TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • Peter Steele kicks ass

    Peter Steele kicks ass

    Here are some reasons why Peter Steele has attained almost god-like status with me.

    Reason #1:

    “I believe that the true definition of a rock band is to upset people and that’s the reason rock became rock in the late 50’s, because the country was pretty right-wing. So when rock came out—being left-wing—that upset people. I will admit to being slightly right-wing. I consider myself to be a conscientious conservative. I am pro-police, pro-government, and pro-parent. Because the country has shifted so far to the left that even if you are mid-wing, still you are upsetting people. So, all these trendoid rock bands are just preaching to the choir. I have, in the past, gone out of my way to upset people and fortunately it worked. That’s why I can say Carnivore and Type O Negative are true rock bands, because your parents aren’t going to like this music. And if they do like it you better find different parents.”

    Reason #2:

    “I went to confession for the first time in 30 years. And the priest was very happy that I had come back to church and stuff. I didn’t go into each and every sin otherwise he would have to take two weeks vacation (laughs). I said ‘Father I did wrong and I want to apologize to God for my behavior and I’m going to try for it to not happen again.’ It’s better to pay in this life then in the afterlife. So he said “well, make a large donation to your favorite charity, which I did. I’m not going to tell you which charity it was or how much, because that really started me thinking about these so-called charitable people. Charity should be anonymous. If you’re going to get a pat on the back for doing…”Oh, you’re such a great guy. You gave five million dollars—even though you have 50 billion—to South Africa. You’re a great fuckin’ guy.”

    And reason #3:

    I had gone to see Deep Purple, Scorpions, and Ronnie James Dio at the PNC shithole of fuck, New Jersey. Whatever it is. They were all really cool. Ronnie’s a great fuckin’ guy.

    Thanks to KNAC for the best Peter Steele interview I’ve ever read.

  • Net Neutrality solution

    Net Neutrality solution

    Both proponents and opponents of net neutrality have it all wrong.

    Proponents say we need government regulation to prevent the ISP’s from staggering traffic. Opponents say we don’t need the government regulating the internet. Well, as smug as both sides are, they’re both wrong.

    The problem is with local municipalities who allow cable and telephone companies to have a regional monopoly. Think about it. You probably only have 1 cable company and 1 local telephone company where you live. That’s not much competition in the marketplace, is it?

    The only way that’s going to stop is if enough people are vocal to their community leaders to put a stop to allowing these monopolies. Unfortunately, not enough people will even think about that until it’s too late.

  • Asa Coon’s death photo taken by Cleveland cop

    Asa Coon’s death photo taken by Cleveland cop

    Photo of Asa Coon’s body taken by Cleveland policeman:

    The infamous photo of Asa Coon that was taken after he committed suicide was taken by Cleveland police officer Walter Emerick. He admitted to taking the photo with his cell phone and sending it to other people, but claims that he did not post it on the internet. If those other people were outside of the investigation, then what did he expect to happen?

    Steve Loomis, the Cleveland police union president, said the union does not condone a crime-scene photo being posted on the Internet.

    But officers have legitimate reasons to take pictures of crime scenes in order to recall what they saw, he said. Emerick took other images that were not posted.

    Which is a legitimate reason, but if he was sending it out to people for no legitimate reason, Officer Emerick should be disciplined.

  • Prostitution in Atlanta

    Prostitution in Atlanta

    Oldest Profession Has Young Victims, New Methods: Ann Woolner:

    This is a great article about Atlanta’s perceived problem with child prostitution and what police are doing to combat it. Of course, craigslist is brought into the conversation because Mayor Shirley Franklin previously called craigslist on the carpet for facilitating child prostitution.

    The author of the article, Ann Woolner, tried to contact craigslist about this and was met with the usual response.

    I tried to contact craigslist Chief Executive Officer Jim Buckmaster to ask whether he had instituted any reforms since Franklin wrote him in August seeking closer monitoring, more stringent warnings and a tougher attitude toward those who advertise illegal services or otherwise break the Web site’s rules. Questions e-mailed to a press contact for Buckmaster weren’t answered.

    How long will craigslist continue to stick its fingers in its ears and go “LALALALALALALALALALALALA I’M NOT LISTENING”?

  • Cossey charged as juvenile

    Cossey charged as juvenile

    Pa. DA won’t seek to move student arsenal case to adult court:

    Dillon Cossey, the 14-year-old accused of plotting an attack against Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, will not be tried as an adult. Montgomery County DA Bruce Castor had this to say…

    Cossey “suffers from severe emotional and psychiatric disabilities which I believe the juvenile court is in the best position to address,” Castor wrote to Judge Paul Tressler. “I find that he is likely amenable to treatment and supervision by juvenile authorities.”

    I have no problem with Cossey being tried as a juvenile. His parents, on the other hand, should have the book thrown at them. They’re the ones who provided him with the most lethal weapons in his arsenal, to begin with. For parents that were allegedly homeschooling their kid, they don’t seem too bright.

  • Regulatin’ Rasslin’

    Regulatin’ Rasslin’

    Georgia May Regulate Wrestling as a Sport In Response to Chris Benoit Murder-Suicide:

    In a knee-jerk response to the Chris Benoit murder-suicide, the State of Georgia, where the crime took place, is considering regulating professional wrestling as a real sport.

    These politicians may think that they’re protecting wrestlers from steroids and concussions by enacting such legislation, but they’re really not.

    I believe it was Oregon that tried a similar regulation not too many years ago. They were regulating wrestling because of health concerns. I believe it was because of the blood that wrestlers shed in matches that Oregon officials were trying to protect wrestlers and fans from blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.

    So what did the wrestling companies do? They just didn’t go to Oregon anymore. That will be the same thing that happens to Georgia if they enact any kind of legislation like that. Which would mean no more Pay Per Views in Georgia, which would mean a loss of revenue for the state. That would be a shame because Georgia has such a rich history of professional wrestling.

    Also, if you regulate pro wrestling you’d have to regulate other non-sporting events as well such as the circus or rock concerts.

    Besides, this won’t really protect the wrestlers. They’ll be doing the same things they’ve always done, just in another state.

  • Close but no cigar

    Close but no cigar

    School shootings show shortcomings of American society:

    This is an editorial from a student at the University of Maine about how the signs were ignored from school shooters Asa Coon and Cho Seung-Hui. It’s a really good article up until this point…

    Apparently, both of these tragedies, along with countless others, point to flaws in not just the school system, but in society as well. Are Americans so blind and selfish that they cannot learn from the past, and reach out to those who feel insignificant and hopeless? Maybe if we stepped outside of our comfort zone and lent a helping hand to “troubled” people like Asa Coon and Seung-Hui Cho, we could prevent school violence.

    So close.

    What the question should be is, are American kids so blind and selfish that they think that mass murder is the way to solve their problems?

    Instead of “society” stepping out of its comfort zone, maybe it should be parents that step out of their comfort zones and be parents again and not just baby makers. Maybe then their kids wouldn’t be so “troubled”.

  • Colleen Grear sentenced

    Colleen Grear sentenced

    Former Scripps lab tech gets year in jail for sex with boy, 14:

    Over a year ago, I posted the story of Colleen Grear. She was the 22-year-old single mother lab tech who started a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy via MySpace. At first, he said he was 18, but when she found out his real age, she didn’t seem to care.

    Yesterday, Grear pleaded guilty to charges of lewd and lascivious battery. Under the terms of the plea, she will spend a year behind bars, 2 years on house arrest, and 10 years as a registered sex offender.

    Being placed on sex offender probation carries special conditions regular probationers don’t have, such as being prohibited from living within 1,000-feet of a park, school or playground and barring contact with children under 18. Grear cannot have a job where kids regularly congregate and she cannot own or view pornography. She must submit to an HIV test and undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation and complete any recommended treatment. If she violates her probation, she faces 15 years behind bars.

    What do you think of the sentence? Is it fair? Would a man have gotten more or less, do you think?

  • Facebook caves

    Facebook caves

    Facebook settles New York child safety probe:

    Not too long ago, I posted about New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo setting his sights on Facebook because of pervs approaching his office’s fake underage Facebook profile.

    Well, Facebook has caved in to him…

    The settlement involves no financial penalties.

    Under the terms of the settlement, Facebook has agreed to begin addressing any complaint within 24 hours of being told of inappropriate content — involving such things as nudity, profanity or harassment — by a user or e-mail correspondent.

    The company will tell the complaining party the steps it has taken within 72 hours when the complaint has been submitted via an independent e-mail.

    In addition, the Palo Alto, California-based company has agreed to allow an independent examiner to oversee how Facebook handles such complaints. The attorney general will have a say in who gets hired as examiner. The examiner will report to the New York attorney general every six months over a two-year period on Facebook’s compliance.

    If I were Facebook, I would have told them to shove it. The amount of crime that happens on Facebook compared to MySpace is almost negligible.

    Oh, and look, our friend AG Roy Cooper from North Carolina has to stick his two cents in…

    “This agreement is another step toward protecting children on social networking sites but we still have a long way to go,” North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a separate statement. “Our group of attorneys general will keep pushing MySpace, Facebook and other sites to do more.”

    Yet, Cuomo and Cooper aren’t pushing parents to do more because, as I’ve said, parents vote and the AG’s don’t want to risk not being re-elected.

  • SuccessTech teacher speaks out

    SuccessTech teacher speaks out

    Student was angry because he was failing:

    Michael Grassie was Asa Coon’s history teacher at SuccessTech. He was also one of Coon’s intended targets. Coon tried starting a fight with the teacher just days before he went on his shooting spree. It’s no surprise that he was failing the class. So rather than study or ask for help or work hard, Coon tried to solve his problems with guns.

    “It was something I haven’t seen on a 14-year-old’s face before,” Grassie said. It was a face of “total anger, real hatred.” He said he knew that Coon was angry with him earlier because Grassie noted on his school progress report that he was failing the course.

    Coon asked during the confrontation: “Now what do you have to say to me?”

    Grassie said he was mentoring another student at the time when Coon turned to the student and said “you’re cool,” then turned his gun on the teacher.

    The bullet entered Grassie’s torso, hit his spleen and pancreas but missed his aorta before exiting the back. Grassie suffered the worst injuries of Coon’s shooting victims.

    Grassie even plays the bullying card for Coon…

    He said Coon “seemed really troubled” and acknowledged what other teachers and students said about the youth: He was the target of student harassment for his counter-culture dress and lifestyle.

    Coon was disruptive in class, Grassie said, and he tried to bring the unruliness to Coon’s mother’s attention, but without success.

    I’m all for individual expression, but if you go around looking and acting like an asshat, you’re going to invite trouble on yourself.

    So, basically, Coon shot Grassie over Coon’s own inadequacies. Pretty pathetic.