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  • 1/30/05 From The Mail Sack

    1/30/05 From The Mail Sack

    The mail has been piling up here, and I’ve been putting it off for so long I’m now two weeks behind on it. I’m in the middle of posting my replies, but it’s probably going to take me all week to finish up.

    However, I got a comment today that I felt required my immediate attention. For those of you that have been following the events in Marshfield, Mass. you’ll know that I’ve been saying that I’ve gotten a ton of responses in support of Tobin Kerns but none for Joe Nee. Well, that changed today. I got a comment from someone claiming to be a relative of Nee on my “Lost Boys” entry…

    It’s really to bad that when something like this happens people are really quick to point fingers. All the boys are just as responsible for all that happened. Joe Nee is not the ringleader he’s an easy target for angry parents. What you should really be doing is thanking him for preventing disaster. Toby might say he was going to tell but he didn’t Joe did. Joe is such an easy target because of who his father is and his problems. We should be just as angry with all the other boys. They cant possibly be such angels if they were at all involved in this. So what i’m trying to say is Joe is a kind-hearted kid who made a stupid choice he along with his friends will pay for it. I highly doubt this was all Joes’ idea. And just so everyone who reads this knows Joes family is great, as any family with a troubled kid has they have made mistakes but they still remain some of the nicest caring people I have ever met. Thank You —April (Joes cousin) we all make mistakes some bigger than others nobodies perfect!!!!

    Comment by april Nee — Sunday Jan 30, 2005 @ 10:34 am

    My opinions on Joe Nee have been well documented on this site, so in the interest of fairness I am going to refrain from commenting on this except for saying this is the first time since Joe Nee’s arrest that one of his supporters has commented. I had someone on my site defending Tobin Kerns within a week of his arrest.

  • Pat Ireland

    Pat Ireland

    I found this to be an interesting article about Pat Ireland. For, those of you who may not remember, Pat Ireland was the student at Columbine High who was pulled from the window by police after being shot twice in the head and once in the foot by the scumbags Harris and Klebold.

    Prior to the shooting, he had a 4.0 grade average. He graduated co-valedictorian with a 3.9. Then he went on to graduate magna cum laude from Colorado State. All this after 17 months of physical therapy and relearning how to walk and talk and read and write. So what did Pat Ireland do to Harris and Klebold that deserved being shot in the head twice? Nothing…

    Ireland, who didn’t know either of the assailants, escaped with his life.

    Pat Ireland could have easily been the 14th cross just for being in the library. 3 bullets ripped through his flesh, but he didn’t know either gunman. He was partially paralyzed, yet he didn’t know either of them. He had to relearn the use of his motor skills, but he never knew his attackers until that day.

    Yet, some people have the nerve to say the shootings were justified.

  • Suikoden IV

    Suikoden IV

    One of the greatest pleasures in my life is when I get my hands on the latest installment of one of my favorite video game franchises. That happened this weekend when I picked up a copy of Suikoden IV.

    The Suikoden series is my second favorite series, only behind Final Fantasy. As a matter of fact, Suikoden II is my favorite video game of all time. That should tell you how great of a game it was. The fact that a copy of Suikoden II is going for upwards of $100 a pop on E-bay for a PSOne game should also tell you how good it was. Having said that, Suikoden IV was a little bit of a letdown.

    What Was Wrong: Suikoden IV was way too short. II took over 30 hours. III took over 40 hours. IV can legitimately be beaten in 20 hours. That’s too short for an RPG (Role Playing Game) for the PS2.

    In each of the Suikodens, the main goal is always to recruit 108 characters. Some are a little more challenging than others. The majority of the characters in IV were too easy to recruit. The majority of them, you just walk up to them and they join you.

    The cut scenes ended so abruptly it became an annoyance throughout the game. No fade to black, just END.

    The game takes place 100 years before the events of Suikoden I. If I didn’t look that up online, I would have never known. Nowhere in the game that I saw was that ever mentioned.

    They knocked down the members of your party from 6 to 4, which is ok, but if you’ve played previous Suikodens, you have to rethink your whole strategy now.

    In previous Suikodens, you could tell the combo moves just by putting the people in the same party. With IV, you have to guess which party members may have a combo move, then wait as they level up for their combo move to develop if they have one.

    Lastly and most importantly, there is no file transfer function. In Suikodens II and III, you could upload your saved game file from the previous game and unlock hidden parts of the game. No such feature in IV.

    Driving the ship in the game is very difficult at first. Like Game Informer magazine said, “it’s like driving a damp sweater”.

    IV was also too linear. III had diverging storylines with varying endings, which made for great replay value.

    Oh, and one last thing to the Konami developers. Please for the love of God, bring back the cooking mini-game. Suikoden fans know what I’m talking about.

    What Was Right: The graphics on IV are the best that have ever been on a Suikoden game. Very crisp and very fluid.

    The characters are more lifelike than they have been in previous Suikoden games.

    The nautical setting is one that I have not seen in an RPG, plus it makes me go around talking like a pirate, which annoys the wife. Finally, we have voiceovers in a Suikoden game.

    Lastly, having a massive ship as your expandable HQ was genius.

    Final Recommendation: At $40 only for the hardcore Suikoden fans. This should have been a $20 game.

  • Goodbye, Johnny

    Goodbye, Johnny

    Johnny Carson, late-night TV legend, dies at 79:

    Another one of the icons of my childhood passed away today. As we all know by now, Johnny Carson died today.

    When I was a kid, one of the biggest treats in the world was staying up late to watch The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. It meant either we didn’t have school the next day or we were getting away with staying up late.

    Not to mention, one of the funniest jokes I ever heard was from Johnny Carson. He was doing his Carnac bit and the answer was “Sis Boom Bah”. The question was, “What sound does a sheep make when it explodes?” I don’t think I ever laughed that hard in my entire life.

    My prayers and condolences go out to his family and friends.

  • Poe Toaster Strikes Again

    Poe Toaster Strikes Again

    Mystery fan marks Poe’s birthday:


    Dammit. I missed it again. One of these days I’m going to get to Baltimore to see the Poe Toaster. I am glad that I didn’t go this year. It sounds like a couple of assclowns can’t play by the rules. For one day out of the year, this guy (or guys) get to be Batman, Darkman, and The Crow all into one. Respect the guy’s wishes and family tradition. Let him pass. Don’t try to reveal his identity. There are not a whole lot of mysteries left in the world. Leave this one alone.

  • More on Joe Nee’s release

    More on Joe Nee’s release

    Teen held in massacre plot freed on bail to parents:

    Joe Nee out on $20K bail:

    These are two more articles on Joe Nee’s release, and it seems like to be the Massachusetts media is starting to side with Joe Nee. So let me reiterate my opinions on the matter.

    His father, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association Tom Nee, threw Joe Nee out of his house. Kids aren’t usually thrown out of the house for being good kids.

    Joe Nee was the one who wore a homemade shirt with the date of the Columbine massacre and “Remember the Heroes” written on it in German to school several times. Nee also dressed as Eric Harris for one Halloween.

    Joe Nee was the one who was witnessed bringing a gun to school. Whether or not the witness could tell whether the gun was real or not is irrelevant. If the gun looked real, the only other way to tell it’s real is if it’s being fired. Luckily, that didn’t happen.

    In my opinion, Joe Nee turned in Toby Kerns to cover his own ass before Toby could turn him in.

    Just because he’s a cop’s son doesn’t automatically make him an upstanding citizen. According to previous reports, the reason Joe Nee was thrown out of his house was that he assaulted his own father.

    After the Kernses took Joe Nee in, it was in Nee’s room where the plans were found and where Nee had placed a giant swastika on the wall.

    And like I’ve said many times before, when this story first broke, and I was being pretty rough on the Kernses, a number of people from the Marshfield area came to his defense. And again, I have yet to get one comment or e-mail in defense of Nee. I think that speaks volumes.

    I just hope that the jury can see through the diversionary tactics that Nee’s attorney is using.

  • Joe Nee released on Bail

    Joe Nee released on Bail

    For those of you who have been following the Marshfield saga along with me, Joe Nee was released on $20,000 bail today…

    Nee Free on $20,000 Cash Bail

    The second suspect in the alleged plot to commit murder at Marshfield High School is out on bail.

    The parents of 18-year-old Joseph Nee posted the 20-thousand cash bail at the Brockton Superior Court Clerk’s office shortly after Judge Suzanne Delvecchio set the bail. Nee’s father Tom says he is happy to have his son free, especially since the boy’s grandfather is near death. Defense attorney Tom Dreschler argued that circumstances have changed involving his client. He cited the fact that Nee’s co-defendant Toby Kerns is free on bail and that Kern’s has a lengthy juvenile record. Judge Delvecchio says the fact that Kerns is out on bail was one reason she set bail on Nee. The judge also ordered that Nee’s release be based on conditions set by the probation department.

    Source

    As usual, Nee’s attorney, Tom Dreschler, has been trying to deflect blame away from his client by citing that Toby Kerns has a criminal record.

    I find the term “lengthy” to be a bit overdramatic. As I said before, one does not have to have a criminal record to be a criminal. How many of us know someone who had a relative in an authoritative position that allowed them to escape any kind of punishment?

    Toby Kerns didn’t have that luxury. Who’s to say that Joe Nee’s criminal record might have been more sordid than Toby Kerns’ if his father wasn’t a Boston cop? Also, like I mentioned the other day, the witness who said she saw Joe Nee bring a gun to school changed her testimony and said she didn’t know if it was real or not. It seems very suspicious to me.

  • 1/16/05 From The Mail Sack

    1/16/05 From The Mail Sack

    We got a lot of lengthy mail this week, so if you have to pee, go now. I’ll wait. Are you back? Good. Ok, on with the mail. And surprise, surprise, they’re all from my entry on the Eric Harris Journal. I know it’s long, but please be patient and read it all. Especially if you have kids.

    First comment…

    I don’t think Eric and Dylan did the right thing necessarily but I think they did what they felt they had to. Whenever you’re being harassed all the time by people at some point you are going to lash out. I think they could have found a better solution but I think they also showed kids who were being harassed one solution to the serious problem of being bullied.

    And for all you psychopaths (like mac and trench) who go ON and ON and ON about eric and dylan being “scum bags”, “pieces of trash,” and “burning in hell” you are just as hateful as the people you claim to hate. Just listen to yourselves talk about 2 kids and if this world were a perfect one you guys would be in jail or a mental institution because you’re crazy.

    People need to learn empathy. You guys need to try to see it from Eric and Dylan’s point of view. Maybe they were driven to the point of insanity by all the bullying and being kids didn’t know a better way of solving the problem. Whatever you do, don’t act like an idiot and start ranting about the kids being sick and so and so.

    People don’t just do those things for no reason, there’s always a reason. The reason why we’re (the USA) trillions of dollars in debt and supporting a president who’s ruining the country and at the same time angering the rest of the world while completely failing to control Iraq is the same reason why people like Eric and Dylan do what they do. For years we bullied the Middle East and stole oil and other things and Sept 11 was the result.

    You people just don’t understand that you have to respect other people and you have to show love/empathy for other people and try to prevent other Columbines by protecting kids from bullies and trying to set up a culture of respect on schools. Schools that don’t tolerate violence or hatred are much less likely to have Columbines then schools where people like Mac have a survival of the fittest fuck kids who get bullied attitude.

    And if you guys don’t learn to put aside your hate and look at the real reason why Eric and Dylan did what they did, then I guarantee you you’ll never accomplish anything and in a few years we’ll hear about David and Julian or Eric and Randy or someone killing 200 kids with a pipe bomb or some kid blowing himself up in a crowded mall or something.

    And for anyone here who wants to rant about Eric and Dylan going to hell or anything else you sound like demons and will find yourself going to the same hell. 🙂

    Comment by Julian – Tuesday Jan 11, 2005 @ 9:37 am

    I really need to get some macros so I can just press a button and have my usual responses typed out.

    First of all, I don’t think Harris and Klebold were bullied at all. In this day and age of instant information, I have yet to hear of one name of the people who allegedly harassed them. Personally, I think if it wasn’t the whole bullying myth surrounding them, they would have found some other reason to shoot up their school.

    It’s been proven time and time again that these kids, especially Harris, were mentally defective. Even if they were bullied, say it with me folks, it’s still no excuse to kill people.

    How many times do we have to go through this? If you think that killing in response to bullying is an acceptable resolution, then you need some serious psychiatric help.

    And for me calling them scumbags, well, the fact remains they killed 13 unarmed innocent people and I didn’t. So by my estimations, they are scumbags who are burning in hell.

    Empathy? I’d have been on their side if in fact they were harassed. So have millions of other people. Again, the difference is we didn’t kill anyone over it.

    What is wrong with you kids who think that killing is cool. Trust me. You’re not being cool, or a rebel. It’s got nothing to do with being goth, punk, or whatever. It means you’re fucking stupid. It means you need mental help.

    And how the fuck do you draw a comparison to Iraq and Columbine? That’s apples and oranges. But then again, leftists blame everything on the President. Why didn’t the Clinton administration do something to prevent a situation like Columbine? They were the ones in charge at the time.

    And yes I agree that the schools need to do something about bullying, but people need to take responsibility for their own actions. T

    he only reason that 13 people are dead from Columbine is that those scumbags Harris and Klebold killed them. No other reason. Maybe if Harris and Klebold had put aside their hate, than we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

    And the opposite side of the coin…

    what up? sorry if i affended the people who feel bad for eric and dylan. i just don’t really understand why someone would want to kill people. and in a way, i do agree w/ u, alex. its their fault that they tried so hard to be outcasts. i mean just try to be normal and then u won’t really have to worry about evryone hating u. and julian, why do u think that eric and dylan were protecting columbine (they shot people who DID NOT deserve to die). where’s your empathy? Peace. 🙁

    Comment by xxmatrixevolvexx – Tuesday Jan 11, 2005 @ 11:24 am

    First off never feel bad about offending the mutants. Secondly, do you want everyone to dress the same and act the same? Do you want them all to be the same color too? The same religion? I can think of some other groups that wanted everyone to act the same. The Klan, Nazis, The Communist Bloc, Al-Qaeda. If you want everyone to fit your definition of normal, then I feel sorry for you because it shows you have no sense of self-expression and no imagination.

    Another one from the first commenter. A lot of it is repetition so if you want to check out the whole comment you can go here…

    After all, school CAN be very bad sometimes. And in response to trench’s self-righteous tirade about being bullied in school and not taking it out on people I have several questions: How do you know that Eric/Dylan weren’t bullied far more horribily than you? Maybe you had someone restraining those bullies. People are different. Some respond to bullying by trying to fit in, many others through drug and crime and some by being bullies themselves. Others just bear it and take teh abuse until they can escape, and some commit suicide. Eric/Dylan simply chose the very direct route of violence ❗

    And another thing remember that the United States has more crime than any of the other wealthy industrialized nations. When you look at all the serial rapists, killers, child murderers, gangbangers, drug dealers, robbers, weak legal system and generally rude atmosphere that make this country a difficult place to live in do you guys even think for one second that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold could just be one small part of a much larger problem ❓

    Comment by Julian – Tuesday Jan 11, 2005 @ 2:54 pm

    It doesn’t matter if Harris and Klebold were bullied worse than I was. And yeah, I really had someone restraining those bullies.

    Sorry, Sunshine, but I had no help. It was me against them, as it is in most of those situations. And again, show me the proof that Harris and Klebold were bullied. I just don’t buy it. Violence wasn’t a direct route. It was a very cowardly one. And your Michael Moore blames the U.S. attitude is exactly what’s wrong with our country.

    Rather than placing the blame on the person responsible, you place it on everything else. Harris was a psychopath and Klebold was his lackey. They are the ones who pulled the trigger. Society isn’t to blame. They are.

    And lastly…

    I know this reply is very very late, but i would not say that the people that died got what tehy deserved, but i do think that you know Eric and Dylan did get picked on a lot and i know from experience that it is not fun, not only do you wnat to kill others you want to kill yourself, when you get that low you feel like there is no way out, i swallowed all my anger and now i am in therapy for self-mutilation, and i have attacked people at school, i choked two girls and threw one accross the cafeteria, and there is another kid at my school, who threw three kids across a teachers room and chocked one, and then there is another kid at my school who gets picked ona lot and he tried to seriously hurt a class mate by flipping over a table he was standing on (it is a long story as to why he was standing on the table), but i think that everyone needs to notice the fact that they killed themselves after killing others, no one pays attention to that lose, everyone thinks that because they killed people they are evil, well fuck that idea. evil is made not born, after years of emotional, physical and mental abuse form not your parents but your peers, the ones who are supposed to except you for who you are, you get to a point where you don’t need it, you know i mean no one ever thinks about the fact that maybe Eric and Dylan were trying to stop the treatment that they got from happening to anyone else. think about it from their point of view before you judge, i mean we are killing people in Iraq does that make us horrible people because we are killing people to protect ourselves and others from getting the treatment we got. Think about that and then when you can justify why we are in Iraq, and think you know why those boys should not have ended the lives of other as well as THEIR OWN!!! you can ge bakc to me my email is wanabebaby@hotmail.com, oh and this is comming form a 17 year old girl, who also had a cousin who went to Colubine during the shooting, but she was safe, so don’t sit there and tell me i have no idea how the family of teh teens who were there feels.

    Comment by Katie – Thursday Jan 13, 2005 @ 7:33 pm

    Let’s take that in for a moment.

    She feels that the people who were killed at Columbine got what they deserved. She feels that 13 people that had little or no connection to those scumbags, Harris and Klebold, got what they deserved.

    So what if Harris and Klebold killed themselves. You don’t think they wouldn’t be sitting on death row if they were caught. Death was inevitable for them, and now they’re facing an even greater punishment. I was at their point, and again I didn’t kill anybody.

    And again bringing Iraq into this. Are you people coming from the same message board or something? The two have nothing to do with each other. If, in fact, you did have a cousin at Columbine, would you feel the same way if she was among the dead? If you would, then I feel sorry for you.

  • Marshfield Development

    Marshfield Development

    Marshfield student was expelled before:

    Joe Nee’s lawyer, Thomas Drechsler, is pulling out all the stops in trying to make Toby Kerns look as bad as possible in order to get his client released. Dreschler made public that Kerns was expelled from a school in Washington State for threatening to shoot a classmate even though that local authorities in Washington concluded that Kerns ”was not an imminent threat” to the girl, but that ”he definitely needed counseling and supervision.” He apologized to the girl, her parents, police, and the school.

    Nee’s lawyer, Thomas Drechsler, argued yesterday that it was unfair to keep Nee jailed without bail while allowing Kerns to roam free. Unlike Kerns, who was on probation when he was arrested in September, Nee has no prior criminal record.

    Which is all well and good, but Joe Nee was the one wore a homemade shirt with the date of the Columbine massacre and “Remember the Heroes” – a reference to Columbine killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris and dressed as Harris for Halloween at school. Not to mention, the only reason Joe Nee may not have a criminal record is that any time he may have been picked up he might have said: “my dad is the head of the Boston Police union”.

    But what’s scary is this…

    A judge agreed yesterday to schedule a hearing Tuesday on Drechsler’s contention that Nee should be freed on bail because of new evidence he received that raises questions about the strength of the case.

    That evidence, he said, includes information that a girl who told police that she saw Nee carrying a gun on a school bus last June testified before a grand jury last fall that she wasn’t sure if it was real. And a student who is a key witness against Nee had previously committed crimes with Kerns, Drechsler said, adding that the revelation raises questions about the witness’s credibility.

    Let’s hope a judge can see past Toby’s past problems and realize that just because someone doesn’t have a criminal record doesn’t mean they can’t be a criminal.

    And as a side note, I’m still waiting for someone to send me an e-mail or a comment in defense of Joe Nee.

  • Osantowski to stand trial

    Osantowski to stand trial

    Teen accused of planning an attack on his high school ordered to stand trial:

    No news of any great significance except that Andrew Osantowski has been ordered to stand trial for the charges against him and will be arraigned on February 7th.

    I guess it’s a procedural thing because I thought it was pretty much a given that he was going to be tried. What struck me as odd in this article was the following…

    Dozens of Chippewa Valley students attended Wednesday’s hearing as part of a government class at the high school.

    One of them, student government president Tom Novik, said he and his fellow students could have sat in on another case. But the 17-year-old said it was important to come to Osantowski’s hearing.

    “I took it personally when it happened,” Novik said. “I was worried for everyone. … As of now, I think it’s behind us.”

    Now, I’m no supporter of Andrew Osantowski, but I don’t see the point of allowing students from the school that he intended to show up to attend the proceedings. Could the defense make an issue of this, or have I been watching too much Law and Order?