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Meet the Author
Shaye Baker started fishing with his dad in Alabama as soon as they could find a life jacket small enough to fit him. Competing with his father in local tournaments, Shaye quickly found a hunger for competitive bass fishing. He furthered his fishing career at Auburn University helping to establish the Auburn University Bass Fishing Club. While at Auburn, Shaye served as the President of the club and qualified to fish on the traveling team amassing six Top 5 finishes including two 3rd place finishes in consecutive FLW College Fishing National Championships. While beginning to dabble in the world of outdoor journalism, Shaye continued to fish semi-pro events finishing in the Top 5 in the Bassmaster Opens, FLW Costa Series and BFLs. Finding himself at a crossroads, Shaye chose to put down the rod and pick up the pen and camera to focus on his career in outdoor journalism. Shaye has had work featured in Bassmaster Magazine, FLW Outdoors Magazine, B.A.S.S.Times and the Japanese bass fishing magazine, Basser. Shaye has also had work featured on ESPN and Wired2Fish.com,FLWfishing.com and Bassmaster.com. While working with B.A.S.S., Shaye initiated and spearheaded their GoPro division which brought more video coverage to the fans than had ever been done before in competitive fishing. After his tenure with some of the best companies in the business, Shaye identified a need for competitive fishing where participation didn't cost a fortune. By founding UPLOADED, the Online Fishing Series, Shaye established a free tournament series where anglers could film their fish catches and upload their videos to compete against other anglers for prizes.
Shaye Baker started fishing with his dad in Alabama as soon as they could find a life jacket small enough to fit him. Competing with his father in local tournaments, Shaye quickly found a hunger for competitive bass fishing. While at Auburn, Shaye served as the President of the club and qualified to fish on the traveling team amassing six Top 5 finishes including two 3rd place finishes in consecutive FLW College Fishing National Championships. While beginning to dabble in the world of outdoor journalism, Shaye continued to fish semi-pro events finishing in the Top 5 in the Bassmaster Opens, FLW Costa Series and BFLs. Finding himself at a crossroads, Shaye chose to put down the rod and pick up the pen and camera to focus on his career in outdoor journalism. Shaye has had work featured in Bassmaster Magazine, FLW Outdoors Magazine, B.A.S.S.Times and the Japanese bass fishing magazine, Basser. Shaye has also had work featured on ESPN and Wired2Fish.com, FLWfishing.com and Bassmaster.com.
When we hear the terminology fishing a frog, different things come to mind for different anglers. Are you talking about walking a frog, popping a frog, reeling a frog or something even more specific like fishing frogs over matted vegetation?
Frogging can generate explosive, memorable strikes.
These memories generate strong, specific definitions in our minds of what 'fishing a frog' means. So in this piece we're going to really dive into the ins and outs of several of the most effective ways to catch bass while fishing a frog.
Jump to Section: Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Gear for Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Rigging and Frog Selection | Patterns for Frogging | Takeaways
Fishing a hollow-bodied frog isn't new to the world of bass fishing or even relatively new. In fact, hollow-bodied frogs have been on the market since 1895 according to an article by Bernie Shultz on bassmaster.com.
That says a lot about the effectiveness of this type of bait.
Since then, the hollow-bodied frog has been reinvented time and time again but has now reached near perfection with several companies like SPRO, Strike King, LIVE TARGET and River2Sea putting out quality frogs in recent years. The hollow-bodied frog category is comprised of two primary sub-categories: the walking frog and the popping frog.
In recent years we're also starting to see a rise in popularity of a few other styles of hollow-bodied frogs like the Teckel USA Sprinker Frog which trades its rubber skirt legs for a spinning paddle tail. Let's breakdown some of these more popular hollow-bodied frogs and what makes them different.
Walking Frog
Perhaps the most popular walking frog to fish is the SPRO Bronzeye Frog designed by frog fishing phenom Dean Rojas. Regardless of your brand preference, a certain amount of respect must still be shown to Dean Rojas for what he's designed in his Bronzeye Frog and what he's been able to accomplish with the bait over the years. Rojas has used his frog to catch fish all over the country, all throughout the year. Though there's no way to know for sure, Rojas has likely won more money with a frog in his hand than any other angler out there.
Dean's Bronzeye Frog is a perfect example of what makes up a good walking frog. You want a sharp, strong hook. You want a skirt material for the legs that won't melt and stick together while in the tackle box. The bait needs to be able to walk, so you want a belly with a slight v-hull but not too much of a v-hull. And size matters.
Though the Bronzeye lineup offers several sizes and styles of hollow-bodied frog, their most popular is the Bronzeye 65. Sizewise, this bait is comparable to the more popular frogs in other brands. The bait is large enough to draw strikes from big ones, but small enough to not intimidate the young bucks out looking for a bite too.
Popping Frogs
Although I will throw a few different brands of hollow-bodied walking frogs, I stick exclusively to the SPRO Bronzeye Poppin' Frog 60 in this category. This is a well built frog unparalleled in its demographic in my opinion. The key difference between a popping frog and a walking frog lies at the front of the bait.
A walking frog comes to a point at the nose of the bait where a line-tie protrudes.
As is apparent in the name of the bait, a popping frog is built more like a popper at the front. The bait is also a little narrower and has a little flatter belly than it's walking style counterpart. Rojas is once again responsible for perfecting the design and kudos on another job well done.
Spin-Tail Frog
Not really sure what to call this next category of hollow-bodied frogs. I've seen the terminology 'Spin-tail Frog' used but I believe 'Plopper Frog' may be the best way to describe it. In the last few years, the Whopper Plopper has gained quite a bit of notoriety. So a few companies had the bright idea to design what equates to a weedless Whopper Plopper by putting a paddle tail on the back of a hollow-bodied frog.
The Teckel USA Sprinker Frog is probably the most popular in this style of frog but Elite Series Pro John Crews actually has a pretty cool video showing how to make your own with an old walking frog and a swimbait tail.
Other Hollow-Bodied Frogs of Note
Once you get past these three sub-categories, you can find yourself venturing down the rabbit hole if you're not careful. There are frogs will rubber legs that extend and draw back up, frogs with small willow leaf blades in place of their legs, frogs with 5-inch long hair tails and the list goes on.
There are also a lot of hollow-bodied baits that pull from the popularity and build of hollow-bodied frogs but are designed more to mimic bait fish, ducklings, mice and other prey. But by and large, these three subcategories take the cake.
Buzz Toad
The other primary style of frog is the buzz toad. Fishing this style of frog is also referred to as reeling a frog.
The main difference here is the buzz toad is a disposable, soft-plastic bait instead of a hollow-bodied bait meant to be used for a longer period of time.
The standard practice is to rig this bait weedless on a single hook with a wide gap, but we'll talk a little more in a minute about some of the variations and when, where and why people use them.
A few of the front runners in this market are the Stanley Ribbit, Zoom Horny Toad and Strike King Rage Toad. These three baits represent the range of buzz toad well. A Horny Toad has a sharp sound to it and is better in the summer months in my experience.
A Ribbit has a little more of a dull, slower sound to it and is great around the spawn and a Rage Toad has a much more aggressive, loud clap to it which I prefer in situations where locating the bait is a little more difficult. For instance in stained water or in a thick pad field.
Jump to Section: Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Gear for Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Rigging and Frog Selection | Patterns for Frogging | Takeaways |
Gear for Hollow-Bodied Frogs
So before we start to discuss the different ways to fish a frog, let's set some sort of a standard for the gear. As aforementioned, some of the best froggers like Dean Rojas use a frog year-round in all sorts of situations. Thusly his rod selection varies based on where and how he's fishing his frog. But for the vast majority of idealistic frogging scenarios (i.e. around fairly heavy cover targeting big fish), a pattern starts to form in the gear needed.
So let's look at Rojas' rod selection along with a few of his notable fellow froggers in Ish Monroe and Cliff Crochet. When examining these anglers' primary, heavy-cover frogging gear, you start to see a few trends. They all use braided line, a strong reel in the 7:1 range and a heavy action rod with a fast tip in the 7'3" to 7'4" range.
- Ish Monroe Tatula Elite AGS Casting Rod 7″4″ Heavy
- Dean Rojas Duckett Terex Casting Rod 7'4″ Heavy
- Cliff Crochet Duce Signature Series 7'3" Heavy (available in early 2019)
I also prefer a similar rod, the Fitzgerald Vursa Series 7'3″ Heavy. These rods are all alike in 3 main ways. They're light, they have a lot of backbone and they have a good tip to them. The backbone is quintessential.
There's no need to throw a frog if you're not going to be able to get the big ones to the boat.
The tip is equally important to allow for roll casts, bomb casts and make working and walking the frog much easier. And the weight of the rod is important for the same reason. Working a frog all day will wear you down, but working a frog all day with a heavy rod will wear you out.
The braided line is also important. Though some anglers prefer to go all out all the time with 65 and 80-pound test braid no matter the conditions, I personally prefer to start with 40-pound test Sufix 832 Braid and work my way up depending on the thickness of the cover.
I feel like 40-pound test gives you all the strength you need to haul a big bass in open water or sparse cover to the boat. And the 40-pound test is a lot easier to cast, especially for a novice angler trying to make long casts or skip a frog. In thicker cover like mats and thick pads, I'll step up to 65-pound test since you may have to haul a 5-pounder in with an additional 10 pounds of vegetation. We'll talk more about that style of fishing later on in this piece.
The 7:1 gear ratio reel is also important. Using a slower reel, you may not be able to catch up to a bass that hits the bait coming to the boat. Any faster and you lose the torque needed to winch the bass out of heavy cover.
Gear for Buzz Toads
The gear needed for a buzz toad is similar but different enough to make note of a few things. For starters, I stick with the same concept on line size; start with 40-pound braid and move up according to need topping out at 65-pound. There's room for a subtle change in the gear ratio of the reel if you want to speed it up a little.
That's okay as long as you're not fishing really thick cover like a pad field.
The rod is probably where I back off the most. Where I would use a 7'3" heavy with a hollow-bodied frog, I go with a 7'3" Medium Heavy Vursa with a buzz toad even backing all the way down to a 7'0" medium heavy if I'm trying to skip docks or bushes with the bait. I go with the softer rod for a couple reasons, it's easier to avoid the fish feeling you on a strike before you have the chance to drop your rod and make sure they have the bait and most buzz toads weigh less than hollow-bodied frogs so they're much harder to throw on the 7'3" heavy action rod.
Jump to Section: Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Gear for Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Rigging and Frog Selection | Patterns for Frogging | Takeaways
Frog Color Selection
Color selection comes down to one basic idea, visibility. You should use the 'match the hatch' method in situations where the frog is highly visible. On the other hand, you should use color selection to maximize visibility when fishing muddy water and thick mats. Darker colored frogs show up really well in these low visibility situations.
Bending the Hooks on Your Frog
The first thing I do when I take a hollow-bodied frog out of the box is open the hooks up just a little bit to where they have a little more bite to get into the fish. You want to take a pair of needle nose pliers and grab the hook down in the bend, making sure that you don't damage the barb in any way. Then bend the hook slightly to where the hook point is aimed up a little and not running parallel to the back of the bait. Do this too much and you'll compromise the integrity of the hook.
Trimming the Skirt
I trim the skirted legs on almost all of my walking and popping frogs. On the walking frogs, you can trim one side a little shorter than the other to help the bait walk a little easier but on my popping frogs I'll trim the legs down to an inch and a half or so. Fishing a frog is a very visual game.
You have to keep your eyes on the bait because the bite can be subtle.
If the legs aren't trimmed off, often times fish will come up and pull the bait under by the legs and you'll set the hook and miss the fish because it was never close to the hook at all.
Trailer Hooks
Enter the trailer hook. This is actually another great way to eliminate short strikes. I don't use it often with popping frogs or walking frogs because the fish usually have time to zero in and eat the bait between twitches. However, if you've been missing fish on one of these style frogs and you're opposed to trimming the skirt, the Lake Fork Frog Tail Hook may be your saving grace.
This trailer hook doesn't work all that well with many spin tail frogs for the obvious reason that it impedes the action of the tail but actually does work well for the Lunkerhunt Prop Frog which incorporates twin props for legs, leaving ample room in the middle for a pre-rigged trailer hook. For the same reason the trailer hook isn't all that necessary for a popping or walking frog, it is essential for a frog that is constantly on the move. Which brings us to, rigging buzz toads.
Buzz Toad Hook Selection
There are a few schools of thought on hook selection for a buzz toad but all can agree that an extra wide gap hook is key. After that, the jury is out on what's "best".
For instance, I like a VMC Heavy Duty Wide Gap Hook for a buzz toad. I run the hook point through the nose of the bait, exiting the bottom of the bait after I've gone far enough to have the nose of the bait cover the eye of the hook, then I bend the bait slightly and stick the hook point all the way through the belly of the bait, skin hooking the point of the hook in the top of the bait. When finished, there should be a slight bend in the back of the bait to help the nose ride up when reeling the bait.
Other anglers prefer a hook with a HitchHiker style screw lock on the eye of the hook like the VMC Heavy Duty Swimbait Hook. With this style hook, you insert the screw into the nose of the bait and then secure the point of the hook in the back of the bait the same way as previously mentioned, leaving a slight bend in the bait.
Then there's the double frog hook.
Pulling from the design of a hollow-bodied hook, you're already upping your chances by adding a second hook.
But the real advantage here is you can add the Lake Fork Frog Tail Hook now, setting an additional hook farther back for those fish just striking at the feet of the bait.
Buzzbait + Buzz Toad
One other popular way to rig a buzz toad is on the back of a skirt-less buzzbait like the Greenish Tackle Toad Toter. A few years ago, we watched Scott Canterbury finish runner-up in the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup with a similar style bait. Since then, the rig has gained quite a lot of popularity among avid topwater anglers.
Jump to Section: Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Gear for Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Rigging and Frog Selection | Patterns for Frogging | Takeaways |
Shallow Cover Frogging
For starters, let's define a generic situation where frogging works well. Basically, anytime you're fishing around relatively shallow cover in relatively warm water, a frog is likely a good choice. Rojas and some of the more dedicated froggers swear by a frog year round, and I have in fact myself caught a six-and-a-half pounder in 49 degree water temp years ago on a Ribbit on West Point.
I was fishing an Auburn University college fishing club qualifier with a good friend on mine and teammate, Caleb Rodgers. The weekend prior in practice, the water was much warmer and I caught a 3-pounder and 4-pounder on a Ribbit so I had the bait tied on even though we had experienced a massive cold front.
I wasn't getting bit on anything else and picked the frog up out of desperation and to both of our astonishment, caught that big one. It was the only bite I got all day.
So yeah, 49-degree water isn't ideal even if there is an off chance you might get bit on a frog.
Ideally the water needs to at least be in the 60's for me to have any real confidence trying to pattern fish on a frog. And it's not really something you would throw in heavy wind. But otherwise, rain, shine, muddy, clear, some sort of frog will work. In this video I caught some good ones fishing a popping frog in a couple of 'ideal' frogging situations, around shoreline grass and in dollar lily fields.
Using a Frog as a Search Bait
Say you're practicing for a tournament or just fishing a new body of water and you need to cover a lot of water in a hurry, a buzz toad or spin tail frog both work really well if the cover isn't super thick. The drawback to these two baits is that fish will often times swipe at them and not commit to them completely.
A good practice in situations like this is to keep a walking frog on the deck as a follow up bait to throw back at a missed blow-up. Or once you get a couple missed bites in an area, just go to the walking frog entirely.
Sometimes you can even use a walking frog as a search bait by working it in a straight line, not taking the time to walk it, like I did in this video.
Frogging Lily Pads
I typically go with a popping frog when I'm fishing in pads or dollar lilies. The only time I'll fish with a walking frog in pads is if the water temps are a little colder and the fish aren't quite as aggressive. The rest of the time, the noise of the popping frog is key in luring the fish in and helping them find the bait. My favorite time of year for this pattern is right after the spawn.
The fish are hungry and aggressive, looking for a big meal and not afraid to go after it.
In this video from Lake Seminole, a fish boiled in the pads between me and the end of my cast. I hurriedly reeled the bait in and you can actually see a 6-pounder coming from the top right of the screen. It wakes on the bait from 7-to-8-feet away and then destroys it right at the boat. I also illustrate what I talked about in the rigging section (if you want to hyperlink back to that section) about how to bend your hooks up on your hollow-bodied frogs.
Fishing a Frog Over Bluegill Beds
In the summer months, baitfish of the bream variety spawn along the shore. Whether they're referred to in your area as bluegill, sunfish, redear, shellcracker or something else, they all do generally the same thing. Bream typically find a spot somewhere from 6-inches to 5-feet deep and bore out a series of circular beds in the bottom.
This looks kind of like a bunch of tires laying flat on the ground with their treads touching.
In extremely clear water they'll actually spawn deeper than that but for the purposes of this article, we want to focus on the shallow bedding norm anyway.
Bass, often big ones, love to hang around these bream beds and terrorize their inhabitants. The bream don't stray very far from the bed and are thusly confined to a reasonably small space. But these beds are usually in relatively open water areas so the bass have a hard time corralling the bream. They can see them, but often can't quite catch them which must be very frustrating. That's where we come in.
Throwing a popping frog or a walking frog over the top of the beds mimics an injured bream. This bream maybe exhausted from the spawn or may have been struck at and injured by another bass. Needless to say the bass don't ask questions, they finally see an easy meal and attack before one of the other bass in the area can. Because there are almost always other bass in the area. Which leads to the next pattern that goes hand in hand with this one.
Fishing a Frog for Wolfpacking Bass
When bream are spawning in the summer months, bass will group up in wolf packs and roam the shallows looking for beds. As an angler looking for beds, keep in mind that there will be some main lake banks with five or six clusters of beds strung along in a hundred yard stretch. Then other times there will just be one big cluster of beds in the back of a pocket, another really popular place for bream to spawn.
So when you're on the trolling motor looking for beds, there's a lot of downtime in-between. That's when you want to be throwing some sort of topwater in hopes that you'll cross paths with a wolfpack also on the prowl or even blind cast over a bream bed before you see it. There are lots of topwaters that work well, but the best frog style bait for this is the new spintail hollow-bodied frog.
Wolfpacking bass are typically extremely aggressive and will demolish anything that lands in striking distance.
Spintail frogs like the Teckle Sprinker in particular are heavy, allowing them to be thrown a long way which is key in maintaining the element of surprise. These fish are often just inches below the surface and in clear water making them wary of their surroundings. And it's almost impossible to get the them to eat once they've seen you. So you need to be capable of long casts.
Wolfpacking bass like an aggressive bait and since the fish don't typically need much convincing, having a bait like a spintail frog is great because it requires little work to create that action. You just continuously reel the bait and you cover a lot of water in a short amount of time.
Frogging the Shad Spawn
If you're ever fortunate enough to encounter a shad spawn, you'll find that the bass targeting these shad will hit almost anything you put in front of them early on in the process. For a few days in the spring, shad by the thousands converge early in the morning on shallow or floating cover to rub their eggs out. A suicide mission at times because no matter the chaos around them, they continue on with the task. Bass thrash the waters, getting their fill and continuing to the point of gluttony.
It is a beautiful and barbaric thing.
So what do frogs have to do with a shad spawn? Well, frogs are great because they can be fished on heavy gear and have a strong hook. Shad spawns are great because the bass are often big and boiling on the surface around shallow cover. They're in a frenzy and will hit almost anything. So, it makes sense to throw something in there that you'll have the upper hand with.
Now in the interest of full disclosure, if the cover is thin enough that you can get a bait down into the water, I recommend a spinnerbait or swim jig for a shad spawn. But if the fish are in holes in vegetation or right up against thick vegetation as they often are, all four frog types work well.
My most memorable experience with a shad spawn came a few years ago in an Everstart (now FLW Costa Series) on Lake Seminole. I knew the shad spawn had to be happening somewhere so I spent the first hour of practice every morning running and gunning shallow pockets in search of the elusive shad spawn. Since I was in full search mode, I had a buzz toad in hand.
Eventually I found one the day before the tournament began. I was throwing a Stanley Ribbit with the hook buried in the middle of the bait so that I could shake a fish off if needed. I turned a corner and saw probably 50 fish demolishing shad along a hard edge of hyacinth that was maybe a hundred yards long. Most of the fish looked to be big, in the 3-to-5-pound range.
In roughly a dozen casts, I shook off 7 or 8 fish on the Ribbit, sometimes multiple times on a single cast. They were hitting it almost as soon as the bait hit the water, arching their backs all the way out of the water showing off their size. It was the most impressive thing I have seen in my 31 years of fishing so far.
My dad was in the back of the boat and was yet to make a cast, probably because he knew he wouldn't be able to will himself to shake one off. He was signed up to fish the event as a co-angler and had just gotten into town the night before for the last day of practice with me. We just looked at each other for a minute in disbelief and then quickly got the heck out of there.
The rest of the day and all night we talked about it. I drew boat 176 for Day 1 and I was heartbroken. Someone else would have surely found the same fish and would definitely beat me too them. Even if I could get there first, the best bite would be over with as shad spawns don't typically last far into the morning.
I launched my boat and while waiting for my turn to go and watching the morning sun burn the little bit of fog off the water's surface, I nervously corralled my last bit of optimism and tied on a spinnerbait incase the bite had slowed by the time I got there. This was the first time I had ever found a shad spawn like this. All I knew about them is what little I had read. So I figured if they won't break the surface, maybe they'll hit a spinnerbait.
Sure enough, I rounded the corner and there was not a boat in sight. The fish were still chasing shad along the edge of the hyacinth, but it was nothing like the day before. I threw my Ribbit into the grass and had one pull it under immediately followed by a swing and a miss from me. I frantically fixed my frog and threw it back out there. Another boil but this time my frog lost its legs to the fish. Two casts, two missed opportunities. I put the frog down and picked up the spinnerbait. In about 20 minutes I had 18-pounds 8-ounces in the boat and the bite shut off completely. I eventually finished 4th in the event, catching 11 of the 15 fish I weighed off of that shad spawn using a spinnerbait.
Now this article is about frogging. So this story may seem like a little bit of a tangent but take into consideration, knowing when not to use a bait and technique is often just as important as knowing when to use it. Frogging is a great way to catch big fish, but not knowing when to put it down is actually detrimental to your fishing.
Side note: This tournament was in the spring of 2012 and was the last fishing trip I made without a GoPro. I went out and bought one on the way home in hopes that if something like this ever happened again, I'd be able to document it. To this day, it's still the most amazing thing I've seen on the water.
Frogging the Mayfly Hatch
A mayfly hatch or any other type of insect hatch where bream move in to feed on the insects is another great frogging situation. Using a popping frog to mimic the bream pecking bugs off the water's surface is a great way to catch the bass lurking nearby. Though some of the smaller bass in the area will actually feed on the insects as well, they'll still eat small bream.
So, not only will the frog catch the smaller fish but more importantly, a popping frog is a great bait for drawing strikes from those big fish looking for a bigger meal.
In this video from a few years ago, the first two fish catches came on a mayfly hatch. I actually caught these fish on a popper style hard bait and not a popping frog and both of them are great examples of why I prefer a popping frog now over a treble hooked popper style bait when fishing mayfly hatches.
The first fish chokes the bait as bass often do in mayfly hatches. With a treble hooked bait, this is very dangerous for the fish. It's much easier to remove a choked frog with two big hooks than a choked treble hooked bait.
The second fish boils on the bait and barely gets one of the treble hooks in the edge of his lip, leading to a very precarious fight where I struggled not to lose the fish. With a frog, you can let the fish boil on it a time or two without setting the hook until the fish eventually takes the bait in all the way.
Fishing a Frog Around Docks
Probably the two most effective frogs for fishing docks are a walking frog and a buzz toad rigged on a skirtless buzzbait like the aforementioned Greenish Tackle Toad Toter. Both of these make great choices for one main reason, skip-ability. Frogs work well around docks for the same reason they work well in other places, presence of bait. Whether you're actually mimicking a frog or just baitfish, having a topwater presentation that you can skip under a dock opens up a whole new page in the playbook of dock fishing.
I would lean more towards the walking frog when vegetation is mixed in with the docks and you're primarily using the frog to imitate bream and I would go with the buzz toad combo when fishing in more open water dock situations or when shad are the primary forage.
Other than that, if the fish are aggressive enough to eat the buzzbait and buzz toad combo, you can cover more water with it.
If they're just blowing up on the bait and not getting it or following it out, swap over to the walking frog. If they still want commit but you've found an area with several fish, it may be best to put the frog down now that it's located the fish for you and skip a wacky rigged worm around the docks to finish the job.
Fishing Mats with a Frog
Whether you call it 'fishing the cheese' in Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain or fishing 'matted hydrilla' on Lake Guntersville, fishing thick mats with a frog is very different from any other type of frogging. A few years ago I was commissioned to write an article for FLW about this very type of fishing. So Randall Tharp and I set out on his home waters of Lake Guntersville in the fall of 2012.
As a writer and an angler, I was to fish along side Tharp and covey what I learned to the audience. It was certainly an eye opening experience for me. Seemingly fruitless, repetitive casts from Tharp eventually led to the explosive ignition of schools of bass and even the conversion of floating frogs into sinking frogs. Out of respect for FLW having hired me to write that article, I won't go into all the details here. If you want to read the full article, click here.
Jump to Section: Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Gear for Hollow-Bodied Frogs | Rigging and Frog Selection | Patterns for Frogging | Takeaways |
Frogging is awesome! But don't over commit. It's important to have a follow-up bait whether that's a slower frogging presentation or something entirely different. Frogs aren't typically mimicking actual frogs at all, but usually some sort of baitfish.
Color selection should match the hatch in situations where the frog is highly visible and should be used to maximize visibility in low visibility situations.
Popping frogs trump walking frogs when fish are aggressive in semi-thick to sparse cover. Walking frogs prevail in thick cover or when fish are a little finicky. Spintail frogs and buzz toads work best when targeting aggressive fish in open water and when needing to cover lots of water. And last but definitely not least, the right gear is paramount.
When trying to piece together the frogging puzzle, using every tool available just makes sense. Check out the video below to see yet another tool I use to help me put fish in the boat!
Other Good Resources:
Cliff Crochet's Bass University Seminar on Frogging
Crochet gives an hour of insight about his favorite way to fish.
Frogging Basics with Shaye Baker
A few more fish catches and some of the basics to keep in mind when frogging.
Beyond the Basics with Ish Monroe
Isn Monroe dives deep into how he fishes a frog.
Dean Rojas talks popping versus walking frog
Dean Rojas breaks down his setup and how he breaks down frog water.


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From John Bolton to Jeffrey Goldberg, commentators, journalists and policy movers have been trying to read the tea leaves on Iran's next nuclear move, Israel's potential response, and what it means for the rest of the world. Heritage analyst Peter Brookes lays out the facts of the case and a reasoned discussion of the looming fulfillment of Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Listen to Heritage in Focus: Peter Brookes on a Nuclear Iran here. To get regular updates on Heritage's weekly podcast, subscribe to our RSS feed or visit us on iTunes.
You can read Heritage's Iran research here.

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text: Place Phuket Aquarium, located at the end of Cape Panwa. The end of the road from Phuket Phangnga not much, and it takes approximately 30 minutes to arrive. You can travel by bus, "the second single" line Makham Bay & Aquarium Kata If coming by car, there are signs along the trail.


text:
Update on October 16, 2020: The boat launch will be closed for the winter as of Monday, October 19, 2020. Thank you for this great season and see you next year!
Update on July 8, 2020: The public dock at the Embrun Boat Launch is repaired and can be used safely again. Thank you for your cooperation.
Update on July 6, 2020: The public dock at the Embrun Boat Launch is broken and will be repaired tomorrow (Tuesday, July 7). The dock will remain closed for public use until then and South Nation Conservation will provide an update when repairs are finished.
Update on May 14, 2020: The boat launch will be opened to residents as of Saturday, May 16, 2020. Social distancing and gathering restrictions are still in effect.
Update from South Nation Conservatory on April 20, 2020: All of our gates are closed at river access sites, with attached signs in place. For more information, visit their website.
Open to all boaters between May and October.
1392 Notre Dame St, Embrun ON K0A 1W0
For more information, please contact us at 613 443-3066 or by email.


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PolitiFact.com is a project operated by the Tampa Bay Times, in which reporters and editors from the Times and affiliated media outlets "fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups".[2] They publish original statements and their evaluations on the PolitiFact.com website, and assign each a "Truth-O-Meter" rating. The ratings range from "True" for completely accurate statements to "Pants on Fire" (from the taunt "Liar, liar, pants on fire") for outright lies.
The site also includes an "Obameter", tracking President Barack Obama's performance with regard to his campaign promises, and a "GOP Pledge-O-Meter", which tracks promises made by House Republicans in their "Pledge to America". PolitiFact.com's local affiliates keep similar track of statements and figures of regional relevance, as evidenced by PolitiFact Tennessee's "Haslam-O-Meter" tracking Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam's efforts.[3]
PolitiFact has been both praised and criticized by independent observers, conservatives, and liberals alike. Conservative bias and liberal bias have been alleged, and criticisms have been made of attempts to fact-check statements that cannot be truly "fact-checked".
PolitiFact.com was started in August 2007 by Times Washington Bureau Chief Bill Adair, in conjunction with the Congressional Quarterly. Adair remains PolitiFact.com's editor.[4]
The Tampa Bay Times' senior reporter, Alex Leary, succeeded Bill Adair, as Bureau Chief, as of July 1, 2013. Bill Adair has been named, Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke University. http://today.duke.edu/2013/04/adair
In January 2010, PolitiFact.com expanded to its second newspaper, the Cox Enterprises-owned Austin American-Statesman in Austin, Texas; the feature, called PolitiFact Texas, covers issues that are relevant to Texas and the Austin area.
In March 2010, the Times and its partner newspaper, The Miami Herald, launched PolitiFact Florida, which focuses on Florida issues. The Times and the Herald share resources on some stories that relate to Florida.
Since then, PolitiFact.com expanded to other papers, such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Providence Journal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Plain Dealer, Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Knoxville News Sentinel and The Oregonian.
Since 2009, PolitiFact.com has declared one political statement from each year to be the "Lie of the Year".
In December 2009, they declared the Lie of the Year to be Sarah Palin's assertion that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 would lead to government "death panels" that dictated which types of patients would receive treatment.[5]
In December 2010, PolitiFact.com dubbed the Lie of the Year to be the contention among some opponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that it represented a "government takeover of healthcare". PolitiFact.com argued that this was not the case, since all health care and insurance would remain in the hands of private companies.[6]
PolitiFact's Lie of the Year for 2011 was a statement by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that a 2011 budget proposal by Congressman Paul Ryan, entitled The Path to Prosperity and voted for overwhelmingly by Republicans in the House and Senate, meant that "Republicans voted to end Medicare."[7] PolitiFact determined that, though the Republican plan would make significant changes to Medicare, it would not end it. PolitiFact had originally labeled nine similar statements as "false" or "pants on fire" since April 2011.[8]
For 2012, PolitiFact chose the claim made by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that President Obama "sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China" at the cost of American jobs.[9] (The "Italians" in the quote was a reference to Fiat, who had purchased a majority share of Chrysler in 2011 after a U.S. government bailout of Chrysler.)[10] PolitiFact had previously rated the claim "Pants on Fire" in October.[11] PolitiFact's assessment quoted a Chrysler spokesman who had said, "Jeep has no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China."[9]
PolitiFact.com was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2009 for "its fact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters."[12]
PolitiFact.com has faced criticisms and assertions of bias from political commentators across the political spectrum.
A Wall Street Journal editorial in December 2010 called PolitiFact "part of a larger journalistic trend that seeks to recast all political debates as matters of lies, misinformation and 'facts,' rather than differences of world view or principles."[13]
Mark Hemingway of The Weekly Standard criticized all fact-checking projects by news organizations, including PolitiFact, the Associated Press and the Washington Post, writing that they "aren't about checking facts so much as they are about a rearguard action to keep inconvenient truths out of the conversation."[14]
In December 2011, Northeastern University journalism professor Dan Kennedy wrote in the Huffington Post that the problem with fact-checking projects was "there are only a finite number of statements that can be subjected to thumbs-up/thumbs-down fact-checking."[15]
Matt Welch, in the February 2013 issue of Reason magazine, criticized PolitiFact and other media fact-checkers for focusing much more on statements by politicians about their opponents, rather than statements by politicians and government officials about their own policies, thus serving as "a check on the exercise of rhetoric" but not "a check on the exercise of power".[16]
University of Minnesota political science professor Eric Ostermeier did an analysis of 511 selected PolitiFact stories issued from January 2010 through January 2011. He said "PolitiFact has generally devoted an equal amount of time analyzing Republicans (191 statements, 50.4 percent) as they have Democrats (179 stories, 47.2 percent)..." Republican officeholders were considered by Politifact to have made substantially more "false" or "pants on fire" statements than their Democratic counterparts. Of 98 statements PolitiFact judged "false" or "pants on fire" from partisan political figures, 74 came from Republicans (76 percent) compared to 22 from Democrats (22 percent) during the selected period reviewed. Ostermeier concluded "By levying 23 Pants on Fire ratings to Republicans over the past year compared to just 4 to Democrats, it appears the sport of choice is game hunting - and the game is elephants."[17] A writer with the left-leaning magazine The Nation argued that findings like this are a reflection of "fact-checkers simply doing their job... Republicans today just happen to be more egregiously wrong...."[18] A writer with the right-leaning Human Events claimed that after looking at Politifact's work on a case by case basis a pattern emerged whereby Politifact critiqued straw man claims; that is, "dismissed the speaker's claim, made up a different claim and checked that instead." The conservative magazine noted Politifact's use of language such as "[although the speaker] used [a specific] phrase... in his claim, [it] could fairly be interpreted to mean [something more general that is false]..." Human Events cited Bryan White's PolitiFactBias blog to state that "from the end of that partnership [with the Congressional Quarterly] to the end of 2011, the national PolitiFact operation has issued 119 Pants on Fire ratings for Republican or conservative claims, and only 13 for liberal or Democratic claims."[19]
In October 2009, PolitiFact.com fact-checked a skit on the sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live that showed President Obama stating that he had not accomplished anything thus far;[20] PolitiFact's appraisal was then reported on CNN. Wall Street Journal writer James Taranto called the fact-checking "a bizarre exercise", and added, "PolitiFact does not appear to have done the same for past "SNL" sketches spoofing Republican politicians ... It's as if CNN and the St. Petersburg Times are trying to reinforce the impression that they are in the tank for Obama."[21]
In February 2010, PolitiFact.com rated President Obama's statement that the Recovery Act had saved or created 2 million jobs in the United States as "half true", stating that the real figure was 1 million according to several independent studies.[22] Economist Brian Riedl of the conservative Heritage Foundation responded that such a statement "belongs in an opinion editorial – not a fact check", since "there is no way to determine how the economy would have performed without a stimulus."[23]
In July 2010, Huffington Post blogger Ayo Adeyeye criticized them for labelling a statement by Arianna Huffington that the company Halliburton was "defraud[ing] the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars" as half-true, instead of fully true.[24]
Taranto of the Wall Street Journal said PolitiFact was "less seeker of truth than servant of power", after it ranked as "Lie of the Year" Sarah Palin's claim that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would lead to "death panels".[25][26] A Wall Street Journal editorial criticized the ruling, saying that the legislation would "convert insurers into government contractors in the business of fulfilling political demands... All citizens will be required to pay into this system, regardless of their individual needs or preferences. Sounds like a government takeover to us."[13]
In February 2011, Rachel Maddow criticized PolitiFact for incorrectly stating that she denied that there was a budget shortfall in Wisconsin, providing a clip of herself explicitly stating that "there is in fact a $137 million budget shortfall" on her own show.[27] However, Politifact responded by pointing that the Maddow edited the clip and did not include the full context, as she had originally stated "There is in fact a $137 million budget shortfall. Republican Gov. Scott Walker, coincidentally, has given away $140 million worth of business tax breaks since he came into office. Hey, wait. That's about exactly the size of the shortfall."[28] Maddow also claimed earlier in the broadcast that "despite what you may have heard about Wisconsin's finances, Wisconsin is on track to have a budget surplus this year."[28]
After Republican Ron Paul stated that in the U.S. Department of Defense "budget, they have changed the wording on the definition of al-Qaeda and Taliban. It's (now) anybody associated with (those) organizations, which means almost anybody can be loosely associated – so that makes all Americans vulnerable. And now we know that American citizens are vulnerable to assassination", PolitiFact concluded that Paul's statements were "mostly false". Author, blogger and civil rights litigator Glenn Greenwald, in the politically progressive Salon.com, criticized PolitiFact's determination: "It undermines its own credibility when it purports to resolve subjective disputes of political opinion under the guise of objective expertise", he wrote, saying that the sources it cited in this particular analysis were "highly biased, ideologically rigid establishment advocates" and presented "as some kind of neutral expert-arbiters of fact."[29][30]
In 2011, PolitiFact concluded that a statement by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that a budget proposal by Congressman Paul Ryan passed by Republicans in the House and Senate meant that "Republicans voted to end Medicare and charge seniors $12,000" was "pants on fire" false.[31] This conclusion was criticized at the time by Talking Points Memo[32] and left-wing blogs including the Daily Kos[33] and Firedoglake.[34] After it was named the Lie of the Year, the choice was criticized by commentators including Paul Krugman, who wrote that the DCCC statement was true and was chosen only because PolitiFact, having criticized conservatives in the two previous years, had "bent over backwards to appear 'balanced'";[35] Steve Benen, who called the decision "credibility-killing";[36] Jonathan Chait, who called PolitiFact a "shoddy, not-very-smart group";[37] and David Weigel.[38] The characterization was also criticized by conservative commentators, such as Taranto and Ramesh Ponnuru, who called the DCCC statement incorrect but a matter of opinion, not a lie.[39][40] PolitiFact noted that reader responses to their selection of this statement as the 2011 Lie of the Year were almost entirely negative, saying, "Of roughly 1,500 e-mails we received, nearly all criticized our choice."[41] PolitiFact responded to the flood of comments, saying "We've read the critiques and see nothing that changes our findings. We stand by our story and our conclusion that the claim was the most significant falsehood of 2011. We made no judgments on the merits of the Ryan plan; we just said that the characterization by the Democrats was false", and noted that competitors Factcheck.org and FactChecker came to similar conclusions.[42]
In January 2012, commentators such as Maddow and Daily Kos criticized PolitiFact for rating a statement in President Obama's State of the Union Address about private sector job growth as "Half True" despite acknowledging that the statement was factually correct. In response to the criticism, PolitiFact altered their rating to "Mostly True", which was criticized as still being inaccurate.[43][44] In the same speech, Obama stated that consumption of imported liquid fuel had dropped below fifty percent; PolitiFact called this "Half True",[45] since, despite its accuracy, it was falsely implying that this had happened due to Obama's actions. Maddow criticized this rating as well.[46]
On February 14, 2012, PolitiFact rated a statement by Senator Marco Rubio that the majority of Americans are conservative as "Mostly True", despite acknowledging that only 40% of Americans, not a majority, were conservative, according to a recent poll.[47] Maddow criticized this rating, saying that PolitiFact was "a disaster" and should shut down its operations.[48] Adair responded to this criticism by saying that 40% "wasn't quite a majority, but was close", and still represented a plurality. Politico and the Daily Kos both criticized this rebuttal, with the former saying that Adair had actually confirmed Maddow's point and the latter noting that in the past PolitiFact had made a clear distinction between plurality and majority when rating a similar statement by Congressman Ron Paul as "False".[49][50] On February 24, PolitFact revised their rating of Rubio's statement to "Half True".[47]
That month, PolitiFact also rated a statement by MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell, that critics of the G.I. Bill had "called it welfare", as "Mostly False", because they found no evidence that the word "welfare" had ever been used. Mediaite commentator Tommy Christopher criticized this, saying that "criticism of the bill was unquestionably in the spirit of modern welfare politics, and then some." Christopher also noted that PolitiFact reviewed only a limited sample of the contemporary criticism of the G.I. Bill, and said that what they did review "not only supports the spirit of O'Donnell's claim, it renders it an understatement."[51]
On March 16, 2012, Nashville Bureau Chief Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel wrote an article for PolitiFact Tennessee that gave a beer excise tax map graphic posted by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation a "False" rating for statements about Tennessee's tax burden on beer the graphic never claimed.[52][53] The same day, the Tax Foundation's Joseph Henchman countered in a blog post on the organization's website that PolitiFact should have rated the statement a "True but not comprehensive" and claiming "their author doesn't understand the difference between excise taxes and other taxes, or that our map looks at just one tax and is not a comprehensive look at the entire tax system of a state".[54] PolitiFact Tennessee published a revised ruling on March 20 rating the map "Half True", taking exception with the source of data used.[55]
On May 8, 2012, PolitiFact rated a claim by the anti-abortion National Right to Life Committee that the White House Visitors Office does security screening of the unborn babies of pregnant women visitors as "Mostly False". PolitiFact noted that the NRLC inaccurately described the policy, which was designed to accommodate babies expected to be born after registration but before the date of the White House tour.[56] Rachel Maddow criticized PolitiFact for rating the claim "Mostly False" instead of "False" after PolitiFact agreed that the claim "wildly misconstrued" White House policy. Maddow remarked, "You can get something, quote, wildly wrong, and still only be mostly wrong about it? What does it take to get a false rating on PolitiFact? False, as in you got it wrong." She had previously criticized PolitiFact in recent months for its errors in fact-checking, and predicted the death of the organization as a credible resource.[57]
In January 2013, writer Mark Hemingway of The Weekly Standard criticized PolitiFact's ruling, writing that Romney's claim had turned out to be true.[58] Hemingway cited the fact that Chrysler had announced that they would expand manufacturing of their low-end Jeep model, the Jeep Patriot, into China.[59] In response, a Politifact editorial posted by Bill Adair responded that "No, it doesn't." and pointed out that the Politifact judgement was in response to Romney's claim "that jobs in the United States were being moved to China, or perhaps that Jeep was moving its entire operations to China" and that Chrysler's announcement in 2013 still did not support this assertion since no jobs in America were being lost, and the "entire operation" as claimed by Romney was still not being moved to China. [60]
On May 5th, 2013, PolitFact rated a statement by retired tennis star and gay rights activist Martina Navratilova that there are 29 states in the United States in which a person can be fired for being gay as "Half True".[61] On May 7, Rachel Maddow sharply criticized this rating, noting that PolitiFact's own assessment found that there were in fact 29 states that do not prohibit such discrimination by employers. She dismissed PolitiFact's arguments that some cities within those 29 states offer protection to gay employees and that some employers voluntarily do not discriminate against homosexuals as immaterial to what Navratilova actually said.[62] The Daily Kos expressed similar objections, while also reiterating their criticism of some of PolitiFact's previous assessments.[63]
Global warming, Renewable energy, Sustainable development, Pollution, NOx
Socialism, Harry S. Truman, Publicly funded health care, Milton Friedman, United Kingdom
Socialism, Flint, Michigan, Canadian Bacon, University of Michigan–Flint, Palme d'Or
Republican Party (United States), Republican Party (US), John McCain, Howard Dean, Democratic Party (United States)
Mitt Romney, Richard Nixon, American Motors, Republican Party (United States), United States presidential election, 1964


text:
Watch Bryce Dallas Howard cry on command about Home Depot
By Neha Prakash
Two of Bryce Dallas Howard's many talents include genetically engineering dinosaurs and crying on command.
The Jurassic World actress stopped by Conan on Wednesday and proved the latter to be true, tearing up over O'Brien's musings on Home Depot.
If only Howard could have fought the dinosaurs with her crocodile tears.


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Boots boost for Laois jobs
THERE has been a jobs boost in retailing with confirmation that one of the highest profile high street chains is setting up in Portlaoise.
Boots has confirmed that it is to open in the Laois Shopping Centre Portlaoise this month. The chemist will officialy open its doors on September 21 and will employ a total of 24 people from the area.
There will be 12 full time and 12 part time jobs in the store which include pharmacists and shop assisitants. Almost all of the positions have already been filled and Boots hope to complete their recruitment process in the coming weeks. The Laois store will be the 64th Boots store in Ireland.
Managed by Laois Burns, the store will offer all the usual cosmetics and toiletries for men and women. Debbie Smith, managing director, Boots Ireland. said the company were delighted to be opening a store in Laois.
"We're delighted to be opening here and to be part of the exciting new Laois Shopping Centre, something which the town and people of Portlaoise have been eagerly anticipating for some time. We believe Boots will complement the existing retail offering in this thriving community and we are looking forward to offering our customers an extensive product range and excellent standards of customer care."
Kevin Doyle, Laois Shopping Centre Manager, commented,
"We are delighted to welcome Boots to Laois Shopping Centre. A key element of the redevelopment of the centre is to create an improved offer for our customers and enhance their overall shopping experience. The introduction of Boots will certainly do just that," he sid.
British variety store chain Poundland, trading as Dealz is also currently fitting out a new store in the shopping centre and should be opening later this month.
But a spokesperson for Harcourt Development said there was a number of other retailers in "advanced negotiations." She would not confirm if Cardphone Wharehouse is to open in the centre but it has advertised for positions at a new store in Portlaoise.
Meanwhile, Argos has also confirmed that it is recruiting staff for Christmas at its shops in Portlaoise and Tullamore.


text: On Tue, Aug 30, 2005 at 06:51:22AM +0900, Dave Burt wrote: > I think a MUD is a good newbie project. I would recommend starting writing > code. You will learn as you go, especially if you bounce ideas off more > experienced Rubyists. You could ask questions on this list. This way, you > avoid only half-owning the project. And you can rewrite it later, when you > figure out how you should have written it. I've done this a few times, in multiple languages. Highly recommended. Although I do have the benefit of working a lot on the PennMUSH engine. The only MUD-related project I've done in ruby that's still around is a 'bot' that connects to the mu* and players utilize online scripted commands to interact with its features. If anyone's up for making a ruby mud game for the heck of it, I'm up for being included. - Greg


text:
Marissa Alexander, the Florida woman who was arrested for firing a warning shot to ward off her abusive estranged husband, may now be looking at 60 years in prison because of a weird law that would add 20 years to each charge.
The Florida Times-Union is reporting that the Office of State Attorney Angela Corey will try to put Alexander in prison for what amounts to life.
Why? Because this is Florida, where it's totally cool to shoot and kill an unarmed black kid walking around with a bag of Skittles.
But totally NOT cool to fire a warning shot, harming no one, so that you don't get beat up by a serial domestic abuser. THAT'S WHERE WE DRAW THE LINE DOWN HERE.
See also: Florida Legislator Wants People to Be Allowed to Fire Warning Shots
Alexander is a 32-year-old African-American mother of three who was sentenced to 20 years for firing a gun into the air to ward off her abusive husband.
She tried to use the Stand Your Ground law to defend herself. Hell, it worked for George Zimmerman!
Her conviction was thrown out by an appeals court and a new trial is scheduled for July.
But now, if she's convicted again, the original 20-year sentence could be tripled.
The Alexander incident happened in her home back in August of 2010. She and her then-husband, Rico Gray -- who has a documented case of domestic abuse -- got into a heated dispute.
Frightened for her safety, Alexander fired a warning shot into the wall to ward him off.
Alexander then cited Stand Your Ground, which is probably the first time the law was actually used for what it was intended for -- to use force to protect oneself if a life-threatening situation arises.
But then something called the 10-20-Life law derailed her defense and a judge ruled that Alexander was not eligible to use Stand Your Ground as a defense because he saw her as the aggressor.
We're no forensic experts, but we're pretty sure shooting a wall is very much different from shooting a black kid carrying a bag of Skittles and an Arizona iced tea.
So, evidently those defense rules apply only to a dude who attacks and shoots an unarmed teen boy even after the cops ordered that dude to stand down, and does not so much apply to a frightened mother who shot at a wall because she was trying to protect herself and her sons from an admittedly abusive husband who was ordered by a court to stay away from her.
And so, as Alexander waits to see if she's going to get screwed by Florida's assbackward gun laws, the 2014 legislative session will be revisiting Stand Your Ground and other gun legislation.
A bill that was brought up last year is looking to make it OK to fire warning shots to protect oneself. It would, in theory, save a person from the state's "10-20-Life" law if that person shows the gun or fires a warning shot to detract an attacker.
Of course, those who oppose the bill argue that this will just give people excuse to fire off guns willy-nilly and claim that it was a warning shot. Much like with Stand Your Ground, it's a law that could inevitably lead to abuse.
But as we who live in the Sunshine State know all too well, it doesn't matter what the law says or does. Someone, somewhere, is going to get shot for no real reason, and then the shooter will try to hide behind Florida's ridiculously loophole-riddled laws.
Like this ridiculousness.
The problem isn't so much with the Legislature (although, it is). This dipshittery starts with the fact that Florida loves the crap out of its guns.
People in Florida are really in love with the Second Amendment. But since you can't marry an amendment, the next logical thing to do is abuse the shit out of it and get yourself a piece of paper that says it's totally cool to walk around Winn-Dixie with a hand cannon hidden inside your pants.
Just last year, Florida was found to have the most concealed permits in the U.S. -- more than a million and counting.
And by the end of last year, around 800,000 background checks for guns were conducted in Florida.
Hey, it's not like Florida gun deaths are a thing that happens a lot or anything.
Oh, but if gun laws were stricter, Marissa Alexander might not have had that gun to protect herself from her abusive husband, you might say.
That's probably true.
But here's the bottom line: If you're going to carry and fire a gun in Florida, you're better off not being black.
Otherwise, you're royally screwed.
At the very least, let's hope Florida gets the Alexander case right and let's her walk.
Send your story tips to the author, Chris Joseph. Follow Chris Joseph on Twitter
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text: Badminton Horse Trials 2016Posted May 12, 2016 & filed under General News. After a fantastic result for Allercombe Ellie here are a few pictures of her story of Badminton 2016. Allercombe Ellie Interview after the dressage. Allercombe Ellie Izzy Taylor and Guy Prest Izzy Taylor and KBIS Briarlands Matilda Anna Mildner - Groom of the week Izzy Taylor and Allercombe Ellie Izzy Taylor and Allercombe Ellie Final vet check before the jumping. Allercombe Ellie 8th at Badminton Horse Trials 10791 false false false false true false false auto false ease-in-out 300 false 0 true false Previous (Left arrow key) Next (Right arrow key) %curr% of %total%KBIS Briarlands Matilda was going great but it was not her Badminton and we decided to call it day.


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Reflections as a Research Assistant for the Unified Parenting Project (UPP)
In January 2018, I accepted the position as a research assistant (RA) for Dr. Gee's Diverse Family Relationships Lab; this lab is currently conducting the Unified Parenting Project (UPP). UPP specifically looks at father involvement and ways to improve communication between parents. This project is unique because we interview low-income parents who have different ethnic backgrounds. My role as a research assistant in Dr. Gee's lab includes attending weekly meetings, conducting interviews with participants, and holding lab hours. At the weekly meetings, everyone in the lab discusses interviews of the previous week. Interviews consist of at least two research assistants meeting a participant in different parts of DC to gather their responses and attitudes towards a multitude of measures, like child behavior problems and expectations of their co-parent. At lab hours, I call participants to schedule interviews, transcribe interviews, and look for potential recruitment sites.
This research experience has truly given me an "only at GW" experience. Most undergraduate students stay on-campus at their universities, and rarely go outside their university "bubble." The Unified Parenting Project seeks participants from the greater DC metropolitan area, so I have the opportunity to go to different parts of Washington DC on a weekly basis. This experience is unique because I get to interact with individuals who have differing socio-economic statuses (SES), many of whom are ethnic minorities. Their responses have opened my eyes about the ways external factors influence behaviors.
In addition to providing me with the opportunity to be immersed in the greater DC metropolitan area, Dr. Gee's lab allows its research assistants to use the data from UPP for other research. For instance, I was very interested in parenting styles and possible mediating factors between co-parenting quality and child behavior problems. I talked to Dr. Gee and several of her Ph.D. students about my interest, and they suggested that I use the data from UPP to further investigate this topic. I am working on this poster with two other research assistants, and we recently submitted our abstract to GW Research Days.
My current career goal is to get a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and become a practicing psychologist. This research experience will show prospective graduate schools that I am motivated in psychology and that I am competent in conducting research and analyzing data. In addition, this research experience gave me insight into how people of different ethnic backgrounds or different socio-economic statuses think about certain topics. I learned from hearing participants' responses from interviews that discrimination still affects people; this knowledge will allow me to understand others more, as I am aware of some of the daily battles people fight every day.
The Unified Parenting Project has taught me how to code, cold-call potential participants or recruitment sites, conduct research in an ethical manner, and how to use my passion for psychology as a motivator to go beyond what is required. When I used UPP data to conduct my own research, I was taught how to code and re-code variables, and how to run analyses to discover correlations between variables. Not only did this research experience teach me how to interview participants, but this experience also taught me how to analyze the data I collected; I can use this knowledge to conduct future research. In addition, I learned how to conduct research in an ethical manner; now that I know how to conduct research in an ethical manner, I am able to conduct future research without unintentionally harming future participants. Finally, Dr. Gee's lab is unique while there is a minimum number of hours that each research assistant is required to work each week, Dr. Gee encourages students to exceed these hours and pursue personal research interests in her lab. As a result, I learned that if I wanted to become more involved, I must take initiative.
The aforementioned skills, coupled with an "only at GW" experience, has helped me grow as a person, as a student, and as a researcher. I am surrounded by fellow research assistants who are motivated and supportive. I am proud to be a research assistant for Dr. Gee's Unified Parenting Project because it has provided me with valuable skills while opening my eyes to perspectives I wouldn't otherwise see.


text:
More than 15 years after the release of her album 'Oops!…I Did It Again', Britney Spears has recreated the famous cover with her two sons while hanging out at Disneyland over the July 4 weekend.
The 33-year-old pop star struck a pose with her boys Sean Preston, 9, and Jayden James, 8, to recreate the shot.
She posted the cute snap on Instagram with the caption, "The boys and I doing our best #Oops album cover pose!"
Take a look -
She also posted another adorable photo from her Disneyland adventure with her boys wearing Mini Mouse ears. Awwwww -


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Phelps Dunbar offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package and strives to meet the needs of a diverse group of employees by offering a wide range of standard and optional benefits. Eligibility for each benefit is based on employment status as a regular, full-time or part-time employee, and, in some cases, length of service.
Benefits available include: health, dental and vision coverage; life insurance; long and short term disability; flexible spending accounts; generous paid time-off programs; an Employee Assistance Program (EAP); and a 401(k) savings and retirement plan.


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CHICAGO – The University of Chicago men's basketball team outscored Illinois Wesleyan University 40-24 in the second half of Monday night's home contest, using a 10-0 run out of halftime to pull away for the 74-57 win.
The No. 22-ranked Maroons (7-2 record) are riding a six-game winning streak and now own a 3-1 record against teams from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). The Titans dropped to 4-4.
UChicago came with a balanced offensive attack that featured four starters who scored in double digits. Senior forward Alex Voss sizzled from the opening tip, leading the Maroons with 18 points while shooting 4 of 8 from behind the arc. In addition, junior forward Waller Perez and junior guard Tyler Howard chipped in 15 apiece for the Maroons. The home team shut down the Titans' leading scorer senior guard Bryce Dolan, holding the 17 points-per-game scorer to seven largely behind the defense of Howard, who harassed the marksman all evening. IWU junior forward Trevor Seibring led all scorers with 20.
Hailing from downstate Bloomington – 134 miles away – the visitors showed up in force with a large contingent of fans of all ages donning Illinois Wesleyan green. After two early points from Perez to open the game's scoring, the Titans silenced the home crowd with a quick 14-0 run. UChicago's coaching staff called upon bench contributors early to inject life into the proceedings. Head Coach Mike McGrath mixed and matched, employing combinations to get his squad back in the game.
After falling behind 14-2, UChicago went on a 10-point run of their own to cut the deficit to 14-12. For much of the first half, it was back and forth. The Maroons took a 27-25 lead on a Voss three-pointer with 4:37 left in the first half. The home team carried a 34-33 lead into the half after the Titans were unable to convert on a buzzer-beating heave.
Senior guard Jordan Smith opened the second half scoring for the Maroons with a three-point field goal. He chipped in 10 points on the evening. One minute later, Voss added a three of his own. One Howard layup and a Voss jump shot later, the Maroons were in business with a 44-33 advantage. They didn't look back. With just north of 13 minutes left, junior forward Blaine Crawford splashed a jump hook in for two, giving the Maroons a 48-37 lead. They would not allow the visitors to cut the margin to single digits again, rolling to a 17-point win.
Half of UChicago's shots came from three-point range as the team made 11 of 29 attempts against IWU's zone defense. The 11 treys tied the team's single-game season high. Inside the arc, the Maroons shot an efficient 55 percent. UChicago stayed active on the boards and led in rebounding 37-29. The two teams combined for 24 turnovers.
UChicago Team Stats & Leaders
Field-goal Percentage – 46.6 percent (27-58)
Three-point Percentage – 37.9 percent (11-29)
Free-throw Percentage – 90.0 percent (9-10)
Alex Voss (Forward, Sr.) – 18 points, 5 rebounds
Tyler Howard (Guard, Jr.) – 15 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds
Waller Perez (Forward, Jr.) – 15 points, 5 rebounds
IWU Team Stats & Leaders
Field-goal Percentage – 39.3 percent (22-56)
Three-point Percentage – 31.3 percent (5-16)
Free-throw Percentage – 80.0 percent (8-10)
Trevor Seibring – 20 points, 7 rebounds
- Saturday, December 19 – UChicago at Albion College, 3 PM (ET)


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Fred Andrews 1-A - Order of Disposition, November 13, 2009
Order of Disposition, November 13, 2009
In the Matter of the Integration of Interests Pursuant
to Environmental Conservation Law ("ECL")
23-0901(3) within an Individual Spacing Unit
Known as,
DEC Order No. DMN 09-45
Appearances of Counsel:
-- Alison H. Crocker, Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel (Michael S. Caruso of counsel), for staff of the Department of Environmental Conservation
-- Nixon Peabody LLP (Ruth E. Leistensnider of counsel), for well operator Fortuna Energy Inc.
-- Lipman & Biltekoff, LLP (Michael P. Joy of counsel), for Austin Exploration, LLC, Cook Investments, and Epsilon Energy USA, Inc.
-- Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP (Robert H. Wedlake of counsel), for Northeast Energy Development, LLC, and Buck Mountain Associates, Inc.
Staff of the Department of Environmental Conservation ("Department") issued a well permit to drill the Fred Andrews 1-A natural gas well on April 29, 2005. The well is located in the Town of Big Flats, Chemung County. The well's target natural gas bearing formation is the Trenton/Black River ("TBR"). The well operator is Fortuna Energy Inc.
A spacing and compulsory integration order addressing TBR mineral interests was issued by the Department on September 8, 2006. That order was vacated by interim decision of the Commissioner dated January 7, 2009, and the matter was remanded to the presiding Chief Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") for proceedings under Environmental Conservation Law ("ECL") article 23, as amended in 2005.
A superseding spacing order for the unit was issued on May 1, 2009. Because one or more owners in the Fred Andrews 1-A unit had not entered into a voluntary agreement with the well operator Fortuna Energy Inc., the Fred Andrews 1-A unit was not one-hundred percent controlled. Accordingly, a compulsory integration hearing was required to receive the elections of the uncontrolled owners in the unit (see ECL 23-0901[3][b]).
The compulsory integration hearing was duly noticed and convened on July 1, 2009, the undersigned Chief ALJ presiding. At the hearing, Austin Exploration, LLC, Cook Investments, Epsilon Energy USA, Inc., Buck Mountain Associates Inc., and Northeast Energy Development LLC filed timely elections to participate in the Fred Andrews 1-A well as integrated participating owners ("IPOs") (see ECL 23-0901[3][a][2]).
The IPOs raised objections to the draft integration order (see Draft Integration Order No. DMN 09-45, Exh DMN 1), which I determined to be substantive and significant. Accordingly, I referred the matter to the Department's Office of Hearings and Mediation Services ("OHMS") for adjudicatory proceedings under part 624 of title 6 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York ("6 NYCRR") (see ECL 23-0901[3][d]).
After referral, but prior to the commencement of proceedings under part 624, Fortuna, Department staff and the objecting IPOs executed a stipulation effective September 30, 2009, stating that all objections raised by the parties have been resolved and that no issues remain for adjudication. Accordingly, the stipulation requests that the matter be remanded to Department staff for issuance of a final order of integration as set forth in the stipulation. Fortuna filed the stipulation with the ALJ on November 12, 2009.
Order of Disposition
Consistent with Organization and Delegation Memorandum 94-13 (Effect of Stipulations on Decision-Making in Permit and Enforcement Hearings), the parties to this proceeding have resolved all issues by stipulation and submitted a signed statement to that effect with the assigned ALJ (see 6 NYCRR 624.13[d]). Accordingly, the matter is hereby remanded to Department staff for issuance of a final order of integration consistent with the stipulation. The hearing record in this matter is hereby closed.
James T. McClymonds
Chief Administrative Law Judge
Signed: November 13, 2009
Albany, New York
TO: Service List


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Beneath The Roses Life Cycle Stack Rings
$39.00 (Free shipping)
Australian jewelry designer Beneath The Roses are known for flirting with our dark sides, while keeping an edgy and classy look. The Life Cycle Stack Rings by Beneath The Roses are designed in a pack of four rings, each symbolising stages in our lives. With a mix of bronze and white bronze finishing, the rings perfectly complement each other, creating a strong overall visual impression. Wear them in a stack together, or spread them between both hands.
Product description:
- Pack of 4 rings
- Base metal alloy
- Bronze and white bronze finish
- Unisex
- Free shipping
Size guide:
- XS: 17.5mm inner diameter
- S: 19.5mm inner diameter
- M: 20.8mm inner diameter


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This estimate is based on:
Actual delivery times may vary.
Have shipping questions? Contact the seller
Offered for sale is an excellent condition Palm LifeDrive Handheld, with a brand new battery & screen professionally installed! We've also installed an amazing 32GB flash drive upgrade that makes the LifeDrive 3 times faster and much more reliable. The flash drive is a major improvement to this model: The original Palm "MicroDrive" was slower and had moving parts which made the unit more prone to failure, but we have replaced it with a super-fast flash drive that has no moving parts - giving you a handheld that not only works better but is built to last.
All of our PDA devices are inspected and repaired by a professional Palm PDA technician so you can be sure you are receiving a quality product.
Why buy an old aftermarket LifeDrive with an old battery and parts, when instead you can spend the same money on a unit built to last, with a brand new battery & a new screen and a brand new flash drive?
This PDA also includes a 90 day warranty and ships direct from the USA!
Included with this sale is:
LifeDrive PDA w/ 32GB Flash Upgrade Stylus USB Sync Cradle US AC Adapter(or International AC available on request)
This PDA is in excellent condition, including:
Perfect working condition (rebuilt to factory specifications). Brand new screen and battery installed! Casing might have some minor scratches (if any) but that would be strictly cosmetic.
Operating System: Palm OS 5.4 (Version 18.104.22.168.23) Display: 3.8" 320 x 480 color transflective TFT, 65536 scales CPU: 416MHz Intel XScale PXA270 Onboard Memory: 32MB RAM, 16MB ROM, 4GB Storage Expansion Slots: MMC, SD, SDIO Wireless: 802.11b Audio: Mono Microphone, Mono Loudspeakers, 3.5mm Audio Output Camera: None Battery: 1660mAh built-in Input Controls: Touchscreen, 5-way Directional Pad Dimensions & Weight: 73 x 121 x 19 millimetres, 193 grams (battery included) Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.1 , 802.11b WiFi, USB 2.0 client 12Mbit/s, Infrared 115200bit/s (SIR/CIR), Serial RS-232
We strongly suspect that some other sellers are selling used palm devices with old batteries while claiming they have "new batteries" - since it's pretty hard for customers to know if a battery is new or not as long as the device appears to work. Keep in mind that a new high quality battery costs $25 alone, so if a price is too good to be true it probably is.
Syncpedia has been selling professionally refurbished devices for many years and 100% guarantees that all devices include new fresh batteries as advertised!
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions, and thanks for your support!
Syncpedia has sold thousands of electronics products & accessories like this item. We ship fast and strive to make your shopping experience flawless, so purchase with confidence! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
We know you want your item fast, so we ship it fast! We are standing by ready to process your order.
We always strive to ship orders as quickly as possible and to make your transaction fast and easy.
We know you want to know your order status so we: Upload tracking information quickly & respond rapidly to questions. We won't keep you waiting!
Syncpedia is a US Company and ships direct from the USA. We ship fast and strive to make your shopping experience flawless.
Not only will you receive your order faster because we are located closer to you, but also we maintain high quality standards in the products we sell & you can feel good about supporting a growing US business.
Please note the following listing policies govern the sale and your purchase acknowledges your agreement of this policy:
Return Policy: We offer 100% full refunds or exchanges (if the product is still available) during a 14 day minimum window from the buyer receiving the product according to tracking, unless longer is specified on this specific listing page. Please note return shipping costs are the sole responsibility of the buyer and we can not refund until we have received the product back. If you need to return a product just contact us, we are friendly and will process it professionally.
Delivery & Lost Packages: Syncpedia accepts responsibility of packages lost in transit and will refund 100% if we have determined the package is lost. However, packages that show the status delivered in the form of delivery confirmation or signature confirmation will not be refunded until returned to Syncpedia. We also reserve the right to ship any order with signature confirmation at our discretion.
No Liability: While we always try to sell quality products, please note that Syncpedia is a retailer but not a manufacturer of mobile products. As such we can not accept any liability for manufacturer defects beyond a full refund and can not accept any damage claims from such defects beyond a full refund.
Feel free to contact us with any questions and we look forward to serving you! Thanks for your support.


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Arkiv for mars 2015
…Baby one more time
Det var med stor glede, og en god dose nostalgi. At jeg endelig har fått mine hender på, en flaske av min ultimate favoritt parfyme. Som jeg brukte sikkert 10 flasker av når jeg var 13-15år.
Nemlig Britney Spears første parfyme, «Curious».
Fra de søte hoved notene, til den vakre blå flasken.
Det hele tar meg tilbake til skolebenken på ungdomskolen.
Med naglebelte hengende fra hoftene, oppklipt hår og forelskelser på gutter som var et lite stykke «bad News».
Ahh, the memories :D
Hva er deres favoritt parfyme?
#DearMe: A Letter to my younger self <3
Dear Katarina.
How are you? Are you doing ok?
I know things are too much for you, right now.
And, I know there's a lot of thoughts running through your head like Fireballs. Your mind is working on overdrive every single day. I know.
You're tired. You're angry. You're sad. You're trying. You're failing. You're broken.
So many things in your life is unfair. Cruel, difficult and it's starting to take a real toll on you.
It's not ok…but you will be.
I know you think you can controll the world by the touch of your hands.
That you can keep the whole world you depend on, safe. If you just sleep with one eye open.
And never let anyone close enough to hurt you.
This sort of thinking, will set itself deep inside your body, and will be the doubting voice inside your head, for years to come.
It will be the thoughest war you'll fight. But trust me, little darling.
It will make you so much stronger, than you ever could dream of being.
It will feel like it's going to kill you. And to be honest….it almost will.
But you will stand up and fight, against the voices and doubt inside your mind.
Just like you've always been told to. Cause Mama didn't raise no quiter.
Your thought pattern will turn into a dissorder and you will feel like it's the end of the world.
It's not.
You will find the strength inside of you, to find the silver lining in it all. And will use your pain, your sleepless nights and your fighter spirit. To help others, and to be a rolemodel for the ones around you.
You feel like everyone is against you, and that school will end up killing you.
It's bad. It's useless. And you feel like no matter how loud you scream on the inside of those four walls. No one in there will ever care enough to look up.
You feel like you're talking to empty walls, and that no one will ever understand what its like for you. To be called names, to have your things stolen. To have your books flying across the classroom or to be shoved into a wall. What it's like to be called fat, EVERYDAY, and to feel sick to your stomach every single morning. Even on the weekends. Because you know whats coming.
It's bad.
And it will stay in your mind, for a long time after you leave those school walls behind.
But it will turn you into a fighter. It will make you into an honest and thickskinned woman with an attitude. You will one day be able to say «fuck you», to all the ones that now feel like they're going to kill you with their words.
You will prove to them, to yourself and to the world. That what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger, in the end.
Listen to your mothers words. «Don't get mad. Get even!».
Because those words will keep your heart strong, and will be the words you use to keep your cool, when things become too much.
You will prove to them one day, that a quite little girl can become a powerful voice…all on her own.
Stick with it, stick up for yourself, and don't give up, little one.
You'll make it out alive and you will find a way to inspire the world around you.
The school that almost killed you, will need you later on. For things you could never see coming. So keep your head up, smile and laugh at the ones who are dumb enough to pick on, a girl like you.
When they call you, a poor mans daughter and askes you how you could afford that car.
Turn the other cheek. And be glad for your «humble» beginings in life.
Be thankful, that you know what it's like to have close to nothing.
Because it will turn out to give you lessons, you'll need more than anything.
It will make you feel humble, when life finally gives you some lemonade.
And will have you thanking god, for letting you have the things you have.
You feel like you need to be like everyone else. Have to have the latest designer bag.
Those new shoes at the mall, or the new powder that they all keep talking about.
I know why you feel it. I know they keep making you think, that if you had all of those things. You would finally be a part of their group.
You wouldn't.
And to be honest. You're better off anyway.
Being popular doesn't make you a better person. It doesnt even make you a good person to start with.
Being a part of their click, isn't the place for you. Not because you're not worth it. But because you're better than that.
You're ment to do something more, than just be the promqueen and the coolest girl in the schoolyard.
I know you want to walk around like you own the school. Just like they do.
So get up from the concrete, push your nose up to the sky, and walk around that schoolyard like its the catwalk in Milano.
You deserve just as much as she does to walk around like that.
Designer purse or not. Who the fuck cares?!.
Be proud of yourself.
Even if you don't wear size 0 and don't have your Daddy's money to depend on.
Don't be so afraid to be yourself and to make a fool out of yourself.
You'll thank me later.
Trust me, It's not the end of the world, if someone sees you fall over. Or if someone hears what you're saying to your bestfriend.
Speak up and be proud of the words in your mind.
One day, they will save lives.
Music is your escape. Your safeplace and the only friend, in the times where you feel the most alone.
Keep it close to you, cause it will end up saving your life.
On that lonely fucked up September day, a few years from now. Where you're so close to the edge, you can feel the ocean underneath you, pull you in. The words to a song, will pull you back up on the cliff and keep you safe. It will make you find the spirit, that you thought you lost at 13. You will rise up, like a skyscraper.
The ones you think are your friends now. Will not always be there…
Even though you feel like they're your world…things will change. You will change.
And some will grow up to hurt you. Even if you've given them your entire world.
I know that hurts you to hear.
But don't you worry. You will find friends, that are better than what any teenage drama, could ever throw you.
You will find friends, that will give up all they have, just to hold your hand, when you need them the most. And that will be your rock, when you're shaking to the core.
They will guide you through the dark and will never ever judge you, even when the rest of the world won't hasitate to do so.
Remember, Just because you say, «Bestfriends Forever» doesn't mean «till death do us part».
But you will find someone that will keep a hold on your heart. And that will be the twin sister you never got.
All you have to do is look over to the other side of that filled up schoolyard.
And most of all, little me.
Never lose the one you are… cause you….. You're pretty damn great.
Be proud of what makes you different and never let anyone judge you for having dreams.
For fighing for yourself and your beliefs. Or for being your mothers daughter.
You will go on, to do some amazing things. Meet some wonderful people, that will make you glad you didn't give up.
And most of all. You'll write a story, you never could have imagined.
You will become a protective big sister. A beyond proud aunt, and an even prouder daughter, than you are now.
You will get to see your favorite bands, climb the mountains in your mind, and write pieces that will move the world.
You will change the world, one photo at a time. And you will show everyone, that with a creative mind, nothing is too far out of reach.
I know you think, that you can't do this.
But trust me.. you can! and you will!
I believe in you, little me.
Now, you start believing in yourself….
Go out there, and show 'em what you're made of!
You can do this!