.  But it had died, alas. I made the same recipe from a box of baking powder soda that I purchased at the grocery.  The bread turned out fine..

    I don’t shop at Whole Foods anymore. One strike and they were OUT! ?

     

    ETA: baking powder, baking soda . . .

  183. 183.

    Princess Leia

    @Benw: Tomorrow’s matchups are really interesting! And a good way to remember that a healthy ecosystem helps all creatures to thrive.  And fun to boot!!!!!

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack

    @MomSense:

    (Maybe someone with an iPhone can take a look at this and weigh in. I assume the mobile site works substantially the same as on Android, but maybe I’m wrong.)

    As painful as it is, you’ve got to be very explicit about the process and what happens when. I am having a hard time understanding your comment.

    Here is what happens for me:

    – My cursor is in the comment box. I type (or highlight) the text that I want to show up in blue as the hyperlink in my eventual comment.

    – I click the link button on the comment toolbar. I get a pop-up box titled “Insert/edit link,” with space to type in (or paste) the “destination URL.” The “Link text” field is already filled in with the text that I highlighted in the comment.

    – I paste in the URL I want to link to (previously copied to my phone’s clipboard).

    – Then I get the Cancel and Add Link buttons. I click Add Link, and I am returned to the comment box with the newly created link in place. As I said before, sometimes I have to scroll down a bit to reveal the C/AL buttons from under my on-screen keyboard.

    Where in this process do things break down for you?

    P.S. Totally understand if you say to hell with it.

  186. 186.

    WaterGirl

    @Reboot: As I mentioned up thread, no delay, just a window where you can edit what you wrote.  Unless you get “your comment is in moderation”, everybody can see it right away.

  190. 190.

    WaterGirl

    @Steeplejack:  oops, forgot about that.

    Yes, it must be the double-secret “click here to refresh” just above the comment box.

    But if you can see your own comment, and you see the 5-minute edit window, everyone else can see your comment, too.

  192. 192.

    neabinorb

    Hello, WaterGirl and everybody. I usually lurk, though I was featured in Artists in Our Midst a few weeks ago, which is not exactly lurking. Today, though, my cat was diagnosed with an abscess and not a broken leg, which was quite a relief for me. And he’s doing fine and will recover.

  194. 194.

    Dan B

    @Katrina: Hope to entice you to a Seattle Meetup, probably 2022 – yikes!  After Covid is mostly in the rear view would be ideal.  There are lots of Seattle Jackals so it’s odd that it’s usually when a visitor visits, like Yutsano who is a temporary Eastern WA resident.

  195. 195.

    HeleninEire

    @OzarkHillbilly: That right there is my Dublin story. Not the depression part… I was happy and exited to go. And I made some wonderful friends over there. But wow, I missed my NY friends. Funnily now I miss my Dublin friends as much as I missed my NY friends.

    But I am looking on the bright side. I now have 2 homes. And I can visit whenever I want.

  197. 197.

    WaterGirl

    @Reboot: This shows you where the link is.

    Open Thread: Hey, Lurkers!

    Can you let me know whether you are seeing your comment and the 5-minute edit window right after posting your comment?

    If NOT, then click the link you see in the image above.

    IF YOU DO see the edit window, then everyone can see your comment.

  199. 199.

    TM

    I’ve been lurking so long I remember when Cole was a conservative.  Seriously, though, BJ is a daily source of news, opinion, warm spit, and hot air for me.

  201. 201.

    ChuckInAustin

    15 years ago-ish I was searching for the geopolitical blog of Juan Cole. Somehow I ended up here. Maybe 30-40 comments in that time, but BJ is a daily read.

  203. 203.

    shirk

    @Mike Molloy:

    One thing I like very much about BJ comments threads:  all in a straight line, no threading/indenting, makes it at least possible to follow the conversation.  Keeping up with the fast pace of posting, that is another thing…

    Heh. Another long-time reader here, but in contrast, I rarely venture into the comments (even to read) in no small part because it I find the lack of threading really daunting.

    I get how reading everything in-line makes for a better real-time experience — it flows more like a natural conversation — but trying to make heads or tails of the conversation after the fact, when I have time, involves way too much searching and scrolling for the earlier comment that has the context for someone’s witty reply. (Maybe I’d find that easier if my memory for names wasn’t piss-poor.)

    And maybe it’s time I just try to get over it. I took to heart Cole’s admonition a few weeks ago that communities like this wither away if people don’t, you know, participate, and I’d hate to see that happen to BJ. It’s the last political blog I’ve kept on my list these last 20 years because I like its sensibility the most. So maybe it’s time to step up.

  204. 204.

    WaterGirl

    @Dakota Expat: That’s funny.  I was totally surprised by how many people here are secret fountain pen lovers!

    Makes me wonder what other secret things are part of the unseen bond that holds us all together here.

  205. 205.

    Tony Jay

    @Omnes Omnibus: 

    Yeah, but I was trying to make a good impression for once. Every day doesn’t necessarily have to be the first day of school.

    Yes, I’m drinking now.

  206. 206.

    RaflW

    @KrackenJack: Was walking home from coffee with a friend who was seeking input and support for a service project (related to G.E.D.s and trade school.)

    Saw a plumber and his young (ok, assumption here) apprentice loading out from a job down the block from my home. Made me glad. We need skilled tradespeople. The work can be messy and occasionally hard. But well paid and relatively recession resistant (pipes still leak!).

  207. 207.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: I have an iPhone and use Safari, but I don’t have the patience to use a phone for commenting.  But if you can teach me how to highlight something and copy it, I can test on my iphone and let you know how to get the link to work.

  208. 208.

    Travels with Charley

    Hello!  I’m a long-time lurker (13+ years), but I usually read the posts & comments at the end of each day, long after most of the conversations have ended.  Balloon Juice is the sane corner of my world.

  209. 209.

    MaryRC

    I’ve been lurking for years and check in every day but I feel as though I don’t have much to add to the discussions.  Besides the politics I enjoy the posts about travel, animals (especially ducks), anything that dunks on the vile Trump family and anything written by Tamara, John or Betty Cracker.  Thanks for the appreciation.

  213. 213.

    MomSense

    So close – the final button is below the bottom of my screen.  I can just see a bit of blue rectangle.

  215. 215.

    Formerly EmperorOfIceCream

    I’m a pretty constant lurker/reader since about 2005. Very very occasionally a commenter. Getting ready to retire(ish) so hope to become a more active/ornery participant in BJ community. Still at work so not more now, but wanted to throw my comment here. Thanks for this thread!

  220. 220.

    SpaceUnit

    I’m just popping in to say that these lurker threads are a great idea.  I was a long-time lurker until the one last month.  This is a great way for folks to say hello without feeling too awkward.  Now I post my dumb comments on a fairly regular basis, and everyone’s been really nice.

    Thanks WaterGirl!

  223. 223.

    HeleninEire

    @Tony Jay: Yes we do. When I was living in Dublin I would never comment about Irish politics because I didn’t understand the parliamentary system. Well almost never. I had boatloads to say about “Repeal” and am proud to say it was my first vote as an Irish citizen. I did so because that was what I call “girl” politics, not Irish politics.

    Anyway when my Irish friends would talk about American politics they didn’t quite get it and some of them would be so off base it was shocking. And more than once when I would explain it to them they would say something like “Wow it’s so good to hear from someone who really knows what’s going on.”

    So that’s a long way to say…keep posting. You have taught me lots about across the pond politics.

  224. 224.

    Steeplejack

    @shirk:

    If people in a Balloon Juice conversation are replying to one another, you can go back up the chain by clicking on the nym of the person being replied to, then the nym that person is replying to, etc. Then you can come back down the chain by using your browser’s “back” function (whether backspace key, back arrow or whatever).

    A lot of times you just want to refresh yourself on what the current comment is replying to. You click on the “addressee’s” nym, which would be @shirk in this message, you look at that, then you click “back” to return to the “current” comment you were reading.

  234. 234.

    Glyph2112

    I was commenting a lot during the election, much needed therapy.  Now much more relaxed except when machinema gets in the news

  235. 235.

    Renie

    I think I started reading here during the first Obama campaign.  I’ve posted infrequently over the years but mostly lurk cuz I’m usually late to the threads.  I do visit every day though and read all the posts and comments.

  236. 236.

    Steeplejack

    @MomSense:

    You should be able to “scroll” to it—nudge the box up a bit on the screen with your finger.

    Maybe take a look at the video I posted at #230. It might help.

  238. 238.

    Bodacious

    Fellow old-time lurkers- this has been such a blast-from-the-past!!! I too stumbled here after fat-fingering a Juan Cole update search. He was on solid rotation for me. Yes, I used to read the DISH before a confused-ranting-zombie devoured Andrew Sullivan, and the Godfather of Blog, Kevin Drum, John Aravosis/America Blog, before it was just toooooo much. I’m left with with my dog(cat)-blog Balloon-Juice. And all is well, in our own heads. Sheesh, the world out there – still craaazy.

  245. 245.

    Rachel Bakes

    @WaterGirl: 
    Fortunately we can do it remotely rather than sit in a room with the parents of typical kids and hear what they are doing whereas our son is only in the room for roughly an hour a day.
    To sooth the frustration our giant kitty has actually deigned to come out of hiding and cuddle today. More kittens it is!

  248. 248.

    Kalakal

    @Tony Jay: You’re not wrong there, I can’t believe the stuff I hear from family and friends. I still haven’t recovered from Brexit and the sheer level of stupidity corruption and malice now makes me realise that what I thought was hatred for Thatcher was merely intense loathing compared to my feelings for Trump and Johnson.

    Love your rants by the way

  250. 250.

    Z

    Hi all – I’ve been reading BJ daily since the infamous Atrios conversion porn post way back when.  But today for some reason I’ve decided to finally come clean with you lot.  So … this morning I played tuba with a brass sextet.  I rehearse every Tue PM with the Prime Time Band – a concert band (wind instruments – no strings)  for those of us 50 and over.  Grew up just a very short bridge away from Asbury Park, NJ.  College in Boston then a move to the west coast – Venice Beach during the beginning of the roller skating craze.  Learned to play upright bass and joined a boardwalk band on weekends playing blues and rock.  I later moved up to that part of the CA coast that bends out to the west such that there are south-facing beaches.  Wife and I often sit for friends and neighbors dogs.  Huge baseball fan.  Retired software geek.  Hopefully that’s enough of an intro.  Thanks for listening …

  251. 251.

    Kalakal

    @WaterGirl: That’s what I like about this blog, it sometimes makes me laugh, sometimes makes me snarl, but at least lets me know the world isn’t solely populated by DeSantis fans.

    That and the cat pics, I like cats. Dogs too

  252. 252.

    sab

    @WaterGirl: That would be terrifying. I am still traumatized by his attempt to teach me how to link. Although it was exciting to be the subject of a short rant.

    I have been trying to figure out the box thing this afternoon, but copy and paste eludes me. Is it possible that my problem is trying to do this on a primitive mobile device (twelve year old Nook which is some sort of Android device)? I Could follow the directions on a laptop but the Nook doesn’t seem to have much copy/paste capability.

  258. 258.

    zhena gogolia

    @Tony Jay: I always wondered if “shite” was pronounced with a long “i.” I thought maybe the final “e” was just silent and it was pronounced the way we do. But I heard it in an old BBC show, Sparkhouse, and it’s definitely pronounced differently. Long “i”.

  262. 262.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: SEconomy you on feeling the US is strange and scary.  I was kept awake by Christiane Amanpour’s interview of Stephen Breyer.  This is a “liberal Justice”?  He was so condescending to her and even dumped a nasty dig about how she would understand what he was talking about when she “had grandchildren”.  Her son is 18.  She’s had a major cancer scare that is, in essence, a chronic disease.  Will she live to see grandchildren?

    Old white upper class liberal men, horrors of tissue thin understanding of minorities, and women, but full of undeserved confidence that they are better at understanding what is good for “them, ie. the lessers”.

    These are the people that will save us from fascism when they cannot see their own poisonous group blindness!

    I await another righteous rant from the likes of Tony Jay, the well reasoned and brilliant analysis of Silverman, and the NFLTG’s of Cole.  Mistermix and others are right there as well in their own styles.  There are straight white men who can see reality and outline it with unapologetic ferocity.

  263. 263.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @sab:

    I think the old Nooks (I have one) are pretty much a read-only device. You can highlight text, but I think that’s just to set a bookmark for yourself. I don’t know anywhere that you could paste text on a Nook.

  265. 265.

    To be Frank

    at the beginning I tried not to be a lurker. I submitted cat pictures from trip to India (tigers are cats, right) but my nym had a forbidden character so all my attempts were for naught. Don’t be an inadvertent lurker, don’t use special characters in your nym.

  270. 270.

    TiredOfItAll

    So this is probably too late to be of interest to most folks, but in case you are finding yourself with some time on your hands and miss going to see indie films, the Woodstock Film Festival is going on now through October 3 and has a number of interesting films to rent and watch online…..    Yes, I am a lurker, although have posted a few times, of the introvert stripe.

  277. 277.

    Reboot

    @WaterGirl: Sorry about the much-delayed reply. This is a totally dead thread, so you may not see this, but yes, so far I’ve always seen my comment and the 5-minute edit window.​​​​ I must not have been very clear about what I was trying to say.
    ​
    ​
    ​
    ​

  278. 278.

    Violet

    Longtime lurker. I just want to thank everyone here for keeping me informed and mostly sane. I have come to love this community and have felt kinda weird with this one-sided relationship. So, love to all.

  279. 279.

    Teoconut

    Ack, I missed this – I hope I’m not too late.  Head down working… Something happening in DC today?

  281. 281.

    Roger Moore

    @Scout211: 
    I think you probably had your baking powder and soda correct the first time. Baking soda is just sodium bicarbonate, and it stays good indefinitely. For it to work, your mixture has to contain some kind of acidic ingredient, like buttermilk or vinegar, and it needs to be baked very quickly after mixing. Baking powder is a mixture of bicarbonate with some kind of acid- tartaric, bisulfate, and/or bi- or tri-phosphate- and has a limited shelf-life. It has the advantage that it will work without any acid in the mixture (it has its own) and some mixtures are designed to create bubbles after heating, so it’s a bit less fussy about speed. But if it sits for a long time, it can slowly react and lose its fizz; this is a worse problem in areas with high humidity and if it comes in a container that is not tightly sealed.

  282. 282.

    terben

    @WaterGirl: As Bunyippie isn’t responding, let me take a stab. I suggest that his name is an amalgamation of Bunyip and yippie. The former is a creature from Australian Aboriginal mythology (and also the name of the newspaper in my town) and the latter is a member of a radical anti-establishment group.

    It could also be Bunyip + pie, but you would need to catch your Bunyip first, and I don’t like your chances.

  283. 283.

    daize

    Thank you for this post! I’m an infrequent poster but a daily reader.

    Question for folks: If I say please contact me to a commenter, can a front pager share my email with that person with my permission?

    About 3 weeks back a commenter asked if anyone here had experience with TMS therapy as a treatment for depression. I didn’t have experience at the time, but I do now.

    I had enormous trepidation about the therapy but it’s been going really well. If sharing my experience can help someone out I am here for it.

    WG, thank you for everything you do. Got the nephews the 2021 calendar since their doggie was featured in October. Huge hit!

  284. 284.

    Mrearl

    I lurk here and at LGM.  The comments, and most of the commentors, at LGM make this place look better day in and day out.  I rarely waste my time on them, but enjoy you guys quite a bit.  Keep it up.

  286. 286.

    WaterGirl

    @Reboot: Thank you for the response!

    Then the good news is that there is nothing to fix here.  Even during your 5-minute edit window, the rest of us see your comment as soon as it’s posted.

  287. 287.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Reboot:

    WTF. In your original comment at #30 you said, “There’s about a five-minute window before my comment appears.”

    Now you’re saying, “I’ve always seen my comment and the 5-minute edit window.​​​​” ??

    If you can see your comment, it’s posted and everyone else can see it! The five-minute timer just marks the period in which you can edit or change it. It has nothing to do with the comment’s visibility.

  288. 288.

    WaterGirl

    @Teoconut: Not too late!

    Though you raise a good question, even if not intentionally,

    I posted this one on a Thursday at 2:15 Eastern because that’s when I posted the last lurker’s thread about 6 weeks ago, and it got a lot of comments.

    I’m thinking the next lurker’s thread should maybe be at a different time to also be able to catch other folks.

    Wondering if late afternoon / early evening would be good or maybe weekend?

    I should have asked up top, not 4 hours into the thread :-)

    Anyone have any thoughts about day/time of day for the next one?

  290. 290.

    Czar Chasm

    @WaterGirl:  Nah, I usually don’t have enough time to dedicate to any meaning contribution in a regular basis:

    I run my county’s Children’s Services Act program, while keeping 2 small children, 2 dogs, & 3 cats alive.  Fun!

  291. 291.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @daize:

    If I say please contact me to a commenter, can a front pager share my email with that person with my permission?

    Yes. You would probably need to email a front-pager (e.g., WaterGirl) to explicitly make the request, since there’s no guarantee a front-pager would automatically see your comment in a thread.

  293. 293.

    WaterGirl

    @daize: Yay on the calendar!

    That question comes up a lot.  Yes, a front-pager can share your email with a person.   We can’t share someone else’s email without permission (which I know you’re not asking for) but we can definitely share yours with someone.

  294. 294.

    Scout211

    @Roger Moore:

    I don’t know much about the science of baking, so your post is very interesting. I actually don’t remember which recipe I used for the zucchini bread. I just now checked some cooking sites and most of those recipes use both baking powder and baking soda. I had flat cookies and flat bread when I used that baking soda from Whole Foods. When I replaced it with Arm and Hammer baking soda, my cookies and breads were fine.

    Since you write that baking soda should last a long time, I wonder what the heck was in that box of baking soda that I bought?  This was several years ago and I know at one point Whole Foods was fined for packaging issues but I thought that was incorrect weights listed on their labels. Hmmm.

    That box of baking soda was just dead.

  300. 300.

    Inspectrix

    @Steeplejack:

    Then highlight the snippet and, from the toolbar above the comment box, click the “b-quote” or [big quotes icon] button. That will put your snippet in an HTML blockquote, and it should show up as a nice box in your comment.

     

     

    Thanks for the encouragement… I will try it now

     

    Is this out of the block?

  301. 301.

    The Lodger

    @Z: Asbury Park! I lived there in the very early 90s, across the street from where Danny DeVito grew up. I’m one of the few people who lived in Monmouth County and never saw Springsteen.

    Welcome!

  302. 302.

    WaterGirl

    @Inspectrix: Success!  Mostly.  or totally, depending.

    Did you intend for “thanks for the encouragement… I will try it now” to be inside the block or outside

    You have some extra line breaks in the box, but you can delete those if you edit the comment.

  303. 303.

    GaryfromWY

    I comment every blue moon but read the blog every single day. Having run for office several times, I’ve been somewhat preoccupied over the years. Want to get more engaged here…

  304. 304.

    Scout211

    @Inspectrix:

    In the future, you can add 5 extra minutes by making and edit and then posting it. You can just add a random period or letter.

    One of your statements was inside the quote box. In the future, you can fix that by highlighting the entire quote box and checking the quote icon again. It should remove the quote box and then you can try again by highlighting only the commenter’s text and not yours.

    Feel free to experiment and see what works for you.  But if you need more time to edit, try the trick of quickly adding a comma or period or letter and then post that update so you get another 5 minute countdown.

  307. 307.

    WaterGirl

    @Violet: For some reason your comment was in the trash.  I took it back out, obviously!

    If you see this comment, please post another comment so I can make sure your comments will show up automatically.

    sending love back!

  309. 309.

    J R in WV

    @pajaro:

    So maybe one of you non-lurkers can explain, if we want to respond to someone else and include one of those nice boxes with a quote from the post, the series of commands necessary to accomplish this task.

    1. swipe the text you want to quote, press control-c to copy that text.
    2. Press the “reply” button to capture the nym and comment ID you want to reply to.
    3. Below the comment/nym id info, press control-v to paste the text into your reply.
    4. swipe the text you want to be in the quote box.
    5. click the ” icon in the control bar.
    6. press enter to get focus out of the text box.
    7. type your reply text to the text you have quoted.

    I’ve used the numbered item list function, there’s a bullet list function right beside that. After your opinion is typed and complete, press the Post Comment button at the bottom of the action window.

    This is how the internet works. Control-C [copy] and Control-V  are pretty common commands in all text editors.

    Fool around with it until you get something you like, you can work on your reply for up to 5 minutes, you can delete everything qnd leave the comment empty if you want. No one will hate you for messing things up, although some folks will make fun of you.

  310. 310.

    sab

    @Tony Jay: Don’t apologize. I felt kind of honored to be ranted at by one of our blog’s biggest celebrities. Also too, I really should learn more of the mechanics of commenting.

  311. 311.

    WaterGirl

    Hey lurkers,

    I am signing off for the evening, but I will check back in the morning for any first comments that need to be manually approved.

    That way, you’ll be all set if you are inspired to want to comment on the spur of the moment on another thread.

    Nice to see everyone, WG

  313. 313.

    TiredOfItAll

    @WaterGirl, the Woodstock Film Festival is usually online, but I guess this year because of Covid, some portion of it at least is online?  Anyway if you just search for “Woodstock Film Festival”, you’ll pull it up and can read about the various offerings

  315. 315.

    Lt. Condition

    I’ve been around for years and years but very rarely comment, sometimes because I just don’t have much to add and often because, living in Vietnam, I’m usually quite late to the party (as I am with this thread).

    Still, it’s nice to be appreciated, heh.

  316. 316.

    Amazona

    • I thought I would stop lurking here, after Obama left office, but, I just can”t quit this blog…….?
  317. 317.

    seefleur

    Been lurking for years with an infrequent comment.  It does seem that the recipes and food-related info is less these days. I miss that – food and critters really has kept me from going bonkers since I discovered this place. (I think it was right around the Subaru in the field and the missing mustard – which sounds like something right out of Clue… )

  320. 320.

    Spookyleela

    First time poster, long time reader.
    I have been lurking since John was still drinking.
    Very much like John, although he seems to do his best to discourage that.
    I feel very glum about the future.
    @Steeplejack (phone):

  321. 321.

    El-Man

    First time poster thread, huh?
    Well, why not.
    Hello, folks. El-Man here, coming at you from Auckland, New Zealand. Greetings and salutations, etc. Excuse the silly nym, I invented it as a temporary one and it seems to have stuck. *shrug*
    I just lurk most of the time, haven’t felt the need to post until now.

  324. 324.

    Erik Sea

    Meanwhile lurking by a stone in the mud
    Two eyes looked to see what I was and
    Then something spoke and this is what
    It said to me…

  330. 330.

    KrackenJack

    @RaflW: I spent 5 years working various trades before I went to college. I highly recommend it – even though it turned me into a non-traditional student.

  331. 331.

    SlothropRedux

    Late to the game, but I read, lurk, and never comment. Does that make me a bad person?

  334. 334.

    Tony Jay

    @sab:

    “Blog’s biggest…?”

    I am so embarrassed, I thought you were talking about me.

    Slinks off refusing eye contact.

  335. 335.

    Infamous Heel-Filcher

    I lurk mostly because I get stuck in purgatory when I try to post from different devices. Let’s see if this turns out any better.

  336. 336.

    Nancy

    Occasionally I comment. Usually my only response comes from some more enlightened being who tells me why I’m wrong.

    I recently added a story about fostering Monarchs from egg to butterfly in a thread about how we survive in these trying times.

    Someone replied with enthusiasm. That felt good. I’ll probably still mostly lurk. Know that I get a strength and substance from reading BJ.

    Nancyy

  337. 337.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Nancy:

    Your story about the butterflies was very interesting. Remember that a lot of people—like you—read but don’t comment. So your reach is greater than you think.

  338. 338.

    Anastasio Beaverhausen

    Long time lurker, THIRD time poster (whew!)  I read the front page daily and particularly like the garden pics.  Will eventually compile some Sighthound Hall photos and submit.  But now I have to fix breakfast and get the kids on the bus.  Oh, and escort the dog around the neighborhood so he can pee on every pole and bush within a one mile radius.

  339. 339.

    Violet

    @watergirl
    That’s happened once before. I’ll try not to take it personally. Thanks for all you do.

  342. 342.

    WaterGirl

    @Infamous Heel-Filcher:   The fine print:

    Your first comment from each device has to be manually approved.

    If you post from a computer and the first comment is approved, future comments from the computer will show up right away,

    First comment from your phone has to be manually approved but future comments will show up right away.

    And so on…

    If you want to do a comment from each device in this thread, I’ll make sure to approve them all and then you should be good to go.

  343. 343.

    WaterGirl

    @Nancy: Yeah, people would never do that in person to someone they just met 5 minutes ago, but it does happen on the internet.

    Fostering Monarchs sounds interesting!  Was your comment in the Sunday Garden chat?

  346. 346.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    Not “officially” a lurker, I suppose, although it’s been long enough since I commented that I’m not sure the software would remember me.

  347. 347.

    WaterGirl

    @El-Man: Great!  It’s a good idea to write up your introduction and whatever you want to say about the photos and then copy that into the form.

    We have the occasional form hiccup, maybe 1 in 100, but it’s frustrating if you have to recompose what you have already written.  Better to paste it in again.  :-)

  349. 349.

    WaterGirl

    @Violet: And it happened again.  I checked, and you are not on the ban list.  You are not going into SPAM.  You just go straight to the Trash.

    I am perplexed.  (and sorry this is happening!)

    edit: I only see two comments as Violet with your email address.  There is also a comment (different IP address) where your email was used to comment as Marie.  I assume that was you?

Comments are closed.