The State of California allows private parking companies to ticket cars which were parked on their property. However, most people don’t realize that they are not obligated to pay these parking tickets. Unpaid parking tickets received in a private parking lot will never go against your drivers license or your vehicle’s registration. If you look carefully at the fine print on this ticket it will say that its not a state issued ticket and that it won’t go against your license or registration. They make this print really small so people won’t read it and pay the ticket out of fear that they will be penalized by the DMV.

They have very little recourse to force you to pay these tickets. However, they can either tow or boot your car if you attempt to park in their private lots again.

For several months I would park in this one parking lot next to the mall that was between two banks, a Wells Fargo and a Citibank. There were always parking attendants in this lot that attempted to charge you $6 for parking in this lot. They were required to provide 30 minutes of free parking to anyone using either bank. I have accounts at both banks and sometimes when I go into these banks I will come out and there will be a $65 ticket on my car stating that I did not pre-pay for parking. I will dispute this with the attendant, but they will not cancel the ticket. So I parked there anyway and over time I accumulated over 20 parking tickets which I did not pay.

One day I returned to my car to find that the right front wheel had been immobilized by a Denver Boot.

The Denver Boot was invented by a Colorado musician as a means to immobilize the vehicles of people who failed to pay their parking tickets. The idea is that instead of towing the vehicle, which requires time, space and expense, booting can force someone to pay quickly and easily.

I walked around to the back of my car and examined the bright orange parking boot. I noticed that a large orange plate was covering the lug nuts to prevent the car owner from simply removing the wheel and tire, putting on a spare, and then driving away. A short prong pressed against the tire holding the boot in place. The clamp had a padlock encased in a quarter inch of hardened steel and was positioned inside the wheelwell so it would be hard to reach with heavy tools.

I knew that the boot could easily be cut off using either an angle grinder or a propane torch, but I did not have either of tools on hand. I also knew that liquid nitrogen could be used to freeze the metal making it easy to break or thermite could be used to burn the metal into liquid. However, I did not have either of these available.

I found that removing the boot without any tools was quite simple. I noticed that the prongs holding the boot in place was attached to the tire. So I let the air out of the tire and was able to slide the prongs off the tire, partially exposing the hubcab. At this point I could have removed half of the lug nuts, but that would not do me much good because I would still not be able to remove the rest of the lugs and remove the wheel. I tried pulling the boot off the wheel completely, but it would not come off. So I got behind the wheel of the car and drove it backwards a few inches, the bottom of the boot hit the street and the torque of the wheel against the boot popped the boot of the wheel completely.

I was free and I drove away laughing with the boot in my car and later pitched the boot into a dumpster knowing that I got the last laugh. I won’t park there anymore because next time they will resort to towing my car now that they know I can defeat their parking boots. However if I see anyone else booted in this parking lot I will share this secret with them.

Restaurants have even tried to combat the negative press and image associated with high fat diets by coming up with healthier alternatives. But are these alternatives really all that healthy?

Many of these “healthy alternatives” still contain an extremely large amount of calories and high quanities of fat and sugar. Keep in mind that the average person should only consume 2,500 calories per day. When it comes down to it sheer caloric impact is the primary cause of obesity. It makes sense. Excess calories are converted to fat, plain and simple.

So you go to your local Ruby Tuesdays and decide to eat healthy. You pick the Turkey Portobello burger rather than your typical Cheeseburger. Turkey burgers are healthy right? Guess Again… This turkey burger alone packs a whopping 1,145 calories and that’s not including the side of fries!

You would be better off ordering a Big Mac from McDonald’s which only packs 540 calories or even the Whopper from Burger King which is a high 760 calories.

The Turkey Bella from Ruby Tuesdays portobello contains 1,145 calories, 71 grams of fat, and a total of 56 grams of carbs. A much healthier alternative would be the 9-oz sirloin steak with a side of vegetables which would make a total of 256 calories.

McDonalds recently came out with their “ALL WHITEMEAT” Chicken Selects which appear healthier than your traditional Chicken McNuggets, however with the five piece alone they are 830 calories with 55 grams of fat (4.5 trans fat) and 48 grams of carbs. Add an order of regular fries and a soda and your looking at a 1,710 calorie meal!

The five piece Chicken Selects contains just about the same calorie content as the 20 piece Chicken McNuggets. An order of 6 piece Chicken Mcnuggets will save you 530 calories.

The Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo’d Power Smoothie packs a whopping 900 calories. In fact it contains more sugar than 2 pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. There is also 10 grams of fat which some may consider quite low, but also 183 grams of carbs of which 166 grams are sugar.

Looking at the menu at Jamba Juice it is clear that 80 percent of their drinks contain 100 grams of sugar or more. That’s equal to 3 cans of regular cola. I’d avoid this chain and go find yourself a protein shake.

The Macaroni Grill’s “Double Macaroni and Cheese” may seem like a mild alternative, however it packs 1,210 calories with 62 grams of fat and 3,450 mg of sodium. A much better alternative would be their 390 calorie grilled chicken with a side of vegetables.

This simple sandwich packs 1,490 calories, 85 grams of fat, 96 grams of carbs, and 4510 mg of sodium. A typical sandwich should only contain 500 calories max and that includes bread, cheese, and mayonaise. There are many alternatives at Subway which are under 500 calories or less.

Carl’s Jr. has their Six Dollar Burger which is suppose to represent a typical burger that you would get at a Bar & Grill for $6.00, it also represents 1,520 calories with 111 grams of fat. Wow!!! Where do they pack all that fat?!? I guess in the bread. The low carb version of this six dollar burger in a box without the bun, but still with all the other fixings is only 490 calories. My only question is how in the hell do they pack 1,030 calories in the bun?

We saw how the Macaroni Grill was able to pack 1210 calories and 62 grams of fat into their Macaroni & Cheese. So how does their Spaghetti & Meatballs measure up?

They do not disappoint. Their Spaghetti & Meatballs contain a total of 2,430 calories with 128 grams of fat and 207 grams of carbohydrates. This one simple dish can satisfy your calorie requirements for an entire day. This means that you could essentially live off of eating this dish once a day and nothing more. Just kidding.

The Awesome Blossom from Chilli’s. Can you possibly get any worse than this? These fried onions are like sponges for absorbing the cannola oil that they are cooked in. That with the tangy chipotle sauce and you have an artery busting combination. This one starter contains 2,710 calories with 203 grams of fat and 194 grams of carbs. If this is your appetizer than I would hate to see your main course!

Yes, it does get worse! Outback Steakhouse has their Aussie Cheese Fries which are covered in ground beef, chili, and cheese. They are 2,900 calories with 182 grams of fat and a total of 240 carbs.  This is about as bad as it gets…  they must have made this high calorie on purpose.  How could this possibly be an accident?

Just take a look at the PC Planter System system below:

The components are simple. PC Computer Case for $29.99, one 50 watt incandescent grow light bulb for $3.95, reflective insulating material $5.95, mini ozone purifier $15.00, housing material for lighting and wiring $20.00, mini two plant hydro resevoir tray system $34.99, humidity & temperature monitor $25.00, computer case fans $5.00, and light timer $7.99. Making the grand total for building this system around $128.00 which is around my original estimate above. So rather than buy one of these over priced systems, why not build your own?

You could do it for far less than $128.00 and have similar results. Let’s try to build a system for under $20.00.

It’s fairly easy to find a really old computer case that someone does not want for free. I had no trouble finding one. After removing a few screws and a few other modifications I had a perfect start for a grow box. I then picked up some styrofoam insulation which I used to line the box on all 4 sides. I also picked up a cheap extension cord, a lamptimer, and a light bulb socket plug adapter which allows me to plug the light bulb directly into the extension cord. I cut a small hole in the top for ventilation. Within 20 minutes my system was practically completed.

I added a regular incandescent light bulb that I obtained from an old lamp to add additional light and some heat to the inside of the grow box. This will improve the results since plants respond so well to a slightly warmer environment. I added a small glass of water to add a slight level of humidity to the inside of the case which the heat from the traditional light bulb would slowly cause to evaporate.

The completed grow system is shown below.

Using this system I was able to get good results, probably not much different than what I would see using the $599.99 system at the top of this post. The biggest difference is that my system uses potting soil and their system is totally hydroponic. However, I was able to get good results and saw my plant flower in around a week. It was a strawberry plant of course.

The break down of the total cost to build this system is shown below.  If you do not count the materials that can easily be found for free, such as the old PC case and the lamp then your costs will be around $19.75!

The iPhone is now one of the hottest new phones available today. It is one of Apple’s new top selling products which has greatly increased both their marketshare and stock prices. There are many great uses for iPhones which surpass all other cellphones out there: they are great for listening to music, searching the internet, viewing high-resolution graphics, and most recently viewing porn.

The technological feats of the new iPhones are key to the porn industry. The large high-resolution screen size, speedy Web access, and ease of use make the iPhone more than ideal for looking at porn. The device’s miniaturized version of Apple’s Safari software simplifies mobile access and streamlines the process of tailoring dirty sites for optimal viewing on the go.

“It’s by far the porn-friendliest phone,” says Devan Cypher, representative for San Francisco–based Sin City Entertainment. As evidence of the gadget’s rocketing popularity in California’s porn capital, the San Fernando Valley, numerous iPhone-specific porn sites have been launched in recent months. “There are a few hundred iPhone porn sites now in use,” says Farley Cahen, vice president of business development for AVN Media Network, the adult industry’s trade body. Many others are currently in the works targeting the iPhone 2.0, which goes on sale July 11.

Several leading porn players are getting ready for the 2.0 version of the Apple iPhone. Among them are Penthouse.com, Digital Playground, Pink Visual, and many others. The speed promised by the iPhone 2.0 is much anticipated. Google Trends, which measures Web buzz, shows a sharp increase over the past year in the popularity of the term “iPhone porn.”

Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock says the company doesn’t condone iPhone porn and will ban adult content from official applications, just as it has restricted adult content in the podcast section of the Apple store. But in no way can it prevent customers from accessing porn through the device’s browser.

The industry sees the iPhone 2.0 as having multiple advantages over the first model. For one thing, Apple’s new gadget is nearly twice as fast as its predecessor at loading Web pages, and even faster at running video, which is crucial for the porn industry. About a third of iPhone users watch video on their phone, according to Nielsen Mobile, which is nearly 10 times the number that watch video on other cell phones. Three out of four iPhone users are men with above-average incomes, and iPhone users spend heavily on entertainment. More than a third of iPhone users shell out more than $100 on phone and data charges every month, as compared with just one-fifth of other cell-phone users.

In 2007, the international market for mobile adult content reached $1.7 billion, according to Juniper, but they also estimate that this market will grow to around $13 billion a year after the 2.0 version of the iPhone hits the market.

The 1996 $100 bill was just the first in the new series of bills that the Treasury Department has recently introduced to combat conterfeiting.

Currency Paper

The paper used to make U.S. Currency has a unique feel and is extemely durable. It is not really paper in a traditional sense. There are no wood fibers are starch in currency paper. Instead it is composed of a special blend of cotton and linen fibers. The strength comes from raw materials continuously refined until the special feel of the currency is achieved. Therefore people can easily tell if a bill is real by the distinctive feel of the currency paper. Also the distinctive yellowish-green tint of the ink on this special paper are extremely difficult for color photocopiers and printers to match using other types of paper.

Red and Blue Fibers

Small red and blue fibers found within currency paper make copying currency even more difficult. Some counterfeiters try to mimic these fibers, however closer inspection often reveals that these fibers are drawn on the bills rather than actual physical fibers that are part of the currency paper.

Security Thread

Security threads have been in U.S. currency for quite some time. In the most recent bills they run the entire width of the currency. In earlier bank notes these security threads were added to the actual paper itself and the number of threads would represent the denomination of the bill.

These security threads prevent conterfeiters from bleaching out one dollar bills and attempting to print hundred dollar bills on the original currency paper.

In these new bills the security thread will appear in a different location depending on the denomination of the bill. The thread for the new $100 bill carries the words “USA 100″ and can only be seen with transmitted light, which makes photocopying impossible. In addition, the new security threads glow red when held over ultraviolet light.

Watermarks

A new watermark was added to the 1996 series one hundred dollar bill. This is not a new concept. Watermarks have been used on foreign currency for hundreds of years. The watermark is created during the paper making process and is caused by variations in the density of the paper. As light passes through these tiny variations in thickness, it creates different tones. When held up to transmitted light these varying tones form a clear image — and in the case of the new $100, a second image of Ben Franklin.

Intaglio Printing

Intaglio printing is what gives the U.S. currency its distinctive look. The process begins with an engraving, both of the portrait and of the fine line detail surrounding the bill. The process begins with the engraving of the steel printing plates. A high-viscosity ink is then applied to the plates, the plates are then wiped clean, leaving only ink in the grooves, then pressed with enormous pressure (15,000 psi) which transfers the ink to the paper. This enormous pressure causes the paper to be embossed with the ink, closeup of pouring ink thus giving the ink a distinctive raised feel which other printing techniques cannot duplicate. The very fine engravings appear muddy when reproduced in counterfeit notes. While most of the front and back part of the bill is produced in this way, the Treasury seal, Federal Reserve seal and serial numbers are not printed with the Intaglio process.

Currency Portrait

The portrait on currenct may not seem to be a security feature, but the U.S. Treasury Department maintains that the portrait face is the most recognizable part of money. People will tend to remember faces, and if the bill is counterfeit, they will see that the face is not exactly right. Everyone already associates Ben Franklin with the $100 bill, the U.S. Treasury Department did not want to change the face on the bill. While the faces on some foreign currency change as the countries political climate changes, the U.S. Treasury Department wants to present an image of stability with their currency. Instead, they decided to enlarge the portrait on the new $100. The portrait was painstakingly engraved by Thomas Hipschen, and the U.S. Treasury Department hopes the new enlarged details will make counterfeit bills stand out more clearly from the real thing. By moving the portrait to the left, the face will suffer less wear from folding. The move also makes extra room for the watermark on the right side of the bill.

Color Shifting Ink

Color-shifting ink is perhaps the most “high-tech” of the new security features. The black to green color-shifting is a new and important element of the redesigned $100 bill. Similar types of ink have already been used on foreign currency and even on the latest U.S. passports. The change in color is the result of multi-layered metallic flakes added to the ink. When the bill is tilted, light reflects off these flakes at different wavelengths and changes the color of the ink. This trick is called color diffraction, which is also responsible for the color variations found on the wings of some butterflies. The U.S. Treasury Department has made sure that the special combination of materials and ink is only available to the United States government to make this one feature that will be extremely difficult to counterfeit.

Microprinting

Microprinting appears as just a thin line to the naked eye, but can be easily read upon magnification. The introduction of microprinting on U.S. currency begain in 1990 with the addition of the words “The United States of America” printed around the edge of the portraits. The new bills still use microprinting, but in a different location around Ben Franklin’s lapel. In addition, the words “USA 100″ are printed within the lower left “100.” Microprinting is very difficult to reproduce accurately on photocopiers because most copiers do not have the ability to work at such a high resolution. This situation may not last long, because improved scanning devices are now able to print at finer detailed level. The Treasury hopes the combination of the many anti-replication features will continue to deter potential counterfeiters in the future.

Fine Line Engraving

Fine circular lines appear around the portrait of the bill. The clarity and detail of these lines are difficult for scanners and photocopiers to reproduce. These lines often cause a blur during the scanning process.

Serial Numbers and Treasury Seal

The serial number is especially important for banks which handle large amounts of cash. No two serial numbers are the same. On the new bills, these serial numbers have been increased to 11 digits.

In addition, the new bills contain a redesigned image of Treasury sealFederal Reserve seal and code which indicate the bill’s issuing bank. While the old bills contain this information, on the new bills the numbers are clearer and easier to identify. The old green Treasury seal hidden behind the “100″ has long been part of U.S currency and will remain an important security feature. This detailed combination of green and black is difficult to reproduce. Like all overt features, however, the new bills will require continuous upgrades and additions as new technology arises that makes the features more vulnerable.

Fake Hundred Dollar Bill

Using the information from the article above can you find all the features which show that the hundred dollar bill below is a fake?

There are five things wrong with the hundred dollar bill above.

FRONT OF BILL

1) The Federal Reserve Bank seal should designate the entire system not one particular bank. It would be fine on an older version of the bill, which features the individual seal of the bank to which the note was issued. But with the new bills a universal seal representing the entire Federal Reserve System should be in its place.

2) The Serial Number does not contain enough letters. The serial number should include 11 letters and numbers. The new sequence will include two letters in the front (instead of one), eight numbers, and one letter at the end.

3) Two numerals are found on the old bills are on the right side of the bill, but should not be on new currency. Instead, a watermark of Benjamin Franklin, which can be seen when the bill is held up to a light should be there. A watermark is hard to counterfeit because it does not photocopy.

4) The misspelled word “DOLLER” (should be DOLLAR) on the lower right hand corner of the bill.

BACK OF BILL

5) The clock is missing from the tower. Details are important to foil counterfeiters. Among the new features added, many include fine detail, such as microprinting and concentric lines.

This killing has elevated concerns about the expansion of violent gang activity in Santa Rosa and the safety of the downtown area. It has also shown the increasing violence and criminal activity which has grown around Seventh Street since the opening of the Seven Ultra Lounge.

A criminal grand jury recently handed down indictments against five Santa Rosa men — Joseph Kenneth Lopez Sr., 39; his son, Joseph Kenneth Lopez Jr., 19; Paul Whiterock, 28; Nicholas Mejia, 30; and Raul Lopez-Granados, 20 — accusing them of murder, participating in a criminal street gang; conspiring to commit assault with a deadly weapon and other offenses.

If convicted on all counts, the five could end up spending the rest of their lives in prison.

It’s an encouraging development. The public has struggled to understand why it has taken such a long time to file charges in a killing that occurred in such a public place and with so many apparent witnesses on hand.

According to the indictment, all five men “talked about going to Club Seven Ultra Lounge that night to get retaliation against rival gang members for beating up Nico Mejia.” The indictment didn’t clarify the allegation, although police earlier said the men were waiting for rivals they knew were going to be leaving the Seven Ultra Lounge later that night. They were intending on attacking these rivals once they entered the parking lot to return to their cars.

However, that Saturday night, Toste, 32, a Santa Rosa father of a 5-year-old boy, had attended a company Christmas party at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel after which he and three others headed for Seven Ultra Lounge. Police say that after they parked at the Seventh Street parking garage, two women in his group were confronted by five gang members who made sexually provocative comments.

When one grabbed one of the women on the bottom, words were exchanged and punches were thrown. At one point, Toste reportedly cold-cocked Lopez Sr. That’s when someone — who police believe was Lopez Jr. — shot Toste twice in the chest.

Lopez Jr. and Whiterock were arrested as suspects within hours after the shooting, but they were later released.

The defendents are show below (click on a photo to see the full sized image):

Joseph Kenneth Lopez Sr.

Joseph Kenneth Lopez Jr.

Nicholas Mejia

Paul Whiterock

Raul Lopez Granados

Mejia said he was shot three times in the back of the right leg, all around the knee.

“I got shot three times in the back of the leg, walking away,” Mejia said.

“I’m a victim, too,” he said. “I didn’t even come with them. I came by myself in my own car. I was going to the club, but everybody goes to the club. It’s a small town.”

Santa Rosa Police homicide Sgt. Paul Henry confirmed Tuesday that Mejia was one of two defendants who were wounded by gunfire and that no one in the Toste party was armed.

The indictment accuses Lopez Jr. of firing the shots that killed Toste.

Henry declined to directly challenge or confirm most of what Mejia said, saying he didn’t want to damage the case as it heads toward trial.

Mejia said he was interviewed in the hospital, where police swabbed his hands in a test for gunshot residue. He also said police examined his car and apparently found nothing incriminating.

“I was never even being charged with this until this grand jury stuff came up,” he said. “I’m seeing all this stuff and they’re making me look guilty. They checked me for gun residue at the hospital, and there was none of that.”

Henry said Mejia’s explanations don’t square with evidence detectives have gathered.

“It sounds like the information he’s providing you is contrary to the information we’re working with,” he said, declining to be more specific. “It will come out at some point, if this case ever goes to trial. Or it will come out as not based in fact, if he pleads guilty.”

The indictment also accuses Lopez Jr., Lopez-Granados and Mejia of attempted murder in a Nov. 16, 2006, shooting. Mejia said he wasn’t involved in, and was never questioned about, that case.

The reason for the delay in the filing of charges will likely become more apparent as details of the case are released during trial. What’s important is that police investigators did not give up, and they deserve praise for vigorously pursuing this case until criminal indictments were secured.

It’s a picture-perfect all-American neighborhood, but on Waterford Crystal Drive, just outside St. Louis, a suburban enclave is in turmoil and shock after the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier.

It all began a year ago when Megan met a boy on the Internet.

Megan was insecure and slightly overweight and was thrilled to have a page on the social networking site MySpace, and to be contacted by “Josh Evans.” Tina Meier, Megan’s mom, described Josh as having blue eyes and brown, wavy hair and looking like a model. She asked Megan whether she knew him. In fact, Megan did not know Josh, who told her he was 16 and had just moved to town.

Ron Meier, Megan’s father, was slightly concerned. “Everybody that was on there we had to know, and this individual we did not know,” he said.

“The content that was on there was approved by us so there could not be any inappropriate content on there at all,” said Tina Meier.

The Meiers, fearful of the dangers to teens online, worried more about Megan. She had a history of depression and was prescribed medication. “Megan just always felt like she wasn’t wanted or accepted enough. And that was the hardest thing to try to get her to just be herself,” said Tina.

Recently, things seemed to be turning around for Megan. She had lost weight, switched to a smaller, private school and had made new friends. There had been a rift with another 13-year-old down the street, a close friend named Sarah, who felt Megan had deserted her, but Megan was happier than ever and excited about her new online relationship, her parents said.

Since the dawn of time, girls have been catty to each other.

Two girls will collaborate in the ostracizing of a third girl, calling her names behind her back, spreading rumors and playing little jokes on her with the goal of inflicting as much mental and emotional anguish as they possibly can.

While women never completely grow out of this, most do tend to lose interest in these kinds of activities as they age and mature.

Most women, except, of course, for Lori Drew, who is currently in the running for the title of “Most Hated Woman in America.”

For a while, Lori Drew (above left), who ran a successful local advertising mailer business called The Drew Ad Vantage, was a respected, popular member of her community. She has since gone downhill drastically.

She once lived in a really nice house.

She was once a member of the St. Peters Chamber of Commerce.

She’s married to Curt Drew, who was once employed as a Realtor at their local Coldwell Banker.

But now, Lori Drew’s business is fighting a sudden public relations downturn, she lost her business, her house, and her husband was fired from his position at Coldwell Banker and now works at the local Burlington Coat Factory.

During seventh grade, Lori Drew’s daughter, Sarah, was friends with Megan Taylor Meier, a 13-year-old girl who, like many 13-year-olds, struggled with her weight and had self-esteem issues. These issues Megan had were compounded by a diagnosed case of Attention-Deficit Disorder and a long battle with depression - a condition which she she had been seeing a therapist for since she was in the third grade, after talking about suicide.

Here’s Megan Meier’s MySpace account.

The Meiers and Drews were friendly enough that Megan had been on a vacation trip with the Drews, and the Meiers had been storing a foosball table for the Drews until Christmas.

Sarah Drew and Megan Meier started the eighth grade together, and their on-again off-again friendship became a little more chaotic, as 13-year-old friendships tend to be when two girls are involved.

For some reason or another, Sarah Drew and Megan Meier squabbled, probably over something stupid, and stopped being friends.

If you’ve ever known 13-year-old girls, or if you ever were a 13-year-old girl, you know what that’s like.

Well, Sarah Drew told her mother, Lori Drew, about how Megan was mean to her and how pissed off she was about it.

That’s when things started to get really stupid, because like many other helicopter parents, Lori Drew was unable to keep her nose out of what should have been her daughter’s business.

Lori Drew created a profile on MySpace with the name ‘Josh Evans’ and put a picture of a ‘really hot guy’ on the profile picture. 16-year-old ‘Josh Evans’ had just moved into the area from Florida, was being home-schooled, played the drums and the guitar, and didn’t have a phone number.

And, coincidently enough, he wanted to be friends with Megan Meier.

Megan was thrilled that ‘Josh Evans’ was interested in her enough to add her to his friends list. She showed her mother, Tina, the friend request and begged to be allowed to add the teen to her friends list. Tina, after looking the boy’s profile over, let her daughter add him as a friend.

For six weeks, Megan chatted with ‘Josh’ about things 13-year-old girls usually talk about: school, parents and sex.

Lori Drew, using the experience that comes with advanced age, did her best to get Megan Meier to confess secret desires, crushes and other vulnerabilities to her online ‘boyfriend.’ Shortly after starting this relationship, Lori Drew started letting other people into the “joke.” An employee of Drew Ad Vantage named Ashley was recruited to help keep the joke going. Another girl in the neighborhood also had the login details to the Josh Evans account.

Then one day, on the 15th of October, 2006, six weeks after stringing along Megan Meier, ‘Josh Evans’ started getting mean.

I don’t know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I’ve heard that you are not very nice to your friends.

Megan Meier responded with a frantic e-mail that basically said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

The next day, after handing out invitations to her birthday party to friends at school, Megan came home and asked her mother to log into Megan’s MySpace account for her so she could see if Josh Evans had replied to her e-mail. She was hoping that the boy would show up to her party, which was in three weeks. After all, it would be nice if she and her parents could finally meet the boy who had captured her heart - as long as she could find out who had been talking to him and telling him that she wasn’t nice to her friends.

But Josh Evans wasn’t being nice.

Josh’s account had, in fact, forwarded her correspondence with him to a number of other online friends. All those secrets, all those confessions - now everyone Megan Meier knew at school could read them.

And read them they did, with many of them responding as younger teenagers are wont to do - with mockery and name-calling.

Megan’s mother had a dental appointment and was pressed for time, so Megan’s mom told Megan to sign off as she walked out the door.

Megan didn’t sign off. She responded to the online cruelty with name calling and threats of her own. When her mother called her, after she had arrived at the dentist, Megan was still online, crying and telling her mother that everyone was being so mean to her. Megan’s mother again told her daughter to log off.

Shortly after that, a sobbing Megan called her mother and told her that people online were posting bulletins about her, saying things like, “Megan is fat” and “Megan is a slut.” Again, Megan was told to log off by her now-furious mother.

After her dentist appointment was over, Megan’s mom returned home, went to the room where the computer was located and reviewed the messages her daughter had seen and was sending. Seeing how out-of-control things were on her daughter’s MySpace account, Megan’s mom expressed her disappointment in her daughter’s behavior, logged out the account and ended Megan’s MySpace activities for the night.

Megan’s mom didn’t catch the last message in Megan’s inbox, however. That message was from Josh Evans and said:

Everybody in O’Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.

Megan ran to her room and stayed there, quietly, while her parents cooked dinner downstairs.

Her parents, sensing something was wrong, ran upstairs and found their daughter, who had hung herself with a belt in her closet.

Emergency services was called and an ambulance arrived empty and left with the 13-year-old in the back.

As the ambulance was in front of the Meier’s house, Lori Drew called the 13-year-old who had been brought in on the joke and told her to keep her mouth shut about what they had done.

The Josh Evans account was deleted.

Megan Meier was dead the next day.

Lori Drew went with her family went to Megan’s funeral and mouthed the right words of remorse, all while knowing that what she had done had driven Megan, a girl the Drews knew was on anti-depression medication, to kill herself.

A few weeks after Megan’s suicide, the thirteen-year-old that Lori had recruited into the “joke” felt a wee bit guilty about her part in it and talked to the Meiers about it, explaining what had been done to their daughter by someone they thought was a family friend.

The Meiers, responding with incredible restraint, only went so far as to smash to pieces and drop off on the Drew driveway the foosball table that they had been asked to store in their house until Christmas.

“Merry Christmas” was spray-painted onto the box.

The Drew’s response? Call the police and file a report.

Here’s a partial transcript of that report:

In reference to their daughter’s suicide, Drew explained she wanted to “just tell them” what she did to contribute to the Meier’s daughter’s suicide. She instigated and monitored a “myspace” account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier’s daughter. Drew said she, with the help of temporary employee named “Ashley”, constructed a profile of “good looking” male on “my space” in order to “find out what Megan (Meier’s daughter) was saying on-line” about her daughter. Drew explained the communication between the fake male profile was aimed at gaining Megan’s confidence and finding out what Megan felt about her daughter and other people. Drew stated she, her daughter, and Ashley all typed, read, and monitored the communication between the fake male profile and Megan. Drew went on to say, the communication became “sexual for a thirteen year old.” Drew stated she continued the fake male profile despite this development.

According to Drew “somehow” other “myspace” users were able to access the fake male profile and Megan found out she had been duped. Drew stated she knew “arguments” had broken out between Megan and others on “myspace”. Drew felt this incident contributed to Megan’s suicide, but she did not feel “as guilty” because at the funeral because she found out “Megan had tried to commit suicide before.”

Drew explained the neighborhood had recently found out her involvement in Megan’s suicide and her neighborhood has become hostile toward her and her family. Despite the recency of the suicide and several neighbors recommending she not confront the Meier family (especially on Thanksgiving), Meier stated she and her husband attempted to contact the Meier family three times, “banging on the door” although Mr Meier had already told them to leave.

Good stuff there. You have to love the fact that Lori Drew told the officers that she didn’t feel guilty because Megan had tried to commit suicide before.

A Senate committee heard testimony Monday night on the bill, sponsored by Sen. Scott Rupp, a Republican, that is modeled after recommendations from a special gubernatorial task force created to study Internet harassment.

The proposed law would punish someone 21 or older who harassed someone 17 years old or younger with up to four years in prison.

It also would require school officials to tell police about harassment and stalking on school grounds. And it updates state laws against harassment to include computers, text messages and other electronic devices, not just telephone or written communications.

It has been nicknamed the “Barbie Doll drug” because it produces a flawlessly perfect tan evenly across the entire body like you would find on a Barbie doll.

Melanotan is a synthetic hormone that mimics the action of MSH, or melanocyte-stimulating hormone which is responsible for darkening the pigments of the skin. Typically when your skin is exposed to UltaViolet radiation (the sun or tanning beds) your skin will release melanocytes as a natural defense to protect your skin from absorbing an excess amount of solar radiation. This natural defense to UV light is what leads to tanning or a darkening of your skin. Melanotan is a peptide which similuates this melanocyte response chemically in the absense of the sun. Therefore it is safe, because your skin pigment is responding to the simulated hormone rather than from actual UV damage to the skin.

Skin cancer researchers there knew that one of the best defenses against skin cancer was a natural tan which has been slowly developed over weeks. They hypothesized that an effective way to reduce skin cancer rates in people would be to induce the body’s natural tanning system to produce a protective tan prior to UV exposure.

They knew the body’s naturally occurring hormone alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (á-MSH) caused melanogenesis, a process by which the skin’s tanning cells (melanocytes) produce the skin’s tanning pigment (melanin). With that knowledge they tested to see if administering this hormone to the body directly could be an effective method to cause sunless tanning. What they found was that while it appeared to work, natural alpha-MSH had too short a half life in the body to be practical as a therapeutic drug. So they decided to try and find a more potent and stable alternative, one that would be more practical.

After synthesizing and screening hundreds of molecules, the researchers headed by Dr. Victor Hruby, found a peptide that after trials and testing seemed to not only be safe but also approximately 1,000 times more potent than natural á-MSH. They dubbed this new peptide Melanotan.

Since their discovery, numerous studies dating back to the mid-1980s have shown no obvious toxic effects of Melanotan. Because skin cancer (melanoma) today is a major health concern, Melanotan is expected to be used as a drug to combat it. Melanotan will do this by stimulating the body’s natural tanning mechanism to create a tan without first needing exposure to harmful levels of UV radiation. This in turn will reduce the potential for skin damage that can eventually lead to skin cancer.

This peptide has been going through extensive testing and research over the past ten years, however it is still not yet approved for use by the FDA. Not only can Melanotan be used for sunless tanning it may also be an effective preventative treatment for people at risk for skin cancer. So far, it is effective only when administered by subcutaneous injection, not orally. Since Melanotan must be administered with insulin needles, it will never be FDA approved for over-the-counter use until an effective oral form is developed.

In 1998 the University of Arizona improved the peptide even further and developed Melanotan II which was an even more effective sunless tanning agent. Both Melanotan I and II are synthetic hormones of melanocyte stimulating hormone that is responsible for darkening the pigment of your skin when exposed to sunlight. Melanotan I is a linear, full length peptide [containing all 13 amino acids]. Melanotan II is a shortened, circular version of the same peptide.

However while testing the new peptide Melanotan II they found that it had an unexpected side effect: it caused spontaneous erections in men. The American Association of Urologists tested this peptide extensive and found that it did not change the bloodflow or selectively expand or restrict capilaries in the same manner that Viagra or Cialis treats erectile dysfunction. It works by sending a signal to the brain which causes the body to naturally secrete the hormone which causes an enhanced erection. They did further testing and found that this same responside with women it increased sexual desire and genital arousal. Evaluation is currently being done with this peptide in hopes of developing a new type of erectile dysfunction drug, however the Arizona Cancer Center suspended all development of Melanotan II as a tanning agent.

The Arizona Cancer Center is working with Melanotan not only as a drug with cosmetic applications but in order to reduce the risk of skin cancer. They feel that if fair skinned people take Melanotan it will offer them the protective benefit of a tan without the harm of sun exposure. In essence, it could protect people by providing them with a slight sunless tan that would make them less prone to burn with their day-to-day exposure to the sun.

The Arizona Cancer Center’s research has found Melanotan I to be effective in promoting skin pigmentation with little or no risk, however it’s role in actually preventing skin cancer has not yet been determined. They also found that Melanotan will not do anything for people with albinism or vitiligo because these patients do not have skin cells with receptors for melanin. For this reason, the synthetic hormone has no mechanism for action and therefore cannot cause change in pigment.

Researchers at the University of Arizona are no longer conducting research with Melanotan I, although research continues for Melanotan II.

A private U.S. company, Competitive Technologies, announced in March of last year that they would be developing Melanotan I and II for commercial use.

A company in Australia, EpiTan, is raising funds to start production and trials for Melanotan I as a tanning agent to prevent skin cancer. Unfortunately, rumor has it that the Australian equivalent of the FDA will not be accepting the research already done in the U.S., which will greatly delay approval in Australia, as all the tests will have to be repeated.

Recently, EpiTan announced it is working on a time release injection version of Melanotan, moving away from an oral formula. These injections would need to be administered every 30 days, instead of daily. They are using the same time release injection hormone technology developed for the birth control drug, Depo Provera.

Even with all this development on the Melanotan I and II peptides, there still remains many unanswered questions. For example, how effective are these peptides for readheads or people prone to freckles? It may be quite a few years before these peptides are FDA approved and once they are approved you will need to go to a cosmetic surgeon’s office to get them administered. However, you don’t have to wait. They currently have research grade Melanotan I and II available for all those research chemists out there (anyone) to test out on their lab-rats (themselves).

So you can order “research grade” kits of Melanotan I and II online right now for around $100 and try out this peptide. I know a few people who have tried this peptide and they were very pleased with the results. However, you have to use this at your own risk because these kits are not FDA approved and not intended for human consumption.

Purchase research grade Melanotan here:

AG-Guys.com - 10 mg vial ($100.00)
Pure-Peptides.com - 10 mg vial ($100.00), 30 mg vial ($270.00), 50 mg vial ($400.00)

Below is a video segment describing Melanotan and how it is a highly safe and effective sunless tanning solution:

* Special thanks to Billy Warhol for inspiring me on doing research to find the perfect safe sunless tanning solution available.

Cosmetic surgery is the latest fad and plastic surgery shows like Dr. 90210 and Nip Tuck are now some of the hottest shows on television. However even with all this pressure to have the perfect body Americans are still having an increasingly difficult time keeping the weight off. But why?

FAD DIETS

Most Americans have taken part in some sort of fad diet with the hopes of shedding those unwanted pounds of fat in the quickest amount of time. A fad diet is basically a weight loss program that promises breathtaking results. The most famous fad diet is the Atkins Diet.

Despite what you may hear about these fad diets, the truth of the matter is that these diets are not very healthy for your body, and they do not provide the dieter with long-term success.

However one of the main reasons these fad diets are so popular are because some of them actually do work, but its only for a short time. How can these crazy fad diets work for the short-term, but fail in providing the dieter with long-term success?

Easy. When most dieters begin implementing these “rules” that many fad diets have (such as food separation techniques, eliminating an important macro-nutrients such as carbohydrates), or sticking solely to a liquid-based diet regimen, these dieters are ultimately eating fewer calories than they normally would. The dieter also gives up his or her favorite foods and begins to become more aware of the foods they eat which usually means a reduction in overall calories - leading to quick weightloss. However within time their body adjusts to this new diet and they may gain this weight back.

ADKINS

The Atkins diet works but only for a little while. By eating only meat your body is depleted of glucose. Glucose is the body’s main source of energy. So when the body can’t use glucose for energy, it uses fat instead. Sounds great right? However when fat is broken down due to a lack of glucose and excess of ketones appear in the body. This causes ketosis which increases the amount of Beta receptors in your fat tissue. These Beta Receptors make the fat harder to burn and encourage your body to save more fat for energy. In turn your body ends up burning muscle for energy which lowers your overall metabolism and the amount of calories your body burns on a given day. This leads to a crash in energy, lethargy, depression, and weight gain. This is a vicious cycle that occurs with the Atkins diet and usually leads to the dieter quitting the diet after they gain all the weight they initially lost back. It is not worth it! The Atkins diet is crap!

This diet also was NOT invented by Dr. Adkins, it was invented in London by Dr. William Harvey in 1862 long before Dr. Atkins was even born. Dr. Atkins was just the first to market and profit off this diet. Dr. Harvey actually knew at the time that this diet would only lead to short-term success and even noted this in his research. Dr. Atkins was well aware of this but saw an opportunity to make a good profit.

This diet was also found to be unhealthy long term. Eating only meat leads to high cholesterol and a greater occurence of heart attacks, strokes, and even cancer.

OTHER CRASH DIETS

There are other fad diets out there that say that you need to eat zero fat to lose weight. Well eating fat is essential for fat loss, so this whole diet concept is wrong as well. By eating no faty your body is left out of the EFA (Essential Fatty Acids) that are essential for fatloss. Again the dieter gets frustrated because there is no fat loss and soon returns to the old, unhealthy lifestyle of consuming tons of unhealthy and artery clogging fats.

Diets that tell the dieter to consume no meat are bogus too. Protein is the building block of tissue in your body. Without it, you cannot build or maintain muscle, which will cause a metabolism drop, and futile results. By not eating protein, you are starving yourself from amino acids that are needed and your body will be unhealthy. You will loose muscle and look flabby, and that will frustrate you.

Try to avoid all Fad Diets. Foods are made for us to eat and we need a balanced diet to survive, and complete our fitness goals. By trusting the next fad diet you are giving yourself a false hope and soon you will crash down.

Failure is the most common thing I see when I talk to people on the diet. As soon as they start they loose a lot of weight which is mostly water and muscle. After a few weeks the body is fighting back and they feel and look unhealthy. Fad diets are a part of the confusion that is on our nation. And with this confusion, we will stay fat.

SEDENTARTY LIFESTYLES

Let’s face it, it’s much easier to eat delivered pizza while watching comedy central than to go to the gym and get on a treadmill and run. I have seen some people who don’t even want to get up off the couch to get soda despite the fact they are thirsting like they just ran a mile in the Sahara.

Just think of pizza, pizza is one of everyone’s favorite foods and not only is it loaded with sugars and trans fats but it’s also delivered so that makes it even easier to be lazy. Most people would rather pay an extra five dollars for a tip than put their shoes on and make that long drive 1/2 a mile around the corner to pick up the pizza themselves.

Many people really think they are too busy for things such as working out.

It only takes 30-45 minutes to exercise. Whether that form of exercise is a light stroll in the neighborhood, a jog in the park, a run on the treadmill, or a weight-training session at the gym, it simply does not matter as long as you do something.

Exercise and a sound nutrition program are vital to achieving your dream physique. Now put down that TV remote, and get moving!

FAST FOOD

You are what you eat. We have all heard this phrase millions of times, but somehow, Americans faced with weight issues do not acknowledge this little phrase. If Americans only knew just how fast food was prepared, and just how many calories and fat it contains, they would be totally surprised.

A burger and fries from your favorite fast food joint will cost you between 600-950 calories! What about those awful trans fats? First, let’s define what a trans fat is. It is an unsaturated fatty acid molecule that contains a trans double bond between carb atoms.

Fast food is loaded with trans fat! Diets that contain high amounts of trans fat have been linked to coronary heart disease and even atherosclerosis. Trans fat is not only found in those favorite fried foods at the local fast food joint, but also in baked goods, fried goods, snack foods, and other foods which have been processed.

Why do many Americans eat fast food and food items with trans fat? Simple. Americans live busy lives, and will chow down on fast food and conveniently packaged goods just because of the fact that these food choices are quick and easy.

A much better option instead of gorging on these unhealthy food choices would be to simply prepare your own meals. This way you would know exactly what you are eating.

POOR EATING HABITS

One of the most obvious examples of these poor eating habits is the collapse of structured mealtimes and snacks. Why is this so common? Americans live busy lives. In many homes, families don’t even share dinner together at the table, and snacking is common without any limits.

You also have those people who skip breakfast for whatever reason.

Many people operate in either one extreme or the other - either they are following a program perfectly, or they are simply going wild with their poor eating habits.

They pile down the calories at lunch to compensate for not eating breakfast. Guess what? The more food the body has to digest at one time, the more food it stores as fat. There is only so much the body can digest and process in one sitting. Eating much smaller meals more periodically throughout the course of the day increases the body’s thermal effect, which ultimately results in an increase in metabolism!

Another poor eating habit among Americans is eating too fast. Those who eat fast tend to consume more food because they do not give their brain an opportunity to signal to the body that it is satisfied. Chewing often and more slowly can easily avoid this poor habit.

Another big problem is some Americans looking to get rid of extra weight try too hard to constantly eat a healthy diet. They simply try too hard. Eating healthy is great, don’t get me wrong, but eating too healthy can be a bad habit for those looking to shed a few pounds. Don’t try too hard, and follow a nutrition regimen that you’re comfortable with and can easily adjust their lifestyle to fit.

ACCEPTANCE

Many people just accept the extra weight and tell themselves that they are just like the rest of the people in the United States and that being over weight is alright. Being unhealthy and obese is not cool, sexy or admirable and even if you can never look exactly like a fitness model that is no excuse to not try to get into shape.

People always revert to the saying “It’s what’s inside that counts” well guess what, the things that are going on inside most Americans like high cholesterol and high blood pressure are not good.

Some people may have pair shapes and think it isn’t worth working out because you can’t change the bone structure you were given which you may hate so why bother. There are certain body parts you can workout to accentuate the good parts about your body and narrow the parts you may not like.

If you have a pair shape then work harder on your shoulders it’s certainly better then accepting the things you don’t like about your body. Listen to yourself when it comes to what your life should be like.

No one is holding a gun to your head telling you where to live and where to work. The boundaries that are the highest are the ones you make for yourself.

In Conclusion

As a whole Americans are noticably more obese now than they were 20 years ago. It is widely known that obesity in America is a growing problem. This situation has opened the doors for marketing companies to profit off of fad diets, worthless supplements, and misleading books and articles on how to “easily” lose weight fast and keep it off. These marketing campaigns create the biggest obstacle in resolving this issue: misinformation.

Around a month ago 19-year-old college student, Brianna Denison, went missing on Sunday morning from a couch that she was sleeping on at a friends house. There was a small blood stain on the pillow she was using and her shoes, cell phone, and purse were left behind. Which means that she would have had to leave the house barefoot with nothing more than her sweatpants and sweatshirt.

There were no signs of forced entry and no other signs of a struggle in the home. Cops say that the glass-paned front door of the residence was unlocked and other residents say that the door — just a couple feet away from where Brianna was sleeping — may have been left slightly open. Authorities say that the suspect must have been quick and quiet as to not awake Hunter’s pet black-and-white Chihuahua, Chi-Chi, who was sleeping in the adjacent room with her two friends, KT Hunter and Jessica Deal.

Police immediately suspected foul play and the blood stains on the pillow made it appear that she was struck in the head with an object or suffocated in her sleep to subdue her. They also ran the DNA evidence found on Brianna’s pillow and found that it matched the DNA gathered after a November 13th groping attack on a UNR student and a December 16th kidnapping and rape of another UNR student which took place only a few blocks away from the home where Brianna was last seen.

In the November 13th incident, a 21-year-old UNR student was walking through an apartment parking lot at 401 College Drive, when an unknown male assailant approached her from behind and put her in a chokehold. The suspect dragged the victim between cars, pushed her to the ground and groped her. As she fought and yelled, he told her not to scream. The victim continued to scream and fought her attacker. Even though the assailant warned the victim to stop screaming, the assault stopped after the suspect kicked the victim in the head and arm and ran away.

In the December 16th incident, the assailant told the victim, a foreign student from Taiwan, that, “If you tell the police, I will kill you.” Authorities say the 22-year-old was abducted outside her home when an unknown assailant grabbed her after she parked her car on the 1400 block of Terrace Drive.

According to police, the assailant grabbed the female from behind, forced her to the ground and attempted to choke her with her right arm. He then placed his right hand over her nose and mouth which caused her to pass out. When she began to regain consciousness, the suspect forced her into the front passenger seat. The suspect slowly drove to a campus garage 3 to 4 minutes away where he forced her to perform sexual acts. After the attack, he drove her back to her residence where he dumped her off and threatened “he might be back.”

Police believe that the December attack is linked to an attempted burglary at the same residence on Jan. 19, 2008, the day before Brianna Denison went missing. Authorities say that in the January incident, someone attempted to enter the victim’s home by breaking off a door knob at the rear of the residence.

This suspect seems rather brazen to attempt so many sexual assaults within a confined area of less than a mile radius and over a short period of time of around 90 days.  Look at the map above.  The November 13th attack and the January 20th abduction of Brianna Denison happened about 80 feet apart!  The other 2 attacks happened between 1500 and 2000 feet from these attacks. We are talking no more than a 3-4 block radius between these four attacks!

It seems to be someone from the area if they are able to pull off such calculated attacks within such a close proximity. They must have been staking the area out and planning these attacks which leads me to believe that it is one of the students or campus staff who live and work in the area and would be around these students on a daily basis. However I am surprised that the surviving two victims have not run into this person and identified him so perhaps it is someone who lives close by but not on campus, maybe in the casino district. But these two surviving victims did not get a close look at their attackers face. It totally seems like this person could easily become the next Ted Bundy.

Brianna was not heard from in nearly a month until a body was found in a brush-covered field on Friday and identified as this missing girl. The initial autopsy indicated that she had died of strangulation and her body had been in the field for more than a week about 8 miles from the house where she went missing.

Based on partial descriptions, police describe the suspect as a white male between the ages of 28 and 40 and at least 5 foot 6 inches tall, with a long face and brown hair, and physically strong, but not muscular. Neither of the previous victims saw the attacker’s face. His vehicle is described as an extended cab pick-up truck or SUV with a dome above the windshield and an automatic transmission. The vehicle is tall enough that it requires a step to gain entry. The victim also noticed a floor-mounted console that opened in the front, that the radio had a blue and red LED read out, and that the seats were cloth. She also claimed that there was a baby shoe on the front seat floor board.  They believe that this video photo below shows a picture of the suspects SUV.

On Thursday a fourth woman came forward and for the first time reported that she had been attacked and raped at gunpoint in a UNR parking garage within 100 yards of a campus police station.  Based on her description of the attacker they were able to generate the composite sketch above.  They have not linked this fourth attack with DNA to the other three attacks, however they strongly believe that it was done by the same person.