Iraqi Forces Discover Priceless Smuggled Treasure

At the Fayette Front Page and Georgia Front Page we receive a lot of really good stories that we'd love to include but just can't find the right place. The following story is one that I thought was really interesting but it doesn't quite "fit" anywhere on the main sites. I wish we could include every good story that comes our way, especially those about our military. Despite all the lip service about loving our troops, the press sure doesn't like to include any stories that paint them in a good light... It drives me nuts to hear the words coming out of SOME people's mouths about supporting out troops. Words have absolutely no meaning unless they're backed up by action. OK, before I get too far afield and really start going down the trash-the-media-path, I'll just post the story and let you read.

Iraqi Security Forces recently uncovered hundreds of historical artifacts during two raids in northern Basra.

The 228 ancient artifacts included Sumerian and Babylonian sculpture, gold jewelry and other items from ancient Mesopotamia.

"This is my favorite item," said Iraqi Col. Ali Sabah, commander of the Basra Emergency Battalion that led the operation, holding a piece of gold jewelry. "It's gold from the Babylon ages and about 6,000 years old. It doesn't have a price."

"I'm very happy because this is my civilization's heritage," he said.

The Basra Emergency Battalion led raid operated from tips that smugglers intended to remove the treasure from the country.

"We got information that there were important Iraqi monuments that were going to be smuggled outside of Iraq," Sabah said.

After verifying a tip, the operation kicked off with a house raid that recovered 160 pieces of Iraqi monuments that were found in the yard. "We arrested five of the guys and they admitted to the crime," he said.

These arrests led to a second raid on in al-Ayaqub in northern Basra.

The monuments were found in a box in a corner of the yard covered with blocks. "We knew what we were looking for because we had pictures," Sabah said

"We will send it back to Baghdad via the Ministry of Defense to action moving it to the Iraqi Museum," he said.

Sabah said he hopes Iraqi authorities will get more information of this kind. "The soldiers are very, very proud to conduct this operation," he said. "I can't describe how happy we were when the soldiers found it.

"Each of the soldiers will be very proud when they visit the museum with their families and their wives and they can say 'I brought it back'."

(Special to American Forces Press Service - Multi-National Division South East PAO)
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The Procrastinator's Free Shipping Day

Don't you love the retail mind? "They" spend so much time and money trying to figure out how we think and how we shop! Do you know there are people who specialize in setting up store aisles just to entice you to buy? They study how you look around as you walk the aisles, what grabs your attention, when you're most likely to grab that spontaneous item that wasn't on your list and more.

They've figured out which music will have you buy more... which is something many of our fast food restaurants and smaller retail stores should study! I'm going off on a side tangent here, but it one of my pet peeves to walk into a store that caters to me with its merchandise, but caters to those working the store with the choice of music. Sure, they have to be there all day, but I'm the one buying the stuff that pays their salary. Many restaurants and stores have forgotten their customers... but as said, I'm off on a tangent.

The "retail brains" have come up with something that is right up my alley. It's perfect for procrastinators like yours truly. I am famous for doing all, and I mean all, of my Christmas shopping Christmas Eve (and after if I know I'm not going to see someone on "the" day). I am not as bad as one lady I talked with who did her shopping at the local drug store Christmas Eve because she missed the regular store closings... but I'm bad.

A large group of stores have banded together to offer FREE shipping on December 18th. That's about as close as you can cut it before Christmas if you're expecting to get those gifts wrapped in time to go under the Christmas tree.

I'll tell you from personal experience though, that even with free shipping and guaranteed delivery dates, things can fall through the cracks. Last year I ordered a group of items from Amazon. I received confirmation on the order, then a few days later a shipping notice on some of the items. I waited a day, then called to verify that the other things were going to make it. They looked it up and assured me they had been shipped with the other items, just later in the afternoon. They said it must have been an email glitch. I went out to try and track them a day or so later, couldn't be found. Long story, but after four or five calls, Christmas Day rolled around and I still didn't have part of the presents.

I called. I wrote. I got so fed up I swore I'd never shop Amazon again (and I won't). They were rude on my second call and it got progressively worse, even though I was very nice and patient until a few days before Christmas. If they'd told me the truth or taken the time to really investigate when I called I could have picked up the items in the store. I had two very disappointed little girls on Christmas day.

So. Order early. Track well. Cancel fast. And whatever you do, don't wait until Christmas Eve to hit the drug stores for gifts .

December 18 is Free Shipping Day, a first-of-its-kind event designed for holiday shopping procrastinators

Holiday shopping procrastinators now have a day designed especially for them. The inaugural Free Shipping Day (www.freeshippingday.com) - which is set for December 18, 2008, and will be an annual event - is a reward for people who wait until the last minute to cross those final gifts off their list.

On Free Shipping Day participating merchants give free shipping to online shoppers with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve.

Retailers have embraced the idea, which was hatched by Luke Knowles, founder of FreeShipping.org (www.freeshipping.org), a one-stop destination for consumers to find online retailers that offer free shipping deals. Participating merchants include brands like Amazon.com, Bloomingdale’s, Brookstone, Circuit City, Coldwater Creek, Crate & Barrel, Endless.com, Nordstrom, Sur La Table, Target and Zappos.

Black Friday, which is the frenetic time when consumers descend upon stores the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, which commemorates the Monday after Thanksgiving when people return to their offices and surf the Internet for deals, are now a part of American pop culture. Knowles believes it is natural that Free Shipping Day will also become part of our nation’s holiday shopping vocabulary.

“Simply put, Free Shipping Day is the last chance for many people to buy gifts and get them delivered to the intended recipient in a nick of time,” Knowles explained. “We are a nation of procrastinators, so I think that Free Shipping Day will become a popular annual event.”

There is also a need among retailers for an event like Free Shipping Day, Knowles believes.
“Numbers show that online shopping dramatically slows after December 12th. Free Shipping Day will encourage people to continue buying items online later into the month of December,” Knowles said. “Free Shipping Day has the potential to increase pre- Christmas online sales by hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years.”

Next year’s Free Shipping Day will be selected in January 2009, Knowles says. There is no cost for retailers or shoppers to participate.

“Every year, we will consult with participating retailers to determine the latest possible day in the Christmas shopping season that they can offer free shipping and guarantee delivery by December 24th,” Knowles said. “Free Shipping Day will typically fall somewhere between December 17th and 19th.”
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Interesting Info on Adoptions

Some of this information is kind of interesting... it's old in the scheme of things, not sure why it came out now and why there isn't any more current data, but here it is:

New Report Provides Demographic Profile of Adoptive Parents

Men aged 18-44 years are more than twice as likely as women of the same age group to have adopted a child, according to a new report released today by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). As of 2002, more than 1.2 million men and 613,000 women had adopted children.

The data come from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. The report offers a demographic profile of those who adopt - the percentage of men and women who have ever adopted a child and the number of children they adopted. Though the report does not offer conclusive data as to why more men adopt than women, it may be due in part to men getting married and adopting their spouse's child or children from a previous relationship.

Some of the findings in the report include:

* Among ever-married persons, men were more than 2.5 times as likely as women to have adopted - 3.8 percent compared with 1.4 percent. Overall, 2.3 percent of all men had ever adopted a child.

* Over one in four women aged 40-44 who had ever used infertility services had adopted a child.

* Though never-married adults aged 18-44 years were significantly less likely to have adopted a child compared with those who were currently married, approximately 100,000 never-married women and 73,000 never-married men had adopted a child.

* Hispanic and non-Hispanic black women were more likely to be currently seeking to adopt a child, compared with non-Hispanic white women.

"Adoption Experiences of Women and Men, and Demand for Children to Adopt by Women Ages 18-44 in the United States: Data from Cycle 6 (2002) of the National Survey of Family Growth" is available at www.cdc.gov/nchs.
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Cool Keyboard

I was in Staples the other day looking for a few things and came across the coolest computer keyboard. I HAVE to get one, although I managed to talk myself out of it that day somehow. They roll up. They're made of flexible silicon and get this, they're under $10 (just barely, but still, it's a GREAT price). They had some bright colors and black.

At $10 a pop it doesn't matter much if they only last a year, or six months, before the pressure on the keypad causes them to stop working! By then the novelty will have worn off anyway and we'll be on to another gimmicky gadget...

I imagine you can find these things elsewhere, definitely on-line somewhere I'm sure. I may get one just for the fun of it, or to keep as a backup in case my regular "hard" keyboard goes bad. I'm surprised I've managed to keep the ones I have going this long as I'm terrible when it comes to taking care of them. I eat at the computer, spill drinks on them and never clean them other than to occasionally shake the heck out of them upside-down to get the crumbs out.

My next purchase of a real keyboard, not the flex kind, will be a more ergonomic version that might help keep my borderline carpel tunnel at bay for a bit longer. Right now I'm wearing two magnetic bracelets and surprisingly, they actually work. I was shocked on that one. I'll have to share more about the bracelets later, gotta run and actually do some real work now!

- jmd
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Michael W. Smith Helps Southwest Christian Care

I did a quick write up about the event on The Art Snob (art reviews). Not my best writing, will try to do better! Thought you might want to read it though, www.artsnob.blogspot.com. Real quick, heading to Fernbank for their Dino Party Anniversary (there's a better title but I'm rushing and don't have time to look), go take a listen to The Giving on Michael W. Smith's Freedom CD. All instrumental, no words. Couple of my favorites from other CD's (with words ;-) if you want to hit YouTube to check 'em out are "Here I Am" and "Awesome God". Once you get started you'll travel around and listen to a few others I'd bet!

Will update you on my trek to Fernbank! If you're looking for something to do today, consider Fernbank. Great anniversary event from 10 - 2 p.m. today with loads of stuff for kids.
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Michael W. Smith, Southwest Christian Care and The Clothes Less Traveled

I'm really looking forward to tonight! Micheal W. Smith is going to perform at the annual Southwest Christian Care benefit dinner and Greg (my husband) and I will be there.

There are so many happy notes to write about tonight that I have a hard time figuring out where to start!

Going to see Smith is a treat. I defy anyone to listen to My God is an Awesome God, or Here I Am, or any of his other songs without being moved. It doesn't matter whether you consider yourself a Christian or not, the words, the sentiments, the feelings, the music are gonna touch something if your heart is touchable. In other words, ya gotta have some pretty thick walls around those emotions if you don't feel something when he sings!

Southwest Christian Care is such a great group of people with hearts too big to fit inside that banquet hall! Day after day they minister to those who are looking at this big beautiful world for the last time. They do everything they can to make dying an easier passage regardless of a person's faith. As a friend of mine would say, they give feet to their prayers.

To wrap up what is already a twice-blessed evening, I will be sitting at one of the Clothes Less Traveled's tables. Just in case I haven't mentioned it before on this blog, I'm on the Board of the Clothes Less Traveled.

The Clothes Less Traveled is a thrift store ministry. I came full circle to sit on the Board. Years back when Joan Velsmid and others were putting the concept together they asked me to help with the name and the logo. I came up with a list of suggested names (with The Clothes Less Traveled being my favorite). They loved it and voila, a ministry was christened with its formal name.

The group has now been doing good works for just over ten years. Earlier this year I became a Board member. What a joy to be part of this group! I knew they were out there over the years, but had absolutely no idea how much they contributed to the local community. I won't go into detail, but I do hope you'll visit the website and check us out! www.ClothesLessTraveled.org.

So tonight I'm triple dipping! I'm going to try and get a few photos so I can share some highlights from the evening with you. I imagine I'll pop the info on our Music Matters blog, maybe the Helping Hands blog and definitely the Fayette Front Page. Hmmm... we have a brand new site, www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com. Maybe I'll do a music review... ah, just remembered our Art Snob blog which is supposed to be reviews of the arts... I guess I'm stuck, I'll have to make sure I write up something over the next few days, won't I?
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Charity Rambling

I know I've written about this before, just not sure which blog I chose when the topic wafted through my brain! If you've heard this one before you'll know by the fact that I'm repeating some of my thoughts that it's one that truly puzzles me!

Have you ever thought about all the fund raising that is done for charities across the country (and world if you want to take it that far)? In Fayette County alone it seems there's a charity event almost every day.

It's more than just the events that we read about in the Fayette Front Page and other local news venues, too.

Think about the kids in school who raise money for various causes as part of their club's mission. Or the jump rope and hoops events for the American Heart Association.

You get calls from save-the-this or cure-the-that groups wanting you to send money. Your best friend is "arrested" and needs money to get out of the charity jail. Jerry is on television raising money for the cure.

Then there's the local churches and their regular donations to good causes.

When I worked for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta it was inferred rather directly that if we wanted to move up the ladder we needed to make sure we gave to United Way. I didn't like the fact that my company was pretty much coercing me to have money deducted from my check if I wanted to move ahead, but being in management I had to set an example and there were a few local home-grown beneficiaries I could choose so I bit the bullet.

I could continue to list ways we're helping to cure and save until my keyboard died and still not touch on how many ways we give!

So, here's the bottom line: Why haven't we cured anything? Why aren't we making major strides in eradicating certain diseases? Why do we still have so many people in need?

If you think about it, giving to these groups is voluntary re-distribution of wealth (or in some cases, the needy giving to the more needy).

We talk about what would happen to our economy if we did away with the IRS (think long unemployment lines) or if our banks or airlines collapsed. Have you ever thought about what would happen if we cured cancer?

There goes how many jobs? Countless. It's not just the American Cancer Society that would go by the wayside. We'd lose umpteen thousand (million) other local agencies. Buildings would be empty and people would be out of jobs. All those research grants being doled out to colleges and companies across the states would dry up. The pharmaceutical companies would take a bit hit because so many drugs wouldn't be needed any longer. Hospital beds would be empty, doctors would have to look at other specialties, and companies who've specialized or depended on some equipment related to cancer cure / treatment would take a huge hit.

What if we all started eating healthy foods and diabetes and heart disease almost vanished? Yes, I know some is related to Agent Orange, heredity and other factors. But our diets stink these days and you know a lot of heart disease, cholesterol problems, strokes, diabetes and other diseases are a result of McDonald's instead of home-grown veggies. Another blog topic for another day!

I still give and I spend a large amount of my time trying to help local groups and charities. I believe we should all give and we should all help our fellow man (and woman ;-).

I will give to Christian City any time I can. You can see results, you can see the way they're helping so many live fruitful lives and giving kids a chance at a much better future. The Promise Place, the Joseph Sams School, the Fayette Youth Protection Home and other similar groups are wonderful agencies making a definite impact on the world. They fall into a completely different category than these large cure agencies.

Some days I see press releases totaling in the millions that have been raised to give to the American Diabetes Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and others. I am NOT saying they're not worthy, I used to be president of the local American Heart Association and know there are a lot of really great people working their tale ends off trying to make the world a better place.

However, when I think about the dollars that are being given on a local level to these nebulous agencies I have to wonder, has charity become big business?
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Death of Daytime Television

I know it's going to break the hearts of the millions who can't go through the day without Jerry Springer or Maury Povich, but it looks like the duo's favorite show topic is going to be passe' in the near future.

With the advent of the new mail-order DNA paternity test kits offered by Fruth Pharmacy, all those poor gals who can't figure out which one of the guys they've been hanging out with is the father of little junior will be able to figure it out without the help of Springer.

Rather than airing their dirty knickers on television, they can make the suspect daddies pay a small fee to get off the "you-pay" list.

Yeah, I know you're laughing if you've ever watched one of those shows. These DNA tests won't make a dent in the number of people who just can't wait to spend the night in the big city and get treated like king and queen for the day just to scream at each other in front of millions... I'm not really blond enough (and I really am blond) to think these cheap DNA tests are going to make a dent in Povich and Springer's line-up of women who can't figure out who fathered their child. Besides people don't really give a flip who the father is, they just like the yelling and screaming and fighting.

I do think the advent of reasonably priced mail-order DNA tests could lead to some really interesting stories though.

Picture this. John Edwards is comfortably snoring one night at whatever hotel he's hanging out at lately. He snorts, then swats at something tickling his mouth. Sleeping soundly, he rolls over and continues snoring.

What was it? His so-called-ex-girlfriend's little sister snuck in and quickly swabbed the inside of his mouth. She's already managed to swab Edward's maybe-maybe-not child's mouth the last time she stopped over to visit sis. Send the swabs off with a forged consent form and viola, a few weeks later the world knows who fathered the child. If sis, who has been pushing Edwards to take a paternity test, isn't brave enough to snitch a swab, you know some enterprising reporter will somehow find a way to get that q-tip in Edward's mouth!

These DNA tests could open up a whole new world of possibilities. Mom's making their daughter with the protruding belly's classmates line up for the test... (think huge lawsuits, too ;-)... New mouth-guards for sleeping dads who want to avoid being tested against their will... Women taking swabs for safekeeping prior to sleeping with guys... (bet that would cut down on casual encounters!). Parents requiring DNA tests from those wanting to date their daughter...

It has more applications than just finding out who's the dad of a hapless child. There are many children who wonder if they were adopted. DNA would answer the question if parents wouldn't tell (I'd think just the threat of a DNA test would open zipped mouths!).

What about those women who wonder if hubby is the father of their neighbor's child, or the secretary's child, or whoever? Have little Suzy or Johnnie over for cookies, get the swab and have what's needed to confront the philandering husband.

Taking this one just a bit further out on the limb of potential, will there come a day when we're all required to provide DNA? When babies DNA is harvested at birth (I believe DNA degrades after a period of time so, if that's true, technology would have to improve for long-term storage). Can you imagine having DNA for every living person alive at some point? It would make it just a bit easier to catch some criminals, and it would make some criminals a bit more careful.

That's one of those far-fetched scenarios (I hope), but this DNA thread is one that can be followed in numerous directions.

Life changed for many when this testing became easily available and I bet you slept through it just like I did...

Here's the story that brought this ramble on (thanks Ann for sending!):

Fruth Pharmacy Begins Retail Sales of Identigene DNA Paternity Test Kits in West Virginia and Southern Ohio Stores

Identigene DNA Paternity Test Kit Enables Fruth Pharmacy Customers to Get a Definitive Answer to Paternity Questions Through a Fast, Affordable and Confidential Process. Fruth Pharmacy, Which Has Been Serving Local Communities for More Than 55 Years, Will Sell the Product in the Family Planning Aisle

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Identigene today announced that Fruth Pharmacy has begun over-the-counter retail sales of the Identigene DNA Paternity Test Kit. Fruth Pharmacy, which has been serving communities in West Virginia and southern Ohio since 1952, will offer the new product in all of its 25 stores. The Identigene DNA Paternity Test Kit provides participants with an answer to their paternity question quickly and with probabilities of paternity greater than 99.99 percent. It is the first DNA test ever sold in major retail outlets.

Prior to the advent of the Identigene DNA Paternity Test Kit, the generally accepted method of obtaining a DNA paternity test often required court involvement, weeks of waiting for results, and a cost of multiple hundreds of dollars. Identigene’s retail kit makes the process a convenient and affordable service available in the family planning aisle of the local drug store.

More than 50,000 Identigene DNA Paternity Test Kits have been purchased since they were first offered in a retail store test market on the West Coast only nine months ago. “The neighborhood pharmacy is a completely new sales channel for DNA tests,” said Identigene COO Doug Fogg. “Because it is a convenient and familiar place for customers to purchase products they rely on, people who have a paternity question are taking advantage of its availability in drug stores to get a reliable answer quickly.”

The Identigene DNA Paternity Test uses samples of cheek cells collected from the inside of the mouth of the child, the mother and the alleged father using swabs provided in the kit. The sample swabs, consent forms and a lab fee are sent in a postage-paid envelope to Identigene for processing. Results are available within three to five business days of receipt at the laboratory. An option is also available for retail customers who want to use test results in legal proceedings that provides specific sample collection methods to secure chain-of-custody procedures for the samples.

Suggested retail price for an Identigene DNA Paternity Test Kit is $29.99. The laboratory processing fee for the personal peace-of-mind test is $119. The processing fee for test results for use in legal proceedings is $319, which includes the lab fee.
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How many memories are lost each day?

My memory is slipping as I get older, but that's not the memories I'm thinking about in this ramble!

Have you ever thought about those memories that vanish into oblivion each day? You attend your child's baseball game, watch and leave. You retain some memory of parts of it for a while, but then those memories slip into the dark recesses of the brain and are, for all practical purposes, gone.

Yes, a crowd watched and lots of memories were made. However, the game is over, children grow, life moves on and it's history. One person retains a bit, another a highlight. Some memories are given a place of honor, shined and re-used time after time, bringing a smile. Others are tarnished by things learned later. Some are deliberately banished to the deepest memory boxes and locked away.

These days we're much better at trying to hang onto memories. We bring our cameras, our recorders and even our cell phones to capture moments. I find that I watch family gatherings and events through the eye of a camera the majority of the time these days.

For the longest time those photos and films ended up in boxes, gathering dust just like our memories. In an attempt to keep the memories alive we now have YouTube, Flickr, Slide and other similar venues to share memories. Some are watched by millions of strangers with no one iota of connection to the actual memory.

We have blogs and so many ways to store information. With the advent of the Internet and computers we've figured out a way to hang onto memories forever if we have the time to type or talk about them.

I woke this morning thinking of all the memories I have stored in my brain somewhere. It led me to thinking about all the memories stored by the billions of people currently wandering around the world. It's overwhelming to try and think about those numbers.

That led me to ponder all the memories that have passed on into complete oblivion. Throughout history some cultures have attempted to chronicle their memories, their history while others have focused solely on the day-to-day and left barely a mark.

So many memories have been lost and so many are being lost each day. We scrambling to hang onto them, cramming them onto video, hard drives and the world wide web.

I wonder if someday future generations will be implanted with some sort of mind recorder that allows us to capture life as it happens, creating a chronicle of memories for anyone wanting to share? Hope it's selective, with an internal off / on button!
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Have a will...

None of us like to think about death or the process of dying --- our own or that of someone close to us. It's important though to think about things like the possibility of nursing homes, long-term illness and what might happen after we're gone.

I've heard too many tales from family and friends about what can happen with or without a will after someone dies. Families squabble over a piece of jewelry that Sue said grandma promised to her and Jane says was promised to her. One member of a family wants to hang onto the parents property while another wants to sell. Little things can cause huge problems.

In my family we experienced a problem that has caused a rift that I can't see being healed.

My grandparents had a long-standing and oft-talked-about will that divided everything equally between their three children. My grandfather died, then years later my grandmother. My grandmother spent the last few years of her life living with my uncle. After her death the other siblings discovered that my uncle had induced my grandmother to change her will and leave everything to him with his son as the heir should he die before then.

One sister wanted to sue, the other didn't. No agreement, thus no action. Now there are three who rarely talk to each other and children who won't give my uncle the time of day (including yours truly... and he used to be my hero).

While the damage to the family was horrible, the damage to our memory of our grandmother was just as serious. It's impossible to think about her without the tinge of what our uncle did affecting the memory.

We all knew she was suffering from dementia and easily led. Depending on who she was visiting or talking to she'd tell them she was going to give them her house and other valuables. She didn't remember what she'd said right after saying it and would repeat herself over and over. It was clear she was not legally in her "right mind". We trusted our uncle, he was always above reproach. So what happened? Who knows.

Not much any of us could have done to stop the will from being changed as we weren't aware. People do strange things when money is involved and you can't prepare for every contingency. However, as a living, breathing, responsible adult, you sure can make out a will and do whatever possible to avoid potential problems.

Here's the article that made me think about all of our family's difficulties. Good advice.

Wills Help to Avoid Confusion, Fights After Death
http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/storypage.cfm?storyid=3475

A few weeks after they married, Joan Koonce’s husband was diagnosed with leukemia. Their marital bliss turned instantly to anxiety and long hours in the hospital.

“We really didn’t have time to think or feel,” Koonce said. “We just got into action.”

Two and a half years later, she said goodbye to him for the last time. They hadn’t planned for death so early in their lives.

He had created a will during his previous marriage. But a will is invalid in Georgia if someone remarries, has a child or adopts a child after the document is drawn up. After his death, she was left to deal with the paperwork and headache of watching the state dole out her husband’s estate.

It is important to update your will when these situations occur, said Koonce, an associate professor and financial management specialist for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.
The life expectancy of a female born today is 80 years. It is 75 years for a man, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But those years aren’t promised.

“You need to prepare early,” Koonce said. “And you need to make changes to your will as your family situation and circumstances change.”

Writing a will means thinking about death, a topic a lot of people don’t want to talk about, she said.

“Making decisions about who you want to have what and how you want it distributed to them can become overwhelming,” Koonce said, “and the more you have, the harder it gets.”
Even if you aren’t rich, she said, a will is still important.

“You don’t have to own a lot to have a will,” she said. “What you own may not have huge monetary value, but if it has lots of sentimental value. If you want to make sure it goes to a particular person, then you need to have a will.”

It’s often those sentimental things that are fought over the most. “For example, it may be important that your granddaughter gets your doll collection,” she said.

To get started with a will, she gives these tips:

1. Start early. Many young, unmarried people don’t think about estate planning. But they should, just as they should think about the possibility of disability or the inability to earn an income.
2. List your heirs. Beside each name, list what you want them to have. Be as detailed as possible.
3. Meet with an attorney. While online kits are available, attorneys know state laws “and can help you think through many things that can become issues after you die,” she said.
Koonce had her will redrawn this year. If something happens to her son, her assets will go to her church.

“My lawyer included the current address or wherever the church is located at my death,” she said. Attorneys “think about those things we don’t think about. Once the attorney mentioned it, I realized how important it was because there are other churches with the same name.”

The cost for drawing up a will can range from $300 and up, depending on the complexity of the will and estate planning.

Author Stephanie Schupska is a news editor for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
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I may be a vegetarian... but...

I've been a vegetarian since high school. I made the choice so long ago I have almost forgotten why I originally chose to forgo meats. At the time I attributed the change to a concern for our fellow animals. I am fairly sure now that it was a teenage rebellious act that somehow tied to our family tradition of grilling steaks after church every Sunday. I was probably asserting my independence by refusing to kill cows, Bambie and any other animal.

Over the years I've done a lot of reading about meat and fowl, how steaks and chickens gets from the ranch or farm to our tables and I've decided to continue on the path for health reasons more than any other reason. I also have a serious problem with the torture factor involved in mass-producing animals so we can eat a thick juicy steak or a leg of chicken. But these days that's a lesser factor than those related to health.

Just tossed that in so you'd understand that I'm probably a bit more understanding about those who cringe at the idea of killing an animal. However, my line doesn't go quite as far over as a large number of vegans. I believe animals were put here on earth for us to eat. I just don't happen to choose to do so in modern days given all that comes hidden inside the meat these days... and the way we "harvest" those animals.

I'm sharing all of that to lead up to something a friend sent me. It's a photo that might disgust some of you. I thought it was rather gross. PETA painted red-blood-looking stuff on a couple of people, wrapped them in clear plastic wrap and had them lay on the ground in front of a sign decrying what we do to meat.

At first I figured they were both mannequins. Not so. These poor people fried inside the plastic-wrap.

When I was younger I went to a few protests. I was young enough that I really didn't quite understand the issues. I listened to the propaganda and went along for the ride. Dumb in retrospect.

It didn't take long for me to figure out that protesting didn't really do anything other than make the other side dig their heels in a bit deeper. I figured that if I wanted to change the world I needed to learn more and to work from the inside. Of course, as I've gotten older and wiser, I've also discovered that many of those causes I championed in my college days weren't those that I now think should have been championed. If someone had pointed out the errors in the way I looked at things back then, I'd have dug MY heels in firmer.

Luckily, I'm a read-aholic and very willing to read both sides of issues.

I seriously doubt if anyone seeing the poor woman baking in the saran wrap decided to stop eating meat. Maybe some young impressionable kid or someone looking for a cause.

I do believe that our fellow human beings deserve more courtesy and caring than an animal. If you wouldn't wrap a cow in saran wrap and lay it on the side walk in the sun, then you certainly shouldn't expect someone who worked for you (or anyone for that matter) to do it either. The one difference between a cow and the people laying on the sidewalk is that the people made their own choice.

I understand the point the PETA folks are trying to make with the blood covered plastic-wrapped people. I just think there are more humane and less graphic ways to make a point. All it did for me was to bring home that fact that people sometimes have less respect for the other two-legged creatures inhabiting this earth than they do the four legged (or the two with wings ;-)

Here's the link:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/photos/2008/jun/05/59598/

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Little Teeth Suggest Big Jump in Primate Timeline

Tiny fossilized teeth excavated from an Indian open-pit coal mine could be the oldest Asian remains ever found of anthropoids, the primate lineage of today's monkeys, apes and humans, say researchers from Duke University and the Indian Institute of Technology.

Just 9-thousandths of a square inch in size, the teeth are about 54.5 million years old and suggest these early primates were no larger than modern dwarf lemurs weighing about 2 to 3 ounces. Studies of the shape of the teeth suggest these small animals could live on a fruit and insect diet, according to the researchers.

"It's certainly the oldest anthropoid from Asia and India," said Richard Kay, a Duke professor of evolutionary anthropology who is corresponding author of a report to be published online during the week of Aug. 4-8 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Previous fossil evidence shows primates were living in North America, Europe and Asia at least 55 million years ago. But, until now, the fossil record of anthropoid primates has extended back only 45 million years.

"We're going back almost 10 million years before any previously described Asian anthropoid," said co-author Blythe Williams, a Duke visiting associate professor of evolutionary anthropology. "The new fossils from India are exciting because they show that the anthropoid lineage is much more ancient than we realized."

In addition to stretching the primate timeline, the specimens represent a new genus as well as a new species of anthropoid, which the researchers have named Anthrasimias gujaratensis by drawing from the Greek word for "coal," Latin for "monkey" and the Indian State of Gujarat where the teeth were found.

"Anthrasimias may be the oldest anthropoid in the world," the PNAS report said -- "may" reflecting the fact that some scientists think slightly older fossils found in a Moroccan limestone deposit also could have been anthropoid, Kay said.

The report's first author is Sunil Bajpai, an earth scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology who directed excavations at the Vastan lignite coal mine in western India that unearthed the fossils.

Bajpai's Indian team managed to find and remove the tiny Anthrasimias tooth specimens from a strata in the mine while "really gigantic trucks" scooped up coal above them, Kay said. The teeth were dated by identifying microscopic marine plankton fossils of known age in nearby rock layers, he added.

Bajpai's team was funded by India's Department of Science and Technology. Work by Williams and Kay, who are anthropoid experts, was funded the Duke Provost's Research Fund and the National Science Foundation.

Their PNAS report describes tooth structure differences that would separate Anthrasimias from two other ancient lines of primates whose remains have been found at the same level of the Vastan mine. Of the three lines, Williams and Kay believe only Anthrasimias's is part of the anthropoid lineage that evolved into modern monkeys, apes and humans.

"Most of the fossil record of ancient primates is made up of teeth, because teeth are easy to preserve and hard," Williams said. "Occasionally we get lucky enough to have a skull to work with, but in this case a few teeth is all we have." Their PNAS report described two upper molars and one lower molar.

"From the tooth size and structure we can say something about the animals' body weight and diet, because teeth have crests that are differentially developed depending on whether they ate primarily insects, leaves or fruit," he said. But without more body parts, Kay and Williams declined to deduce what the animals looked like.

Other authors of the PNAS report were Debasis Das of the Indian Institute of Technology, Vivesh Kapur of Chandigarh, India, and B.N. Tiwari of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in India.

Storm Worm Virus

RJ Note: Another day, another warning. Take heed.

Be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware) which mention "F.B.I. vs. facebook". The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook. Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet connected device and causes it to become infected and become part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet.

The Storm Worm virus has capitalized on various holidays and fictitious world events in the last year by sending millions of e-mails advertising an e-card link within the text of the spam e-mail.

Be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do not click on any links provided.

One Missing Gene Leads to Fruitless Mating Rituals

RJ Note: Gotta tell you. I'm just not real sure what this all means in the scope of life. What I do know is that in my college genetics class, we had to breed fruit flies. Of course, my roommates would laugh out loud when I was trying to get the virgin flies out before they could be attacked. And then, of course, my mom wasn't overly impressed with the fruit flies who escaped and took up residence in her home. Ah, fruit flies and their abnormalities. Brings back many fond memories. In case you're wondering, I did get an "A" in the class.

Male fruit flies missing a gene for one particular odor receptor become clueless in matters of love, scientists at Duke University Medical Center have discovered.

Because they lack the ability to read important chemical cues, these flies will indiscriminately attempt to have sex with other males, and with females who have already mated. The signals they're missing are pheromones wafting from mated females and male flies. The work appears online in Nature Neuroscience.

The researchers found that the signals from this pheromone receptor are so important to the flies that the neurons are wired directly into the higher-order processing center of the fly's brain, which governs behavior. This direct connection surprised the scientists, who have studied other fruit fly courtship genes.

"It goes against the dogma that was established for the olfactory and taste systems," said Hubert Amrein, Ph.D., of the Duke Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. "Our finding implies that signals from the outside don't have to go through processing stations in the chemosensory system before being connected to the higher-order brain structures."

Males without a gene called Gr32a, the gustatory receptor gene, showed normal levels of courtship with virgin females. But in competition with normal (or wild-type) male fruit flies, they were outperformed by 4 to 1. In fact, the Gr32a-lacking flies courted the male competitors in addition to the females.

To further investigate the role of the gene, researchers used decapitated, passive flies of both genders, because these do not provide any behavioral feedback that could confound the precise measurement of the sex appeal they held for the male flies being studied. Both types of males courted the decapitated virgin females equally. However, courtship attempts toward decapitated males increased only in the males lacking the Gr32a gene, and these flies attempted copulation, behavior not seen in the wild-type males.

The scientists also found that the males lacking the Gr32a gene courted females who had already mated. Wild-type males, however, were significantly less attracted by mated females, because mated females have received male pheromones during the first mating.

The hapless Gr32a-negative males tried to mate with virgin females even when they had been covered with male pheromones, behavior that the wild-type flies avoided.

"This gene was very powerful for distinguishing between genders and for determining mating status," said co-author Tetsuya Miyamoto, Ph.D., also of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. "Male pheromone is so effective that Gr32a mutants court males with almost the same intensity as they do females."

The GR32a gene is not found in humans. "In general, the development of pheromones in human sexual behavior is not as clear-cut as one would hope," Amrein said. "We know that males and females have preferences for certain olfactory cues. The mouse has an olfactory organ, and humans have a remnant of this in the nose, but it doesn't function in people. So I think it is very difficult to make any direct connections between these gene findings in fruit flies and what happens in people."

This research was funded by NIH grants and a long-term fellowship of the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization.

Four Ways to Digitally Preserve Your Wedding Photos

RJ Note: Ah, the age of digital information. Ain't it grand.

(ARA) – Your great-grandmother probably had just one treasured wedding portrait, and your own mother likely captured memories of her special day in an old-fashioned photo album. You, however, are getting married in the Internet age, which means you’ll be able to preserve a virtually limitless number of images from the biggest day of your life.

Here are four ways to digitally preserve your wedding photos:

1. Digital Devices

From digital picture frames to smart phones that allow you to store images on a micro SD memory card, digital devices mean you can keep - and carry with you – favorite wedding photos. Some digital frames limit the number of images you can store, while others are compatible with SD memory cards, meaning you can store, view and swap out thousands of images. You can also use your MP3 player, laptop, PDA and some mobile phones to store images.

2. Your PC or Laptop

Many wedding photographers now offer services to put your wedding photos on a disc so that you can transfer images to your PC or laptop. Most developing services, like those found in pharmacies or department stores, also offer the option to put your images on a disc. This storage method makes it easy to transfer images to your PC or laptop, where you can use editing software to create collages, crop, color-adjust and otherwise manipulate your images.

3. Photo-sharing Web Sites

Many photo-sharing Web sites now offer ample storage for all your wedding photo needs. PhotosYourWay.com, for example, a new innovator in photo-sharing, offers 7GB of free storage, enough to store thousands of images. Photo-sharing Web sites also allow you to spice up your photo presentation with effects like captioning, cropping, editing, borders and more. You can present your images in a slide-show format, and even share images with a specific group of family or friends, or designate them viewable by anyone interested in wedding images. One caveat – photo-sharing sites are only for original, amateur works, not the copyrighted images you receive from your professional wedding photographer.

PhotosYourWay also offers the opportunity to get paid for your original, amateur wedding images. When you upload your images, simply select the option that makes them available for purchase by photo houses, advertising agencies, publishers and anyone else who needs fresh wedding images on a regular basis. The Web site acts as a broker for the images, sharing a percentage of the sale price with the member who posted the photo. It’s possible to make up to $300 for exclusive rights to one of your images.

5. Your Own Wedding Web Site

Many couples are now opting to design their own Web sites prior to the wedding. Pre-wedding day, the sites can be great resources to communicate important information to guests and for making faraway loved ones feel like a part of your wedding preparations. After your big day, the site can be used to share anecdotes and images from the honeymoon, update friends and family on where you’ll be living as newlyweds, and even for posting personal thank-you messages for especially thoughtful gifts.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Silver Stars™ Talent Competition to Offer Seniors Chance to Shine

RJ Note: With all the wonderful talent found in our area, shouldn't there be some of our locals in this competition? Should I start the list off? Let's see, there's---

(BUSINESS WIRE)--HealthSpring is inviting musicians, singers and dancers age 60 and up to compete for the top prize of $5,000 in a new talent contest called Silver Stars.

“We know there are so many talented seniors in this community, and we want to give them a chance to really show what they can do,” HealthSpring of Tennessee President Shawn Morris said. “Seniors represent a huge pool of talent that has been ignored by TV talent shows that all focus on a much younger demographic. We feel this is the perfect opportunity to harness all that untapped energy and talent with our own competition. Silver Stars fits perfectly with HealthSpring’s mission to help seniors stay healthy and active.”

Silver Stars is open to singers, musicians and dancers age 60 or older. Solos, duos and groups are welcome.

The ten finalists will record a professionally-produced compilation CD and go on to compete for the top prize of $5,000 dollars in cash at the Ryman Auditorium on Sat., Oct. 4, 2008. The finalists will perform in front of fans, family and friends and will receive a DVD of their performances. A total of $7,500 in prize money will be award to first-, second- and third-place winners. The panel of finalist celebrity judges includes News Channel 4 anchor Demetria Kalodimos, 103WKDF morning personality Rick Marino, Bluebird Café founder Amy Kurland and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Brenda Lee. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean will open the event with a welcoming address.

Auditions will be held Sat., Aug. 23, 2008, from noon to 6 p.m. CDT at Cadillac Ranch, located at 305 Broadway in downtown Nashville. Participants should arrive by 10 a.m. for pre-registration.

The first 100 audition registrants will perform for a panel of local celebrity judges, including Sirius Satellite Radio personality and “Unofficial Mayor of Music Row” Charlie Monk, 103WKDF air personality Sweet Becca, Tennessean music journalist Nicole Keiper, hit songwriter and Jon Bon Jovi collaborator Billy Falcon and USA Today music journalist Brian Mansfield.

Seniors interested in participating in Silver Stars can register online at www.hssilverstars.com. On-site registration will also be available on the day of auditions.

For more information, visit www.hssilverstars.com or call Billy Block at 615-665-8772.

Bloggers Key In On Health Benefits

RJ Note: Sounds good to me. Then again, I do so enjoy the words as they tumble out.

(NAPSI)-You might already know that the pen is mightier than the sword, but have you heard that blogging could help you fight off bad health?

Studies show that expressive writing-the type often found in the blogosphere-has therapeutic effects ranging from improved memory and sleep to boosted immune cell activity and improved healing after surgery.

James Baker, a masters student at Swinburne University of Technology who studies the benefits of blogging, even concluded that “the connections they [bloggers] made online had a clear spin-off to the satisfaction they had in their outside life.”

It’s a fact not lost on Sona Mehring, who created a Web site in 1997 to keep friends and family updated during a loved one’s health crisis. Today, more than 20 million families each year use that service to connect during a loved one’s illness, making it the third largest nonprofit Web site in the world behind AARP.org and MoveOn.org.

The site, called Caring Bridge.org, lets users who are going through a health crisis create a private online journal for friends and family to read. The entries help loved ones better understand the writer’s situation and ensure that everyone has accurate information.

The site also gives readers a place to show support, in the form of a guestbook, while providing a much-needed chance for the bloggers to express themselves during difficult times.

“The benefits to users range from the social support they receive online to the fact that their CaringBridge sites can provide a detailed documentation of their journey-including their medical procedures, improvements and setbacks, along with their feelings and thoughts, which they can refer to at later dates,” explains Mehring.

The site can also cut down the number of phone calls or e-mails that need to be exchanged for family and friends to stay in touch with a sick loved one on a daily basis.

So are the benefits truly therapeutic? At least one survey suggests they are. It found that over 90 percent of patients using the site said it helped them in their actual healing process.

For more information, visit www.caringbridge.org.

Chilean Marine Megabacteria Could be the solution to Energy Crisis.

RJ Note: Another interesting story to follow over time. Wouldn't this be cool if it worked?

Chilean Marine Megabacteria Could be the solution to Energy Crisis. "If we find in Chile bacteria that can produce hydrogen, for example, they could be used as the gasoline we use now and it would be a very important contribution".

24-7 - Even though they've been living millions of years on the Chilean coasts, no one had studied them well enough. Until now, where biologists at the University of Concepcion (Chile), allied with Craig Venter, are researching their potential, ranging from the production of ammonia and hydrogen to creating explosives and drugs.

The Chilean seafloor continues to exhibit its great potential. Marine Biologist PhD. Victor Ariel Gallardo study the genome of macrobacteria (Beggiatoa spp.) and megabacteria (Thioploca spp.) that live from the northern coasts of Chile down to Arauco in southern Chile, between 20 and 200 meters (60 to 600ft.) deep in the clay sediments, with lots of organic matter but little or no oxygen.

Microorganisms discovered measure between 10 and 90 micrometers in diameter in the case of megabacteria (a bacterium normally does not reach 10 micrometers) and up to 7 centimeters long! The macrobacteria reach a few micrometers in diameter and are up to 3 centimeters long! These organisms, analyzed at a US laboratory, could be used in the mining, pharmaceutical or medical industries.

The megabacteria were discovered in 1962 during the Expedition Mar Chile II, they are visible to the naked eye and are abundant, in the oxygen depleted waters of the continental shelf. The macrobacteria in the same geographical location, were seen in 2004. "All live in environments previously considered to be devoid of life. Apart from the classical microbial life (or tiny organisms) that is everywhere, these large bacteria had gone unnoticed," says Victor Gallardo. The macrobacteria "probably are descendants of the first bacteria that settled in sediments on the planet, some three or four billion years ago," says the biologist, "and were very well known by micropaleontologists since the middle of the last century that found them as fossils in ancient rocks. Megabacteria would have appeared between 850 and 1,200 million years ago, when there already was more oxygen in the seas", explains Victor Gallardo.

The bacteria reach large sizes since they use the water's nitrate content instead of oxygen to survive and obtain their energy from hydrogen sulphide, a toxic gas that is found in marine sediments, with which they feed. According to the biologist, these micro-organisms invented some "nitrate diving bottles." "Each cell has a bag in its interior, which is almost 90% of its volume, within which it accumulates nitrate, just like divers have their tanks filled with oxygen. They stick out into the water and fill their nitrate tanks and they use them to breathe, they then return back into the sediment and absorb hydrogen sulphide, their food. In their tanks nitrate is concentrated 20 thousand times, they can survive with it almost two years without having to go out for more", says Victor Gallardo.

Potential

At this point in time, the scientist is studying the genome of these bacteria to exploit their potential. Previous research on similar organisms have shown promise for future use, especially in energy production.

"If we find in Chile bacteria that can produce hydrogen, for example, they could be used as the gasoline we use now and it would be a very important contribution, when you consider hydrogen combustion with oxygen forms water, not carbon dioxide, so it doesn't contribute to global warming either", says Victor Gallardo.

As these bacteria feed on a toxic gas - hydrogen sulphide - that though found in the seabed, it is also produced by some industries such as the fisheries. "It would be interesting to make a detergent that would prevent poisoning, for example, with the gasses rotten fish produces," says Gallardo. Similar bacteria studied in international laboratories are capable of producing ammonia as waste, which is then used as plant fertilizer and even in sewage treatment plants. Others may be used in the explosives industry and in the pharmaceutical industry, for example a compound of Salinispora (one of these bacteria) was discovered that can kill cancer cells in the blood.

For the time being, the potential of the bacteria found in Chile is unknown, and are currently being tested in the United States. Gallardo has worked with Craig Venter (known worldwide for the Human Genome Project), and thanks to his own contacts, supported by the University of Concepcion and Fondecyt (Chilean National Science and Technology Fund), he has made progress in this research. "There are many laboratories currently working on them in the rest of the world and we are trying to stimulate and deepen the local studies. We believe it is important to have access to these living marine resources, which are not fish nor shellfish, which as you know, obtain more attention. I think this is going to change or may be actually changing as these new resources could contain genes, proteins and enzymes that could biotechnologically help solve several problems that beset mankind and our country specifically", emphasizes the biologist.

Serial Murder - New Report Highlights Views of Experts

RJ Note: Hmmmmm. Guess that means I have to look at everyone with the old fish eye now? This story about serial killers is from the FBI and dispels some of the myths associated with the killers.

On television and the silver screen, serial killers are usually white males and dysfunctional loners who really want to get caught. Or, they’re super-intelligent monsters who frustrate law enforcement at every turn.

According to a new publication from our National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime—entitled Serial Murder: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators—serial killers are much different in real life.

The report contains the collective insights of a group of experts from the law enforcement, academic, and mental health professions who took part in a symposium on serial murder. The symposium’s focus was actually two-fold: to bridge the gap between fact and fiction and to build up our collective body of knowledge to generate a more effective investigative response.

Here’s why that is so important: Serial killings are rare, probably less than one percent of all murders. They do, however, receive a lot of attention in the news and on screen—and much of the information out there is wrong. Yet, the public, the media, and even sometimes law enforcement professionals who have limited experience with serial murder, often believe what they read and hear. And this misinformation can hinder investigations.

According to the experts, there is no common thread tying serial killers together—no single cause, no single motive, no single profile. But there are some common "best practices" that they recommend for investigations:

For example:

Strong leadership throughout the chain of command that can withstand the external pressure sometimes brought to bear on serial murder cases by politicians, the victims' families, and the media;

Task forces that bring together agencies from the different jurisdictions to effectively combine expertise, resources, and information;

An automated case management system like the FBI’s Rapid Start that organizes and collates lead information so investigators don't get overwhelmed;

A team of crime analysts who can help investigators develop timelines of murders and backgrounds on suspects, highlight similar case elements, etc. (note: if your agency doesn't have such a team, ask for help from a neighboring jurisdiction or from our National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime);

Consistent forensic services, which in the best case scenario means that the same crime scene team goes to each scene and the same crime lab processes all the evidence (but if that's not possible, then enhanced communication between the teams and the labs is a must to ensure consistency); and

A strong media plan that successfully straddles the line between giving out relevant information to the media and not compromising the investigation—while helping to raise public awareness about the killings.

As for serial killer myths, our group of experts had this to say about a few of them:

1) Serial killers are not all dysfunctional loners: some have had wives and kids and full-time jobs and have been very active in their community or church or both.

2) Serial killers are not all white males: the racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors the overall U.S. population.

3) Serial killers do not want to get caught: over time, as they kill without being discovered, they get careless during their crimes.

So much for the stereotypes!

Alien Pursuit of Toilet Technology Chronicled in Final 'Alien Droppings' Video

RJ Note: Thought this was a joke-- but looks like it's real. What creative juices they have!

PRNewswire -- They're back!!! Those pesky, potty-obsessed aliens from Kimberly-Clark Professional's otherworldly video contest are appearing once more on a computer screen near you.

To view the final installment in their intergalactic search for the next space-age technology, visit www.aliendroppings.com.

When last spied in a two-part video at the site, these mysterious extraterrestrials had made off with the universe's first electronic toilet paper dispenser, leaving a terrified human and an unpleasant "dropping" in their wake. The video ended with a challenge: Create a script for a third encounter between earthling and alien and win a Sony HD video camera valued at $1,200.

Now, more than 84,000 web hits later, Kimberly-Clark Professional has produced the winning script by Daniel Kane, a graduate student at Tufts University. The new video picks up where the first installments left off and sheds a light on why the creatures traveled from a distant galaxy to capture this innovative, new technology and then return it to its toilet stall home.

The contest represents one of Kimberly-Clark Professional's first forays into the viral video realm. The goal was to promote a new business-to-business offering -- eJRT, the first touchless electronic bath tissue dispenser for public restrooms.

"eJRT is a ground-breaking, first-of-its-kind product," said Ming Xie, Category Manager for Kimberly-Clark Professional. "This contest allowed us to have some fun promoting a restroom technology that might well be appealing to a superior life form."

In addition to the grand prize, one first-prize winner received a year's supply of Kleenex Cottonelle bathroom tissue. Five second prize winners received a Potty Gift Pack of assorted restroom products.

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