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I’m reposting Professor Hasen’s editorial in today’s New York Times (linked through his election law blog) here for three reasons.
First, it’s a clear-eyed and thorough analysis of the present danger.
Second, it nicely coincides with a question my wife asked me this week (which I’ll paraphrase here as “So … what legal mechanisms may be employed to remove bad actors from elective public office?”)¹
And third, it’s a prompt for me to ask all of you for your thoughts.
There is cause for pessimism about voting rights in general (e.g., as the Texas House redistricting trial winds down, and in the face of institutionalized hostility towards the preservation of voting rights). But there is also cause for optimism (as civil rights advocacy groups renew their focus and energy in response to the urgency of this crisis, embedded in what I might dryly refer to as a target-rich environment for litigation).
¹With respect to my wife’s question (which was specifically about removing executive and legislative officers from the federal government), here’s the short answer – per Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, the President may be removed from office following a trial of impeachment in the Senate, based on articles of impeachment passed by the House, or he may be suspended from the duties of office based on the procedures outlined in Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Members of Congress may be expelled from office upon a two-thirds vote by their peers, per the second clause of Article I, Section 5.
Either way, here’s a link to the New York Times story on the latest court ruling relating to the current photo I.D. law in Texas. Here’s the gist: After a remand from the Fifth Circuit, the district court handling Veasey v. Perry has again struck down Texas’ 2011 photo i.d. law as intentionally racially discriminatory. Rick Hasen has more.
Texas Voter ID Troubles Continue; District Court Orders Judicial Oversight of Texas Voter Education – And the State Doubles Down By Disparaging the Motives Of Voters Who Claim Not To Have Photo I.D.
I. APPARENTLY, THE STATE CAN SCRUTINIZE VOTERS WHO SUBMIT DECLARATIONS OF REASONABLE IMPEDIMENT IN LIEU OF PHOTO ID
On September 22, 2016, the Texas House of Representatives Elections Committee conducted a routine interim hearing on various technical matters relating to election administration. For three and a half hours the committee members and witnesses discussed proposed legislative tweaks to the petition signature process, to municipal elections, to obligation bonds and taxes, and so on. You can watch the whole hearing if that’s your thing, but for my money the really interesting stuff doesn’t come up until the very end of the hearing.
As the hearing wrapped up, State Representative Celia Israel asked an official from the Texas Secretary of State’s office about a court order that had been issued two days prior to the committee hearing. In particular, Representative Israel was curious to find out what the State was doing to educate voters about I.D. requirements for the November 8, 2016, election.
In response to the questions, Director of Elections Keith Ingram explained that the State had incorporated the text of the court’s most recent directive into the website and upcoming print and media advertising; he specified that voters who “do not possess [the statutorily mandated forms of photo I.D.] and cannot reasonably obtain it,” could cast a regular ballot by completing a “Declaration of Reasonable Impediment,” if they also supplied alternate forms of documentary evidence of their identity.
Representative Mike Schofield then took the discussion in a new direction (starting at the 3 hour, 36 minute mark), after asking if the State could track information about whether the Declarations were submitted by people who actually have I.D.:
What I don’t want to see is a gross number, and everybody acts as if those people don’t have I.D…. If you pretend you don’t have it, and use one of these declarations, that’s illegal, isn’t it?
In response to the question, Mr. Ingram clarified that voters entitled to use the Declaration would be those who had either never been issued one of the six forms of photo I.D. listed under the law, or those whose previously issued I.D.s had been lost or destroyed, and who had a reasonable impediment to replacing the missing I.D.
Representative Israel raised a hypothetical situation (described starting at 3 hours 45 minutes) in which a voter’s “reasonable impediment” is that the voter is voting at a polling place on one end of town, but left her photo I.D. at home, at the other end of town.
In that circumstance, Mr. Ingram explained that assuming that the voter filled out the “Declaration” and wrote down that the reasonable impediment was “left my I.D. at home,” the election worker would have to take the declaration at face value and allow the voter to cast a ballot.
Representative Schofield seemed incredulous, asking, “Is that … is that correct? … You’re going to let them vote with a ‘Reasonable Impediment?'”
The Director of Elections responded:
The poll worker cannot challenge the ‘Reasonable Impediment’ asserted by the voter. …. But if that’s the reasonable impediment, I think the voter is at risk, because they’re not following the law. But that’s not for the poll worker to decide. [Emphasis added by me.]
Committee vice-chair Craig Goldman then asked, “But, how does that get challenged, and then how is their vote null and void?”
The Director of Elections explained:
The vote will never be null and void. It’ll get challenged in an election contest, if it’s a close election. And obviously these things [the Declarations of Reasonable Impediment] will be available for folks to give to their district attorneys to follow up on. [Emphasis added by me.]
Representative Schofield pressed the issue as the hearing entered its final minutes (at the 3 hour 46 minute mark):
I realize we’re going to have a lot of illegal votes and a lot of fraudulent votes. That’s why we have voter I.D. My concern is that there are going to be a lot of people trying to thwart the [voter I.D.] law who have valid drivers’ licenses; who have passports; and are going to assert these declarations. Their votes may count in this election, but I want to make sure that when we go back to court, we’re not saying ‘oh, there’s this huge number of people that filed these declarations.’ I want to drill down and find out which one of ’em [declarations] were bogus. [Emphasis added by me.]
The Director of Elections responded, “And I’ll think you’ll be able to tell easily.” He then went on describe how one of the Declarations of Reasonable Impediment that had already been used in an off-season tax ratification election indicated that one voter had written that the “reasonable impediment” was “fascist law.”
The committee chair said: “Fascist law? They wrote that?”
What’s troubling about the exchange (aside from Representative Schofield’s counterfactual and inflammatory assertion that there’s going to be a lot of “fraudulent votes” in this election), and what should be especially troubling to the plaintiffs in the voter I.D. lawsuit, is the implication—encouraged both by Representative Schofield’s assertion that “we’re going to have a lot of illegal votes,” and by the response from the Director of Elections that voters who use the Declaration can be tracked, and possibly referred to local district attorneys for prosecution for illegal voting—that voting without an approved photo I.D. is automatically suspect.
So … why is this suggestion of potential criminal prosecution troubling?
Because it is not a stretch to imagine that statements like this could have a chilling effect — dissuading eligible, qualified voters without approved photo I.D. from voting. In other words, threatening to investigate voters who file a ￼Reasonable Impediment Declaration could end up hurting the very group of voters that the August 10, 2016, court order was intended to help.
Think I’m exaggerating about “threatening to investigate”?
On September 9, 2016, Rick Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, posted a story on his Election Law Blog about the motion for enforcement of the August 10 court order filed by the private (non-Department of Justice) plaintiffs in Veasey v. Perry. These plaintiffs were reacting to this August 26, 2016, news story (as quoted in the private plaintiff’s motion):
[Harris County Clerk Stan] Stanart says he will investigate everyone who signs that form to assure they are not lying. Whether anything happens, that’s up to the [Harris County District Attorney’s Office]. But after the votes are counted and the election ends, Stanart said his office will be checking to see whether a person who signed the sworn statement has a Texas Department of Public Safety-issued ID through the DPS database.” Meagan Flynn, Harris County Clerk Will Vet Voters Who Claim to Lack Photo ID, HOUSTON PRESS, Aug. 26, 2016.
So to recap: As of late August in a presidential election year, the chief election official in Harris County, the most heavily populated county in Texas, was quoted as intending to investigate voters who claim they lack photo I.D.s.
That threat of punitive or retributive investigation prompted the federal district court in Corpus Christi to issue on September 20 a legal order, in which the court told the State to clarify and make explicit that voters who reasonably lacked photo I.D. were legally entitled to an alternate method of qualifying for a regular ballot.
But then in the hearing on September 22, just two days after the court order, the State was still discussing the option of criminal investigations and prosecutions of voters without photo I.D.s, in order to satisfy a Republican state legislator’s concerns about the effective enforcement of the State’s photo I.D. law.
And the statements of the Director of Elections reassuring Representative Schofield that voters who vote without photo I.D. can be tracked and investigated echoed the statements made in August by Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart.
II. BACKGROUND — WHAT’S ALL THIS ABOUT “REASONABLE IMPEDIMENT”?
After the conservative Fifth Circuit appellate bench ruled that the State of Texas had enacted a discriminatory voter I.D. law, the federal district court in Corpus Christi that has been handling the photo I.D. suit (Veasey v. Perry) issued a judicial order on August 10, 2016, to remedy the immediate effects of the discriminatory law.
The plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit relating to voter I.D. then filed a motion informing the district court judge that the state’s officials were misrepresenting the court’s directive. (see, e.g., the Texas Tribune‘s September 7, 2016, story).
The August 10 judicial order had provided that voters who could not “reasonably” obtain an acceptable form of photo I.D. could substitute the use of some other forms of identification if they completed a “declaration of reasonable impediment.” The Elections Division at the Texas Secretary of State’s Office did not include the word “reasonably” in training materials, the agency’s website, and voter information posters, leaving the impression that the only voters who could access alternative forms of identification were those who were absolutely unable to get the photo I.D.
Omitting the word “reasonably,” which had been specifically included in the district court’s August 10 judicial directive, may seem like a minor editorial alteration. But in making that omission, the State gave the plaintiffs the impression that State officials were dragging their feet in response to the August 10 court order.
The Department of Justice summarized the problem in its September 6, 2016, motion to enforce the August 10, 2016, remedial order as follows:
Ari Berman analyzes the effects of the Fifth Circuit’s March 9, 2016 order. This is bad news for the plaintiffs, and for Texas voters generally. The foot-dragging has been especially galling, given the airtight factual evidence in support of the plaintiffs’ arguments.
(Note to the non-attorneys out there: the linked article explains this, but not everyone knows what “en banc review” means. After five months of delay, the court has collectively decided that the previous decisions regarding the State’s unconstitutional voter I.D. law need to be reconsidered by the entire panel of all the Fifth Circuit appellate judges, the majority of whom happen to be conservative political appointees).
As an additional follow-up; the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has rebuffed arguments for stopping implementation of the unconstitutional law until after the whole body of judges hear additional oral argument later this year. The law will likely continue to be enforced through the November 2016 presidential election, despite the fact that it has been found to be unconstitutional.
This isn’t breaking news — the redistricting panel’s order came out November 6, and the Texas Tribune and various editorialists have already weighed in on the implications. (See also this coverage from Texas Lawyer).
In particular, Jody Seaborn’s editorial in the Austin-American Statesman expresses everything I feel about the decision, only better. Jody also points out how the delays in the 2012 primary schedule ultimately produced Ted Cruz’s primary runoff victory over the more moderate David Dewhurst. (Disclosure: Jody and I are old friends.)
The federal judicial redistricting panel charged with reviewing the State’s 2011 redistricting plan (yes, that’s not a typo. 2011), has responded somewhat petulantly regarding an effort by a subgroup of the plaintiffs in the Perez v. Perry redistricting litigation who joined together in a motion to enjoin the State from using gerrymandered district boundary lines for the 2016 U.S. House of Representatives elections.
For a good overview and analysis of the origin, development and philosophy of this gerrymandering (cleverly described as a “Perrymander” by various wags), see this excellent article by Rosemarie Unite, The Perrymander, Polarization, and Peyote v. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 46 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 1075 (2013) (pdf). Also available in on the web at http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/llr/vol46/iss3/7).
The subgroup of the plaintiffs that petitioned—including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC ), the NAACP, the City of Austin, Travis County, Eddie Rodriguez Jr., Shannon Perez, the Quesada plaintiffs, et al., but excluding the Latino Redistricting Task Force, the United States Department of Justice, and the various congressional officeholder plaintiffs—had hoped to light a fire under the panel by asking for an injunction against the use of the redistricting plan that had been used in the November 2014 election (presumably hoping that the panel would either completely redraw the district maps, or at the very least prohibit the use of the bad maps).
Instead, the redistricting panel announced that the bad maps would most assuredly be used for the 2016 elections, stating that new maps at this late date would be unduly disruptive and confusing to voters and office seekers.
So sorry, petitioners.
See this statement from page five of the redistricting panel’s denial of a request for injunctive relief:
The Court has been working diligently and has made substantial progress toward resolution of the claims on the 2011 plans; however, it has not yet reached a final decision. Trial on the merits of the claims against the 2013 plans has not been scheduled, and legal challenges to the 2013 plans will not be resolved before the 2016 election cycle.
This unanimous denial could have been subtitled, “Redistricting Panels Have Feelings Too, You Know.”
The panel explicitly countered criticism that the judges have been dragging their feet on a resolution.
One can’t help but feel that there’s a little bit of passive-aggressive retribution in the decision. As in, “Oh! You think we haven’t been working fast enough to resolve your redistricting problems? Well how about this? How about we just declare that we won’t bother fixing any of this until the 2018 elections? Yeah! That’ll teach you to pressure us about coming up with some sort of consensus regarding your maps.”
This denial is frustrating on many levels. The State of Texas made no real effort to argue that its 2011 and 2013 maps weren’t discriminatory toward minority voters.The State’s argument, grounded and based solidly on a line of U.S. Supreme Court cases relating to so-called “partisan gerrymandering,” beginning with Davis v. Bandamer, 478 U.S. 109 (1986), Vieth v. Jubelirer, 541 U.S. 267 (2004), and League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 548 U.S. 399 (2006) is, more or less, we don’t discriminate against Hispanics and African Americans because of race, but because we, the line-drawing Republican Party majority, want to crush the Democratic Party, and therefore any seemingly discriminatory line-drawing was not intentional.
You can see this argument reflected throughout the State’s proposed finding of fact and conclusions of law, as well as the State’s pre- and post-trial briefs. For example, on page 56 of the State’s proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, finding of fact number 518 states that the chairman of the Texas House Redistricting Committee felt he could not pass a redistricting plan unless he guaranteed that three of the four new U.S. House of Representatives seats for Texas would go to Republicans. Later, on pages 100-101 of the same proposed finding of fact and conclusions of law (starting around proposed conclusion 45) the State argues for findings of fact that the Texas redistricting plan was motivated by political, rather than racial, discrimination, and was therefore not part of an invidious intentionally racially discriminatory scheme.
And the redistricting panel (which for those of you who are new to the story, consists of the three-judge panel convened in May of 2011 out of the membership of the San Antonio division of the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas, as explained in this handy blog post from the wonderful (and greatly missed) Texas Redistricting and Election Law blog) has made as explicit as it possibly can that the most glaring of demographic problems with the State’s Congressional and State legislative district maps are not going to be fixed in time for the 2016 elections. That fact leaves just two federal election cycles (2018 and 2020) before the next redistricting maps get drawn.
Particularly for Hispanic voters in Texas, 2011–2021 is shaping up to be the lost decade for both U.S. House of Representatives representation, as well as for representation in the Texas Legislature, notwithstanding the fact that the population gains experienced by the State were overwhelmingly the result of increases in the population of protected classes of linguistic and racial minorities.
Today I got a call from a Houston-area radio journalist asking questions about how Texas makes it harder for homeless people to vote. On the one hand, the timing of the question was a little late (what with the registration deadline already having passed for the statewide and local November 3, 2015 elections here in Texas). On the other hand, the question was timely, given that a five-month lead-in to the early February deadline to register to vote for the March 2016 primary elections probably gives homeless voters the time they need to organize their identification paperwork and fight their legal and bureaucratic battles so that they’ll be able to cast a ballot next year.
If ever there was a class of voters that was easy to disenfranchise, it would have to be the homeless – even before we had voter I.D. laws, only an estimated 10% of the eligible voting-age homeless population participated in elections. (This statistic is widely cited, and consistent with statements made by Neil Donovan, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. See, e.g., http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/forgotten-voters-dc-volunteers-work-to-register-the-homeless/.)
Why are the turnout numbers so small for the homeless? Let me turn that question around. Why wouldn’t we expect the number of homeless people successfully engaging in the political process to be a tiny minority of the homeless population? After all, our government has raised enormous barriers to discourage homeless participation in politics, with ballot limitation policies that often appear to be motivated more by petty cruelty or simple mean-spiritedness than by any legitimate administrative concerns; is it any wonder that homeless have gotten the message that they are not wanted at the polls?
That’s not to say that there aren’t organizations making an effort to counter this powerfully negative message of exclusion – there are regional groups like Homeless Not Powerless (which was active in early 2014 and centered around urban centers in Alabama and North Carolina), as well as national groups like the aforementioned National Coalition for the Homeless (who produced a .pdf brochure in 2012 urging the homeless to register to vote and go to the polls).
I would hope that homeless advocates would similarly work to encourage voting by the homeless in 2016, but nobody doubts that the Texas photo i.d. law makes that a lot harder.
DOESN’T EVERYBODY HAVE A DRIVER’S LICENSE ALREADY?
Uh … no. Could anybody still say this sort of thing with a straight face? Well, yes – at last weekend’s Texas Tribune Festival here in Austin, State Representative Jason Villalba (R) (Dallas) said that a photo I.D. requirement was “no big,” because everybody already has a license to do things like rent cars and book airline tickets.
Ah, the power of anecdotal experience. Ah, the failure of imagination. Since a Texas lawmaker has a driver’s license, everybody must have one. You know, except for the 600,000 eligible already-registered voters who lack such a thing.
Seriously, does Representative Villalba think that the whole development of evidence and discovery phase of a contested civil rights trial just takes place in an ’80s movie montage? Has it somehow escaped the understanding of our state lawmakers that when lawyers clash in a courtroom setting, spending huge sums of money on depositions, expert witnesses, and intensive documentary analysis and research, that the resulting mountains of evidence are somehow just … irrelevant to their own fantasies about how the other half lives? It isn’t some made-up statistic – the Texas Secretary of State’s own records confirm that around 600,000 registered voters lack sufficient i.d. to vote. A much larger number of non-registered voting-age citizens also lack the documentation required to cast a ballot.
OKAY, SO NOT EVERYONE HAS A DRIVER’S LICENSE. BUT … I MEAN, COULDN’T THEY ALL GET DRIVERS’ LICENSES?
With unlimited resources, time and money, problems like a lack of supporting documentation magically vanish for eligible voting-age Texans. Except … people don’t have unlimited resources, time and money. That’s sort-of the problem, isn’t it?
To be fair, the State of Texas makes it possible for people without drivers’ licenses to get specialized picture I.D.s to be used for the narrow purpose of voting. And these I.D.s are at least legally issued free of charge to anyone who can cough up sufficient documentary proof of their identity – such as a birth certificate or a passport.
Here’s the kicker (as I have mentioned before, more than once) – not everyone has a birth certificate or a passport. And getting a birth certificate or a passport isn’t a cost-free transaction.
A little digging uncovered some private charitable groups that help homeless people get I.D. forms, and subsidize the cost of those forms – there’s a coalition of Presbyterian churches in downtown Houston (Main Street Ministries) that offers a homeless I.D. workshop on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m., excluding holidays. But … that service is limited in scope, and is only available to homeless people who have a valid referral letter from an approved referring agency.
To be fair, I’ll grant you that “some limited charitable resources for getting a picture I.D.” isn’t the same thing as “no resources for getting a picture I.D.” It would be inaccurate to say that there are no avenues by which an impoverished homeless person could get the materials necessary to register to vote and cast a ballot.
But some things are just inherently harder to do when you don’t have a fixed residence address. For instance, there’s the problem of providing a residence for purposes of identifying a voting precinct.
Here in Austin, a homeless person could successfully complete a voter registration application by filling out the form and listing a physical geographic location (“under the overpass at IH35 and 12th Street”) as the residence. For a mailing address (in order to get the voter registration certificate), a person could then list “General Delivery” along with the zip code for the main post office.
Problem solved, right? Except … a person must provide two forms of i.d. and a valid residence address in order to receive mail from the General Delivery window at a regional mail distribution center, per the USPS Domestic Mail Manual. Except … there’s an exception to this requirement in the discretion of the local postmaster if a transient person is “known to the postmaster” and sufficiently well-identified.
Subjective, mushy, exceptions to general rules create certain fairness problems. A nice local postmaster might go to great lengths to assist homeless mail clients with securing no-cost P.O. boxes and long-term General Delivery accounts. Or not – when Seattle homeless sued the Postal Service in the late 1990s for failing to provide mail delivery, they were more-or-less poured out of court with an appellate decision that upheld the Postal Service’s broad discretion to chose how much or how little it needed to do to in terms of providing mail services to the homeless.
So, yay to you, homeless person, if you happen to live in an area where you can get mail delivery. But if you live somewhere where you can’t get mail delivery (say, if transportation issues and a lack of i.d. make it impossible for you to sign up for General Delivery), the Postal Service isn’t obligated as a matter of law to help you out.
Homeless people get to experience annoying Catch-22s involving ignorant voter registrars who insist on the primacy of a street address, wherein the homeless person submits a voter registration application, but has the application rejected because it doesn’t list a place that the voter registrar believes is a “real residence.”
WELL, OKAY. MAYBE HOMELESS PEOPLE HAVE TO WORK A LITTLE HARDER TO REGISTER TO VOTE. BUT VOTING IS IMPORTANT – IF THEY REALLY WANT TO VOTE, TRANSIENTS SHOULD BE WILLING TO PUT UP WITH A LITTLE PAIN AND FRUSTRATION
Um … okay. This is the sort of absentminded cruelty that leads to civil rights violations, because it belies a popular and common attitude – that the homeless are morally inferior and undeserving of any particular care or consideration when it comes to voting.
If that’s how one feels, why not apply that philosophy to other groups as well. Why do we coddle people who are disabled on Election Day? Why have we had a law on the books for the last 110 years allowing people in the extremis of terrible illness the right to vote from their sick beds on Election Day? And why do we coddle people who have just had a death in the family and been called away by the need to bury a loved one?
For that matter, why bother accommodating the absentee voting of people who are actually under fire in a foreign war zone? Shouldn’t we expect soldiers to just tough it out? I mean, if voting is so important and all, why should we make it easier for anyone to vote? Why not just have the entire electorate crawl through broken glass to get to the polling place? I mean, if democracy is so precious and all, shouldn’t we all be willing to suffer indignities, costs, and hardships that are thrown up as roadblocks to our vote?
Well, no. obviously. First of all, most of us aren’t heartless psychopaths who take pleasure from the pain of other human beings. And secondly, most of us understand how the whole “fairness” thing works, because we occasionally benefit from the kindness of others, and can empathize with people who find themselves in need of kindness.
I mean, it would be one thing if we all faced exactly the same burdens on our ability to cast a ballot – then one could at least argue that the pain and cost of voting was distributed evenly among all voters. But that isn’t the case – some people have a significantly harder time casting a ballot than others. And to the extent that some people face greater hurdles to participation means that those people are disproportionately less likely to be able to participate as voters in an election.
We would only exclude those people from participation (and preserve the exclusionary barriers limiting participation in the organs of self-government) if we really didn’t want those people to participate. And that way lies the path to insurrection, rebellion, and death.
The homeless are entitled to participate in elections with the same ease and transparency of process as any of the rest of us, whether we are renters, homeowners, fabulously wealthy, desperately poor, or living under a bridge. And until the homeless are able to participate in elections with the same ease and lack of constant scrutiny and suspicion. we cannot say that we are free citizens of a democracy.
Lighting A Fire Under the Redistricting Panel – Plaintiffs Seek Injunctive Relief From San Antonio Federal Court
As Rick Hasen has reported, yesterday the plaintiffs in the 2011 redistricting lawsuit asked the three-judge panel for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division to enjoin the State of Texas from using the patently illegal district boundary lines that were used in the 2014 election.
Evidence-wise, the plaintiffs have a slam-dunk on this one – the State has lost at every turn with respect to the question as to whether the 2011 redistricting violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act; and there isn’t any serious disagreement on the facts – the State enacted a redistricting plan that was motivated by racial animus in order to limit the voting rights of racial minority groups.
For some reason that has never been explicitly articulated, the court appears to be paralyzed and unable to move on this issue. Possibly the members of the redistricting panel fear that any dramatic change in boundary lines will draw a disastrous results-oriented Supreme Court rebuke that might leave the plaintiffs in an even-worse position. but that doesn’t really justify the timidity with which the court has approached this matter. Whatever the motivation, the risk is now quite high that just as with the Texas elections in 2012 and 2014, the 2016 primaries and general election might be conducted using bad maps.
As I said before in reference to the November 2014 elections, the use of maps that have been explicitly found to violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is not in keeping with judicial economy. That is true in part because bad maps are an early Christmas present to any losing candidate in any election in any of the affected urban areas in the State (particularly around the major population centers).
Heads up, election litigators – if your candidate has strong support among minority voters in 2016, but loses on these maps, you have been handed a ready-made, pre-briefed reason to contest the outcome of that unsuccessful election. And every contested election has at least one losing candidate, so somebody’s going to get creative if the court doesn’t get its act together.


Robbie Williams to collaborate with his dad on a new music project after performing a duet with him at London's Palladium in November.
Robbie Williams is planning to collaborate with his dad.
The 40-year-old singer, who invited his father Pete Conway to perform with him at London's Palladium in November, is set to work with him again.
According to The Sun newspaper, Pete said: ''I loved doing the Palladium with him. It was great. I really enjoyed it. We're going to do something together soon. It will be announced shortly - I just don't know all the details yet.''
Stars including Liam Payne from One Direction, singer Adele and comedian Alan Carr watched the pair duet at the show, which also saw the former Take That star perform songs from his album 'Swings Both Ways' and sing with Lily Allen.
Robbie and his dad sung 'Do Nothing Til You Hear It From Me', and Pete hugged his son before he left the stage to rapturous applause.
Meanwhile, Robbie ''doesn't want to upset'' bandmate Gary Barlow by saying no to a Take That reunion.
The 'Let Me Entertain You' hitmaker has reportedly suggested that they take things slow by working on material together - along with fellow bandmates Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald - for now, and then discussing a world tour at a later date.
The source said: ''He's suggested recording together, seeing how that goes then embarking on a world tour in 2015.''
Taylor Swift goes from lively pop to a more dreamy vibe with her newly released album 'Folklore', and she has unveiled an appropriate video for her...
Following the release of her critically-acclaimed fourth album 'What's Your Pleasure?', Jessie Ware drops a dramatic video for her song 'The Kill'.
Lizzo has teamed up with Queer Eye's Fab Five for the lyric video release of her song 'Soulmate', which featured on her critically acclaimed album...
When music and the cosmos collide.


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|Birth: ||Apr. 10, 1872|
|Death: ||Apr. 10, 1918|
NOTE: Commonwealth of Kentucky Certificate of Death #10459 lists his date of birth as September 2, 1873, contrary to his gravestone.
Sergeant Fitzgibbons and Patrolman Thomas Quarles were attempting to arrest a robbery suspect, Irvin Anderson, when Anderson pulled a handgun, shot at the officers numerous times and fled the scene on foot. Sergeant Fitzgibbons was struck in the abdomen and later died. Patrolman Quarles was uninjured. Shortly after the shooting Anderson escaped to his grandfather's house in Underwood, IN, where he was later arrested.
Irvin Anderson was convicted of the murder of Sergeant Fitzgibbons and several armed robberies after a jury trial. He was sentenced to 'life' in the penitentiary.
[Source: various Courier-Journal newspaper articles from 1918.]
Sergeant Fitzgibbons served with the Louisville Police Department from 1896 till his death in 1918. ["Louisville Division of Police: 1806 - 2002" by Retd LPD Capt Mort Childress]
Father: Thomas Fitzgibbons
Mother: Rose Lawler
Following information supplied by Judy Fuss:
Buried 04/12/1918. Died at age 45.
Saint Louis Cemetery
Plot: Section B, Lot 24, Grave 1.
Created by: Gary Powell
Record added: Jun 21, 2010
Find A Grave Memorial# 53968843

domain: history


Explorer Robert Ballard calls the ocean "the greatest museum in the world." He counts some 140 expeditions to the deep in a 55-year diving career and is best known as the guy who found the most famous shipwreck of all, the Titanic.
He's still at it, a couple months shy of 72. He and his team recently found a pirate ship not far from the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and they also just embarked on a 10-year project to explore what he calls "the new America," resource-rich areas off both coasts and various U.S. territories.
They're ours, "and yet we have better maps of Mars," Ballard lamented during an interview earlier this month from his home office in Lyme, Conn.
The project, outlined in an article Ballard wrote in the November issue of National Geographic magazine, comes amid what he told The Star is a rapidly accelerating pace of sea exploration. The next generation, he added, "will explore more of the Earth than all the previous generations combined."
So when Ballard stows the wet suit, side-scan sonar and submersibles long enough for a speaking engagement Sunday afternoon at UC-Santa Barbara's Campbell Hall, he'll have plenty of good stories to tell.
It'll be a homecoming of sorts. Ballard spent four-plus years in the early 1960s at UCSB, where he got degrees in chemistry and geology and minored in mathematics and physics.
He knew he'd get in oceanography; he'd been hooked by Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea" in his childhood, adding, "I wanted to be Captain Nemo." These days, his email incorporates the Nemo name and his exploration ship is called Nautilus.
He explored our local Channel Islands in his college days, but he was not in search of shipwrecks then but rather food. "I was after abalone," he recalled. "I did some diving in the kelp forests out there, but I was after food."
He also body surfed and drank up classes in history, art and the like. He took advantage of "everything Santa Barbara could offer me" — including, he added with a chuckle, "the wonderful coeds; it was good odds back then." It was, he said, an amazing time.
"It sort of laid the keel that built my ship, so to speak," he recalled fondly.
A day burned into memory
Ballard said his talk will encompass explorations past, present and future. Everyone, he acknowledged, wants to know about the Titanic.
It was early morning, Sept. 1, 1985. Ballard had just handed off watch to the midnight 4 a.m. shift aboard the Knorr, and spirits were low. It was near the end of the expedition, and everyone was tired of looking at monotonous shots of mostly barren seafloor. Failure loomed.
"We thought we'd get put in the ranks of the also-rans," Ballard noted.
They'd outfitted a sled-like device called Argo with video and still cameras, and were towing it just above the seabed some 2 ½ miles below. Pictures sent back were seen live in a booth on the Knorr, watched for hours on end by scientists.
They were looking for Titanic debris in a grid pattern, Ballard said — spacing it out, guessing at how long the debris field was. The search settled into a routine of relentless back-and-forth sweeps of the ocean floor.
"It wasn't quite like mowing the lawn," Ballard explained with a bit of sea floor jargon, " but it was close to that."
They were on one of the last of these back-and-forth "lines" in the wee hours of Sept. 1, he said.
After handing off watch, Ballard for some reason couldn't get to sleep. He began reading a Chuck Yeager biography; his father had flown with Yeager during World War II, a situation that had brought Ballard and family west from his Kansas birthplace to San Diego and military base life. In San Diego, the young Ballard first became enchanted with tidal pools, marine wildlife and the sea.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. A messenger told him the guys needed him to come right away. "I flew past him," Ballard recalled.
They'd begun detecting unusual marks and chunks. Just then, Ballard said, they passed over a boiler. It was unmistakable; the famed ship, the one they said couldn't be found, that not even God could find, had to be nearby.
"We knew it was the Titanic," Ballard recalled. "We exploded. Everyone just went nuts."
They clapped and cheered. Then someone innocently remarked that it was about the same time of night that the RMS Titanic had sunk some 73 years earlier. The mood, Ballard said, switched like a light, from ecstasy to somber silence.
They brought up the Argo, held a memorial service for the Titanic victims, then went back to gathering scientific details about what they'd just found. Eventually, Argo passed over the Titanic's main hull.
"It was professional excitement and personal sorrow mixed together at the same time," Ballard said. "I was happy I did it, but sad at what I was looking at."
It was the ship in its graveyard, some 12,000 to 13,000 feet down in the North Atlantic about 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland.
The Titanic, much ballyhooed as being unsinkable, went down on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg while en route from Southampton, England, to New York. More than 1,500 people perished; a little more than 700 survived.
Emotional time capsules
It was later revealed that Ballard's 1985 Titanic mission was cover for a secret search for two Navy Cold War-era nuclear-powered submarines that had sunk elsewhere in the Atlantic in the 1960s. The Navy agreed to fund his Titanic quest if he first looked for the subs.
In July 1986, less than a year after finding it, Ballard returned to the Titanic — this time, as part of the first manned dive to it, in the submersible Alvin. Also in tow was a remotely operated robot called Jason Junior.
Ballard and two others climbed in the sub; it took them more than two hours just to reach the wreck 2 ½ miles down. They saw the ship's bow, and Jason Junior crossed the Titanic's famed grand staircase. The team visited Capt. Edward John Smith's collapsed cabin and found wrought-iron deck benches, gym equipment, a brass-handled safe and other ship debris.
Before he left, Ballard placed a memorial plaque (now gone) on the Titanic's stern.
"The Titanic is like a ghost town, like going to a haunted house," he said. "The chandelier lights are still there."
Shipwrecks have a powerful hold on us as the eerie chamber of ghostly artifacts and people reflecting on the last moments of their lives.
The Titanic, Ballard noted, had something for everyone.
"It was the biggest moving object on the planet at that time," he said. "It was the Edwardian era of superrich people and they were the stars of that era.
"It touches everyone's buttons. The band plays on. There are heroes and villains. Heck, Hollywood made a movie out of it, and it was pretty good. Some people went to see it."
That was a dry reference to James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic," which won 11 Oscars.
The new frontier
Ballard also found such other lost legends as the German battleship Bismarck (in 1989), the aircraft carrier Yorktown (1998) and President John F. Kennedy's PT-109 (2002).
These days, the technology exists to find any shipwreck in the world — it's true, Ballard said, provided you want to and want to spend the money to do so.
"They're gonna find that plane, by the way," he said, alluding to the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that crashed into a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean on March 8 with 239 people aboard.
Technology advancements, he added, allow explorers to do so much more in the ocean depths now. Some argue that has robbed the joy and wonder from discovering ancient wrecks.
"I don't know if it's taking all the fun out of it or not," Ballard observed, "but I'm one of the ones who likes to know what's down there. And as I'm getting older, I'm even more interested in that."
He's eager to continue probing of "the new America." In 1983, then-President Reagan expanded the nation's sovereign rights to areas extending 200 nautical miles beyond its coasts — known as an exclusive economic zone — under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
For America, this includes watery areas off both mainland coasts, Alaska, Hawaii and various U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Midway Islands, Guam and the rest of the Mariana Islands.
Much at stake lies here. These ocean floors contain abundant and untapped natural resources — vast oil and gas reserves, minerals critical to national defense and vital fisheries. They also house shipwrecks that could shed light on antiquity and habitats that need to be preserved as marine sanctuaries, he wrote in the National Geographic article. (Other coastal nations are scrambling to identify and strategize their zones).
Reagan's largely unknown move, Ballard pointed out, roughly doubled the size of America — akin to Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Most of this "underwater America," he wrote, has not been explored.
Thus far, his vessel — the Ocean Exploration Trust's Nautilus — and a NOAA ship called Okeanos Explorer have looked at areas off Rhode Island, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, using multibeam sonars mounted on their hulls to create maps in three dimensions.
Ballard is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, an oceanography professor at the University of Rhode Island and director of its Center for Ocean Exploration. He was in the Navy for 30 years. But in some ways, he's still that kid who was enthralled by Captain Nemo.
"I'm fascinated by everything," he said. "I'm an Earth scientist, and 72 percent of it is under water. They keep bringing new things in, and I keep reinventing myself — though I'm running out of years to reinvent myself."
A man of the deep
The man who discovered the Titanic: Explorer-oceanographer Robert Ballard will talk about finding the Titanic and other expeditions past, present and future at 3 p.m. today in UC-Santa Barbara's Campbell Hall, located near Mesa Road and University Plaza on the Goleta campus.
Stories to tell: Or as he put it, "I'm going to take you on a trip to 72 percent of our planet — so buckle up."
Cost: Tickets are $25 for the general public and $15 for UCSB students and youths ages 18 and under; as of this story's deadline, some tickets remained. For tickets and more information, call 893-3535 or visit www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.
(Watch the National Geographic Live! - Robert Ballard: Restore the Titanic video. May not be available on some mobile devices.)
Need Help? Call us at 1-877-710-6182.
Monday-Friday: 6am-3pm / Saturday: 6:30am-10:30am / Sunday: 7am-11am


90L hybrid trolley with a STANDARD PLATFORM that enables to put a grill base on it as an accessory. It is equipped with a flat oval tubing chassis, an ergonomic handle designed by Marsanz and a plastic basket made of injected polypropylene with U.V. protection.
As a result, we have a solid but lighter, noiseless, functional, more comfortable, easy to handle and attractive trolley, that will improve the customers’ shopping experience. Something that customers, and of course retailers, will really appreciate.
|Length (mm)||Width (mm)||Height (mm)||Capacity (L)||Nestability (mm)||Length x 5 trolleys (m)||Length x 10 trolleys (m)||Length x 15 trolleys (m)||Length x 25 trolleys (m)|


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James Allen E & Vicki
Lakeside, Arizona 85929
James Allen E & Vicki is located at the address in Lakeside, Arizona 85929. They can be contacted via phone at (928) 367-5426 for pricing, hours and directions.
For maps and directions to James Allen E & Vicki view the map to the right. For reviews of James Allen E & Vicki see below.
Phone: (928) 367-5426

domain: geography


text:
Posted by Wayne on February 15, 2001 at 11:02:45:
In Reply to: The Best Soap On The Net posted by Fire Walker on February 15, 2001 at 09:53:52:
I think you got the essence of this little Peyton Place summed up pretty well. And yes, it is very entertaining! It even has commercial breaks like the commercial for canvas the other day. And like the TV soaps, none of us paid attention.
But recently it has been more Like my favorite real life show -- Jerry Springer! Not a complaint, just a comment.
Can't you hear the audience chanting:
"Seahunt, Seahunt, Seahunt..."
The a moment and comment later:
"MHK, MHK, MHK,..."
There is the real problem with us. We all need 2-syllable handles for chanting!
The next guest will come out and say that Seahunt was seen doing this and another will say Kendall did that, and someone else will say that Ken thought something untoward about another...
If this is not fun, I don't know what is.
* P stands for POST
Post a Followup

domain: entertainment


Doors open to 2020 Great British Fleet Event
This year’s Great British Fleet Event is now underway, providing decision-makers with the chance to find out about the latest fleet developments through a packed line-up of conferences, exhibitions and networking, and the afternoon’s awards ceremony.
Now in its second year, the event is once again being held at the Novotel London West – welcoming both pre-registered visitors and on-the-day arrivals – to hear from pre-eminent organisations including Transport for London, ALD Automotive and the DS TECHEETAH Formula E Team on today’s and tomorrow’s fleet challenges and the current and future solutions.
This includes an instructive conference agenda, covering four Masterclasses – on Mobility, Connected Vehicles, Technology and Electric Vehicles – along with a bustling exhibition and networking section.
These are being followed by a champagne reception courtesy of Airmax Remote and a full reveal of the fleet manager, supplier and vehicle awards’ winners.
We look forward to seeing you there but for those unable to attend, a review in the February issue of Fleet World will give a taste of the day’s many revelations.


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Bayern Munich move for Blackburn's teenage striker Toni Vastic
Bayern Munich are closing on a deal for teenage Blackburn Rovers striker Toni Vastic.
The Austria Under 17 international has yet to make the breakthrough into Blackburn's first team but scored six goals for their reserves last season and has impressed Bayern scouts while on international duty.
The 18-year-old said: 'There are only formalities to clarify.'
Shift in focus: Bayern Munich would present a vastly different side of life to that in Blackburn
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domain: sports


Countdown: Obamacare exchanges affect health care plans
5:12 PM, Sep 30, 2013
7:15 PM, Sep 30, 2013
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Starting Tuesday, life for millions of Americans as they have always known it will change.
At the stroke of midnight, thousands upon thousands will have to begin to change their health care plans-- whether they are uninsured or underinsured-- because of President Obama's Affordable Care Act.
The ACA, or Obamacare, is one of the most comprehensive laws that will eventually affect every single American. But still, more than half of us say we know little about what is about to happen on Tuesday.
When asked, Patrick Thomas, who is insured, said, "I didn't know anything about it at all. I probably should but I don't."
In fact, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 64 percent of Americans polled say they do not know the biggest phase of Obamacare goes into effect Tuesday.
Millions of primarily uninsured Americans and people who buy their own coverage will have a new option: the federal government's Health Insurance Marketplace, or exchange.
That means for people like 28-year-old DeMarcus Micks, he will be able to see his own doctor for the very first time.
Micks goes to the free health care clinic now. If he's really sick he said he goes to the ER.
"It takes forever, it's expensive and you pretty much don't get any good results as if you had insurance and a doctor," Micks said.
The online exchange is a group of private insurance companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield that have agreed to offer new plans and comply with a new, broader set of insurance requirements. This includes expanded preventative care like well woman visits, weight control and smoking cessation programs.
The online exchange is managed by the federal government.
"(It's similar to) websites like Amazon or Southwest Airlines or any website where you can purchase, compare and shop," Wayne Powell, Vice President of Executive Services at Blue Cross Blue Shield, explained.
The 85 percent of the American people who get health benefits from large employers or who are enrolled in government programs like Medicare do not need to use the exchanges now.
Micks is one of millions of individuals who will be required by law to get health insurance at the beginning of the year.
He will also be one of about 300,000 in the Kansas City area who will be able to afford coverage for the first time; a dream some believe is too good to be true.
"I kind of hope and then it's like it ain't going to happen," Gilbert Millan, a Vietnam vet who has been uninsured for years because he cannot afford it, said.
How will he and others be able to afford the sticker price when they cannot afford it now?
"That sticker price is not necessarily what the individual pays," Ed Fensholt, Senior Vice President at Lockton Insurance, said.
Many of the uninsured and those in certain income brackets will qualify for government assistance, a federal subsidy, to help pay for their health insurance.
"So who pays the rest of that price?" Fensholt asked. "The American taxpayer pays the rest of that price."
The less a person or family makes, the more government assistance they can get through the exchange. A lot of people will qualify, not just the poor or the uninsured.
Under the new rules, a single person can qualify for help to pay for insurance if they make between $11,500 to $45,960.
A family of four can qualify for assistance if they make between $23,500 to $94,200.
Heatlh and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius applauded the new plans as new opportunities for millions of people.
"This is a huge health security opportunity for millions of people," she said.
However, insurance companies say it is already costing a lot more to pay for new insurance taxes and the new broad benefits for the many brand new people to the system.
They warned those extra costs will translate to higher prices for all.
The government has trained people to help those getting on the exchanges for the very first time at places like Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center, CVS, Walgreens and some libraries.
The exchanges go live Tuesday and coverage begins in January.
For more information about the ACA, go to the government's website at http://healthcare.gov.


The Eastern Regional secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has summoned the leadership of the alleged “vigilante group” formed within the Lower West Akyem Constituency branch of the party.
The Eastern Regional chairman, Mr Tawiah Boateng, speaking to the media on Monday in Koforidua, condemned the formation of the group without approval from the regional executive.
According to him, the party will peruse the mission of the group to inform its decision as to whether to disband or guide it to operate without causing violence.
He said though it was a fact that supporters of the party in settler communities in the Akyem enclave in particular were intimidated and threatened, which prevented their participation in the 2016 election, that should not warrant the formation of a vigilante group to cause mayhem.
He said the NDC would not toe the line of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to form lawless groups to jeopardise the democracy of the country.
The Lower West Akyem constituency branch of the NDC over the weekend launched a vigilante group called ‘Asamankese NDC Forces.’
The group, according to sources, has magical powers that shield members from bullets and knife attacks.
The group was first spotted during the party’s ‘Unity Walk’ in Somanya.
Speaking at a press briefing to declare his intention to contest the Lower West Akyem constituency organiser position, Aminu Issah, alias Organiser General, said the group would not foment trouble like the Invisible Forces of the NPP had done but to provide a sense of security for the party and its supporters.
According to him, most supporters of the party in the settler communities were intimidated by the NPP vigilante groups, which prevented them from voting in the 2016 elections.
He said NDC members were driven away from voting centres during the polls. Therefore, the new group had been formed to provide security for such people to enable them to take part in the 2020 election.
However, according to the regional chairman, Mr Boateng, in as much as the party believes in freedom of association, it would not allow the establishment of any vigilante group to cause trouble.
He added that the party would instead seek permission from the police to set up private security groups for protection during party activities should the need be.
source: Daily Heritage


EdgeEnergy, an innovative energy conversion technology startup that is making EV charging more accessible, hosted Rep. Greg Landsman (OH-1) to discuss infrastructure and the future of EV charging. EdgeEnergy develops and produces phase converter technology that enables DC fast chargers to be installed on single-phase power infrastructure. Their technology is compatible with any charger or network, eliminating the need for three-phase power improvements in desolate locations. With their research and development center situated in Cincinnati, OH, Rep. Landman’s district, Landsman met with the Edge team to hear more about their objective to decrease barriers to electric vehicle charging, including the company’s plans to expand their manufacturing capacity in Ohio.
Edge’s technological development caught the interest of Rep. Landsman, who is enthusiastic about how it can facilitate a more seamless transition from gas to electric vehicles. Landsman has a strong commitment to the transition to green energy and is collaborating with Edge to move ahead on a variety of policy issues, including the filling of gap sites that the NEVI pricing regulations failed to account for. Landsman mentioned EdgeEnergy to Presidential Advisor Mitch Landreiu as a cutting-edge technology company in his district.
More about Congressman Landsman’s visit to EdgeEnergy can be found here: https://www.edgeenergyev.com/post/press-release-edgeenergy-hosts-congressman-landsman-to-discuss-ev-charging-infrastructure


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Explore The ITF
** THE WINNER WIN A CAR "MINI COUNTRYMAN " **
Each player entrant agrees, as a condition of entry, to abide by and be subject to the ITF Circuit Rules and Regulations. All players who compete in ITF Circuit tournaments must be signed up to the IPIN Online Service, and have a valid IPIN, for which an annual membership fee is payable. Failure by a player to fulfil these requirements will result in the rejection of that player's entry.
Spotlight 27 Sep 2013
This month saw the young Italian make her return from a lengthy injury lay-off
© 2014 International Tennis Federation Powered by Umbraco Design by New Brand Vision

domain: hobby


In the ever-evolving landscape of transportation, shuttle bus companies have emerged as a match-changer, revolutionizing the way individuals vacation from point A to point B. With their unparalleled convenience, affordability, and environmental advantages, shuttle bus services have swiftly acquired popularity as a chosen manner of transportation for the two folks and communities alike.
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In summary, the potential outlook for shuttle bus solutions is bright. With the twin positive aspects of currently being environmentally pleasant and value-powerful, coupled with technological developments, we can foresee a important enlargement of these solutions in the coming many years. This expansion will not only gain commuters but also lead to a far more sustainable and effective transportation method total.


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Theadora is effortlessly cool. She is a wonderful musician and human being with some crazy awesome hair. She just released a song on Spotify called “Paper Shores”. Her sound is fantastic, and her musical journey has been full of challenge, victory, and beauty.
Thea grew up in a musical family. With her dad having a past with the trumpet, and her sister picking up the guitar, Thea was quickly inspired. Ever since she was three she dreamed of being a musician. “I would run around when I was little and lie to people, saying that I played instruments,” she laughed. “Because that was the desire of my heart. It was something I always wanted to do.”
Her artistic journey started with dance. She danced for many years. However, instead of finding a way to express herself, she found criticism. Dance was an art form to be perfected, to be taken extremely seriously. Playing music, on the other hand, was freedom. “… I‘ve always seen music as a pure unadulterated way to express yourself and the things that God has put in you,” Thea said. “Whether that be for worship or to tell a story.”
In dance, Thea was constantly under the fear that her art would be judged. That same judgmental fear bled through the dance world into her guitar playing. As she began to learn, she would hide in her room to play music. Her mom didn’t even hear her sing until she played at the Daily Grind Coffee Shop when she was 14-years-old.
This fearful mindset is something that she has recently been released from.
This year, Thea graduated cosmetology school, got married, and then got a job like she felt she was expected to do. She hated it and realized she was putting 55 hours a week into something she hated instead of putting all her energy into something that she loved.
“One day I was praying, and God told me that he would let me know when it was time to quit,” Thea said. “So I was at work one day, thinking about my music. And I heard God say in a clear voice, ‘Ok, you’re free.’ So I walked into the manager’s office and said, ‘This isn’t where I‘m supposed to be,’ so I quit.”
That was one of her last steps of being released from her fear. She explained to me that the only way she was able to do this was because she both fully relied on God and intently listened to Him. “That night when I got home, I told my husband we needed to finish Paper Shores… And within a few weeks we had finished Paper Shores. It was released this February.”
Thea still finds obstacles in her way, and there is still the temptation to fall back into fear. As a woman in music, it can be exceptionally hard not to worry or care about what others think.
“Any time I‘ve talked to a male musician, as soon as I tell them I’m a musician, you see in their head that they already have an idea of who you are and what your music sounds like,” Thea said. “That’s forced me to think outside of the box.”
She aims to express her true self through her music, rather than let the judgements of those around her to deter her. Throughout her musical journey, she has felt looked down upon and judged by both men and women in the music industry.
But the most empowered Thea felt was when she put herself out there with “Paper Shores”. This EP is her full heart and soul. And it has been received wonderfully.
“I never understood why anyone called success humbling, but I understand now,” Thea explained. “It was a weird juxtaposition. And it can only happen when something really close to your heart is being shown to people you don’t know… Seeing that other people don’t think of it as this thing you have to be perfect at, and they just want to see you create and want to absorb what you create is really inspiring.”
Thea is currently in the process of putting together a few shows. And her goal is to contrast the music industry she came from with a welcoming culture, involving multiple artists, and an environment of acceptance. It is a refreshing alternative to the cliquey atmosphere that most artists face.
“I want to do several. I don’t want my music to just help me. I want it to help everyone who is involved in that industry in any way that I can help them.”
Theadora & feminism
Another huge part of Thea’s identity is that she is a feminist. She was happily married, quite recently, to Atlanta based Audio-Visual Technician, Seth Johnson.
“Without him I wouldn’t be where I am, and I wouldn’t be the same person. I’m a huge feminist, and I don’t hate men. Obviously, because I’m married to one. Being married young is a huge blessing. I don’t think it’s essential to life, but it’s a huge blessing if you choose to have it.”
They’ve shaped each others identities equally, says Thea. “I’ve helped him understand the feminine side of the world more…I’ve helped him take down some of those societal blocks that are built into boys as they grow up without realizing it… And he has helped keep me who I really am and remind me of my identity whenever I feel like I’m slipping away.”
As a young teen Thea would often preface statements with ‘I’m not a feminist, but…‘
After a few years of saying this phrase, she realized that she was cheapening her beliefs by saying that. “I realized at 18, that all these things I said were clearly God’s heart.” They were her core beliefs. So she began to proudly call herself a feminist.
“A lot of people haven’t met the right feminists. Almost every guy that I know right now is a feminist. But they don’t know it or say it. Maybe it’s because the word has a bad context. But I say get over it, and create a new context.”
For more of Theadora:
Theadora has some amazing new shows and dreams that will be coming to reality soon. I am so thankful for her bravery and trust in God to be who she truly is. Thank you Thea for blessing the artistic community with your fresh outlook!
Check out http://www.theadoramusic.com to learn more about her awesome music, and the cool new shows that are coming up!
To book Theadora, email email@example.com
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domain: artistic


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Google Pixel 3a And 3a XL To Come In Iris Color Leak Suggests
Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are coming with a whole new different shade of color known as the Iris.
Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL will come not in two but in three shades with the third one a completely new color at least for the Pixel line up. Aside from the usual black and white color variants that Pixel has showcased, Google will introduce the Pixel series with its third color called the Iris or purple.
The leak suggests that the Google Pixel 3a's third color which is called Iris is a purple shaded variant. Iris is the name of a variety of flower which resembles almost the same shade as purple. Iris in the English language literally stands for the name used for the blue and violet mixed together.
This is not the first time that Google used another variety of colors for Pixel aside from the traditional black and white. First, they had the flavor of blue for the Pixel line up release, and then they ventured into a different shade of blue for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, a shade they called the Not Pink. Iris may not completely be a shade of blue but considering that it is a mixture of blue and purple, leak suggestions could be affirmative that this is indeed the third color for the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL line up.
Aside from having Iris as their third shade of color, Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL pricing have also been part of the most recent leaks. Renders suggest that since the Pixel 3a line up does not have a powerful processor as the Pixel line up have, Pixel 3a's are expected to be sold lower than the present Pixel 3 selling price. Google Pixel 3 line up is sold at a base price of $799 so users should expect the Pixel 3a line up to go from roughly $505 to $600 baseline.
Previous reports on the Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL revealed some tidbits on the device specifications. Reports suggest that Pixel 3a will have a 12-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel wide-angle selfie camera. Pixel 3a will also feature a 5.6-inch OLED display and the resolution should be expected at 2220x1080 and 440dpi. Powered by Snapdragon 670 system-on-a-chip on board, 3a will come with a 4GB of RAM and a 3,000 mAh battery.
The leaks have not revealed on the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL's actual release date but sources hint that Verizon will launch the device in the US by spring.
Google Pixel 3a leak suggests phone could come in new 'iris' purple color https://t.co/gB8N6IXxIP pic.twitter.com/6y2oHv3Y81 — Android Police (@AndroidPolice) March 27, 2019

domain: news


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100 Years of WWIDVD
WWI introduced game-changing weapons of mass destruction: armored tanks, chemical weapons, submarines, and the aerial bombardments of cities. Using experts, eyewitness testimony, and riveting archival re-creations, explores the deadly mix of weapons that defined modern warfare and shocked the world. See how these weapons were developed and witness the devastation they left behind.
Branch Call Number: 940.3 ONE
Characteristics: 2 DVDs (approximately 315 minutes)