The life time that it takes for each second to pass before we are united is but the grandeur that shall forever expand the bounds and leagues in which my love will forever grow. Your warmth and glow guiding me In this truest bliss any could ever know. For you are the light of my life and though storms may yet try to sink this vessel I will forever stay this course so that the every minute after will be filled with the static and weight in which this distance and time has made possible.
After the events early this morning, 14 December, I felt the need to scrap my previous journal entry and focus on a problem that has affected this nation for so many years, almost since the indoctrination of the Constitution in 1791: Gun laws and control. I realize that this is not a proper journal, however, I am conducting research and checking several different news articles, as well as this tragic event having a global down to personal effect, I feel this is the only course of action I have left to take. I apologize it is after the midnight closure, I needed time to gather my thoughts.
A second point that must be shown is that all of these mass killings have been committed with guns, and most of them have been legally obtained, or illegally obtained from a third party who legally obtained the firearm. While this correlation seems to support stricter gun laws, or a gun ban all together, I feel, along with many others, including the entire National Rifle Association (NRA) that this is not the appropriate recourse. The laws in place already provide enough control on guns, and the increasing violence is not due to “weak gun laws” as many Americans have claimed today.
The social media network has provided another insight on American opinion about this tragedy. Many of the Americans who have tweeted, tumbl’d, or posted on Facebook are demanding stricter laws about guns, and a ban on assault rifles. After other users questioned these posters, it was revealed that they believed, falsely, that assault rifles were fully automatic killing machines. To the contrary, an assault rifle is defined by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, Title XI, subtitle A, as “any weapon that meets any of the following criteria…”, and being fully automatic was not a classification point. The Federal Assault Weapon ban, passed during the Clinton Administration, was left to be deferred on September 13, 2004, and numerous attempts to reenact this law have been tried.
The global issue on this tragedy is numerous countries experiencing worse gun violence with stricter gun laws in place. Mexico has a full ban on any sort of firearm, yet the streets are still being bathed in the blood of Mexican citizens with bullet holes ripped through their bodies. Brazil, almost matching America’s population, and with stronger gun laws in place, experiences worse gun violence than America. On the other hand, in places like Canada and Japan, with strict laws in place, gun violence always makes headlines, because it hardly ever happens. However, previous evidence proves that stronger gun laws do not prevent mass shootings.
Personally, this tragedy is not going to truly affect me because of the people. However, I am a strong gun advocate, and a firm believer of the Second Amendment, which states that “a well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” Because of this recent violence, and the 15+ other cases of gun violence in America this year alone, anyone seen in support of guns will be called murderers and rednecks, and shunned from the so called polite society.
However, we are quite the opposite. I am a 7 Bar qualified marksman with a .22 longbore rifle with an iron sight at 35 feet, meaning I can score over 20 points per group, on 9 groups, while sitting, kneeling, or prone. I have no intentions of going on a shooting rampage with my guns, nor does my dad, my mother, my two brothers, my sister, my best friend, nor any other members of the Lafayette gun club. As well, my scout troop, unit 218, recently went to shooting sports weekend at Lafayette, and taught all members of the troop, ages 10 to 16, how to properly and safely handle a firearm and have fun while doing it. These boys have no thoughts of going on a shooting rampage either! Automatically assuming that all gun enthusiast or users are maniacal or blood thirsty is one of the worst fallacies I can think of.
Another note on the mass media, and their fallacies in reporting: their continuous interchanging between assault rifle and automatic rifle. The definition of an assault rifle was displayed above, and an automatic rifle is “any firearm that fires more than one round when the trigger is pulled.” Americans, and now other countries, are clamoring for a ban of automatic rifles, which would be trivial: owning an automatic rifle requires a class 3 licensure, a $20,000 qualification, and proper equipment. This alone is enough of a deterrent but for the most hardcore of killers, who can get an automatic rifle from the black market.
“The death of those 26 people today will not be forgotten.” This claim is called after every mass shooting, as well as after the terrorist act of 9/11. Out of 9/11, we got stricter TSA regulations and flight laws. An argument claimed by the gun haters is when will we get stricter laws regulating the gun flow, much like the TSA? While we already do have gun laws and controls in place, a logical person should quickly come to a conclusion. Removing the guns does not solve the problem, merely removes one method for murder. One gunman may be able to kill 33 people, imagine what one bomber can do. 50? 100? 1,000? The thought of a mad bomber taking out a school is unthinkable, yet, that is what could happen if the guns are taken away.
The problem should be the issue at hand here. Is it, as one article presents, the fault of placebic anti-depressants for mild to moderate depression? Or is it the failure of the school system and society to provide a safe and caring environment that could catch the planning, as the Columbine shooter had meticulously taken months to plan their attack. Whatever the case, guns are not to blame, as proven and shown above. America needs to focus more on helping those with mental illnesses and removing the stigma of admitting to a mental illness to Aleve the mass shooting epidemic.
A final note: today in China, a man stabbed 22 people, 21 children and an elderly lady, at a primary school in Chengping, China. No memorial has been put up on popular American’s Facebooks yet.
. "The Second Amendment." . N.p., 14 2012. Web. 14 Dec 2012. <http://faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens/410/410lect11.htm>.
Staff, . "Time Magazine." Connecticut Shooting. Time Inc., 14 2012. Web. 14 Dec 2012. <http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/14/school-shooting-reported-in-newtown-conn/>. Schreiber,
Liz. "The New Extenstiallists." Are Antidepressants accomplices to school shootings?. Saybrook University, 20 2011. Web. 14 Dec 2012.
Zornik, Geirge. "The Nation." 16 Mass Shootings in US. The Nation, 14 2012. Web. 14 Dec 2012. <http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-dead
"Man in China stabs 22 Children." Metro. 14 2012: 1. Web. 15 Dec. 2012. <http://metro.co.uk/2012/12/14/man-wielding-knife-stabs-22-children-at-school-in-chengping-china-3316760/>.
“Plagiarism is cheating. Plagiarism is using another person’s thoughts and ideas without proper acknowledgement or documentation. It is a dishonorable offense. According to this policy, students will receive a zero for a plagiarized assignment and a referral to the appropriate administrator.”
I’m of course asking this in the wake of the announcement that Dan Harmon will no longer be the showrunner of Community. He’s being replaced by Two Goofballs who made the shows Whatever the Tardy Kid and Who Gives a Not-Community. So is Community still even on the air?
I mean, of course, Community is still on the air, it’s coming back Fridays at 8:30 PM on NBC! It’s the same show it’s ever been! It’s got the key writers, it’s got all the cast coming back, it’s no NBC so nobody will watch it, it’s Community!
But it’s really not. Because Community has always been Dan Harmon’s creation. He’s provided the 8-step story structure that has taken it through every conversation, every episode, every season. He’s the vision behind the entire show, and though writers have helped him along the way, it’s his vision. There’s never been a showrunner with such a clear goal in his series.
Although that may just be my naiveté talking. Dan Harmon is a vocal, public figure, which is what got him fired. So there’s probably a pretty good chance that many shows have been singular visions like Community was, but they were around before Twitter and Tumblr and we just didn’t realize. Instead of having a blog to speak directly to viewers through in addition to the show, the showrunners just had their show. So I could be talking out of my 19-year-old ass right now (ladies!)
That said, it’s pretty clear that Dan Harmon has had a vision for Community, and every episode has gone through Harmon’s difficult approval process before airing. So without him, is it still Community? Because when you watch a television show, you’re doing more than just putting your eyes on a screen for a half hour (if you’re doing it right.) This is what my pretentious buddies at Purchase will never understand: You like a TV show not because it’s necessarily breaking new visual storytelling ground every episode, but because you’re putting your trust into the family of people that creates a series every week, and praying that they’re breaking new ground over the course of an arc, or a season, or an entire series. You’re becoming a part of the family that makes up the crew, the cast, the writers, and the creator, and trusting that they’re bringing you someplace special.
So we’ve lost our core navigator. HQ has sent in two replacements. Have they run relatively successful shows before? Yes. Have they ever taken any part in the creation of Community before? Fuck no. So while the main crew, writers, and cast, they’ve lost their head, they’ve lost the singular vision that gave the series structure before. They’ve got a replacement, but when a different captain takes over the ship, is it the same ship?
Well, yes, it’s the same fucking ship. In this metaphor, Community is still Community, and the captain, crew, etc. are still sailing it somewhere. But it’s somewhere other than where the last captain was taking it, and that’s because there are no maps, there are no compasses, there’s no GPS coordinate to where it was going before that these two new captains can lead us to. It’s an idea that only lived in the former captain’s head. The two new cappies can take a look at our trajectory thus far, and try to determine where we were headed (or they can say “Who fuckin’ cares?! North!” and do what they want with it) but either way it’s not the same trajectory.
So is it still the same show? Because the show isn’t the ship, it’s the journey. It’s the hope that somehow, through episode after episode of hackneyed, obvious sitcom plot, we’ve grown and arrived somewhere new with this ship/series/whatever-it-is-it’s-late-and-I’ve-been-drinking/airplane?/whatever.
A lot of people have cut ties with The Office due to the loss of Steve Carrell, despite no major writer’s changes occurring during the 8 years it’s been on. So is the loss of the showrunner a similar loss? Should I cut ties with Community, despite still having the Greendale 7? I don’t know. It’s a big question. This post probably could have said a lot more were I in a better place to write it. That said, I didn’t have a clear goal going into it, and I’m trying to wrap it up now despite not really being able to consider the piece as a whole. I guess we can only hope that Community fares better than this post.
EDIT: Also, yeah, I know Harmon's still a creative consultant, but that doesn't mean shit. Tommy Blacha remained a creative consultant on Metalocalypse when he left before season 3, and season 3 was still shit compared to 1+2. (Season 4 has been pretty good so far.)
