Maley's Energy Blog

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/06/childrens-media-use-cuddly-animals-to-reinforce-racist-and-socially-dominant-norms-researcher-says/

“Parents who read their kids stories about happy, human-like animals like Franklin the Turtle or Arthur at bedtime are exposing their kids to racism, materialism, homophobia and patriarchal norms, according to a paper presented at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

“Most animals portrayed in children’s books, songs and on clothing send a bad message, according to academics Nora Timmerman and Julia Ostertag: That animals only exist for human use, that humans are better than animals, that animals don’t have their own stories to tell, that it’s fine to “demean” them by cooing over their cuteness. Perhaps worst of all, they say, animals are anthropomorphized to reinforce “socially dominant norms” like nuclear families and gender stereotypes.

“ ‘[M]uch of young children’s media reproduces and confirms racist, colonial, consumerist, heteronormative, and patriarchal norms,” Timmerman and Ostertag write in their paper ‘Too Many Monkeys Jumping in Their Heads: Animal Lessons within Young Children’s Media,’ presented at Congress Wednesday.”

From NOLA.com:

Orleans Parish Public Defender’s office says it’s not equipped to deal with gang racketeering indictments

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/06/orleans_parish_public_defender_5.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Ronald Reagan’s D-Day Remembrance Speech, June 6, 1984

Here in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.” Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their value and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

We call them “The Greatest Generation”, but what does that mean, really? They fought and died; some for freedom, some to end Fascism, others out of loyalty to their country.

What have we given them in return? Their values and their ways seem old-fashioned to us. We call them “The Greatest Generation”, but some laugh behind their backs.

Given the chance, would we fight as they did for the freedom they made possible? Or will our country’s future be defined by bunch of spoiled, nihilistic douchebags who stand for little more than anarchy and depravity?

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2013/06/deacon_jones_hall_of_fame_defe.html#incart_river_default

“David ‘Deacon’ Jones, the original sackmaster, has died.

“The Hall of Fame defensive end credited with terming the word sack for how he knocked down quarterbacks, was 74. The Washington Redskins said that Jones died of natural causes at his home in Southern California on Monday night.

" ‘Deacon Jones was one of the greatest players in NFL history. Off the field, he was a true giant,’ said Redskins general manager Bruce Allen, whose father, George, coached Jones with the Los Angeles Rams. ‘His passion and spirit will continue to inspire those who knew him. He was a cherished member of the Allen family and I will always consider him my big brother.’”