Personal Freedom (Guns, Guns, and more Guns)

Nothing defines America more than guns. Peace through superior firepower is often times joked around by soldiers as an A-10 Thunderbolt 2 makes a strafe run across the arid terrorist-rich environment of the Syrian battlefield. A hunting advertisement had a picture of a father teaching his daughter how to shoot a rifle, captioning something similar to "because a Restraining Order is just a piece of paper."

Being able to protect oneself is a big reason why (sane) people possess firearms. We have it in the Constitution as an unalienable right, a right that cannot be taken away from you.

Firearms are always a big issue since they became more common to the public. From muskets to lever-action, from bolt-action Springfield M1903's to the selective-fire M16's used by forces around the world, firearms have seen a dramatic development from the creation of our republic.

However with the recent trend of people shooting up malls, schools and movie theaters, presidents in the last few terms have taken drastic measures to control gun violence.

A major placement was the 1994 Clinton Ban, or the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It was in effect from 1994 to 2004, and banned a number of semi-automatic civilian firearms that were seen as assault weapons. They also banned a number of "high capacity" magazines (Extended Mag for COD players) which would increase the number of rounds in a single magazine to allow more rounds down range and less time reloading (which is when a shooter is most vulnerable). Frank Lautenburg (D- NJ) wrote on the Huffington Post:

"High-capacity magazines -- devices that dramatically boost a weapon's firing power -- were prohibited from 1994 until 2004, when the federal assault weapons ban was in place... It's time to end the bloodshed and restore common sense to our gun laws -- beginning with a permanent ban on high-capacity gun magazines,"

ABC News

For 10 years, the law was in affect. However, the exact effectiveness of the law is inconclusive. Authorities could not determine weather or not the law had help decrease the amount of gun violence in the US within the given time frame.

"Ultimately, the research concluded that it was “premature to make definitive assessments of the ban’s impact on gun crime,” largely because the law’s grandfathering of millions of pre-ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines “ensured that the effects of the law would occur only gradually” and were “still unfolding” when the ban expired in 2004." - Factcheck.org

Other reports reported that the time frame was too short to give a strong conclusion. Both sides of the argument gave their respective views of the law and said their results of the law.

"independent studies, including one from the Clinton Justice Department, proved that ban had no impact on lowering crime." - Wayne LaPierre, President of the National Rifle Association.

"found that it was responsible for a 6.7 percent decrease in total gun murders, holding all other factors equal (1997 report)...the use of assault weapons in crime declined by more than two-thirds by about nine years after 1994 Assault Weapons Ban took effect (2004)" - Senator Dianne Feinstein's Press Release from 2004 using both reports to build her statement.

Does limiting firearms to the general public result in anything at all? Some say that it's stealing their right to bear arms, while other agree that it is inevitable due to the recent number of criminal activity with firearms usage.

The United States civilians own some 270 million firearms by a Swiss Small Army Survey conducted in 2007. Converted, this approximates to about 88 guns per 100 persons. With that said, the second most firearms owned per capita is Yemen, with about 58 for every 100 persons. Firearms are most commonly used in homicide in the US, and seen from the New Town Shootings, and the recent shootings at Sacramento City College. Since homicide is so frequent, more Americans lose their lives to homicide than terrorism. From about 2001 to 2013, nearly 406,000 people were killed by firearms (homicide, accidents, suicides), compared to only about 3,300 from terrorism brought to Americans (both within and outside US soil). It can be guessed that Americans have become numb to the carnage since it happens so often, so often that 51 mass shooting (4+ killed) has happened since 1997. The same data gives that only 3 mass shooting have taken place in Germany and Switzerland, and none in Australia and Japan. Nearly 33,000 Americans are killed yearly from firearms, which is slightly less than deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents (~35,000).

CNN News: Deaths and Guns in the US

Firearms is indeed a large problem in the US. Homicides are the #1 usage for firearms. You are more likely to be killed by a gunshot wound then drinking alcohol. However, since homicide is in fact a large portion of death, it is important to know how to counter-act the aggression. Finding the medium and equilibrium for firearm regulation is always and will always be a tough compromise for both side. Let's just hope it doesn't start a civil war like the case about Slavery.

Personal Freedom

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights..."

The second paragraph of the US Constitution explain that everyone have certain rights that cannot be taken away from them; those rights being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which is in fact Thomas Jefferson's rewrite of John Locke's "Life, Liberty, and Property". We are all given and ensured of our rights in the Constitution; the "Bill of Rights" which refers to the first 10 Amendments in the Constitution is perhaps the most important section of the constitution itself. The first 10 Amendments were all created after the action the British Parliament imposed to the English colonists residing in Colonial America back before the days of the republic.

For example, the British "Quartering Act" during the Revolutionary War forced colonist to quarter British soldiers in their homes without their consent. The Third Amendment restricts soldiers from being quartered in a private home during war or during peacetime.

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

After the 9/11 terrorist attack, the US Department of Homeland Security was established to prevent disasters like 9/11 by improving national security. Organizations like the National Security Agency were created, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Central Intelligence Agency were allowed to go full throttle to promote national security. The NSA, FBI, CIA, and the federal government all stressed more security, for the price of freedom. On another note, recent homicides and terrorism spawn new stereotype due to their fear

You may have a hobby like me, where firearms is your things. Taking apart firearms and air rifles to study their anatomy comes natural; you're a gun-nut by nature.

But one sentence of "yeah, I like firearms" to your friends result in everyone else thinking your going to shoot up the school. I fit the perfect frame for a criminal, especially when you're black, tall, likes guns, and my normal face looks like I'm plotting a murder. Thanks guys.

You may know someone who's from Syria, maybe even know that their parents were murdered by terrorists and escaped to the US to live a better life. They tell you how Americans treat you like you're a piece of dog doo-doo. They blame you for something that you have no correlation to. They hate you because you speak the language, you believe the same gods, and you share the same skin color. They loathe you, because you offend their freedom to live a peaceful life.

Since people are taught at a young age that you have rights, you feel frustrated or offended when you are denied from them. This frustration is caused by insecurity and fear of being powerless, unprotected, and vulnerable, which then get expressed with anger, more fear, and anxiety. Fear is the greatest cause of violence. We fight and kill because we fear defeat. We segregate because we fear their existence. We shun those with different religion because we fear their gods and practices. We fight wars because in a battlefield, you won't feel fear when you know your enemy is already dead. "Fear is the only thing we have to fear" (Frankin D. Roosevelt), and absolute freedom is never achievable.

Analyzing Documents (21st Century Edition)

Thousands of images are taken daily of events from across the world. From the first photographs taken dating back to before the American Civil War, to the alien-technology-quality images today, pictures of people, buildings, places, and objects have held many meanings, both positive and negative.

It's just not images that shack the world: videos, speeches, demographics, documents, and graphs also send an output to the world. From the Y2K to the rise of ISIS, countless events are photographed and published daily.


Bellow are 14 images, one image per year, of a significant event from that year of magazines, pictures, news reports, and more.

Images are from Google

2000: Y2K
Remember when someone said that all the world's computers are going to start a uprising? Me neither, but Y2K was the big hoax that the earth was going to stall because of a huge computer bug-crisis-hijack-thing. 

2001: New York Terrorist Attack
September 11th, 2001 is an infamous day that I still remember watching on TV in Japan. The terrorist attack on this day can most likely traced back to America's involvement in the middle east as far back as 1979.

2002: Euros
In 2002, Euro is circulated for the first time being in existence for about 10 years.

2003: Space Shuttle Columbus
The tragic re-entry accident with the Space Shuttle Columbus in 2003 marked one of the worst manned space shuttle accidents after the Challenger accident in 1986.

2004: Indonesian Earthquake
A magnitude 9.1 earthquake hit Indonesia in 2004, and resulted in about 250,000 casualties. Not only did it affect Indonesia, but the waves stretched to Sri Lanka, India, Australia, and many more Oceania and Indian ocean nations. 

2005: Hurricane Katrina
A Category 5 hurricane strikes in August of 2005 and is one of the most costliest natural disasters in the history of the US. States that were hit hard from the storm like Mississippi still have areas that are affected from the storm a decade ago.

2006: Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging in December of  2006. The US and British invaded Iraq in 2003 to capture  Hussein in suspicion of  possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction and having ties to the Al-Quida.

2007: Korean Train Border Passage
A passenger train passes through the North and South Korean border for the first time since 1953. 

2008: First African-American President
An African-American president elected for the first time in the history. He is basically a US version of Nelson Mandela. Still in office until we get to see who wins in a few days.

2009; Burj Khalifa
The worlds tallest tower finished construction in 2009, and opened to the public in 2010.  Stands 163 floors high, or about 830 meters in height. There's also a night club on the 144th floor if you want to party hard in Dubai.

2010: BP-Oil Spill
Hundreds of gallons of limited resources of fossil fuel was lost when the rig suddenly exploded in April of 2010. About 11 workers are M.I.A., and the US estimates that about 4.9 million barrels of oil was lost. It is the largest marine oil spill in history.

2011: Higashi-Nihon Dai-Shinsai
A magnitude 9 earthquake strikes the north eastern area of Japan on March 11th, 2011. It resulted in about 15,000 dead, 6,000 injured, and about 2,000 that are still missing (assumed dead by this point). The Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant took a direct hit and caused a large number of radioactive elements to spew into the atmosphere. It is the second nuclear accident rated a 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, and is the costliest clean-up and recovery project for Japan (since WW2) and the world (Since Chernobyl).

2012: End of the World
The Mayans predicted that the world was going to end of December 21st, 2012... but they forgot to count leap years so their calculation was thrown off for about 300 years. Hollywood dedicated a rather interesting movie 2012 which kind of seemed like a prequel to Day After Tomorrow to picture a world in chaos.For all I know, when I have kids, I'm going to show my younglings the movie (2012, Day After Tomorrow, and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and more) and say: "you see, daddy survived all of that. and that's how daddy met mommy!"  

2013: The Death of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela passes away on 5 December, 2013 at the age of  95. He was a key figure to the Anti-Apartheid in South Africa, and became the first colored president of South Africa in 1994. 

2014: Ukraine Crisis
Began when the president of Ukraine suspends the treaty between them and the EU for an association agreement. Evolved into a riot as western Ukrainian "pro-EU" people clash with eastern-Ukrainian "pro-Russians" groups. Then, the Russians  decides to annex a eastern area of Ukraine called Crimea, which is crawling with pro-Russians. Unrest in other eastern Ukrainian cities have mega-involved into a civil war between the post-Revolutionary Ukrainian government and pro-Russian insurgents. A small scale cold-war between the west and the east again, however, if both sides do to much, the EU, NATO (OK, the US), and Russia are going to be gnarling at each other again....