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Dr. Richard Judd
Professor Emeritus, Business Administration
Ph.D. Management, University of Georgia
Recent Courses:
- BUS 354 – Entrepreneurship,
- BUS 356 – Franchising,
- MGT 488 – Strategic Management and Leadership,
- BUS 501-Business Perspectives,
- BUS 550-Entrepreneurship
Professional Journal Articles
- Judd, Richard and McNeil, Ronald, "Large Firms & Small Firms: Job Quality, Innovation and Economic Development," Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, Vol. 14, Number 1, September, 2008 pp. 164-171.
- Judd, R. J. & Ferk, D. (2005) Health Care Resources Allocation: Making the Case for Social Responsibility as Integral to Resource Allocation. The Business Review, 4 (2).
- Judd, R. J. & Justic R. (2003). Franchizing 3E, Cincinnati, OH: International/Thompson/Dame Publishing Co.
Conference Presentations
- Judd R. J. & Ferk, D. (2005). Social Responsibility in a Framework for Resource Allocation Decisions by Health-Care Clinicians in a Managed Care Context. Annual MBAA International Conference.
E-mail: email@example.com
Phone: (217) 206-7918
Office: UHB 4050


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Shipping to: România
Wrinkle correcting and nourishing night cream with retinol. Intensely nourishes, smoothes wrinkles and the signs of aging*, and gives the skin a more youthful and relaxed look in the morning. The active ingredients protect the skin from oxidative stress and give it a healthy glow.
The argan oil acts as an antioxidant. Retinol counteracts wrinkles, minimizing the signs of aging and improving skin elasticity. The formula also contains ActiGlow, a revolutionary cosmetic technology that enhances the beauty of both the skin and make-up.
The rich texture is rapidly absorbed: a velvety soft caress that nourishes the skin while you are sleeping.
Delicately scented with orchid and bergamot.
Ideal for all skin types.
Dermatologically tested.
*Results of clinical and instrumental tests conducted on 20 women who used Sublime Youth Night for 28 days
Intensely nourishes the skin and evens out wrinkles and the signs of aging. In the morning, the skin is youthful-looking, radiant and smooth.
The skin's suppleness increases 3% after 14 days, 10% after 28 days and 14% after 56 days.
The skin's hydration improves 6% after 14 days, 14% after 28 days and 18% after 56 days.
The skin's firmness improves 3% after 14 days, 12% after 28 days and 14% after 56 days.
Wrinkle depth is reduced 3% after 28 days and 6% after 56 days.
Wrinkles become less visible in 65% of the test participants after 56 days
The skin's radiance improves in 45% of the test participants after 14 days, 50% after 28 days and 75% after 56 days.
Apply in the evening on cleansed skin after using Sublime Youth Serum.
ACTIGLOW is a balanced blend of unique ingredients that have been tested in vitro. These are potent antioxidants that stimulate collagen production while soothing the skin.
Clinical tests conducted on products containing ACTIGLOW have shown that it enhances the beauty of both the skin and make-up. The result? Simply flawless-looking skin.
In vitro tests have shown that ACTIGLOW is capable of the following:
- improving the synthesis of collagen
- soothing
- acting as an antioxidant
Cosmetic products containing ActiGlow deliver a radiance, smoothness and firmness to the skin. Clinical tests show that the appearance of make-up improves.
Clinical and instrumental tests*, conducted on 1250 volunteers for a total of more than 5000 observations, have shown that the regular use of the products containing ActiGlow make the skin smoother and more uniform and even-looking. In the cases in which make-up is applied, the products help perfect and extend make-up wear.
*Tests conducted using the product twice a day with instrumental observations on the 14th and 28th days Each product was tested for both performance and safety
The cost varies depending on the delivery service and the destination country of the order. For more details see the "Delivery information and costs" page.
More information
Shipping times may vary depending on the service chosen. In the countries served by Swiss Post (Asendia) only, delivery takes an average of 6-7 working days (up to a maximum of 10) from the order being dispatched. In countries where the Skynet service is also available, the shipping time is 2-4 days after being dispatched by courier. More information
Purchases made on KIKO are secure and guaranteed. All information relating to payments, including personal information and credit card information, is protected through an advanced encrypted data transmission system. Under no circumstances will KIKO file your credit card number, nor will it use or keep the information you provided on its own systems.
You have 14 business days from the date you receive the items in which to exercise your right to return the goods. Please let Customer Service know about any problems relating to the goods received.
To use a promotional code, select "Have you got a promotional code?" on the shopping cart page and insert the characters indicated in the appropriate field. If your code is inserted correctly, the amount and/or content of the Shopping Cart will be recalculated based on the promotion applied.
Face cream that promotes hydration and whips the skin into shape at all ages
Fijne creme
Ottima crema
Bastante bien
Sublime Youth Night

subset: commoncrawl


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More vintage appliances in the guest area, originally uploaded by Warners' Stellian.
I grabbed my cousin's camera and snapped a few (not-so-good) photos of our vintage appliance collection here at our corporate office and posted them to our Flickr account.
I'm pretty sure we have a few more pieces sprinkled at our retail stores and as soon as I get a chance, I'll take some pictures of those and post them.
Over the years, we've gotten these pieces as gifts or from customers who no longer wanted them (can you believe it?), etc.
I know our Twitter friend StuccoHouse has at least one vintage piece. I'd love to see others' pictures of vintage appliances – in use or on display!


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Any further questions?
Chat with our on-line support
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WELLESLEY, Mass. – In the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both squads, the MIT women's basketball team emerged with a 45-39 victory over Wellesley College on Wednesday night. Sophomore Alexxis Isaac (San Antonio, Texas) tallied a game-high 13 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals for the Engineers, who improved to 3-2 on the year.
Freshman Maya Ramachandran (Fremont, Calif.) posted eight rebounds, seven points, five blocks, and three assists for MIT while sophomore Mari Kordell (Ijamsville, Md.) added seven points, three assists, and two steals. Senior Lauren Sascha Burton (Seattle, Wash.) also tacked on seven points while junior Sharon Hao (San Jose, Calif.) contributed six points coming off the bench. Junior Tamara Pena (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) bolstered the rebounding corps with four caroms.
The Engineers built a 7-2 advantage after 7:29 elapsed as five points came from Kordell. The Blue replied with a 12-5 run during the next six minutes to take their only lead of the night. MIT countered with nine straight points, including back-to-back treys by Burton, to go ahead 21-14 with 2:36 left in the half. Wellesley sank two layups late in the frame to enter the break trailing 21-18.
The visitors increased their cushion early in the second half courtesy of a basket by Isaac and two Ramachandran free throws. The Blue quickly narrowed the gap to three (25-22) at the 17:26 mark, but the Engineers responded with a 7-2 spurt during the next four minutes. Wellesley slowly chipped away at the deficit as sophomore Meghan Sargent's (Bedford, N.H.) free throw knotted the game at 36 with 6:31 to go.
Pena's put-back ended the deadlock almost two minutes later while her free throw coupled with Isaac's layup clinched the lead for good. Senior Ashleigh Sargent (Bedford, N.H.) drained a free throw with 1:28 on the clock to end the Blue's scoring drought and bring them within four (41-37). The Engineers then closed out the game by hitting four of their six attempts at the charity stripe during the final 33 seconds while Wellesley provided the last field goal with nine ticks left.
MIT continues NEWMAC play on the road on Saturday, Dec. 1 at WPI.


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Expanding Its SSD Line, SanDisk Brings Durable, High-Performance Storage To The Entire Range of Portable PCs
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 13, 2007 - SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today broadened its solid state drive (SSD) product line for the portable computer market with the introduction of a 32-gigabyte (GB)1, 2.5-inch Serial ATA (SATA) interface model, compatible with most mainstream notebook designs. Coming just two months after SanDisk introduced a 1.8-inch SSD for ultraportable notebooks, the 2.5-inch SSD is now available to PC manufacturers as a drop-in replacement for hard disk drives.
"The SanDisk 2.5-inch SSD brings the extreme durability, outstanding performance and low power consumption of solid-state flash memory to the entire notebook computer market," said Amos Marom, vice president and general manager of the Computing Systems division at SanDisk. "As SanDisk continues to drive innovation in flash memory, the per-gigabyte price of SSD storage will come down and SSD capacity will go up. PC manufacturers and consumers will find it easier and easier to move away from rotating hard disks to the superior experience of SSDs."
The vast majority of notebook computers manufactured today use 2.5-inch hard disk drives. The SanDisk 2.5-inch SSD fits in the same internal slot as 2.5-inch hard disks, so notebook manufacturers can switch to the SanDisk SSD without altering their hardware designs.
The key benefits of SanDisk SSDs for computer manufacturers and their customers are:
"There are several reasons computer users and manufacturers should consider SSDs as prices become more affordable," said Joseph Unsworth, Principal Research Analyst for flash memory at the Gartner research firm. "For example, Gartner research shows hard disk failure is tied for first place with motherboard failure as the leading cause of overall hardware failure in notebooks, with each accounting for 25 to 45 percent of the total8. The higher reliability of SSDs lowers total cost of ownership, and could be a driver for adoption of SSDs. This is part of the explanation of why Gartner projects global consumption of SSDs in consumer and business notebooks to leap from about 4 million units in 2007 to 32 million units in 20109."
The 32GB, 2.5-inch SanDisk SSD is available now to computer manufacturers, with initial pricing of $350 for large volume orders. SanDisk SSDs will be demonstrated at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany, from March 15 to 21, 2007, in Hall 23, Stand B28, and will be featured on March 16 during the PressExpoUSA @ CeBIT 2007 event.
More information on SanDisk SSDs is available online at www.sandisk.com/ssd.
SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is the world's largest supplier of flash data storage card products using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Milpitas, California, and has operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the U.S.
SanDisk's web site/home page address: www.sandisk.com
SanDisk's product and executive images can be downloaded from www.sandisk.com/corporate/mediakit/
SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the U.S. and other countries. All trade names are either registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for new product introductions, specifications, applications, markets, pricing, customer acceptance and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or there may be a slower adoption rate for these products in new markets that we are targeting, and the other risks detailed from time-to-time under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to update the information contained in this press release.
1 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes; 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes.
2 MTBF is calculated based on Parts Stress Method of Telcordia SR-332
3 H2BENCH 3.6: average access time = average seek time + average latency time
5 Stopwatch test performed internally at SanDisk; notebook computer (Intel Core 2 Processor T7200, 2.00GHz, 997MHz, 1.0GB RAM DDR2-533 SDRAM); Microsoft Windows Vista
6 H2BENCH 3.6: average access time = average seek time + average latency time
7 MobileMark 2005; notebook computer (Intel Core Duo Processor ULV U2500), 1.20GHz, 533MHz, 1.0GB, DDR2-533 SDRAM
8 According to "Dataquest Insight: Expect PCs to Impact the NAND Flash Market after 2008," 15 December 2006, page 6.
9 According to "Dataquest Insight: Expect PCs to Impact the NAND Flash Market after 2008," 15 December 2006, page 21-22.
MEDIA CONTACT: SanDisk Corporation
Ken Castle
(408) 801-2195


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Kent and Stephanie Cleaver of Franklin announce the forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Cayla Cleaver, to Nathan Basler.
He is the son of Garland and Jama Basler of Kingston.
The ceremony will be on May 23 in Franklin. A reception will follow.
Formal invitations have been sent.
The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Frank and Charlotte Cleaver of Nashville, and Helen Hughey of Frankin.
She is a graduate of O'More College of Design with a degree in interior design. She is employed with Allard Ward Architects, Nashville.
Charles Parker Andrews was born at 1:52 p.m. Feb. 2 in Tennova, Knoxville.
He weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 20 inches long.
He is the son of Emily McNelly and Dustin Andrews of Kingston.
Grandparents are Lisa McNelly of Kingston, Missy Andrews of Kingston, and Steven and Becky Andrews of Rockwood.
Great-grandparents are Rolland and Carolyn McNelly of Midtown, Bill and Deborah Deaton, and Frankie and Gary Andrews.
Mr. and Mrs. Terry Stansbury of Kingston announce the forthcoming marriage of their son, Jesse Lynn Stansbury, to Maranda Nicole Fuson of LaFollette.
The ceremony will be later this month in LaFollette Church of Christ, where the couple will be at home afterward. A reception will follow at the church. Call Pamela Stansbury at 376-4652 for time, date and other details.
The prospective groom is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Lee Stansbury Jr. of Kingston, Gean Taylor of Lady Lake, Fla., and the late William Hudson Brown.
Aiden Alvarado Patton was born on Jan. 22.
He weighed 9.4 pounds.
He is the son of Alex and Maricel Patton of Kingston.
Grandparents are John and Virginia Patton of Kingston, and Leo and Lolita Alvarado of Bantayan, Philippines.
His great-grandmother is Isabel Chavez of Bantayan, Philippines.
Payton Madox "Max" Richardson will celebrate his ninth birthday on March 8 with a Minecraft-themed party.
He is the son of Cliff and Shauna Richardson of Mount Airy, N.C.
Grandparents are Jack and Diane Woolum of Kingston, the late Jerry Richardson of New York, and Michael and Kay Griffith of Mount Airy.
Great-grandparents are the late J.D. and Mabel Waldrop of Kingston, the late Otis and Bessie Richardson, Anita Mosley of Mount Airy and the late James Mosley.
Maggie Rose Richardson will celebrate her seventh birthday on March 8 with a Frozen-themed party.
She is the daughter of Cliff and Shauna Richardson of Mount Airy, N.C.
Lanita Drinnen of Lenoir City and Dewayne Drinnen of Maryville announce the forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Ciera Drinnen of Lenoir City, to Josh Hensley of Lenoir City.
He is the son of Dale and Debbie Hensley of Kingston.
The ceremony will be at 5 p.m. Sept. 5 in Bradbury United Methodist Church, Kingston.
The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Floretta Clark of Lenoir City, the late Joyce Logan of Lenoir City, and the late Ray and Mary Drinnen of Maryville.
Mr. and Mrs. G. Atmar Thompson Jr. of Chattanooga announce the forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Laura Elizabeth Thompson of Ooltewah, to Thomas Warren Smith of Ooltewah.
He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. D. Warren Smith of Harriman.
The ceremony will be at 6 p.m. May 2 in Shoal Creek Club in Birmingham, Ala.
The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Sandra Brock and the late Harold E. Brock Sr. of Chickamauga, Ga., and Villa Thompson and the late Gerald A. Thompson Sr. of Branchville, S.C.
James William Daugherty Sr. and Brenda Sue Daugherty celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary on Dec. 28.
"God bless you, Mom and Dad," said their family, which includes Christina Daugherty; David, Sissy and Ethan Christmas; and Bill and Jill Daugherty.
Babies born at Methodist Medical Center, Oak Ridge, to Roane County parents:
Oct. 2 — Rebecca and Jeremy Miles, Rockwood. A girl, Emilee Fayth, 6 pounds, 7 ounces. Sibling: Marlee Brooke. Grandparents: Sonya and Raymond Golliher; Sandra and Michael Miles.
• Jennifer Malinda Al-hussein, Harriman. A girl, Gracelynn Skye, 7 pounds, 5 ounces. Siblings: Addie, Noah and Sophia. Grandparents: Darrell Gann; Dorthey Denise Gann.
Copyright © 2019
The Roane County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Roane County and Kingston, Tennessee, and the surrounding area.


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Gillingham Glass have finished the partitioning walls job at Longleat.
As you can see from the pictures below, Gillingham Glass replaced the old partitioning walls with single glass from top to bottom (floor to ceiling) using a slot glazing system.
There are now glass doors with hydraulic hinges, enabling the doors to close automatically.


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Jacques Martin (born September 25, 1921 in Strasbourg) is a French writer and artist of comics. He is one of the classic artist of Le Journal de Tintin magazine, alongside with Edgar P. Jacobs and Hergé, of whom he was a longtime collaborator. He is best known for his series Alix.
After being initially forced into engineering studies as a young man, Jacques Martin began in 1942 to draw his first comic stories. In 1946, following the end of the War, he travelled through Belgium in search of an editor for his work. Soon afterwards he met Georges Remi (aka Hergé) with whom he collaborated on several albums of The Adventures of Tintin (and more specifically on Tintin in Tibet and The Red Sea Sharks) while working on his own albums. It was from Hergé that he learned of the ligne claire style and, under Hergé's guidance, began to use it in his own work. He would later be considered one of the great five of the ligne claire style, along with Hergé, Edgar P. Jacobs, Bob de Moor and Willy Vandersteen.
In 1948, he created Alix, his most famous series, published in the magazine Tintin, whose adventures - extremely-well researched - occur in Roman antiquity. This historic comic soon became one of the most popular of the genre and went on to be published in several countries worldwide.


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Hi Dan, Dan Connolly wrote: > [ a :Assertion; > :assertedBy dan:dwc; > :test tes:sq1a; > :testResult [ > a :TestResult; > :validity :pass ]; > :testSubject p:grddl_py ]. > > This is based on a clue I got from Sean > http://chatlogs.planetrdf.com/swig/2006-11-10.html#T15-13-57 > and not from a careful reading of the EARL docs. Let me > know if it's not right. A couple of issues: * testResult: the property term is "result". * testSubject: the property term is "subject". * assertedBy: make sure that dan:dwc is a foaf:Agent (such as foaf:Person) or an earl:Software as described in [1]. [1] <http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-EARL10-Schema-20060927/#assertor> > Do you have any tools to make nice HTML reports out of EARL data? We don't have an updated list of implementations yet and there are several things brewing (including an EARL validator). I believe Hera [2] can read EARL reports and generate HTML from them. However, I don't know if it has been updated to the recent EARL draft: [2] <http://www.sidar.org/hera/> > As to dan:dwc and p:grddl_py, I wrote a little documentation > about this use of EARL, FOAF, and DOAP: Great to see DOAP in use with EARL. We considered making more use of it but were unsure about the stability. I am pretty certain that we may have one or two examples of using DOAP with EARL in the "EARL 1.0 Guide" which we are working on in parallel. > While adding EARL support to the test harness > http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/grddl-wg/td/testft.py > I couldn't figure out how to get an RDF/RDFS representation > of the schema document... > > http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/EARL/nmg-strawman > > Am I doing something wrong? No, we are. This has historical reasons and quite a bit of background but now that the schema has become pretty stable we will be fixing this issue very soon. Regards, Shadi -- Shadi Abou-Zahra Web Accessibility Specialist for Europe | Chair & Staff Contact for the Evaluation and Repair Tools WG | World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) http://www.w3.org/ | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), http://www.w3.org/WAI/ | WAI-TIES Project, http://www.w3.org/WAI/TIES/ | Evaluation and Repair Tools WG, http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/ | 2004, Route des Lucioles - 06560, Sophia-Antipolis - France | Voice: +33(0)4 92 38 50 64 Fax: +33(0)4 92 38 78 22 |Received on Monday, 15 January 2007 11:39:11 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 6 January 2015 20:15:49 UTC


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With renowned speed, Hamilton buffing up bunting
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton agreed to the interview with MLB.com but then suddenly realized the time. It was 7:53 a.m.
Two minutes before early bunting work.
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton agreed to the interview with MLB.com but then suddenly realized the time. It was 7:53 a.m.
Two minutes before early bunting work.
Hamilton was on time at the hitting cage, and first-base coach Billy Hatcher was there and ready. Hatcher fired baseballs from the pitching machine, and Hamilton squared and bunted each one. A few minutes after he was done, he was available to have a video conversation about the art of bunting and other topics.
Improving his bunting has been one of Hamilton's primary assignments. He arrived at camp a month early to work with Minor League manager Delino DeShields and continues his daily work during Spring Training with Hatcher.
"I'm seeing good results," Hamilton said. "The whole work I've put into it, the time I've put into it to help my game out -- the main thing this spring was to use it a lot more. I've had a few mistakes with it the first few times of trying it, but I feel like I'm getting better each day."
The Reds are expecting the 23-year-old Hamilton to step into the leadoff void created when Shin-Soo Choo departed as a free agent in the offseason. The club knew the speed that allowed him to steal a record 155 bases in the Minors two seasons ago would be an asset, and that he could handle himself well in center field. What wasn't known was if his hitting was Major League ready.
With the switch-hitting Hamilton's speed, the Reds feel he can disrupt teams' defenses sometimes by bunting for hits.
"It's that whole Brett Butler-Mickey Rivers thing," Reds manager Bryan Price said, referring to former speedsters in the Majors. "If you get it down, just keep it away from the catcher and you've got a chance of getting on."
And once Hamilton gets on base, stealing his way into scoring position is more than a good bet.
Over his 19 big league at-bats as a September callup last season, Hamilton had a .368 average and .429 on-base percentage. He had a batting average for balls in play (BABIP) of .467, which included one bunt single. Once he was on base, he successfully stole 13 of 14 bases.
On Wednesday vs. Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, Hamilton push-bunted a ball past the first-base side of the mound. Ryu had no time to cover the bag after the first baseman fielded it, and in an act of futility, the second baseman scrambled for the bag. Hamilton was easily safe.
"If I do my job, I feel like I can get safe every time," Hamilton said. "It's just the point of getting it down and putting it in place. I have to realize I have to use my speed and don't have to rush out of there. The main thing is getting the bunt down first, a perfect bunt."
A perfectly placed Hamilton bunt could be indefensible for opponents, even if they do everything right while adhering to the fundamentals.
"A guy who's going to handle the ball a lot when Billy is up is probably going to be the pitcher. It's a whole different animal," Price said. "We talk a lot that when you field the ball as the pitcher, it's to step and throw. If you keep that mentality with Billy, you're going to be late. It's not a step-and-throw moment with Billy. You have to pick it up and throw it.
"You've seen in the short time that we've played here, you see it. Anybody from the infield that fields the ball or the catcher that's trying to throw to second, you see the difference in what you'd consider their natural game speed, and it changes their ability to execute."
Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Mark My Word, and follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon.


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Election Day is more than two weeks off, and anything can happen in many key races that could determine the shape of the next Congress.
But millions of Americans already are able to vote, and many of them have marked their ballots as Election Day turns into "election month" across much of the country. More and more states are making it easier to file absentee ballots, and many states are allowing mail-in ballots to be postmarked (not just received) on Election Day.
This prolongs ballot counting, which means that in close races it could be days after voting stops before some races are decided. The practice can also throw off pre-election polls – those closely-watched indicators used to shape last-minute campaigning.
Take the US Senate race in Washington State, where three-term incumbent Democrat Patty Murray is in the fight of her life against Republican Dino Rossi.
Since 1993, voters there have been able to vote by mail, and ballots are mailed out at least 18 days before the tally begins. King County, which includes Seattle, switched to all-mail voting last year.
As polling expert Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com points out, "This can wreak havoc with traditional likely voter models." (The trend among younger voters to eschew landlines in favor of cell phones, making it harder for pollsters to find them, also throws off polling, he says.)
Voting from home increases turnout
Making it easier to vote by mail – not requiring a reason when a request for an absentee ballot is made – also has tended to increase turnout, Mr. Silver points out, and this can skew traditional polling and voting patterns. In the last midterm election in Washington State (2006), 88 percent of voters mailed in their ballots.
The situation is similar in Oregon, where all voting has been done by mail – there are no polling places – since voters approved a referendum in 1998. But this is not just a Pacific Northwest phenomenon.
Thirty-two states, plus the District of Columbia, offer some form of early voting up to two weeks before Election Day, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. This means going to an elections office. But of those 32 states, 29 allow for "no-excuse" absentee voting by mail. California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Washington, and the District of Columbia allow permanent no-excuse absentee voting, which means voters may have an absentee ballot sent to them automatically for all future elections.
One indicator of the trend in early voting may be found in this year's primary elections.
Reviewing voting patterns in key states, USA Today found that the number of early voters grew 50 percent compared to two years ago.
"Nearly 6 million people took part in early voting during this year's primary elections in the 13 states reviewed, including California, Florida and Texas," USA Today reports. "That's up from just over 4 million voters in those same states during the 2006 primary election."
Vote counting could go on for days
Did you enjoy the Bush-Gore presidential election in 2000, when Florida's recount went on for days as battalions of lawyers got involved and "hanging chads" entered the political lexicon? Some neck-and-neck races could go the same way this year.
"Hundreds of lawyers from both parties [are] preparing for battles that could drag on days, weeks or even months past the Nov. 3 day-after," reports Associated Press writer Julie Hirschfeld Davis, who suggests that a couple of Democrats – Ben Nelson? Joe Lieberman? – could switch sides in the event of a muddled outcome, giving Republicans control of the Senate.
In Washington State, meanwhile, the Murray-Rossi race is very much up in the air, with polls giving conflicting results, notes FiveThirtyEight.com's Silver. Polling there, he writes in his New York Times column, "has been all over the map." One shows Rossi with a 6-point edge; another has Murray (who handily won her first three US Senate races) ahead by 15 points.
Will mail-in ballots there, in a race that appears to be very close, mean a drawn-out vote tally? It's happened before.
In his 2004 gubernatorial race against Democrat Christine Gregoire, Rossi endured months of vote challenges and two official recounts to lose by just 133 votes out of 2.8 million cast – the closest race for governor in US history.


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AnnaLynne McCord debuts her cat-inspired hat to benefit the ASPCA at the Fresh Step Catdance Film Festival as part of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday (January 19) in Park City, Utah.
The 25-year-old actress hit up numerous events on her first day at the festival.
That day, AnnaLynne arrives at the Salt Lake City Airport before making her way to the TR Luxury Suite, where she met up with KayCee Stroh.
Next up, AnnaLynne made her way to the Sears Shop Your Way Digital Recharge Lounge, where she checked out the latest fashions from the store.
Finally, AnnaLynne made an appearance at the New Era Chalet at Village At the Lift, where she braved the super chilly weather.


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Nebula theory
The nebula theory is the most generally accepted evolutionary model for formation of the solar system from a cloud of gas and dust particles known as a nebula.
In short, the process starts with a rotating cloud of gas and dust that contracts and flattens to form a disk around a star forming at its center. Planets grow from the dust and gas in the disk and are left behind when the disk clears.[1]
- 1 Process
- 2 Supporting evidence
- 3 Problems for the nebula theory
- 4 Conclusion
- 5 References
- 6 Related Links
According to this theory, the nebula begins to collapse because of its own gravity. Some astronomers speculate that a nearby supernova (exploding star) triggered the collapse. (Of course, this would not be available for the first generation of stars.) As the nebula contracts, it spins faster and flattens into a disk. The nebular theory indicates that particles within the flattened disk then collide and stick together to form asteroid-sized objects called planetesimals. Some of these planetesimals combine to become planets. Other planetesimals form moons, asteroids, and comets. The planets and asteroids all revolve around the sun in the same direction, and in more or less the same plane, because they originally formed from the same rotating flattened disk.
Most of the material in the nebula, however, is pulled toward the center and forms the star. According to the theory, the pressure at the center becomes great enough to trigger nuclear fusion reactions that power the sun. Eventually, eruptions occur, producing a stellar wind. In the inner solar system, the wind sweeps away most of the lighter elements -- hydrogen and helium. In the outer regions of the solar system, however, the solar wind was much weaker. As a result, much more hydrogen and helium remains on the outer planets. This process explains why, in our solar system, the inner planets are small, rocky worlds and the outer planets, except for Pluto, are giant balls composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.[2]
Supporting evidence
Disks in the Orion Nebula
The image at right is a Hubble Space Telescope picture of a disk of dust seen edge-on in the Orion nebula, located 1,500 light-years away. Such disks are believed to be a protoplanetary systems. Because the disk is edge-on, the star is largely hidden inside. At 17 times the diameter of our own solar system, this disk is the largest of several discovered in the Orion nebula in the mid-1990s.[3]
The images at left are other Hubble Space Telescope images of four disks around stars in the Orion nebula, located 1,500 light-years away. Gas and dust disks, long suspected by astronomers to be an early stage of planetary formation, can be directly seen in visible light by Hubble.[4]
Spectrographic Evidence of Discs Around Stars
Using the technique of spectroscopy, scientists can deduce the temperature and chemical composition of material around a star, even if they cannot see the disc itself. Spectroscopy involves spreading the light from a star into a spectrum (in visible light, we are familiar with white light being spread out into a rainbow when it passes through a prism), and then measuring exactly how much light is present in each wavelength.
In these diagrams, we see the spectrum of a star with a disc of dust and gas around it. In the case of a star, most of the light is produced at shorter wavelengths (the left side of the diagram), due to the high temperature of the star's surface. Moving to the right-hand side of the diagram, the wavelengths increase to lower energies (indicating lower temperatures) and, the starlight drops off.
The warm dust and gas disc around the star produces its own infrared light, which changes the shape of the spectrum. The circumstellar material is cooler than the surface of the star, so it emits most of its light at longer infrared wavelengths, closer to the right-hand side of the diagram. Now, there is an excess of infrared emission, which can not be coming from the star itself. The disc is revealed.[5]
While this does not show the motion of the material around a star, it does suggest the presence of a disk of material around stars, even when such disks can not be seen optically. Sometimes this data seems to suggest dust and gas while other times debris such as asteroids. It should be noted that there is no evidence of planet formation in this data.
The image at right is another alleged protoplanetary disk. In this case, however, the structure is strongly suggestive that matter is moving away from the mass. It should once again be noted that there is no evidence of planet formation in this image.
Problems for the nebula theory
Theoretically, this process should always result in the same basic pattern, with the heated inner disk forming terrestrial planets and the cold outer disk forming gas giants. It should also leave each planet revolving around the sun, and rotating about its axis, in the same direction as the rest, and all objects moving in the same or almost the same plane, with little or no orbital or axial inclination. Similarly, the moons of any planet should each revolve around the primary, and rotate about its axis, in the same direction and in the same plane. Finally, the orbital planes of any moons should be the same as the common orbital plane of the planets.
The Sun and Planets
The sun rotates too slowly for this model to explain. The sun contains 99.9% of the mass of the solar system, but the planets contain 98% of the angular momentum.[1] Thus the planets have 50 times the sun's angular momentum while the sun should have 700 times the planets' combined angular momentum. So according to the nebula model, the sun should spin much faster than it does.
Evolutionists understand the problem, so they propose that the sun has slowed over time and dissipated its angular momentum in the solar wind.[6] But this fails to consider the true scope of the problem. To make the sun have as much angular momentum as the planets, it would have to rotate 50 times faster than actual. To satisfy the conservation of angular momentum, it would have started rotating 700 times faster than this. Thus the sun's initial rotation rate should have been 35,000 times its present rate. Now the sun is presently pivoting at one rotation per {{#show: Sun|?Sidereal day#da}} (Earth days)[7] A rotation rate that is 35,000 times faster than present conditions produces an initial period of rotation of 1 minute and 2.65 seconds.
According to the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, the sun's equatorial rotational speed is 2.0578 km/s. Thus the initial equatorial rotational speed would have to be 72,023 km/s or nearly a quarter of the speed of light.
Another problem is that the sun's surface escape speed is {{#show: Sun|?Escape speed}} which is 116.7 times smaller than the initial equatorial rotational speed of 72,023 km/s. If the sun were ever to spin as fast initially as the nebula theory demands, then it would literally fly apart, if it could form to begin with.
Other astronomers attempt to deny the angular momentum problem completely by suggesting that a star yields its angular momentum to its planets.[8] This statement utterly fails to account for the tremendous differences in mass between the star and all its planets.
Still others assert that the Sun is in a binary orbit with another object with an orbital period of 24,000 years. This object, they say, must have eight percent of the Sun's mass. As further evidence, they cite the abrupt "edge" of the Kuiper belt and scattered disk beyond which no other matter seems to be in orbit around the Sun. They admit that no astronomer has yet seen any such object, but then declare that the object might be a black hole, a brown dwarf star, or even a neutron star. (They also briefly mention the Nemesis hypothesis.)[9]
Orbital and axial inclinations of the sun and planets
The sun is inclined with respect to the ecliptic and indeed the orbits of all its planets. If the sun and planets all formed from a spinning accretion disk, then the sun should not be so inclined.
Moreover, the axes of rotation of most of the planets are also inclined with respect to their own orbits. Some of these inclinations are quite extreme.
Note that the orbital inclinations of the planets and dwarf planets listed above differ significantly. This is true even of those objects that lie inside the Kuiper belt (about 30 AU or closer).
Of greater import is that these satellites also differ in their axial tilts. By convention, an axial tilt of or near 180 degrees is consistent with retrograde motion (see below). But an axial tilt of or near 90 degrees signifies an axis within or near the plane of the orbit. Uranus has an axial tilt of 97.86 degrees, which signifies retrograde rotation that is nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. This is an extraordinary inclination that no astronomer has yet been able to explain.
Retrograde motion
As the above table shows, three of the listed satellites of the sun have negative sidereal days. By convention, a negative sidereal day means a period of rotation of a body rotating retrograde to the regular direction of orbit and rotation in the solar system.
None of the planets have retrograde orbits. But many of their moons orbit retrograde with respect to their primaries.
{{#ask:Member of::MoonSidereal period::+[[Sidereal period::< 0 da]] |?Primary |?Semi-major axis#AU |?Orbital eccentricity=Eccentricity |?Sidereal period#da=Sidereal month |?Inclination#° |?Axial tilt#° |?Sidereal day#h |sort=Primary |order=asc |format=table |mainlabel=Name |intro = The following table lists moons that orbit retrograde to their primaries: |}}
Extrasolar Planets
Over two hundred extrasolar planets have been detected to date. Most are large, with the smallest about five times the size of Earth.[10] The largest are many times the size of Jupiter while some are larger still, enough to be classified as brown dwarfs. They are usually detected by indirect means, like their effect on their parent star.
Recently one was confirmed orbiting the star HD 209458 as was observed by the effect on the star's light during transit. Astronomers also detected spectral evidence of sodium in the planet's atmosphere. A larger one has actually been photographed near Gliese 229 and likewise is classified as a brown dwarf. One possible planet called SOri70 is located 36,000 times farther from its star than Jupiter is from our Sun.
Many of these planets are extremely close to their respective stars, sometimes surprisingly close. One planet orbits around HD 209458 at 4 million miles. Upsilon Andromedae has three gas giants, all of which are too close to their sun for gas giants to form under the nebula theory. These planets are so close to their stars that they defy evolutionary models of planet formation. The star would sweep up too much mass and the temperatures are too high. Evolutionists have invented a number of mechanisms to cause planets to migrate closer to their star, but they all require assuming unrealistic gas and dust densities.
Another interesting observation is that seen with the Hubble Space Telescope. It found a giant gaseous object orbiting two burned out stars. Many astronomers believed this to be the oldest planet found yet and they dated it around 12.7 billion years. However, this creates a problem for the Big Bang and it's theories of planet formation because during this time in cosmic evolution, 12.7 billion years ago assuming the Big Bang is true, there weren't enough heavy elements at that time.[11]
It remains questionable whether this dust and debris represent forming planets or destroyed planets.
Massive Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) called superflares have been observed that are 10 million times more powerful than any CME from the sun.[12] A superflare that is powerful and concentrated enough could theoretically destroy planets.
Other forms of stellar outgassing could theoretically destroy planets as well.
Planets with above average amounts of radioactive nuclei could have large amounts of nuclear fission. If powerful enough this could cause their demise, particularly with large amounts of relatively short-lived nuclei.
The dust and other debris from such planets would remain in orbit around the star forming a disk. Some of the matter ejected from the star would be brought into orbit by planetary material. The speed and location of ejected material would be highly important. This would also explain so-called protostars, since if any of these stars ejected too much material, their nuclear fusion reactions would shut down.
In no case is there any evidence of planet formation. Stars shoot out gas all the time and they can pass through nebulae, so none of the observations can be legitimately considered evidence for the Nebula Theory. As shown above there is no real evidence supporting the theory, but plenty of evidence against it.
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Britto, Angela. "Historic and Current Theories on the Origins of the Solar System." University of Toronto, February 13, 2006. Accessed June 28, 2008.
- ↑ Worldbook at NASA: Solar System by the U.S. National Aeronautic and Space Administration
- ↑ Edge-on Protoplanetary Disk in the Orion Nebula, November 20, 1995, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), News Release Number: STScI-1995-45, Image "c". (Image credit: Mark McCaughrean (Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy), C. Robert O'Dell (Rice University), and NASA)
- ↑ Planetary Systems in the Making: Dust and Gas Disks Around Young Stars in Orion Nebula, November 20, 1995, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), News Release Number: STScI-1995-45, Image "b". (Image credit: Mark McCaughrean (Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy), C. Robert O'Dell (Rice University), and NASA)
- ↑ Spectra Show Protoplanetary Disc Structures, 05.27.04, NASA/JPL-Caltech/D. Watson (University of Rochester).
- ↑ "Solar system." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 June 2008.
- ↑ Harvey, Samantha. "Sun: Facts and Figures." NASA, June 11, 2008. Accessed June 28, 2008.
- ↑ Imamura, James N. "The Angular Momentum Problem." University of Oregon, October 19, 2001. Accessed June 29, 2008.
- ↑ "Evidence: Angular Momentum." Binary Research Institute, n.d. Accessed June 29, 2008.
- ↑ Alexander, Amir. "Discovery of Small Distant Planet Suggests Many 'Earths' Not Far Behind." The Planetary Society, January 26, 2006. Accessed June 29, 2008.
- ↑ Lisle, Jason. "New Planet Challenges Evolutionary Models." Answers, July 18, 2003. Accessed June 28, 2008.
- ↑ Sun-like stars said to emit superflares, 9-Jan-1999, CNN (dead link)
Related Links
- In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood - 43. Strange Planets:
- REVELATIONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM--Part 1
- Laplace: The nebular hypothesis
- The existence and origin of extrasolar planets
- Our Original Solar System – a 21st Century Perspective by Tom Van Flandern


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Add --> this link <-- to your favorites or bookmarks. It will give you a list of all new topics and posts since your last visit (works only when logged in).
Also listened to that one twice since friday.And now's the third time.I think I like it!
Arena - "Contagion, The Max"I have to say, I prefer the single disc edition for the flow. I really love the EP songs, but they actually don't seem to fit in the total. What do you think?
IQ - "Subterranea"It seems I have to call this one of the best double albums ever!
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Virgin Trains loses West Coast Mainline franchise
Virgin Rail has lost its bid to continue running the West Coast Mainline and will be replaced by the UK's largest rail operator, FirstGroup.
A disappointed Sir Richard Branson said Virgin would "almost definitely back out" of bidding for more franchises.
FirstGroup said it would "offer substantial improvements in the quality and frequency of services".
Rail unions warned they would resist any attempts to cut staff pay or working conditions.
Aberdeen-based FirstGroup already operates a number of rail routes including Great Western and ScotRail.
The company, under the name First West Coast Limited, will take over the franchise from 9 December and is due to to operate the service until 2026.
More seats
The West Coast Mainline route serves 31 million passengers travelling between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the central belt of Scotland.
FirstGroup said it would introduce 11 new 125mph six-car electric trains on the Birmingham-to-Glasgow route and provide more direct services between destinations.
Additional Pendolino tilting trains currently being introduced by Virgin will deliver more than 28,000 seats a day.
The government says FirstGroup's new trains should add further 12,000 seats a day on West Coast routes from 2016.
FirstGroup's chief executive Tim O'Toole said it was a good deal for the company and the public.
"Our bid also delivers value for taxpayers by returning premiums to the government underpinned by sustainable growth in passenger numbers and revenues from the utilisation of significant available capacity," he said.
Higher payments
First West Coast says it will return £5.5bn at net present value to the government over the franchise term.
That is believed to have been much higher than the amount offered by Virgin Rail, which is 49%-owned by another transport company, Stagecoach.
In a statement, Stagecoach said the reason it had failed to secure the new franchise was because FirstGroup had contracted to pay "significantly higher premium payments" to the Department for Transport.
BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott says the West Coast franchise is the first of several big rail franchises up for grabs over the next few years, and the government is under pressure to get a good deal.
But there are concerns that FirstGroup may have bid too much for the franchise.
"There have been many examples… where there have been very aggressive bids which the government has awarded and then quite soon afterwards, the people have handed back the keys and walked away from the contract without any real penalty," said Stephen Glaister, Professor of Transport and Infrastructure at Imperial College London.
"That's a very unsatisfactory situation from a public interest point of view."
As part of its contract, First West Coast would have to pay £265m in penalties if it were to terminate the contract early or fail to make scheduled payments to the government.
The trade unions have also warned FirstGroup that they will vigorously resist any attempts to reduce running costs by cutting pay or working conditions.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "They should be left in no doubt that we will mount a massive industrial, political and public campaign to stop any attacks on our members' jobs and the services that they provide to the travelling public."
'Bitterly disappointed'
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Rail has operated the West Coast franchise since 1997 after the privatisation of UK railways.
He said said Virgin's loss of the franchise was "very disappointing news" and added that his company's bid had been a realistic one.
"We did not want to risk letting everybody down with almost certain bankruptcy at some time during the franchise, as happened to GNER and National Express who overbid on the East Coast mainline," said Sir Richard in a statement.
Three years ago, the government stripped National Express of the franchise to run the East Coast Mainline for failing to make payments promised to the government under its contract.
"Sadly, the government has chosen to take that risk with FirstGroup and we only hope they will continue to drive dramatic improvements on this line for years to come without letting everybody down," Sir Richard added.
He said the government's current bid process was "flawed" and that Virgin Rail was extremely unlikely to bid again for a franchise.
"The process is too costly and uncertain, with our latest bid costing £14m. We have made realistic offers for the East Coast twice before, which were rejected by the Department for Transport for completely unrealistic ones, and therefore will have to think hard before embarking on another bid."
Sir Brian Souter, the chief executive of Virgin's franchise partner Stagecoach, said: "I am bitterly disappointed that Virgin Rail has been unsuccessful in its bid.
"After 15 years, it is difficult to imagine a West Coast rail service without the Virgin brand."
Track record
Successive governments have had a poor track record in awarding rail franchises.
In some cases, train operating companies have defaulted on their contracted payments to the government. This was the case with Bermuda-based Sea Containers and National Express, the successive operators of the East Coast Mainline before it was temporarily re-nationalised last year.
In many other instances, companies manage to meet their annual payments while making losses.
Under what is known as the revenue support scheme, the government takes on 80% of the company's losses. Stagecoach's East Midlands Trains and Arriva's Cross Country Trains are both being subsidised by taxpayers.
FirstGroup's own First Great Western Trains was in revenue support before it handed back the franchise last year.
However, under the current government franchise contracts, companies will not be offered this option. Instead, they will have to hand back the franchise, which will be re-auctioned by the government.
That raises the stakes for FirstGroup.
"Economists have openly said that if FirstGroup have got this wrong, it will probably kill off the group. Some people are saying they've bet the farm and everything they own on it," said Tony Miles of Modern Railways magazine.
Economic conditions have already worsened since FirstGroup submitted its bid. At the time, the economy was forecast to grow 0.3%, whereas now the government forecasts stagnation.
FirstGroup investors appeared to be unconvinced by the deal. Shares in the company were down 7% in late London trade. Shares in Virgin Rail partner Stagecoach rose 2%.


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Lenoir County residents have one month to pay taxes before �public shaming�
Most people would love to see their name in the paper � but if you don�t pay your taxes, you could be published for all the wrong reasons.
According to North Carolina state law, on March 27, The Free Press will publish the names of all Lenoir County taxpayers who have not paid their personal property taxes by March 20, giving citizens a little less than a month to resolve their debt.
Personal property taxes make up about 50 percent of all Lenoir County revenue and 10 percent of revenue collected by the City of Kinston. The money is used to fund everything from local government and public safety departments to parks and recreation.
Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy said publishing the names of residents who default on their taxes is a long-standing statewide policy and shouldn�t come as a surprise.
�One of the penalties is having your name published in The Free Press for 12,000 readers to see,� he said. �Because (the government) is a public entity, it is public information if you don�t pay your taxes. Having the ability to find out if you or someone else has paid their taxes is nothing new in Lenoir County � or in North Carolina, for that matter.�
Murphy said while having one�s name printed for a tax default is often seen as a negative consequence, it can also have an upside.
�Sometimes, there is a positive side to having your name printed,� he said. �Sometimes, you may have just forgotten. If someone sees your name, they might mention it to you and give you the incentive to get it done.
�And I think the county has done a good job of giving people the ability to pay their taxes online or in person.�
Personal property taxes are due Sept. 1 each year and are considered to be in default after Jan. 5. Paying a bill after the January deadline often results in garnished wages and high interest and collection fees. Foreclosure on homes or properties is also possible, though rare and only used as a last resort.
During the 2011-2012 fiscal year, the Lenoir County Tax Department billed a total of $32,881,000 and collected a total of $31,187,000, putting the final amount collected at 94.85 percent. The City of Kinston billed $9,600,000 and collected $9,100,000, totaling 94.83 percent.
Darrell Parrish, director of the Lenoir County Tax Department, said while some bills may get lost or thrown away, it is ultimately the taxpayer�s responsibility to know when their taxes are due each year.
�We send out the bills in August, and we don�t send another bill until they become delinquent,� he said. �And actually, according to North Carolina law, we don�t have to send out a bill at all. The taxpayer is supposed to be aware of the property that they own and what county they owe taxes to for that property.�
Parrish also said that although some people still aren�t making the final deadline, the percentage of taxpayers who pay their bill on time has increased by over one and a half percent in the last decade.
�I�m proud of the fact that we�ve increased the rate, even if it�s a small increase,� he said. �It�s been a steady increase for the last eight or nine years. And I�d like to think it�s due to some of the processes we�ve put in place to emphasize collections a little bit more.�
Taxpayers still needing to pay their bill can pay in person or online at co.lenoir.nc.us.


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It's really been a long time since a put a tut on this site! I wanted to draw something so I could use my new markers I got for Christmes! I hope you like it!
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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BRIDGEPORT -- A Stratford graduate student was given a suspended sentence Friday after pleading no contest to using extortion to try to gain nude photographs from six young women on Facebook.
"These young women have been extremely embarrassed by this situation and their major concern at this point is that these photos somehow make their way to the Internet, causing them more public exposure," State's Attorney John Smriga stated after 22-year-old Jon Lisi pleaded no contest to six counts of second-degree harassment.
State Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin sentenced Lisi to a one-year suspended sentence and one year of probation after his lawyer, Edward Gavin, assured the judge that the pictures would not be posted on the Internet.
Police said Lisi used Facebook to extort the women, who included two Fairfield University students, a student at Seton Hall University and women he knew from college or high school. Using the name Tim Billards and claiming to have naked photographs of them, he threatened to post the photos on a pornographic website unless they sent him more naked photos of themselves. Police said Lisi did post a nude photo of one of the women on the website when she refused his request.
Police said they received a complaint in August from a 22-year-old Fairfield woman who said she had received a Facebook message from a Tim Billards.
The message stated: "A friend of mine told me about you, and how you used to send him naked pictures of yourself. He sent me the pictures and I really like what I see. I'd like to see more. I don't want to release the pictures that I have all over the Internet, but I will if you can't help me out. I'm just asking for about five pictures. I'd like a variety, I'd like to see your face in all of them, and I'd like them to be in color. I trust that you'll do this."
Police said when the woman ignored the email, she later received another one stating, "Did you think I was kidding?" which included a photo of the woman in her bra and underwear.
When the woman continued to ignore the messages, she got one last one, police said, a link to the pornographic site, motherless.com.
Armed with a search warrant, police said they requested information from Facebook on the account sending the emails. They said they traced the computer account to Lisi's home on Summersweet Place in Stratford.
The information showed the account had been sending similar emails to five other young women. Police said all six women had some prior contact with Lisi either in high school or college. One of the women told detectives she had turned him down when he had asked her out on a date at Fairfield University.
Police said only one other woman, the student at Seton Hall, told them that nude photos ended up on the pornographic website when she refused to send photos of herself to the Facebook site. She said she was under 16 in some of the nude photos.
Lisi graduated last May with honors from Fairfield University and is currently pursuing a master's degree in cinema studies at New York University. He is also the author of a blog titled "The Moviegoer."
During Friday's sentencing, the judge told Lisi: "You are a young person of high intelligence and an accomplished academic record but these young women also have lofty goals in life and the chance of having these images displayed is very disturbing to them."
Lisi, a graduate student at NYU who also tutors middle-school students, stood beside his lawyer in the courtroom dressed in a dark suit during the short hearing. He told the judge he had nothing to say and left the courtroom without comment.
"It was a fair disposition and my client is not likely to offend in the future," Gavin said later. "He spent a week in jail and personally wrote letters of apology to each of the victims."
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Cedar Lake
I recently read in Cape Girardeau History and Photos about Cedar Lake, and was surprised to learn that I'd lived within about 15 miles of it for 15 years, and had never even heard of it. So I drove my bike over to Maintz Wildlife Refuge today and rode some gravel roads down to Millersville. Sure enough, I was able to get a glimpse of the lake (above) from county road 481. One reason this lake hasn't been developed is that you can't see it from any paved road. Another is that it's out by Millersville, and there just isn't much going on there.
It was a lovely ride, though, and I'd like to see more of the lake. There's a gravel road that crosses the dam at its south end, and I think goes up around the east side of the lake from there, but I took the barbed-wire fence and "no tresspassing- keep out" signs to indicate that people didn't want me to ride over there. If I can get permission, I'll try again later and see if I can take some more pics.


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Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with his wife Callista, bow their heads in prayer during a campaign event at the The Villages, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Lady Lake, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Uh oh, whoops! I only have myself to blame for this, because just the other day I admonished My Queen that OMG, she had to, had to, had to get her roots done.
So perhaps in a panic because she knew she was going to have to bow her head in public today, she got the hairdo recharged and... well, see for yourself:
Instead of just touching up the roots, some slipshod (local?) hairdresser went wayyyy overboard and redyed the Platinum Orb in its entirety, and it is FRIED. Chemical burns are clearly evident. Judging from wire photos, the coiffure vandalism happened either yesterday afternoon/evening or (more likely) this morning.
If she doesn't take better care of the Golden Helmet, she's going to have to get a real, actual helmet.
Also! She wore the same suit (but with a different top and different outlandishly expensive necklace) two days in a row. Callista!


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Ghost Busted
This is it! We're close to proving bakery hauntings, I can feel it!
Scoff all you like, but I was present at an undersea, unexplained mass sponge migration.
Not to mention they were wearing PANTS.
Look! Actual ectoplasmic residue! This is great!
"He slimed me."
Oh buck up, Frosty, you'll be fine.
Talk about telekinetic activity - look at this mess!
It's like the Salem mass Silly String turbulence of 1947. DEFINITELY supernatural origin.
You know, I collect spores, mold, and fungus...
...but that is just NASTY.
Listen! You smell something?
"There is no 'wee wee,' only stool."
Hm. You'd better get a sample.
What, you question my methods?
Back off, man; I'm a SCIENTIST.
That's better.
Oh, and whatever you do, don't cross the streams. That would be bad.
I can see you're still not convinced on this bakery ghost thing.
Then answer me this: would any human being stack cakes this way?
I rest my case.
Thanks to Anna S., Matthew Z., Alyssa P., Dylan W., Lindsey D., Cynthia C., & Anna A., who are pretty sure that sample cup means "you're in trouble."


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Alcoa may no longer be a "blue chip" stock since its ouster from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but it is still viewed as the company that will ceremoniously kick-off earnings season when it reports second-quarter results after Tuesday's close. The stock has been on a roll in 2014, and investors will have a good idea if that can continue after seeing how the company performed in the last three months.
Earnings: Analysts are expecting Alcoa AA, -1.44% to report earnings of 12 cents a share for the quarter ending June 30, up from earnings of 7 cents a share, excluding one-time items, reported in the same period a year ago., according to FactSet. That forecast has climbed steadily since the end of 2013, when analysts were projecting earnings of 8 cents a share. The company has beat analysts' earnings estimates in eight of the last 10 quarters. In the first quarter, Alcoa reported a net loss of 16 cents, a share, but a profit of 11 cents a share if one-time restructuring-related charges were excluded.
Revenue: Analysts are expecting revenue to decline 4.1% to $5.63 billion for the quarter from $5.85 billion a year ago, according to FactSet, as global supply issues have weighed on aluminum prices. After the company reported a 6.5% year-over-year decline in revenue for the first quarter, Fitch Ratings downgraded Alcoa's credit rating to "junk" status, citing concerns over the impact of weak aluminum pricing. Alcoa has topped revenue estimates in seven of the past 10 quarters.
Stock reaction: Alcoa's stock has rallied 15% since the end of the first quarter through Monday, and is up 39% so far this year, versus gains of 5.6% and 7%, respectively, for the S&P 500. Since Sept. 23, 2013, when the stock was booted out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the shares have soared 78%, while the Dow has advanced 11% over the same period. However, the stock hasn't had a great track record of rising after results. Looking back at the day after the company's last 10 quarterly reports were revealed, the stock closed lower five times, according to FactSet.
Key points: Investors will keep an eye on Alcoa's outlook for the global aerospace sector, given that the company announced last month that it acquired Firth Rixson for $2.85 billion to bolster its aerospace business. Analyst Anthony Rizzuto at Cowen & Co. believes the acquisition of Firth Rixson is part of the company's transition away from being an aluminum producer to a specialty materials company.
In early April, Alcoa increased its 2014 growth estimate for the global aerospace market to 8% to 9%, from 7% to 8%, citing strong demand for large commercial and regional jets. The company's outlook for global aluminum demand will also be of interest, given all the concerns over pricing. In April, Alcoa affirmed its forecast of 7% growth in 2014.
Rizzuto said recent conversations with clients lead him to believe fundamental-value and long-only investors have been moving into Alcoa shares, but he remains cautious on the stock until he sees further improvement in aluminum market fundamentals. He rates the stock market perform, with a $12 price target.
More must reads from MarketWatch:
Why Dow 17,000 is on the wrong side of history
Welcome to the fourth stage of this stock market rally.


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A conversation with John Shewchuk about BizTalk Services and the Internet Service Bus
In today's installment of my Microsoft Conversations series I talked with John Shewchuk about BizTalk Services, a project to create what he likes to call an Internet Service Bus. The project's blog, with pointers to key resources, is here. There's also a Channel 9 video on this same topic, in which John Shewchuk and Dennis Pilarinos illustrate the concepts using a whiteboard and demos.
I began our conversation with a reference to a blog item posted by Clemens Vasters back in April when BizTalk Services was announced. He described a Slingbox-like application he'd done for his family.
It's a custom-built (software/hardware) combo of two machines (one in Germany, one here in the US) that provide me and my family with full Windows Media Center embedded access to live and recorded TV along with electronic program guide data for 45+ German TV channels, Sports Pay-TV included.
Clemens did this the hard way, and it was really hard:
The work of getting the connectivity right (dynamic DNS, port mappings, firewall holes), dealing with the bandwidth constraints and shielding this against unwanted access were ridiculously complicated.
And he observed:
Using BizTalk Services would throw out a whole lot of complexity that I had to deal with myself, especially on the access control/identity and connectivity and discoverability fronts.
I began by asking John to describe how BizTalk services attacks these challenges in order to mitigate that complexity. We talked through a couple of scenarios in detail. The one you've heard the most about, if you've heard of this at all, is the cross-organization scenario in which a pair of organizations can very easily interconnect services -- of any flavor, could be REST, could be WS-* -- with reliable connectivity through NATs and firewalls, dynamic addressing, and declarative access control.
There's another scenario that hasn't been much discussed, but is equally fascinating to me: peer-to-peer. We haven't heard that term a whole lot lately, but as the Windows Communication Foundation begins to spread to the installed base of PCs, and with the advent of a WCF-based service fabric such as BizTalk Services, I expect we'll see the pendulum start to swing back.
At one point I asked John whether BizTalk Services supports the classic optimization -- used by Skype and other P2P apps -- in which endpoints, having used the fabric's services to rendezvous with one another, are able to establish direct communication. He said that it does, and followed with this observation about the economics of hosting BizTalk Services.
When we host it, we'll incur certain operational costs, so we'll want to recover those costs. But our goal is not to differentiate our offering from others because we host the software, it should be the case that Microsoft competes on an equal basis with other hosters.
In many regards, our motivations differ from other providers. Take Amazon's queueing service as an example. Because we've got software running both up in the cloud as well as on the edge nodes, we can create a network shortcut so that the two endpoints can talk directly. In that scenario, we don't see any traffic up on our network. All we did was provide a simple name capability, so the two applications end up talking to each other, using their own network bandwidth. We can use the smarts in the clients and in our servers to reduce the overall operating cost.
Now in that scenario, the endpoints are presumably servers running within an organization, or maybe across organizations. But WCF-equipped clients can play in this sandbox too. The idea is, in effect, to generalize the capabilities of an application like Skype, and enable developers to build all sorts of applications that leverage that kind of fabric.
That's a vision that many of us in the industry share. We'd just like to reduce the barriers to being able to connect our machines and our solutions. The industry's seen a bit transition to a hosted world, because that's been the easiest way to get universal connectivity. If a big organization with a whole bunch of high priests of IT were out there running the servers for you, then you didn't have to get your machine to be able to do that.
But sometimes I might just want to put those things on my machine, and if it were easy enough, wouldn't that be a great model? Why do I want to be beholden to some organization that's capturing my data? Maybe I want to have more privacy.
Of course there are benefits to moving it out to the cloud, but we think that should be a decision you make after the fact. Build your application to a consistent abstraction, then decide where you want the dial as the demands on the application change. If I'm just trying to do a quick video share with my friends, why do I have to create a new space? Why not simply say, here's the URL? And have that URL be stable?
Why not indeed. At its core the Internet has always been fundamentally peer-to-peer, but after a while we couldn't sanely continue in that mode. Things got too scary, so we built walls and created ghettoes. Technically our PCs are still Internet hosts but, except when they're running a few important P2P apps, they haven't really been hosts for a long time. It'd be great to get back to that.


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0 Members and 1 Lonely Barbarian are spying on this topic.
So far in the adventures...Ship hit some land, exploration took place, discovered a "Stone henge"-type circle, that night it gave off a huge light and made a sound like a giant bird, stones look the same the next day, creepy shadow thing pokes the Barbarian while she is sleeping next night, no one else sees anything, next night sailer's are slaughtered gruesomely, next day ship is repaired, leave island in a hurry.Arrive at assumed main land, 3 crewman, a dingy, and the ship compass are missing, there are a few torn apart bodies like on the island found on deck, on the shore is a village with people in it, first contact with people living here, head up to glowing disturbance on distant hill, find shadow things have removed sailor flesh suits and are using compass to open a rift of some sort, stop them, wake up sailors and return compass.Town demands justice, ship's captain kills the 3 who stole the compass execution style, and then starts raving about gold, sets up a camp on the beach, requests all of the town's food with threats of violence (with guns, yikes!), and proceeds to stomp a path inland to where he says there is gold, PCs go out to the ship to talk to remaining crew (2 people), find out captain has a letter and map from an anonymous party pointing to gold and intends to get it (not the mission we signed on for).We have followed the large trail left by the captain and crew and left last session off after setting up camp near theirs.
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The Figgs formed in 1987 in Saratoga Springs, NY. Mike Gent (guitar, vocals), Pete Donnelly (bass), Pete Hayes(drums), and Guy Lyons (lead guitar) were power pop and brash punk freaks, recklessly mixing elements of each but rarely losing sight of a solid hook. The combo issued 7" and cassette releases on the area indie Absolute-a-Go-Go before making their official debut with the 1994 Imago LP Low-Fi at Society High. The Hi-Fi Dropouts EP followed that same year; both received solid notices from critics and college radio. Imago's sudden loss of financing and distribution left The Figgs and material for their follow-up high and dry, but the band landed on its feet at Capitol, which issued Banda Macho in 1996. However, despite some touring and promotion, Capital wasn't really sure what to do with the ambitious Banda or the guys who made it, and The Figgs were kicked to the curb. Their next opportunity came as the backing band for Graham Parker, who tapped them for a tour after hearing their version of "Passion Is No Ordinary Word." The jaunt spawned a live set called The Last Rock N Roll Tour (Razor and Tie, 1997), but it was mostly a great excuse for The Figgs to play with one of their heroes. The Couldn't Get High LP appeared from Absolute-a-Go-Go in 1998, followed by an EP for Hearbox a year later. 2000 saw issue of both the vinyl-only Rejects (Philthyrex) and Sucking in Stereo (Hearbox), which emphasized the early new wave side ofThe Figgs' engaging, bratty pop. Stereo was hailed by some as a return to stripped-down, happily rocking form for the group, which by this point had endured its unfair share of label woe and teasing success. The 2001 EP Badger built on Stereo's success, as did the Hearbox full-length Slow Charm a year later. Touring for that album included a stint with Tommy Stinson; the ex-Replacement returned the favor in 2004, guesting on The Figgs' self-released double album Palais. Two years later the Bloodshot label released 103 Degrees in June, a mail-order and download-only live album with The Figgs backing Graham Parker at Chicago's Double Door. By the end of the year, the new album Follow Jean Through the Sea appeared.
Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine allmusic.com


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Compact multisport GPS watch with Elevate wrist heart rate with fully integrated sensor
• Compact multisport GPS watch with fully integrated sensor
• Stainless steel bezel and forged steel back with built-in GPS + GLONASS EXO antenna and anti-glare coated lens back to maintain best integrity in demanding environments
• Preloaded with activity profiles for running, cycling, swimming, trail running and more
• Performance Widget shows your training status, training load, VO2 Max recovery advisor and more
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• Smart notifications, Connect IQ App support and QuickFit interchangeable bands (no tools required) for further customisation
GPS Running Watch with Garmin Elevate Wrist Heart Rate
• Lightweight, stylish and easy-to-use running watch with high-resolution display and built-in GPS that tracks how far, how fast and where you run
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• Meet your fitness goals with activity profiles, run/walk mode, intervals and vibration alerts to keep you motivated
GPS Running Watch with Elevate Wrist Heart Rate and Smart Notifications
• Tracks heart rate, VO2 Max estimate and recovery advisor through Elevate Wrist Heart Rate technology
• Connected features: automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, live tracking, audio prompts, smart notifications, social media sharing and music control
• Customised training plans from Garmin Connect on your watch for
real-time coaching
• Tracks heart rate at the wrist day or night, to provide more accurate calories burned information
• Activity tracking: steps, distance, pace, cadence and calories burned
• Download data fields, watch faces, widgets and applications from
Connect IQ
Fitness Activity Tracker with Elevate Wrist Heart Rate and Smart Notifications
• Tracks heart rate at the wrist day or night, to provide more accurate calories burned information
• Learns your activity level, sets a personalised daily step goal and auto syncs with Garmin Connect
• Displays steps, calories, distance, heart rate, floors climbed, intensity minutes, time, date and monitors sleep
• Smart notifications: displays texts, emails, calls and social media alerts on your vivosmart HR
• Intensity minutes allows you to monitor your progress against recommended aerobic activity goals
• Reminds you to stay active with move bar alert
GPS Golf Watch
• 40,000+ preloaded International courses with full course map view, plus free lifetime course updates
• Touch Targeting; tap the screen for a yardage to any position on the hole
• Green View to manually move pin to days' pin location, PinPointer and handicap scoring (1 player)
• Swing training tools to help improve swing consistency
• Battery life: 10 hrs GPS mode, Water rating: 50m, Garmin Connect compatible. Smart notifications alerts
With Garmin Connect, be a part of our worldwide fitness community of millions of members. Review, relive and share your activity. Track steps, goals, sleep, weight and calories burned. Join groups to share your activity, motivate you and your friends with friendly competitions and leader boards, and earn virtual badges.
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Three of Blessings
- Three of Blessings
- Use: Combine the Ace through Eight of Blessings to complete the set.
- 1 Charge
- Sell Price: 2 50
This item is a world drop.
This item can be combined with the other Blessings cards to form the [Blessings Deck]. This can then be turned in at the Darkmoon Faire to form [Darkmoon Card: Crusade].


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Persian Garden Bath Salts
These are a custom blend made from Himalayan Pink, Dead Sea and Brazillian Sea Salt with a high mineral content which provides a highly concentrated, luxurious and rich soak. The Persian Garden Fragrance is popular for both men and women. It is grounded, light and clean; a garden of earthy delights with a hint of mystery.
Choosing Your Salts
Bath Salts contain beneficial minerals, if the salt is overly processed during production many of these minerals can be lost. This is why it's always good to use high quality natural salts, made from real sea salt such as these. Kuumba Made bath salts are made from naturally occurring minerals which can help to soften and revitalize the skin, improve circulation and draw out impurities.
How to Use
Fill your bathtub to half of the desired level you would like, then simply pour a handful of salts under the warm running water and allow the salts to fall in with the water for a skin softening soak. The fragrance of the salts will be released into the steam and you'll be able to enjoy the aroma. Be sure to stir the salts into the water well and circulate; you can add up to 3 cups of salt to your warm bath for a muscle relaxing and detoxing experience.
Keep the rest of the unused salts in the resealable packet, or alternatively these look beautiful stored in a jar for their next use. They also make lovely gifts.
These bath salts are available in small 5oz bags, or larger 24oz bags.
If you are not sure of the fragranced salts you would like, we would recommend buying a smaller bag first.
Dead Sea Salt, Himalayan Pink Salt, Brazilian Sea Salr, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance Oil.
More About Kuumba Made
Kuumba Made is a US based company that have been making natural, botanical organic body care products for over 25 years. The flowers and herbs used in their products are ethically wild harvested and grown in their organic garden or on certified organic farms. They use the highest quality, effective and unique ingredients including plant extracts and essential oils. They believe in sustainable environmental practices and support Fairtrade. We love their products and we hope you do too!
We want your experience to be as simple as possible which is why we have made our Delivery & Return services quick and easy to use.
Click here to view our Delivery and Returns page.


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The mermaids' secret to beach hair
Effortless waves. Don't we all want them? Especially during the summer, beachy cool waves are all the rage. And you don't need to have spent the day at the beach to get that amazing texture! Just try the Captain Blanketship Mermaid Mane Sea Salt Spray -- it's 100% natural, contains organic aloe vera to nourish your hair, and will give it that perfect beachy wave.
Watch the video below for more about this amazing sea salt spray, and purchase your own bottle of Captain Blanketship Mermaid Mane Sea Salt Spray here.


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Kaye Beach
July 14, 2014
Like Oklahoma, Texas requires applicants for a state drivers license or ID card to submit to his or her facial and finger biometrics to being captured and stored. But Texas has recently upped the ante requiring those who wish to have a state issued driver's license of ID card, to submit to the scanning and retention of all ten fingerprints.
Texas lawmakers have passed legislation that allows the Department of Public Safety to get all ten of your fingerprints the next time you renew your drivers license. And the DPS quietly began doing that this year.
'To Cut Down On Fraud, DPS Wants Fingerprints To Renew Drivers License,'June 11, 2014, CBS DFW
If you are already offended by the notion of the notion of being fingerprinted like a common criminal just to get an driver's license or ID card you will be horrified by what Ryan Barrett, a former DPS employee who resigned over the new fingerprinting policy, reveals about what is actually being done with the data.
His main objection, he tells The Watchdog, is that all fingerprints of Texans are now being run through the state's criminal database. (my bold)
…Barrett says he is not against catching criminals. The problem, he says, is that if someone has no criminal record, a new record is created of the innocent individual and stored in the statewide database called AFIS.
…Barrett says he believes the reason DPS quietly launched the program this year without public announcement is because such a public notice would have touched off a debate about the program's legality.
Read more, 'The Watchdog: Whistleblower blasts DPS for taking fingerprints,' July 12, 2014, DallasNews.com
Dave Lieber, Watchdog Reporter for the Dallas Morning News is doing a fine job of investigating and reporting on this story which he first reported on back on June 7, 2014.
Watchdog: Driver's license centers snatch your fingerprints
[. . .]Quietly, earlier this year, the Texas Department of Public Safety began requiring full sets of fingerprints from everyone who obtains a new driver's license or photo identification card.
[. . .]Since 2010, Texas has used facial recognition software to match driver's license photos with government databases looking for persons wanted by law enforcement for various reasons.
The state's Image Verification System also matches known faces from driver's licenses and photo ID cards with sketches of criminal suspects, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman explained in answer to The Watchdog's questions.
[. . . ]In the Texas Homeland Security Strategic Plan, which Marina found, authorities cite identity theft and terrorism as two motivators for using fingerprints and facial recognition software.
Checking fingerprints, the plan says, will help officials locate people seeking a second, unauthorized identification card.
The plan states that fingerprints will be compared with the federal Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System to identify criminals and terrorists. Read more
July 12, 2014 article, The Watchdog: Whistleblower blasts DPS for taking fingerprints
And here is Lieber's article published today, July 14, 2014, that allows the whistleblower and a representative for the Texas Department of Public Safety, to both give their perspective in their own words.
Judge for yourself if fingerprint taking is necessary for Texas driver's licenses
I love the DPS whistleblower, Ryan Barrett's, final thoughts on the matter.
'…you can use any means or methods to stop crime and then justify it with the DPS's blanket 'safety' statement. You can say the DPS is placing RFID chips in all driver's license holders, and then justify it with the the same sentence Tom used: that it stops fraud, combats terrorism, and keeps people safe. In fact, I'm sure it probably would stop a little fraud, or some crime, but that doesn't mean it is morally right, in line with the concept of citizens' privacy, or cost-effective. You could search every single house in a city when a crime is committed and justify it with that statement, and yes, the police would probably find some crime or wrong-doing. But again, that doesn't mean it's morally right…'
Read more, 'The Watchdog: Whistleblower blasts DPS for taking fingerprints,' July 12, 2014, DallasNews.com


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Across the ocean I really began with many hearts beating.
I am who I am, but who am I?
This journey has taken me through many census pages looking and seeking parts of me that came to America many years ago.
There were two changes in my life that started me on my Daviss Journey.
The first one started one day in June 1961.
I was sitting on Agneda Taylor Hodge's front porch in Altus Oklahoma. She was the sister of my brothers wife Gwen.
I spotted this man walking on the grounds of Lincoln High School located next door.
His back was to me but his walk looked oh so familiar.
In fact he had that cool walk just like my brother Theodore and his frame, head and all, resembled his.
I asked Agneda if she knew who he was. She said it was Prof Davis, the school principal.
My ears perked up; Prof Davis, how does he spell his name? Heck if she said Daviss with that extra S then he had to be a part of me. One "S" she said, but now that I think about it, he does kind of look like your brother.
Agneda used the terminology Prof instead of Professor. That made me think that she must think well of this man Prof or was that a term used in a small town where everyone knows everyone.
I can't remember if the sail went out of my boat but I did dismiss the connection because all I knew was that I had Two S's in my Daviss.
A couple days later this lady came over who was a teacher at the school. We got into a conversation and she told me her name was Mrs Jones, but just call her G.G. like the rest of them. (another sign of familiarity) but knowing my age and manners, I stuck to Mrs Jones.
Prof Davis name came up and I told her what I told Agneda, about him walking like my brother.
Well this teacher asked me what my parents names were and where were they from? Of course I said Theodore with two S's on the Davis and that he lived in Denver Colorado.
She told me that Prof had a brother named Ted who lived in Denver. She was not sure if his real name was Theodore nor if he was known as one S or two but she would find out from Prof.
Thinking to myself, my Denver dad is a two S kind of guy.
The next day there was a knock on the door and bless my heart, there stood that man who was walking on the school house grounds with a picture album in his hand. He came in the house, opened the book and said to me. Is this your father?
Staring back at me was a photo from long ago that was a duplicate of the very one in an album I had.
A two S Daviss carrying a one S name.
That revelation blew me away but it also put in the back of my mind if I was related to other one S Davis somewhere in this here universe. (that is another story for later).
The second journey was after I moved to Dallas.
Again there was a knock on the door. This time it was a young lady in a white hat cocked to the side, and standing next to her was a nice looking gentleman.
The young lady said, Are you Vicky?
Yessssss, that's me as I looked at them out of the side of one eye. Rolling around in my mind I was thinking, what in the heck do they want with me?
The young lady said, I'm your cousin. I'm Erma Jewell and our fathers are brothers. My father is John Pierce Daviss, and this is my husband Richard Lewis.
Erma Jewell and I got to be quite close after that.
I would drive down to Conroe Texas and visit Uncle John, Aunt Harriett along with Cousin Erma.
I learned that Erma Jewell and Richard called each other Buddy. I thought that was the cutest thing.
On one visit I drove down, trailed her to Navasota and Piedmont where they were having a Homecoming Celebration at Little Flock Baptist Church.
It was then I met my aunts Jessie (Miss), Elena and Jimmie, Uncles Spencer, Harry, Owens and Uncle Zeke.
I also did a double take when I saw my aunt/cousin Romona Burks Daviss, whom I had not seen in years when I lived in Los Angeles.
She was visiting her sister Cammie. My mom, grandfather, and the rest of my siblings went over to cousin Cammie's for dinner.
At the time I had no idea that she was married to my uncle Harry. I just knew we were cousins on the Burks side.
I wanted to know more about my family.
I was too late to meet a grandmother or grandfather on that side.
I am told though that I had been here on numerous occasions as a baby, that Aunt Jimmie had kept me quite often, and my brother Theodore even lived there and went to a school by the name of Carver in Navasota.
What got me was Aunt Elena; When I walked over to meet and tell her who I was, she already knew. She told me that she had thought about me every day for 26 years...26 years! Why, that was exactly how old I was.
So here I am: Who for the life of me am I
Who were these people that I spring from? Where did they live, what did they do for a living.
They had to be strong people
They prayed for their children, they farmed the land, they taught their children in school and they helped bring life into the neighbor women who were about to give birth.
Louis Cooper registered to vote in 1867. He was the husband of Mary White He had to be a strong man to even register and so close to the end of slavery.
I am Louis Cooper
On the 1880 census Mary White Cooper who was the grandmother of James Penn Daviss, was a widow. Her husband Louis passed away and left her to work for shares in order to eat and feed the rest of the children.
I found her not only on the population census but on the Agricultural census as well where it shows how many cows and mules she had and the crops she grew. Talk about a strong woman.
I am Mary White Cooper
Louis and Mary's Children Sallie, Lydia, Jerry, Cherry, Anna, Roxie and Eliza all grew up to have children of their own.
They are the Zephyrs, Williams, Scott's, Nelms, Minors, Boggess, Parhams, Mathis, and numerous others who all stem from those roots.
I am Louis and Mary's Children
Living a couple houses up was one of her daughters Sallie. Sally was married to Ed Kinney at the time and the census shows that James and Leah were the step-children. Sally later married James Conway.
I am Sally White Cooper Conway and James Conway
James, Sallie's son grew up and married Betty Owen daughter of Thornton and Francis Bradley Owen . They had 8 children. 5 girls and 3 boys.
James Penn became a teacher and a preacher, and after his wife Betty Owen passed away he married Gertrude Sims Pierce.
Together they combined their children, along with Gertrude bringing Elo and Jimmie Pierce into the marriage.
James Penn and Gertrude had seven children together. 6 boys and 1 girl.
I am each and every one of those 17 children of the Owen and Sims Women
I am James Penn Daviss and Gertrude Sims Pierce Daviss.
I am the thoughts that filtered through their minds concerning God, Family and Education.
Just like that old time favorite licorice candy called Good and Plenty filled to the top of the box
I am one of the children who grace this Room of Ancestors A Plenty, with twigs, limbs, and leaves. Whose visions, strength come from the Room of Ancestors A Plenty of hatched roofs, trunks, branches and roots prior to merging into one.
Like that little wooden church in the country called little Flock Baptist Church or the old homestead of each of our fore-parents.
Where the Rooms of Ancestors A Plenty in Georgia, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, California, Wisconsin and Michigan our blood runs deep.
It flows from one to another like the limbs on that Baobab Tree in Africa.
I am each and every one of you: For that I am eternally grateful and I Thank God.


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