Asawin Suebsaeng is the interactive writing fellow at the Washington, DC, bureau of Mother Jones. He has also written for The American Prospect, the Bangkok Post, and Shoecomics.com.
A graduate of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn., Asawin came back to DC with hopes of putting his flimsy Creative Writing major, student newspaper tenure, and interest in human rights and political chicanery to some use. He started cutting his teeth at F&M's student-run weekly, The College Reporter, serving as editor in chief. He has interned at The American Prospect, been a reporter for the Bangkok Post, and scribbled for ShoeComics.com. His favorite movie is either Apocalypse Now or Pirahna 3D, depending on the day or mood.
Lately, you've probably heard rumors that the world will end on December 21, 2012. You've probably brushed them aside as piffle on par with theories about Barack Obama being a lizard overlord. Yet, polling data shows that 12 percent of Americans believe the end is indeed upon us, while 14 percent of people worldwide think Earth will be a goner in their lifetime.
So, first things first: Will the world in fact end on December 21?
No, almost certainly not. [Update, 5:30am EST, December 21: Still here! So far, so good.] Superstition suggesting otherwise is based on junk science, Nostradamus (sort of), and flawed readings of the Mayan Long Count calendar. A comet is not going to hit us that day. Earth will not collide with the fictional rogue planet of "Nibiru." And if there are belligerent alien forces plotting against mankind, that's probably a ways off.
However, that doesn't mean there aren't any good questions left to ask. Here's everything else you wanted to know about the supposed 2012 Mayan Doomsday but were far too afraid to bring up:
What do stock brokers and Matt Damon have to say about the Mayan apocalypse?
In August, TD Ameritrade referenced End of the World theories in this ad for its investment business. The gist is that if we don't all die horrifically in December 2012, TD Ameritrade will still be able to help you out with retirement planning. The 30-second ad is narrated by the star of Happy Feet Two and We Bought a Zoo, Matt Damon, who replacedLaw & Order alum Sam Waterston in January as the "new voice" of TD Ameritrade. Behold the bizarre kicker in which Damon asks calmly but triumphantly: "So who's in control now, Mayans?"
What do actual real-life Mayas have to say about all of this?
At least some of them are rather pissed, and understandably so. Ethnic Maya of Guatemala (of which there are millions) have long had to endure efforts by government and the local tourism industry to profit off of misunderstandings of what the ancient Mayan calendar indicates. "We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit," Felipe Gomez, head of Mayan alliance Oxlaljuj Ajpop, told AFP in October. "They are not telling the truth about time cycles."
"The Maya never said anything about the end of the world or anything about a great change in the universe on [December 21, 2012]," David Stuart, a professor of Mesoamerican art and writing at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Huffington Post. "The calendar not only continues after that date…it goes 70 octillion years into the future."
"Enough with that bullshit already." Reinhard Jahn/Wikimedia Commons
What is the government doing about this? Are they being proactive?
Yes, indeed: For its part, NASA has flooded its social-media operation with anti-doomsday content, in hopes of chipping away at public misconceptions over what will or will not end this month. They've hosted a Google+ Hangout debunking the theories, created a special FAQ page, and posted information on YouTube and Facebook. Here's one recent tweet aimed at quelling potential panic:
Internet telling you the world will end in 2012? Don't believe it! Get the real science facts here. go.nasa.gov/cQnq0L
For some NASA scientists, this is serious public-awareness stuff: "I get 1-2 [questions] a month from a person who self-identifies as 11-12 years old, who is contemplating suicide," David Morrison, a senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute, told ABC News. (Speaking to a USA.gov blogger, Morrison later said that he gets a message at least "once a week" from "a young person…who says they are ill and/or contemplating suicide because of the coming doomsday.") Morrison also highlighted a letter he received from someone claiming to be a middle-school teacher in California, who wrote that parents of a student said they were going to kill their kids and themselves before the 2012 apocalypse.
Are there any goofy videos out there about this?
Yes. Next Media Animation, a Taiwan-based "animated news" studio known for its tongue-in-cheek and over-the-top depictions of current events, produced a segment in 2011 on various apocalypse theories. Here's the video, which features Jesus wearing and operating a jetpack:
What are other countries doing about this?
Mayan-apocalypse-freakout is hardly just an American phenomenon. The Russian government—along with the Russian Orthodox Church—has been busy telling citizens not to pay attention to the armageddon talk. Government officials in Mexico, France, and elsewhere have been doing the same.
One member of the Russian parliament's environment committee had a particularly drastic measure in mind: Prosecute Russian citizens who spread the rumors, but only starting December 22.
Are any world leaders making satirical videos about this?
At least one of them has:
That's Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, having fun with the doomsday theories during a morning broadcast. Gillard says the following to her "dear remaining fellow Australians":
Whether the final blow comes from flesh-eating zombies, demonic hell-beasts or the total triumph of K-Pop, if you know one thing about me, it is this: I will always fight for you to the very end.
She ends her address with a simple, "Good luck to you all."
But is anyone making tsunami-resistant survival pods? Just in case?
Why, yes. This guy: A Chinese furniture maker named Liu Qiyuan who constructed a Great Ball of China in the village of Qiantun in Hebei Province. "The pod won't have any problems even if there are 1,000m high waves…It's like a ping-pong ball," he told reporters, right around the time he jumped in his pod for a photo op.
How might a Mayan apocalypse affect fiscal-cliff negotiations?
Good question. First off, we probably wouldn't have to worry about the so-called fiscal cliff anymore, mainly because we'd all be preoccupied with human civilization ending. This may actually be John Boehner's best hope. Also, it's hard to make entitlement cuts and raise taxes on the wealthiest of Americans when the planet no longer exists.
How is Fox News handling this?
They're being pretty damn fair and balanced. Here's a preview of the special titled "Countdown to Doomsday" (hosted by Bill Hemmer) that the network aired in November:
Can I practice consumerism right up to the bitter end? And if so, where can I buy Doomsday merchandise?
Sure. You can buy stuff from the folks who run the December212012 website (which provides a sorta CliffsNotes version of a "survival guide"). They have apparel available on CafePress, including this T-shirt:
You can find more End of the World merchandise—hoodies, greeting cards, tote bags—from various designers here.
Is there apocalypse pizza? How about apocalypse vino?
Yes, and yes! That would be courtesy of the small farming community of Bugarach, population fewer than 200, at the foothills of the French Pyrenees. Rumors have been swirling for years that alien life forms will emerge from their "spaceship garage" hidden in the town's mountain and beam up the locals to safety during The End.
Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson. (My review and interview with the director here.)
Listen:
Each week, I'll be sitting down to chat with ThinkProgress critic Alyssa Rosenberg (who also does killer work at The Atlanticand Slate's "Double X"). We'll talk, argue, and laugh about the latest movies, television shows, and pop-cultural nonsense—with some politics thrown in just for the hell of it.
Alyssa describes herself as being "equally devoted to the Star Wars expanded universe and Barbara Stanwyck, to Better Off Ted and Deadwood." I (everyone calls me Swin) am a devoted lover of low-brow dark humor, Yuengling, and movies with high body counts. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and tune in during the weeks to come.
We'll be featuring guests on the program, and also taking listeners' questions, so feel free to Tweet them at me here, and we'll see if we can get to them during a show.
Thank you for listening!
Click here for more movie and TV features from Mother Jones. To read more of Asawin's reviews, click here.
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Sandy Hook Elementary School on morning of shooting.Newtown Bee/ZUMA Press
On Friday morning, 27 people were killed in a shooting rampage at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Among the fatalities are 20 children, six adults, and the shooter. [Update: Authorities told AP the gunman killed his mother before driving to the school in her car, where he targeted two classrooms in one section of the building.] Sandy Hook Elementary is secure and the alleged gunman is dead, Connecticut State Lt. Paul Vance told reporters at a press conference Friday afternoon. Authorities reportedly recovered three guns—a Glock and SIG Sauer, both pistols, inside the school and a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle in the shooter's car. [Update: On Saturday, officials including the state's chief medical examiner said that the rifle was the primary weapon used in the shooting.] At least 100 rounds were fired. Officials have checked the suspect's home for evidence.
A spokesperson for Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said President Obama called the governor to express his condolences and offer any federal resources to assist in the ongoing investigation.
Here's an earlier ABC New report, which includes an interview with a parent at the school:
What are the gun laws like in Connecticut? According to the NRA, Connecticut requires permits for handguns, but not for shotguns or rifles. It's illegal to possess a handgun if you've been convicted of a felony or a "serious juvenile offense."
How does the Newtown shooting compare to other mass shootings in this country? This year alone there had already been six mass shootings—and a record number of casualties, with 110 people injured and killed prior to today's incident. (An FBI crime classification report identifies an individual as a mass murderer—as opposed to a spree killer or a serial killer—if he kills four or more people in a single incident, not including himself, and typically in a single location.) The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School is also the 12th mass shooting at a school in the United States in the past 30 years, according to our research; it is the second deadliest shooting behind the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 that killed 33 and injured 23.*
List of victims from The New York Times.
Here's a rundown of the other shootings:
Cleveland Elementary School shooting in 1989, leaving 6 dead and 29 injured.
University of Iowa shooting in 1991, leaving 6 dead and 1 injured.
Lindhurst High School shooting in 1992, leaving 4 dead and 10 injured.
Westside Middle School shooting in 1992, leaving 5 dead and 10 injured.
Thurston High School shooting in 1998, leaving 4 dead and 25 injured.
Columbine High School shooting in 1999, leaving 15 dead and 24 injured.
Red Lake Senior High School shooting in 2005, leaving 10 dead and 5 injured.
Amish schoolhouse shooting in 2006, leaving 6 dead and 5 injured.
Northern Illinois University shooting in 2008, leaving 6 dead and 21 injured.
Oikos University shooting in 2012, leaving 7 dead and 3 injured.
What has the president said? Here is video of President Barack Obama's press conference on Friday:
Here's the transcript:
This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller. I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.
We've endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would—as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.
The majority of those who died today were children—beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them—birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers—men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
So our hearts are broken today—for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children's innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.
As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it's an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago—these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.
This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we'll tell them that we love them, and we'll remind each other how deeply we love one another. But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight. And they need all of us right now. In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans. And I will do everything in my power as President to help.
Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need—to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours.
May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of Scripture, heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds.
Again and again and again, Americans are stunned by senseless acts of violence involving guns. Today's tragedy targeting young children in Newtown is incomprehensible.
On behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I send our condolences to the victims, their families, and their community. We know that Newtown First Selectman Patricia Llodra and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy are doing everything possible today to help the community cope with so much loss and pain.
Too many times this year, mayors have expressed shock at a mass shooting. The Conference has been calling for sensible gun laws to protect the public for more than 40 years. We hope that today's monstrous act of gun violence finally forces this nation's leaders to make reasonable changes in our gun laws and regulations—changes that will help prevent senseless tragedies such as the one that has rocked Newtown and the nation.
As a country, we don't need more debate, no more excuses. The time for action is now.
With all the carnage from gun violence in our country, it's still almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen. It has come to that. Not even kindergartners learning their A,B,Cs are safe. We heard after Columbine that it was too soon to talk about gun laws. We heard it after Virginia Tech. After Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek. And now we are hearing it again. For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns. Today, many of them were five-year-olds. President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families in Newtown. But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem. Calling for 'meaningful action' is not enough. We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership—not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today. This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response. My deepest sympathies are with the families of all those affected, and my determination to stop this madness is stronger than ever.
And here's the statement from Brady Campaign president Dan Gross:
Like all Americans, our hearts are broken by this terrible tragedy. We send our thoughts and prayers to all those directly affected. Across the country, we will be giving extra strong hugs to our kids when they come home safely from school. But in the name of those who didn't and in the name of the eight children and teens that die from guns every day in our nation, we cannot let it end there. We have to take terrible moments like this and use it as a catalyst to demand the sensible change in our nation that is too long overdue. We are better than this.
Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, responded to the tragedy Friday evening:
Gun control supporters have the blood of little children on their hands. Federal and state laws combined to insure that no teacher, no administrator, no adult had a gun at the Newtown school where the children were murdered. This tragedy underscores the urgency of getting rid of gun bans in school zones. The only thing accomplished by gun-free zones is to insure that mass murderers can slay more before they are finally confronted by someone with a gun.
How do mass shootings affect public opinion about gun control? After the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, Pew Research Center surveyed more than 1,000 adults and found the country's views on gun control and gun rights were essentially unchanged:
Courtesy of Pew Research Center
UPDATE, 6:20 p.m. EST, Friday, December 14: Law enforcement officials told NBC News the firearms used in the shooting were purchased legally, and registered to the gunman's mother.
UPDATE 3, 7:50 p.m. EST, Friday, December 14: Mother Jones' Mark Follman was on NPR earlier today to discuss the shooting. Listen to the conversation here.
UPDATE 4, 8:15 p.m. EST, Friday, December 14: Diane Day, a therapist employed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, told the Wall Street Journal that she was in a meeting with the school's principal, Dawn Hochsprung, and a school psychologist when the shooting broke out. The principal and psychologist, who reportedly both died in the shooting after they left the room to respond to the gunfire, "didn't think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on," Day said.
UPDATE 6, 10:25 p.m. EST, Friday, December 14: Mother Jones' Tim McDonnell and James West visited Newtown this evening to report from the scene of a vigil for the shooting victims outside a Methodist Church.UPDATE 6, 10:05 p.m. EST, Friday, December 14: In a New York Times profile of suspected shooter Adam Lanza, who reportedly arrived at Sandy Hook wearing body armor (though this claim was later refuted), former classmates and acquaintances described him as intelligent, but "deeply uncomfortable" in social situations. Lanza's parents divorced in 2008. His father, Peter Lanza, is a tax executive at General Electric and lives in Stamford, Connecticut.
UPDATE 7, 4:45 p.m. EST, Saturday, December 15:
The chief medical examiner of Connecticut, H. Wayne Carver II, spoke at a news conference Saturday afternoon in Newtown. CNN reports:
[Carver] said that all of the victims died of gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was homicide. The seven bodies he examined personally had three to 11 wounds each, he said.
“I believe everyone was hit more than once,” Carver said.
…
He said the "rifle" was used in the shooting, and that the rifle caused all of the wounds that he knew of.
He didn't say what that rifle was, but a law enforcement source has previously said that the gunman was found dead next to three guns: a semi-automatic .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle and two pistols made by Glock and Sig Sauer.
The medical examiner... said he personally did postmortem examinations of seven victims' bodies.
UPDATE 8, 7:40 p.m. EST, Saturday, December 15: Peter Lanza, the father of suspected gunman Adam Lanza, released a statement about the shooting Saturday evening, ABC News reports. The father said that "our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy," that "no words can truly express how heartbroken we are," and that he and other relatives are "in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can."
Correction: The original version of this article mistakenly swapped the numbers of those injured and killed for the Cleveland Elementary shooting, meaning the Newtown shooting was incorrectly identified as the third deadliest in the past 30 years.
Okay, time to vent: How many times have you heard someone say that "x" was his "favorite movie" but not what he believed to be "objectively" the best? Someone might very well say that her favorite film from 1996 was Michael Bay's violent barn-burner The Rock, but when asked what she thinks was best, she would turn to safe Oscar-bait like The English Patient.
This is an infuriating false distinction: "Best" is a relative term, so if something is your favorite film, then it is the best—for you, at least. So if the gore-caked, sleazy, brainless, and shamelessly boob-filled Piranha3D was far and away your favorite movie of 2010 (as it was mine), then it was by definition the best movie of 2010.
Joe Manchin III, the gun-toting Democratic junior senator from West Virginia who loves coal, is waging a one-man war against MTV's upcoming reality show Buckwild.
In case you haven't heard about Buckwild, it's the show that intends to fill the void in your life left when Jersey Shore goes off the air in late December. Buckwild, premiering Thursday January 3, is an unforgiving cavalcade of cultural stereotypes. The easiest way to describe the show is Jersey Shore, but transposed to small-town West Virginia. The series follows a group of thickly-accented young adults as they swear, fight, carouse, and fornicate their early twenties away. Stars include "Justin Beaver," one of the adrenaline-junkie males, and Shae, a blonde and "spicy" Southern belle who is sexually attracted to degenerates. The cast also enjoy shooting things, blowing stuff up, and operating all-terrain motor vehicles with zero regard for logic or safety.
Sen. Manchin isn't pleased with the above representation of his home state. And last Wednesday, he started tweeting about it. He began by addressing a piece posted to a satirical "fake news" website claiming that Manchin had singlehandedly vanquished Buckwild.
To clear up confusion on "Buckwild;" I wish I could take credit for stopping anything that portrays #WV poorly, but this story is satire
Manchin also wrote a letter on Friday, addressed to MTV president Stephen K. Friedman, requesting the immediate removal of Buckwild from the channel's 2013 lineup:
