Ladies and Gentlemen, your former Golden Gopher Joel Przybilla...

The final buzzer sounds and the Portland Trailblazers head off the court after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 107 to 84.

Some Timberwolves fans, having been bored by the game and disappointed with the start of the season, decided that they weren’t going to go home without a story to tell. They got one.

After making their way down near the Trailblazers tunnel, they began poking fun at the passing players. First they targeted LaMarcus Aldridge, saying that “Texas sucks!” and getting a reply of “Championship game, fellas” alluding to the Longhorns’ football success.

Next on their list was Greg Oden as they taunted him by saying “they should have drafted Durant!” with little to no acknowledgement by Oden towards the fans remarks. These few fans continued to hassle the Trailblazers as they headed down the tunnel exit.

Joel Przybilla however, apparently doesn’t take too kindly to hassling from opposing teams’ fans. As you may know, Przybilla was born in Monticello, Minnesota and was the star center on the University of Minnesota basketball team for two seasons in 1998 to 2000. Przybilla left Minnesota after being suspended for "lack of academic commitment”. This coming on the heels of reports of massive academic fraud in the Gophers basketball program and admissions by team tutors who acknowledged doing schoolwork for players. This is where the Timberwolves’ fans hit a nerve.

As the 7-foot Przybilla strolled into the tunnel heading toward the locker room, the fans dropped a bombshell and he definitely returned one. All that was said was “Joel, do your own homework!” At this point, Przybilla was already under the overhang and out of sight from most fans. Upon hearing this remark, Przybilla stopped dead in his tracks. He then turned around and came back out from under the overhang and yells to the fans, “Suck my d*ck, mother f*ckers!” Wow. Przybilla is just another example of the University of Minnesota’s finest and always pleasant men, those Gophers. Apparently, not so golden after all.

Global Warming: A Convenient Lie

Introduction
In the coming months and years, mankind will face forces that will threaten Earth’s very existence. The sea level will rise to great heights, causing massive flooding resulting in complete destruction. The food chain will go into complete disarray causing humans and animals to starve to death. Environments will be irreparably changed forever. Wars among tribes and nations will ensue. There will be utter confusion and panic. This is an urgent and eminent threat. This is the defining issue of our time. Unfortunately this is not a blockbuster drama film, but this is actually what is being said about global warming and its potential effects.

Narration
The global warming debate is nothing new. In fact, the issue has been debated since the 1980s with no true consensus still to this day. Only recently has it become such a hot topic due to the increased media exposure. Currently, the issue of global warming has transformed into more than just the increased temperature of the Earth. The term climate change is now a more widely used term often substituted for the term global warming and focuses on anything in an environment that is different from years past. Global warming or climate change is also pointed towards for being the root cause of many natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. Proponents say the biggest cause of global warming is humans and their increased production of greenhouse gases due to a “ridiculous over-dependence on carbon-based fuels” according to Al Gore. These gases are those in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone that absorb and emit radiation while preventing heat from escaping. The projections of future climate change over the next century and beyond are “based on insufficiently verified climate models and are therefore not considered reliable at this point in time” (Khandekar, Murty, & Chittibabu 1557). Therefore, although there appears to be a rising global temperature at the moment, there is no evidence to link this to the harsh consequences said to be caused by human activity which is the proposed theory that is laid out by proponents of global warming.

Proposition
The human-caused climate change issue is greatly exaggerated and merely used for the gain of money, power, and control. (Value)

Forecast
Starting in the 1980s, the idea of global warming has since turned into an economic, social, and political issue. The media has taken advantage of the global warming hysteria and run with it. Those such as Al Gore have taken the idea and used it to promote their own ideology while bringing in revenue from films and books by exploiting the controversy. Countries and organizations have used global warming to gain funds as well as power and influence. All of these examples tend to exaggerate and skew the issue in order to frame it in their own context for their own personal gain.

Presentation
The main groups associated with the global warming frenzy include the United Nations, many governments, the media, many large corporations, scientific organizations, and a large portion of the general public (Carter 61). Even though there is “no scientific consensus as to the danger of human-induced climate change,” there is still great alarm within all of these groups (Carter 61). This alarm is greatly attributable to the media and its exaggerated and often misleading coverage of the climate change issue. In pursuit of circulation needs and high ratings in order to increase their revenues, the media is “full of doom and gloom” about human-caused global warming (Carter 61). Al Gore makes millions of dollars by making films and giving speeches on this topic even though he is not an expert on the subject and has been proven wrong on numerous occasions. However, the general public is drawn to these two sources of information because of their exaggerated claims and begins to accept these claims as true without regard to any factual support or lack thereof.

The underlying concern for all of these groups is that human activity and the increased production of greenhouse gases is causing destructive changes in the environment. This hypothesis has failed multiple tests thus far. There has been shown to be no close relationship existing between the 20th century patterns of increasing carbon dioxide and changing temperature which then translates to present day (Carter 62). The rates and magnitude of temperature change during this time fall well within previous natural limits of change. Lastly, the deterministic computer models that have been used have proved unable to predict the course of temperature change since 1990, so why would it now be reliable to predict temperature change up to the year 2100 (Carter 62)? Studies have also debunked the myth that increased carbon dioxide is a dangerous pollutant. Increased carbon dioxide has repeatedly been shown to be beneficial for plant growth and thus not a dangerous pollutant (Carter 62). Ignoring this, governments and organizations like the United Nations still want to have control over how much carbon dioxide humans produce in order to increase their power and influence over others. Therefore, since many of these groups’ claims have gone unproven, they must bend and shape the truth to their liking in order to benefit themselves.

Conclusion
Although there is much known about climate and weather, there is still much that is unknown. However, those who want to promote their own ideologies as absolute truth fail to recognize this fact. In reality, the climate change issue is significantly more complex than just an increase in the Earth’s temperature and thus far there has been no convincing scientific evidence for a measurable human effect on global climate (Khandekar, Murty, & Chittibabu 1557). In light of this, many people and organizations simply choose to ignore what does not fit within their constructed argument. This is easy to do because providing exaggerated and misleading concepts and ideas will help bring about their own personal desires. Whether it is money, power, or control, they are all pursing something and their means of getting it are all the same: deception through exaggeration.


References

Carter, R. M. (2007). The Myth of Dangerous Human-Caused Climate Change. The AusIMM
New Leaders’ Conference, (pp. 61-74). Brisbane.

Khandekar, M. L., T. S. Murty, and P. Chittibabu "The Global Warming Debate: A Review of
the State of Science." Pure & Applied Geophysics 162.8/9 (2005): 1557-1586. EBSCO MegaFILE. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2009.

HAIL TO THE VICTORS!

Toulmin Model: University of Michigan Football

Claim 1: The University of Michigan is the most successful football team in the Big Ten conference.

Ground 1/Claim 2: The University of Michigan is one of the most prestigious football programs in college football.

Warrant 1: Prestige is associated with high quality and success.

Ground 2: The University of Michigan has won more Big Ten championships than any other team.

Warrant 2: The number of Big Ten championships is a good measure of success.

Ground 3: The University of Michigan has won more National championships all-time than any other team in the Big Ten Conference.

Warrant 3: The number of National championships is a good measure of success.

Ground 4: Among Big Ten conference teams, the University of Michigan has the second most alumni currently playing in the NFL.

Warrant 4: Producing NFL players is associated with a successful college football program.

Ground 5: The University of Michigan averages the highest attendance in all of college football.

Warrant 5: Attendance numbers are directly related to the success of a sports program.

Claim 2: The University of Michigan is one of the most prestigious football programs in college football.

Ground 6: The University of Michigan has the most wins in college football history.

Warrant 6: The number of wins is directly correlated to prestige and success.

Ground 7: The University of Michigan has the highest all-time winning percentage in college football history.

Warrant 7: Winning percentage is directly correlated to prestige and success.

25 Things I Dislike About This Administration, Congress, And The Economic Stimulus Bill... (February 6, 2009)

25 Things I Dislike About This Administration, Congress, And The Economic Stimulus Bill... So Far...

Hope? There is none (1).
Change? Isn't always good (2).

President Obama (3), who preached hope and change throughout his campaign, appears to be creating hopelessness (4) in the hearts and minds of the American people, whom many may now wish they could change their November 4th vote.

As the euphoria of President Obama’s inauguration begins to wear, so too does his message (5). Although his first approval rating is near 62 percent, his early executive orders have drawn some sharp opposition. Americans have not approved of his first major decisions in office; to close the Guantanamo Bay prison (6) and to allow U.S. funding for overseas planning organizations that provide abortions (7). Now as the trillion dollar economic stimulus package (8) is being discussed and more information is being disseminated to the public, approval of the bill is falling fast as only 37 percent of Americans favor the legislation.

President Obama and the Democratically controlled Congress (9) are resorting to scare tactics (10) in an attempt to gain public favor of a bill that is filled with outrageous pork-barrel spending projects (11). Some of these projects that are supposed to stimulate the economy include $355 million for "STD Education" (12), $400 million for HIV and Chlamydia testing (13), $600 million for hybrid cars for government employees (14), $25 million for ATV trails (15), $7 billion for modernizing federal buildings and facilities (16) and the list goes on and on. Fortunately, $200 million to re-sod the National Mall was recently removed from the bill, but this is only one small step that needs to be taken to rid the economic stimulus bill of unnecessary spending.

President Obama and Congress claim this is the worst economic times in the United States since the Great Depression and that America has never seen anything like this. However, economic times were actually worse in 1982 than they are now. 27 years ago is far from the 75 years ago which was the Great Depression. But as we know, Democrats are bad with numbers; Obama thinks there are 57 states (17), Nancy Pelosi thinks 500 million Americans lose their job each month (18), and Obama’s nominees think they don’t have to pay their taxes (19). President Obama and Congress want Americans to believe we are headed for the Great Depression II in order to get their economic stimulus bill and selfish agendas passed with less opposition (20). In fact, the entire economy actually rose 1.3% for all of 2008. However, as we all know free-markets go through cycles, but eventually repair themselves when left alone or simply encouraged like with Reagan's economic recovery plan which showed that reducing excessive tax rates stimulates growth.

Where is our country’s leader in this time of need? Giving interviews and writing letters to newspapers, rather than addressing the complaints of lawmakers (21) that would help rid the bill of pork-barrel spending and help create bipartisanship. President Obama and Congress are merely increasing the national debt (but what's another trillion dollars right?) and most likely will not stimulate anything with this bill except for the nerves of the American people.

Let’s all hope that President Obama can turn this rough start around and better the United States of America for the good of the people. Thankfully, in God we trust. Not President Obama.


Vice President Joe Biden (22)
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (23)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (24)
First Lady, Michelle Obama (25)

“President Obama has more scandals here during his transition than most presidencies have in one term!”