1:43 p.m. - 2006-03-05
PENGUINS
Sunday, March 05, 2006
YOU HAVE SEEN PENGUINS..babies and parents. Aren't they cute and cuddly looking? Wouldn't you want to take care of them if they needed help?
When the egg is laid, the penguin
covers the egg with their body feathers to keep it warm with body heat from the parent. Could you tell if the parent is a male or female just by looking at it? I didn't think so.
Would it matter to you if it was a male or female as long as it was caring for the egg?
If you have seen the documentary, March of the Empire Penguin,
you know the story of how difficult it is for the parents to keep
the egg warm, and keep the baby inside alive. Even after the egg
hatches, the parents have a battle keeping the baby fed and warm
and safe. The parents take turns leaving for weeks to gather food.
They MARCH for miles in the cold and freezing temperatures to regain their own body weight and strength to come back to sit on the egg and later to feed the baby and allow the other parent to take the trip back to the water to regain its own weight and strength.
It is a long battle but one that they do year after year after year.
It is a story of true nuturing, love for the "family unit".
I just read the following article in my Sunday paper and I am upset that TWO PARENTS in a community could get a book moved out of the Children's Section . This is a book about penguins caring for an egg. The parents reason for wanting the book moved is unbelieveable.
NEWS ARTICLE.
Book about 2 male penguins moved from children's area
SAVANNAH, Mo. -"A children's book about two male penguins that raise a baby penguin has been moved to the nonfiction section of two public-library branches after parents
complained that it had homosexual undertones.
The book, And Tango Makes Three, is based on a true story of two male penguins who adopted an abandoned egg at New York's Central Park Zoo in the late 1990s.
The book, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, was moved from the
children's section at two Rolling Hills' Consolidated Library's branches in Missouri."
AND HERE IS AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE MOVIE
March Of The Penguins
Flames of love fanned on ice
February 24, 2006
By Tanya Farber
Director: Luc Jacquet
Cast: Hundreds of Emperor Penguins
Running time: 80 min
Classification: A
Rating: 10/10
There are few pockets of nature left on the face of the earth where humans have not left their mark.
So, when a gem of a movie like this comes along, it is a privilege to watch it. We are able to journey into a place which we'd never get to see, and one leaves the cinema feeling enlightened, entertained, and in awe of the power of a creature so different from ourselves.
It tells the story of the hardy emperor penguins who inhabit
one of the earth's most unforgiving environments - the ice deserts of the Antarctic.
Once a year, their survival instinct sends them on a journey that would seem impossible - they must leave the ocean bed behind, march in single file through blizzards for days on end,
and finally, meet up at a place which has served as their unique breeding ground for millennia.
Here, amidst the freezing wind and sheets upon sheets of snow and ice, they must find a partner with whom they will play their role in ensuring the continuation of the species.
And that is just the beginning of what invariably turns out to be a litany of hardships. The delicate eggs of the young will be carefully balanced on
their feet for weeks on end to keep them warm, the males will spend two months without food as the mothers journey back across the hostile landscape to eat in the ocean, and, once the young emerge from their cosy homes, they too, must face the harsh realities of this environment.
March of the Penguins tells a riveting story of star-crossed love.
Every element needed for a compelling plot is present, and as you journey with them through their story of life and death, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat rooting for them all the way. What makes this relationship between us as the audience, and the penguins as the protagonists, possible is that they tell their own story. Traditional wildlife documentary voice-over is abandoned in favour of a first-person narrative (French with English subtitles) where the penguins themselves tell us about their extraordinary journey.
Fans of the wildlife genre will love this film, but what's so unusual
is that it will appeal to a far broader audience than that because
the story is so utterly compelling. March of the Penguins is a flawless, once-in-a-lifetime film that should definitely be seen on the big screen.
So what is so terrible about the book? It teaches our children
that families of all kinds want to be LOving and care for their children. It shows that the parent will do everything it can to feed and nuture and protect its child. I, for one, believe this is a wonderful lesson for our children. Nowhere does it indicate
that homosexual penguins are ruining The penguin population.
In fact, the male-male couple or female-female couple are helping to keep the penguin population growing.
IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS DOCUMENTARY, PLEASE DO.
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How many times have you heard about a female dog nursing a squirrel or a kitten or any other small animal as if it were her own? What is wrong with that? Does that mean she is a "loose"
dog....running around the neighborhood as a molester looking for little innocent animals to take control of.
GIVE ME A BREAK!!
This homophobic country needs to wake up. Just because two male penguins care for an egg or a small penguin doesn't mean they are homosexuals. Apparently it is quite common for the penguins to care for abandoned eggs....male or female...isn't that a wonderful instinctive emotion to have?
DID I TAKE THIS REASON TO MOVE A CHILD'S BOOK WRONG???
