Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham (blog #2)

This past week, Bill Nye the Science Guy "traded barbs" with Creation Museum founder Ken Ham at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky in a debate of science versus faith. For over two hours Nye and Ham discussed topics falling under the long-debated subject of "creation vs. evolution". The topics under discussion ranged from the age of the Earth and the formation of the Grand Canyon, to Noah's ark, the Bible, human consciousness, and fish sex. Nye, obviously arguing in favor of evolution, uses scientific evidence (like the fossil record and tree rings) to support his belief that the concept of creationism is simply "not viable", while Ham cited the Bible as evidence on a number of occasions. 

The fact that this topic is so controversial brings to mind the concept of truth. Socrates' belief that truth is subjective ("truth with a lowercase 't'") is certainly the case here: Nye and Ham's beliefs are on polar opposites of the spectrum, and both of them are, for different reasons, absolutely steadfast in such beliefs. To Nye, the Big Bang is not just a theory, but the actual way that the universe came into being; to Ham, God created the universe and everything in it for a specific purpose. These men have, then, very different  truths. The videos were edited quite a bit so I did not see whether there was any mudslinging or ill-will going on between the two of them, but the ways that their words were presented seemed to portray somewhat of a clean fight. This goes along with the feminists' style of Invitational rhetoric - each men expressed his beliefs, but neither tried to change the mind of his opponent (which would likely be impossible anyway).

Could our troops REALLY be going home?

According to a CBS report, a group of senators is pushing for President Obama to get approval from Congress if he should remove soldiers from Afghanistan after this year. The senators, a tea party member, democrat, and libertarian are saying that their trying to seek the American people's best interest. There are many proposals, one that would lead the removal of the troops entirely by 2016. The mission for pushing President Obama to accept this notion is "meant to give Americans a voice in the costly process of sending American soldiers to war" (Pg. 1) The group of senators is criticizing the president for costing the country a lot of money to fuel an on-going war. The focus is to make sure the president "should not have unilateral, unchecked power to deploy troops" (Pg.1).

This report was on the blurred lines of invitational rhetoric. Feminist scholar Sonja Foss introduced this concept and said that invitational rhetoric must encompass equality, immanent value, and self determination. I found that the senators were sort of taking that needed to step to discover these things. In regards to equality, the senators were attempting to level the playing field by proposing this resolution to the president and asking him to be more inclusive in regards to decisions in the military arena. These decisions that previously disregarded immanent value of the soldiers and their families and therefore forced a military and political agenda to take flight instead.This proposal will allow some essence of self-determination in the American people because they can take ownership on who they elect in congress to represent their voice as fully as possible. I stated prior that this proposal is on the blurred lines, and does encompass some traditional aspects of rhetoric. Does congress really represent the American people as trustworthy as it can? By past record, I argue not, and can certainly see in the future, this proposal facing many hurdles as it makes its way to Congress.  However, we as an audience will be somewhat invited into the world of the rhetoricians to hear their stance on military action overseas, and just maybe we can share our stance too.

Mellennials Taking Over

After 22 years on air, Jay Leno said his final goodbye last week.  The 63 year old late-night talk show host will be replaced by 39 year old Jimmy Fallon.  According to cbsnews.com, “Late-night hosts like Fallon and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel have turned to avenues such as social media in keeping up with the times, whereas Leno hasn't had the same online resonance that some of his younger contemporaries have had.”

This article relates to Joel Stein and Josh Sanburn’s reading on “The New Greatest Generation”.  In this reading, they speak about the new millennials and their addiction to technology.  They state, “Millennials are interacting all day but almost entirely through a screen”.  Although Jimmy Fallon’s age falls about 10 years ahead of this group of millennials, the cbsnews.com article points out that his use of social media is being used to attract crowds that Jay Leno otherwise would not have been able to get the attention of.  Leno being replaced with his successor Fallon is in some ways symbolic of the way in which the millenials will slowly begin to replace the generation ahead of them.   

Ring-Around the CBO Report

The Congressional Budget Office released their bi-annual non-partisan financial report this week that covered many, many aspects of the national budget. Republican sources immediately pounced on the part of the report that suggested that due to the change in health care/insurance brought on by The Affordable Health Care Act, a.k.a. ObamaCare, that a portion of the work force may opt to work less. The report did not say that jobs would be lost. It did not say that unemployment would rise or that benefits would be required for those that made this change. It simply implied that workers had a choice they did not have before.
I don't even think most Republicans believe this is a negative prediction but zero sum politics demands that any information be cast as a negative outcome brought on by the opposing side. Anyone that read beyond the sensationalist headlines could easily see this as "grasping at straws". Jon Stewart, with his wit and resources, juxtaposed clips of Republican speakers previously railing about family values and then recently decrying this report that suggests workers could choose to spend more time with their families, or other non-work activities. Again, there is no mention in the report of jobs lost. In fact, it could be surmised that if full time workers opted for part time work that would create jobs, albeit part-time jobs. I wonder if some unemployed persons might like to have a part-time job with affordable health care?

Blog Post 2: Netanyahu and Kerry Peace Talks

Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Secretary of State John Kerry's warning of a growing boycott in Israel.  Israel and Palestine are negotiating over captured land territory in the West Bank from the 1967 Middle East War and Secretary of State John Kerry is conducting peace talks and negotiations between the two nations.  Kerry pointed out to Netanyahu that a growing number of European businesses are withdrawing their investments from Israel as a result of Israel continuing to build settlements in the West Bank.  An example would be Denmark's largest bank, Danske Bank blacklisted Israel's Bank Hapoalim due to its links to settlement construction.  Israel's representatives viewed Kerry's warning as an insult because it looks as if he's not competent with Israel's legitimacy, even though Kerry said he made his claim because he's concerned for Israel's security. 

Secretary of State John Kerry is the rhetor in this case, and it is clear that invitational rhetoric was not used to its full potential because according to "Beyond Persuasion: A Proposal For an Invitational Rhetoric" by Sonja K. Foss and Cindy L. Griffin "In presenting a particular perspective, the invitational rhetor does not judge or denigrate others' perspectives but is open to and tries to appreciate and validate those perspectives, even if they differ dramatically from the rhetor's own" (Pg 5).  Kerry presented his perspective of Israel's economic position and from what he saw happen in the past and in the present he is using that knowledge to advise Israel on what they should do so that the trend would change.  It's hard for Kerry to not sound judgmental about Israel's actions especially since all the evidence validates his claim, like with Denmark's bank and the fact that several businesses are pausing their business relations with Israel.   

I find that this article is also related to Kenneth Burke's "Dramatism," because Burke talks about scapegoats to relive guilt and he mentions that "If order, then guilt; if guilt, then need for redemption; but any such "payment" is victimage" (Burke 168).  So for this article Secretary of State John Kerry is the scapegoat to relive Israel's guilt of establishing settlements in the West Bank, where Israel and Palestine are still negotiating who owns which parts.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blaming Secretary of State John Kerry for making Israel look bad to the world and for economic reasons, but Kerry was just pointing out the evidence as they are.  So Netanyahu has guilt leading to his need for redemption by victimage, who is Kerry. 

 

Political Parties Use Misleading Websites To Get Money

In the Forbes article "Republican Using a Fake Websites To Trick Donors Is Just The Start," both political parties are called out for using misleading websites in order to get donations from supporters of the opposite party. Although the Republican Party is mainly focused on in this article, they also recognize that Democrats use similar tactics. The main tactic that this article brings light to is the Republican party purchasing and setting up websites that look like it is a site of their opponents to lure supporters who want to donate. There are many other tactics talked about in this article, but they all come down to one idea. Both parties use social media and the internet for immoral and sleazy tactics.

My first impression after reading this is that I am very surprised that this is legal. Secondly, this article reminded me of the reading "Its Complicated." Although the consensus of the study was that social media having political aspects did not make the younger generation more prone to be involved in outside politics, I believe that internet tactics like the ones mentioned in the Forbes article will have very negative affects on future voters. Websites and pages that have faulty and misleading content have the potential to deter the younger internet generation. Instead of supporting the fact that some are using social media to share politics, they are trashing the great potential internet politics could possibly hold. I know I personally would not trust giving any of my money to a cause such as this, for fear of being tricked, and I believe other Americans could possibly start to feel the same.
Original Article

The Truth About Conviction (Blog #2)

In a CNN article titled, " 21 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit", tells the story of a man named Deon Patrick who spent 21 years in jail for a murder he was falsely accused of.  Deon Patrick was one of eight to be arrested for the murder of a drug dealer and a prostitute. Deon Patrick immediately said he was innocent and there were no links or evidence to Deon for the murder. Hours of interrogations and horrible conditions for Deon, he finally confessed in hopes to end the case. This did not go so well because although he did not commit the murder, he was still sent to jail for life. Deon Patrick wanted to spread the word and his story of being falsely accused to those who are spending their time in jail for being innocent. He thanked the Center of Wrongful Convictions and the media for being able to get his story heard and be free from jail. Instead of Deon spending the rest of his life in jail, he was free after 21 years and is now able to see his two kids and grandkids. He hopes to continue school and get a job. Deon Patrick's story was very inspirational to those who are suffering from being falsely accused.
This article reminded me of our readings about negative face. Negative face is the act of parties not sharing the opposing side therefore being biased towards their opinions. I believe the article relates to negative face because the law, prison, judges, and lawyers do not want others to see what happens to those who are falsely accused. Deon Patrick knew he was innocent, but because of the never ending interrogations and horrible eating, bathroom, and pressure, he broke and confessed. If it were not for people like Deon, there will be many others who face the struggles of being falsely accused and thrown into jail. They will no longer be able to their families, friends, and continue their life because jail has taken that away from them. It is important for people to know and be aware of what is happening within the court rooms.