Final-month-of-the-year thoughts
Archive of entries posted on 1st December 2023
But Will They Dare Try To Rename Emus?
These Pennsylvania Birds Will Be Renamed as Watchers Reckon With Racism, Inclusion
The Pet Zealot | November 24, 2023 | James Alain L.In a significant move towards fostering inclusivity and distancing avian species from problematic historical figures, the American Ornithological Society (AOS) has announced its intention to rename several North American birds. This initiative, set to impact numerous avian species in Pennsylvania, aims to dissociate these magnificent creatures from namesakes associated with racism.
The AOS’s decision to rename certain birds stems from the realization that several species, such as the Townsend’s warbler and solitaire, bear names that honor individuals with racist backgrounds. Peter Saenger, an ornithologist from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, has highlighted that this project could potentially affect over a dozen birds that breed, migrate to, or visit Pennsylvania.
(May I just say, James Alain L., that is an unusual name?
I will not choose it for my Witness Protection name, because it would attract unwanted attention.)
What’s Walrus Building?
To be honest. Nothing. I was cruising along fairly well when disaster struck. I was putting on the outside of the turrent when the pressures popped parts off the base in various places. So many I could not put it back together. Many hours of work down the drain. I had to break it apart to start all over which I haven’t done. So I pause, gather my will once again and see if this time I don’t mess it up.
On to past glories.
Past Builds
The Tiger II was a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, often shortened to Tiger B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 182. (Sd.Kfz. 267 and 268 for command vehicles). It was also known informally as the Königstiger (German for Bengal tiger and also, literally, “King Tiger”). Contemporaneous Allied soldiers usually called it the King Tiger or Royal Tiger.
The Tiger II was the successor to the Tiger I, combining the latter’s thick armour with the armour sloping used on the Panther medium tank. The tank weighed almost 70 tonnes, and was protected by 100 to 185 mm (3.9 to 7.3 in) of armour to the front. It was armed with the long barrelled 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 anti-tank cannon. The chassis was also the basis for the Jagdtiger turretless Jagdpanzer anti-tank vehicle.
The Tiger II was issued to heavy tank battalions of the Army and the Waffen-SS. It was first used in combat by 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion during the Allied invasion of Normandy on 11 July 1944; on the Eastern Front, the first unit to be outfitted with the Tiger II was the 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion, which by 1 September 1944 listed 25 Tiger IIs operational.
HIT Me With Your Best Shot
— Especially if it’s mandatory.
Nebraska Collecting All Health Data on All Residents — Critics Call It a Step Toward National Digital ID
Childrens Health Defense | 11/15/23 | Mike CapuzzoNebraska lawmakers have created a state Health Information Technology (HIT) Board to collect health information on all Nebraskans in a centralized data and surveillance system that, according to lawmakers, will be used by doctors to improve patient care.
But critics warn the system marks a step toward the oppressive control of digital ID and digital currency that could sweep the U.S.
The Nebraska Legislature in 2020 voted unanimously to create the Nebraska HIT Board, composed of 17 members appointed by the governor and confirmed by a majority vote of the legislature.
“Even illegal aliens?”
As a Catholic, I Feel Free To Say This Pope Is Absolutely Freaking Nuts
Impromptu words of the Holy Father
… But there is something about you that I do not like; pardon my sincerity. One, two, three, four women: poor women! They are alone! Ah, excuse me, five. We must advance in this. Women have a capacity for theological reflection that is different to that of us men. It will be because I have studied the theology of a woman a great deal. I was helped by a good German woman, Hanna-Barbara Gerl . . .
?
Was she a Yogi?
She had studied that history and the theology of that woman was not so deep, but it is beautiful, it is creative. And now, in the upcoming meeting of the nine Cardinals, we will reflect on the feminine dimension of the Church.
The Church is woman. And if we do not know what a woman is, what the theology of a woman is, we will never understand what the Church is. One of the great sins we have had is to “masculinize” the Church.
The only question left unanswered is: “Is a bear Catholic?”
