I consider myself a fairly well-informed individual, but I have to admit to being surprised by some of the statistics noted in Not for Sale: the Documentary, about campaigns throughout the world that are aimed at putting an end to human trafficking. I only know about the documentary because my sister Nikki, a voice-over artist, was hired by the director for one of the segments. You can read more about this from Nikki’s own blog on her involvement in the Not for Sale documentary.

I’ve been circulating the DVD at work, and if I were still teaching, I’d show this in my classes. The documentary is well done and effective at raising awareness about the modern slave trade while also remaining positive about local efforts to stop corruption, bring traffickers to justice, give some victims viable economic alternatives to selling themselves on the streets, and rescue other victims (usually children) who have been forcibly sold into slavery. Please visit NotforSaleCampaign.org for more information.

If you’ve searched me on the Internet before, you may notice the new site look and location. We finally gave up on Earthlink as our ISP (which was inevitable) and registered our surname with the little known .name top-level domain meant for individuals. This will be my permanent site location (regardless of ISP). If you previously linked to one of my articles, please click “Articles Online” to find the new web address.

The site changes reflect my new interests in occasional blogging, Wordpress themes, and Internet widgets. Please notice especially the sidebar widget encouraging visitors to my site to pledge to watch Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth. I don’t really care if you pledge; just please watch the documentary. It’s just plain smart.

On the domain: any bonafide Saco’s out there who would like to homestead a portion of our second-level domain saco.name can email me. My sister and I will consider all requests (especially from family).

Ten years ago, I wrote an article called “Gendering Sovereignty: Marriage and International Relations in Elizabethan Times.” While researching that project, I came across a little known portrait of Elizabeth that seemed to depict her as a weary mortal with death hanging over her shoulder. It was a haunting image and so unlike the stylized representation of sovereign power in her other portraits that I couldn’t forget it.

I posted a page on my website asking for help identifying the portrait and its location. I didn’t even know the name. All I had to go by was a bad xerox copy.

I recently got the information I’ve been wanting, so for me, the mystery is finally solved. I’ve revised my portrait-mystery page to include the information and added two better scans of the painting. I’ve also discovered that Elizabethan and Tudor history buffs exist out there who might enjoy knowing about this portrait, so I’m sharing the knowledge. If anyone has a better scan or knows where a litho of this can be purchased, please comment or email me.