TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • Another Marshfield Observation

    Another Marshfield Observation

    No place like home:

    This is another article about how Toby Kerns is adjusting to life at home again. What struck me about this particular article was the quote about Joe Nee’s family…

    Joe Nee’s family has chosen not to speak to the press, but Nee’s lawyer has argued that Nee is a hero for turning in Kerns and that Nee was arrested only after witnesses “came out of the woodwork” because the police went public with the investigation.

    That is eerily reminiscent of the parents of Eric Harris, who have refused to talk to the press.

    Just an observation.

  • Courts to decide on Columbine tapes

    Courts to decide on Columbine tapes

    Court to decide on release of Columbine killers’ tapes, diaries:

    I’m actually torn on this issue. On the one hand, I hate how the media, in this case, The Denver Post, feel like they have the God-given right to have access to any and all information, no matter how detrimental it may be if it’s released to the public.

    Not to mention all the mutant websites that will pop up advertising that they have all the tapes and documents available for download, which will, in turn, cause the Harris and Klebold worshiping mutants to cream their jeans over seeing videos of their heroes.

    On the other hand, I think the materials should be released, so people could see just how much of a bunch of psychopaths they really were and how their parents let this all go on under their noses. I also think that every parent that has a kid in school should see the materials so they’ll realize that something like Columbine can happen anywhere at any time and, yes, even with your kid if you don’t do something about it. Unfortunately, most parents are in denial about such matters, which is a damn shame.

  • The Guilty will be punished

    The Guilty will be punished

    Excuse me while I let my inner geek come out. Last night I watched the DVD of The Punisher. The reason I watched it was because I used to be a huge fan of The Punisher in the comic books.

    The Punisher was one of the heroes that I based my screen name on. I used to own his first appearance ever in a 1970s issue of Spider-Man and the first issue of his own series from back in the late ’80s. And as usual, with most comic book to movie translations, this movie blew goats.

    As a matter of fact, I know I’m committing comic book and movie heresy by saying this, but I actually liked the 1989 movie version of The Punisher with Dolph Lundgren better. I’ll even admit that I even own the 1989 version, and I’ll defend it to anyone who says the new version is better. I’ll even do a side by side comparison to prove my point.

    What sucked about both movies:
    First off, NO JIGSAW!!!! How can you have a true Punisher movie without Jigsaw? It’s like having a Batman without The Joker or Superman without Lex Luthor. It just shouldn’t be done.

    Secondly, both movies screwed up the way his family was killed. Frank Castle was a Vietnam vet whose family was killed in Central Park in New York when they got caught in the crossfire between two organized crime families.

    In the first movie, Frank Castle was a cop whose family was killed by a car bomb set by the Mafia. In the recent movie, Frank Castle was an ex-FBI agent whose family was killed in Puerto Rico after an organized crime boss’ son was killed during a bust led by Castle. Neither of which was remotely even close.

    The Actors:
    First off, we have Dolph Lundgren. Not the greatest actor in the world, I know, but look at him. When I first saw him with the black hair and leather jacket, to me, he looked like Frank Castle. The only problem was, Dolph didn’t wear the skull.

    Then, on the other hand, you have the man with the woman’s name, Mr. Patricia Arquette, Tom Jane. He looks like a cross between Christopher Lambert and Oswald from the Drew Carey Show. That is not meant as a compliment. Plus, he looks like he weighs about 90 lbs. He may have better clothes than Dolph, but he is not Frank Castle.

    The Movie:
    The 1989 movie may have been over the top cheesy, but it was non-stop from start to finish. The new film dragged on and on and on.

    If you’re going to make a Punisher movie, it needs to have non-stop killing. They made the Punisher too human in the new flick. Sorry, but I like my Punisher to be an emotionless killing machine.

    The Punisher doesn’t cry. In the first movie, Dolph cauterizes his wounds with a glowing hot knife. Tom Jane has to have a little stab wound sewn shut by Rebecca Romijn.

    The new movie takes place in Tampa. The Punisher is not from Florida, of all places.

    The Villain names were lame at best. Howard Saint? What kind of name is that without some kind of “saintly” gimmick to back it up. While it was one of the few characters in the new Punisher, I liked, what kind of name is Harry Heck?

    So, then you need someone big and mean who can take out The Punisher so you get wrestler Kevin Nash, shave his beard, give him a bleach blonde haircut, put him in a red and white striped shirt that makes him look like he should be in the French navy, and you call him “The Russian”? The original rumor was that Kevin Nash was going to play Tombstone, which would have been a lot cooler even though Tombstone was more of a Spider-Man villain.

    Granted that Dolph only fought generic Yakuza and Mafia types, but The Punisher didn’t always fight the super villains. He also fought everyday scum.

    The Closing Lines:
    This pretty much sums up the entire argument for me.

    From the 2004 version: Those who do evil to others – the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists – you will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me The Punisher.

    Is that corny as hell or what? Now let me give you one of the greatest movie lines ever…

    From The 1989 Version: I still talk to God sometimes, I ask him if what I’m doing is right or wrong, I’m still waiting for an answer, and until I get one, I’ll be waiting, watching, THE GUILTY WILL BE PUNISHED!

    How fucking cool is that?

    So all you movie elitists can kiss my ass because to me, Dolph Lundgren is Frank Castle.

    Geek mode off.

  • Yates conviction overturned

    Yates conviction overturned

    Andrea Yates’ Conviction Overturned:

    I’m not too worried about this. I’m actually looking at it as a positive thing. Why? Because she will be retried, and she will be found guilty again. And hopefully this time the Texas jury will do what they should have done originally and sentence her to death.

    May God have mercy on her soul.

  • Toby Kerns Released

    Toby Kerns Released

    Toby Kerns released on $20,000 bail:

    Toby Kerns has been released on $20,000 bail. Prosecutors argued the bail should be set at $1 million cash due to the severity of the charges, but luckily, Juvenile Court Judge Louis Coffin did not agree.

    The article also states that Kern’s attorney William McElligott believes the Marshfield Police are withholding evidence that the defense is entitled to see. Considering the other suspect is the son of a cop, this comes off as very suspicious.

    What doesn’t look good is that the Assistant District Attorney John McLaughlin said the maps found in Toby’s home were analyzed by the state crime lab, and it was determined they were in Toby’s handwriting. However, William McElligott said the tests on the maps and other written material, including the hit list, have been inconclusive.

    For now, Toby will not be returning to school and will be more or less homeschooled. I guess that would be in Toby’s best interest as well. Could you imagine how much he would be harassed in school, even if his involvement in the plot was little to none? Unfortunately, that’s the nature of high school.

    Enjoy your pancakes, Toby.

  • Lost Boys

    Lost Boys

    The Lost Boys:

    This is a great article from Boston Magazine that goes over the entire Marshfield saga in great detail. When you get a chance, read the entire article to get a look into the mind of Joseph Nee.

    I found it interesting that the night Joe Nee showed up at the Kerns’ house, this is what happened…

    Two days after Joe Nee showed up at the Kernses’ door seeking shelter on the night of May 6, Ben Kerns called the Nee home. He says Joe’s mother told him Joe had punched his father and that Joe was the abusive one. “We don’t want him back,” Ben quotes her as saying. “If you don’t want him, throw him out on the street.” Tom Nee declined to be interviewed for this story.

    Yet, Tom Nee keeps saying…

    Tom Nee told reporters, “There was no Columbine because my son had courage and conviction to seek out a police officer.”

    At one point you throw him out of your house and say you don’t want him back, then you say he had courage and conviction. It sounds like to me that a cop is refusing to admit that his son might have broken the law. But that’s just my opinion.

    I still have yet to receive any comments or e-mails in defense of Joseph Nee, and this article will probably make it harder for anyone to do so.

  • The 2004 Trenchie Awards

    The 2004 Trenchie Awards

    It’s the post that I look forward to all year long. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 4th annual Trenchie awards. The best and worst of my year, as voted for by me. Let’s get right to it.

    Best Move I’ve Seen This Year:
    Veronica Guerin. This movie about an Irish journalist is assassinated by drug dealers she wrote about in a series of stories moved me in a way that I’ve never been moved before. I was first made aware of the story by the song “Veronica Guerin” off the Savatage album “Wake of Magellan”. If you get a chance, check out both the movie and the CD.

    Worst Movie I’ve Seen This Year:
    There were a plethora of movies to choose from this year. There was the unspeakable 13th Child, which was supposed to be a horror movie about the legend of the Jersey Devil. I don’t know what that crap was, though.

    Then there was the British indie flick Blood about a girl who was genetically altered to have narcotic blood.

    But the winner/loser has to be Elephant. This movie about a Columbine-like school shooting has to be the most boring piece of crap I’ve ever seen. The critics creamed their jeans over this movie, calling its writer/director Gus Van Sant a genius. As usual, the critics are on crack. It was like having a tooth drilled with no Novocaine for 81 minutes.

    Best Album of the Year:
    This was tough. It was a pretty good year for music. There was Master of the Moon by the metal god that is Dio. There was also Inner Circle by Evergrey. However, this year’s winner took the title early and never let go. It was The Glorious Burden by Iced Earth. Their first album with new vocalist and one-time Judas Priest frontman Tim “Ripper” Owens. A themed album that dealt mostly with the history of war. This album is the definition of metal.

    Worst Album of the Year:
    The Neon God Part 1: The Rise by W.A.S.P. The first part of a concept album released by the lesser of the metal gods Blackie Lawless. While I am a huge fan of the first W.A.S.P. concept album The Crimson Idol, this one just doesn’t even come close. Made me not want to pick up Vol 2.

    Best TV Show of the Year:
    The winner and new champion is House, the medical drama on Fox. It knocked 24 out of the top spot, since season 3 of 24 was all over the map in terms of storyline. House is about a doctor who solves patients diagnoses that other doctors can’t discern. Did I mention that he hates people? My kind of doctor.

    Worst TV Show of the Year:
    I have to give dishonorable mention to The 4400. The concept of that show started out great about 4400 people who were returned to earth after being abducted by aliens through the past 7 decades and returning with no knowledge of them being gone or having aged a day. Then they all started getting SUPERPOWERS. I stopped watching at that point. But the winner/loser has to go to Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital. This show was so painful to watch. Stephen King should just stick to books.

    Best Wrestling Moment of the Year:
    Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit winning their respective world titles at WrestleMania XX. It showed that popular world champions don’t have to be big, juiced out freaks. Sadly, from what I hear, we’re getting more huge juiced out freaks in the future from Vinny Mac.

    Worst Wrestling Moment of the Year: Apparently the WWE is very tightfisted about allowing people to post pics on the web. Bastards. Anyway, it has to be the Lita/Kane pregnancy angle. Not only was this possibly the worst storyline ever, it may also go down in history as the most offensive. Plus, it’s the angle that put old moon face himself Gene Snitsky on our TVs. That should be reason enough right there.

    Best Video Game of the Year:
    I know what you’re saying. What about Halo? What about San Andreas? I have one word for you. Baaaaaaaaaa. Front Mission 4 from Square-Enix was the most engrossing and addictive game I played all year. It’s a turn-based tactics style game where you battle evil in giant robots armed with giant machine guns, shotguns, and missiles.

    Honorable mention has to go to Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. A groundbreaking RPG. Instead of saving the world, the world has already been destroyed and you have to survive. My only complaint is that some of the levels are long and boring.

    Worst Video Game of the Year:
    Samurai Warriors by Koei. While Little Jay and I are big fans of the hack and slash Dynasty Warrior series, Samurai Warriors didn’t live up to its predecessors. The incredibly lousy camera angles totally ruined any chance of decent gameplay.

    Best Movie Line of the Year:
    From The Boondock Saints when Rocco fondles the passed out strippers breast. Connor MacManus says”What the fuck are you doing?” Rocco screams, “I’ll tip her”. I’m not doing it justice. See the movie.

    Biggest Dumbass of the Year:
    Bruce Friedrich of PETA, who compared the chickens KFC uses to the time in our country when blacks were used as slaves.

    Most Inane Political Agenda of the Year:
    Remember the woman who refused to have a C-section and ended up killing one of her babies that we lovingly refer to as Scarzilla. Well, at the time of her court appearances pro-death organizations like NOW, NARAL and the ACLU were saying that the prosecutors’ attempt to charge her with murder was somehow a conspiracy against abortion rights.

    Biggest Jackass Celebrity of the Year: My wife gave me the idea for this one. Everyone’s favorite skank ho, Britney Spears. Two marriages, one over in less than 24 hours. The other to a no-name dancer with no prenup while his ex-girlfriend was pregnant with his child. Going into gas station bathrooms in bare feet. And the list goes on and on. You can take the girl out of the trailer park, but you can’t take the trailer park out of the girl.

    That’s it for this year, kids. Have a safe Amateur night.

  • Marshfield: The Year in Review

    Marshfield: The Year in Review

    A tragedy prevented, a town shocked:

    This article seems like a year in review of the Marshfield High plot incident. It’s actually a pretty good article, but I have to take issue with a couple of things…

    However parents of MHS students said the harsh media spotlight was particularly difficult for their children. At a PTO meeting shortly after the initial news conference, parents told principal Robert Keuther that many of their kids had expressed bewilderment at seeing news cameras and reporters outside their school, on top of just finding out one of their classmates may have been planning to kill them.

    Oh no, not bewilderment. :-O Anything but that. In the grand scheme of things, seeing reporters outside their school is low on the list of things that will harm your child. I love it when the media and the soccer moms get together. And if the media didn’t show up, they’d be complaining about the fact that it wasn’t being reported.

    This from Joseph Nee’s father…

    “Everybody keeps calling this a Columbine. It’s not a Columbine because my son had the courage and conviction to come forward,” Thomas Nee said.

    Coming forward to accuse someone who may not have been involved is not courage and conviction. It’s called covering your own ass and deflecting the blame.

    From Joseph Nee’s attorney…

    Drechsler, Nee’s attorney, pointed out that while Toby Kerns has a criminal history, getting arrested several times for breaking and entering, and that he also has been treated in a psychiatric facility, Nee has never been in trouble with a law or treated for mental illness.

    Let me see, a cop’s son who has never “been in trouble with the law”. I wonder why that is. Being a cop’s son can go a long way in getting out of trouble with the local police. And just because Nee was never treated for mental illness doesn’t mean he’s not mentally ill. I offer the following as evidence of that…

    Nee also reportedly 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 – written on it in German to school several times. At one point he dressed as Harris for Halloween at school.

    There’s no reportedly about it. I’ve had more than one Marshfield student e-mail me or leave me a comment that says that actually happened. Not to cast aspersions here, but I’m going to. What kind of father, let alone what kind of cop, would let their kids out of the house wearing clothes that pay tribute to known killers?

    The more I read about this incident, the more I start to think that Tobin Kerns was just a scapegoat. Especially since, as I’ve said before, that so many people have contacted me in defense of Tobin Kerns and I have yet to hear from one person in defense of Joseph Nee.

    That speaks volumes.

  • No Sympathy for Killers

    No Sympathy for Killers

    Occasionally, I lurk at message boards and discussion groups that are sympathetic or downright worship killer scumbags, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Even after 5 years, I am still amazed at some of the things that people post. For example, I found this posted the other day on one of the discussion groups…

    My heart goes out to Eric and Dylan: they were normal kids who played soccer and baseball, who planned on going to college or joining the military. They had normal parents and friends, they were not the monsters that the media—based on very little information—made them out to be after the fact. I am so glad I have found other people here who actually understand that!

    Yeah, they were just normal kids. As we all know, all normal kids stockpile weapons and explosives in their house and go on to kill 13 people. Just your average, normal kids.

    Ok, sarcasm aside, what bothered me most about this post that it wasn’t from some angst-ridden goth wannabe high school kid. After checking the author’s website, it turns out that the author is a well-dressed, well-behaved, well-spoken, college student.

    One of my fears is that this “sympathy for killers” mindset will start to gain legitimacy in the mainstream. Which I guess means I have to repeat myself once again for the sake of common sense…

    ahem…

    First of all, I don’t think that Harris and Klebold were bullied. If anything, they were the bullies themselves. Even if they were bullied, it’s no excuse to gun down 13 people who had little to no connection with them.

    They did not have normal parents. They had parents who were obviously very lax in their parenting skills. Allowing an arsenal to be amassed under their noses is proof of that, not to mention the fact that the Klebolds feel like they did nothing wrong. They may not be monsters to you, but considering they’re mass murderers the term monster might not be that much of a stretch.

    Nothing that ever happened to those two scumbags warranted the merciless execution of 13 people. Harris and Klebold were not victims nor martyrs nor heroes. They were nothing but cowards, undeserving of anyone’s praise for their actions.

  • 12/26/04: From The Mail Sack

    12/26/04: From The Mail Sack

    Merry Christmas, it’s time to bring on the love, as we actually have some mail for the first time in a while.

    Just one piece, though…

    Monday, December 20, 2004 08:27 AM

    From: Ugabuga

    Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are my hero’s

    Hail REB, Hail VoDkA

    there story made its way all the way to the bloody land of israel.

    were, sadly, i live.

    i personly think it was heroic, it is a dream for me to do something in that standerd… allthou i have plans of my own 🙂

    keep killing

    Hail? Hail, huh? Who uses the word “hail” anymore unless you’re talking about precipitation.

    Sounds like you were using it in the context of the German “heil”. I’m assuming that since you claim to be from Israel and your IP address traced back to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, that you’re Jewish. If that is the case, then I find it ironic that you worship two murdering, rotting in hell scumbags like Harris and Klebold who in their own right just about worshiped Hitler.

    You know that guy, don’t you? Funny haircut, little mustache, and oh yeah, he slaughtered millions of your own people. You’re even worse than most of the American kids who worship these two scumbags because you’re a betrayer to your own country.