The USA Gun Culture

      

This document is the poster of a campaign, the Brady Campaign, against gun violence, and also gun carrying in the USA. The Brady Campaign started for about 40 years ago, and was named after James "Jim" Brady who had a major role in the developmemt of the campaign. Its aim is to prevent gun violence and has, up to now, achieved in passing the Brady law that instituted federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States. 

This poster shows a modern gun in which we see the US waving flag, and above it a short text in which we see the number of people murdered by guns in one year, showing a huge difference between the numbers in the US, 9'000 people killed, and the other mentioned countries, thet doesn't surpass the 200. 

I believe that this poster wants to show the concequences of having the completly free right to hold or buy a gun in the US, which are the death of thousands of people each year, and even if it's a huge country these numbers are too big. Life is something dear to each individual and something that we should try to protect and if we leave guns within easy reach it becomes more of a danger than a protection. 

The phrase "GOD BLESS AMERICA" is quite ironical, because it is critizising the stubborness of Americans that hold onto their gun culture having blind eyes to the damage it causes, it seems like it's saying "there are too much people dying by guns in the US but even so we are the best country in the world."

In comparison to the same poster of  2004, we can see 2 main differences, the gun has changed and the number of deaths has lowered. We can consider this as a positive thing and we can think that this campaign is progessing in its aim to reduce deaths by guns by having more sensible gun laws so as to save lives.

In this graph we can see that the USA is not on the Top 10 countries with the highest rate of gun murders, but it is too close as the 26th. We could consider this as a positive thing, it is not the 1st one. But it is only surpased by undeveloped countries with lots of violence and guerillas, and as the leading world power, this is quit schoking. On the graph of the right side we can see that inside the rating of the developed countries The USA is far above the others. We can recognize that the USA is seen as a kind of model crountry for those whose values are freedom and equality, and also security, which in this case the USA does not assure. This difference between the USA and the other developed countries rise concerns about this US Gun Culture.

This cartoon is a caricature that critizise the congress atitude towards the gun culture issue. In this cartoon we see that there has been a bloodshed in the capitol, probably due to gun shooting. At the entrace there is a man representing the congress being bought off by the gun lobby. The cartoonist critizises the congres's attitude towars the issues and victims that the free use of guns that happen because of the too easy access to guns. It is more interested by money than by the people's safety, and completely ignore the blood river that comes from the capitol.



In this cartoon we can see a critic to how the second amendment of the United States constitution is being overused in the USA. We can see a clear difference between what meant the founding fathers in giving the right to own a gun and the result of it. In this cartoon we see a member of the NRA (National Rifle Association), equiped with three rifles, holding various guns, and standing on boxes of bullets. The cartoon critizises that USA citizens abuse the rights that gives them the second amendment and end up been dangerous more than having a way to prtotect themselves. In comparison with the statue of the man with a rifle the NRA man scares more than making us feel secure, which is the image that gives us the statue.

R.E.M. - Every Day Is Yours To Win

Cover artwork:

Two contrasting reviwes of the album

At last! R.E.M. have come up with an album to compare with their 'greats' of the past. Brand loyalty can come at a price, and R.E.M. have tested my patience with a series of disappointing albums, 'Accelerate' promised much but in reality just offered 4 or 5 good tracks and some really poor tracks also. 

'Collapse Into Now' in many ways offers a similar style to 'Accelerate' but 12 of the 12 tracks hit the mark. I am not ready (yet!) to heap too much praise, but this could prove to be a truly great R.E.M. album. I guess my low expectations, might lead me to over state the quality of this album, but I need to go back to albums such as 'Up' and 'Reveal' to hear equivalent quality (and I hold both of these albums in very high esteem). 
What is particularly impressive about 'Collapse Into Now' is the combination between the gentle and the more rocky tracks. This album flows beautifully and will probably satisfy all R.E.M. fans who have stuck with them over the disappointments of recent years. 
So if you are hesitating in respect to this latest album, get out there now and buy your copy! 
PS: This was indeed the final R.E.M. album, at least they went out on a positive note!! 
Key Track: Uberlin

From: corkie at Rate Your Music

I'm beginning to think previewing most of this album online weeks, even months, before its release was an act of genius on R.E.M.'s part. For me, it meant that by the time Collapse Into Now was officially released into this die-hard fan's hands, I'd got past the need to constantly compare the songs to bits of the band's back catalogue (you know the kind of thing -- hey, this song sounds a bit like "Drive"! This song sounds a bit like "Crush With Eyeliner"! This song sounds a bit like "Losing My Religion!") and could appreciate it on its own terms. And heck, why shouldn't R.E.M. sound like its past selves? For all that Buck, Mills and Stipe have tried to wear their history lightly, the fact is they will still wear it. (As the old saw goes, "Be yourself -- nobody else is better qualified".) 

And the truth is, yes, this is minor R.E.M. I appreciate they wanted to diversify in sound a bit more than Accelerate, but in doing so they've lost focus and impact. And some of Michael Stipe's lyrics are surprisingly silly. There doesn't seem to be any overarching theme to the record, or even a reason for it to be apart from, well, it was time to make another album. So, let me be truthful and rate it 3 1/2 stars. 

But let me be even more truthful and say I love this album, in the same way I love Reckoning and Green and Up -- it's tuneful and daft and heartfelt and brash, it swaggers and it simpers, it has its tongue in its cheek and its hand on its heart. It is, as Peter Buck once famously described R.E.M. itself, "part lies, part heart, part truth and part garbage". It endears itself to me. It's like getting a big hug from an old friend you haven't seen in a while. 

And while great songs are thin on the ground, I'll make a big exception for "Blue" (as so often in the past, they save the best for last). And if this does turn out to be the last R.E.M. album, they couldn't find a better way to go out than with Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye along for the ride. Which does complete a kind of perfect circle, after all; Horses was the album that Stipe and Buck bonded over a mutual love of, and you can see the influence from "Radio Free Europe" on -- in a sense, Stipe and Buck are Smith and Kaye. 

Not a perfect band, but still my favourite band.

From: BradL at  Rate Your Music

Short Biography

R.E.M. marked the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock. When their first single, "Radio Free Europe," was released in 1981, it sparked a back-to-the-garage movement in the American underground. R.E.M. brought guitar pop back into the underground lexicon. Combining ringing guitar hooks with mumbled, cryptic lyrics and a D.I.Y. aesthetic borrowed from post-punk, the band simultaneously sounded traditional and modern. Though there were no overt innovations in their music, R.E.M. had an identity and sense of purpose that transformed the American underground. Throughout the '80s, they worked relentlessly, releasing records every year and touring constantly, playing both theaters and backwoods dives. Along the way, they inspired countless bands, from the legions of jangle pop groups in the mid-'80s to scores of alternative pop groups in the '90s, who admired their slow climb to stardom.
For 2011's Collapse into Now, the band favored a more expansive sound, one that combined Accelerate's rock songs, their previous album, with slower ballads and moody atmospherics. Reviews were mostly positive, and it debuted in the Top Five in America. Unexpectedly, in September 2011, the band announced its amicable breakup after 31 years together. Immediately after the split, the band issued a double disc compilation entitled, Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage: 1982-2011, covering both their years at IRS and Warner.

Record review

When I saw the video, I found it weird, because it showed different people doing random things or short videos of birds flying in a house or a cat. Also the quality isn't a good one, it seems to be all a webcam footage. But even if I found it weird I liked it, excatly because it was a video of different types of people doing random things. I think it has a poetic side, it has a charming side because it shows people doing curious things that maybe you hadn't seen before. Also, it has left me curious to know what happens next in some of the footage, like, for example, a guy who was painting himself in white and you never know what he is doing because you don't see it in full. 

I think that this song and video talks about every day's life and about how to live it, what you can do to live as much as you can by doing things that you like, and living by taking profit of everything around you. Because "every day is yours to win", you have to take profit of every day in whichever way you think is the best.

This video can be related to the four notions studied this year.
   It can be related to Myths and Heroes because this song is entitled "Every Day Is Yours to Win", it can be seen as if the day has to be conquered, which is what heroes do, so we could it refers to people calling them every days life heroes.
   It can be related to Science and Techniques as well as The Notion of Progress, because of the way the video is done. It is a mash up of different footages done by different people, and it seems a really innovative video clip. Also in the video we can see people doing things pretty worked on, which we can relate to Science and Techniques.
   It can be related to the Forms of Power because of the theme of the song, it kind of talks about the power of people in the Do It Yourself, and the power you have when you do things that you like for yourself.

 

Worksheet

iRack - MADtv