The Blurb

Paying for Playgrounds?

In London, England, the government has issued an idea that would cost millions of Euros.  The government wants to build more playgrounds.  They are building these playgrounds to entertain children from ages 8-13. 

So our question is do you think it is a good idea to spend millions of Euros on building new playgrounds?

Here's what we think:

Download blurbcast_21_paying_for_playgrounds.mp3

So what do you think?  Are playgrounds a worthwile investment or a gigantic waste of money?

Leave us a comment to share your thinking and join us again soon on The Blurb!

Signed,

Lu Lu Louie, The Pencil Thief and the Chicken Chaser

Image retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7130000/newsid_7137800/7137844.stm on January 10, 2008.

Weather in Our Wonderful World

I was reading a very interesting article today on Wonderfulworld. It was talking about how weather could change history. I ended up clicking on a link named extreme weather events of all kinds are likely to increase as a result of climate change.

I wonder if we could give up gas or oil to make global warming decrease. I think if we gave up gas and oil we could save more money because we normally buy gas and oil from other countries so then wouldn’t we have a better economy.

Giving up gas and oil would be tough though because my mom drives a SUV and I know so many cars that use gas and not other fuels like corn starch and fry grease (etc). So I was thinking it would be a lot of work to convince everyone to not use gas.

I was wondering if we could still use some gas and use wind farms for energy instead of oil. Then we could bring down some of the pollution.

Here’s and interesting question how could kids help stop pollution? After all doesn’t this seem like an adult problem? Comment back with some ideas you might have!

Signed,

Chuck Norris

Image retrieved from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Circle-question.svg/600px-Circle-question.svg.png on January 28, 2008.

An Open Letter to President Putin. . .

Dear Mr. Putin,

We have some complaints about your recent activities.  We think that what you are doing to try to have Medvedev win your upcoming election is unfair----and for lack of a better word, pointless.

Honestly, accusing a candidate of forging 62,000 signatures isn't too smart and very childish.  How could a person even have the time to think of 62,000 names, and sign each one differently?!

And banning Kasparov from using the public meeting places?  Please!

Doing all of this just shows that your favored candidate is weak.  It also shows you that you have brainwashed him just like all of your followers.

Mr. Vladimir Putin, your actions scream that you are a dictator, and nothing more. 

Signed,

Flying Onion Boy

Image retrieved from http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2001/07/20/putin.GIF on January 25, 2007.

Help! I'm Mathematically Challenged....

Alright, I've got a confession to make.  I'm probably the single worst mathematician on this planet.  I can't remember much of anything from my math classes----not because my teachers were crummy, but because it was a subject that never quite clicked in my brain. 

That's why I was at once excited and afraid of a Voicethread that I found today.  It's being created by a group of middle school math students to sort and classify triangles.  I left a few comments, but I'm not sure if what I shared was right or not! 

It's all obtuse to me.

Why don't you check it out and see if you can leave a more productive or accurate comment than mine---and if I made a mistake, correct me.  Here it is:

You can also visit this Voicethread directly by going to: http://voicethread.com/share/44033/

Signed,

Bam Bam Bigelow

Image retrieved from http://nocturnalremission.com/img/confused.jpg on January 18, 2008.

Skip and the Troublesome Teddy...

One of our favorite readers---Skip Rope---said something very interesting on our post about the Troublesome Teddy.  He said:

"In researching Muhammad, he tells his followers to be forgiving.  It was an oversight by the teacher that did not hurt anyone.  I imagine the teacher will be a bit more sensitive and aware of the customs in her new hometown."

We agree with Skip on this one.  We believe that this was an innocent teacher, and didn't deserve to be sent out of the country for such a small thing as naming a teddy bear Mohammad.  She was simply stating to her students that she would let them name the teddy bear whatever they wanted.  The students were the ones who truly chose the name---and they should have known better considering they were probably born and raised in Sudan.  Their parents should have taught them better. 

But there is another side to the story. 

The teacher should have known better about the criticisms towards the sacred customs of the people of the Sudan.  Before making her decisions, she should have realized---or researched---if this was really appropriate.  Being a teacher, she should have learned about the laws against criticizing Mohammad. 

Do you think that teachers have a higher responsibility for knowing the culture of the country that they teach in than an ordinary tourist or visitor?  Is it shocking that a teacher made this "innocent mistake?"

Leave us a comment to share your thinking and join us again on the Blurb.

Signed,

Drama Queen and Dance Star #1

Image retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/photoessay_2813_images/1204070750_M_teacher6.jpg on December 14, 2007.

The Destruction of the Gun?

In this current event, the EU is trying to ban guns, mostly because of a recent gun shooting in Finland. Finland has one of the highest amounts of guns per capita in the world. The EU parliament is trying to change the age to be in possession of a gun to eighteen----although at the shooting at the school in Finland, the shooter had already turned eighteen a month earlier.

If the vote comes out in the government’s favor, the law will be applied in 2010.  Most of the guns that have been confiscated in EU countries have been converted handguns, which are sold legally in stores.

So our critical question is: Should the government control what people can and cannot own?

Here's what we think:

Download blurbcast_20_gun_destruction.mp3

What do you think?  Should gun control be left to the government?  Would that keep paper safer?

Signed,

Spider Pig and Flying Onion Boy. 

Answering Gordon...

One of our commenters, Gordon Blurb, left us an interesting question on our post about the Iberian Lynx.  His question was:

What price will we pay when they're gone forever?

We think that if this animal becomes extinct, then the environment that we live in would undergo a serious change.  The earth would lose one more species of animal.  That means the food chain would change.  The foxes---which are the predators of the Lynx---would lose a food source unless they found another one.  The rabbit---which is the Lynx's main prey---will go up in population by a large number. 

Eventually, the rabbits' food source will start to die out as well.  Sooner or later, the rabbits will go extinct and that will be two species of animal lost forever. 

We think that this is an enormous price to pay because it would disrupt everything.  It would be a terrible loss in the ecosystem.  We think that we should save the Iberian Lynx so we wouldn't have to disrupt the environment again. 

Signed,

Drama Queen, Psycho Squirrell and Skipping Sally. 

A Troublesome Teddy...

In Khartoum, Sudan, Ms. Gillian Gibbons was recently arrested for the horrid crime of naming her class teddy bear Mohammad.  She is a teacher of 6 and 7 year olds, and for a class project, each student was to take home the teddy bear for a day and record what they did together in a diary that Ms. Gibbons had created. 

On the front cover of the diary was a picture of the teddy bear.  Underneath the bear, Ms. Gibbons wrote, "My name is Mohammad."  This is why she was arrested.  In Sudan, it is strictly against the law to make an image and label it Mohammad because Mohammad is the prophet in the religion of Islam.  The problem was, Ms.Gibbions did not know of this law beacause she was from the United Kingdom.

So our critical question is was it fair to arrest Ms. Gibbons for something that she was unaware that she was doing? 

Here's what we think:

Download blurbcast_18_the_troublesome_teddy.mp3

So what do you think?  Should Ms. Gibbons have been arrested for her crime, or is being from another country her built in excuse in this situation?

Leave us a comment to share your thinking and join us again soon on The Blurb.

Signed,

Cybergirl and Chicken Chaser

Image retrieved from http://www.shinyshiny.tv/teddy%20bear%201.jpg on December 7, 2007.

Spanish Cat Fight...

This current event takes place in Spain's countryside, also known as Andalucia. The Donana National Park has 20 endangered Iberian Lynxs in their breeding program which is on the edge of the park, and an estimated 150 in the wild. This cat is one of the rarest big cats. This cat look likes a domestic cat and a tiger.

This endangered animal can't come near humans because it risks of getting a disease from people. The EU (European Union) are putting a lot of money in to trying to save this endangered animal. Environmentalist say the threat is a road built by the regional government of Andalucia in the middle of the forest. At first it was a forest track but now it has been upgraded with tarmac.

Now the endangered animal in the wild is at risk of being injured or being run over by city cars. Now the Regional government of Andalucia is being threatened by the European Commission to go to the court of justice. Locals are upset that the road could be torn up to preserve the Lynxs natural habitat.

So our critical question is: Is it worth putting in money to save a species?

Here's what we think:

Download blurbcast_17_the_spanish_cat_fight.mp3

What do you think?  Leave us a comment to share your thinking and join us again soon on The Blurb!

Signed,

Flying Onion Boy, Psycho Squirrel, and Spider Pig

Image retrieved from http://www.eaza.net/magazine/photos/ElAcebuche_ILcub3.jpg on December 8, 2007. 

The Parisian Hassle...

Today's current event goes back two years from now. It all started from the police chasing two teenagers in the subway, where the teenagers got electrocuted and died. Now, it appears deja vu is occuring. Just a few days ago, two teenagers stole a motorbike and were being chased by the police.

The squad car hit the motorbike, and dragged the motorbike twenty meters. Both of the teenagers were killed. That was the cause of some pretty incredible riots breaking out. So far, over twenty-one police were injured in the riots that occurred northern suburbs of Villiers-le-Bel and Arnouville. The brother of one of the teenagers said, "the riots are not an act of violence but an expression of rage."

In this current event, there are two sides. One of the sides is represented by the police, who don't think that they are targeting immigrants for committing crimes, but simply that the immigrants or poorer people, or "riff-raff" according to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, commit more and worse crimes. The other side, the immigrants and poorer people think that they are being treated unfairly by the police.

Here's what we think:

Download blurbcast_16_the_parisian_hassles.mp3

So what do you think?  Are the immigrants in Paris being treated unfairly, or were the police just doing their job when a terrible accident happened?

Leave us a comment to share your thinking and join us again soon on The Blurb.

Signed,

Flying Onion Boy and Spider Pig

Image retrieved from http://images.washtimes.com/photos/full/20051104-102651-9561.jpg on November 29, 2007.