Works Cited
Biferno, Anya, et al. “Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, NASA, 27 Sept. 2023, climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.
Stabile, Angelica. “Physicist to Tucker Carlson: Climate Change Is ‘Fiction of the Media.’” Fox News, FOX News Network, 21 June 2021, www.foxnews.com/media/physicist-tells-tucker-carlson-climate-change-is-fiction-of-the-media.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)The Beautiful High Bridge Trail (travel experience)
When my roommate and I traveled the five miles down to High Bridge, the first thing we did was get a map from the bike shop. One of the guys who works there is from Virginia Beach just like me, so I like to say “hello” to him. After that, we were on our way.
Almost as soon as we were on the trail, we met a dog! He was still a puppy, so he jumped all over me and possibly damaged my water bottle holder, but that is okay because he was very sweet. About a minute after that, we reached a telephone tower that was covered with and surrounded by dozens of birds. We later figured out that they were black vultures, which are quite large and have unique white marks on their wings. We spent at least five minutes just watching them before we continued.
I then learned that squirrels are far more talkative creatures than I was aware of, which was both an interesting discovery and a relieving one because it made me realize that all of the creepy bush-rustling sounds were just these silly little rodents. After this, we discovered a snake’s skin, but we did not, unfortunately, see any whole snakes.
We eventually stopped for a snack break during which we saw several daddy long-legs on a poll. We saw far more long-legs at the restroom later on, along with dozens of ladybugs just on the ceiling of one of them, but this is unfortunately the only picture of either of these insects that I took. No ladybugs this time 🙁
We passed by many people’s properties along the way, including one that had an old, broken down bus on it. My two favorites, however, were the house with the dog that said “hello” to us and the pasture with two horses. They were right next to a huge field with what appeared to be a track for horses to practice jumping hurdles on, so hopefully I will one day pass by while they are training.
After many interesting animals, leaves, and games or twenty questions, my roommate and I finally arrived at High Bridge. We had a snack there and my roommate dropped several chips through the cracks into the void, and we met some very nice dogs, too. The view was nice, but we were too tired and hot to stay for long.
When we finally began to walk another five miles back, we saw this beautiful caterpillar that I believe should be the last thing I show you on this essay because we were too tired to appreciate much of the walk back, and he is a very pretty caterpillar.
Tucker Carlson Doesn’t Want You to Believe in Climate Change (review)
This Fox News article from back when Tucker Carlson was their poster child is all about how climate change isn’t real. Carlson and his interviewee claim that every aspect of climate change, such as an increasing amount of hurricanes and heat waves, is fabricated by liberal politicians, which is false. Climate change is real, and it hurts people, plants, and animals. Let’s take a deep dive into the misinformation this article spreads.
The article begins with an appeal to ethos in the title, “Physicist to Tucker Carlson: Climate change is ‘fiction of the media’”. The title of “physicist” certainly sounds smart, but this job has nothing to do with the weather. The physicist, Steven Koonin, goes on to claim “that government officials like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are unqualified to raise the issue to such an extreme” as to call it an “existential threat” (Koonin). Not only is Koonin no more qualified to speak about climate change than a politician because his job also has nothing to do with studying the climate, but it is strange and likely homophobic to specifically bring up Pete Buttigieg in reference to climate change; there are many politicians who are part of the battle against climate change, and some of them are even more hated by Carlson’s audience than Buttigieg, but Koonin begins his denouncement of liberal politicians by mentioning Buttigieg nonetheless. If he had begun by mentioning someone that Fox News viewers hated more, like Bernie Sanders, who he does mention later on, he would have captured the attention of the viewers even more. However, he chooses an option that may not necessarily be less strategic, but, if it is as strategic, it is only because of homophobia that this is so.
Koonin goes on to encourage “the scientific community” to speak out against the politicians who fight against climate change. This is another vague appeal to ethos that is not actually related to the climate, and it serves as the article’s call to action. Seeing as this call to action only applies to scientists, which is not Tucker Carlson’s core demographic, it is not actually intended to bring about change, but rather to increase feelings of anger and resentment in those who do not believe in climate change. In doing this, Fox News gets to keep its core audience angry without actually doing anything, which is the main goal of this article. Unfortunately, the article spreads misinformation in the process that prevents people from changing the world to a better place.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Pokémon Black and White on the Relationship Between Humans and Animals (video game argument)
Many people love the Pokémon franchise, but most do not consider the lessons taught in the Pokémon games. However, many such games, particularly those of the series’ fifth generation, teach a variety of valuable lessons. PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond, for example, teaches about the powers of friendship, and the primary lessons in Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version are about the importance of both truth and ideals. In this essay, I will focus on a less explored lesson that these two Pokémon games, colloquially referred to as “Pokémon BW”, teach: the lesson that people can be friends with Pokémon and, by extent, pets.
The primary conflict in Pokémon BW occurs against an organization that works to separate Pokémon from their trainers due to their belief that keeping Pokémon as partners hurts them. The king of this team, N, uses Pokémon to battle as a means of separating other Pokémon from their trainers, but he releases his Pokémon after each battle so that they can continue to be free. Eventually, however, the player character and their Pokémon partners show N through their friendships that Pokémon and humans can get along and that Pokémon do not have to be removed from their trainers to be happy.
This lesson extends beyond the world of Pokémon into the real world when seen through the lens of pets. However, one must ask this question: if we apply what Pokémon BW says about Pokémon to real pets, is it still accurate? That is to say, do pets and their owners need each other just as much as Pokémon and their trainers do? I believe that the answer is “yes”, but only on the condition that the pets are domesticated and that we consider only pet ownership and not breeding. Pokémon breeding is merely a side feature that a player can choose to use if they wish, and it is never mentioned in Pokémon BW in terms of its morality. This is most likely because there is no way to depict animal breeding as moral, certainly not in a game for children. As for whether or not Pokémon BW sufficiently explores the difference between human relationships with wild animals and those with domesticated animals is up for debate. The difference between these two types of animals is never mentioned, which may lead people to believe that Pokémon BW encourages the ownership of wild animals. However, Pokémon are implied to be inherantly domesticated, which makes the message about the relationship between Pokémon and humans more applicable to that between pets and humans. It would be preferable for that particular message to be a bit clearer, but, regardless, I believe that Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version depict the relationship between pets and humans in a positive, realistic, and beneficial way.
(This is my dog, Gracie. She is a westie. Feel free to leave lots of nice comments about her!)
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Meet the Duck Pond ducks (and meet my ePortfolio, too!)
Welcome to Longwood’s best blog by and for animal lovers! Birds, bunnies, and butterflies will all be shown off here, and we will also discuss their representation in media.
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