george-feeny:

Since I’m extremely interested in the Columbine shooting, and have exhausted almost every source on the subject (yes, even that awful “She Said Yes” bullshit), I feel the need to say some things, and make a few points.

So here we go.

1. FIFTEEN people died that day. Yeah, Eric and Dylan killed the other 13, but they died too. Their mothers and fathers had to deal with the loss of a child as well. Their lives were cut short. Refusing to acknowledge that they died as well is bullshit. 
2. The whole “Do you believe in God?” thing is SO sketchy it shouldn’t even be discussed. Was it Cassie, or was it Rachel? Was it another girl? Was it all three? It’s a widely disputed RUMOR. Apparently, Cassie was saying “Dear God, why? I just want to go home.” Reportedly, Klebold looked under the table where Cassie, and another girl, Emily were hiding, said “Peekaboo,” and shot. Emily survived. Cassie didn’t. Craig Scott was also in the library during the rampage, and said he thought he heard the exchange between Cassie and Dylan, but when he was asked to point to the table when he heard the question, he pointed to the table where Valeen Schnurr had been hiding. “Schnurr’s mother says Valeen was lying wounded on the library floor and was praying when one of the gunmen approached her and asked if she believed in God.  The News article says she replied by saying, “Yes, I believe in God.”  The gunman did nothing more and Valeen survived.” (http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cassie.htm)
3. Just to throw it in there, I think it’s sick that Cassie’s mother capitalized off of the death of her daughter by writing a book about something that DIDN’T ACTUALLY HAPPEN.
4. What about Rachel Scott? It is believed that she was targeted as a victim because of her religious values as a Christian. Rachel was the first person to be killed that day. She and her friend Richard Castaldo were eating lunch outside, just below where Eric and Dylan started shooting. Richard was hit five times, and is now paralyzed, but survived. Rachel was shot four times, and was then killed with a final, fifth bullet at point-blank range to the head. Early news reports said said that one of the gunmen, after shooting Rachel in the leg, picked her up by her hair and asked if she still believed in God, to which she replied “You know I do.” Upon hearing this, the gunman delivered the fatal shot. “Some accounts attributed this version of events to Castaldo, who was severely wounded in the attack himself. Although his mother told a Dateline NBC interviewer about the exchange, Castaldo denied telling this story in a December, 1999, Time magazine interview. The FBI later concluded that the exchange did not take place” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Scott#The_day_of_the_shooting)
5. The fact that you really only ever hear about Cassie and Rachel really pisses me off. The “fact” (which has been proven quite the opposite) that they died as “martyrs” seems to make people think they’re the most important people who died that day. Only when you actually take to to LEARN about the event, and everything leading up to it do you get to meet the other victims. Ever heard of Kyle Valesquez? Probably not. What about Daniel Rohrbough? Again, unlikely. Why? Because they didn’t have a story circulating after the attack about how their belief in God was the reason they were shot. 
6. People who think Eric and Dylan were some kind of “heroes,” or that the other victims “deserved what they got,” you’re fucked up. In no way are they heroes. They were murderers. There is no way around that. No matter if those they shot bullied them (which is also disputed,) no one deserves that kind of terror and early death. People are bullied all the time. It doesn’t mean you should shoot them. If I had killed everyone who bullied me, there would be a lot of blood on my hands. If everyone killed the people who bullied them, no one would be left. I track the ‘columbine’ tag, and I see so many people idolizing the killers. Honestly, I think it’s a bit sick. They should be remembered, yes, but not honored. They ripped 13 other people, and themselves, away from family and friends. They killed people brothers and sisters, someone’s husband and father. They’re not saints.
7. Please take the time to EDUCATE yourselves, before you form opinions. Learn about Eric and Dylan, and about the other 13 victims. I strongly suggest you watch The Discovery Channel’s Zero Hour episode detailing the events of that day. Read the journals of Eric and Dylan. Watch The Basement Tapes, or read the transcripts. The young men were tormented, yes, but not so much by those wearing white caps at school. There were inner demons. 

http://acolumbinesite.com/

This site hits almost all of the bases.

No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine-Written by Brooks Brown, friend of Dylan.

Columbine-Written by Dave Cullen

Columbine: A True Crime Story- Written by Jeff Kass

(Note, I have not yet read any of these books. I am, however, picking them up tomorrow.)

All of these books will obviously have differing opinions on the event.

Thank blog for the educated.

On that note, I’ll be avoiding Tumblr until 4-21, because this is the extent of my wanting to think about Columbine, it makes me sad and angry. Also because I don’t want to see I SMOKE WEED I MUST BE COOL on my dash all day…I’m all for smoking, I smoke constantly, but it’s not something that makes you any better than anyone else/something I need to have validated by other people. Also because I don’t give two crap about it being Hitler’s birthday.

It is my Mom’s AA anniversary, however, which is way cooler than those^ 3 things…maybe I’ll surprise her…just pop in and steal her away for a bit of lunch and maybe shopping. :)

captainprimate:

“One of the terrorist group’s most senior figures warned that al-Qaeda had obtained and hidden a nuclear bomb in Europe that would be detonated if Osama bin Laden was killed or captured.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8472810/Wikileaks-Al-Qaeda-plotted-chemical-and-nuclear-attack-on-the-West.html

Well, that’s just plain unsettling.

(Source: feel-the-rage)