Presidential Elections

-The day of the elections have started and already I hear stories of problems at the polls. Ranging from a lack of voting machines at predominantly black areas to black panthers trying to intimidate. people into voting for Obama. Hopefully this doesn't continue.

- As the numbers are coming in I've chosen to watch Fox News for results, it makes the night slightly more interesting.

-It's now official, Barack Obama is now our 44th president. As he gives his acceptance speech I see Jesse Jackson in the crowd crying. It instantly hits me why he feels this great deal of emotion. He had to witness years of discrimination, and was around to witness Rosa Parks sit on the bus, was there when Mrtin Luther King had the million march and unfortunately was around to witness the murder of MLK. However he is now around to see MLK's dream come true, no longer can race be considered an excuse for anything. Obama has proudly made history and It feels good to be witness tis point in American History.

Update: It's the day after the elections and i'm disgusted by some of the reactions to the news of Obama being our future president. Coming from the north I hear many misconceptions and steroetypes about the south. Since I've gotten here I've been proven wrong about these steretypes however this election has brought out the worst in people. It's sad that people don't realize how much of a historic moment this is and would go as far as saying he's soon to be assassinated. It's ignorant people like you who have kept our country from progressing as a whole and to put it quite simple, your ideals aren't too far from the neo-nazis.

Crazy Ideas

Fox News has posted an article detailed some outlandish ideas on how to solve the problem of global warming. The ideas are pretty outlandish and if the situations worsens these may need to be the measures we take to bail us out of the problem.

One solutions which is already being carried out is pouring iron dust into the sea. This will in turn grow algae which will drink up algae from the atmosphere. It seems pretty staright forward and simple however it's real easy for things to get out of hand and the large amounts of algae are of course going to have a negaitive impact on surrounding eco life.

A dangerous solution is the manmade volcano. By releasing sulfer into the air you create a cloud which reflects sunlight. Volcanoes have erupted before and have proven this is possible however its a dangerous solution and the volcano wouldnt do anything about the green house gases already trapped on earth.

Probably the craziest idea of them all is solar umbrellas. Similar concept to the manmade volcano, we fly millions of umbrellas or discs into space and let them block off the sun thus cooling our temperatures down. Still wouldn't d anything about our greenhouse gases but it would cool our earts down and slow the melting of the polar ice caps.

These are solutions which are pretty radical but I feel that with the way we treat climate change, soon we'll need a radical solutions to a problem which is constantly ignored.

Class Links

http://imjumpingthefence.blogspot.com/

A good blog dealing with immigration. The blog deals with immigrants in a different way than portrayed in the media. Instead of being viewed as just workers or problems in our society they are viewed as enrichments to our culture. In an important elections its legal immigrants which could provide the extra push a candidate needs to pull a win.

http://punishmentvrehabilitation.blogspot.com/

A blog detailing the wrongs of our jail system. Many offenders become repeat offenders in our country meaning there's clearly flaws in our system. This blog details alternative solutions to the problem such as rehabilitation which could put an end to the endless cycle of criminal acts committed by a felon.

http://every-link-name-is-taken.blogspot.com/

A blog dealing with homesecurity. Touching on everything from airport security around the world to possible measures that could be takin in the future to help keep us safe at airports. A very insightful blog that could easily ruffle feathers as most might see these measures of security as an intrusion on our privacy.

Extended Reading

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

A good and basic website which discusses global warming. Explains the causes of global warming as well as plausible solutions to the problem. It even has a frequent questions sections. A good site to go to if one is clueless on climate change.


http://www.aproundtable.org/tps30info/globalwarmup.html

An entire site where people give there opinion on why global warming isn't real. Although I disagree with some of the reasoning it still provides good reasons for why global warming may not be a reality.

http://www.algore.com/

The website of Nobel Prize winner Al Gore, a leading figure in the fight against global warming. Here you have multiple resources to examine, from movies to books, to links to get your local congressman involved.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

A left wing blog which has posted on numerous occasions on climate change. Nothing too special about this site, just that its a liberal take on the subject.

http://www.conservativeblogtherapy.blogspot.com/

A conservative blog which provides good balance to the liberal huffington post.

The Times Survival Guide

As I was searching online I noticed the Times posted a lengthy 51 step survival guide to global warming. It's very comprehensive and it would take several paragraphs to go through all 51 however I will go through some too perhaps persuade some readers.

Food is a big key in the hunt for alternative energy. The Department of Energy has doubled its commitment to researching non petroleum based fuels and this includes looking into foods such as corn and soybean. The compact fluorescent lightbulb is a new and popular item. Using much less energy than a fluorescent light bulb and lasting years longer, not only is it better for the environment but its better for your pockets. Using a clothes line is a simple method and practical as well, using considerable less energy than a dryer. Paying bills online as well as not asking for a receipt when using an atm eliminates paper trail and produces less waste. Meat producing companies produce more emmissions than car companies so eating less burgers and steak as a whole could have an affect. Lastly since i'm guilty of this, shutting off your computer instead of letting the screensaver run.

These are simple steps that when combined can really go a long way in a problem that won't be gotten rid of anytime soon.

Reflection

Since I have started this blog many things have changed. Not necessarily towards bettering the climate, but the way i analyze the situation. I originally saw this as a clear one sided argument and therefore i found it difficult to be unbiased. However after researching through several sites, and from countless comments i have received my viewpoints have drastically changed.

I'm very fortunate to be in the midst of a presidential election. It's allowed for me to get a great deal of info conserving the environment not only from both political parties but from right and left wing blogs as well. I knew nothing of Obama nor McCains energy plan. However how many people in America can trully say they did considering the dismal attention the topic gets. I am much more informed and considering our economic situation I can make a much more informed decision as to what would be best for our us to do in order to help the environment. I felt that through the use of cleaner cars and a reduction in the use of fossil fuels we could simply solve the problem. However it's not something thats plausible considering our situation and cleaner cars only put a small dent in fixing the situation.

What's also interesting about this blog is the freedoms as well as limitations which i must adhere by. My personal blog allowed me to publish whatever i chose to publish. However as a respectful and concerned citizens i was limited to only posting the facts. On a bigger scale my limitations came from proposed plans for the environment by the candidates. Both candidates have plans with results coming in around 2050, so no time soon would i be able to witness the results. Even with this constraint, more constraint comes from the fact that climate change is not a prime issue.

Initially i was in a large state of confusion over what direction to take this blog. However the state of the nation and a large dependence on fossil fuels has led me to believe we need to take a less drastic approach. We need to take what we can and be happy if we're not at the short end of the stick.

Star Power

As I have mentioned before, one plausible way to help make climate warming a more prime issue is to use celebrity power to push it through. One major celebrity, and arguably the greatest actor of our generation, Leonardo Dicaprio, has followed in the footsteps of Al Gore and filmed documentaries as well as set up a website to help the cause.

The website itself offers interesting facts, one is that junk mail is actually contributing to the problem of climate change. On the website a link is offered to help get a bill passed in opposition of junkmail. He also points out some more obvious factors such as the 1 trillion plastic bags produced each year which can take nearly 1000 years to decompose.

The movie is insightful as well, including input from several scientists such as Stephen Hawking and even Soviet leader Gorbechav. The movie is pretty straightforward, everyone interviewed believes global warming is problem which needs immediate tending too. Overall it's these small steps that can really bring climate change into the spotlight which it deserves.