Talking Turkey (linguistically, that is)

Why do we call it a "turkey" when it isn't from Turkey. And does everyone else call it that? Read along for Thanksgiving …

Why Americans Call Turkey ‘Turkey’
How a New World bird came to be named after countries halfway around the globe

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***Dave Does the Mastodon

14 minutes ago

"Will no one rid my team of this troublesome Red Card?"

The #Trump claim that he didn't tell #FIFA what to do regarding #Balogun doesn't pass the laugh test. *Making the call* is influencing. As he well knows.

But, then Trump is an entitled brat who exercises power -- hard and soft -- without a care for how it looks, just so long as he gets what he wants.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2026/07/06/trumps-request-before-reprieve-us-star-casts-pall-over-world-cup-match/

7 hours ago

Blue Cheese and Basil Dip https://hill-kleerup.org/blog/margie/blue-cheese-and-basil-dip.html

16 hours ago

How incredibly fragile #MikeJohnson 's sense of citizenship must be if folk who look or sound or act differently from him being still considered citizens weakens the meaning of being an American.

Frankly, I find Johnson himself more of an insult to what means for me to be an #Americam #citizen than some kid born here of unlawful immigrants.

"Mike Johnson says Congress should look at birthright citizenship bill" https://share.google/ZHqHXXwROV1ivAmmh

19 hours ago

The #DearLeader 's plans are, of course, genius, perfect, divinely inspired, so anything that goes wrong must, by definition, be the plotting of the tools of the Great Antifa Satan. QED.

#Trump #ReflectingPool

"Burgum doubles down on blaming vandals for reflecting pool woes - POLITICO"
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/05/burgum-vandals-reflecting-pool-00987197

1 day ago

Mud Hen Bars https://hill-kleerup.org/blog/margie/mud-hen-bars.html

3 days ago

RE: https://friendica.world/display/84b6ef2b-176a-47ee-cd27-bf2451052013

#JohnAdams was aware that then, like today, keeping the principles of the #DeclarationOfIndependence alive would be a difficult, perhaps bloody, task -- but that it would be worth it.

3 days ago

A thought for the Fourth ...

#Independenceday #fourthofjuly #declarationofindependence

4 days ago

#Trump cares nothing about the hoi polloi, even if he supposedly depends on their support and worship. Picnics? Fishing? Enjoying cherry blossoms? Insignificant against being able to create a #golfcourse for him and his cronies.

And I'll wager the place ends up with his name on it, or a gaudy-ass statue to him, or both.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-d-c-golf-course-164253445.html

4 days ago

That these same #conservative #Christians will turn around and claim God is punishing our nation for the actions of some of its individuals, shows that they actually get this. They just don't want to admit it applies to them and actions they don't want to take.

4 days ago

It is a wild cop-out for Evangelical GOPers like #MikeJohnson to recast #Matthew25 as solely an individual call to care for the poor. If legislation has nothing to do with individual moral decisions, why do Johnson and his cohort pray together before big votes?

Actions one takes as a political leader, or a business leader, or in a voting booth, or in any group setting, are still *individual* actions, with an inevitable moral dimension. Denying that is wrong.

https://religionnews.com/2026/07/01/in-congress-a-growing-divide-over-matthew-25/

6 days ago

#Grifters gonna grift. It's GOOD to be the #king.

" #Trump made more than $1bn from #crypto in first year back in office"
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgmv98ez3zo

7 days ago

I knew it was a mistake to let him see the Palace at Versailles ...

Also, it's the #DeclarationOfIndependence 's 250th Birthday, not the White House, you idiot.

#trump #whitehouse #gildedage

7 days ago

Not surprisingly, #Lawfare Leader is convinced that a civil case won against him is lawfare and therefore shouldn't count. It's always #projection, all the way down; when the favorite tool you have is a hammer, you think everyone else is using one, too.

#trump #scotus #ejeancarroll

2 weeks ago

New post from Popehat.com!

Cotswolds Interlude, Hiking Day Four
Doom In June

2 weeks ago

New post from Popehat.com!

A Bit of Tedious Drama At Bluesky
Bluesky Can Ban Whoever They Want! But They Won’t Stop Me From Saying What I Think. I Think The World Would Be A Better Place Without Elon Musk.

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The views expressed by me on this weblog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, my church, my party, my candidate, my community, my wife, my friends, or, on occasion, myself.

Views expressed by others are, well, theirs. I reserve the right to delete them, but it’s usually better to let the marketplace of ideas hold sway, even if some packages are long past their expiry date.

Stuff I link to? Sometimes it’s because I agree with it. Sometimes because I disagree with it, but want to point (mockingly, in some cases) to my sources regardless; I have a liberal arts background; I believe in citations. And linking to stuff is what the Internet is about.

Talking Turkey (linguistically, that is)

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