Student planned to shoot and bomb others ...

... but apparently didn't have a gun or explosives.

Contrary to what KSN is claiming, police did NOT find explosives in the home of a student who had claimed he wanted to shoot and bomb other students. After this was heard by other students and passing it on to the proper authorities, the angry ones house was raided and an incendiary device was recovered.

While I'll be the first to admit that incendiaries are very dangerous (more so than explosives in my opinion), they are not explosives. Firebombs aren't "explosives" and even then: incendiary device could be anything from a thermite grenade* to a Molotov cocktail or just a plastic bottle of coleman fuel.

* military designation: AN-M14 TH3

Student stabbed ... dead

We do not allow students to carry firearms, for their protection?

One group of students had been robbed before, by men with guns ... criminals who don't blink twice when crossing the magical "gun free zone" border. Now one of those students has been killed.

It's been released that the guy was stabbed multiple times, but the actual cause of death has not been officially released ... killed on his birthday.

• according to his own MySpace profile, the University of Miami student relished in many of the freedoms befitting a sociable college student living in South Florida.

Freedoms you say?
Would that be to benefit life, or facilitate murder?

School on lockdown after ninja sighting

I - kid - you -not!

Some NJ public schools were placed on lockdown when a person claimed to have spotted a ninja carrying a sword... This of course led to certain points of discussion:

• Should this have been taken seriously to begin with? One does not just spot ninjas!
• Would they have done the same thing if a pirate had been sighted?
• If not, isn't that discrimination?
• Don't ninjas have better things to do than terrorize elementary schoolers?

Turned out it was a camp counseler of sorts, a themed day at the camp prompted him to don a martial arts outfit with plastic sword.

Displays of affection still banned.

Once again, students are being punished for hugging one another.
What happened to "hugs, not drugs"?

Why I use the words "once again" you wonder? (and if didn't, now you sure do), I've written about this topic twice before!
First time
Second time.

Let this be the last time.

Students suspended over "T"

No, not Earl grey or Cleyon, not the sign of technology over religion from one of the greatest novels ever.

A "T" letter, simulated with their hands landed a pair of students a suspension, accused of making a reference to drug culture ... rather than the "Techno city" theme of the prom party they were at when the picture was taken ...

school PSH, not just about guns.

Yesterdays post continued.

Yesterday I wrote about schools which were/felt threatened.

Today I'll go on about a boy who claims that being bullied drove him to wanting to kill someone, he put knife to the troath of a girl he didn't even really knew, and ended up plotting to take his class hostage, to end his life with a "suicide-by-cop"

And not just some postings on myspace or a note in the bathroom. He was all geared up with a backpack containing (amongst others) duct tape, rope and a gun which he was going to use to his end. His parents called it in, he was arrested and spent some time in juvie. He's now out again, but still facing charges for terrorism, kidnapping and aggravated assault.

Care to play the blame game?
The bullies, the teachers who didn't see it, the parents who didn't notice it, the company that made the duct tape, knife and gun? The kid himself?
No? Ok.

Me, I hope the ruling judge seds this kid off to get help.

Schools at risk.

I wrote about a kid plotting a school bombing yesterday, today I read some other, slightly disturbing stories.

Apparently, some kids (three of them) had taken their grievances online, plotting to kill two of their peers, glorifying the Columbine shooters and "Satan" online.
It should be noted that little incidents like these give Satanism a bad name, it's very foundation is that you leave people alone and not bother them.

Another school stepped up security after a threathening not was found posted in the bathroom. This immediately reminded me of another story, almost identical. And yet another highly similar story, That's four of those stories without even really looking.

Is the news simply reporting more on these matters, or is there something up? Maybe there really is something to be said about violent music and video games, or maybe there's something in the water?
Maybe schools are simply overreacting? It wouldn't be the first time. Maybe there's too many green clickable links in this post ...

Honestly, I've got no idea what's up, but I'd love to hear some of your toughts and opinions.

School bombing foiled.

A student was found out to be plotting an attack against his school.
He had solid plans, mapped out the campus and was in posession of ten pounds of ammonium nitrate according to ABC news.

Look, I've been over this before: shootings are just one way for a massacre to happen. Somebody bent in destruction may very well turn to arson or explosives, or poison or anything else that can be used as a weapon.

Should we make schools "explosives free" as well? Run random explosive swabs on the doorhandles of cars parked on campus property perhaps? It may give a false positive on people who've been handeling chili pickling, fertilizer or ceramics supplies. But hey ... if we have to give up home-ec, arts and crafts and landscaping as the price we pay for our childrens safety, that's worth it right!

Or maybe, just maybe, we could start to actually raise our kids? The parents of this would-be-bomber were the ones who informed the police. They did the right thing IMO, and I hope their son gets the help he needs, wherever he's going.

those sandwiches might very well have been weapons

I just read this article concerning children with food allergies, and how bullies use that against them. In case you don't know, a severe allergy to peanuts may cause even slight exposure to send somebody into anaphylactic shock, which can very well be deadly.
Such exposure sent a girl to the emergency ward with breathing difficulties. She got through this time, but allergies only get worse.
Some schools have banned peanuts and peanut products for this reason. Makes me wonder if liability consideration played a role as well, but I disgress.

What bothers me ever so slightly, is the general reasoning behind this. Bullies figure out how to use something as a weapon, then the school bans that "something". Focussing on said object is a short-term measure to deal wit the acute situation, but it doesn't solve the problem! the problemis bullying, that nees to be dealth with.
And no, trying to ban rockstar games' "bully" from sale, is not dealing with bullies! Why don't you try raising your kids huh? Raise your kids to not be bullies, raise your kids to not give in to bullies.

Object focused problem "solutions" aren't solutions at all! Just like a lot of anti-allergy medication, they are symptom supressors that do not cure the underlying problem. Ignoring said problem will -like allergies- only cause it to grow more severe with time.

More on bullying can be found on Marilyns blog.

The infamous works "bomb" makes the news again.

A news station actually named the device, which I've blogged about before.

The video gives a ... somewhat accurate image of such device. A "works" bomb is technically a pressure device, a container which ruptures from "mild" pressure buildup due to gasses produced from a spontaneous chemical reaction. As opposed to the sudden, violent pressure buildup generated by flash powder after it has been ignited.

They call the devices "extremely dangerous", perhaps a little bit overreacting there. Such devices don't generally create much of an explosion, as pop bottles do not stand up to a lot of pressure, but they do -as mentioned in the video- hurl caustic chemicals in any direction upon rupture, danger depends entirely on the nature of the chemicals used.

The kids mentioned in the article/video will be facing serious charges ... they should!

I personally like tinkering with "high energy chemistry" too! But I don't put other people at risk doing so. The safety of those around me and my own safety come before anything! These idiots left dangerous chemical devices lying around school, does it get any worse than that?

As for an example of how to toy around with these devices in a safe, I'll refer you to Spatula Tzar, who explodes such a device in a highly ontrolled way, nine feet below the surface of the earth.

In closing:
Raise your kids! Pay attention to them!

6 y/o brings guns to school.

A first grader was found to be in posession of two handguns, both loaded and with a round chambered.

What the hell!?
Safe storage people! Safe storage saves lifes!

More explosives on Campus.

Once again, a student has been caught tinkering with explosives and destructive devices on campus grounds. Police officers executed a search warrant in a dormatory in Davis California, finding a wide range of chemicals, mixed explosives and materials for making pipe-bombs.

He had "black gunpowder", which probably means store-bought smokeless powder. (blackpowder as used in fireworks is gray) The article also mentions liquids, and information concerning HMTD, which leads me to believe that the student in question has progressed to the lower-intermediate stage of amateur high energy chemistry. More serious than the 12 year old who mants to make "something that goes boom", but with limited knowledge or ambitions.

We don't know this kids intentions, but he did have a finished explosive and material to make a destructive device, so he (and many others) would have been able to carry out a bombing. Even if his intention weren't criminal, his behavior is most reckless! Explosives in a dorm!?
This also teaches us that if somebody really wanted to kill a lot of people, he would not necessairely need a firearm.

Cell phone free school zones?

Just finished watching this news video.

The matter at hand: traffic's very bus near a school, with a lot of kids leaving and a lot of parents driving in to pick up their kids. This is hazardous to people on the phone, who are distracted so badly by these little electronic gizmo's that they are rendered incapable of keeping their eyes open!

The response: Let's ban cell phones!

I mean, we could just have people watch where the they are going, put a police officer in charge of directing traffic, or try to create a safer traffic situation, but why do something like that if you can ban something?
Surely, banning an object involved in a couple of "close calls" will make people safer, right?

Newsflash: a bunch of idiots are putting themselves at risk by being not paying attention when in a dangerous situation. Any harm in standing on the sidewalk giving somebody a ring? Surely not. Doing the same while crossing the street, or driving a car, something different entirely.

The problem lies once again with human behavior, not some object.

Pipe bombs found on Campus

Via Sear and hammer:

Two partially assembled pipe bombs were found in a dorm of a Californian university.
The student who had gathered the components claimed he liked to experiment.

I understand that he liked to experiment, but this seems rather reckless doesn't it?
On another note, is this the explosive terror loophole the Brady campaign is talking about? A kid with no training whatshowever being capable of building a bomb?

Love's forbidden, so is passion. This whole place is sterilized.

So I watched "the island" yesterday, pretty good cyberpunk if you ask me, but passing that:
They didn't want their sheep (agnates, agnus: lat: lamb) hugging or getting physically close to eachother to make it easier to control them. Keeping them apathic untill the day they are led to the slaughter so to speak.

Today's society is evolving towards that premise in some places today even, Alice Cooper made a song about it back in 2000, "cold machines" from the "brutal planet" album. I like to believe that he's talking about the emotional element of people when he sais "no-one here gets out alive", as the place he's at turns lovers into cold machines, numbing their senses and killing them on the inside.

Eight year old shock rock has now become policy in an american institution, as a school in Mesa Arizona bans hugs that last more than two seconds.
This is the place you send your children to to become healthy adult beings, but it would appear that said school considers showing affection to be ... unhealthy? In bad taste? Unproductive?
Instead of showing affection, are children to become mechanical instruments that carry out assignments with question?

Having children raised by the TV is razing their future, as is wanting them to become apathic machines. It is vital to instill kindness into our children if we want them to turn out right. If anything, the present day should serve us as a warning of what can go wrong when children aren't brought up properly.
If you can stomach the heavier trash metal, Annihilators "plasma zombies" has a great message on the subject of letting electronical entertainment take over the role of parenting. (lyrics)

Scrat, now I need a hug ...

Keep your kids off the streets, send them to school?

It would appear that a ring of burglars was in fact using school as an alibi when they went of robbing. They would "clock in" so to say in the morning during first period, then go out invading people homes, and then come back for last period to submit their names on the attendancy list.

This effectively allowed them to burglarise houses, yet prove that they were at school when those burglaries took place.

If we ever wish to tackle juvinile crime and gang activity, it is vital that we give our children an education and a future. Events like this are despicable in several ways. first of all, this school is clearly failing to keep around, let alone give them an education, if they can't even account for missing students.

In America, school be cruel to you!

After lunchroom employees found $180 unaccounted for, they strip searched a pair of minor kids (13) in the middle of said lunchroom. The missing money was later found to have been in it's place all along.
These are police state tactics in a place that should be safe for you children, a horrible invasion in both the privacy and integrity of children by people who are in no way authorized or qualified for it.
Heck, they were incompetent at the job they *were* supposed to be doing in the first place.

Then you've all heard about this on other blogs:
A school indoctrinating children with communism using legos.


And don't even get me started on the ideas that some schools and programs teach children about guns, drugs and sexuality ...

Make sure you talk to your children and teach them what's right, before they're all grown up.

Keeping illegal things off campus?

The university of Michigans botanical garden was recently found to house several cannabis plants, officuals are shocked. Pot on campus? did hell freeze over or something? who could have imagined that!?

On another note: no matter how illegal you make something, no matter how much money you trow at enforcing a policy of prohibition, no matter how valiantly you fight a war against something, people will always find a way around!

Details on the NIU shooting.

Specifically:
How does a gunman armed with two handguns and a shotgun only kill six people?
Because they fought back!

• In the wake of recent school tragedies, students are being told that if a gunman invades the classroom, they're to rush him and hit him with everything they've got, including books, pencils, legs and arms.

  "Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success," said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools.

(full acount)

A fellow blogger wrote a very niece peice on the entire subject: I suggest you read through it.

Molotov everything.

Two men are in a critical condition following a petrol bomb attack at their home in County Tyrone.
Oh yeah, guns and knifes are of course the real problem here.

In reply to comments on a recent post, I said:

• "More guns will not solve this (campus shootings) problem. It's a nice mantra, but armed students won't do jack skite against an arsonist, a school bus bombing or a poisoned cafeteria cooked meal. We need to start caring about the people around us ... or at least make sure they're on their prescribed medication."
  

Well, somebody actually did set fire to a university building recently, three dorms were evacuated. Imagine a properly engeneered ason attack on a full dorm in the dead of night ... dozens of kids caught off guard in their sleep, fires set across the ground floor, some barricaded doors maybe ...

Why is it that people identify guns as both the cause of these problems, as wel as the solutions? I like guns, I defend gun rights because I think it's an important right and there is no god reason to ban firearms, but I maintain what I said when I started blogging: leave our campusses alone!