The commentators all breathlessly described how busy China became getting Beijing "ready for the Olympics".
And China's communist leaders sure were busy!
After all, arresting dissidents and potential protesters isn't done in a day, and heaven knows it takes time to shut down factories and restrict residents' driving to clear up the oily smog that obscures Beijing on a normal day.
Today, Ed Morrissey included the pic at the top of the page in "Obama: Know where it’s really great to do business?".
"Unfortunately, most of what the cameras see is just a facade, as Dale Franks points out at Q&O:"
Perhaps, the facades in the top pic were built by the arrested dissidents?
Better not dwell to much on that possibility.
Might get accused of being a conspiracy theorist again.
by Mondoreb
image: top-Hot Air; bottom-RidesAPaleHorse
DBKP did a survey that was published on July 9th 2008 regarding the the construction of Christian churches in Muslim countries. In discussing Saudi Arabia, it was noted "No Christian churches are allowed. The open practice of Christianity is punishable by death." (Survey: how Easy is it To Build a Christian Church in a Muslim Country). Therefore, when the following headline from Middle East News popped up on a newscan, it was routinely bookmarked for referral to the editor to see if it was worthy of an Update.
Saudi Mutaween Cuts Out His Daughter’s Tongue, Then Burns Her Alive
Then the story was wiped; erased from the Middle East News. The page did not suddenly go down: it was simply blank.
Fortunately Weasel Zippers (Saudi "Honor Killing": Muslim Father Cuts out Daughters Tongue, Burns her Alive for Converting to Christianity...... ), a blog that emphasizes jihad and the idiosyncrasyies of Islam had copied the story. So here is the horrendous story:
A Saudi man working with the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice recently killed his daughter for converting to Christianity.
According to sources close to the victim, the religious police member had cut the tongue of the girl and burned her to death following a heated debate on religion.
"The death of the girl sent shockwaves, and websites where the victim used to write with various nicknames have allocated special space to mourn her, while some others closed temporarily in protest.
According to the Saudi Al Ukhdoud news website, the victim wrote an article on the blog of which she was a member under the nickname "Rania" a few days before her murder.
She said that her brother found some Christian articles written by her as well as a cross sign on her computer screen.Since then he started to insult her and blamed the Internet for pushing her to change her religion.
The "Free Copts" website published a message which it received from a friend of the victim, revealing that the killer is in police custody and that he is being investigated for an honour related crime.
Saudi religious scholars have frequently warned against the dangers of Christian internet websites and satellite TV channels which attract Muslim youngsters to change their religion.
They decreed that watching these channels or browsing these websites which call for conversion to Christianity by various means is against the teachings of Islam."
Another full account was reported in The Gulf News, which appears to have produced the first English translation of the sorry tale. Other than once again demonstrating the misogynistic, bigoted barbarity and sheer madness that characterizes Islam, we wonder if these events portend something else: a realization by Muslims that the rest of the world reads or views Islamic behavior with disbelief and disgust. That 'with the Internet, the Mainstream Media blackout on Muslim antics has been bypassed. That the desperate pleas of those that live under this barbarous cult can now occasionally be heard and Islam exposed for what it is, instead of the Religion Of Peace nonsense espoused by Washington and London.
In other words, are some Muslims embarrassed by what they have become?
by pat
images:
* faithfreedom
sources:
http://forums.sulekha.com/
http://archive.gulfnews.com/
Who is Editing Out Unpleasant Details From Wikipedia's Rielle Hunter entry?
Who is ALJDJDD?
Mystery Continues
While working on this morning's John Edwards Scandal: Who in the Edwards’ Campaign Ran the Cover Up? UPDATED, a note was received from DBKP's crack research department.
Our mystery Wikipedia editor came back just now And made these changes to the Rielle Hunter article. Basically removed all of the negative info about the father, inserted the father's birth year of 1934, and, most interestingly, cleaned up the info about Hunter's small film roles, deleting a reference to roles in the films Overboard and Deadly Addiction, but leaving the reference to the 1991 Denzel Washington film Ricochet.
One can only type one story at a time and this one got pushed back. In the meantime, about three hours ago, we were notified of another interesting development:
Catherine Yronwode had an interesting theory about our mystery WIkipedia editor that she explained here - that "ALJDJDD" may be an acronym for "Alias Lisa Jo Druck, James Druck's Daughter".
Among other things, yronwode posits a possible identity for the mystery editor:
User ALJDJDD, who claims in her edit summaries to be James Druck's daughter (ALJDJDD may be an acronym for "Alias Lisa Jo Druck, James Druck's Daughter"), has repeatedly deleted from the Rielle Hunter page all mention of James Druck's involvement in the horse-murder insurance fraud scheme, incluing the murder of Lisa's own horse, for which we have numerous reliable msm sources now. (Apparently ALJDJDD does not believe the confession of the FBI informer and horse-killer Tommy Burns, upon which all the sources are based, and prefers to think that her father is innocent of the crime or that no crime was committed.)
We have no proof that ALJDJDD is who she says she is (i.e. one of the four Druck daughters), but she has added a bunch of unsourced material, such as the year of James Druck's birth, the location where Lisa Jo Druk and Kip Hunter were married, and some IMDb-sourced data about Lisa Jo Hunter that we had previously overlooked due to the subject's several name changes.
We touched on the edits being made yesterday at the Rielle Hunter Wikipedia page, in "John Edwards Scandal: Rielle Hunter Editing Her Own Wikipedia Page - UPDATED".
[UPDATE NOTE 12:55 EDT - Our research indicates that "a closer look at the change made to the article by that user - in addition to deleting the information about the father, the editor changed the place of marriage to Kip Hunter from New York state to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Not sure if this is true or false."
We will see.]
We also got a note that Rielle Hunter, born Lisa Jo Druck, has three other sisters than Melissa, who asked John Edwards on Saturday to "Stop Bad-mouthing Rielle Hunter - UPDATED".
According to The Palm Beach Post (see the last paragraph).
So there are several suspects for editing the Wikipedia article. The article also explains the "convicted criminal" part of the edit summary you quoted in your article.
The Palm Beach article, "Dad of Edwards' mistress had dark side" recounts a grisly tale of horse execution, fraud, insurance money and prison sentences. It's not very complimentary; one can see why a family member might want this information edited out of Wikipedia.
"They loved money! All of them watching out for themselves."
That's the Florida family environment fallen presidential wannabe John Edwards' mistress grew up in. So says Jupiter commodities trader Steve Smith, a longtime live-in boyfriend of one of Rielle Hunter's three sisters.
The article quotes "Jupiter commodities trader Steve Smith, a longtime live-in boyfriend of one of Rielle Hunter's three sisters" [designer, Jennifer Druck].
The Palm Beach article cites Sports Illustrated as a source.
In a 1992 cover story, Sports Illustrated named Druck an early figure in a frightening trend: The killing of show horses and ponies for insurance money.
IS Rielle Hunter editing her own Wikipedia page? Or, is it another of the Druck sisters?
Again, time will tell.
by Mondoreb
image: wikipedia
Info Keep Disappearing
Readers Keep Copying
Simon Scowl, at Deceiver--that name's popping up quite frequently over the last month--reports on what's rapidly becoming a Deceiver specialty: disappearing websites with information about Rielle Hunter. [Yet Another Rielle-Related Site Vanishes].
Yesterday the Newark Star-Ledger tried to talk to Rielle Hunter’s old business partner Mimi Hockman (pictured), as I recommended somebody do almost two weeks ago. They approached Hockman at her home in New Jersey, but she wasn’t too cooperative. Which isn’t surprising at this point. Nor is this (emphasis mine):
Deceiver's work on another vanished website was part of our story on disappearing Rielle Hunter information as the start of the Edwards' campaign cover up, John Edwards Scandal: Who in the Edwards’ Campaign Ran the Cover Up? UPDATED.
Thankfully, it's harder for the information to vanish now: a small army of readers are now aware of the problem and are screen-saving, copying and downloading Net info before it disappears--including Deceiver readers and our own Research Dept.
We'll call it: The Forces of Darkness vs. The Forces of Light, Internet Rielle Hunter Info Division.
by Mondoreb
image: Deceiver
BLOGISTAN
Babba Zee
Outraged Spleen of Zion
"Those who counsel avoidance of blogs are no different from those who advise against frequenting dark, crime-ridden neighborhoods. There may be bargains to be had in such locales, maybe even a good library or pizzeria. But they are scuzzy places to spend time in."
--Rabbi Avi Shafran, Blogistan
Are you a member of the easiest cult in the world to join? Are you part of the Internet's underbelly?
One of the signs of a cult is the constant search for enemies: someone or something to rally the members of the cult against; something or someone on which to concentrate their energies.
Some blogs--particularly those that concentrate on conspiracy theories--appear based on the premise of finding a dark enemy for their members to combat.
Outraged Spleen of Zion reprints Blogistan, an informative piece by Rabbi Avi Shafran on the darker side of the Internet. It raises some interesting points.
No one knows exactly why the Internet appears to bring out the worst in people, but there is little doubt that it often does. And the cloak of anonymity seems to unleash truly dark, ugly alter egos.
Although the post isn't very complimentary of the Blogosphere in general, many of the points it raises are spot-on.
Perhaps even more disturbing is the apparent gullibility of so many visitors to those blogs, who, from their own postings, seem ready to swallow any accusation or character assassination, as long as the charges are sufficiently salacious or forcefully asserted. Some of the many adulatory comments posted on offensive blogs may have been planted by the blogerrai-meisters themselves, but many certainly seem to be from other citizens anxious to join in the fun.
The post is easy to read and breaks down the problems of the Blogosphere into easily-digested chunks.
Are the blogs you visit part of Blogistan?
Visit, read and decide for yourself.
ALSO at DBKP.com:
Blogistan: Are you part of the Underbelly of the Internet?
by Mondoreb
image: Outraged Spleen of Zion
Source: Blogistan
Internet porn sleuth, Edna Bambrick, is now monitoring the 'Megan Had it Coming' blog for foul language.
It was bound to happen.
by Mondoreb
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
[NOTE: DBKP has examined the 'Megan Had it Coming' Blog and its last post, dated December 3, "I'm Lori Drew". We don't know who is behind the blog--Lori Drew or Internet troll.
However, we've asked Trench Reynolds, who has covered MySpace crime for the last eight years, to give us his opinion.
He makes some good points. Some we agree with, others: we're not so sure. But, he makes several of his points so persuasively, we thought you readers should get a chance to see them and decide for yourselves.]Hey everybody. My name is Trench Reynolds. Some of you may know me from my blogs about crime, TheTrenchcoat Chronicles and MyCrimeSpace. At the Chronicles I've been blogging since 2000 discussing school shootings and at MCS I talk about MySpace related crimes.
Mondoreb invited me to Death by 1,000 Papercuts (which is the greatest blog name ever) to express my thoughts on the Megan Meier story, specifically the 'Megan Had It Coming Blog'. As a lot of people have I've been following the story closely since it broke nationally. And just like most people I was horrified to read what happened to Megan Meier by people who were supposed to be adults.
When the identity of the Drews were made public by bloggers and commenters I decided that I would not post their names in hopes of not facilitating some kind of vigilante justice. Also I did not want to interfere with the investigation into whether or not criminal files would be charged. 
It was after I made that post that someone posted a comment about 'MHIC'. It was also on that same post that someone by the name of 'ANONYMOUS' was leaving comments in defense of Lori Drew and was leaving comments similar to the posts on 'MHIC'.
I conferred with a blogging friend of mine who is a cybersecurity expert and we both agreed that ANONYMOUS and MHIC were the same person. Of course the Internet being what it is a lot of people automatically assumed that it must be Lori Drew without doing any investigation.
Now that's not a dig at DBKP because their own investigation seems to be thorough. However whenever a tragedy like this breaks there's always people willing to take advantage of the situation in order to get some attention. That's what I think is going on with MHIC.
Getting back to ANONYMOUS the e-mail address used to place the comments at MCS traced back to the MySpace of 16-year-old African-American girl from Michigan. It is possible that the address was a fake that coincidentally belonged to this girl's MySpace. However once I made that fact public the MySpace in question disappeared.
The second thing that leads me to believe that MHIC is a fake was the IP address of ANONYMOUS. Every time someone posts a comment at MCS I receive an e- mail that has their IP Address in it. IP addresses are used to trace back to someone's Internet Service Provider (ISP). Through this information I can usually ascertain the person's relative geographical location.
ANONYMOUS' ISP traced back to Louisville, KY which is roughly 260 miles from where the Drews and Meiers lived. IP addresses can be spoofed but if the person really wanted me to believe they were Lori Drew and had the knowledge on how to spoof IP addresses they probably would have made the address trace back to Missouri and not Kentucky.
Lastly, which may just be wishful thinking on my part, after everything that has be relayed in the media and on blogs I'd like to think that Lori Drew would not be that callous or stupid to entitle a blog 'Megan Had It Coming'.
Recently Lori Drew's lawyer said that she had nothing to do with the blog. Mondoreb himself poses the question if it's a hoax why is still up because of Google's imitation rules. My answer to that is I think it's not really a high priority for Google. Not only that if it was Lori Drew I think her lawyer would have advised her to take it down by now which can be done as easily as clicking on a button.
Since civil charges are likely against the Drews I think since the blog is still up that the odds are in favor of MHIC not being written by Lori Drew.
More than likely MHIC was posted by a group of people just looking for the attention and to see how many people they can get to fall for it. In the end I could be wrong but that would mean that Lori Drew is really that stupid and callous and if she is I weep for humanity.
So what do you think?
Is 'Megan Had It Coming' the work of Lori Drew?
Or an Internet troll?
[Check out other Trench Reynolds reports on the MySpace Suicide story, as well as MySpace and school crime at TheTrenchcoat Chronicles and MyCrimeSpace. Crime buffs need to drop by for the latest.]
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Two statements about the 'Megan Had it Coming' blog were quoted by Fox News. We present both, as well as some questions at the end.
Lori Drew, who signed a police statement in 2006 that she was the instigator of the fictitious Internet boy named "Josh Evans", and was involved in the MySpace hoax in the minutes before Megan Meier's suicide: her attorney, Jim Briscoe's statement:
"I can categorically say that she did not write it," Briscoe told FOXNews.com. "She has not said anything on the Internet, on any blogs, on any Internet sites."
Briscoe said that Drew, a neighbor of the Meiers, has purposely remained silent in the media and online during the investigation and since.
"That's part of why she's remained silent, so there's no confusion about that," Briscoe said. "Anything that's on the Web is not true. She hasn't done anything. She doesn't know anybody who's done it — anybody who's doing it or has done it."
And now a statement from Google, parent company of Blogger.com, which hosts the 'Megan Had it Coming'.
Blogger.com, which houses the blog and lists "impersonation" as one of the things banned from the site, said it has no information that would call into question the authenticity of the "Megan Had It Coming" site.
"We take violations of Blogger's policy very seriously as such activities diminish the experience for our users," a spokesman for Google, Blogger's parent company, told FOXNews.com.
"Once we are notified about a blog that impersonates a person, we act quickly to remove it. We have not received an impersonation claim to date from the individual allegedly being impersonated."
Questions we'd like to ask:
* Why is the blog still up?
* If it is true, as Mr. Briscoe maintains, that Lori Drew is not the blog's author, why hasn't Ms. Drew shut it down?
* If Lori Drew is not the author of the 'Megan Had it Coming' blog, she can have it shut down in a heartbeat by contacting Blogger. This has not happened.
Blogger.com says, they have "no information that would call into question the authenticity of the "Megan Had It Coming" site."
* Blogger.com has information on who created the blog. What does that tell us?
These are the questions.
We're patient. We'll wait for the answers.
What do you think?
by Mondoreb
Source: MySpace Mom Linked to Missouri Teen Suicide Being Cyber Bullied Herself
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED
Fifty years ago, on Dec. 6, 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV3 rose only about four feet off a Cape Canaveral launch pad before crashing back down and exploding.
On this date:
POLITICS
In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.
In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.
In 1921, British and Irish representatives signed a treaty in London providing for creation of an Irish Free State a year later on the same date.
In 1973, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew.
In 2002, Anti-war activist Philip Berrigan died in Baltimore at age 79.
LABOR HISTORY
In 1957, AFL-CIO members voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. (The Teamsters were readmitted in 1987, but disaffiliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.)
In 1907, the worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, W.Va.
TERRORISM
In 1982, 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded at a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.
In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.
THE INTERNET
One year ago: Searchers found the body of San Francisco resident[and C-NET editor] James Kim in the Oregon mountains, two days after his wife and two daughters were rescued from their car (Kim had set out on foot to find help for his family).
CELEBRITIES
Five years ago: Actress Winona Ryder was sentenced to community service as part of a probationary term for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, Calif.
BIRTHDAYS
Jazz musician Dave Brubeck is 87. Comedy performer David Ossman is 71. Country singer Helen Cornelius is 66. Actor James Naughton is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Frankie Beverly (Maze) is 61. Former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) is 59. Actress JoBeth Williams is 59. Actor Tom Hulce is 54. Actor Kin Shriner is 54. Talk show host Wil Shriner is 54. Actor Miles Chapin is 53. Rock musician Rick Buckler (The Jam) is 52. Comedian Steven Wright is 52. Country singer Bill Lloyd is 52. Singer Tish Hinojosa is 52. Rock musician Peter Buck (R.E.M.) is 51. Rock musician David Lovering (Pixies) is 46. Actress Janine Turner is 45. Rock musician Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl) is 45. Writer-director Judd Apatow is 40. Rock musician Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg (Ace of Base) is 37. Actress Colleen Haskell is 31. Actress Lindsay Price is 31.
Today is Thursday, Dec. 6, the 340th day of 2007. There are 25 days left in the year.
Edits by Mondoreb
Source: AP - Today in History
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has fingered a culprit in the Megan Meier story.
And the guilty parties are--surprise!--bloggers.
The traditional press, ever mindful of mouthing ethics that fall far short of what they actually practice, is again pointing a finger at their Internet brethren.
Joel Currier, the P-D writer seems upset that readers, upon reading Megan's story, became upset. The Post-Dispatch can hardly direct their ire at readers, having lost over 10,000 of them over the last year, so bloggers are not only handy, but also a logical target.[1]
Besides, bloggers most likely don't read the Post-Dispatch anyway.
Why's Joel so upset? We'll let him explain.Rage against Curt and Lori Drew of Dardenne Prairie continues to explode on the Internet — targeting the couple and people who did business with them.
So: there are people upset with the Drews. This is unpardonable. Joel quotes a few of the merchants, who are upset at being contacted by people learning of their association with Drew's Ad Vantage advertising company.
Bloggers want justice for Megan Meier, 13, and vengeance against the Drews, whom they blame for Megan's suicide last year.
Dozens of names and phone numbers of businesses that advertised in Lori Drew's coupon book have been posted online with demands to boycott their establishments.
Many of the companies have canceled their advertising contracts with Drew and received letters saying Drew is folding her coupon business.[2]
He then moves on to Drew's lawyer to support his thesis. The reporter in Mr. Currier surely knows that someone's attorney may not be the final word in objectivity.
Doesn't he? Jim Briscoe, the lawyer representing the Drews, told the "Today" show on Tuesday that Lori Drew has had to close her advertising business and her daughter has dropped out of school after the publicity and investigation into Megan's suicide. Briscoe also said it was not clear whether the Drews would be able to continue living in their Dardenne Prairie neighborhood, four doors down from the Meier house.
One admires Jim Briscoe. His job of presenting Lori Drew as a sympathetic figure is not an easy one. But he gets paid to do that job.
Drew "absolutely, 100 percent" did not know that Internet messages to Megan had become nasty, Briscoe said. Drew did not write any of the MySpace messages that preceded Megan Meier's suicide in October 2006.[2]
Joel Currier gets paid to do another job.
And today he earned his pay decrying the reactions of readers--of bloggers. He quotes another harried small businessman.Stein Hunter, 49, the owner of the Crooked Tree Coffee Shop in St. Charles, says he sees irony in the way people are using the Internet to harass business owners in order to get back at the Drews.
"The issue is harassment," Hunter said. "And they are harassing people."
An expression of opinion is many things to many people. To Mr. Hunter, it's harassment; it must certainly seems like it to him. But then, Mr. Hunter brews coffee: he doesn't report the news.
Another expression of opinion in the Post-Dispatch came from Currier's colleague, Jeff Gordon, sportswriter, about the Cardinal's Scott Rolen. "Rolen's gotta go," writes Gordon today. But no piece on whether Rolen agrees with that opinion or feels harassed. Or whether his livelihood might be affected.
And Rolen didn't conduct a six-week hoax on a 13-year-old girl; all he's apparently guilty of is pouting and frowning.
There's more of the same from Joel Currier in his story; anyone wanting to read it can check out the article; it's listed at the end of this post.
One could do a simple check--we did--to find that most of the phone numbers, personal information and posting of advertisers came from readers of blogs, not the blogs themselves. Whether in comments tagged onto the end of posts, in forums or in emails, readers were almost universally outraged.
Why were readers outraged?
That was simple enough to check also. They were upset that a 46-year-old woman would concoct an elaborate scam on a 13-year-old girl suffering from depression. They were upset that, in Drew's own words, "she, with the help of a temporary employee named "Ashley", constructed a profile of 'good-looking' male on 'myspace'".
They are upset that when "the communication became 'sexual for a 13-year-old', Drew--again in her own words--continued the fake male profile despite this development.[3]
They became upset at a traditional press, which had long published the names and personal information of anyone targeted in frivolous lawsuits or cases where people were arrested for offenses, large and small(and later the charges were dropped), clammed up when it came to an Internet hoaxer.
And now, those same readers appear to be upset when reporters attack the one vehicle they had for expressing their anger: the Internet and the bloggers who chronicle there.
This isn't the first time this has happened. It's one of the reasons that TV ratings and circulation figures continue to tumble for the gatekeepers in the traditional media: poor and unresponsive customer service.
One suspects this won't be the last time.
by Mondoreb
[image:stlbrianj]
Sources:
1-FAS-FAX Numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulation
2-Internet Fury Mounts in Megan Case
3-What Lawyer said in 2007, What Lori Drew said in 2006
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
[click on image to enlarge.]
A comparison of a few of the statements made by Lori Drew in November of 2006 and the statements made by Jim Briscoe, Drew's lawyer, on the Today Show earlier today.“Everything, as far as Mrs. Drew knew, was that all the communication was nice and polite and there was no harassing going on,” Briscoe said. “She did not create the MySpace account. She did not instruct anybody to create the MySpace account. She never made any communications through the MySpace account.”
--Attorney Jim Briscoe"She did not instruct anybody to create the MySpace account. She never made any communications through the MySpace account.”
--Briscoe
"Drew stated that in the months leading up Meier's daughter suicide, she instigated and monitored a "my space" account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier's daughter."
--From the police report above.
Are there any discrepancies between what Lori Drew stated in the police report in November 2006 and what her lawyer said in December 2007?
Or do they jive?
As always, we'll present both and let the readers decide.
Compiled by Mondoreb
[images: smokinggun]
Sources:
Lori Drew's Lawyer: Drew "Knew of Hoax, Didn't Stop It"
Smoking Gun - Megan Meier Police Reports
COMPLETE Megan Meier, Lori Drew, MySpace Suicide Coverage:
DBKP: Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Stories and Videos List
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Part III on the continuing debate that broke out on the blog "Megan Had it Coming" between the blog's author--who first claimed to be "Kristen" and then yesterday published a post "I'm Lori Drew"--and readers who read and commented.
Is it really Drew? We don't know yet. We're still trying to find out though.
In the meantime, read and then decide.
--BREAKING: Drew's Lawyer: Drew Knew, Didn't Stop It-Video Report
Compiled by Little Baby Ginn
notes: Mondoreb
[Image:i.imdb.com]
Sources:
Comments - Megan Had it Coming - "I'm Lori Drew"
DBKP - Lori Drew or Internet Troll?
DBKP - A Conversation Between Lori Drew and Internet Commenters
DBKP - Lori Drew Author of 'Megan Had it Coming' Blog?
MEGAN MEIER, LORI DREW, MYSPACE SUICIDE LIBRARY:
DBKP MySpace Suicide Library
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Lori Drew or Internet Troll, Part II
The conversation still rages between the author claiming to be Lori Drew, Internet hoaxer, and readers of the blog, "Megan Had it Coming".
After posting twice as "Kristen"--the first on the weekend when most of the country was just learning of the Megan Meier story--today the poster wrote "I'm Lori Drew". This touched off a war of words with readers of the post.
The author claiming to be Drew says the main reason for revealing her identity as "Kristen" is that her daughter is having a tough time of it from the other kids at school. She says it's time for this harassment to stop.
Is the author of "Megan had it Coming" and Lori Drew one and the same person?
We don't know; we can only hazard a guess. We've given our best guesses elsewhere and they're referenced at the end of this post.
---BREAKING:
Drew's Lawyer: Drew Knew, Didn't Stop It VIDEO REPORT
One thing's for sure, the author of Megan Had it Coming is not backing off from her critics. Here's Part II. The blog author ('Lori Drew') is identified in the following as "Megan Had it Coming"
leigh said...Lori, I for one believe you that this thing went out of control. I do. I don't believe for one second that you wanted, or intended, for Megan to harm herself, for what it's worth.
Anonymous said...
But if you fire a gun in a crowded theater and the bullet hits and kills someone, aren't you responsible? Even if killing someone wasn't your intention?
I have two daughters, and have--as any other mother of daughters has--encountered kids who were mean and hurt my kids' feelings. On those occasions where my girls were unable to deal with the mean kid, I forbade contact, and I spoke with the parents.
You should never, ever have set up that "Josh" account, and I suspect you know that. You knew Megan was troubled--you knew that from direct experience. So you must have known that humiliating a troubled 13-year-old girl would be tantamount to setting a match to a pre-existing fuse.
You know how hard children take things--you've seen it in your own daughter. You know how irrational kids can be. You know how important acceptance is to an adolescent, how excrutiatingly painful rejection is. You know, and knew, all of this, and you engineered a trap to do serious psychic damage to a child.
This is why you're incurring so much ire.
The decent thing to do would be to stop justifying your actions and to offer a genuine apology to Megan's family.
December 3, 2007 11:08 AMYou have all these issues with Megan, Megan's parents, etc..
Anonymous said...
And yet, you still have them hold a Christmas gift for you in their garage?
I don't buy anything your saying.
December 3, 2007 11:11 AM After reading all of your blogs, it is clear, as someone else mentioned, that your behavior closely resembles that of a sociopath. There is a certain arrogance to your writing that completely illustrates that type of persona. You have no conscience, so it is futile to try to convince you of your wrongdoings, but Karma is a bitch, and, I believe you certainly deserve whatever backlash you receive as a result of your actions. I can only hope your husband is a more responsible parent than you, otherwise, I fear for your daughter's upbringing.
Anonymous said...
December 3, 2007 11:16 AMTwo fake online identities, bullying a teenage girl, starting a blog called "Megan Ha It Coming," and then defending your actions. Lady, actions have consequences and your poor decision making has lead to people giving you a hard time (ironically) on the internet.
Megan Had It Coming said...
December 3, 2007 11:16 AMThe police are your second step
How can you say that? The police can't do anything in a dispute between two 13 year olds. I would have been laughed out of the police station if I had come with the complaint, "a child is setting up a cyber bullying attack against my child."
As we all know, there weren't any laws about cyber bullying back then. What Megan did was subtle and devious, but it wasn't anything the police could act on. That's why I took this into my own hands. I had to do SOMETHING, and simply separating the kids wasn't enough. Megan was coming after my daughter ONLINE. So instead of continuously running away from this bully, we fought back. No one could have guessed it was going to end so tragically.
On those occasions where my girls were unable to deal with the mean kid, I forbade contact, and I spoke with the parents.
I DID THAT I DID THAT I DID THAT! How many times do I have to spell it out? It's here in the post, I'm stating it again, get it through your head -- I'M NOT A BAD PARENT. I did what any parent would have done. I tried to resolve it amicably, but the Meiers wouldn't have any of it, and Megan wouldn't listen. What other choice did I have??? If Megan wasn't systematically spreading hurtful things about my daughter online and causing massive grief, separating them would have been the end of it. But this is the internet age we live in. Separating the kids is NOT ENOUGH. Maybe your daughters didn't have to deal with the internet. Mine does.
The notion that "Megan Had It Coming" is loathsome. The rationalizations in this newest post are loathsome. But how can we be sure this is really Lori Drew speaking? I'd like to know . . .but, what evidence would be conclusive?
December 3, 2007 11:18 AMRusty said...
Wow.. I just saw this story online and after hearing both sides of the story and reading hateful comments from both parties I am baffled.Anonymous said...
Megan killed herself. It's her fault, not anybody else's. People get harassed all the time and bullying is a natural human behavior, not one of you can say you have not encountered bullying throughout your childhood. If it is anybody's fault it is the fault of her parents for not keeping a close eye on their clinically depressed daughter. She had just told them about the harassment she was encountering on the internet and they let her carry on.
Of course that doesn't mean Lori isn't immature and irresponsible for messing with a 13 year old, but it was in clear defense of her own daughter and I don't even consider her actions harassment. The only harassment I saw were the comments left by Megan's peers once they got control of the account.
Sorry to quote Lori Drew the "monster" of this whole mess but seriously people, give it a rest, multiple people share blame but the most obviously goes to Megan for being the cause of her own death.
December 3, 2007 11:18 AM
Just stop justifying.
You are a bad mother. A helicopter parent. You created this hell for yourself and your daughter and you JUST DID IT AGAIN! You put Sarah at risk because you can't just stop playing with fire.
Ashley is under psychiatric care because of your choices.How many more lives are you going to ruin? You have ruined Curt's, and Sarah's and Ashley's. Why don't you figure it out?
You know you did. You need to APOLOGIZE. You keep making it worse.
You also need to grow up. This little 'monster' was a child. Still a child. You are egocentric in your actions and deeds and are still doing it.
I hope your family is safe, because with you at the helm...you just keep steering them into danger.
December 3, 2007 11:19 AM
Megan Had It Coming said...
And yet, you still have them hold a Christmas gift for you in their garage?Anonymous said...
Have you ever lived in the suburbs? Even when you don't like people, you still try to maintain friendships. We ultimately didn't like Megan. We did like the Meiers despite a few of their choices. Yes, I asked them to hide a secret gift for me. No, I couldn't just go over and ask for it.
December 3, 2007 11:20 AM
Have you ever lived in the suburbs? Even when you don't like people, you still try to maintain friendships. We ultimately didn't like Megan. We did like the Meiers despite a few of their choices. Yes, I asked them to hide a secret gift for me. No, I couldn't just go over and ask for it.Megan Had It Coming said...
More choices you make, that come back to haunt you.
December 3, 2007 11:22 AM
You know, and knew, all of this, and you engineered a trap to do serious psychic damage to a child.Entity said...
WHY????? WHY WONT YOU READ WHAT I WROTE???????? I didn't set up a TRAP for anyone. It was an attempt to find out what Megan was doing online. I was trying to protect MY DAUGHTER FROM A CYBER BULLY. I tried to find a way to gracefully back out without hurting Megan but once we found out just what Megan was up to, it got out of control too quickly. There was no way to predict that Megan would react this way.
Kids get cyber bullied all the time. They go to their rooms and cry for a day then they go to school and life gets back to normal. That's what you expect any child, even a depressed child, to do. You never expect them to kill themselves.
December 3, 2007 11:23 AM
Do you honestly not see why you are wrong and the Meiers are right?Megan Had It Coming said...
You killed Megan.
Not intentionally, of course. No one thinks you did it intentionally. You act as if the media giants are painting you as a killer--no, they are painting you as someone who would stoop to the level of a 13-year-old to combat one. You, a grown adult, would use the same bullying tactics that a middle-schooler would use.
Which, as you admit, is entirely true.
But unintentional homicide is still manslaughter, Mrs. Drews. No, forget the title. As you have been acting like a teenager, I will address you as one--Lori.
GET THIS THROUGH YOUR HEAD, LORI. YOU DID NOT DO WHAT A REASONABLE PARENT WOULD HAVE DONE. YOU ARE WHAT YOU ACCUSE THE MEIERS TO BE--UNBALANCED. YOU RESORTED TO THE SAME EXACT TECHNIQUES AS MEGAN--YOU, A GROWN ADULT, WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
If you were a reasonable adult and parent, Megan Meiers would still be alive today.
You are the unbalanced one, Lori, and the one who deserves to be locked up.
December 3, 2007 11:25 AM
Thank you, Rusty, for re-introducing a sane perspective in this.December 3, 2007 11:25 AMAnonymous said...
Have you ever lived in the suburbs? Even when you don't like people, you still try to maintain friendships. We ultimately didn't like Megan. We did like the Meiers despite a few of their choices. Yes, I asked them to hide a secret gift for me. No, I couldn't just go over and ask for it.Anonymous said...
Sorry, don't buy it. You probably had a number of other options for hiding the Foosball table (e,g, in your business office). Also, this act usually requires one to proactively ask for the favor (its not like your neighbors would volunteer to do so)
December 3, 2007 11:25 AM
You're a monster and by now, with you and your daughter growing closer (which I'm sure it only because she's a social outcast now), she's a monster too. I hope you're happy.Anonymous said...
December 3, 2007 11:26 AM
Yes, I live in the suburbs, but no, I don't associate with idiots.December 3, 2007 11:26 AMAnonymous said...
WHY????? WHY WONT YOU READ WHAT I WROTE???????? I didn't set up a TRAP for anyone. It was an attempt to find out what Megan was doing online. I was trying to protect MY DAUGHTER FROM A CYBER BULLY. I tried to find a way to gracefully back out without hurting Megan but once we found out just what Megan was up to, it got out of control too quickly. There was no way to predict that Megan would react this way.anon said...
By giving the password to the account to your employee? How was that bowing out gracefully?
Having conversations that were sexual for a 13 year old? How is that monitoring for cyberbulling?
Take responsibility for it, Lori. It is the only way it is going to go away.
December 3, 2007 11:27 AM
Lori, have you ever heard of "turn the other cheek" and "take the high road"? Do you have any Christianity in your life at all?! If not, I strongly urge you to find God. No one is taking your side on this because no one would do what you did, what you condone. Face it, you're wrong. Plain and simple. Wrong.Megan Had It Coming said...
Your actions were childish and immature. Your daughter has to learn to fight her own battles, the right way, not your way. You've shown a remarkable lack of sound moral judgment. I pray that your daughter sees the wrong in all this and never does anything like this again.
I believe you owe the Meier family a heartfelt apology.
December 3, 2007 11:27 AM
If you were a reasonable adult and parent, Megan Meiers would still be alive today.
It's not fair to put that on me. I didn't know Megan would kill herself. No one suspected Megan would kill herself. If you blame me then you have to blame Megan's parents, too. They were closer to Megan. THEY WERE HER PARENTS. And she still managed to kill herself. What does that say? Does it say they're bad parents, too? No. It says that no one could have predicted Megan's suicide. Not Tina, not Ron, not me.
This is a horrible tragedy. But I'm no murderer.
December 3, 2007 11:28 AM
The comments keep coming, the author keeps fighting a rearguard action.
Some have already dismissed this as the work of an Internet troll. If it is, it's a very elaborate troll, one who timed his posts to cleverly coincide with when Lori Drew might have felt the need to speak.
DBKP took screen shots of both the blog posts and the comments from the very beginning. From the moment the blog appeared, we've monitored it and its readers. We've also made a few attempts at discerning the identity of the author.
If the author really is Lori Drew, wouldn't a better forum have been to contact us, or another blogger/press outlet to tell her story?
That fact argues against the blogger being Lori Drew.
However, little in this story of hoax and re-hoax have made good sense to the disinterested reader.
Is this Lori Drew?
We've made attempts to reach Ms. Drew. We're still trying. In the meantime, we'll present this online debate.
And as always, we'll let you read and make up your own minds.
by Mondoreb & Little Baby Ginn
[image:exodus9]
A Conversation Between Lori Drew and the Internet?
Lori Drew Author of 'Megan Had it Coming' Blog?
No Justice For Megan
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
30 quotes from the people involved in the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide story and the media.
Megan, the 13-year-old daughter of Ron and Tina Meier, was the victim of harassment by "Josh", a boy she'd met at popular social site, MySpace. Upset at his messages, she hung herself.
"Josh" was later found to be a hoax, the fictional creation of Curt and Lori Drew, neighbors who lived down the street from the Meier's. "Josh" was created to by Lori Drew and her employee to monitor what Megan might be saying about the Drew's daughter after the two girls had a fight.
"Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat."
--bulletin posted at MySpace by "Josh"
"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."
--Josh's last message to Megan, according to Ron Meier's best recollection
"They are all being so mean to me."
--Megan Meier, to her mom, on the day of her death
"I grabbed her as she tried to go by," Ron says. "She told me that some kids were saying horrible stuff about her and she didn't understand why."
--Ron Meier right about what happened right before Megan took her life.
"She did sit here in my living room and confess everything to me. She told me that they had pulled an image of a boy off the Internet and that they had created an account using the name of Josh Evans, and she said she knew the last message that left her house that Monday when Megan attempted her life was that, 'The world would be a better place without you".
--an unnamed neighbor about how she learned Lori Drew was behind the hoax
"That is what makes it even more disgusting, that she knew the circumstances around our daughter and still played on it,"
--Ron Meier, Megan's father
“These people were supposed to be our friends.”
--Tina Meier, about their neighbors, the Drews
"Give it a rest. Give it a rest."
--Curt and Lori Drew, reportedly to the Meiers, when confronted by the Meier parents
"You cannot as an adult sit there and do that and hide behind a computer. It is a criminal act. We want to see her go to jail,"
---Tina Meier, Megan's mother, about Lori Drew
"It's time that we do something against this. On all levels, the state
and federal level,"
--Dardenne Prairie Mayor Pam Fogarty, on the need for stricter laws for Internet harassment
"Coincidentally, two months after Megan's suicide, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that antidepressants double the risk of suicidal behavior in young adults. (Psychiatrists have disputed the FDA report.)"
--Jeff , from a post at "Megan's Vigilantes"
"We were concerned about the daughter [of the Drews] and to what extent she was involved and dragged along with this."
--Dave Bundy, editorial director of Lee Enterprises, the newspaper group that includes several papers who broke the Megan Meier story; on why his papers decided not to name the Drews.
"She [Lori Drew] is not being accused in a court of law, she is not being sued and our take is that we don’t run suspects unless charges are filed."
--Steve Pokin, reporter who wrote the original Megan Meier story.
"I posted that — where Curt works. I'm not ashamed to admit that. Why? Because there's never been any sense of remorse or public apology from the Drews, no 'maybe we made a mistake.' "
--Trevor Buckles, 40, a neighbor whose two teenage boys grew up with
Meier.
"We're all in shock. If I have anything to say about it, we'll never have our hands tied legally like this again."
--Mayor Fogerty
"There are enough details for people to find out who it is on their own. They are free to do so. It was a judgment call. I think there were a lot of other issues at stake."
--Pokin, on his critics for his not revealing the Drew's name in his stories.
"We believe that all the publicity about this situation has led to an air of vigilantism. We're concerned people will take things into their own hands."
--Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department
“Give me a break; that’s nothing. But it’s the most we could do. People are saying to me, ‘Let’s go burn down their house.’”
--Mayor Pam Fogarty said of the penalties imposed by the town of Dardenne Prairie, MO on cyber harassment. It's now punishable by up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail.
"Ms. Drew used the same same exact mode of operation as a child predator enacts in the seduction of a child. Drew posed as a member of the opposite sex and spent weeks and weeks luring this girl into a relationship. But yet it went further. The adult Drew formed a heated relationship with the 13 year old girl. She worked hard to gain the girl's confidence. She exploited the girl intimately by posing as a boyfriend. Do you really thing there was no intimate grooming going on?"
--online comment by DanCnKC
"Oh and I don't think Lori Drew is so evil as everyone says. Megan was a total bitch to everyone around her especially Laura so if I was her mom I would be mad at Megan too and I would check up on her to see what shit she was spreading about my daughter."
--"Kristen", author of "Megan Had it Coming" blog.
"Lori Drew is a psychopath. That part is clear. But more disturbing than that are the actions of authorities: If it had been an adult MALE that "carried on" in a sexually explicit way with a 13 year old girl, even if it WERE for the purposes of revenge for his teen daughter, he'd be locked up as a pedophile."
--online comment by Danny Vice
"Every story has two sides and if you don't think so - then I hope you are never tried and convicted in your own court."
--JennaD, from a comment posted on "Megan Had it Coming" blog
"All we feel is frustration, anger. For months, we've been asking ourselves, 'What mother in her right mind would do this? And why won't the cops do anything to punish them? We just want them gone."
--neighbor Kristie Kriss, of the Drews
"The woman emotionally raped this child. She took her supposed love and sexual stimulation and crushed the girl emotionally with them. This girl was mentally raped [by] a mother and her employee. This adult and her friends played this girl into an emotional high... and then pulled the plug when it would inflict the highest possible damage. It took 4 months of planning."
--online comment by DanCnKC
"So nobody in the news talks about what Megan the bitch was like so now you know. Oh and don't bother trying to figure out who I am. Unlike Megan, I DO have a boyfriend and he knows computers and he totally covered my tracks."
--"Kristen", author of "Megan Had it Coming" blog
"Lori Drew groomed her victim like many child predators do, enticing her with flirtation, mild sexual conversation and playing on Megan's weakness. Lori knew that Megan had a low self esteem and was treated for depression.
Outing Child Predators has been public policy in most states and is usually upheld under the premise that the public has a right to reasonably protect itself from criminal behavior where it exists. Families with children have a right to know when those who might prey upon their child, live nearby. Public policy dictates that if a child is exposed to potential harm from predatory activity, then parents should at least have the opportunity to be aware such harm may exist."
--online comment by Danny Vice
"It's not to say if only Megan (spoke out/did this/did that/reached out), it's to say there has to be more positive and supportive role models out there for our youth.
The parents can only do so much. My solution: it's time to stop the "code of silence." It's time to not be afraid to speak up when something is wrong."
--online comment by Jo
"Megan's story really won't matter; some writers will bend it to fit their preconceived point of view. It'll not be about Megan to them: it'll be about using her as a tool to advance their cause. Laws for regulating the Internet; for stricter controls on what can be said online; to raise money; that any negative reactions are 'vigilantism'; for more money for suicide prevention: take your pick.
They'll all invoke the name and story of Megan Meier. To most of those, she'll cease to be a 13-year-old schoolgirl: she'll be a slogan."
--RE Bierce, commenting the first week of the story on future likely reactions.
“There are no words to explain my rage.”
--Tina Meier
by Mondoreb
Sources:
Parents Want Jail Time for MySpace Hoax Mom - ABC News
New York Times - A Hoax Turned Fatal Draws Anger but No Charges
Missouri Weeklies That Broke 'MySpace Suicide ' Story Still Won't Name Alleged 'Cyberbully'
-Editor & Publisher
Megan's Vigilantes blog
Megan Had it Comingblog
"Frontier Justice in an online World?"- Seattle Times
"Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Reactions to the Reactions" - Death by 1000 Papercuts blog
Weekly Vice blog
"MySpace Cruel Hoax Leads to Teen's Suicide" - Death by 1000 Papercutsblog
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Tonight's candlelight vigil held for Megan Meier in the town where she died, is to honor her memory after her story became known nationwide.
The vigil's announcement was received by us and was held for a few hours while we tried to authenticate it. It was signed "A message from Tina Meier, Megan's mom". After several hours, we decided to publish it.
The message was as follows:
The message ends on a hopeful note and there's a wish we'd like to make: that many people will show up to honor Megan.
This is Megan's mom, Tina Meier, and I wanted to update everyone on the details for the candlelight vigil for Saturday, November 24, 2007.
*We are meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the Fort Zumwalt West Middle school parking lot.
*Please bring a candle, cup to hold the candle and something to light the candle. (If you cut a small X in the bottom of the cup, you can slide the candle through it and then you won't have wax dripping on you)
*We will then light the candle's shortly after 6:00 p.m. and start walking from the school down Waterford crystal drive towards Megan's house and end up in front of the Drew's house.
*There is a common ground area across the street and we will have pa system and microphone. if anyone would like to speak, read a poem, etc., they are more than welcome.
*This wonderful idea came from students who wanted to see justice for Megan and for that we are so happy. Nothing we can do will bring Megan back, but we can all learn from Megan and take a part of her with us everyday for the rest of our lives to try to be a better person and think about things we say to people before we say them!
*****Remember this is a peaceful candlelight vigil******
We hope to see everyone there!
------------
By now, many are familiar with the story of Megan's bouts of depression, her online harassment--after meeting and later being rejected--by a boy she knew as Josh Evans at Internet social site, MySpace.
Her suicide, the result of vicious comments posted by Josh and his friends, drove her to take her life. The discovery six weeks after her death, by her parents, that Josh was the creation of a neighbor, Lori Drew, shocked readers.
Explored were the reasons and motives of an adult stalking a 13-year-old for six weeks online, the outrage by both the mainstream press, Internet bloggers and the reading public.
Controversy arose concerning the question of whether or not Drew's name should have been released in the original story by Suburban Journals reporter Steve Pokin.
Hours were spent last weekend as editorials squared off in a New Media-Old Media shouting match. In the end, the name of Lori Drew and her accomplice were released online; gathered momentum and finally released in the mainstream press.
------------
This candlelight vigil, announced last night, is the latest chapter in a story which had many sad twists.
The vigil is a fitting way to honor Megan Meier, a girl who never had the chance to realize the fullness of life. It is a much better way to remember her than all of the words flung back and forth during the controversy that swirled around her name.
She died after a hoax, concocted by adults for unfathomable reasons.
The fact that she was a 13-year-old girl may have been obscured for awhile by those who wrote about her; it's doubtful that that fact was ever far from her parents' mind during the last 13 months.
After everything: she was still a 13-year-old girl who liked to chat with boys, worried about her weight and got excited when she got a message online from someone she liked.
She was still the 13-year-old daughter of Ron and Tina Meier.
Hopefully, the vigil will remind people that after the shocking story was told and the reactions died down, that this was still the story of Megan Meier: neighbor, friend, schoolmate, daughter.
Last weekend around the country, whether at home or on the Internet, people gathered to discuss the story they were discovering: the story of Megan Meier.
Tonight, friends and neighbors and perhaps, a few strangers, will gather together for a reflective walk with a candle. They will say a few words; perhaps someone will read a poem, and tears will be shed.
Tonight people who knew her will gather together:
To say one more prayer for Megan Meier.
by Mondoreb
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Megan Meier's MySpace Suicide story sparked a host of reactions and then, reactions to those reactions.
It's been ten days since the Megan Meier MySpace suicide story came over the horizon into the public's perception. It's a story with many twists and turns to it. It continues to twist still.
It was first published in the St. Charles (MO) Suburban Journal and picked up here several hours later. We wrote it up immediately for Bloggers News Network (BNN). Although it was reported by a few other blogs within hours, that's pretty much where it stood for a day.
By the weekend however it had grown into a hurricane of reactions: shock, disbelief, anger, but outrage seemed the most common.
MySpace Suicide - Initial Reactions
The story is a disturbing one, as any teen suicide would be, brought about when 13-year-old Megan Meier, who'd battled depression, was harassed by her online boy friend, Josh Evans. After a particularly nasty note from Josh, and some piling on by his friends, a distraught Megan hung herself.
It was another sad story of a sadder teen committing, to parents involved, the saddest act of all.
What made this teen suicide story different, was the discovery that Josh was a hoax crafted by a family who lived down the street from the Meier family. The hoax was a reaction to their daughter and Megan having a falling out.
Neighbor against neighbor in suburbia. Adults stalking teens online. Another Internet 'underbelly of the beast' in the form of popular social site, MySpace.
We'd finished our sixth story in four days when Megan's mother and father, Ron and Tina, appeared on CNN. The story gathered momentum from there and interest is still high, if comments and emails written are any guide.
By the weekend, the story had changed from Megan. It was now the story of "Megan as an illustration". What kind of illustration seemed to depend on what particular cause the writer was espousing.
There was the "Internet was Evil" reaction, with the tragedy held up as the latest proof. Government types were quick to point out "There ought to be a law". Against the largely-unregulated Internet, and the really scary place that was MySpace.
More common reactions were sorrow for Megan and her family; disgust and outrage that she was stalked by adults who knew her. Even more disgust and outrage was heaped upon the hoaxers when it was related that Megan's parents had destroyed a foosball table they'd been storing for their daughter's tormentors--and the mother filed charges against the Meier parents.
Reactions to the Reactions
The rage reached a crescendo over the lack of legal recourse for the Meier parents.
The storm then shifted over the identities of the perpetrators. Who was this heartless bunch? The Suburban Journal hadn't named them in the original story "out of concern for their daughter. As ABC News reported it a couple of days ago, Police Cite 'Air of Vigilantism' In Response to Girl's Suicide:
But that hasn't stopped an outpouring of hostility against her, both online and in the real world. The story hit the national media late last week, with Megan's parents appearing on Good Morning America and the Today show. Though the newspapers and networks declined to identify the real-life "Josh Evans," bloggers quickly outed her and posted her family's name, address and phone number online.Actually, it was readers who posted names and phone numbers--and large numbers of them, apparently many from Dardenne Prairie, a small suburb of St. Louis.
The networks and larger media wouldn't report the identities of the Drews at first, but before the weekend was over, they were all over the story of angry neighbors.
Since then, messages threatening the family have been posted online. A brick was thrown through their window. Someone drove a truck over their front lawn, according to police. A paint-ball was shot against the house.A Few Observations
The woman, who also has a young daughter, has received threatening phone calls; people have screamed obscenities as they drive by the house, a neighbor said. Police descended on the house in the middle of the night last week, neighbors said, after an apparent fake 911 call was made.
Police are concerned that the harassment, first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, may escalate.
"We believe that all the publicity about this situation has led to an air of vigilantism," said Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department. "We're concerned people will take things into their own hands."
Newspapers who have no compunction with publishing the names of secretaries and coal miners arrested for drunk driving; or of the boy next door arrested for having marijuana in his car, were concerned about publishing the identity of cyber-bullies who'd harassed a teen for six weeks.
Traditional media never wavers in its commitment to "the public's right to know" about the teacher after two beers, the paperboy's stash or the questionable past of a presidential candidate's friend. But this story triggered their sensibilities--for awhile.
Newspapers of all sizes fret over plummeting circulation while TV Networks watch their rating spiral down.
Traditional Media Relents
But then the networks and papers did report the names of Curt and Lori Drew, the parents behind the hoax.
After turning up their noses at bloggers publishing the names (in our case after readers repeatedly posted the information to our stories), traditional media began reporting that very same information they had initially been reluctant to supply.
There was a reaction to this, of course. One was supplied by the LA Times, "How to Punish a Cyber-Bully":
This week -- more than a year after Megan Meier's death -- the names of the neighbors were finally disclosed in published accounts. The disclosure was largely the result of pressure from bloggers, who do not feel bound by the rules of mainstream newspapers and networks and who have been meting out their own form of Internet justice. The neighbors are Lori and Curt Drew, according to news reports.Reaction at Death By 1000 Papercuts
The Drews' daughter was certainly dealt a bad hand by her parents. However, the media puts itself on a slippery slope when it starts to protect accused wrongdoers on behalf of their progeny, offering a free pass for alleged predators who procreate.
It seems clear that the Drews did not want to kill Megan or even hurt her physically. They are not the first to be grotesquely transformed by a new technology that offers easy availability and anonymity to its users. Yet, if cyber-traps are to be deterred, there must be avenues to guarantee both forms of private relief and public record.
Reaction at DBKP was mixed.
At first, it was feared that this story would be another one lost in the shuffle: a tragedy unnoticed. When we were contacted by Fox News a few days after our original story, we no longer thought that would be the case.
This feeling was confirmed when readers from all over the world showed up to read the stories here.
After we'd deleted the 10th comment--for posting only the Drew's personal info and nothing else--we pointed out that scorn and humiliation were effective remedies for the apparent lack of legal recourse.
We also pointed out that a worse punishment was that the Drews had to live the rest of their lives with the knowledge of what their hoax had caused. If remoresless, they would live the rest of their lives as themselves: the worst of all possible punishments in our eyes.
When we received emails deploring the public's outpouring of outrage as a "witch hunt", we agreed that any resorts to violence were completely out of line. But we refused to take the view of treating the Drews as victims. In our eyes, they were only victims of their own mean-spirited actions.
A Few Conclusions
The calls for more laws and regulations to bind the Internet are incorrect. No law or increased regulation would likely have stopped this hoax from happening. More stringent regulations might, however, have stopped some bloggers from reporting it as accurately as they did.
Regulations will never protect humans from the effects of evil human nature. They will only make us feel better until the next time an outrageous act is committed.
It is bizarre for newspapers to fret over publishing the names of cruel hoaxers who--in the words of one commenter--"acted in the manner of sexual predators". Those same newspapers are full of stories, revealing complete personal details, of people charged--not convicted--with any multitude of transgressions: DUI, minor drug possession, speeding tickets.
The story of those charges later being dropped doesn't seem to excite the same level of journalistic interest, however.
Megan's story really won't matter; some writers will bend it to fit their preconceived point of view. It'll not be about Megan to them: it'll be about using her as a tool to advance their cause.
Laws for regulating the Internet; for stricter controls on what can be said online; to raise money; that any negative reactions are 'vigilantism'; for more money for suicide prevention: take your pick.
They'll all invoke the name and story of Megan Meier. To most of those, she'll cease to be a 13-year-old schoolgirl: she'll be a slogan.
The last conclusion is the one we hope readers would take away with them. That is: that the story of Megan Meier is about Megan Meier and her family. About the tragedy that is the grievous loss of a child.
About how she lived and died and how her parents struggled to cope with the aftermath.
Used as a precautionary tale, the sad story of Megan Meier might prevent another story like hers from happening.
Long after the reaction has died down, it can be hoped that the story of Megan Meier inspires a prayer for her and her parents.
by Mondoreb
More on the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide:
MySpace Suicide: The Megan Meier Story - video
MySpace Suicide:
Megan Meier's Story May Prevent Others
CNN Interview with Megan's Parents
MySpace Suicide Reaction:
Outrage! Outrage! Outrage!
MySpace Cruel Prank Leads To Teen’s Suicide
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
You are absolutely unbelievable. An absolute piece of work. I hope you spend the rest of your life alone and destitute.
December 3, 2007 11:29 AM
I hope someday you realize that you instigated this situation. Your post did nothing but convince people that you are ruthless and immature. You hurt someone. And she was so hurt that she ended her life. One of my family members committed suicide, and it is something that I will never cope with. It's not a car accident, it's not cancer....someone was so SAD and helpless that they took their own life. You need to realize that you pushed someone that was vulnerable!
December 3, 2007 11:29 AM
Having conversations that were sexual for a 13 year old? How is that monitoring for cyberbulling?
GODDAMN YOU I AM SO SICK OF THIS LIE! I didn't engage in anything sexual. Megan tried to initiate sex talk and I backed away from it. I NEVER ENGAGED IN ANYTHING LIKE THAT. So stop spreading this lie.
December 3, 2007 11:29 AM
It's not fair to put that on me. I didn't know Megan would kill herself. No one suspected Megan would kill herself. If you blame me then you have to blame Megan's parents, too. They were closer to Megan. THEY WERE HER PARENTS. And she still managed to kill herself. What does that say? Does it say they're bad parents, too? No. It says that no one could have predicted Megan's suicide. Not Tina, not Ron, not me.
Lori, a drunken driver does not intentionally set out to kill a carload of prom going teens. He is just driving home. That doesn't make him any less responsible.
December 3, 2007 11:29 AM
GODDAMN YOU I AM SO SICK OF THIS LIE! I didn't engage in anything sexual. Megan tried to initiate sex talk and I backed away from it. I NEVER ENGAGED IN ANYTHING LIKE THAT. So stop spreading this lie.
Heavy makeout sessions? Not a lie, honey. You may not want to see it this way...but it doesn't change what it was.
December 3, 2007 11:31 AM
Okay--place the suicide completely aside for now.
You baited and misled a depressed 13-year-old for weeks, eventually culminating in an emotional collapse.
Murderer? No, you're a torturer.
December 3, 2007 11:31 AM
Fine, you didn't mean to kill her? Do drunk drivers mean to kill people?
It doesn't matter if your malicious intent was to just make her miserable or to push her off the edge, you still did it. Show some regret you heartless woman.
December 3, 2007 11:32 AM
You not only victimized a girl who is the same age as your own daughter, you victimized someone who you KNEW was suffering from mental illness. What's wrong with you???? You are a child abuser...I just have to wonder how innocent your daughter really is, was she being bullied by other CHILDREN, was she an innocent victim, or does she take after you? Kids have a way of working out their differences for themselves, it's a part of growing up....are you going to fight all her battles for her, pick her husband for her, sleep with him too? You are a dangerous woman and no child should ever be allowed near you...including your own! The high school called Mrs Drew, they want their robe back..your youth is over, you can't get it back living through your daughter!
December 3, 2007 11:32 AM
One of my family members committed suicide, and it is something that I will never cope with. It's not a car accident, it's not cancer....someone was so SAD and helpless that they took their own life.
I'm very sorry for your loss, but you have to understand that Megan suffered from clinical depression for which she took medication. Her depression wasn't psychological, it was chemical. That means there is truly no way to know WHY she killed herself. Maybe it was the final myspace comments. Maybe it was her own mother ignoring her. Maybe she skipped her medication recently. Maybe that FDA warning that anti-depressants can have suicidal effects on children and teens should have come out a couple of months earlier. You can't place blame on others when someone commits suicide.
December 3, 2007 11:33 AM
Lori, a drunken driver does not intentionally set out to kill a carload of prom going teens. He is just driving home. That doesn't make him any less responsible.
Bingo.
Do you want the world to stop hating you?
Apologize, instead of defending yourself through pointing the blame at a 13-year-old. Apologize to the Meiers. Admit that you were wrong, horribly, terribly wrong, and that had you acted like an adult, none of this would have happened.
That's a start.
December 3, 2007 11:35 AM
You baited and misled a depressed 13-year-old for weeks, eventually culminating in an emotional collapse.
DID YOU NOT READ THE PART WHERE I TRIED TO LET HER DOWN EASY? You don't know it was an emotional collapse. No one can know why Megan killed herself. Maybe it was the myspace comments. Maybe it was the cold reaction from her own parents. Maybe it was her medication. YOU DON'T KNOW SO STOP PUTTING IT ON ME.
December 3, 2007 11:35 AM
Lori, you are delusional. You've spent six weeks trying to come up with a way to justify your sociopathic, vindictive behavior, and this is the best you can do?
Lame. Just plain lame.
It's all lies; delusional lies that you tell yourself so that you can sleep at night. You're mad at the world? Is that what you said? And to retaliate against the world, you right a blog called "Megan Had It Coming" and you call the child a slut?
Lame, lame, lame.
You really are a child predator. They always blame the victim, too. "That two year old SEDUCED ME. I had no choice but to molest her."
Megan was posting annonymous stuff through OTHER PEOPLES blogs? But you JUST KNEW IT WAS HER?? She's a demon seed....she's a slut...she's a BAD GIRL!
You are a deviant.
Have a shitty rest of your life. And your little dog, too.
December 3, 2007 11:35 AM
Letting her down easy would have been to just say, sorry, can't be friends anymore, or sorry, I'm moving away, or to just delete the account altogether. Instead, you had to be mean about it.
I don't think you intended to let her down easy at all.
December 3, 2007 11:36 AM
You can't be this stupid....really.
December 3, 2007 11:37 AM
a drunken driver does not intentionally set out to kill a carload of prom going teens. He is just driving home. That doesn't make him any less responsible.
This isn't like driving drunk. It's not even close. I worked to PROTECT MY DAUGHTER FROM A CYBER BULLY. There's was no way to know that Megan would kill herself. None. Not even the Meiers could predict or prevent it and they were HER PARENTS.
I'm not a murderer.
December 3, 2007 11:37 AM
What could have possibly possessed you to start this blog? I realize that you have serious mental problems, but where is your husband or your lawyer?
Is there no function adult in your life who is there to tell you how entirely ill-advised this blog is?
December 3, 2007 11:37 AM
First!
December 3, 2007 11:37 AM
I'm very sorry for your loss, but you have to understand that Megan suffered from clinical depression for which she took medication. Her depression wasn't psychological, it was chemical. That means there is truly no way to know WHY she killed herself. Maybe it was the final myspace comments. Maybe it was her own mother ignoring her. Maybe she skipped her medication recently. Maybe that FDA warning that anti-depressants can have suicidal effects on children and teens should have come out a couple of months earlier. You can't place blame on others when someone commits suicide.
You admit you knew she was depressed. How sad for you.
Lori, you aren't helping. Say sorry to them! Say sorry to your family. Say you are sorry to Ashley.
It is wrong, and she is gone. You didn't delete the account after it got sexual. You didn't do it. You didn't walk away. You kept going.
You are modeling this behavior for your very impressionable daughter. Teach her to own up to her mistakes. Be a good mom, and show her how you can take responsibility for her words and deeds. Be a good mom, and show your daughter the right way to do it.
December 3, 2007 11:38 AM