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"Weekly Address: Tragedy at Fort Hood" will be discussed today in class. It's a message President Obama delivered Saturday about shootings in Texas last week that killed 12 soldiers and one civilian employee.

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"Heat," a 2008 program produced by Frontline, an investigative unit of PBS, can be viewed online.  We'll be watching and discussing excerpts in light of the Academic Argument.  Frontline describes the program this way:

Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, fires, floods and droughts. On the eve of a historic election, award-winning producer and correspondent Martin Smith investigates how the world's largest corporations and governments are responding to Earth's looming environmental disaster.

"I have reported on the Cold War, the breakup of the Soviet Union, the rise of Al Qaeda, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," says Smith. "But nothing matches climate change in scope and severity."

Forum: The 11th Hour

"The 11th Hour," which is currently available via Google Video, is being screened today on campus by the English Department as part of the composition program's curriculum. Vanity Fair published excerpts from the 2007 film shortly before its release by Warner Independent Pictures. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) also lists commentators featured, including David Suzuki (pictured above). With their help, a civic action website related to the documentary produced a time capsule for viewers to watch in 2100. You can view their messages here ahead of schedule, courtesy of YouTube:



Below this post, please leave a public comment of at least 100 words that directly quotes and paraphrases the remarks of two people featured in the film whom you find compelling. (Some of the remarks you quote should fall outside of the Vanity Fair excerpts.) As with our previous forums, you can question, analyze, interpret, respond, compare, contrast, or elaborate, but try not to engage in outright argument. In constructing your comment, pay particular attention to the rhetorical situation: has the source text already been introduced? What kind of author tag seems most appropriate? Has another comment already addressed the substance of your comment? How might you respond to that previous comment?

How to comment: Click on this post's "comments," then compose your comment in the box provided, select "Name/URL" under "Comment as," click "Preview" to proofread your draft, and finally click "Post Comment." Since we're practicing commenting on a public forum, rather than selecting a username from an account (such as Google) that might not reflect your real name, please provide at least your first initial and last name under "Name/URL."

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Below you can view a video discussed in class this week: the introduction to President Jimmy Carter's February 2, 1977 "talk" with the nation about energy policy. The Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia also offers a transcript.

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Below you can view a video discussed in class this week: New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman's September 2008 appearance on NBC's Meet the Press.

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