TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Author: Trench Reynolds

  • More on Daniel Pearl

    More on Daniel Pearl

    Over the weekend, I read a commentary from Chicago Tribune columnist Julia Keller. It was kind of a wishy-washy piece about that Boston rag publishing the Daniel Pearl pictures and linking to the video on their website. I can’t link the article since the Tribune asks you to register, but I’ll post snippets from the article and then my comments.

    The three-minute-or-so video of the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl was posted this week on the Web site of a popular and respected newspaper

    Respected? If it was, it’s not anymore.

    And then, so swiftly that it takes the viewer by surprise, comes what seems to be Pearl’s decapitation. The qualification is necessary because there is no way to independently verify the video. Pearl’s executioner, who is not seen, then brandishes the severed head for several seconds

    Let that sink in for a minute.

    Given the video’s grotesque content, why would the Phoenix, for which Pearl once worked, post a link to it?

    I didn’t know he once worked for that rag. That makes it even a bigger slap in the face.

    why would the Phoenix, for which Pearl once worked, post a link to it? The Phoenix, after all, is a responsible news organization, an alternative weekly with a circulation of approximately 118,000 that was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1994, one of only two alternative weeklies ever to receive journalism’s top honor (the other was The Village Voice).

    To gain national media attention and sell a few more issues. Then again, the Pulitzer isn’t what it used to be.

    In an interview, Mindich (the publisher) expressed dismay that the U.S. government had apparently taken pains to suppress the video. In fact, he added, the government should have aided widespread dissemination of the video, so that Americans could fully comprehend the murderous virulence of the anti-Semitism among Islamic extremists.

    I don’t understand why our government hasn’t expressed their outrage. I don’t understand why President Bush didn’t get on the air and say, `This is completely intolerable.’”

    No one has to say that this is intolerable. Most people with any amount of sanity know that this is a despicable act.

    “If Daniel Pearl had his choice, he’d want it seen.”

    I highly doubt that, since you didn’t try to get his widow’s permission.

    Mindich said he was aware of the brave new journalism world that he has helped initiate by instructing his Webmaster to link to the video.

    “It was literally an instant from decision to execution. I just thought, `Wow. I can do this immediately.’ I felt empowered.”

    Like a six-year-old with a new toy. This one just happened to garner national media attention.

    Mindich said. It will remain indefinitely on the Phoenix site, he added. “I don’t see any reason to take it down.”

    How about respect for Daniel Pearl’s family? No? I didn’t think so.

    This is nothing more than an ego trip for Mindich so he can see his own name in national print. Stephen M. Mindich, you are nothing more than a sensationalist scumbag. Spitting on the memory of Daniel Pearl. Edward R. Murrow is spinning in his grave. I hope you rot in hell.

  • Boston Paper Shows Pearl Pictures

    Boston Paper Shows Pearl Pictures

    I know I said I wasn’t going to post in the afternoon anymore, but something has pissed me off so bad I couldn’t wait until tonight.

    I am so disgusted once again. According to this article from Fox News, an “alternative” (read: left-wing extremist rag) newspaper in Boston has printed pictures from the Daniel Pearl video. Including one of Pearl’s severed head. This “newspaper” has also linked to the Pearl video from their website. The publisher is using the CBS defense, stating that America needs to see this video to see how much these terrorists hate Jews and Americans. And something occurred to me while thinking about this that didn’t occur to me the time I wrote about CBS showing the video.

    We don’t need to see how much they hate Americans and Jews. We all saw how much they hate us on September 11, 2001, when we saw the World Trade Center towers collapse live on TV. We got the point. There is no need to keep torturing this poor man’s family. Of course, the publisher of this rag hides behind the first amendment. But we all know the real reason for the publishing of the pictures and of the linking to the video. They want to sell more papers by appealing to the lowest common denominator. They want people talking about them. And look, here we are, talking about them. Notice I haven’t mentioned the paper or publisher by name. This is definitely a case of making the news instead of reporting it. This is right out of the National Enquirer handbook.

    The publisher also says…

    “The general public goes to films that are far more gory, and for no purpose other than to affect emotions.. “This is the real world, an enormously important event, the picture speaks a thousand words.”

    True, but the general public realizes that these are not real people being killed in movies. We’re not talking about something that has a story, and a plot, and character interaction, and a happy ending. We’re talking about someone who was kidnapped, held hostage, and then brutally murdered. Someone who had a wife and a baby on the way. So now this rag is celebrating the baby’s birth by publishing pictures of its father’s severed head. Happy Birthday.

    My question to you Mr. Publisher guy is, if someone in your family had been brutally killed, and it was videotaped, would you be showing it in your newspaper and on your website? I seriously doubt it. There’s a special place in hell for people like you.

  • FBI Seeks to remove Pearl Video from the web

    FBI Seeks to remove Pearl Video from the web

    Finally, my tax dollars are being used for something I want them to be used for. According to this article, the FBI is intently trying to get the Daniel Pearl video off the Internet. According to the article, the FBI has asked sites to voluntarily remove the video. One website that was asked to remove the video, stated on their site…

    The FBI contacted our host to inform them that they were going to sue us for putting on the Pearl video on 5-18-2002. We had no other choice than deleting the video. Our host left us the choice to decide what to do and didn’t delete anything like it’s described in the wired article. This just shows once again how the “big people” decide what we can or can’t see. Don’t we have to right to decide that ourself? We live in a censored world.

    So I went to this website and let me tell you what kind of crap they’re offering?

    Horror scene from world war II, bodies floating in the sea
    Indian extremist killings
    Columbine shooting images of shooters (of course)
    Rotting corpse covered with flies
    Snowboarded makes a very bad landing
    Body modification: having your tongue split

    And they also offer links to rape sites and other gore sites.

    Now according to this article from Wired, the ACLU is getting their nose all bent over this. From the article…

    Barry Steinhardt, the associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he “can’t imagine what argument the government is making that they can prohibit a website from publishing” the videotape.

    “It’s clearly not obscene,” Steinhardt said. “I’m sure it’s macabre and horrible, but it’s not obscene. The publication on a website of this videotape is protected under the First Amendment.

    Not obscene? Excuse me??? Nothing is more obscene than watching a member of your family die. This isn’t free speech. This is an abomination of free speech. Why isn’t the ACLU trying to protect the Pearl family? As I’ve said before and I’ll say again. Videos and pictures showing the actual deaths of actual people for mere entertainment value should be put in the same class as child porn. And should also have the same penalties. You may be saying to yourself “Isn’t that a little severe?” My answer to that is if you’re not checking out these pics, then you have nothing to worry about. Otherwise, if you are one of these twisted freaks that are into these pics, well, I hope you make it on to your favorite site someday…the hard way.

  • Columbine Death Photos

    Columbine Death Photos

    What’s the word for more pissed than pissed? You know, I don’t like to post twice in one day, so I must really be pissed. And you know what? You’re damn right, I’m pissed.

    Check out this article from Fox News. The lowest of the low in national media, The National Enquirer, has gotten their filthy paws on crime scene photos of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine gunmen. The pictures are of the two of them lying side by side after they killed themselves. What is the point in this? Do we really need to see their corpses? Do the families of the victims need to have this dragged back into the limelight? I guess I’ll be getting more hits again from mutants looking for more death photos. The Enquirer has reached a new low even for them. There is no reason why these pictures need to be published. Except to sell issues and make money by appealing to the lowest of all audiences.

    On the Enquirer website they say that the pictures show that they did not kill themselves, but Harris shot Klebold. Now, according to the Fox News article, other media outlets have the photos but refuse to print them. Now if the photos actually suggested that Harris shot Klebold I think a more legitimate media outlet (if there is such a thing) would have already reported that. The site also goes on to say…

    Our issue that goes on sale Friday reveals a top legal authority’s penetrating analysis of the never-before-seen photos, tells why legal, religious and medical experts and even parents of some of the Columbine victims are applauding the publication of the photos… and more!

    Please. No respectable religious, medical, or legal leaders would see any reason for the publication of these photos. And I seriously doubt any of the parents want these pictures published. I’m sure they’re more concerned about trying to get on with their lives. I’m sure they relive that day enough without having more reminders.

    No one should profit from the death of others. And the Enquirer is not only profiting off the deaths of Harris and Klebold, but off the other victims as well. Like I’ve said before, the Son of Sam law prevents murderers from profiting off their crimes. There also should be a law that prohibits making money from other people’s deaths. This is not free speech. This is just abuse of the Constitution. I will not buy this issue. I will not look at these photos. And if you do? Well, you just made yourself a little bit more stupid.

  • The Late Lisa Lopes

    The Late Lisa Lopes

    A year ago, I did an entry about keeping the Dale Earnhardt autopsy photos out of the Orlando papers. Then on 2/25/02 I wrote an entry about how I hope that the Daniel Pearl video never sees the light of day and how videos like the “Faces of Death” series have no place in society. Well, some sick, twisted freak is at it again.

    Now, according to this article, some jackass took pictures of the late TLC singer Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes while she laid in the morgue and then posted them on the internet. According to the article, one of the website’s employees defended their readers’ rights to view the photos. Rights??? What fucking rights. No one has the right to view someone’s death photos. The people who get off on this shit don’t deserve any rights. What about the rights of the families not to have these photos splashed across the internet?

    My dad just died recently and because of cancer, his face was horribly disfigured. I know I wouldn’t want his morgue photos shown in public. Luckily, someone is bringing this travesty to the public’s attention. According to this article, Dale Earnhardt Inc. is going to have their drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Park, and Michael Waltrip will all have a black stripe under their left headlight in tonight’s race. Pit crews will also wear a stripe under their left eye in honor of Lisa Lopes.

    There is no place in society for ghouls and grave robbers and death merchants who take these pictures and film these videos in our society. There is a limit to freedom of speech, and these pictures and videos should be looked on with the same disdain as child pornography. I urge anyone who is reading this to please drop an e-mail to your local congressional representative to have something done about this. I know I am.

  • Yates’ Husband

    Yates’ Husband

    Check out this article from CNN where Andrea Yates’ husband blames the government, the insurance companies, the judicial system, and everyone else for what his wife did. Maybe he should try looking in the mirror. After each child, she had, she suffered from postpartum depression. And after each child, he wanted another one. Even after the doctor strongly advised her not to have any more children because her depression was so bad. But he kept insisting on more children. He’s as much responsible for the deaths of his children as she is. But in today’s society, no one is to blame. It’s always someone else’s fault. If it were up to me, they’d both be strapped to the table with a needle in their arms.

  • Andrea Yates

    Andrea Yates

    So I’m reading this article about the Andrea Yates sentencing. Nothing that I haven’t read already. Until I get down towards the bottom, where I see this….

    A human rights group has filed a complaint with state regulators over Yates’ psychiatric treatment, contending that she received “shoddy” mental health care before drowning her children.

    Yates was in a psychotic state caused by premature release from care, use of inappropriate drugs and overmedication, according to CCHR Texas’ complaint filed with the state Board of Medical Examiners.

    Shoddy mental health care? Excuse me? She was told time and time again not to have any more children. But she kept on having them, no thanks to her husband, who should also be convicted as far as I’m concerned. This is nobody’s responsibility except her and her husband. If they’d let me, I’d push the plunger myself if they sentence her to death.

    UPDATE: The jury has given her life in prison. Way to puss out. You suck Texas.

  • Death Video

    Death Video

    We all know about Wall Street Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl being kidnapped and brutally murdered in Pakistan. And we all heard about how the killers videotaped his death. One minute he was talking like he was being interviewed, and the next someone had slashed his throat. All while being videotaped. The tape was sent to a Pakistani journalist, and it eventually found its way to the U.S. State Dept. Which leads me to believe there are multiple copies of this tape. I hope none of the copies will find their way into the wrong hands. I’m specifically speaking of people who trade these kinds of videos underground.

    We’ve all either heard about or seen snuff videos, where a film is shown of actual people dying actual deaths. And there are various websites that also show MPEGs of people being brutally killed or maimed. Without delving into the subject of who gets off on this sick shit, I hope for the sake of everyone, the Daniel Pearl video never sees the light of day. He had a wife and an unborn child who will never know her father. I’d hate to think if she grew up and accidentally stumbled upon his death video somewhere.

    Back in the 80s, a man who, I believe, was a Pennsylvania senator by the name of Budd Dwyer called a press conference to talk about being indicted. In the middle of the press conference that was broadcast live on local TV, he took out a pistol, stuck it in his mouth, and pulled the trigger. I happened to be home from school and watching at the time. I was horrified and never wanted to see anything like that ever again. But Budd Dwyer made himself into somewhat of a celebrity that day because since the tape was only shown once on TV it is very rare to get a copy of it, but it is out there. There are even some sites that claim to carry the surveillance video from the Columbine High.

    Luckily, not all famous deaths make it to light. When Brandon Lee was accidentally killed during the filming of the movie The Crow, the film containing his death was destroyed.

    My point is this. Videos involving anyone’s death just for the sake of shock viewing should be banned. I’m all for freedom of speech, but there is no intrinsic value to any of these tapes. Every one of those people whose death you may see on tape had a mother, or husband, or child that really cared for them, and they have to relive it every time one of those videos is shown. They need to be banned and banned now. There needs to be some kind of law not unlike the Son of Sam law which states convicted felons cannot profit from their illegal activities through books and movies, etc. There needs to be a law which states no one can profit through the exploitation of someone’s death on video or film or any other viewed medium.

  • More on the Va. “ritual” killing.

    More on the Va. “ritual” killing.

    Ok, remember when I wrote a 12/15/01 post about a murder that occurred in Virginia and the media labeled it a ritual killing. Well, I was right and wrong.

    About a month after I wrote that I got a signing in one of my many guestbooks. And it went a little something like this.

    entry 5

    name: MaJiK

    url: www.geocities.com/majikspell1

    message:

    While searching for info in regaurds to my close friend Kyle Hulbert. I came across this URL on your site: https://thetrenchcoat.com/121501.html To set the record straight. It was NOT “a robbery gone bad”. Whatever your intrest may be you are welcome to contact me or write him yourself. Please Keep in mind! Things are not always as they seem. Which appiles to this case. Peace to all………

    date: 6:22 pm – Tuesday,January 22, 2002

    My email said…..

    Trench wrote: >> Hi. Thanks for signing my guestbook. Being hundreds of miles away from what happened, I was only theorizing about what could have possibly happened. My only interest at that time was chastising the media for calling this a ritual killing based on the evidence the authorities claim. But if you have a different perspective on what happened I’d be very interested to hear it.

    So I got this e-mail in return….

    Hello,

    I understand your intentions with the media. And just had to set the record straight to all that read it. The media & cops, they have not a clue to what really went on. As far as this case and what happened…..In the best interest of my friend, I’d rather not say what did happen and why. That is not my story to tell and it is in court now. I’m sure you understand. I will however share some things about Kyle that could give you some insite on him. >>

    Kyle had been on medication for some time and was removed from it cold turkey. Remember the two kids that shot up that school? One was fresh off his medication. This was a order from Kyle’s social worker. I and everyone around him saw the changes. The chemical change of stopping cold turkey on those medications is something I feel many do not know or understand. Such medications are to be lowered little by little from what i understand. The system which failed again, seen him only as a number or case. With no real intrest in his true well being. If you wish to write him, I have the address. But ask that you stray from questions about the case until court is finished. Let me know. Ill give it to you if you wish. He asked me to put his address in his auto mail reply. Which I have not yet done. So he welcomes mail.

    I sent him another e-mail asking if he could comment on the alleged two accomplices claiming that the murder was orchestrated from the beginning. He e-mailed me back saying he couldn’t, due to the fact that the trial hasn’t even begun yet. But he did answer me back a few days later. In an e-mail, Majik said…

    After I talked to the thre of them and there lawyer. It is publicly documented that The investagator said Mike Pfohl & Cathy Inglis “were involved in the planning, execution, escape, and cover-up of what was described as a planned assassination,” Even according to court records. They didnt say nothing of the matter themselves.

    Due to my own laziness, I waited on doing this post. It’s a good thing I did because a few days later he sent me this article that sheds a whole new light on the situation. According to the article, the daughter of the victim was arrested in connection to the homicide. Now remember this is just my opinion based on what I’ve read so far, but it appears that the daughter of the victim convinced Kyle Hulbert that her father was beating her and persuaded him to kill her father. The beating accusations have yet to be substantiated, and her motive at this time is unclear.

    So lets review. According to Majik, Kyle Hulbert was taken off his medication by a social worker. Not a doctor, a social worker. And we all know how reliable some social workers are. They leave kids in abusive homes and take them out of homes where nothing is wrong. In my opinion, it seems like this killing could have been prevented. And take it from someone who is on an antidepressant, you can’t stop cold turkey. It just doesn’t work. Ok, I was a little wrong. This wasn’t a robbery gone bad. I’ll admit my own mistakes. Unlike, the media. So quick to call this a ritual killing without learning all the facts. Typical.

    So because of this one girl, at least five lives were ruined, probably more. And the media was so quick to judge someone who was “different”.

  • The 2001 Trenchie Awards

    The 2001 Trenchie Awards

    For the first time and probably the last, I bring you the Trenchie Awards. The best and worst of my year.

    Best movie of the year: Stigmata. I know it didn’t come out this year, but I saw it this year, so it counts. Honorable Mention: Memento.

    Worst movie of the year: American Psycho. One of those movies where at the end you go “what the fuck was that???”.

    Best album of the year: Horror Show by Iced Earth. This one was tough. I was also considering Poets and Madmen by Savatage and Beyond Good and Evil by The Cult. But Iced Earth rocked the hardest.

    Worst album of the year: Stronger than Death by Black Label Society. This album was an extreme let down after the excellent Sonic Brew.

    Best TV show of the year: Murder in Small Town X. This show was actually very suspenseful. The ending was a little anti-climactic and the winner, who was a NY fireman, I heard died in the 9/11 tragedy. Honorable Mention: Twenty Four. It’s not over yet, so it might make next year’s list.

    Worst TV show of the year: The Joan Cusack Show. This was the most painful thing I’ve ever had to watch. My wife and I now rate bad TV shows on the “Joan Cusack Scale”.

    Best wrestling moment of the year: Chris Jericho becoming the Unified World champion. Honorable Mention: the ECW reunion.

    Worst wrestling moment of the year: Having to see Chris Jericho in a Speedo.

    Best video game of the year: Not a banner year for video games, and I probably won’t get Final Fantasy X for a while, so I have to go with Twisted Metal Black. Not so much for the actual game but for the disturbing videos at the end.

    Worst video game of the year: Simpson’s Wrestling. Continuing the long tradition of crappy Simpson’s video games.

    Best movie line of the year: Lou Diamond Phillips in Bats. “Don’t tell me I’m up to my chest in batshit.”

    Biggest dumbass of the year: Station manager Dave Ligafelt of Charlotte’s 95.7 WXRC for changing the format from hard rock to yet another classic rock station.

    Most inane political agenda of the year: (tie) PETA trying to get the University of South Carolina to change their team name from the Gamecocks. A Pennsylvania judge reverses the death sentence for convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.

    Worst sports moment of the year: Ray freakin’ Borque lifting the Stanley Cup after the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup finals. Then having the balls to take it to Boston.

    Biggest jackass celebrity of the year: Rage Against The Machine, who basically said in a press release that we had the 9/11 attack coming. Runner-up: John Travolta for hosting some Lifetime Channel concert.

    My best personal moment of the year: Taking my new family back home to my hometown in New Jersey.