TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: Columbine

  • The Myth Spreads Like Cancer II

    The Myth Spreads Like Cancer II

    Bully for Them:

    Who would have thought? A factually inaccurate article from the Washington Post. I’m stunned. (Not really)

    Basically, this is just another “feel good” article about bullying. It states the obvious by saying bullying is a real problem in our schools but, as usual, doesn’t offer any real solutions that can be applied in the real world. It relies a lot on parental involvement. In a perfect world that would be enough, but as we all know, the parents of bullies are either bullies themselves or refuse to admit that their kids are bullies.

    And they blame the usual suspects, TV, Movies, video games, but still not offering any real solutions on what the schools can do to stop bullying. However, my major bone of contention is with this…

    Bullying’s link to violence has been repeatedly documented. For example, the 1999 Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colo., by two students who had been bullied, resulted in the deaths of 12 classmates, a teacher and the shooters themselves, and the wounding of 23 others.

    WRONG!!! Again I refer to what, I think, is the definitive article about Columbine, “The Depressive and the Psychopath” written by Dave Cullen for Slate. An addition to the article deals with the myths of Columbine…

    Here is the straight story on seven of the central myths:

    1. Targeting jocks, blacks, and Christians: There were no targets. Harris and Klebold just wanted body count, and they didn’t care who died. They expected their bombs to do most of the killing, murdering everyone in the cafeteria, irrespective of clique or social standing. When the bombs failed, they shot indiscriminately, firing into open crowds and under tables without bothering to see who their victims were. They taunted jocks briefly in the library, but they taunted virtually everyone else there, too.

    7. Outcasts: Perhaps the most pervasive myth is that Harris and Klebold were rejected outcasts. They were not captains of the football team, but they were far more accepted than many of their schoolmates. They hung out with a tight circle of close friends and partied regularly on the weekend with a wider crowd.

    In other words, they weren’t bullied.

    Even though some people think I encourage or excuse bullying, you couldn’t be more wrong. As a former victim, I think bullying is a cancer on our education system. But unfortunately, I don’t think there will ever be a realistic solution to eliminating bullying from our schools.

  • On video games and violence from an expert on both

    On video games and violence from an expert on both

    Violence in games is a GOOD thing:

    This is a great article, possibly the definitive article, about violence in video games. It was written by someone who knows what real violence is all about, Brooks Brown.

    For those of you who may not know, Brooks Brown was friends with the killers and the killed at Columbine. By his own words, he had previously reported Harris and Klebold to the police about threats made at him, and the police did nothing. So I’ll take this guy’s word about violence and video games. It was his closing statement that struck me as most poignant…

    Columbine was not caused by violent video games. Eric and Dylan (the shooters) were drawn to violent video games because they were violent, fucked up kids. I am drawn to these violen games becaue they offer more freedom. And, it may sound naive, but i believe the vast majority of gamers play these games for the same reason as me. Do you?

    Link via Joystiq.

  • 6/5/05 From The Mail Sack

    6/5/05 From The Mail Sack

    Haven’t done a Sunday Mail Sack in a while. Let’s get to it, shall we?

    The first one is from my entry on the Zero Hour documentary. Hold on, folks. It’s a long one…

    Nameless Says:

    Personally, I think Trench needs to think about his name calling against two people of which I doubt he would have called cowards and scumbags in person. I find your kind interesting, in that you can feel all high and mighty off of it, but it is sad because I highly doubt you would have said anything to them in person. Did you learn nothing from that documentary? I personally like to keep an open mind, giving everyone their own views and opinions and respecting them for such. However, Erich and Dylan were greatly misunderstood. I would also like to direct your attention to point that pieces of information, even on the day of the shooting itself, were false. Information such as the fact that the police, at one point in time during the shooting, believed there were more then two gunmen and even that there was a sniper on the roof. If you people search long and hard, and as well using more then one site for refrence so that you can reflect the material you find, you’ll start to understand things better…

    You call two men cowards who took their time to make several explosives, purchase weapons dispite being of legal age, carefuly plan, and actually killed people… Interesting… I wonder how many of you people can truely say that you would carefuly plant propane explosives, though they of course did not go off – I would like you to keep in mind that if they did, it would have killed an estimate of 300 or so students, and yet when those bombs didn’t go off… They still shot and killed people… Why don’t you ask yourself a simple question… What would a man with nothing to lose do?

    People like you, Trench, who think it is so great and wonderful to mock someone for being different and or because they do something outside of your beliefs or views, you people are the type of people who bring events like Columbine to reality. I, however, perhaps have no right to judge you or anyone. I don’t claim any drama calls for Eric and Dylans actions… I don’t sit here and say that they were doing it because of insecurity, though it was their so called fellow peers that aided in the reasons for them to do such things. I think that if you actually took the time to research materials out there, like per say Erich Harris’s journal entries or even go ahead and download the entire Columbine report (I can attempt to post a link to it actually if I can find it again but the version I found it in was in all PDF format) then perhaps you guys can start to understand the multiple sides to the story. Instead, you and the others are so quick to outcast them further because of what they did, regardless of the obvious that they themselves were victums. Some of the people they killed did not have anything to do with them actually, this I know myself. If you look at a lot of though, you’ll see that not a single one of them had a bad quality pointed out about them in any of the articles that were written about them after their deaths at Columbine. Interesting, don’t you think? There are more then just the sides of the people who were shot and killed. There are reasons for virtually everything. You would find it interesting to know that such things like the whole “asking so and so if they believed in god and then killing them because they said yes” were actually entirely false. You would find it interesting perhaps to learn that they didn’t have any real targets, dispite the fact that they did indeed say, “All Jocks Stand Up!” when shooting victims in the library. You can learn a good bit if you actually take the time to, instead of sitting here and mocking two beautiful people…

    Personally, I think Eric and Dylan were tragic heros… We need more people like them…

    Sunday May 29, 2005 @ 11:31 pm

    I may not have called them cowards in person, but I definitely would have called them scumbags because if they were still alive, they didn’t do anything yet to be called cowards. But being the two juvenile delinquents that they were, I definitely would have called them scumbags.

    So the police thought there may have been more than two gunmen. That doesn’t change the fact they killed 13 people in one of the most cowardly ways possible.

    And you go on about how careful their plans were, and that doesn’t make them cowards. It not only makes them cowards, it makes them psychopathic cowards.

    What do you mean, they had nothing to lose? Graduation was a short time away. If they thought like most rational people, they would have graduated and have been done with the school forever.

    I do not mock people for being different, unless, of course, they’re murderer worshiping mutants who don’t have the sense that God gave them. That’s not different. That’s just wrong.

    And do you mean the Columbine report that says Eric Harris’ so-called bullying was a whole two kids who made fun of him in gym class? The same one that said Dylan Klebold bullied a kid with a learning disability?

    They were not victims. What were they victims of? Upper-class suburbia? Spoiled rich kid syndrome? Spare me the blame society crap.

    And the Eric Harris Journal, yeah, I’ve read that too. I love it when people tell me to do my research when they obviously haven’t done theirs.

    Mocking two beautiful people? You have got to be kidding me. I see more as reviling two cowardly scumbags. They were not tragic heroes. They were two psychopathic cowards who couldn’t suffer enough for what they did. Seek professional help. It will do you some good.

    My last one is from my entry from when I started The Watchlist…

    Sean Says:

    Oh how much I love what Harris and Klebold did. FINALLY someone has stood up for themself and told the world how they felt and I love what Jeff Weise just did also the revolution has already begun and no one can stop it not even you. 13-2 9-1 long live 4-20-99

    Wednesday Jun 1, 2005 @ 8:21 pm

    What revolution? What were they revolting against? Does someone want to tell me, please? Just remember parents, this could be your kid.

  • 5/26/05: From The Mail Sack

    5/26/05: From The Mail Sack

    Let’s get caught up with my fan mail, shall we?

    The first one is from my entry on the now-defunct Panzerfaust Records trying to recruit school kids…

    Deutschlund Oberalist Says:

    :mrgreen:Let us not forget that more silently the Muslims are penetrating our society.

    Monday May 16, 2005 @ 2:08 pm

    I love first timers. First of all, the name you used to leave your comment is spelled incorrectly. Secondly, not all Muslims are terrorists, you racist prick. And lastly, your IP address traced back to the City of Houston. I hope you’re an employee there because I sent them a nice e-mail regarding your internet practices. Have a nice 3-day weekend. I hope it’s longer than that for you.

    This next one is from the 2/24/05 Mail Sack…

    arf Says:

    yea eric and dylan are heroes to me so what!!!!!! they killed 13 people who cares if they were

    unarmed. i am sick and tired of undeserving people walking on this fuckin shithole of a planet.

    Columbine was a point in time to be rememberd as when two people took a stand for what they belive was there goal in life to take down as many worthless fucks as they culd!

    i wish i was there to have seen it. and if the so called “cowards” are burning in hell i will be very happy to se them when i get there!!!!!!!

    Saturday May 21, 2005 @ 7:25 am

    If you were there to have seen it, you’d probably have been killed. Do you think they would have cared about you? I doubt it. I hope you get to meet them too.

    Same mutant, different entry.

    arf Says:

    yes i want to shake there hands i want to pat them on the back and tell them what a great job they did.

    in response to earlier posts yes i am “psyco” and fucking proud to be! worthless motherfuckers will fall when the day is over!

    every1 is going to die you,me EVERYBODY!!!!!! so get over it. you talk about “god” you have no idea… there is no “god” all there is is mankind and it has no right to be here on this fucking planet. so enjoy the rest of your time on this earth because when its over your your gonna burn in hell just like i am and maybe then i will get to meet eric and dylan who really are “GODS”

    Saturday May 21, 2005 @ 7:41 am

    I’m just shaking my head at this one. Remember, people, this could be your kid.

    And it just wouldn’t be a Mail Sack without one from the Eric Harris journal…

    christina Says:

    To FUX:

    if you think so strongly about that then why dont you fucking back up your theory of them being cowards? it takes balls to do something like that (not that you would know what it’s like to have balls or guts of any type). Even if you dont like what they did they are still revolutionaries, infamous ones, but revolutionaries none the less.

    Sunday May 22, 2005 @ 3:26 pm

    It’s not a theory, it’s a fact that they were cowards. Shooting random and unarmed people, then killing yourself to avoid any consequences is cowardly. There’s no debate about it. Revolutionaries? What are they revolting against? The spoiled white suburban lifestyle? Please. Cowardly, delusional, psychopaths. Nothing more.

  • The Myth Spreads Like Cancer

    The Myth Spreads Like Cancer

    Power and control drive school bullies:

    This is a long-winded article about bullying that brings nothing new to the table. Let me sum it up for you…bullying is and has always been a problem, teachers and students do nothing about it, and here are some tips to prevent it that don’t work in the real world. It’s the usual stuff in these anti-bullying articles.

    For once, I’d like to see some real information in these articles, like telling parents that their kid may be a bully. But as we all know, it’s not about personal responsibility anymore. And speaking of which, I have a bone to pick with a few words in this article. Mainly…

    One of those kids has been in police custody since September. Andrew Osantowski, 17, who is expected to stand trial June 7 in Macomb County, is accused of creating a hit list and plotting to blow up Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township. Schoolmates told the Free Press at the time of his arrest that he was the victim of near-constant bullying.

    He’s not alone. From Red Lake, Minn., to Columbine High in Colorado, bullying is partly blamed for deep-seated problems that end in tragedy.

    And the myth perpetuates once more. What makes it worse is that when it’s printed in a “legitimate” media outlet, people take it to heart as fact.

    In the case of Andrew Osantowski, I only saw him mention bullying once in the chat transcript, but never said if it was him being bullied. Also, on his websites, he never talked about bullying. He spoke mostly of his past criminal exploits and his fascination with Nazism. And if you’re telling people at school that you are a Nazi, then you’re inviting trouble on to yourself.

    In the case of Jeff Weise, he was the bully rather than the bullied. According to reports, he bullied kids who listened to rap music, which is ironic considering, he listened to rap himself.

    As far as I can tell in the FBI report, Eric Harris’ bullying consisted of being made fun of in gym class on two separate occasions and Dylan Klebold bullied the mentally handicapped.

    I know this asking a little too much, but journalists, please do a little more research before listing myth and urban legend as fact. When you print these myths as fact, it lends the would-be school shooter legitimacy to their violent plans for vengeance.

  • Dawn Anna

    Dawn Anna

    Dawn Anna

    Bully breakdown:

    Dawn Anna Townsend is the mother of Lauren Townsend, who was killed in the Columbine massacre. Recently, she spoke at a Pennsylvania high school, and she had some interesting things to say…

    “They hated everybody,” Townsend said about the gunmen who killed her daughter. “They hated her (Lauren Townsend) because she breathed and that she was in their way.”

    Townsend said one of the inaccurate reports that came out of the Columbine massacre was that the two murderers were retaliating against athletes who picked on them.

    “They (the killers) were the bullies,” Townsend said.

    Emphasis mine.

    And yet 6 years later, people are still holding on to that myth.

    She also had a lot of great things to say about bullying. The sad part is that I’m sure it fell on deaf ears.

    I remember when I was in school that every time we had some kind of speaker come in to talk to us about some problem, we spent the rest of the day making fun of the presentation. I hope today’s students aren’t like that, but I know that some things never change.

    Not to mention the fact that the reality is there always have been bullies and there always will be. That’s just an unfortunate fact of life. Therefore, it’s up to the schools to realistically do something about bullying. And the parents…

    Townsend also speaks with parents. She reminds parents that their children don’t need them to be their best friends, they need them to be parents.

    “When your child becomes older, then you become best friends,” she said, urging parents, teachers, and especially students, that ignoring suspicious activity in people could have dire consequences.

    “The warning signs are a road map,” she said.

    Emphasis mine.

    It’s just too bad that a lot of people won’t listen to a woman who is saying all the right things. The right things that used to be known as common sense.

  • 5/8/05: From The Mail Sack

    5/8/05: From The Mail Sack

    Let’s clear out the mail sack, shall we?

    The first one is from my entry on the Eric Harris journal, of course…

    Beachbaron58 Says:

    I have to respond to the word “coward” since it is used so many times here. Anyone who can do what Klebold and Harris did then pull the trigger with a shotgun in your mouth is no coward to me. They shot and killed other kids at close range not once but many times without batting an eye! These two gave the word “hate” a whole new meaning. I asked myself why I had an interest in the Columbine story and made prints of so much material? Same as everyone else five years later, the story is fascinating sad to say and we all know Columbine was just the begining but no way the end of such things. Other people will try to do better than Klebold and Harris, that is just the way things are.

    Friday Apr 15, 2005 @ 10:35 pm

    What’s scary about this is that in a previous comment, this guy said he was a 46-year-old Navy vet. And to address the issue at hand, yes they were cowards. If I have to explain why you haven’t been paying attention.

    The next one is from my entry about the Columbine death photos…

    fegan Says:

    Erik and Dylan were solidiers of an radical opinion and they made all us anarchists and anti social revolutionaries realise it is time to make our mark we need to prepare the revolution is at hand it is time for society to stop all these black and white thoughts on right and wrong and listen with an open mind to our opinions on how society should work

    We our the children of cililzed society and the future leaders of this forsaken land that we are forced to dwell soon it will be ours lets get it better suited for our existance

    Friday Apr 29, 2005 @ 10:15 pm

    Ah, yes. No punctuation and almost no capitalization. The true sign of an intellectual. And let’s not forget “An radical opinion” Apparently being an anarchist or an anti-social revolutionary means failing English class. They were not soldiers of an radical opinion. They were psychopathic cowards. They didn’t even have the guts to face the repercussions of their own actions.

    And lastly…

    CORINNE Says:

     

    ERIC AND DYLAN HAVE BEAUTIFUL MINDS. THEY WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY FOR WHAT THEY DID. ERIC IS HOTT, I WOULD GO TO PROM WITH HIM.KISS KISS ERIC R.I.P. WHY DID YOU KILL YOURSELF?

    Thursday May 5, 2005 @ 11:03 pm

    All capitalization is worse than no capitalization. Also, does anyone care to take a guess at what ISP this “person” uses? That’s right, it’s everyone’s favorite polluter of the internet, AOL. Anyway, parents, see what your kids are up to. If this is your kid, they think that two people who killed 13 innocent people are “HOTT”.

    A little supervision goes a long way.

  • Zero Hour

    Zero Hour

    I just finished watching a documentary called Zero Hour: Massacre at Columbine High on the History Channel.

    If you’ve ever had any question about whether or not the two scumbags Harris and Klebold were psychopaths, then you should watch this documentary. It recreated step by step April 20th, 1999 at Columbine High.

    Even though it was recreated by actors, it was kind of disturbing to watch how nonchalantly they carried out their killings.

    However, what really struck me is that the words “bullying” and “harassment” were never mentioned. The one word that was mentioned was “exclusion”.

    The documentary said that Eric Harris said in his journals that he was pissed about being excluded. Which leads me to my newest theory.

    Eric Harris didn’t hate the “jocks” because of bullying, he hated them because of jealousy. He wanted to be them. He wanted to be one of the kids wearing a white baseball cap. He wanted to be popular. But when you’re a psychopathic anti-social little fuck, that makes it kind of hard.

    The documentary also said that Eric Harris had multiple hiding places in his room for the various weapons. The more hiding places you have, the more chances there are to be found out. That is, if Eric Harris’ parents actually did their job and checked up on him.

    As a matter of fact, when word of the shootings got back to Wayne Harris, he called 911 saying that he believed his son was one of the shooters. If he knew something like this could happen, why didn’t he do anything to stop it? Then again, he’s already shown what kind of parent he is.

    It’s on again tonight on the History Channel at Midnight EDT if you want to see it

  • Columbine Study Halted By Killers’ Parents

    Columbine Study Halted By Killers’ Parents

    Study of ’99 shootings in limbo as killers’ parents end cooperation:

    How fitting is it that on the sixth anniversary of the day their sons slaughtered 13 innocent people, that the parents of those killer scumbags, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, have decided they’re done participating in a study on the Columbine massacre? A study backed by the Attorney General’s office, no less. The timing isn’t just ironic, it’s insulting.

    I wonder why they stopped participating? Since they felt like they did nothing wrong, then what do they have to hide? Maybe the study was getting a little too close to the truth. Maybe the study was going to find possible criminal charges against the parents?

    I guess we’ll never know now because God forbid these parents should face up to their responsibilities.

  • 4/15/05: From The Mail Sack

    4/15/05: From The Mail Sack

    Since I don’t have anything to write about so far today, let’s take a dip into the mail sack shall we?

    TrEv46 Says:

    I tHiNk ErIc HaRrIs aNd DyLaN KlEBoLd Are F***ing GoDs.:twisted:WhOeVeR ThiNkS ThErE CrAZy ArE F***ing ReTaRdEd.ThEy PlAnNeD iT So PeRfEcTLy.:!:ThEy hAd A PoInT, NoOnE DeSeRvEd WhAt ThEy GoT aT ScHoOl. KiCk-StArT ThE ReVoLuTiOn.:twisted::twisted::twisted:

    Tuesday Apr 12, 2005 @ 4:30 pm

    It’s amazing that people still actually type like that. “TrEv46” is a “1337 hax0r” isn’t he? I advised him to learn to type like a human, as it will help get along better in life.

    They had a point? What point did they have? That they were psychopathic and mentally deficient in their reasoning? Yeah, we got that point.

    The only gods Harris and Klebold could be, are the gods of cowards and scumbags. What revolution will you be kickstarting? The one on typing skills or social skills? You’re in for a rude awakening, Junior once you enter the real world.

    This next one is from my entry on (what else?) the Eric Harris Journal which is a response to this comment.

    Christina Says:

    to FUX:

    you must be a fucking idiot. they were not cowards in any way. a coward is someone who shows fear when they are faced with difficult or painful situations. for one thing they took that difficult situation of being bullied every minute in school, and did something about it. for another thing, they had the fucking guts to actually kill themselves.

    suicide is not something that is an “easy way out”. how fucking easy is it to kill yourself? have you tried it? no? maybe your the coward to never go or do anything that might cause you pain.

    eric harris and dylan kelbold were now cowards, they were revolutionaries trying to stand up for themselves. i’m not saying i know what they really were, or why they did it. anyone who thinks they know why they did it is just assuming, steriotyping, and being ignorant. what i think they were doing is they were trying to make a stand against everything in their school. i think that since they were shown no compassion by anyone, that they were retaliating, and that they had every right to do so.

    Thursday Apr 14, 2005 @ 6:05 pm

    What’s scary is that the person who left this comment is a college student. From UMass-Boston to be specific. They must be so proud to see what their fine institution produces.

    I love the statement that Harris and Klebold were “bullied every minute”. Were you there? I doubt that you were.

    In reality, it was Harris that was the bully and Klebold his lackey. But keep buying into the myth like the rest of the mutant herd.

    Harris and Klebold are cowards because they killed unarmed people who had nothing to do with them. Then, in the ultimate act of cowardice, rather than face the consequences for their actions they took the easy way out by killing themselves. At least they saved the taxpayers money.

    They were not revolutionaries. What were they revolting against? The suburban white rich kid spoiled life? They were shown no compassion because they showed no compassion. And you dare say they had the right to take 13 innocent lives and injure dozens of others? How dare you. Your comment is an insult to the families of the real victims of Columbine. You have no right to talk about compassion. Get help. You need it.

    And lastly, from my entry on the Rampart Range Tape…

    Katie Jo Says:

    😈 I ABSOLUTELY FELL IN LOVE WITH ERIC AND DYLAN! THEY ARE AMAZING!

    Friday Apr 15, 2005 @ 12:50 pm

    Behold the intelligence of the mutant throngs.

    The funny thing is that her IP address traces back to the Commonwealth of Kentucky Dept. of Information Systems. I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate their internet resources being used to give virtual blow jobs to those two scumbag cowards.

    It would be a shame if someone dropped an e-mail to the administrator at the Dept. of Information Systems. And considering the poster left a link to their personal blog, they shouldn’t be too hard to identify them.

    By the way, by the time you read this, the e-mail will have already been sent. Have a nice day.