And here’s the realistic explanation for why and why now:
"…Orin Kerr, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote on X on Wednesday that “from a public policy standpoint, that seems like a bummer.”
“Geofencing has solved a bunch of really major cases that were otherwise totally cold,” he wrote.
“And there are lots of ways of doing the legal process (including Google’s warrant policy, although that’s just one way) that are a lot more privacy protective than ordinary warrants. But I can see why this might be in Google’s business interest. If there isn’t a lot of economic value to Google in keeping the data, and having it means you need to get embroiled in privacy debates over what you do with it, better for Google to drop it.”
It’s a good thing! It never should have been allowed in the first place. But, Google didn’t give a fuck until it caused them enough hassle. Doing this is just a way to avoid something more expensive later, it isn’t a strong principled stand. And I’d bet small amounts that they’ll still have a way to use the data anyway. It won’t be some magic wand that means Google can’t make money off of it.
Nah, I’ll sit there eating chicken, and give her a bit. Seriously, if you look up lists of food that’s okay/good for them, chicken and eggs are on almost every list. She very much enjoys both.
Now, would I eat her? Nah, and not only because of the breed not being very good as meat, nor that I hope she lives to be very old, which makes for not good meat. She’s part of the family, and you don’t eat family unless it’s life-or-death. Like, I have no objection to eating dog, but I wouldn’t eat my dog.
Hell, I don’t even object to the idea of eating one’s own pets in general, I can see the way it could be a respectful and good thing. I just can’t do it lol.
I will say that I’m pickier about sourcing my chicken for food now though. I’ve always preferred non industrial meat sources when possible, but now that “when possible” has turned into “well, I guess I’ll just skip it this time”.
Her name is cricket. She’s what’s called a “midnight majesty” marans. I don’t have a picture with me currently, and I know I’ll forget by the time I get home. But she’s this gorgeous black that gets a green iridescence in the sunlight.
She’s called cricket because when we got her, we had to drive all day and it was night time on the way home, and she was making cute little cricket noises the whole way. She’s old enough now that it doesn’t sound the same, but it was the trills that sleepy, contented chickens make. She was small enough to just sit nestled in my kid’s hand at the time.
Stop? That’s a bit of an overstatement if I claimed that lol.
But strongly limit is easy enough. You just reward the bird any time they go where you want them to, while starting out with that “place” being huge, and eventually shrinking it. That is made faster if you can identify when the bird is going to poop, and help them get there.
We used disposable pads at first, then switched to washable pads that are the same size and color (no idea if chickens can see in color, I just realized I never looked that up). We got her in October, and it was December before she would try to get to a pad reliably.
Luckily, unless she’s voiding only the wet stuff (calling it urine doesn’t feel right, nor pee, but it’s the equivalent), it isn’t bad. When she does miss the pad, it’s because she doesn’t really know that the poop is supposed to be on it, not just her feet lol. It’s mostly very dry and firm, so there’s not enough mess to be a problem as long as we monkeys pay attention. She’ll do a light dance, lift her tail, and a little blob of stuff pops out, dry enough that even on a white pad surface, you can’t see anything when you remove it.
She gets insistent when she’s on my shoulder and needs to go, so I just keep a pad handy and move her onto it.
Since it’s that dry, it’s very easy to just grab the poo with some tissue and toss it in a bag and then dump the bag into the compost heap at the end of the day, when she’s inside all day
I’m not saying there’s never accidents, but she tries to do what we want in that regard. But our floors are all easy to clean, so it isn’t onerous when an accident happens.
Currently, she’s probably at 95% making it onto a pad with the poop, and 99+ with trying. Pretty damn unusual for a chicken, or so I’ve been told.
From what I’ve been told, out of the three active subs I modded that got yanked and restaffed with whoever, only one isn’t a bot ridden mess.
And that one is kinda shit (again, that’s second hand) now.
Not that I was some paragon of modding, it’s just that you can’t have random assholes put in place after actual users are pissed off and expect things to work out well.
Oh man! Water exercise is so sweet when you’ve got a bad back and/or joints. Being able to get a decent workout without being laid up for two days is a beautiful thing for me :)
But, I feel you. I’ve got that same inner critic sniping away. As I’ve gotten older, it’s less about physical things and a lot more about mistakes made, things that were hurtful that I didn’t have the ability to see as hurtful when I said or did them.
But along that, I did figure out that the old truism about having to give yourself something first, before you can really give it to or get it from others holds up. If I’m not kind to myself, if I can’t forgive myself, and love myself (at least a little), it’s nigh impossible to genuinely give those things to someone else.
I don’t know if that actually applies to everyone or not; maybe other people can give truly of themselves without accepting good things from themselves first, but it seems to be the case.