Tag: america

Trip: 6 Weeks a Nomad

jamescaud

MEGA UPDATE

Holy hell I’m tired. I thoroughly apologize for taking so damn long to update the site on my travels. I sincerely was so busy exploring and adventuring that a bunch of work was pushed aside to simply experience the trip. Streaming was throttled back a tad as well due to me being on the road so often on the return trip home. Plus, keeping electronics charged out in the wild is difficult without a fat power inverter. But alas, I wrote everything down in my book. So here it is! I’ll break it down by location starting where I left off, because weeks and days starting getting really blurred.

Pittsburgh

I loved Pittsburgh, it might be because I saw it before it started to get all gloomy, which I guess it now has. Regardless, this place was a blast. I spoke with countless professors and students about life at the university, and more specifically about the Engineering and Public Policy program it offers. This seems like the perfect transitional fit for me considering I want to work in government some day. They have incredible connections and what seems to be a phenomenal internal structure and culture. I could definitely see myself going to school at CMU, but I need to build up my knowledge/resume/confidence before I apply. The application period opens in November, but I think I may wait a year or so until I’ve gotten some real software engineering experience.

Alan Turing Bench

 

I also met some beautiful individuals. While staying at the Delt chapter I got the opportunity to fraternize with my bothers. We shared stories over meals and drinks, and I was lucky enough to attend their chapter meeting and thank all the brothers for their hospitality. I saw my first familiar face in the man who helped start my chapter in SLO, Evan, who is the chapter adviser for CMU Delt. The other adviser, Jaison, took me out to a brewery for a couple of pints and we talked in depth about the EPP program. He was the main reason I got so much face time with persons in the program, and was one of the most compassionate men I met. Overall, I couldn’t thank them all enough for what they did for me. Other than just cool dudes, I also met a few cool chicks. One in particular stood out among the rest for her diverse past and incredibly adventurous personality. Julia showed me the Pittsburgh downtown scene on a very interesting non-binary double tinder date. Saw her twice, hope to make it a third someday.

Last Sunset in Pittsburgh

Niagara Falls

We all know how powerful water is, from flooding, to erosion, to hydro-power. But you will never understand the power of water until you visit Niagara Falls. I was told I would not be too impressed, but whoever said that didn’t know how easily impressed I am haha. I loved it. Selfie stick in hand, I skated around and acted like a total tourist. I didn’t stay for more than a few hours because I had to be in Boston in 2 days, but this little side excursion was totally worth it.

There was only one hiccup, the US/Canada Border Patrol. Pulled up to the entry to Canada and this is what played out:

Canadian Border Patrol Agent: “Where you from? … California?! What are you doing all the way out here? … You live out of your truck? Are you planning on staying the night in Canada? … No? Alright, well do you have any Alcohol, Tobacco or Firearms with you? … No, cool. Whats in the back of your truck? … Your bed and camping supplies? Alrighty then, we are going to have you pull into spot 14 for a full search of your vehicle.”

Fuck. Sorta. I never lied to him, but I did have some weird and potentially illegal stuff in my car I know they’d find. But whatever, if I go to Canada jail for small amounts of weed or the suspicion that I was defecting, I’m sure I could figure my way out of the situation.

Ten minutes of watching them rip my car up and having a drug dog smell me up, I built up a bit of a nervous sweat. I did not plan ahead for this. Luckily, everything was chill. They let me pass with no problem, and when I got back to the truck they had all the questionable stuff on the passenger seat noting their findings and leaving them be. I suppose

they were more interested in finding smuggled cocaine or trafficked humans. So with a sigh of relief, I continued on into Canada.

Getting back to America was easy, pass the BP agent my passport, a few questions later… “Welcome home”.

Boston

I made it to Boston the night before my morning flight to Seattle. Made dinner on the back of my truck and slept in the economy airport parking lot. This lot stood next to the refueling jets, lets just say I had some weird dreams that night that may or may not have been fume based. Hopped on my 6AM flight and 5 hours later landed in somehow sunny Seattle.

Seattle

One of my main objectives along the way was to find places I could see myself living in more permanently. Seattle was the second city/area I found to fit the bill. The downtown was not overwhelming large, and there were many districts around that provided for a nice taste of diversity.

The whole reason I was in Seattle was for an on-site interview with Amazon on Friday. They flew me out early Thursday, which gave me time to explore the city and get a feel for everything. I ended up skating to a Chicago pizza joint for lunch, dinner, then dinner the next day. I probably could have sampled more places, but I figured since I missed the pizza in Chicago, I would try it in Seattle lol.

Later that day I went to a bar downtown called The Whiskey Bar, and got hammered. This kicked off the first of many charades I called “Find Your Way Home”. With hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have started the game the night before my interview, but I was pretty confident. Skated tipsy around the city and managed to find my way back to the hotel. Later trials of the game included finding my parked truck/friends apartment.

The interview on Friday went great! I got to talk about my travels with other interesting and cool engineers. I made a friend, Omar, before the interview started up and at some point used one of my favorite quotes, “I ain’t no bitch.” I think it was in relation to how I wouldn’t buy a more comfortable sleeping arrangement for my truck. We chatted throughout the day, had lunch together and ended up getting told the same thing at the end of the whole process, “Sorry we filled the position, more spots may open later”. Sounds like Amazon had a freeze, and needed to recount their openings. All applicants from my day on (thousands) got the same message, whoops lol.

After the nearly day long interview I decided to chill out by the sound and sample one of the many hemp shop’s goods. Turned in for the night relatively early, set no alarm, and passed out.

I woke up the next day an hour and a half prior to my return flight. The skate to the rail station was going to be 10-15 minutes, the rail would be 30, and who knows how long security would take. Long story short, I showed up for the last boarding call and sat my smelly ass down in between two lovely old ladies. Luckily, prevailing winds cut the trip time down a full hour. Landed in Boston in the evening and made my way to Cambridge.

Cambridge and Boston

After the recent success of “Find Your Way Home”, I decided to take another stab at it. This time I headed to a “Harvard Bar” I don’t remember exactly which, but I figured going to the one in Good Will Hunting was a bit unnecessary and out of reach. Woke up the next day, Sunday, and had a blast streaming Harvard Yard and a local street fair. However, I wasn’t really feeling the vibe. Checked out MIT and the Delt chapter there, but decided to keep on the move and start heading South toward NY.

https://clips.twitch.tv/KathishExuberantFishDxCat

That was, until I met a girl named Nat. We decided to visit an art museum since it was free admission for the holiday. I got to know her very well as we eventually made our way into downtown Boston. One good thing about the city was it’s oddly diverse architecture style. Many buildings extended past their footprint, and others were left unchanged since the colonial days. The city and all its luster was lost on me since I had already decided to leave. So with a goodbye we parted ways, but only after a deep understanding of each other’s person was made, and I headed South.

Rhode Island and Conneticut

Right around this point in my trip I started developing a really nasty case of tonsillitis. It started slowly, but due to stress and poor sleeping habits it only got worse as the days went on. So I decided to take it easy as I made my way down the east coast towards the next stop, New York City. One of my best days was spent at Harkness Memorial State Park on the coast of Connecticut just hammocking and writing in my journal. I got to touch the Atlantic Ocean, which was a goal of mine from the beginning. Even more over, I was able to sleep and mediate for hours. Little days of relaxation were super necessary as I got further and further away from home.

Also, Connecticut was the only state where I had a run in with the police. The story isn’t that interesting, but I learned a valuable lesson. If you plan on sleeping in your car in a neighborhood, choose your spot wisely and later in the night. After an interrogation lasting 10 minutes, I hadn’t given the officer any reason to search so I asked to be released and he reluctantly did. I’m pretty sure the neighbors though I was a drug dealer or something and wanted me out of their neighborhood. I drove a few minutes north, parked in a similar hood, and hopped out quickly to later return and climb in the back.

New York City

This was by far my favorite place on the whole trip. New York City has a really special feel to it, unlike any other city encountered. At this point I was tremendously ill, but was determined to still make the most of my visit. I took the train in from New Jersey early in the morning, and headed to Central Park. I didn’t remember much from the last time I visited NYC, but knew I had to skate around Central Park. Checked off another life goal with that beautiful skate. I live streamed as much of the city as I could, before catching my old friend, Colin Adams, for lunch. He works at Google in the big apple, and for lunch I got treated to a free Google buffet, yeah that was nice. We talked about life after college and passion finding. He enlightened me to the fact that most people have to balance their own personal desires with those around them. Responsibility doesn’t mean giving up your dreams, it just means compromise. That’s why I hope to be well on my way toward my dream job before I settle down, get married, and start having kids. All in due time.

NYC at Night

Unfortunately, him and his fiancee were traveling to DC for the weekend and wouldn’t be able to show me around the city. No matter, they still were kind enough to lend me their quaint apartment for the weekend. I was able to spend a day trying to get well and catch up on sleep, much needed. I wrote a poem that night that I would end up recording on their rooftop lounge. Some highlights of the day included visiting the 9/11 memorial, which I start to tear up just thinking about, and skating in the busy streets of Manhattan.

The next day I slept in as much as I could, and only went out in the late afternoon for amazing pizza and to stretch my legs. That night however, was to be the third run of my game. I went to a very notorious jazz bar, paid a fat cover, and proceeded to get three drinks in a 90 minute set. This was the first time where I felt like a 10 out of 10.

Normally when people ask me how I’m doing, I’ll give them a numerical answer ranging form 1 to 10, ten being the best. I lived in a depressed state all last year hovering around 5 or 6. Not until I started traveling did I notice it rise to an average of 7. Then it kept rising, and peaked at 10 a few times, this being the first and best. The band came up to my spot at the bar during and after the set and thanked me for my enthusiasm. I was by far the loudest and most vibe-ing patron. After the set I went to a few more bars to grab a drink and check out the scene.

https://go.twitch.tv/videos/181891696

Decided to head out the next morning, bearing towards DC. Cleaned up the apartment, and thanked the couple for their incredible hospitality in a note, and left.

Car Troubles

Something was bound to go wrong. After a full inspection pre-departure, I knew there was little to no way I was going to make it through 8,000 miles without some mechanical failure. My battery light came on while driving towards DC. A few things could be broken, so I checked them all. The alternator was dying. It wasn’t completely dead yet, but if I didn’t take care of it, my car would run out of battery on the road and just about cease to be useful. My engine would surely overheat and I’d be in way bigger trouble. So I took it into a local shop, chatted up the store clerk while the mechanic switched out the part. A bit of a bummer and unforeseen expense, but I was back on the road in no time!

Washington D.C.

Before each big city, when I knew I’d be streaming as much as I could, I would often spend a full day or two preparing. I would prep for travels, locations to visit, and charge up all my electronics and battery packs. This also would give me an opportunity to research or write a blog post. Which is why I didn’t get around to writing as many as I’d like, I just didn’t get that many opportunities to do so. Nevertheless, I spent this time writing my post on gun violence.

D.C. was immaculate. I arrived early in the morning to visit all the major monuments and memorials before the big crowds. Boy was I rewarded greatly for this initiative. The entire mall was empty except for a few morning joggers. I was able to visit each cite and stream them with nobody to block my view. My favorite was walking through the FDR memorial and laughing at all the quotes we will never hear our current president say. I even wondered aloud at a point, “I bet Trump hasn’t even been to this place.”

https://go.twitch.tv/videos/183154816

While visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial I noticed his addiction to “Justice”. I admitted my reluctance to accepting this word and ideal as one I like. After some more research into human history and better understanding of the full picture of justice I have changed my opinion. I like justice, in fact I demand it. To me, justice are the actions taken after an injustice. Without justice, humans are allowed to take advantage of each other with no fear of repercussion. Hammurabi to Julies Cesar, the question of just justice has always been debated. I don’t claim to know all the answers, but I know that my fight for justice will not be the same as many past revolutionaries. I want to fight against the injustice of corporate greed and unethical economic practices. Of course I still care about women/minority rights, but I see a bigger evil in capitalistic fueled inequality.

I wrote another poem while in D.C. This time, with a self inflicted time limit to draft it: 10 minutes. I wrote a piece on motivation because at this time I was finalizing my own. Which I wrote down in my book and will continue to attack with ferocity.

I visited many museums, monuments, memorials, statues, and witnessed the three branches buildings. I felt satisfied after a long day and decided not to return for another day.

Appalachian Backpacking

It had been way too long since I brought out the full backpacking gear set. At this point I had decided for sure that I would be visiting another one of my old friends who had graduated and moved across the country. So, I let him know I was on the way, but would be spending a few days in the wilderness beforehand. He told me the weekend would be best, so I was chillen. The first night I essentially car camped, but pitched my hammock in the forest for a bit more seclusion. The second day I packed up my gear and hit a trail. This was all done in the South Appalachian, the Carolinas.

Home

It felt good to be somewhere nobody could get to me. I added a value to my principles, solitude. I find that my favorite types of vacation have an element of solitude. As much as I thoroughly enjoy people, I crave a place where there is no sign of human life. No telephone poles, no cars, no people. Nature does the trick often, but I’ll still get the occasional wireless signal and airplane over head. Can’t wait until I get to visit Antarctica. (I’m going to visit all 7 continents, 5 to go)

Atlanta

Throughout the trip, whenever I was driving or hanging out in a new area I would listen to rappers from that area. I was very pleased to make it to Atlanta, that meant I got to listen to my favorite artist, Childish Gambino. Not only that, but I got to visit one of my greatest friends from the beginning of college, Mike Nothem. He had graduated when I did, and went back to school to obtain a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering. He posted me up in his place and introduced me to all his new friends. We were going to the Georgia Tech football game against Wake Forest, so I borrowed a GT shirt and played the part. After a fun pre-game at his buddy (Isaac’s) house we headed to the game. I had no ticket, so there was only one option, plead drunk ignorance and weasel my way in. Worked like a charm and we ended up winning the match!

Crew

After the game there were some shenanigans, but the most fun was trying to get a shell store attendant to sell alcohol 30 minutes past the legal time. It didn’t work out, but I learned an important lesson, alcohol hours vary per state and locale. So, find a place with the most liberal laws, like New Orleans!

The next day was hangover recovery and catching up on sleep. I probably should have written this post then, but I wanted to play GTA with my friend lol. We made dinner and I bid him a grateful farewell in the morning.

New Orleans

Back to the Mississippi! Before arriving to New Orleans, I learned of some interesting history that guided my experience in the swamp city. Apparently back in the early 1800s France fucked their entire economy due to a credit bubble similar to the housing bubble in 2008. Unlike other ventures at the time such as Boston and New Amsterdam/York, this one failed tremendously. Lies and government corruption caused the first large scale stock crash of human history.

So it was no surprise when I arrived and found the city to be incredibly small. There weren’t any skyscrapers, no transit, no flare. That is until it hit midnight. The streets started lighting up with sounds of Jazz. I visited a few live jazz bars and hit another 10/10. I would love to find a weed and beer jazz bar some day, then I may just break the scale. I was having a grand time until I decided to take a skate in the rugged streets of NO. I fell and cut my hand and knee open pretty bad. That was the end of the night for me, I went back to my car, bandaged the wounds and went to bed. I left the next morning.

At this point in the trip I was about ready to get home. I was still 2,000 miles away, but I wanted to be done. So, instead of stopping in Austin, I drove straight through Texas and New Mexico.

Arizona: Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Sedona

My last state before I return to the great western banana called California. I spent a few days in the Arizona desert and had a blast! Initially I had a very hard time just picking a day hike to make. The first days were dedicated to chilling out and reminiscing on the trip. After I had come to terms with the end, I went on a few crazy hikes to get as high as possible with my feet still on ground. I climbed to the top of Cathedral Rock in Sedona and streamed my high altitude beer from the peak, then the hike down as well. Saw a guy carrying up a didgeridoo, and had him play it, 9.5/10 cuz my knee was still bleeding from when I reopened it climbing up the hill.

https://clips.twitch.tv/CrispyBigBeefOSsloth

Overall I loved Arizona, right up there with my love for Coloardo, you just don’t have to worry about snow in Arizona.

Cathedral Rock

California: Joshua Tree, UCSB, Cal Poly

I finished up my desert camping in the beautiful Joshua Tree National Park, where I started really thinking about value theory. I love ethics, and often think of it as the more important side of value theory coin. Yet, aesthetics theory took a hold of my mind whilst sitting on top of a 200 meter tall rocky pillar. I wondered about natural beauty, and what it means to us humans. I think Plato had it just about right when he said they whisper to us our inner desires. I read a lot on the final portion about philosophy and great philosophers. Starting with Aristotle and Plato, then working through stoicism all the way to Marxism. It helped me clarify my own personal philosophy when I heard centuries old dead Greeks saying the same thing I was saying.

Hidden Valley

After Joshua Tree, I visited my little sister in Santa Barbara. Julianna, or Julie as she prefers, just got to school and has already faced a number of challenges. Similar to what I had faced once in my life, I gave advice on poignant issues and insisted she read more of my blog. Some day I’ll write a post on my family, they’re an odd bunch.

I left after chatting for a few hours to return to my college town of San Luis Obispo. And that’s where I am now, enjoying time with friends, and planning for the next steps.

Next Steps

I don’t have all that much money left after this long trip, so I feel the need to go to work. The capitalist in me, feels motivated, but the socialist wants to keep searching for purpose. I compromise to do both, yet the balance is yet to be defined. I know for a fact that I need to return to my family home in Fresno and spend a few weeks sitting in the same spot and mashing away at key and mouse. I must take the next step in my grand plan. But at least I’m poised to take that step with confidence and certainty in my bright future.

I will probably still travel around locally, living out of my truck as I have done for many weeks now. But, I need to devote a considerate amount of my time to taking the next step. Stay tuned for more posts about ethical dilemmas our nation faces, and how I want to solve them.

Gun Violence and the Media

jamescaud

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. -2nd Amendment

This may just be one of the most outdated and antiquated amendments in the whole 27, right after the third amendment outlawing the quartering of troops. Most people shorten it to “the right to bear arms”, yet the first begets the second. In order to understand this amendment, it’s important to think through the perspective of the early Americans back in 1789. At the time, the military was very weak, and slow to deploy. They had no speedy transportation, and literally had to march anywhere if there were a battle waging. Also at this time Americans were under threat from native tribes, since they sorta kicked them off their land and killed their families.With these two things in mind, the extreme infancy of an organized military/police force and the constant threat of attack, citizens were all but encouraged to own weapons and know how to use them. A whole community of men could form a militia to defend the rest of the community and act as a supplementary force to the aforementioned organized troops. Not only this, but the framers were afraid of tyrannical governments. Allowing citizens to have the same access to the weapons the military did ensured a fair fight if they wanted to revolt. This was necessary back then, yet has become completely unnecessary now.

Today, due to technological advancement, we have automatic rifles, handheld explosives with incredible potency, and nukes. I can assure you the framers did not anticipate these sort of arms. So why then am I not allowed to keep and bear a thermonuclear warhead? If I have the cash for it, assuming. Because that’s nonsensical, nobody needs that. Needless to say there are many restrictions on this amendment, similar to libel and the first amendment, you can’t have any weapon you want. Yet honestly, it seems that there are more laws governing blades then there are governing firearms. In this post I will dive deep into the very American culture surrounding guns, what policy decisions got us here, and what we can do about people unnecessarily dying to firearms. Lastly I will talk about mass shootings and the media, then conclude with recognition for alternative killers of the American people.

 

America the Gun Toting Nation

There are more guns than people in America. This fact alone is pretty bonkers. Nearly half of all households own at least one weapon. There are many common day reasons for owning a firearm but the two most popular are sport and protection. When people refer to sport shooting like hunting, they often are referring to rifles and shotguns. When referring to protection, most people think handguns. This isn’t always the case, but is a general consensus. Compared to other nations, not only do we own WAY more guns, but we also have WAY more gun deaths: who would have thought? Many people have been quoted saying gun violence is a developing epidemic in America, however I am forced to dispute. When looking at the data, gun related deaths on the decline, but mass shootings are increasing. (Which I’ll talk about more later) And to be honest, most deaths are suicide. There is a lot of speculation as to why this is the case, but its just that speculation. The real question is not whether it’s becoming an epidemic, just whether or not it’s a public health issue. I think it is undoubtedly a public health issue, due alone to the incredible rise in mass shootings the the recent decade. So why does it seem like there is so little formulated data on incidents? Well, that’s where a complicated series of policy decisions come into play. By complicated I mean contradictory, special interest infested, and loophole generated. The general trend towards looser gun policy does not match the consensus of the populous.

 

A Messy Gun Policy Landscape

We already know about the second amendment, but what other laws and regulatory agencies have their hands in this complicated mess of gun policy? Let’s start with the players then dive into the rules of the game.

Players:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

The ATF or ATFE as it is commonly referred as is the main federal enforcer of all laws passed regarding these four items. It sits under the Department of Justice, and has two major jobs relating to firearms. The first is to issue FFLs (Federal Firearm License) to authorized manufactures and sellers of guns. There are different levels of this license, but essentially it means they are a legit seller of guns. You don’t necessarily need a FFL to sell guns, which is something I’ll talk about later. The second main thing this organization does is investigate illegal firearms activity. In the past there has been many horrible incidents of failed stings and illegal searches, so lately it seems there has been a real back-off. They also create initiatives to protect the public and enable law enforcement to track weapons through a newer gun tracing program.

Their mission is simple when it comes to guns, “ATF recognizes the role that firearms play in violent crimes and pursues an integrated regulatory and enforcement strategy”. So they’re here to help us, they are the good guys. But they don’t get to make the laws, congress does.

Congress

Both federal and state congresses pass laws regulating or deregulating guns in America. Sometime’s they are at odds with each other, nothing new here. Many bad laws have been passed by past federal congresses, especially due to the second largest political advocacy group behind AARP, the NRA.

National Rifle Association

This is a nonprofit organization who lobbies congress, endorses candidates and organizes voters who favor gun-owner sided policy. I choose my words wisely here, because they don’t necessarily want looser gun laws. They simply want to enable voters with the knowledge they need on policies and issues relating to guns. They are all for safety, provided gun safety courses and marksmanship classes. However, over the years, they have sponsored bills that I believe have provided loopholes for criminals and been to the detriment of the American public.

Center for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Human Services

I put the CDC and DHHS in here because they often are in charge of researching public health hazards. Yet, their funding for gun violence research was stripped in 1996 due to NRA lobbied Jay Dickey removing budget considerations for them. This dramatically restricted any data collection and not until 2012 did they start research on gun violence again. SMH

Supreme Court

These 9 old judges don’t often play a large role in this game, but have in the past. Striking down just about any state or federal law that tries to cross the second amendment. Because, you know, strict interpretation of the constitution works so well 230 years later…

Civilians

I can’t leave out the most important players, the actual people who buy, sell, and use guns. Whether they are FFL certified sellers, private sellers, private buyers, straw purchasers, or criminals: guns don’t kill people – people kill people with guns.

Rules of the Game:

Many laws have contributed to this complicated gun policy landscape, but I am going to focus on the two most important. There is also a few court cases, but I’ll just highlight one that sort of got us to where we are today.

Gun Control Act of 1968

This law was passed after many huge public figures were assassinated in short time. It charged the ATF with distributing and authorizing distributors of firearms with the FFL. The law was then bolstered in 1993 when the Brady Act was passed requiring all FFL holders to background check each purchaser. The main purpose of this bill was to disallow the capability of mail ordering weapons, which even the NRA agreed to at the time. (Since they mailed the gun that killed JFK) It initially tried to require by law all weapons be nationally registered and have all owners be nationally licensed, but that wouldn’t make it into the final law. Those are still managed per state, and some states are far more lackadaisical.

In many people’s opinion this was a huge mistake, ripping the second amendment open – bordering on tyranny. But honestly, it fell short of its aspirations, then was practically destroyed by the next law. Also, the text of the law only required businesses dealing weapons to own a FFL, not private 2nd market sellers. It also mandated FFL licensed dealers to sell exclusivley at the address listed on the FFL, but this wouldn’t last for long.

Firearm Owners Protection Act

So this was a major de-regulation law. Not only did it give FFL holders the capability to sell at locations other than their listed address, it extremely loosened the definitions for a business dealing arms. Essentially it yanked a lot of authority from the ATF, since they were kinda going crazy at the time, and “gave the power back to law abiding, gun-owning, citizens”. But it opened up a huge loophole for criminals to exploit! (I’ll talk about this loophole in the next section)

DC vs Heller

This supreme court decision ruled in favor of Heller stating that DC’s handgun ban violated the individual’s right to own and bear arms. Essentially, this formally stated that the right to own and bear arms as stated in the second amendment was an individual right as opposed to a right reserved to a person in a militia. (LOL K) This did so much more than just recognize the fact that individuals have the right to own weapons for self-defense, it also reclassified handguns as legal arms and allowed guns to be stored loaded. These were all strikes to previous laws passed by congress, trending heavily toward loose regulation of guns. It however did not challenge any state jurisdiction, since DC isn’t technically a state. A later case asserted the federal authority, McDonald vs Chicago.

 

How Criminals Get Guns

First off, I want to reiterate, a majority of gun related deaths are suicide. While these are no longer deemed crimes, it’s still a very difficult societal matter. After all, we don’t want people killing themselves, with guns or meds or anything. So if we want to drop these gun death numbers, we should seriously consider a whole new approach to mental illness. I’ll save that for another post.

So there are a few ways criminals can get their hands on guns both legally and illegally through loopholes.

The most common way criminals get guns is through a second hand market. A private “seller” can basically say “they didn’t seem to be a criminal or mean any negative intent” and legally sell the gun. I put “sell” in quotes because it could just be given to them, no trade made. This is the way that most guns get into criminals hands, but who are the people selling them these guns? Who makes the initial “legal” purchase? It could be just about anybody honestly.

With the “Gun Show Loophole” any private seller can say the same thing at a large event where both FFL certified and uncertified vendors sell guns. They don’t have to background check, they don’t have to request identification, they don’t have to do anything but make a sale. (Capitalism at its finest) Even FFL certified sellers can do this if the specific weapon was transferred to personal ownership at least a year ago, I wonder if anybody forges documents in this industry? What I’m saying here is that even a convicted felon could walk into a gun show and purchase a weapon. Apparently the ATF reports that anywhere from 50-75% of sales are made from FFL certified dealers. Also, if you want to buy anything but a handgun, you don’t even have to be a citizen of the state! And from what I can tell from a few hidden camera videos, even that is rare, if you have the cash, they won’t ask for ID. These legal private sales are why so many gang members in California and Mexico have semi-automatic assault rifles, because they legally purchase them and smuggle them over state/national borders. The best part about this, the seller is almost never liable. Unless the buyer says “I am a felon/fugitive/minor/dishonorable discharge/mentally ill” the seller can legally claim ignorance.

Straw purchasers are another sub-problem. Remember that underage kid asking you to buy them beer? Yeah that’s what a straw purchase is. If a criminal wanted to get a gun through a FFL certified authority, they could get a legal purchaser to buy it for them. Then as you know, the second hand market is always a black one. However illegal this is, it’s almost untraceable and can be very easily ousted by that “good guy” claim.

 

How to Prevent Crime and Death

I often try to find corollaries when attempting to understand new topics. When looking at guns I couldn’t help but to think of cars. After all, they are items owned by individuals that aren’t inherently evil, can can easily become so. There are different kinds of guns and cars that require different licenses to own and operate. They both require a certain level of aptitude in order to operate. The only difference is that the right to drive isn’t in the bill of rights, damn. But seriously, so many restrictions on guns are shot down because it’s seen as a right. (No pun intended)

Realistic Policies

Whenever a pro-gun advocate says “they want to take away our guns”, I sorta laugh. There is no way guns will ever be completely outlawed, its practically impossible. Like I mentioned, there are more guns than people in america. Not only that, but people can legally make their own guns, and now people can even 3D print their own weapons. It would be complete nonsense to even attempt to round up all the weapons in american. We tried that with alcohol one time, and it had far more severely negative consequences. What we need to do is come up with sensible regulation and policy to curb this budding national health hazard. Here is what I think would work.

Licensing

13 states and DC require a license to own/purchase a firearm. Only one of them requires aptitude tests, my home state of California :). It’s honestly shocking that there is no federal mandate for states to require this sort of licensing for guns. After all, the DMV licensing program did a hell of a job at curbing vehicle deaths which were on the rise at the time. The license would cost a flat fee and would expire after a set time, just like a driver’s license. The gun owner would need to verify that they can pass a background check, and are not participating in illegal re-sale of firearms. There would be different license levels for different guns, accompanied by different tests to verify aptitude. Someone who knows how to shoot a handgun, doesn’t necessarily know how to operate a semi-automatic rifle, or shotgun. Sure, the triggers are similar, but so are gas pedals in sedans and 18-wheeler trucks.

In my mind, this is a no brainer. If an individual is caught with a gun and doesn’t have the appropriate license for it, it can be confiscated and the individual fined or jailed (semantics up to the state to determine). This is done to an extent somewhat with concealed carry and open carry licenses, but there is no clear consensus across states. If the federal government passed a law to mandate this, it would go a long way to preventing wrongful ownership of firearms.

Gun Titles/Registration

When you sell your vehicle, you have to fill out a vehicle ownership title transfer. Commonly referred to as a pink slip, you aren’t the legal owner of the vehicle until you get one. In my opinion, every gun should be registered to an individual, even after the first sale. This makes tracing gun transfers so much easier, and narrowing down on the offending seller of guns to criminals. If a gun is confiscated at the scene of the crime and the last owner isn’t involved, they will be partially liable for the crime, because they failed to fill out the proper paperwork to transfer ownership, or cloned it stolen through the police. This will encourage sellers to use the title transfer system for fear of liability. If multiple guns are found in crimes with the same final dealer, that should be considered a felony as they are obviously intentionally distributing guns to criminals.

Gun registration doesn’t have to cost much or even be re-purchased every year like car registration. Unless an argument is to be made that guns need to be smogged or something similar. This system would only be in place to determine ownership of firearms. There would be no limit on the amount of firearms you could own, like cars. A searchable database would be available to authorities to verify the legal ownership of a specific gun, or you would have to prove the owner has given you permission to hold it for them. Very similar to cars. If a car is unlicensed that’s a crime, so if a gun has its serial number removed, it’s illegal. Easy peasy.

Mandating NICS and Harsher Enforcement

The final piece of the puzzle to close the loophole is to require a National Instant Criminal Background Check System verification on every gun title change. Also, give ATF and local law enforcement more power to prosecute any illegal sale. Over 90% of the american population favor this legislation, the only reason it hasn’t been enacted is because of the NRA lobbying against it. This means that the test needs to be made available to private sellers. This provides a few problems. For one, sellers will have to self identify, maybe by being a gun owner with a license, you are assumed to sell privately, then being allowed to use the service. Or, you could have to apply for a seller designation on your license. It also will increase the demand for the check, which could be a technical problem, or just a man-power problem that the FBI would have to double down on.

More Research and Data

The CDC and NHHS need to be allowed to do more research on the affects of certain policies and crime rates. Having definitive information on what actions cause or correlate with others will give us a better understanding of the way guns are used. Similar to what needs to happen with marijuana, the more we relax these policies, we need to do more research on the affects of them. Like the 6% drop in opioid addiction cases since the legalization in Colorado. More data is almost never a bad thing, making informed decisions and policy DEFINITELY is never a bad thing. It’s shocking that for so long this was the case. Even Jay Dickey realized that before his death this year.

 

Mass Shootings and the Media

This section is admittedly going to be far smaller than the entirety of the rest of the post. Not because it doesn’t deserve the same attention, but because it’s a lot more opinionated that fact based. If you hadn’t noticed, mass shootings have been on the rise lately. The most recent big media hit was the Las Vegas shooting. The aforementioned proposals may help in not allowing this to happen again, but there is a far bigger perpetrator at play, the american media.

Sensationalizing crime for viewership has been a common occurrence since the origins of the police car chase. In fact, many entire shows popped up glorifying crime on TV. Violence sells, and the media outlets know that. Even worse, exclusive coverage sells. So unless all stations agree to not blast a story with national coverage, they are going to show what their competitors are showing to get a share of the views. (Once again, capitalism at its best) But this creates a huge problem when it comes to mass shootings.

“What we believe may be happening is national news media attention is like a ‘vector’ that reaches people who are vulnerable”, said Sherry Towers who is researching the rise of mass shootings in America. After racking the data, mass media coverage of mass shootings follow a contagion like model. Meaning: mass shootings are infectious if widely displayed on media. So what do we do? We stop blasting this on national news for weeks on end! This video says it better than I ever could. Maybe the government needs to get involved, but damn, we need to stop this nonsense before more people die needlessly.

 

Suicide

Mass shootings only account for 1% of gun related deaths. 65% is suicide. As mentioned earlier, that’s not okay. Something needs to be done about this, but the policy opportunities are slim. This is more of a social issue that we need to address as a society of people. Breaking the stigma of depression is a good place to start, but there is so much more to be done. I will post in the future about the state of mental health education and awareness in america. For now, just know that this is a huge deal for me. I hate when people kill each other, but I am far more affected by the fact that people kill themselves. Being in the situation myself, I can understand and empathize. Don’t expect this administration to give a shit about this issue. Try again in a few years, meanwhile almost 100 people kill themselves everyday… So, 100,000 people will commit suicide by the time we even get a chance to fully replace this trash administration.

Trip: 2 Weeks a Nomad

jamescaud

Preface:

If you didn’t already know, I’m living out of my truck as a means to an end. That end is: learning all that I can about the nation, people, and me in order to properly focus my passion. The past two weeks have been filled with many incredible moments and a few terrible ones. Overall, I’ve never lived a happier life, and its getting better every day. I feel free, and I wake up with a smile – reliably. Here is the recap for my first two weeks on the road!

I’m not going to add media to this post because my laptop isn’t the best at video editing, and most everything would be taken out of the streamed video. So, I’ll promise to make a totally sick whole trip recap video that will show you the transition I made (at the end of the trip). It will have music, video, and of course bloopers!

Week 1: Tahoe, Reno, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone

Week one was spent mostly on the west side of the Mississippi. The main struggles involved figuring out a comfortable sleeping situation, and how I was going to eat.

Parking outside somebodies place and hopping into the back of a truck and closing it on yourself is legal, but really weird. So I go to bed late at night, the only problem with that is waking up at dawn. I lost a lot of sleep in the first week because I hadn’t adjusted. The bed itself needed some more cushion so I put all my blankets under me and sleep in my sleeping bag. So far, I’ve been getting great rest.

The only real difficulty I was met with eating was finding an appropriate place to make my food. Essentially, I needed to get over the fact that I’m making food and eating it in some parking lot. I try to cook nearby grass so I can poor out the water when washing. (not onto concrete) I’ve gotten over this and eat well every day. I had some cravings in the beginning because I wasn’t eating enough, but I’ve solved that as well.

The successes were far more abound: it hailed in Tahoe and snowed in Yellowstone, I skated some insane lines in Salt Lake and Reno, and may have a new favorite National Park.

Week 2: Denver/Boulder, St. Louis, Chicago, Pittsburgh

Week 2 brought with it it’s own challenges, like finding overnight parking inside a major city and the pains of skating/moving a lot.

Many places like Walmart and Planet Fitness are 24/7 but have signs up in the parking lot stating tow, ticket or boot for overnight parking. I even witnessed a lady with an RV calling the police on a tow operator because no signs were posted in a specific lot. So you have to get creative, and sometimes hiding in plain sight is the only way to go. For the mean time, I’m just trying to keep my vehicle safe and in shape.

I’ve skated in all the towns, and totally wiped out once. (and I caught it on stream!) With that comes some joint pain for traveling anywhere from 5 to 20 miles in a day, it’s manageable but I have been taking a break.

On the bright sides, I’ve met so many new people, and had experiences I never imagined I would. Found some incredible secret spots, fulfilled many of my childhood dreams and made it to the eastern timezone!

CMU has been more than incredible, considering this trip’s only real justification was to visit potential PhD universities, this has been the best place so far. I connected with the CMU Delt Chapter and have already been aided tremendously by my brothers, from a bed to beers and even to program connections. I got to meet with 3 PhD students, the Director of the program (who’s a badass), admissions faculty, and many potential advisers. I’m taking the  “be yourself, express your passions, find your way” approach. So far I’m in love with the program, university, and city. I haven’t seen it in winter though 🙂

Up Next: Boston, Seattle, N.Y.

I’m heading to Boston to research MIT and check out Harvard. I also have heard that there are awesome jazz clubs there and NY, so you KNOW I need to check that out.

The reason why Seattle is squeezed in there is because I have an interview with Amazon and they are flying me out for three days. I am beyond excited! Not only to I get to experience a whole new place I’ve never been, but like Amazon – that’s one of the coolest companies around. They are on the cutting edge of so many technologies. I’m pretty sure I’ve dreamed of being a developer there. In all seriousness, I hope I am the right fit for a good team in the company and I get to start work on a great product.

I’m looking forward to streaming more of it too! I missed a few days due to exhaustion and driving, but you can watch me live at twitch.tv/jamescaud. All my videos for past live streams are there too, so check out some of these incredible places I’ve visited!