HEURISTIC

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 01:50:29 -0800

The tragedy of the Newtown shootings is, above all, a terrible crisis of great suffering, pain, and injustice, especially for the families of the 20 children who have been lost, and the seven adults who gave their lives as they sought to protect those children they had been entrusted with.

But even more terrible than the reality of the situation is the overwhelming possibility that it could have been prevented.

I don’t mean to start a debate on morality or gun control, inflame disagreements already in progress, or use a heart wrenching national crisis to further my personal political positions. I do mean to expose certain assumptions, simplifications, and errors that I feel impede our ability to identify and solve the problems that lead to tragedies such as these.

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

- Wayne LaPierre

First:

Mental illness doesn’t make someone “bad.” Think back to the way that the mentally ill were treated in the past. Until the 20th century, mental illness was thought of as a moral transgression, and the mentally ill were treated as inmates and criminals of choice, rather than as patients- as people afflicted with serious mental health conditions. As science and our understanding of cognitive processes increased, people began to pay more attention to the connection between physical and chemical cognitive irregularities and irrational, illogical, and sometimes violent behavior.

Thus, the outpour of Instagram repostings that tell the shooter he should have “thought twice before making this terrible mistake” might be acceptable for young people without an educated understanding of psychiatric disabilities, but not for anyone with even a basic awareness of how mental illnesses work. Such people must realize that most school shooters don’t think twice not because they’re immoral, villainous schemers, but because their reasoning doesn’t follow the same paths that we consider culturally normal. The shooters at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and the University of Texas, arguably the three most publicized school shootings of our time, all showed signs of mental illness.

I don’t mean to downplay the gravity of the situation, nor do I believe that the murders that occurred this morning are purely the result of a cognitive or mental disability. Mental illness doesn’t make someone “bad.” But murdering 27 innocent people is an inexcusable and heartbreaking crime, and certainly one of the worst. And for that very reason, I think that we need to stop referencing this shooter, Adam Lanza, as simply “a bad guy”- not because we should excuse the despicable crimes he committed, but because in recognizing the fact that Adam Lanza was mentally ill, we allow ourselves a way to work toward preventing crimes like these in the future.

Second:

A good guy with a gun is certainly an effective way to stop a bad guy with a gun. Had a SWAT team arrived at Sandy Hook Elementary moments before the shooting had started, this tragedy might have turned out differently. Had a single police officer spotted Adam Lanza on campus with two 9mm handguns, he might’ve been able to stop him.

Unfortunately, the good guys with guns can’t be everywhere at once.

Yes, you could solve the problem by making it easier to put guns everywhere. But along with the obvious danger of the fact that not everyone is a “good guy” (not to mention a trained, capable, or empathetic guy) you also ignore the other option of making the gun inaccessible to the “bad” guy in the first place.

Of course, even if you were able to remove guns from the situation, it doesn’t remove a shooter’s intent. It’s still possible that Adam Lanza would get a hold of a different kind of weapon, and attempt the same atrocities, as was the case today, at a school in Chengping, China, where a man wielding a knife brutally stabbed 22 children and one adult. The difference between the two situations is that there were no fatalities in Chengping, and the man was eventually taken into custody by security guards. The intent for the crime is there, but the lethality of that crime is taken away by eliminating the most lethal variable: the gun. Yes, these are two isolated incidents being compared, not at all a comprehensive examination. But you shouldn’t need this data to tell you that handguns are more fatal than knives.

Guns may be fatal, but they can be used for two purposes other than murder: sport and non-lethal self-defense. This raises the issue of legal firearms. The two handguns used in the Newtown shootings were legal and registered to Adam Lanza’s mother. He wouldn’t have been able to purchase them on his own, but he had no need to. Existing laws simply didn’t do enough to prevent those legal firearms from ending up in the shooter’s hands. The discussion on how to make laws more effective in this respect is as complicated as it is varied, and I don’t have the knowledge or the experience to pretend to know the best of the proposed solutions.

But the important thing to grasp is the understanding that we can’t rely on good guys with guns to prevent shootings such as these. No combination of good guys and guns will ever be enough to stop every tragic shooting before it happens. No combination of good guys and guns can change the conditions and environment that enables shooters to obtain and use lethal weapons. That change is brought about by enacting and enforcing effective laws.

God bless the families and friends of those struck by tragedy this morning. My heart goes out to you all.

Good Samaritan; Bad Mouth (Granada Visit Pt. 2)

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 23:37:00 -0700

I was on my way out to the staff parking lot when I heard some laughing and yelling behind me. This group of freshmen bops and bros- well, I guess they’re sophomores now- were standing on the grass in front of the leadership room, and they were yelling at a freshman that was just minding his own business walking home.

“Hey freshie, I like your belt!”
“You really know how to dress!”
“Nice shirt f*g.”
“Some swagged out glasses you’ve got on, homie.”

It was like something straight out of a movie, they were picking on this kid just because he was dressed up in a polo and slacks, and wore glasses. I turned around to tell them to mind their own business, but then an older kid walking behind the little freshman beat me to it.

“Oh yeah, who are you to talk? It’s like 100 degrees out here and you’re wearing an overpriced, oversized, f*cking generic-*ss Obey box logo hoodie. Shut the f*ck up.”

Can’t condone the cursing, but that kid made my day. You hear a lot of scary talk about bullying in high school, and not enough about kids that try to stop it.

No school is perfect, because people aren’t perfect. But as long as there are kids willing to speak up like that, I know we’ll be all right.

Spilling Thoughts (Granada Visit Pt. 1)

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 23:36:00 -0700

On Friday I dropped by my old high school for a bit with my good friend Matt to visit our friends and some teachers. It was the first time I had been back since graduating, and I was excited to see how things had changed.

Our leadership, ASB, and class offices are composed of some really good people, people that aren’t just creative and energetic and funny and charismatic, but respectful- and that’s what makes all the difference in dealing with different students, teachers, and organizations. Granada’s got some awesome student leaders, and I can’t wait to see the things that they’ll accomplish this year.

Hip Hop Club is in good hands with Justin. It’s weird to know that the last of the OG members graduated with my class. I still can’t believe it was four whole years ago when we came together and started it. We used to mainly practice bboying and tricking, and the focus is more on modern choreo now, but that’s a good move. It makes us more marketable to new members and more entertaining to watch, to most students at least. We’ve got some real hypebeast-looking freshmen that are trying to join, but if anyone can teach them about dancing for personal devotion rather than hype, it’s Justin. I just wish my man Mitchell was still here to teach them how to dress too.

2013’s taken over Senior Bench, of course, and they’re probably feeling the same way we were when we started our last year of high school, with all the humility of Kanye West times Tony Stark. But they’re a good class, and they’ll do good for our school. I’m excited to see what they do with this year’s homecoming theme. (And how they balance that with college apps.) They’ll be fine though.

It’s so weird to see little siblings of my friends at Granada. They still belong in 5th grade to me. Some kids get lucky and have senior or graduated siblings with a “high school legacy” already in place. We won’t mention any names though. All in all, most things are good.

I’ve been helping my girlfriend’s mom renovate a...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:32:24 -0700

I’ve been helping my girlfriend’s mom renovate a house this week. Today I picked up some soil.

It's funny because I see all these pictures of New York on tumblr, and I'm sitting in a cafe on 33rd and Broadway.

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 00:01:27 -0700

Today, I received a letter I wrote to myself 4 years ago,

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 15:42:15 -0700

brights-on:

So I’m writing back.

Dear Freshman Me,

You’re going to go a long way to get to the person that’s writing to you now. People say that the next four years of your life are going to be your greatest, they’re not. But, they are the greatest yet. You’re going to change, a huge amount, but remember, every little thing that happened, good or bad, contributed to the person you’ll become. So, hate nothing, because it’s all going to move you in a positive direction, even if it doesn’t look like it.

Your friends will change, often. Sometimes, it’s going to be messy and hurtful and you’ll feel the worse you’ve ever felt. Other times, it’ll be a gentle goodbye and replacement. Either way, remember to love everybody, because they will love you back. Don’t forget the meaning of your name, “one who loves and is loved back.” Right now, you’re pretty unknown. But give it a few years, you’ll have people that are really going to miss you.

You wont go to the schools you told me about, and you won’t study the things you mentioned. You’ll be in the perfect school for you, believe me. It’s going to be one of the biggest reality checks of your life when you get those rejection letters, but San Diego is going to be so good to us, just watch. Fate works in mysterious ways, but remember that everything happens for the best. Honestly, it does. There are things that will happen to you, and things that are happening to me right now, that seem purely negative. Everything will be okay, your role models are people that found positive aspects in everything they saw, remember?

Keep chasing art, it’s done a lot for you.

Punish nobody, no matter what they do to you. If you really want to win, love them.

It’s never about winning. People will say it’s all about trying your best, but that’s not true either. When you try to do something, all I want you to do is think about why you’re doing it. If it’s pure, then pour your entire heart into it, and hold on so tight to that idea that it becomes a part of your soul.

You’re going to have regrets. I have no advice for them, but know that they’re supposed to be there.

I’m proud of you. I hope you’re proud of me.

One of the most powerful things I’ve ever read.

Senior Awards Night

Thu, 31 May 2012 20:39:12 -0700

Senior Awards Night

Senior Ditch Day

Thu, 31 May 2012 20:38:37 -0700

Senior Ditch Day

Senior Ball

Thu, 31 May 2012 20:38:01 -0700

Senior Ball

Senior Pictures by Drew Scharnitzke.

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:32:51 -0700

Senior Pictures by Drew Scharnitzke.

Took care of a bunch of UCLA stuff today, signed up for...

Mon, 21 May 2012 17:16:59 -0700

Took care of a bunch of UCLA stuff today, signed up for orientation, accepted scholarships, set up my online payment account, and submitted this as my Bruin Card ID photo.

18 days until graduation. Almost there.

Video

Sun, 20 May 2012 21:38:30 -0700

Grad night at Disneyland was amazing. Hyphyest Place On Earth.

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:15:34 -0700

Grad night at Disneyland was amazing. Hyphyest Place On Earth.

Discussing The AP Stats Test

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:32:57 -0700

Miranda: Well you don't need to do well, just better than the others, which I'm sure you did, based on everyone else's confidence levels.
Jaimeson: Hopefully their... Confidence Intervals... weren't too good either.
Miranda: And their scores were... Significantly Lower.
Jaimeson: Well not too low, we don't wanna be... Mean.
Miranda: I'm sure this is just an... Independent... part of our character, and is a completely... Normal... reaction.
Jaimeson: It's not that we don't want them to do good, we just don't want our college plans to be... Skewed up.

I got it from my mama. (Photo from the lobby of the Hotel...

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:21:00 -0700

I got it from my mama.

(Photo from the lobby of the Hotel Ca’ Dei Conti in Venice this spring break)

Fifteen minutes into Mother’s Day. I’m still up...

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:16:00 -0700

Fifteen minutes into Mother’s Day. I’m still up writing this letter, and taking care of some other stuff for tomorrow/today.

Thought I’d give the good people of tumblr a Sunday Soundtrack. Kanye says it best:

As we knelt on the kitchen floor,
I said, “Mommy I’ma love you till you don’t hurt no more.
And when I’m older, you aint gotta work no more.
And I’ma get you that mansion that we couldn’t afford.”

This is my good friend Uzair. He’s just recently made a tumblr,...

Fri, 11 May 2012 21:01:41 -0700

This is my good friend Uzair. He’s just recently made a tumblr, and his blog holds the spot as my current favorite.

He’s an unapologetic liberal writer, hilarious without being pretentious; an excellent photographer, by the standards of AP Photo rather than Instragram; a model American student, despite being a Pakistani British citizen; and quite possibly the most intellectual young man I know.

He was also Mr. November in this year’s Mr. Matador pageant, and his beard is pure testosterone.

Definitely worth a follow. Check him out.

Photo

Sun, 06 May 2012 20:01:10 -0700

4 days 60 awesome dancers 1 very cool librarian A One Direction...

Sun, 06 May 2012 19:57:00 -0700

4 days
60 awesome dancers
1 very cool librarian
A One Direction flashmob dance in the library

But it was worth it, because now I’m taking Hailey to Senior Ball.

(Alternate angle video here.)

Video credits to Taylor Class and Gentry Vest.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT HELPED OUT!

suckafreecj: CJ Trillo - The Christening ‎”I don’t work with...

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:58:00 -0700

suckafreecj:

CJ Trillo - The Christening

‎”I don’t work with what I’m given, I work with what I’ve earned. My only intermission is a lesson in return.”