response to C.L. George's global warming blog Unit 3

Mr. George makes very valid and in my opinion accurate observations about both of these global warming articles.

No matter what either of these articles say, it doesn't really have any fact based information. All of this information is opinion, speculation and conspiracy theory.

The truth is there is really no way of knowing what will happen and why it will happen. We have such a small snapshot of information available to us, we really don't know the long term effects of anything.

Hopefully someone will publish an article using facts, science and experiment results and not political agenda.

My thoughts on a political cartoon

Mike Lester of the Rome News-Tribune in Rome, GA displays a cartoon with a policeman, presumably a captain or some ranking in charge, giving a speech to his officers. It is in a type of briefing situation, where the officers are given their assignments or information that is pertinant to their jobs.

In the first part, it shows the man in charge telling the other officers to "Be careful out there." That is something that you would expect, as the officers put their lives in danger every minute they are out on the job.

In the second part, the same man is speaking to the other officers but this time instead of an American flag in the background, there is a Mexico flag. One of the officers in the audience with a spanish phrase book. Instead of telling the officers to be careful, he is telling the officers to "Be politically correct out there." This is an observation on both the excessive emphasis being put on everything being politically correct. In this day and age, everyone seems to be sensitive about something and is getting offended by someone else that may or may not have intended to offend.

The second observation in this cartoon is how it is an expectation that Americans are having to make allowances for those from Mexico. We have to learn spanish and be observant of their culture and needs, but it seems that they are not forced to learn our language even though they are in America. This is a hot topic for many in the current state of affairs.

response to Hunter's blog: Politcal Cartoon Analysis

I am one of the millions of people that are on facebook many times a day. It started out as a casual way to reconnect with people that I had either lost track of or those that lived far away. It was a way to catch up with those that I do not regularly get to see, show them what is going on in my life and share memories and photos. It now has turned into a way to stay updated with EVERYONE! People that I work with every day are now communicating with me on facebook. It is quite ridiculous, actually, since I see these people 5 days a week and have the opportunity to talk often.

Now facebook has gone further by having things such as games--or applications--to pass the time. There are virtual farms, restaurants, villages, theme parks, zoos, etc. It has become an epidemic that people have to get on facebook on a deadline because crops have to be harvested, food has to be served or animals must be tended to. Wow, what happened to reality? If you want to be a farmer, plant something!

Hunter's blog about this cartoon depicting the "face" of facebook differing from what is really on facebook was both intriguing and thought provoking. It makes me think about how I live my life and how much time and energy do I waste on facebook when I can be living my life in reality.

I appreciate this insight and may considering closing up my facebook cafe, selling my facebook farm and setting free all of my facebook zoo animals to be returned to the wild.

Global Warming

Upon reading both articles, No Global Warming by Richard Lindzen and State of the Science: Beyond the Worse Case Climate Change Scenario by David Biello, I was both interested and alarmed. Being a person in my early 30's, I have heard the phrase "global warming" for as long as I can remember. I have always heard "Don't use hairspray in aerosol cans!" but was never really sure if what I did mattered. As the topic became hot because of Al Gore's "An Inconvienient Truth", I thought, oh crap! This is happening! What the hell should I do?

After reading Richard Lindzen's article, I feel more prepared for the situation. Maybe because it is a less alarmist article. He points out very interesting facts, such as the earth's climate is dynamic. It is always changing and changes are cylical. When he comments about those that are "exploiting fear" made a lot of sense to me. That is what I feel like society is doing to me. I feel like it has been pounded into my head that if I don't take care of the planet, it will cease to exist one day. And now that weather patterns have changed, it is an opportunity for society to say "I told ya so!"

I also didn't realize that much of Al Gore's movie is NOT based on scientific fact! Wow, maybe I should make a movie and just say what I think! Another thing I didn't know is that mosquitos do not need tropical climates to survive.

Overall, I felt that Lindzen's article was much more informative.

Water concerns in Norman

After reading Asia Scudder's article, "Beyond the Tap: Could we run out of water" I am still unconvinced that there is an actual problem.

First, I do not live in Norman, so I am not affected by the issue--or non-issue--directly. With that being said, I would think a significant overuse of water in the area would be a serious problem. So this leads me to ask questions. First, why have I not heard anything about a possible drought in Norman? If the consumption of water is as significant as Asia Scudder claims, why is the city of Norman not doing anything about it?

I think I really need more data on the situation to understand fully the extent of the problem. I don't feel that Asia did a sufficient job convincing me. There was a lack of appeal of any kind to make me care about the issue.

Response to Jennifer Lynn Logan's Running out of tap water blog

Jennifer raises some very good suggestions in response to reading the article about Norman running out of tap water. Yes, Norman used 1.5 million gallons more water than usual, but with the growing population isn't that normal? We can not expect the usage to remain static when there are more and more people moving to the Norman area, causing a drain on the existing resources!

They should reexamine their city budget and do what is necessary to get bring more water in or get the filtration system that would clean the water. Like Jennifer pointed out, if you make and enforce laws about water usage, then more people would become aware, and those that feel that they are above the rules--and you know you will have some that do--can be fined 2000 dollars, which can be put into a fund earmarked for this expensive filtration system.

I think if this was such a problem, the city would find a way to rectify it.

LSTD 1243 Unit 2 Reflection on writing about globalization

When I chose to write about globalization, I was not really positive what it was about. I had a vague idea--I knew it involved countries being involved together--but I was not aware the extent of effect it had.

I had problems because there was so much information I had a difficult time organizing my information. I would read and read and still get confused.

I am not an activist kind of person, I am usually pretty middle of the road. People say that is a cop out because I don't want to take a stand on things and for the most part they are correct. I don't see globalization as an issue that is going to motivate me to take action, but I definitely see both sides of the argument.

I am not for or against globalization as a whole. I don't think anyone really can be. It branches into so many different issue that it is a little chaotic. Some issues, such as women's rights, are a little more concerning to me than something that is strictly a political or corporate power play. I do feel that as manufacturing is outsourced to developing countries, it brings with it the exposure that is beneficial to serious issues such as disease, lack of medicines or clean drinking water. I think human nature tells us this is the right thing to do. However, when you visit towns that used to be supported be a factory that has been closed due to outsources and you see how many Americans that are suffering from poverty, it makes me wish someone could find the fine line of helping them and helping us.