Random Murderous Rhetoric

     Rhetorical actions are not always healthy ones focused mainly on the compromising of an issue. Often times these actions are a product of internal anger, frustration, aggression, and other negative emotions. Although they result from a destructive place in the person, the action is no doubt rhetorical due to the hidden reasons that the person argues for the action. Actions such as suicide and murder are those rhetorical arguments that stem from a dark place. In particular, murderous shootings are examples of a form of rhetoric that aim strictly to harm others and communicate a person’s rage through violence.   

     For example, recently the shooting at the high school near Cleveland, Ohio on Monday, February 27^th illustrates the extent to which a person can unhealthy demonstrate his rhetoric. T.J. Lane, the young 17-year old, took his anger out at Chardon high school’s cafeteria that Monday with a .22-caliber gun killing three students and injuring two others. This murderous outrage was done at a school that he did not even attend and was not even a result of drugs, alcohol, or bullying that he had received. He “chose his victims at random,” states the county prosecutor David Joyce.



T.J. Lane Facebook picture found with USA Today article



     Lane’s victims were all between 16 and 17 years of age and male. Thankfully, prosecutors were given until March 1^st to charge the shooter and hopefully he will be charged as an adult rather than a minor, which would only lessen his consequences. His actions may have been repercussions of a troubling household in which his father and mother had had continuous domestic violence charges upon the both of them, but this is in no means an excuse for his unnecessary and harmful actions.

     Not only did Lane murder three and injure two, but he hurt and devastated an entire town. Trust is lost and now fear engulfs the school, town, parents, students, and teachers alike. The school plans to reopen this Friday in order for the students to be reunited with each other, but the hearts and safety of the people in Chardon will never be restored. Lane’s rhetorical actions that ultimately expressed his feelings that he had at a split second destroyed the lives of an entire community forever.

"State Sponsored Rape!"

     Vagina, vagina, vagina. It took a very long time for people to be comfortable enough with themselves to be able to say that word.  It took millions of feminists, thousands of books, and hundreds of lectures for society to appreciate the woman for what she is rather than what she can cook. And this comfort barrier that has been broken when it comes to the word vagina isn't always a good thing. Sometimes those people, who begin to use the word comfortably, take advantage of the progress that others have made, and in turn, take the vagina and detach it from its owner.

Found at Veracity Stew

    Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell took the word vagina to a new level with a violation that continues to shock me every time I press the replay button on the YouTube clip. Recently Virginia’s House and Senate passed a bill to enact a medically unnecessary vaginal probing of a woman if she wishes to undergo an abortion in the state. This probing is to be done against the woman and her physician’s consent if she desires to have an abortion and was surprisingly passed thanks to the help of the republicans in Virginia. The only reason why the subject was mediatized was because democrats in the state required that the republicans in the legislature spell out the conditions of this procedure in the bill. When the media caught wind of the fact that republicans were basically signing a bill for the state to rape women legally, the republicans including McDonnell backed down and claimed they “were not aware of how invasive the procedure could be.”

     Of course there were protests and the media bombarded the legislature. But this plan to “bully women into not having abortions,” as democrat David Englin states in the clip, is absurd! You cannot penetrate (which is exactly what it is, penetrating) women without their consent just for the sake of reinforcing your personal beliefs and those of your political affiliation. News and the government just gets weirder and weirder every day. Just as Rachel Maddow bodly says, “what a difference people paying attention makes.”

Watch the Video Here!

The Williard Preacher

     We mock him because we aren’t as courageous as him. It’s sad but true. People often poke fun at others who posses qualities out of the realm of societal norms only because we ourselves do not contain the special brave cells in our body to play this outcast role. We make excuses for the reasons why we despise these people and fill our day with clever jokes and puns directed towards the “weird” segment of our society. But as you look closer, you should realize that the only thing that separates us from these people is that they have the guts to express their rhetoric while we stand idly by.

     We all know the Williard Preacher. The ballsy man who posts out front of the side entrance to Williard and expresses his attitude towards the activities that Penn State students participate in according to his religious beliefs. This is the most pure form of rhetoric. He argues his point of view about the reckless college student’s behavior regardless of the stares and whispers he receives. And when others disagree, which is often, he stands behind what he believes in, in rain, snow, and sleet. He is not a professor here or a student, just an outspoken member of the State College community who has a lot to preach.

     Originally, I ridiculed him. Strutted past him on my way downtown wondering why in God’s name he would even consider preaching to students who obviously do not care. Was this his hobby? But clearly he enjoys what he does. It’s not just a hobby, rhetorical expression is his life. Using his hobby as a way to amuse yourself while rushing to your next class is pathetic. We should all be more like the Williard Preacher. At least he’s actively doing something he believes in. When can you say the last time you did that was?

I Believe In A Toyless Childhood

Fairytales of Sexual Organisms

     Welcome to the world of feminism. Where everything and anything that is said or done is analyzed to the point of obnoxious. Things that may not seem sexist can be spun around to be as prejudice as the 1960s. When I come across these feminist spin arounds, I can’t help to wonder whether the situations at hand really are as prejudice as they seem or if the fact is a fictitious run of a crazy feminist’s imagination to make the world hate the male gender.

    If any of you have ever taken a woman studies course in your educational pathway, you quickly realize you either absolutely despise it, or you can’t wait to fill your coffee mug up so you can grab the first available front row seat. Whether my approach is to hate it or love it, I can’t help but to respect this one article I read in the class.

Image found at Baby Birth Basics

     The Egg And The Sperm by Emily Martin demonstrates the secretive language of our everyday text books. Words that have forever been hidden in the biology books that we have been reading since the middle school days are exposed in this intriguing essay about the relationship between the reproductive systems of men and women. This short but sweet article explains how the depiction of the sperm and the egg can illustrate the classic fairy tale stories of the night in shining armor (sperm) courageously rescuing the damsel in distress (egg).

     Martin notes how in the most common biology text books of our youth explain how the sperm is an active part of the system who is rescuing the egg by penetrating through it. While the egg is a passive creature, waiting for the process to begin. The mere words in biology books illustrate how the egg is ultimately less important and adventurous as the sperm. The sperm is the main reason for a successful child birth and the egg is just there for the sperm to do its job. Medical Physiology by Vernon Mountcastle even states, “Whereas the female sheds only a single gamete each month, the seminiferous tubules produce hundreds of millions of sperm each day.” Our textbooks throughout the years have been providing us with negative connotations towards the egg and positive ones with sperm without notice from teachers, students, or parents.

     Only feminists like Martin recognized these hidden depictions. But as the bigger picture comes into play, we can wonder how many of these hidden descriptions exist. People we blindly trust, because of the number of degrees they hold or signatures on books they carry, could possibly have been placing this sort of persuasive rhetoric to make readers believe certain things for generations. Saying rhetoric is everywhere is an understatement. Rhetoric to convince young minds things through their subconscious is the new form of deception but is undoubtedly still a form of rhetoric.