The Internet is Awesome

Free speech is an amazing thing, is it not? In large sections of the world you can be fined or even go to jail if you say or write something that the government does not like. I'm not just talking Cuba or North Korea here, I'm also talking about Europe and even Canada. But I digress.

The Internet is a fantastic enabler of free speech. From Neal Boortz to Amy Goodman, and everywhere in between, Americans are free to express their opinions without fear of government reprisal. Social, community, employment, and spousal reprisal is a different story, but that's a topic for another blog.

The dark side of all this great free speech is that the hockey-helmet wearing, short-bus riding kids get to express their opinions also.

Take this special child here for example. I Stumbled upon this gem today, and the magnitude of the moronity is mind boggling. Let me point out some of the larger WTF statements made by our special friend Timmy here:

"Global Warming (ie, the Ozone Layer depleting)"
"That's because it's fucking cold in space."
"what's not up for debate is that the temperatures lowering is a result of the Ozone Layer going away"

There's some others, but I think you get my point. The problem with every one of these statements is that they are wrong.

Let me briefly address each one of these statements:

1) Global Warming is most commonly associated with rising CO2 levels, not ozone layer depletion.
2) Space is not cold. Space is a near perfect vacuum, and as such is an excellent insulator.
3) The recent temperature decrease was very likely caused by decreased solar activity, not ozone layer depletion.

The saddest part of this fellows diatribe is that he thinks he's pretty smart and anyone that disagrees with him is an idiot. Regardless, his post is an example of the level of discourse too prevalent on the Internet today.

Or maybe his post is meant to be sarcasm and I just don't realize it.