Massacre: Columbine High School
Posted by FV in Miscellaneous
By Tony Jackson
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado (the CDP of Columbine) near Denver and Littleton.
Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a shooting rampage, killing 12 students and a teacher, as well as wounding 23 others, before committing suicide.
It is the fourth-deadliest school killing in United States history, after the 1927 Bath School disaster, 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the 1966 University of Texas massacre.
The massacre provoked debate regarding gun control laws, the availability of firearms in the United States, and gun violence involving youths. Much discussion also centered on the nature of high school cliques, subcultures and bullying, as well as the role of violent movies and video games in American society.
The shooting also resulted in an increased emphasis on school security, and a moral panic aimed at goth culture, social pariahs, the gun culture, the use of pharmaceutical anti-depressants by teenagers, violent films and music, teenage internet use, and violent video games.
Early warning signs began to surface in 1996, when Eric Harris first created a private website on America Online. The original site was set up to host Doom levels that he and Dylan Klebold had created, mainly for friends. Harris also began a blog on the site, which included jokes and small journal entries concerning his thoughts on parents, school, and friends.
By the end of the year, the site contained instructions on how to cause mischief, as well as instructions on how to make explosives, and logs of the trouble he and Klebold were causing. Beginning in early 1997, the blog postings began to show the first signs of Harris’ ever-growing anger against society.
Harris’ site had few visitors, and it did not become an issue until late 1997, when Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigator Michael Guerra was notified of the site after the parents of Harris’ former friend, Brooks Brown, discovered that Harris was posting death threats aimed at their son.
Guerra discovered the website also contained violent threats directed at the students and teachers of Columbine High School. Other material included blurbs Harris had written concerning his hatred of society in general and his desire to kill those who annoyed him.
As the date of the shooting neared, Harris also began noting the completion of pipe bombs on his site, as well as a gun count and “hit list” of individuals he wished to target, although it never mentioned his overall plot. As Harris had admitted to having explosives, Guerra decided to write a draft affidavit for a search warrant of the Harris household, but it was never filed.
The existence of the affidavit was concealed by Jefferson County and not revealed to the public until September 2001, as the direct result of an investigation by the television show 60 Minutes.
After the release of the affidavit, a series of grand jury investigations were launched into the cover-up activities of the Jefferson County officials. The investigation revealed that high-ranking officials of Jefferson County had come together a few days after the massacre to discuss the release of the affidavit to the public.
It was decided that because the affidavit’s contents lacked the necessary probable cause to have supported the issuance of a search warrant for the Harris household by a judge, it would be best not to disclose the affidavit’s existence at an upcoming press conference, although the actual conversations and points of discussion were never revealed to anyone other than the Grand Jury members.
Following the press conference, the original Guerra documents disappeared. In September 1999, a Jefferson County investigator failed to find the documents during a secret search of the county’s computer system. A second attempt in late 2000 found copies of the document within the Jefferson County archives.
The documents were reconstructed and released to the public in September 2001, but the original documents are still missing. The final grand jury investigation was released in September 2004.
Source: Wiki
(3 votes, average: 9.67 out of 10)
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Stoned In Suburbia
Posted by FV in Miscellaneous
By Tony Jackson
Stoned In Suburbia is a social history film, examining the change in people’s opinions to cannabis over the past 50 years. It discusses the impact of the 60’s sexual revolution, the Hippie movement and the emergence of the Punks, right up until the modern day.
The film also interviews various cannabis users of all ages and apart from being a rarity for the viewer, the film highlights the dangers that everyday cannabis users face, be it for medicinal use or not.
Highly recommended!
(3 votes, average: 10 out of 10) Loading …
Bill Clinton: His Life
Posted by FV in Government Related
By Tony Jackson
‘His Life’ follows Bill Clinton through his college days as a war protester, his years of purported womanizing as governor of Arkansas and his possible connections to drug trafficking and subsequent murders.
The film also looks at the Whitewater scandal and his questionable decisions, campaign financing and practices during his two terms as President of the United States - always in the shadow of his wife Hillary.
Interspersed with interviews, ‘His Life’ is a thought-provoking documentary in the narrative style which compels the viewer to take a hard look at the life of one of the most controversial American presidents of all time.
Highly recommended viewing.
(4 votes, average: 9.25 out of 10) Loading …
UFO: California
Posted by FV in UFOs & ETs
By Tony Jackson
This is a short little clip showing 3 glowing orange orbs descending over a mountain top. The UFOs seem to be searching for something through the undergrowth, or at least it would appear that way.
Apparently, this footage was taken close to an Airforce base in California. Unfortunately the clip doesn’t come with much more information than that, so it’s up to the viewer to do their own research and to see if they can find anything else out about this strange sighting.
It’s definitely unusual, that we can say.
(3 votes, average: 10 out of 10) Loading …