my Thinking spot: 8 year-old takes on o'reilly

17 November 2006

8 year-old takes on o'reilly

h/t to chuck for this vid. i go back and forth on the question of whether or not violent video games spur violent acts in those that play them. and violence in music. i always think of chris rock asking what was in hitler's cd case. i do think that both of these things play a role in desensitizing kiddos. even adults.

the world is a violent place and our children are sadly taught not to hit while their countries are actively bombing the crap out of other countries, or witnessing the slaughtering of others. it confuses me - i can't imagine how confusing this "do as i say not as i do" mentality is to a child.

all in all, i imagine that it's a whole slew of factors. even the anti-depresssants given to children these days carry a warning that they may actually cause violent outbursts in those under the age of 18. i think of columbine and eric harris who was taking luvox at the time of his attack. and he isn't the only one. but we don't like to talk about that...

Labels: o'reilly, ssri drugs, violence

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Q: What causes global warming?

A: Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution -- they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually.

Q: Is the earth really getting hotter?

A: Yes. Although local temperatures fluctuate naturally, over the past 50 years the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts think the trend is accelerating: the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Scientists say that unless we curb global warming emissions, average U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the century.

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A: Global warming is already causing damage in many parts of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon endured their worst wildfire seasons ever. The same year, drought created severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early 1950s, snow accumulation has declined 60 percent and winter seasons have shortened in some areas of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. Of course, the impacts of global warming are not limited to the United States. In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India. And in what scientists regard as an alarming sign of events to come, the area of the Arctic's perennial polar ice cap is declining at the rate of 9 percent per decade.

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Q: What country is the largest source of global warming pollution?

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my Thinking spot

17 November 2006

8 year-old takes on o'reilly

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