Firearms for Modern Art

Art, made entirely from weapons. A better use for guns than killing each other...

Stop Me When I Start Lying: Guns for Heroes?

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." 

Although Harvey Dent (in "The Dark Knight") was talking about Julius Caesar and his absolute reign over Rome, it became true about him as he transitioned from passionately heroic DA into villainous "Two Face". Although it was a movie, this quote is very true of many situations. With that being said,the recent argument that gun lobbyists are making that to prevent tragedy such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, we must arm everyone with the potential to be a hero in such situations (bosses in office buildings, principals in schools, etc) has even less credibility. What happens when we put arms in the hands of everyone we believe is a potential hero and they stay at that post with no bad guy threats? So we're already assuming that all authority figures (and their successors who will have access to the same weapons) are trustworthy with such power and will step up and be valiant in such a trying moment. Even if we were right about the character of EVERY person we arm, what happens when normal business and normal human reactions take place? People get fired, get laid off, are forced into budget cuts or business decisions they don't agree with, get mad, etc...and we've armed them. We armed Osama Bin Laden and his forces long ago when we shared a common opponent during the Iraq-Iran War. We had a difference of opinion a few years afterwards, nasty words were exchanged, and all those weapons were turned on us; the rest is history. Recently, in many parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia there have been civil wars, coups, and leadership changes with varying levels of international involvement. Often the international community and the population themselves fully support the leaders forging the revolution.They perceive them to be liberating the people from the currently established tyranny; often, only to find that once in power they never want to relinquish it and will install their own brand of tyranny to maintain it. Power is a funny thing in what it can turn even the most ambitious and noble individual into. The liberty of many civilizations has been stolen to thunderous applause. So if you arm that 40 year old general during his conquest to liberate his people from the previous tyrant, how does that make you feel when the 55 year old version of the same man turns those guns on any of his people or any outsiders he considers a threat to his unbridled power? Obviously, the NRA is not talking about dictators, but the same concepts apply. The boss of your company may be less likely to accept outside opinions  from anyone if he knows that he is the one man in the building with the key to the weapons vault. These are things that must be considered before anyone starts handing out guns hoping that it acts as a deterrent; you've laid the seeds for these incidents to turn into full-fledged gunfights. Stop Me When I Start Lying...

Apocalypse Not

Apocalypse Now quickly became Apocalypse Not when 12/21/12 came and went without even an iota of the catastrophic fervor previously promised. I even gave it another day before I wrote this blog entry to allow for a little error. I mean, this was a theory millennia in the making, 24 hours of error could easily been forgiven. But here we are on the 23rd and there are no indications that any of the CGI effects from the movie "2012" will stop me from seeing the start of 2013. I almost didn't buy Christmas gifts because I didn't think the 25th would come. Guess it was prudent on my part resist the urge to blow all my life savings heading to Amsterdam and hoping I could blow it all on women, drinks, and weed brownies before the Armaggedon got me; it would've been a bummer to wake up the next morning had I went through with that plan. As nice as it would be to know the exact date that the world was going to end and plan for it, I'm not entirely sure I could ever truly trust any prognostication of that magnitude. As brilliant as the Mayans, Nostradamus, and so many others were none of the several dates tabbed as the end by different theories have been correct thus far. I know life is short, but I don't need it any shorter. I guess the moral of the story is live life to the fullest but not by someone else's timeline...

Do Better: Cornball Rob Parker

Attention Rob Parker (pictured with headset), u're not only embarrassing urself, u're embarrassing Black men everywhere. Rob Parker, a personality on ESPN who frequently the show "First Take" hosted by Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, has been suspended 30 days because last week he made comments stating that Redskins rookie QB Robert Griffin III (pictured in uniform) isn't Black enough to be considered a "real brother". He instead called him a "Cornball Brother." That's right, Black on Black racism. This is not a topic that should be discussed on National TV...even if he's somewhat right. Look, if this topic comes up in a bar or in someone's living room while we're watching a game, I would have participated because there is a lot to discuss. RG3 in terms of appearance was the Blackest QB we've ever seen. We know that in America if you're to have a Black man as the face of your government, company, team, an award winner, or anything else, he typically needs a universal appeal: handsome, fairly clean cut, and light to brown skinned. RG3 is (pardon my judgement on the man) ugly, has long hanging plait braids (not even Larry Fitzerald style clean cut dreds), and is as dark as the night is long; This ain't Obama or Cam Newton we're talking about. Then he was drafted by "Chocolate City" Washington DC where he looks more like Wale than anyone else...but he's not that kind of dude. Despite being from Louisiana and Texas, it's widely believed that he typically is surrounded by white people. It's reported that he's more politically aligned with the Republicans. He's engaged to a cute but somewhat plain White girl (pictured with Griffin). I could only imagine the looks that he may get walking around with her in DC; hell, he might pass up Adams Morgan, U Street, and more typically Black areas (that Michael Vick or my hometown QB Cam Newton would go if they lived in DC) and instead take her out in Georgetown or something. I say all of this to say that even if I knew him, he might not fit in at my cookouts. He might not roll to the spots we would go to or listen to the music we would. That's relevant socially...but not athletically. So why the hell is this being discussed on  ESPN? I'm not naive enough to believe that people's social lives and professional lives are completely disconnected. But I don't feel like you should report on something on ESPN if it's not directly connected. Is it truly my business that Torrey Smith's brother got killed? Actually, not really. But it was reported because it affects whether he will play and possibly the quality to which he played the game a day or two after his brother's death. I'm a LeBron James fan, I criticize him harshly for two moments of his career; Game 5 of the 2010 series against Boston and his disappearance in the 2011 NBA Finals. That game 5 terrible performance happened the day he found out his teammate Delonte West  had slept with his mom. It's not my business, but I do see how that may affect your performance that night. My mind may have been more on breaking the jaw of this Mother fucker (literally) than being the best basketball player in the world. The fact that RG3 might not fit in at my cookout does not affect my respect level for Robert as a quarterback. Honestly, I don't know if Rob Parker would fit in at my cookout; I don't know him, but he strikes me as a bit corny himself. That's another reason this seemed odd coming from him. As much as he's criticized for his level of animation and occasionally controversy, I'm a big Stephen A. Smith fan because I think we could share some beer and have immensely entertaining conversations about sports or anything else. The same could be said for many sports writers, but not I'm not sure Parker makes that list. Skip Bayless, Smith, and may others say controversial things and express really strong opinions often approaching the line of what's "over the top"; it starts conversations. It gets people watching "First Take" to see what perspective they're gonna take on a hot issue, whether you agree with them or think they're ridiculous. That controversy is fine when discussing sports...not gauging someone's Blackness. So all in all, we live in a society where Blacks have come a long way and are excelling in many facets (politics, sports, music, cinema, etc) at unprecedented levels. Is this really what white people need to see us doing on National TV? Trying to turn us against each other on the basis of someone not being Black enough to be supported by the Black community? Do Better...

Real Talk: The Smoking Guns

July 20, 2012: A 24 year old masked man enters a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" and kills 12 people, wounding 50 more in a Colorado movie theater. December 11, 2012 A man walks into an Oregon mall and shoots three people before taking his own life right before police arrive. December 14, 2012 An autistic 20 year old starts shooting indiscriminately in the Newtown, CT elementary school that his mother worked at, killing 27 people including 20 small children. That may have been the last straw. Let me be clear, I was sad, I'm not anymore...I'M PISSED; A controlled pissed, but pissed nonetheless. These aren't the first school shootings by any means (Colombine, Virginia Tech, and countless others), but the shock and sadness this one causes may just be the straw that broke the camels back he it comes to changing our loose gun laws in America. As well read as I pride myself on being, I have purposely not researched or read much on the details of this incident because of the visceral sadness associated with the death of so many young children. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I'm not a parent; I could only imagine what it felt like as a parent. Two more things hit me as soon as I heard about this incident, a) This is another indication that too many guns are ending up in the hands of the wrong people, b) He just killed 27 people and noone has referred into him as a terrorist. I understand that the 2nd Amendment is virtually irreversible and is widely supported by many states and virtually every rural area. I know plenty of young people who are responsible gun owners (even some that own automatic or assault weapons); they own them, they may go to the gun range and shoot, they're around just in case of the worse but scarcely even get touched. I also know that most rural gun owners have them for the purposes of hunting or recreational shooting only and have never turned their firearms on other people. I honestly believe 90-95% of registered gun owners are not a real threat to society. The problem is that the other 5% of registered gun owners (and those who procure firearms by less legal means) are comprised of people who likely either: lead a lifestyle that increases their propensity for violence, have mental/emotional issues which increase their likeliness to "overreact" to something via firearm. Just like with insurance, law enforcement, and so many other things, the actions of the 5% make things much worse for the more responsible 95%. But rather than complaining, which won't get us anywhere, my thought process (still trying to avoid the emotion that comes with fully turning my attention to the details of this latest tragedy) immediately turns to "What can we do?". The over reactors immediately jump to "Get rid of guns in America", but I'm versed enough to realize that this isn't feasible. In rural America (which by land mass is still the majority of the country), fear that the "city slickers" will try to take their guns is a constant fear and can drive their political views and affiliations. Hell, the NRA and right wing response to this situation is "Guns aren't the problem. He was just a bad apple. If the principal of the school had had an assault rifle in his office, none of this would have happened."( I heard a similar "Arm everyone as a deterrent" from zany ass Ann Coulter in reply to Trayvon Martin's murder; SMH). If more restrictive gun legistlation is passed, their inevitable response will be "Why should I stop buying guns because of a few? I haven't broken the law." Fuck the NRA, we know they have their own reasons for advocating more guns. A friend of mine on Facebook recently very astutely compared this to saying "I'm a law abiding citizen, not a hijacker. Why can't take my knives and box cutters on the plane?". If that argument worked, I'd be at city hall tomorrow saying "I'm not a criminal, I don't want to pay the portion of my taxes that goes to funding the police force. They don't need them for me, I don't like them fuckers, and they don't like young Black men." Let me know when that shit starts to work. And this theory that everyone should be armed to prevent gun violence sounds crazy; raise your hand if gun availability seems like the answer rather than the problem. I won't lie and say I know the whole answer, but although many of my responsibly gun-owning friends won't like the fact that the late rash of violence has made me believe that non-soldiers don't need assault rifles available to them anymore. The process of acquiring a weapon should be tweaked also, maybe it should have a mental evaluation requirement as well, I'm not sure the best way to do it, but something must be done and now Obama and Biden seem to think the same. I hope they get the right people in the same room and come up with something that nudges this issue in the right direction. Feeling how I felt the day that elementary school got shot up is not an experience I was fond of and I'd guess everyone else felt the same way.

I'll only use a few sentences about the lack of terrorism profiling. I think defining who's a terrorist and who's a violent criminal gets distorted by narrowly minded regional stereotyping. I wonder if Tim McVeigh (the Oklahoma City bomber), the Unibomber, Eric Rudolph, the Virginia Tech shooter, the Dark Knight movie theater shooter, ESPECIALLY Jared Lee Lougher (He shot a politician for a political reason), would be much more often referred to as terrorist if the same actions were carried out by someone from the Middle East or Africa. When white men commit such crimes, people automatically explore the "Oh maybe he's just crazy" rather than questioning their motives. This is opposite with those from Arab or African descent, there is no regard for their mental state, their intent gets assumed as terrorism, even if the person was born and raised n the US and has no definable connections to terrorist groups. If you're premeditating and carrying out mass murder, you need to be treated like a monster; no matter what you look like. Real Talk...

Real Talk: Recent NFL tragedies

For a second straight Sunday, the National Football League has to hold games on the heels of reporting player-caused fatality. Last Sunday, 25 year old Kansas City linebacker Jovan Belcher (pictured above) shot his girlfriend eight times at their home before killing himself in front of his coach, general manager, and other team officials at their practice facility. This week, Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent was driving under the influence and flipped his vehicle killing the passenger, his teammate Jerry Brown. I heard a quote today which I believe to be an apt description of the circumstances. Former NFL player and present commentator Tom Jackson said that despite popular belief, "The NFL is a microcosm of society." It's easy to view NFL players like their digital replicas on the Madden video games as nothing more than football playing images on your screen with no other purpose or attentions in life than playing up to the expectations of the fans. Ignoring the fact that we are all actually people (and therefore flawed) makes is easy to demonize and criticize them for on field play and ignore the fact that the complexities of life still affect these men off of the gridiron. People have off days, people have days of fatigue of aloofness, personal stresses or emotions can affect professional performance at times, pride often stops people from seeking help they may require. As quiet as it's kept, most teams have personal counselors available for any players who needs them. By all accounts from Chiefs players, Belcher was a model citizen in the locker room and an hard working, devoted teammate. If the rumors about the cause of the murder-suicide events are true, his girlfriend was late coming back from a Trey Songz concert and he became jealous enough to murder her. I can't believe that this level of rage emerged from this incident alone; although it is possible frighteningly enough. By reports, Belcher and his girlfriend were provided counseling by the Chiefs about their "financial and relationship problems." Is it feasible to believe that had they contacted the counselor earlier or been more honest at counseling about their issues that this may not have happened? I think it's possible. But instead this tragedy took place despite the fact that they actually made the hard step to begin counseling. Now because of this murder suicide, a young girl will never know her parents and whoever raises her will have a terrible story about them whenever she becomes old enough to ask. The NFL itself has a comprehensive substance abuse program available for any players willing to use it. Is it possible to believe that if Brent's ego allowed him to join the program, or use the NFL taxi service (yeah, the NFL has created a hotline for this very purpose), or bring a friend as a designated driver, his teammate would be alive and he wouldn't be in custody for intoxication manslaughter? It's a reasonable conclusion. But as with addiction and many other personal problems, it's difficult to admit that you have a problem which could cause death of someone close to you; often to a fault. This is especially true with alcohol, which is legal and often not considered an addictive drug. People use alcohol so casually that it becomes hard to determine what is truly a state of addiction and even how inebriated you are in relation to whether you are able to drive or not. I've wondered about that one and been more conscious of it myself as I've gotten older. Groupon had a personal breatalyzer on sale for cheap and I bought it just so I could examine that myself at home because if you're not 'out of control, world spinning, I can barely stand up' drunk, it can become hard to know exactly where you stand. Sounds crazy, but I did. It's worth the $20 to me to know how I feel at that point and avoid the possible DUI or tragedy which can follow. As a people, we have to be more conscious and deliberate handling our problems before they become the causes of tragedy. Hindsight is 20/20, but when your hindsight exposes you to the realities that your actions could have saved life, hindsight can also be very painful. I wouldn't ever want to have to live with that burden. Real talk...