Help Pass Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act
(to read full story and for clickable links, go here.....)
http://www. oprah. com/article/oprahshow/20080911_tows_predators
Hundreds of thousands of children are victims of sexual abuse each year. Due to the sheer lack of resources, law enforcement is unable to follow up on the majority of leads they have.
The PROTECT Our Children Act will:
Authorize over $320 million over the next five years in desperately needed funding for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation.
Mandate that child rescue be a top priority for law enforcement receiving federal funding.
Allocate funds for high-tech computer software that can track down Internet predators.
Act Now!
Your U.S. senators will be voting on the bill soon, so it is crucial you contact them immediately.
Go to www. senate. gov to find contact information for the senators in your state. Search for your senator by name or state by clicking on the arrow from either dropdown menu. Contact information is provided here. To send an e-mail, click on "Web Form" below his or her name, and e-mail your letter to make a difference!
Call Your Senators
If you choose to contact your senators by phone, be sure to tell them, "Vote yes on Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act."
Write to Your Senators
If you choose to write a letter, fax, telegram or e-mail, you may use the following sample letter—and modify it how you see fit.
Dear Senator:
I know that you believe, like I do, that we must do everything possible to protect children from sexual predators. That is why I am asking for your help.
Last year alone, U.S. law enforcement identified over 300,000 criminals who were trafficking in movies and pictures of young children being raped and tortured. Experts say that one in every three of these criminals has local child victims. Child pornography trafficking over the Internet has given us a trail of evidence that leads straight to their doorsteps, but the vast majority of these children will never be rescued because investigators are overwhelmed, outnumbered and underfunded.
As your constituent, I urge you to do everything in your power to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act (S. 1738, Biden-Hatch). This bipartisan legislation passed the House 415-2, but it is now the victim of petty partisan politics.
Now that we know where these children are and how to protect them, there is no excuse for the Senate to fail to take action this session.
(Your name here)
Instructions for How to Copy and Paste the Letter
To copy and paste the letter into your senator's web form at www. senate. gov, point your mouse arrow at the beginning of the text that you want to copy. Click your left mouse button and hold it down. While holding the left mouse button, drag your arrow to the end of the text that you want to copy. Release the button. The text should be highlighted. Place your mouse arrow over the highlighted text, click your right mouse button once and let go. A new menu should appear. Select Copy from the drop down menu. When you get to the message form field for your senator at www. senate. gov, point your arrow at the beginning of the message field that you want to copy your text to and right click with your mouse. Click Paste from this menu. Submit your form and help our children!
http://www. oprah. com/article/oprahshow/20080911_tows_predators
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Bonnie's Bridals
So, I had a Wonderful Bridal Session with Bonnie on Sunday night. This morning I finally finished editing her portraits. I'm so excited for her. She and John are getting married on Sept 27th. Photos will be posted onto here and into my portfolio after the Wedding.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
**Sneak Peak*** Todays Shoot.....
Alrighty, Finally I have 5 minutes of free time and I am SOOOO excited to blog about todays shoot. Today I had a Session with Clinton and Susanna. They are the Bride and Groom for my October Wedding. Susanna is Drop Dead Gorgeous and Clinton is just really comfortable and at ease and Pretty Good Lookin' also. ;) Anywho, Todays shoot started out like most other shoots and turned into something Spectacular.
Ever have one of those moments where everything just falls into place? It's like Good Karma. ;) Perfect Client, Perfect Location, Great Weather, Beautiful Sunset.... Can't ask for much more. Anyway, Back to how the shoot Started.....
We went to a Local Park here in Newport News to take some photos. We started out in this really cool tree and then moved across the street to the Private Beach. Well, Once we were done there, I wanted to Sneak down the road to this Private Driveway that is just soo amazing and romantic. We did a few shots at the top of the driveway and then we started talking about how it was such an amazing location... (think long secluded driveway with trees arching overhead leading to a hanging bench swing overlooking the bay. Doesn't get much more beautiful than that.) Well, we decided to make a go of it and see if the Owner of the Home would possibly let us take a few shots there. The owner, Nan, was outside when we walked up and she was FANTASTIC~! We introduced ourselves and asked if we could shoot there and I was sooo surprised that she said yes. I mean, We had come traipsing down her private driveway and bothered her while she was out chillin' drinking a glass of Champagne. Well, Nan was Great. The house was Beautiful so we asked the History. Come to find out, It is the OLDEST pre-Civil was home still standing in the Newport News area. The home was built by a Confederate Ship Captain in the 1800's. During the Civil War, the home was used as a Army Hospital. To top it all off, the Captain's ship sank somewhere in the Harbor that the house overlooks. It was such an awesome story. Well, we all fell in love with the house Architecturally, but Clinton is an Army Nurse so he felt a special Connection to the Home. So, Amazing story leads to Amazing photos.
Nan, If you read this..... We are SOOOOO Grateful to you that you allowed up access to you Beautiful and Secluded Home. Thank you for the wonderful conversation and opportunity. We spoke briefly about possibly shooting there again and I sincerely hope that we can make that happen. Thank You again .
So, I've only edited about 60 photos from the over 750 that I took today (more than I have EVER taken during a session that wasn't a wedding.)
Here are a few of my Favorites. Enjoy and Please leave me some Comments.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Todays Shoot.....
I had THE MOST AMAZING photo shoot tonight. I mean, I've taken nice photos before, but I've never taken a photo where as soon as I snapped the shutter I was like "OMG~! This is AMAZING." So, Here is my FAVORITE photo so far. (I'm still downloading the over 800 photos I took, so I haven't seen them all.) Write more in a bit.
Summer '09....
I just booked a couple more Weddings for 2009. So, Make sure to check out my Calendar on Wedding Outlook to view my Available Dates. Also, we will be working more out of State next year. We have finally settled on some orders. Can't wait to hear back. Some people are gonna be surprised. Anyway, Keep checking back for some new photos posted. :)
Friday, September 5, 2008
Client's Currently Waiting for Photos.....
Hey Everyone, with the Tropical Storm hitting this weekend, please be aware that it might take a day or 2 longer for me to edit your photos if we lose power and such. I am working on your photos as quickly as possible. Please check back Monday to see if your Portraits are finished yet. Thanks for being patient.
My Son's 1st Birthday~!!
So, I am taking the weekend off this weekend. It is my youngest son Joseph's 1st Birthday today. We were going to have a birthday party tomorrow, but because of Tropical Storm Hanna, we have rescheduled the party for next weekend. I am taking today and tomorrow off to spend time with my family and weather the TS. Have a Safe and Happy Weekend Everyone~!!!