Global Warming - Who's to Blame?

Global warming has been a topic of discussion that has spun the world into a frenzy, but is the issue even an issue at all? Global warming is an often romanticized theory and is accepted without question. Though many would love to point a finger at the human population, climate change has always been of the norm, and human activity has never had anything to do with it.

Taking the size of the Earth’s atmosphere into account, it is very difficult for humans to have such a drastic impact on something so large. Humans contribute to 0.28% of Earth’s atmosphere. That includes car exhaust, factories and other forms of pollution. That 0.28% is certainly not enough to cause anything near a global warming by itself. The build-up of carbon dioxide, as many would be quick to point out, is what causes the green-house effect. Humans, supposedly, are the cause of this excessive amount of greenhouse gases. But is this correct? After the second World War, cars, TVs and other goods were mass produced during what was called the post-war economic boom. Before this, though, during a time even before cars and planes were invented, temperatures had already begun to climb. And after the economic boom, when temperatures were supposed to rise, temperatures actually dropped. This completely goes against the theory of global warming. Therefore, the increase in temperature today could not be based on activity of people occurring right now.

With this information in mind, humans are obviously not at fault for global warming. Drastic temperature changes have happened in the past. In the 14th century, Europe experienced what was called the Little Ice Age, where temperatures were so low that large bodies of water were completely frozen over for prolonged periods of time. Before that, there was the medieval period where temperatures were warmer than they are today. Before the medieval period, there was the bronze age where temperatures were even higher than that of the medieval period for more than three millennia. There has been an Ice Age and a time where the entire planet was covered in tropical rainforests. Clearly, climate change has always taken place and without the help of humans. It has occurred before humans even existed.

Though global warming may seem a daunting reality, it is a natural occurrence in nature. It is as natural as rain or snow or hail. A world-wide panic is completely unnecessary because of a couple degree rise in temperature. There is nothing anyone can do to prevent global warming, much less cause it.

Inaudible Melodies

The news reports going-ons from around the world. On average, you'll see reports of "brushfire fairytales" of seemingly unimportant events. You'll hear of the "itsy bitsy diamond wells" and "big fat hurricanes", or the small amounts of good that is announced to the public compared to the huge disasters that are so-called occurring. You'll also hear the "yellow bellied given names" given to those who the blame can easily be put upon by those cowards who need somewhere to point their fingers. A shortcut - flashing pictures going across a TV screen, 30-second narrations at most for each, and minimal knowledge for those who try to keep up with it. And our negligence and naivete of what is going on around us will be our downfall.

"Dust off your thinking caps" and consider what you are being told. False headlines, dressed-up guilt, and you are just as guilty to believe blindly as those who report knowingly. Yet take away the exaggerated narration and you see what is true..the images that can speak for themselves, free from corruption.

If the pictures would slow, if there weren't any more confusing flashes of seemingly insignificant events, we could see the whole picture. We could know what was going on around us and not be in the dark with nothing but a TV-prompt telling us what to believe.

Soundless clips serve a purpose, but not an honest one. They can be twisted to tell a different story. We can be made to believe what we are told is true. We see what we are allowed to, and the revised story severes off everything else. "Eisenstein should just relax," and the fleeting frames on our screens should slow.

Plato's cave, or those who believe what they are told without question, is full of people who do not like what they have seen, but still wouldn't trust what hasn't been reported by an anchorman. Fabricated lies and deranged truths are what they hold on to. Who could bear the thought of the media lying?

Rhetorical Analysis

In the song "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam, forensic proof of the injustices put upon Jeremy by his peers and own parents is offered and defined as the cause of him "speaking in class," meaning commiting suicide in the classroom.

Jeremy would draw pictures of himself lording over a pile of dead bodies, supposedly the corpses of people who had wronged him. He's atop a yellow sun, arms raised high in a V - King Jeremy. No one can touch him. No one can hurt him. He's his own authority. The idea of the picture offers a means to an end. With all of the oppressive factors in his life done away with, Jeremy could be free. The lyrics are to make the audience feel Jeremy's pain. The picture, a better situation for Jeremy, yet unattainable.

Jeremy was picked on by his classmates, and the singer's guilt is clearly unveiled in the second verse. He explains the events he took part in that helped drive Jeremy over the edge. Jeremy's suicide was the consequence of their selfish bullying.

Reflect your own Writing

I consider myself, for the most part, to be an above-average writer. I know how to portray my thoughts and ideas in a logical order without sounding too rigid. I know how to keep the type of audience in mind when choosing a writing style. I also know how to keep that audience's attention while getting my point across at the same time. I do, however, sometimes get caught up in making my essays flashy, and in doing so I tend to stray away from the point of the paper. You see, I LOVE thinking up intricate webs of analogies and metaphors to compare ideas in my papers to. It's like I'm writing a book rather than an english paper. While trying to think of descriptive adjectives and fancy ways to communicate something, I'll forget to mention something else completely. In my desire for detail I'll forget the reason for writing. See, I'm doing it now. I like my writing to stand out and not be just another english paper from some high school student who did the minimal needed to get a passing grade. I just take it overboard some of the time.

What makes someone intelligent?

Intelligence is a word that can be defined as "quick to comprehend" or "able to have a good understanding of something." Being intelligent does not necessarily mean that you already know what makes the sky blue, but that you would understand and remember why it is if someone taught it to you. You are also able to judge a situation and figure out what is going on. I would consider my 5 year old niece to be intelligent. She does not know what 56 divided by 7 is. She doesn't know what the capital of Iowa is, either. Yet she is sharp as knife and notices everything. She can take in a situation and know what is going on. She will meet someone and remember their name without having to prompt you for it. Intelligence is not defined by what you know or how much about it, but by how you grasp things and how you perceive them.

Belief, Truth, and Knowledge

Knowledge, truth and belief are all categories that you personally define things under. These three categories are all linked to each other. Knowledge is defined as aquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation. In order for someone to have knowledge of a topic, they must first believe this knowledge to be true. Therefore, knowledge may also be defined as something believed to be true.

Belief is defined as an opinion or conviction. However, a belief may either be true or false. You may believe in something and it could be completely false, like believing in flying pigs. However, you may also believe in something that is based upon factual evidence, as in 2+2=4. You may also believe in something with or without knowledge of what it is you believe. You may believe that there are flying pigs, but exactly how is it that these pigs can fly? You have no idea, but you still believe. Now, 2+2=4 is something you KNOW to be true because it has been mathematically proven.

Truth is defined as the true or actual state of a matter. Most things that are true are believed by most and are known to many. However, truth usually requires evidence to be accepted by people. Sometimes the truth can not be proven. Take a murder case, where the defendant is accused of a crime that he or she did not commit, yet they can't prove it. The truth is they didn't murder anyone, but it there is no evidence to prove it. It doesn't make it any less true, though.

V for Vendetta rhetorical analysis

The people of London are going about their daily lives – watching government-approved programs, abiding by a strict curfew, and silently submitting to an existence where a personal opinion can cost one’s life. Among the thousands of brainwashed citizens, there is one who believes in the power of words and the truth that lies therein. On the fifth of November, he decided to embed this knowledge into the minds of the mindless and strike fear into the government officials. In the middle of the peoples’ regularly scheduled program, V interrupts the twisted normalcy and repetition of London with a harsh blow of reality. His is a proclamation of the injustice via emergency channel, and an invitation to mark November fifth, a day regrettably forgotten. He seeks to commemorate this day by having a “little chat.”

Throughout the speech, V very candidly and openly exposes the disturbing restrictions on the lives of Londoners. “There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak,” he states. He stresses the power that words contain, and why the government stifles words with threatening consequences. Words hold truth. V states very bluntly that “the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country”, very clearly setting the tone for the rest of his speech. Instead of words and discourse, there was government and guns. In all actuality, words could not exist under a tyrannical government such as this.

V goes on to the root of the problem. The people had freedoms before they submitted to a tyrannical government, freedoms to object, think and speak. Now they are surveyed and steered in a direction in which they have no control. V tries to make the people see though, that the blame does lie partially with them. He tries to make them feel remorse for what they had allowed to happen.

He does understand why the citizens of London allowed themselves to be confined to a cage, so to speak. They were many problems plaguing the city and they allowed fear to overcome reason. Adam Sutler became their high chancellor. Ironically, while promising them peace and order, his methods were guns and men in uniform barking orders. He points out the injustices and brings factual evidence of how the country had fallen. The people had allowed it in their desperate attempt to seek security. What they got was oppression.

The Old Bailey, in a way, was a monument of oppression. A courthouse that was conveniently located to hold trials involving the accused from all over the metropolis area. It was named after the old bailey that used to surround London, a wall. “Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey,” V states in his proclamation to all of London, “to remind this country of what it has forgotten.” By destroying the Old Bailey, a symbol of the constricting and suffocating walls on the lives of London, V hoped to crumble other walls along with it. The walls of communism, conformity, oppression and injustice. He reminds his audience in his speech of a great citizen who had attempted to forever embed the memory of November fifth into the peoples’ minds. “His hope,” he explains, “was to remind the world that fairness, justice and freedom are more than words – they are perspectives.” V seeks as that man sought to once and for all break the chains the government has bound their country with. In an attempt to rile up a sense of unity and patriotism, he implores his audience to stand with him outside Parliament on the fifth of November that “shall never, ever, be forgot.”