Comments on: Open thread 4/4/23 https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/ A blog about political change, among other things Thu, 06 Apr 2023 02:49:48 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Snow on Pine https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674541 Thu, 06 Apr 2023 02:49:48 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674541 Make that “place.”

]]> By: Snow on Pine https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674413 Wed, 05 Apr 2023 13:57:04 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674413 Then, of course, owls have their pace in native American mythology and creation stories.*

* See https://centerofthewest.org/2018/08/06/owls-native-american-culture/

]]> By: OBloodyHell https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674403 Wed, 05 Apr 2023 09:29:55 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674403 Interesting. They missed mentioning the fact that the Owl is the only one of the raptors (Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Owls) that has opposable digits/claws. Hence they are the only raptor that can actually pick up their prey. The others “hook” their prey, but Owls can actually grab it.

]]> By: OBloodyHell https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674402 Wed, 05 Apr 2023 09:20:22 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674402 Ze Frank (“Sad Dog Diary”/”Sad Cat Diary”) also made an interesting one about Owl Facts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeFxdkaFzRA

]]> By: Le Mot Juste https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674399 Wed, 05 Apr 2023 05:15:32 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674399 Snow on Pine: Jennifer Stein runs our local Mufon, where we’ve heard many well-known presenters in person. Here she is with Clelland. Her interest was spawned by a vivid, up-close daytime encounter on the farm where she grew up. (Her daughter and ours were classmates.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJLVkrkweCM

]]> By: Le Mot Juste https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674398 Wed, 05 Apr 2023 04:46:25 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674398 Snow on Pine: Wife and I know Mike from his ‘Unseen’ on Whitley’s site. A
‘woke’ soul — in the good sense!

]]> By: huxley https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674374 Wed, 05 Apr 2023 01:06:34 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674374 An odd thing I’ve never seen written about before…

I now notice when I’m in public and overhear people speak, but not clearly enough I can understand what they say, it sounds to me like they are speaking in French.

Sometimes I could swear they are! (One time they actually were.)

I take it as a good sign that my brain is on the case, that the subconscious process of acquiring French is happening.

]]> By: huxley https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674371 Wed, 05 Apr 2023 00:52:34 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674371 I thought that it might be fun to have a pet owl (Harry Potter has a lot to answer for).

–Snow on Pine

I’m reading the first book of Harry Potter in French. I’m particularly charmed by the messenger owls. What a great invention. I wouldn’t say J.K. Rowling is a great writer but she is a master storyteller.

You will be excited to know that “hibou” is French for “owl” and it is one of only seven French nouns ending in “-ou” which form their plurals with “-oux” instead of “-ous”:

bijoux, cailloux, choux, genoux, hiboux, joujoux, poux

As Jack Reacher says, “Details matter.”

Though not in spoken French where nouns ending in “-ou”, “-ous” and “-oux” are all pronounced the same. One can only tell from the preceding article.

]]> By: JJ https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674355 Tue, 04 Apr 2023 23:09:01 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674355 Back in the day, when my vision was very good, I said I had eyes like a Howlk. (A hawk and an owl.) How I miss that vision today.

But on to my owl story. When I was flying out of Denver many years ago, we lived in the foothills west of Denver. Our house was surrounded by ponderosa pines, and we had a small lake downhill from the house. One evening I was sitting out on the deck and was surprised to see a big grey owl suddenly swoop out of a pine tree and snitch up a rabbit that was nibbling grass near the lake. Wow! No sound at all. Just a mass of feathers suddenly appearing out of the tree and flapping silently away with its meal. I never saw the owl again, though we often heard it or others hooting at night. I suppose it just happened to be hungry early and did a bit of daytime hunting.

That was an impressive sight. A few years before I had been to the Wild Willow Farm & Education Center near San Diego where I attended their “Raptor Show.” There I saw a much smaller owl fly over our heads without making a sound. So, I knew how quiet they could be, but that big grey owl was something to see.

]]> By: Kate https://thenewneo.com/2023/04/04/open-thread-4-4-23/#comment-2674344 Tue, 04 Apr 2023 22:37:10 +0000 https://www.thenewneo.com/?p=125028#comment-2674344 At bit of good political news on this terrible day: A Democrat in the North Carolina General Assembly [House] is switching to the GOP tomorrow. This gives us a veto-proof majority in both houses, so we can ignore our governor Roy Cooper. This Democrat ran in Charlotte on abortion rights, so while the legislature has not said what it intends to do about our current legacy twenty-week limit, I doubt that she will vote for a ban or a heartbeat bill, and perhaps we’ll end up with a European first-trimester limit, much easier to defend next year. But on a host of other issues, she’s been voting with the GOP already.

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