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Different Point of View

The Overlapping in this photo looked really cool

The way the camera focuses on the one cherry makes the photo stand out

This represents the rule of thirds and an adorable little bug

This image represents the geometric shapes through the raindrops on the plant

5 best photos of 9-8-08

Would you read Star Magazine?

I was recently looking at a Star magazine. One thing that I discovered is that the writers who create that magazine uses the perfect rhetoric to grab people's attention. Yes, its true that most of the stuff in the magazine is false and not true, but the magazine can still draw you in. One thing that Magazines like Star ad Enquirer are good at is taking pictures and making up a story to go along with that picture. If they take a picture of Britney Spears crying, they can make anything up from she got in a fight with her mom to she almost died in a car crash. One reason why we are so drawn into the magazine sometimes is because they use pictures. You can never be too sure of what people say these days, but one thing that is hard to argue is a physical image of what happened. I believe that sight is one of the most powerful things that are the hardest to argue because it has a lot of logic behind it. They use that to their advantage. The only problem is, is that they back the pictures up with false facts. You are soon aware of this when you begin reading all the other magazines with similar stories to each other.

Speedos illegal?

I was just reading in the news today about how a guy got a ticket for wearing a speedo. Down on a beach in Florida, this guy was laying out when a deputy came up to him and told him that he had indecent exposure. The deputy continued by kicking him off the beach and giving him a ticket. For a speedo....

So who gets the say on what kind of outfits are too risky to wear in public? After reading this story, i found another one in which a girl was arrested from her senior prom for wearing too skimpy of a prom dress. I would have a agree that it was a little to risky since it practically looked like a 2 piece swim suit. But who gets to draw the line as to what is too much indecent exposure and what isn't?

After the guy with the speedo brought the situation to the court house, they immediately dismissed it, but the guy is suing for what happened.... he should!

No one has really talked much about how church has persuaded us... Have you ever stopped and looked at all the different denominations that we have in Christianity? Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Non-Denominational, and Protestant (those are all of the ones I can think of). What makes people choose a denomination over the other one? Does it have to do with your specific beliefs? I have heard statistics show that all of these different denominations have over 80% in common with each other. If it is not about specific beliefs, does persuasion have something to do with it? Have you ever walked into a church before and after the first service realize that this place feels like "home". Are churches really trying to persuade you to join their congregation or are they doing it for a higher reason.

So lets assume that you find a church that you like based on your own beliefs. Lets say for example--a Lutheran Church. What makes you like a Lutheran Church over another one? I think one of a churches goals is to make a person feel at "home" and feel connected to the people and the atmosphere.

Using rhetoric on my coach

This morning we had morning practice at 6am, which of course no want ever wants to attend since it's so early in the morning. We have 18 girls on the team and only 8 girls ended up showing up. We sat around the pool deck waiting and getting ready to hop in the water to do a swim set. As our coach sat there on deck with us telling us what our swim set was going to be, I heard him mumble that he was 'hungry'. I really did not want to be at practice, and I know no one else wanted to be there either. I knew my coach's favorite restaurant was Franks so I simply suggested we should all do a team bonding and go out for breakfast instead of doing a swim set. I could tell my coach was actually thinking about it.

So...he decided to take us out and everyone was thankful since he decided to pay for all of us too. my persuasion worked on him because I convinced him how much he himself wanted breakfast and especially breakfast from Franks. It worked out in all of our favor!

Gossip...the best rhetoric?

Gossip: we all do it and we all hear it. It's natural and engaging. Why is it though that we are so engaged when someone is gossiping? What makes it so interesting that it grabs our complete attention? Why can a little gossip grab our full attention but yet our professors in class can't even grab some attention?

Gossip is nothing but talking about rumors or private affairs of others. What makes us wanting to hear more? When someone tells you "I have to tell you a secret later" your first response is "no, I want to know now". It just pulls you in to hear more about what the person is saying.

The interesting thing is this: most of the time, gossip is never exactly right and the information is tweaked. Yet, we absorb it and take it as what they say and not even think about reading into the credibility of the person half the time. Anyone can start talking about someone else and you are able to believe them, even though you have no idea who this person is. Why is that? Why do we not test their ethos more? Sometimes we ask them who they heard it from, trying to test the ethos of that person. Add in your comments here...

incest?!

I read an article today dealing with a daughter and a father having a sexual relationship together. The father is 61 years of age while the daughter is in her late 30s and is married with 2 children already. Recently, the daughter and the father had a child together who is 9 months old. After they recently went public about their relationship, the court has banned them from having sex anymore (which i think is funny that the gov't can do that).

Right off the bat, you think to yourself these people are horrible people. You already place a stereotype on them saying no matter what there story is, these people are disgusting. When reading this article, I found the writer to say things to his audience that will spark some kind of emotion inside of them. The reporter focuses mainly on the "incest" part instead of the mental effects the child will have when it grows up. the reporter continues to talk, using forensic rhetoric, about what incest consists of and how this family is messed up. I read another article on this issue about how they are going to appear on 60 minutes tomorrow night. That article focused on what the mental effects the child will experience when it grows up and how family of the daughter (reminder: she has a husband and 2 children already), are handling this event. After comparing, you can realize the first article is trying to really get your emotions involved and are trying to get you angry inside. They had the same audience, but approached it differently to grab your attention.

Airport Security

We all know how tight security at airports have gotten in the past 5 years. They always say before you enter security that you can only have 3 oz. of fluid or gels and they have to be in a clear zip lock baggy. They have signs everywhere that says you cannot have lighters or firearms or other weapons like this. Now they have been advertising this for a long time now and usually they seem pretty tight when it comes to these rules.

They have convinced us that you will not get past security if you are breaking any of these rules. The fact that you have to go through that much time to get through security means that they must be doing a pretty good job at inspecting everything and everyone. They have convinced me that they are smart and are protecting us.

I had the priviledge of traveling to New York for a water polo tourney. We flew out Saturday morning and had 10 girls traveling. Well, after we had passed through security at the airport, we then realized what we got through with. One girl had a lighter. Another girl had accupuncture needles. While another girl had a huge tube of toothpaste. Someone else had a razor. How do we get through the airport with so much stuff that is not allowed on te planes? For the longest time airport security had convinced me of how strong they are and how hard it is to get past with illegal things to bring on planes. They had persuaded me of being strong until this trip. They let 5 of us go through that were carrying things that should have been taken away. So does that ruin their credibility? Are they really as good as they say they are?

Pretending to be sick

When I was younger and I didn't feel like going to school, whether it was because of a test that day or I just didn't want to go, I would pretend I was sick. Now, I know that every person has tried this one before at least once in their lives. I would start off by going to my mom in the morning and telling her I didn't feel good. She would always tell me to go take a shower and see how I feel after. Before I would go to her a second time, I would make sure my head felt hot by putting a warm wash clothe on my head. I would try so hard to convince my mom that I was sick, even though I felt perfectly fine.

My mom was never convinced so I always tried to bring a few tears out. Once I complained about my stomach hurting and that I don't feel good for about 20 minutes, she then decided that I could stay home. Now, I know she didn't let me stay home because I was sick. She was so tired of me whining that she was just like fine, do whatever you want.

When I look at this, I realize that my persuasion wasn't the best mode of getting my mom to let me stay home. I really stunk at persuading her that I was sick. So how the heck did I succeed at staying home?

Clinton was under attack?

So Hillary Clinton once claimed that she was "under sniper fire" when she was visiting Bosnia with her daughter in 1996. There were 4 instances where she told this story since Dec 11, '07. Then after video was presented of her being greeted in Bosnia and there were no signs of "sniper fire". When approached on this issue again, Clinton responds with:
"You know I have written about this and described it in many different settings and I did misspeak the other day. ... and last week, you know, for the first time in 12 or so years I misspoke."

She said the same story 4 times of being "under sniper fire". So how does she get away with saying she misspoke? She gets off the hook by stating it was the first times she misspoke in 12 or so years. She goes into a speech about how she is human and she makes mistakes. She enters into this speech by dodging the question why she lied about what happened. She practiced great rhetorical speech by misleading the question and having the audience sympathize with you.

Im not too sure if she ended up pulling it off or not. I sure don't believe she "misspoke". Her speech was not that convincing, but she tried. Did it work for the rest of the United States though?

Reality TV

One thing that I have been thinking about lately is Reality Tv. Now, Reality TV is defined as: television programs that present real people in live situations and monitor their emotions and behaviors. When you watch the trailor for the newest real world, during the previews, one of the first things that they say is the words "True Life". They seem to emphasize those words in the opening of each show when they are introducing the characters.

For those who have seen Real World, you probably know that its not entire truth being presented. After doing research on this show, it was found that there is a script that goes along with the episodes that the cast members have to follow. Whether it is a script word for word, or a loose script, there is still a script. Why should they be allowed to emphasize "True Life" when its not real? The reason for the show is to draw people in. How can they draw people in to watch if they can't create drama?

So, does their persuasion work? Most of us know that this show is staged or at least some of it is staged. Everyone knows that just by the situations that happen and what not. So, why do they still emphasize that it is real if we all know it is not? Their persuasion does not really work anymore, yet they continue to do it. You would think that they would find another way to convince us this is true life. Or maybe they are in so deep they can't convince the public anymore that it is true life. Just some thoughts....

Hillary and Obama Working Together

Alright, so I've been reading up on how Obama and Clinton are talking about teaming up and working together. I don't think it is a good idea for a candidate on one side to team up with another candidate on the complete other side. I think that Obama and Clinton are both extremely strong candidates, but together does not mean that they will be even stronger.

If you think about it, Clinton spends a lot of time trying to catch Obama with what he says and tries really hard to persuade people into thinking Obama is all talk and no show. They spend so much time bashing each other down, that seeing them work together is almost impossible. The funny thing about it is that Clinton thinks it will be the Clinton-Obama campaign and Obama thinks it would be the Obama-Clinton campaign. How are two candidates who are running to be on top going to work together? Clinton, portraying herself as a strong woman, will not give in to Obama and vis versa with Obama. So who is going to humble themselves and decide to be second to the other person? Can Obama work under a woman? Interesting to think about....

Catch Me If You Can

One thing that I thought Frank Jr. pulled off amazingly was when he was going to meet his fiance at the airport. He obviously observes that she told he police and it was a trap. Even though he knew that the airport was swarming with cops, he still walks right through the front doors past them all. If you were wanted and saw that FBI agents and cops were in a specific place, the last thing that you would want to do is walk through that place. You would go a different way. But no, Frank goes to a high school and gets 8 young women to distract him while he walks through the front door. It was just brilliant. The cops all know what he looks like and also knows he has been trying to fly for PanAm. The odds of getting through were slim to none. But he pulls it off by taking the focus off of himself and put on 8 young beautiful ladies. He picked the 8 most beautiful women to persuade the men from the FBI to look at them. Nice Job.

Why argue with a ref?

One thing that I have been thinking about is rhetoric when it comes to sports. A ref or an official gets to make the calls whether or not things were legal or any fouls were made. They get the final say as to what is going on. So, when bad calls are made, what is the point of arguing with a ref? Too many times when watching a football game or any other sport and you see a ref make a call, you will always find someone who wants to argue with him. No mater if the ref is right or wrong, he gets to make the call and it is pretty hard to overturn that call.

Now before we had playback and reviews, we never questioned the referees and their calls. Even when we did question them, it is not like they were going to change their mind. So what is the point of having people get kicked out of games for arguing with referees who won't change their mind? Why put in all the work, when deep down you know they are not going to change the call?

Last week I saw 3 men get kicked out of a water polo game because they believe the ref made a bad call. They were trying so hard to persuade the ref that they did not deserve that call and were trying so hard to get him to change their minds. Too many times though, when you see people arguing with ref's, they are fighting and not arguing. When that happens, of course the refs are going to get angry and warn them and what not and possibly going to kick them out of the game too. So why do we do it when we know what the outcome is going to be? Can a referee really be persuaded?