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What is our research focus?
Our research focuses on welfare for children and youths in the region of Telemark in a wide perspective, covering arenas such as kindergartens, schools and the welfare state services, in addition to youth's own informal meeting places. Our region has specific challenges, which result in a substantial proportion of youth dropping out of upper secondary school. By generating empirical research on welfare of children and youths in Telemark, we believe we will contribute in expanding and increasing the knowledge base of our partners in the region. This in turn may result in higher quality within national public service. The research projects in this area will apply both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Research diciplines
The research group focuses upon the following: kindergartens, schools and the health and social services.
- Drop-out and completion of upper secondary schools
- Youth
- Child care services
- Multicultural childhood in the region
- Nutrition, physical exercise, mental health and children's development
- Social class and social inequality
- Leisure and locality
National partners:
- Telemark regional hospital (statistician Martin V. Svendsen and specialist psychologist Ingebjørg Hestetun)
- Telemark County Administration (Director of Education Helge Galdal and public health advisor Kjersti Norgård Aase)
- Telemark County Governor (Elisabeth Holte)
- The City of Skien (coordinator Frøydis Straume)
- The Norwegian Welfare Agency (NAV) – Skien branch (Elin Mandt)
- Norwegian Association of businesses and industries (NHO) – Telemark branch (President Arild Ljådal)
- Korus South (Rosanne Kristiansen)
- Telemark Research Institute and the University of (Professor Halvard Vike)
- NOVA (Researcher II Viggo Vestel, researcher I Tormod Øia, and researcher II Mira Sletten, researcher II Anders Bakken)
- Department of sociology and social geography, University of Oslo, (professor Terje Wessel)
- The Norwegian Census Bureau (Senior advisor Gustav Haraldsen)
- Forum for studies in the South. Network in international practical placement studies for students in professional programs.
- National reference group for recruitment of minority ethnical Norwegians to child welfare education. The Diversity project, University College of Oslo and Akershus
- National network on research on adolescents
International partners:
- Malmö University, Sweden (Professor Philip Lalander)
- NORDYK - Nordic network of professional education and professional didactics
- Networkers SouthNorth
- Molloy College, USA (Dean Maureen Walsh)
- Hofstra University, Institute for Global Studies and Geography, NY, USA (Associate professor Kari Bolstad Jensen)
Ongoing research projects
Why "Drop Outs" are "Push Outs"
Project leader: Torill A. Halvorsen
What causes an increasing dropout rate of students in Tanzanian educational system?
Project targeting the individual oriented concept "Drop Outs" replacing the focus on institutional responsibility causing "Push Outs".
A comparative study to examine mechanismns leading to Drop-outs in the North and the South.
The Project is a part of the NORHED financed TRANSLED (UIO), a north-south cooperation between Norway and Tanzania represented by SUZA (the State University of Zanzibar) and UDSM (University of Dar es Salaam).
Adolescents, completion and dropouts in Telemark.
Project leaders: Mette Bunting, TUC Faculty of Arts, Folk Culture and Education and Geir H Moshuus, TUC Faculty of Health and Social Work Studies
This project is a cooperation between Telemark County, The Regional Governor of Telemark and the Norwegian Welfare Agency (NAV), Telemark and Østfold branches. The project will generate process knowledge about dropouts and completion among youths in Telemark. It is a longitudinal qualitative study with a sample consisting of students in higher secondary education and former students, now possible dropouts and clients at NAV over 10 years. 71 informants are being interviewed. The project is now in its second year.
Young in Telemark
Project leader: Geir H. Moshuus, TUC Faculty of Health and Social Work Studies
This is a regionally based project consisting of individual studies with a comparative perspective upon local communities. The standardized municipality youth survey system "Ungdata" is an important data source for the project, and Telemark University College cooperates with Korus in the implementation of the surveys for all Telemark's municipalities in 2015.
PhD-project: Adolescents and spare time in Telemark
Project leader: Elisabeth Gulløy, TUC Faculty of Health and Social Work Studies
The project studies the relation between youth leisure, welfare and local attachment. An important dimension is to find out how leisure influences youth relations towards the local community, and how belonging may vary between communities and social groups. Ungdata surveys make up the main data source, in combination with data from qualitative studies.
Nutrition, physical exercise, mental health and weight among children and adolescents in Telemark
Project leader: Inger Margaret Oellingrath, TUC Faculty of Health and Social Work Studies
This project is a cooperation between the Telemark Regional Hospital and TUC. The project monitors a cohort of children in Telemark and consists of three different datasets; (T1-T3) from a survey on nutrition, physical exercise and mental health, in addition to weight and height of the children. The data collection took place in cooperation with school health nurses from municipalities in Telemark. The overall aim of the project has been increased knowledge on the relation between nutrition, physical exercise and weight for children with different social backgrounds in Telemark, in order to develop functional preventative measures aimed at limiting the development of overweight and obesity.
Child care in a culturally complex welfare society
Project leader: Inger Kjersti Lndvig, TUC Faculty of Health and Social Work Studies
This is a survey where the theme of the study has been the interaction between child care workers and minority family clients. 83 municipalities within the regional child welfare agency participates in the study. The first phase of the project consists of a questionnaire survey. The next phase will be qualitative studies of relations between child care workers and users of the child care services. Digital storytelling and focus group interviews will be essential methodologies in this phase of the project.
A follow-up project based on the previous project "From talents to professionals"
Project leader: Åse Streitlien, TUC Faculty of Art, Folk Culture and Teacher Education
TUC has been asked to do a follow-up study on a previous pilot called "From talents to professionals" ("Fra talenter til fagarbeider"). This pilot tries out alternative ways of organizing vocational education programs. The project is based on interviews and document studies.
A follow-up project based on a pilot study on an alternative way of organizing the second year of vocational training in upper secondary for multilingual students
Project leader: Åse Streitlien, TUC Faculty of Art, Folk Culture and Teacher Education
TUC has been asked to perform this study on students at an upper secondary school in telemark. These students are taking their second year curriculum over two years. Methods used are interviews, observations and the document studies.


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KCKPS Volunteers for State Efficiency Audit to Learn New Ways to Reduce Costs
Contact: David A. Smith, chief of staff, (913) 279-2242
The results of an efficiency audit conducted on the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) have been released by the Legislative Division of Post Audit, the audit arm of the Kansas Legislature. KCKPS volunteered to be a part of this audit process to learn of possible ways to function more efficiently, while reaching its goals.
"Our goal in participating in this process was to help us find ways to save costs, in light of the more than $63 million reduction in our budget that we have seen over the past several years," said Dr. Cynthia Lane, superintendent of schools. "We also want to ensure that we continue to be transparent in our expenditures."
While the audit findings include a number of suggested savings and efficiency suggestions, Lane said the results did not reveal any significantly new ideas. One of the challenges, she said, was helping the auditors to understand the unique circumstances that large school districts face across the state, and how that impacts the way districts manage their funds. These circumstances include the growing age of many of the district's buildings, the diversity of the student population and their needs, and the large number of students.
The audit contains recommendations about reducing some salary costs that echo the findings of a compensation study that the district conducted several years ago. The district has already begun to implement a number of the recommendations from that study.
Lane said now that the results have been published, district administration will begin sharing them with the Board of Education and staff, seeking their input on how to implement some of these or other cost savings initiatives in the district.
The complete audit report is posted online at http://www.kslpa.org/docs/reports/R-13-008.pdf.
The Kansas Legislature, in its fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill, included a provision requiring an audit of three school districts by the end of the fiscal year. The Audit Committee asked for districts to volunteer and KCKPS stepped up as one of six to undergo the audit process. The focus of the audits is to help school districts identify ways they can reduce costs without significantly affecting the education they provide to students.
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Melissa Fears • Communications Office
2010 N. 59th Street • Kansas City, KS 66104 • 913-279-2242

subset: commoncrawl


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Every so often, an anime studio puts out a series or film based on an American superhero, and more often than not, they're mediocre at best. However, the latest film to carry on that trend, Batman Ninja, has our attention.
Rather than simply be a standard series or film, this upcoming film takes advantage of its anime-ness to bring the setting away from Gotham City. In Batman Ninja, during an altercation with the Joker, Batman ends up in the middle of the feudal Japan era.
To make matters worse, it looks like in this time period, the Joker has become the most powerful man in the country, and is looking to change the course of the country's history. Batman no longer has his high tech gadgets at his disposal, and now has to resort to his tried-and-true fighting skills.
Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of this relatively recent trend in anime to render CG character designs, and more often than not, I felt like this would have turned out a hell of a lot better in full 2D animation. That being said, it's an intriguing premise, and I found myself enjoying quite a bit of it, in spite of the CG characters. In its favor, this film does come from screenwriter Kazuki Nakashima, who is best known for his work on series Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill.
What do you think of this latest trailer for Batman Ninja? Let us know your thoughts down below!
Don't forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.
SOURCE: New Trailer Buzz


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Usually I'm the source of cool beauty finds in the family but I was in my Mams bathroom recently and this little pot from L'Occitane (never pronounce that correctly!) was sitting on the ledge. Not one to resist a new beauty product I had to try it out. I'm a big fan of L'Occitane hand creams so was expecting good things!
I feel like my hands are starting to show their age a little lately and look really dehydrated. I've been trying to use my Hand Chemistry hand cream as much as possible as that's one hand cream I've seen visible differences with. But my hands still look a bit parched.
This product is what it says on the tin a one minute hand scrub. I always find pots like this a bit messy but it's such an oily product I'm not sure how else you could package it. The scrub is made of brown sugar in a Shea, sweet almond and grapeseed oil base. It feels quite gritty but it didn't feel too harsh on my hands probably because of all the oil. It doesn't even really take a minute to give hands a good scrub I think about 30 seconds is enough to see and feel a result.
After using this my hands were left feeling super soft and nourished and I can see why my Mam has been raving about it. My hands are definitely looking less dry and I'm hoping if I continue with this once a week and keep using the Hand Chemistry my hands will be transformed! Have you tried this one? Let me know if you have any hand saviours!


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An organ is often one of the major furnishings in a church and requires regular maintenance and occasionally will need extensive work. The guidance on this site will help you care for your organ and make good decisions when the time comes to either undertake major repairs or to replace it.
The Routine care and maintenance of an organ is a matter for a professional organ builder. Details of accredited professional organ builders can be found from the Institute of British Organ Building.
It is strongly advised that the space around, or inside, an organ is not used for storage. Good access is essential for maintenance and keeping the space clear of storage reduces the risk of accidental damage.
Church heating will impact on the performance of an organ. Specific guidance on this is available here.
Repair or Replace?
A guide for parishes considering the future of their organ
This guidance will help you decide between repair and replacement of an organ and, if the choice is replacement, how to choose a new instrument.
When you are considering a new instrument options to consider may include a pipe organ, electronic instrument or a hybrid of pipe and electronic sounds.
Guidelines for organ builders' reports
You may need to ask your organ builder to prepare a report on your organ. These guidelines are intended show you and your organ builder the level of information that it is reasonable to expect in a report. The guidelines for organ builders reports have been agreed by the Church Buildings Council and the Institute of British Organ Building which is the professional association for organ builders. The guidance can be downloaded below.
Guidelines for organ builders reports
Organ case guidance
The organ case is seen all the time, the organ heard only some of the time. If you have an organ with a decorated or architectural case it may occasionally need care or conservation. The following guidelines will assist with this.
Amplification of organs
Due to natural acoustics, organs will sound louder in some parts of a church building than in other parts. In most instances, this is not problematic, but in cases where an organ does not speak well into any part of a building, subtle amplification may be an appropriate measure. The following guidance note will assist parishes considering amplification.
Redundant organs
For guidance over the disposal or an organ, or acquiring an organ for reuse please download the following guidance note
Play the organ
Although this site is primarily about caring for your organ, when you have one you will want to hear it used. Keeping and organ in regular use is good for it, and allowing its use for practice can be good for the organ and for the development of organists for the future. Information on where to get advice to develop an interest in playing can be found below.


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|View from V.high up in a cable car ..... sweaty palms!
|Apple strudel obvs.
Salzburg .....
|This fountain was in The Sound of Music too
|Leopoldskron Palace from The sound of music ..... so beautiful
|Just like a real gingerbread house
|Holiday stitching (pattern by Lilipopo) ..... I've named her Leisel
|Plum dumpling with vanilla sauce and poppy seeds ..... Mmmmmm
|Picnic lunch in a wild flower meadow .....
Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight ..... to beautiful Austria
Thank you for reminiscing with me


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Hello Dusty Attic Fans!
This is Valia Katzaki here with you today to show you my interpretation of the July moodboard.
I went for the colors of the moodboard but on darker shades, I love drmatic dark layouts lately. Of course, Dusty Attic chippies are the key element of my layout.
The Lace Border #4 was heat embossed with 4 different Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powders.
I cut of the end part of the Ornate Pendants #3 and placed it under my photo.
The abstract frame was also heat embossed with Lindy's powders and then dry brushed with Colourarte Silks. The Foliage was misted with Lindy's mists and dry brushed with Silks as well. They really come to life!
Dusty Attic products used
Thank you for visiting the blog today! I hoe I inspired you to create with your Dusty Attic Products and remember, if you play along with our monthly challenge you may win a 100$ gift voucher!


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Home Depot
I was a part of the cashier team but was mostly stationed in the gardening department. Here i learned a great amount of agricultural knowledge as well as customer service.
I was a part of the cashier team but was mostly stationed in the gardening department. Here i learned a great amount of agricultural knowledge as well as customer service.
Assembly line worker. Summer job.
Was appointed shift leader and key holder. Mostly as cashier.
Currently working on 3 Associate degrees: Natural sciences, Behavioral studies, and Humanities (which will be received during the fall). Also Transferring out during fall to CSULA.
Have had two internship opportunities; both sponsored and held by NASA.
In the MCCP research program, we were responsible for learning, adapting, and creating our own solar powered rovers.
The NCAS ( National Community College Aerospace Scholars) is a national, competitive, opportunity in which, upon selection form a national pool, we had to compete for a chance to travel to JPL by designing our own 3D-model rover.
The Certificate of recognition was granted to me by the president of MESA (Math, Engineering, Science, achievements) at East Los Angeles College for being nominated to the two research opportunities above. I was chosen to be a part of the MESA Cohort class as well in which a group of students were selected and given advanced classes at an advanced pace to speed up the college process.
Always reliable
Works well with little or no supervision.
Will always meet deadlines.
Knows how to find the best and easiest ways of completing a task.
In addition to my above accomplishments, i have also spent 3 months volunteering at the Whittier Narrows Nature Center where i learned a great deal of teamwork and deadline management. I am planning to transfer to CSULA by the end of this fall and get a B.S in Industrial technology.


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Fourteen thousand shares later— as of this writing, and counting— Ulster County sheriff Paul Van Blarcum still has ~opinions~ and so does everyone after he posted this VERY HOT TAKE.
So let's see what else the Democrat (the sheriff is elected) is saying to other media:
* "The people who are doing the gun violence aren't using registered guns." Daily Freeman;
* "people are getting slaughtered and nobody has a gun" Times Herald-Record;
* "when stuff hits the fan it'd be nice to know that there's somebody there that's going to stand up." WAMC;
* He said he's "not trying to drum up a militia of any sort." AP.
So we just got it as a letter to the editor as well, with sheriff's letterhead pic.twitter.com/aBBX7GkSkL
— Ivan Lajara (@ivanlajara) December 3, 2015
Do I have a hot take about guns? Of course I do. And so did you when I wrote that.
Related tangent: How is any of this a Business Insider story? Clicks, that's what.


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Whatever the scale of your ambitions or plot you'll find something useful here.
Reduce your footprint by making your own, from knitting to soap-making to adorning your home.
Find out about rearing livestock from the farm to the garden, and doing the best for your pets.
Discover how to adapt, change and even build your own home to enable you to tread more lightly upon the planet.
From the home brewery to ambitions of chefly grandeur. Find out how to do it all here and really taste the difference.
Subsidise the larder in a sustainable way. From fishing, to shooting, to foraging safely, find it among these articles.
Conserve our world for future generations. See how you can help in these pages.
From shopping with a conscience to building your own enterprise. Find advice and encouragement among these pages.
Sometimes the diversity of downsizing can throw up an unusual topic.
Past editorial items from the downsizer front page.
You are here: Home Articles Make your own How to make a mosaic house plaque
Luis Laso Casas, better known to Downsizer members as Greenfoot, provides a step-by-step guide to designing and making a mosaic house plaque using hand-cut natural stone tesserae in the indirect style.
Thin plain paper
Natural stone and/or marble
Hammer and anvil
Wood glue
Sand and cement mixture
Metal frame
Chicken wire or similar
Hanging hook
The house plaque will be made in the style of a Roman mosaic also known as Opus Tessellatum (work done with tesserae). To make this mosaic we will use the indirect method, which requires gluing the tesserae upside-down; in effect we will be working in reverse and will only see the result when the plaque is finished.
This design is for a house plaque based on a 1 cm grid to which we will glue the tesserae or stone cubes, each measuring between 8 mm2 and 10 mm2. The lettering is hand drawn but can be adapted from a computer printout. When you trace your design onto paper, make sure that you trace the reverse of your design, as we will be working in the indirect method as you can see from the photos. You can also add a motif and/or border.
I suggest that you use a simple style of letters for your first project. It is easier to do a mosaic without curves in the design, hence the advice to use simple lettering for your first mosaic. An example can be seen at the top of this article.
Simple house plaque design with a number and motif.
For this article I will use a more flamboyant font that can be easily mastered with practice.
When choosing the types of natural stone that we want to use to make the tesserae we need to take into account the hardness and the characteristics of the stone. We will aim to use stone that we can easily cut into cubes with a hammer and anvil. I use an old piece of metal H-beam as my anvil. Limestone and marble are a good choice. Granite tends to be very brittle when we cut such small tesserae.
Stone masons are a good source of natural stone for mosaic-making. You can ask permission to take some of their waste material or ask for strips to be cut for you mechanically at low cost. When I purchase pre-cut strips, I always ask for them to be cut 18 mm and 27 mm wide. The photograph below shows a box of pre-cut strips of black marble measuring 18 mm wide by 5 mm thick and the start of the mosaic.
Mastering the cutting process to make the tesserae is an essential aspect of Roman mosaic-making; it is not easy and takes a lot of practice. The quality of the tesserae we cut and use will influence the beauty and aesthetic value of our finished mosaic.
I would like to mention some health and safety issues. Goggles should be worn while cutting stone, care should be taken when cutting the tesserae using snippers or hammer and gloves should be worn when handling cement. Handling stone will dry your hands and using moisturising cream may not be a bad idea.
Using the snippers or hammer and anvil cut the stone to make the tesserae in the required size and shape.
Start placing the tesserae onto the design, fixing them individually in place with a small dab of glue, good side down, until you have completed the design. Remember you are seeing the reverse of your design.
When the mosaic is complete, a galvanised metal frame is placed and fixed around the mosaic plaque, leaving a 5 mm border. Dry white cement powder is gently brushed between the tesserae. A wire mesh cut to size is added for strength and to attach the chosen hanging device. In this instance I used a length of bicycle brake cable. A mortar mix of 1 part white cement and 3 parts fine sand is poured carefully into the mould so that we do not dislodge the tesserae or frame. It is important to get the correct consistency and only experience will really help you here; imagine a thick custard consistency. It is filled to the required depth, 3 cm in this case, and smoothed gently.
Leave the mosaic until fully hardened before you remove the frame and turn the mosaic. Next, remove the paper and carefully wash away the glue from the tesserae to reveal your mosaic for the first time - always a very exciting moment. Some grouting may be required if there are gaps - use a thin white cement and water mix. Leave the mosaic to cure wrapped in plastic for 4 weeks. Once out of the plastic, leave to dry in a cool place. You can apply a clear wax coating to enhance the natural colours of the stone. Hang, stand back and enjoy it.
The completed house plaque in situ
The next images show two different styles of Roman mosaic or opus tessellatum. In the first one the tesserae vary in size and are cut in a less regular way, as you can see from the numbers and the pig's head and body. This one was made by a friend while visiting last year. She has no experience of mosaic making but managed very well with some instruction. The last image shows a garden or terrace table measuring 1 m2, in which the tesserae are cut in a more regular manner. It also incorporates a beautiful central flower and 4 Solomon knots surrounded by a twisting rope.
Small house plaque made by a first-timer
Mosaic table
Like any other craft it takes time to learn and master the techniques and tricks of the trade. Start small and simple both in design and ambition. I was self-taught and never stop learning. More of my Roman style and pebble mosaics can be seen in my blog, which is dedicated to my love of traditional crafts. Although it is written in Spanish, you can see the different images and there are some links to photo galleries.
2012 Downsizer: for a sustainable & ethical future


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Biztech Store is the online store of Biztech Consultancy, offering a complete range of cost effective and robust business solutions to worldwide customers. The storefront offers a wide range of services including Custom Magento Extension, Custom SugarCRM and WordPress plugins, and Mobile Apps. Having a great range of extensions, plugins and applications, Biztech has created a brand new store front embellished with affordable, customized and robust business solutions that every business seeks.
1,479 views from Wednesday, May 20th, 2015 at 8:00 amFeel free to rate this design:


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BugASalt – it might sound like some sort of exotic candy or food, but in reality, it is a plastic "shotgun" that will shoot out a pinch of salt at extremely high velocities. The whole idea of BugASalt is not to harm humans, but rather, make short work of them pesky flies and other undesirable insects that want to share your home with you. The whole idea of BugASalt is to pierce a fly multiple times with small sodium chloride pellets, delivering what one would call instant death. Not only that, whenever you take aim at a particularly fat, juicy fly, it will die (with an accurate hit, of course) without having you go through the trouble of a messy clean up after that when one uses a flyswatter.
It is rather unfortunate that the effective range stands at a mere 3 feet, and I would assume that you would need a pretty decent aim with the BugASalt in order to be a top insect assassin. Retailing for $30 on a pre-order basis at IndieGogo, there is still no word on a shipping date. It does make one wonder whether at the end of the day, a bigger mess will be created with all those missed shots around the dining table. You might find your diet to be a whole lot saltier after this as well!
Filed in..


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Category: feminism
The Hot Medieval Heart of It All
For several months now, I've been undergoing a long period of discernment called "The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults" that will culminate at the Easter Vigil, when I will join the Roman Catholic Church. I have wanted to write about this for a while, have tried unsuccessfully several times, but felt stymied; it is difficult and often frustrating to attempt to express what can only be said partially, imperfectly. But I'd like to try.
My liberal protestant friends, my feminist friends, my secular friends – they might feel surprise, even confusion, that I could join a church that seems, from one angle, deeply patriarchal and conservative. Of course, I have conservative protestant friends and family as well, who might balk at the strangeness of Catholicism, its Mariology, its visceral worship, its sense of tradition that encompasses but exceeds scripture.
The answers I offer here will probably satisfy none of these people – it is perhaps ambitious to even use the word "answers," because I am only just now arriving at a place where I can begin to give a semi-coherent account of my conversion.
I did not move toward Catholicism from a place of certainty. I moved from a place of desire. And I did not walk steadily toward it. I took a flailing, reckless leap.
✜ ✜ ✜
For several years, I've existed more or less in a state of spiritual stagnation. I've written pretty honestly about this – perhaps too honestly – about a chronic struggle with doubt. I wrote about feeling like Mary Magdalene, waiting in the empty tomb, suspended in that anticipatory but gaping moment just before the resurrection. I recognize now, as I did then, that the waiting itself was a faithful gesture, so this not a boomerang narrative about falling away and returning, about faith lost and found. This is not that kind of story.
This is a story about rediscovering what the word "faith" actually means. To have faith is not to hold truth at arm's length and to study it quizzically before deciding whether or not it will fit my pocket. To have faith is to enter into truth headlong, to live and move within its being, to explore it from the inside.
It's true: I should have felt at home in the corners of Anglican and Quaker Protestantism, where my feminist inclinations first led me. That would have made sense. After all, I was able to seamlessly connect the dots between my fairly liberal beliefs and the tenets of these denominations. I tethered myself to an ethic of social justice and love; that, I thought, is where the heart of Christianity can be found.
But now I realize that isn't true, at least not entirely. What is most unique about Christianity is not an orientation toward justice or an ethic of love – if that is all I want from a religion, well, I can find that any numbers of places, in any number of religions, even secular humanism. So the question becomes: what is it that is keeping me here, in the thrall of Christianity? Why am I still waiting in the tomb?
The answer to this question surfaced into language the other day when I was reading the following passage from Catholic theologian Tina Beattie:
Christianity's uniqueness, its particularity and its identity, derive from the drama it performs in the world – the drama of God incarnate who is carried in the womb of a virgin, who becomes the helpless infant at her breast, who eats, drinks, loves and laughs with ordinary people, who is tortured and put to death because the world does not understand him, and who gathers together all these incarnate human realities into a story of resurrection, reconciliation and the hope of eternal life. (New Catholic Feminism, p. 7)
What is most unique about Christianity, most essential, is its strangeness. Its improbable, radical story that confounds the mind and refuses to contract into mere metaphor or symbol. This wild mystery of the Incarnation, this holy paradox that rushes past the furthest ends of reason and cuts through the polarities that structure and divide our world. It is not enough to say "be just"; it is not enough to say "love" – not when love and justice are uprooted from the narrative that explains why we must love, a narrative that makes the startling claim that every human being burns bright with the spark of God, and this same God self-emptied to gestate in the body of a woman, to be born, to live the life of the body, to die, and to live again.
To be Christian is to welcome, contemplate, and live within this strange story. And to me, it is Catholicism, more than any other form of Christianity, that fully celebrates the mystery of Incarnation that is the heart of the faith.
Choosing to become Catholic has, in part, been a realization that the way I think and see the world is already deeply Catholic. While the Protestant imagination can be said to be dialectic, thinking in terms of either/or and stressing the unlikeness of things, the Catholic imagination is analogic — incarnational — seeing things in terms of likeness and unity, welcoming paradox. There is no schism between faith and reason, between the sacred and secular, between the natural and the numinous; God, the ground of all Being, inhabits each of these realms. All of reality is engraced.
✜ ✜ ✜
There are other sides to this story as well – notably the hindsight awareness that I have projected my attraction to Catholicism onto others, courting it from a safe distance, vicariously, through other people. When several students of mine decided to become Catholic, I was overjoyed for them; we talked excitedly about the richness of the Catholic intellectual tradition, the refreshing emphasis on incarnation and mystery, the life-giving feast of the Eucharist. (We also tangled amicably about the male priesthood.)
When my mom expressed a feeling of being "covered by God" in Catholic mass – a feeling I recognized, but could never put into words quite so well – I promptly bought her several books about Catholicism and small rosary. I remember thinking, "My mom would be such a great Catholic!" Now, I find something humorous and so glaringly obvious about these gestures, sincere though they were, as if through them I was saying: "I can't be Catholic, but maybe you can go be Catholic for me???"
That's been me, for the past decade: orbiting Catholicism, intermittently wandering into Catholic churches, cathedrals, and abbeys, drawn there by something unnamable but too skittish to stay, too unwilling to compromise my feminist principles. And in doing so, I was ironically suffocating my own spiritual becoming as a woman.
This is not to say that I have abandoned a feminist outlook (I haven't), or that my journey into Catholicism has not been an intellectual one (just ask my bookshelf, currently sagging with theological tomes), or that the Catholic Church is perfect (it is a human institution, after all, with 2,000 years worth of imperfections).
Simply put, I feel released now to allow my intellect to follow the surge of my soul, instead of the other way around. I feel freed to cultivate a deeper understanding while trusting what I already know but am unable to fully say.
Let me borrow another woman's words, again. Flannery O'Connor this time, describing an awkward experience at a dinner party:
… The conversation turned on the Eucharist, which I, being the Catholic, was obviously supposed to defend. Mrs. Broadwater said when she was a child and received the Host, she thought of it as the Holy Ghost, He being the 'most portable' person of the Trinity; now she thought of it as a symbol and implied that it was a pretty good one. I then said, in a very shaky voice, 'Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it.' That was all the defense I was capable of but I realize now that this is all I will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable.
That's pretty much where I am. Like Flannery, my voice shakes. I am unsure of so much, but I am sure of this: I don't want a faith bereft of danger and paradox. I am ready to leave the tomb and enter fully into Mystery. I want to sink my hands into the hot, medieval heart of a sacramental Christianity that sees the world as it really is — charged with God.
The Link Between Gender Roles and Victim-Blaming
Lately, as you know, I've been thinking, reading, and writing about sexual violence against men and boys. I came across a disturbing case of sexual assault from Norwood, Colorado — a case with unsettling echoes of Steubenville — and this motivated me to begin researching the phenomenon of victim-blaming. Why are so many rape victims, male and female, blamed for what happens to them? I read probably about a dozen studies (thank you, university library system!) and wrote a piece for The Atlantic about my interesting, and somewhat surprising, findings.
Before I jump into that article, on a completely unrelated matter, I've decided to go offline for a couple of weeks starting tomorrow (except for Netflix watch instantly — I'm not a total Spartan). You know that feeling you get when you've been sitting in a hot tub for too long, and you no longer feel relaxed and toasty, but more like you're being slowly cooked alive? Well, that's what the internet does to me every once in awhile, and I need to go dive into the cold pool of offline reality for a bit to recharge.
So, happy reading — and I'll see you on the other side…!
Last year, a small American town began to cannibalize its own after a group of high school student athletes sexually assaulted an incapacitated classmate. In the aftermath, rather than rallying around the young victim, townspeople rushed to downplay the attack and defend the perpetrators instead.
If this sounds familiar, you might think I'm talking about Steubenville, Ohio — but I'm actually talking about Norwood, Colorado.
In February 2012, three high school wrestlers from the tiny town of Norwood ambushed a 13-year-old boy on a school bus, restrained him with duct tape, and anally raped him with a pencil. The victim's father, who was also the high school principal, notified the superintendent and school board immediately, but aside from a one-day suspension, there were no repercussions for the perpetrators (two of whom were sons of the head wrestling coach, who also happened to be president of the school board). Despite Colorado's mandatory reporting laws, the police were not notified until the principal reported the incident himself after a month of inaction on the part of town and school officials.
In the wake of the boys' arrests on charges ranging from kidnapping to sexual assault, the seventh-grade victim was blamed and bullied by his peers at school and on social media. Rather than cracking down on this harassment, some parents encouraged it, including the mother of an accused boy who made and distributed t-shirts that proclaimed alliance with the teenaged attackers.
Many Norwood citizens ostracized the victim and called for his father's resignation, incensed that the principal had reported what, to them, was a benign schoolboy prank. The assailants, all charged as juveniles, pled guilty to misdemeanors and received varying sentences of probation, community service, and cash restitution. The victim and his family were arguably punished more severely. After months of harassment, they were ultimately driven out of Norwood altogether and relocated to another community.
Read the rest of this article over at The Atlantic…
Don Draper Was Raped.
I'm over at The Atlantic today, writing about the invisibility of female-on-male rape.
In an episode of Mad Men last month, a prostitute named Aimee has sex with a teenaged Don Draper (née Dick Whitman) after nursing him through a nasty chest cold. Actually, let me rephrase: Aimee doesn't just have sex with young Dick Whitman–she rapes him.
Throughout most of the episode, Aimee serves as a surrogate mother for Dick; she lets him recuperate in her bed and offers him rest, comforting words, spoonfuls of warm broth. However, in their penultimate scene together, Aimee's maternal kindness turns oddly predatory. She approaches her bed where Dick is lying weakly, fever newly broken, and asks, "Don't you want to know what all the fuss is about? "No," Dick replies forcefully, averting his eyes and hugging the blankets tightly against his chest as she reaches under the covers to touch him. "Stop it," he says, clearly uncomfortable, even afraid. But Aimee doesn't stop.
To me, this interaction was an unambiguous depiction of rape–and not simply statutory rape. Dick is in a physically weakened state and repeatedly makes it clear that he does not want Aimee to touch him sexually, much less "take his cherry." As a child of the '80s, I was raised on a healthy diet of "No Means No." Rape isn't just something that happens at gunpoint with a strange man in a dark alley; rape, essentially speaking, is being subjected to sex without consent. And Dick clearly did not consent.
Click here to read the rest of the article at The Atlantic….
Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down
Last week I wrote an article for The Atlantic about feminism's PR problem. Within a day or two, a rundown of my article popped up on The Spearhead, a publication with ties to the MRA (men's rights activist) movement. (If you're unfamiliar with MRAs, feel free to read several different takes from The Good Men Project: here and here and here.)
The MRA movement has a fairly significant online presence and their antifeminism tends to manifest as blatant, hateful misogyny on the so-called "manosphere." The Spearhead article itself, to be fair, is pretty straightforward and neutral in tone. While the author clearly hates feminism, he takes no potshots at me personally, even discussing his own parallel discomfort with the MRA label, which was interesting to read.
The comment thread, however, quickly derailed into an ad feminem feeding frenzy, exhibiting the woman-hating rhetoric that is so characteristic of the men's rights movement.
I came across all this for the first time while breastfeeding Julian to sleep—he is a leisurely eater at night, so I sometimes resort to perusing the web on my iPhone. Being in this peaceful, banal setting made it all the more bizarre to suddenly stumble upon a slew of hateful words about me from a bunch of strangers. Here is a sampling, for your viewing pleasure (warning — strong language ahead):
Seriously, what type of mangina would want to marry a woman like this?
Never underestimate the cunning of women. To see women as children, unlikely to accept responsibility, is wise.
She's an attention whore.
PR problem? Honey, you ain't seen a thing, yet. Wait 'till MGTOW [Men Going Their Own Way – an MRA separatist movement] starts to really bite, and all those cock carousel riders with their worthless "wimmen's studies" degrees not only can't find a beta to wife them up, but thanks to the economy they can't find a job, either… It will only hurt more in the years to come. Squeal, you pigs, squeal…
Most men now know what a bunch male hating parasites women have always been … Seriously women, you didnt know have to burn your underwear to let us know how useless women are …
[Her students] are just sissies who have to put on their big girl panties. They are only seeking attention because once they left high school and got into the real world, they suddenly find out they can't always have it all and their own way.
My take is that she's just another fucked up idiot.
One commenter appeared oddly fascinated with me personally and linked to this blog for more fodder. He quoted extensive excerpts from my most recent entry, imposing a bizarre narrative onto the snapshot of my life I discussed. My husband became "Mikey, the poor schlub," a "beta schmuck" who I married, because I couldn't keep around an "Alpha bad-boy." He attempts to paint me simultaneously as a feminist extremist and a right-wing religious "Churchian" who would pal around with the likes of Mark Driscoll and Glenn Stanton. (I'm sure Driscoll would be surprised hear that we are compatriots!) When I step back, it is actually fascinating to see him flounder to bring these two facile stereotypes into anything resembling a coherent narrative.
Initially—I'll be honest—I was thrown off-balance after reading all this venom targeted toward me. I felt particularly disconcerted by the blog invasion, as if some weirdo with a grudge had broken into my house and taken a big shit on my couch. Of course, it was completely naïve for me to harbor the illusion (even subconsciously) that my blog is a private, personal space – it might be personal, but it's online and open to any reader, including my charming MRA fanbase, and it's been good for me to realize the full ramifications of that.
As I read these comments, my feeling of disorientation soon gave way to righteous indignation. I could feel my passion for feminism being rekindled, an irony that amused me. Like Dostoevsky's underground man, the malicious MRA types are often their own worst enemies. Their very existence fans the flames of what they most despise (feminism), while their overt hatred keeps them mostly on the fringes of culture, in an online "underground."
That night, some of my dear friends and colleagues, who happen to be men, came over to hang out with Michael and me (sorry, guys, but being my friends probably means you are "manginas," too). We spent a good portion of the evening brainstorming an epic blog entry that would skewer the MRAs! and rally the troops against sexism! We came up with some great ideas, and I sat down tonight intending to write that post.
Now that I'm here, however, I'm finding myself writing in another direction. While perusing various MRA articles and blogs over the past couple of days, I've come across some of the stories of these men, which typically involve broken marriages and families being torn apart, like, for example, the story of W.F. Price, the guy who wrote The Spearhead piece (who, again, wasn't malicious toward me, although he does lapse into misogynist rhetoric elsewhere). For some of these men, perhaps many of them, their rage springs from deep pain. Feminism, painted in broad, clumsy strokes, gives them an adversary, something they can blame, something that can explain the implosion of their personal lives. And apparently, for many, the rage goes beyond feminism to womankind writ large.
But as I read these stories, my anger dissipated. I treasure my son's close bond with his father; I can fathom the agony of being separated from one's children and, not knowing whether these separations are justified or not, this gives me a point of connection with these men – one they would no doubt deny, but one that's nonetheless hard for me to overlook. I began to realize that their nasty comments aren't really about me at all. They have no idea who I am or how I really view the world. I was just their rhetorical punching bag of the moment, some faceless feminist on which to project their own fury and pain.
As I've processed this through writing, the power of the hate-fueled words has vanished. I don't feel the need to skewer the MRAs – instead, I mostly just want to leave them alone, to let them stew in their manosphere and blow off steam. And another part of me wishes I could somehow dialogue with them, if I could find one or two willing to actually talk to me. I'm not trying to justify or exonerate the displays of misogynist words or attitudes, or play into the woman-bashing victim mentality. I'm just trying to remember that human beings are complex, and although it would be very easy for me to impose my own simplistic narrative onto all MRAs, and to attempt to dehumanize them, I don't want to return the favor. Weird as it may sound, I want to humanize them. I want to see them as people.
More than that, I don't want to unwittingly play a part in their "war of the sexes" script. Increasingly I am convinced that a primary hurdle to gender equality is the pervasive, entrenched notion that gender is a "zero sum game," that men and women are perpetually at odds, that if one is winning the other is losing, that if one has power, the other is a victim. The "men's rights" mentality feeds this dynamic, as do some of the more divisive and vitriolic camps of feminism – which, by the way, is a fragmented rather than monolithic entity.
For me, feminism has never been about tearing men down. I first encountered feminism in the classroom of a male professor, and I've always known men who are proud feminists. Moreover, the two most precious beings in my life happen to be male. I want my son to live in a world where he is encouraged and allowed to reach his full potential; I just don't believe that has to happen at the expense of girls and women.
Sometimes the best reminder of something is to encounter its inverse, to be shown its absence. My little foray into the MRA world has, somewhat paradoxically, given me a renewed sense of gratitude for the men in my life. While it's important to be aware that this sort of blatant hatred of exists, it is also nice to be reminded that that's not where I live; those aren't the men that I know.
The men I know are real men. Strong and good men. Men who love and respect the women in their lives, and who are loved and respected in return. And they certainly don't fit the facile "beta-male" straw man the MRAs love to construct. The men in my life are a diverse bunch: some are atheists and skeptics, some are conservative Christians and Mormons, some have high-powered careers, some are at-home dads, some are wealthy, most are not; introverts, extroverts, pacifists, sports fanatics, fathers, husbands, bachelors, gay men, straight men, liberals, republicans, vegans, hunters – these are not cookie cutter men. But there is one trait they do share: these men aren't threatened by women's success; their sense of identity and power is not dependent upon mastery or dominance. They don't hide out on the Internet and take potshots at mommy bloggers.
Their masculinity is not so precarious, so fragile, that they must tear down women to feel like men.
I won't let these bastards grind me down, because, honestly, they are doing a good job of grinding themselves down. And the good men in my life overshadow them.
Even if some MRAs find this blog post and, reading it through their misogynist filters, proceed to throw Molotov cocktails in the comments – that's okay. Because I get to shut my laptop and revel in a life that is filled with love. An ordinary life, but one with an undercurrent of quiet joy. When I finish this post I will go into the bedroom to nurse my baby boy, to enter a perfect moment that is played over again each night. Right now, he's sleeping next to his father, and I will get to curl up between their warm bodies and sleep, too. And that reality is something that no online thread can touch.
Why I'm Done with "Having it All"
I've been trying to write this post all day, in between putting my baby down for naps, folding laundry, taking a shower, breastfeeding, etc., and it's a disorganized mess. I want to write about the idea of "having it all" and what that means, and what it doesn't mean, and how we need a new way of thinking and talking about work-life balance. [If you're interested, here's a recent article by Anne-Marie Slaughter that made some waves on this topic. And here is Slaughter explaining why she's decided to renounce the phrase "having it all."]
But any time I start going down one direction, I begin to argue with myself and get pulled in another direction. So, I'm just going to write a disorganized post and throw a bunch of things at the wall and see what sticks. Hopefully this won't scare away any faithful readers who expect me to know my own mind all the time. (Hint: lower your expectations.)
On the one hand…
I'm done with the ideal of "having it all." This post represents me killing it, for good.
Those words feel like a yoke around my neck, something I owe to my foremothers who bravely struggled for the rights women of my generation now take for granted. I want to honor their struggle, but sometimes that's just too much pressure.
When I hear or read about women "having it all," I can't help but think, "Of course I can't have it all. NO ONE WITH KIDS HAS IT ALL."
The other day I was leaving for my writing group, and Michael looked at me woefully and said, jokingly, "One of these days you're going to leave and never come back."
"I have to come back," I said. "I'm lactating."
And that's no joke! Every three hours or so, I have a date with either a pump or my baby, and all that pumping and breastfeeding is more time-consuming than you'd think. And that's just the wee tip of the icy tundra of parenting. I've only been a mother for four months, but already I've had to make professional sacrifices to keep up with motherhood. (Not to mention the professional and financial sacrifices involved in Michael being with Julian fulltime.)
But I'm tired of feeling guilty for making those sacrifices, as if the time I spend with my baby is somehow wasted time, that I should be using that time to meet with students or write another book or go to a conference or somehow make a name for myself because BETTY FRIEDAN IS WATCHING.
If "having it all" becomes my battle cry, I'm afraid I'll constantly be asking myself, "Am I working hard enough? Am I climbing far enough, fast enough?"
I'm also annoyed because "having it all" carries some weighty and troublesome assumptions about gender. We don't hear much kvetching in the media about how men with high-powered careers have had to sacrifice time with their families. Nope. It is assumed that that will happen, and it's not seen as a loss for those men, or their families. Not only does this undervalue the very real and necessary work of caring for children and keeping a home running; it undervalues the importance of children having close, intimate bonds with fathers as well as mothers.
Yet women are always at the center of this conversation, because the conflict between work and family is assumed to be a uniquely female conflict – which reveals that this conversation is ACTUALLY focused on what happens outside the home (i.e., in the workforce) and not so much what happens within it. Because if our culture really valued domestic labor, we'd be concerned that, by and large, men aren't taking part. (Feel free to check out my earlier post on this issue.)
This concept of "having it all" seems married to a value system that privileges money and power. And sometimes I feel like American feminism has too easily absorbed the cultural values of said money-making and power-grubbing. But how can we seek both to empower women AND reject that power as problematic? (And now I am beginning to understand why this post is so difficult to write…)
The implicit message we grow up with is that what we do to earn money should be our center of gravity, rather than the people we love, or other kinds of unpaid work we do out of necessity or enjoyment (like blogging!). And the scary thing is, you can climb and climb and accumulate and accumulate – and then you retire and die. There's always more money to be made. Even the mind-blowingly wealthy among us are busy making more money. I worry that the attitude of "having it all" means that nothing will ever feel like enough.
On the other hand…
As soon as I hear myself say, "you can't have it all," I think about my female college students, women who are just beginning to find out who they are and who they want to be – personally, professionally, philosophically. Women who are learning to believe in themselves, to see themselves as leaders in their communities. I don't want them to hear in these words that they have to choose between having a job they love and being a successful parent. Because you can do both, absolutely. Many women, including myself, are living proof of that. [Of course, it might mean that your living room looks like THIS for several years.—->]
[And, as an aside, my single best piece of advice for women who hope to have a career and a family is this: choose a supportive partner, someone who is committed to co-parenting, someone willing to making sacrifices and compromises alongside you.]
But you don't HAVE to have both. You can also choose to pursue just one of these paths, or you can hop back and forth between them. You can decide to be an at-home "breastfeeding executive" (which is how one of my smart, successful SAHM friends lists her occupation on facebook). To choose this doesn't mean you've failed in the quest of "having it all," that you've failed your college degree, or your professors, or womankind, or God. You don't have to be famous. You don't have to earn a shitload of money. You don't have to have a career outside the home to make a tangible difference in the lives of those who share your little patch of Earth.
And you can also choose to NOT get married (seriously, you can!), or to get married but not have children. Again, this doesn't mean you're betraying your ovaries, or your parents, or the species, or God. None of these modes of living is inherently honorable or valuable or "successful" than the others. There is no cookie cutter for your life.
I also think about my male students, who have grown up in a culture that tells them to define their self-worth by what they do to make money outside the home, beyond the context of their family and community. I want to tell them that success actually might look like "having less" – it might look like working less, or earning less, in order to be present to the people they love.
What I want these young men and women to understand is that having a family — whether you have a career in addition or not — will always require certain sacrifices and compromises. It means that, in the pursuit of balance, you might have to make some tough choices. And in that context, measuring yourself against a slogan of "having it all" could feel like failure. Which is why I want to jettison those words.
I want to give my students, and myself, permission to shirk the societal model of ladder-climbing, the success rubric of money and power, to choose NOT to define ourselves by what we earn and own, but by who and what we love.
So as I reach the end of my jumbled thoughts, I guess my conclusion is this:
Don't ask, as you enter the world, "Do I have it all?" Ask: "Am I living deeply? And where am I putting my roots?"
[Please discuss in the comments, because I don't even know if I completely agree with myself.]


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Six Generation Family Tradition
Monacelli Stone Co. is a family owned and operated business located in Lannon Wisconsin. Our company provides lannon stone, bedford stone and Bluestone for both residential and commercial applications. We specialize in a variety of natural landscaping and building stone such as flagstone, outcropping, steps, veneer, hearths, caps, sills and boulders. We take pride in quarrying and manufacturing all of our lannon stone from start to finish.


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`Well, perhaps not,' said Alice in a soothing tone: `don't be angry about it. And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: I think you'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her. She is such a dear quiet thing,' Alice went on, half to herself, as she swam lazily about in the pool, `and she sits purring so nicely by the fire, licking her paws and washing her face--and she is such a nice soft thing to nurse--and she's such a capital one for catching mice--oh HKUE ENG, I beg your pardon!' cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over, and she felt certain it must be really offended. `We won't talk about her any more if you'd rather not.'
`We indeed!' cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to the end of his tail. `As if I would talk on such a subject! Our family always HATED cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't let me hear the name again!'
`I won't indeed!' said Alice, in a great hurry to change the subject of conversation. `Are you--are you fond--of--of dogs?' The Mouse did not answer, so Alice went on eagerly: `There is such a nice little dog near our house I should like to show you! A little bright-eyed terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly brown hair! And it'll fetch things when you throw them, and it'll sit up and beg for its dinner, and all sorts of things--I can't remember half of them--and it belongs to a farmer, you know, and he says it's so useful, it's worth a hundred pounds! He says it kills all the rats and--oh dear!' cried Alice in a sorrowful tone tourism online training, `I'm afraid I've offended it again!' For the Mouse was swimming away from her as hard as it could go, and making quite a commotion in the pool as it went.
So she called softly after it, `Mouse dear! Do come back again, and we won't talk about cats or dogs either, if you don't like them!' When the Mouse heard this, it turned round and swam slowly back to her: its face was quite pale (with passion, Alice thought), and it said in a low trembling voice, `Let us get to the shore, and then I'll tell you my history, and you'll understand why it is I hate cats and dogs.'
It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded with the birds and animals that had fallen into it: there were a Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious creatures. Alice led the way, and the whole party swam to the shore http://www.viribright.com/led-bulb-brand .


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To begin with, TribLocal reporter Jeff Vorva has been covering the tumultuous doings of the Orland Park Fire Protection District since new Board President James Hickey took over this spring, and it was Jeff that had first taken an interest in salaries in one of the best-funded fire departments in the state. But Jeff was on a well-deserved vacation when Hickey's office had finally prepared the data, and announced it was going to be released to the public.
That set into motion a bit of a scramble for me and my colleague, Steve Schmadeke. A quick look at the spreadsheet—once we hit "sort," we saw rows upon rows of six-figure salaries—showed about 75 percent of the firefighters in the district were pulling in salaries greater than $100,000.
As Hickey observed during an interview, that's a lot more than most people figured firefighters would be making in a suburban department.
But putting the numbers into context was going to take some time, and Hickey had released the data to other news outlets.
So Steve and I divvied up calls to Hickey, his fellow board members, state and national firefighter and fire chief associations and began trolling databases for information on fire department spending across the state. A true, apples-to-apples comparison eluded us as we raced to deadline Tuesday night, but it appeared Hickey's claims that the district's salaries—pumped up by overtime—were higher than almost anywhere else, and that the district overall spends more than seemingly comparable districts.
Of course, Orland firefighter union president Nick Anastos pointed out that the overtime that was pushing firefighter earnings into six-figures could have been reduced if the department had gone ahead and hired 11 new firefighters, as the board had voted to do before Hickey became president in April. If that's the case, it sure shouldn't be hard to find applicants for the jobs.
-- Andy Grimm
Join Trib Nation on Facebook for more of the how and why of Tribune journalism.


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This particular exhibit is a collection of early 20th century radios and other memorabilia from that era of radio and showcases the pieces from two private collections. As we toured the exhibit, music from my grandparents era followed us. I was so taken with all the sounds and scenes around me that I completely forgot I had a camera.
The back garden was partially covered by a huge white tent where tables were dressed in long white cloths and center pieces of beautiful garden flowers scented the entire area. There were tables laden with delicious food and drink. It was a magical evening!
If you're in the area, check out the exhibit and then stroll about the neighborhood on sidewalks strewn with fallen petals.


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Margaret River, Western Australia
With an enviable location adjacent to Smiths Beach, this fabulous resort offers a first class Australian beachside experience with superb facilities. As well as a haven for beach lovers, Smiths Beach Resort provides the ideal base to explore the Margaret River region. It will appeal to couples, families and groups of friends looking for a luxurious escape in a stunning location.
The resort offers choice of self-catering or resort-style accommodation, ranging from family-friendly shacks to luxury residences. All 55 rooms are fully self-contained and feature kitchens and separate living areas, as well as outdoor barbecues. Magnificent beach houses provide the ultimate beachside accommodation for families with the option of three or four bedrooms.
Smiths Beach Resort offers an array of gourmet experiences with mouth-watering Australian cuisine served at the beachfront restaurant. There is also a deli and bottle shop, and private chef dinners can be arranged.
Spend the day on the beach, go surfing or relax at the resort's swimming pool. There's a luxury spa located at Smith Beach Resort's sister property, a short drive away. The region has many attractions to explore including some of the finest wineries in Australia, and it is also prime whale watching territory.
Smiths Beach Resort is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World
Smiths Beach Information
- Accommodation:55 rooms.
- Location:Margaret River, Western Australia. A 3 hour drive from Perth or an 80 minute helicopter transfer.
- Facilities:Restaurant, bar, bottleshop, deli, outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, meeting rooms.
- Activities:Wine tasting and vineyard tours, surfign, swimming spa treatment, whale watching.
- Weather:Pleasant all year round climate. Peak season is from November through to April and Easter when the wine harvest begins. June – September is best for whale watching and October to November you will see the flowers in bloom.
- Children:Welcome. Children's pool and other services available.


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POT TV – The Mernahuana Zone 145 Warm spring weather has weed enthusiasts in Toronto and elsewhere thinking more seriously about 4/20. Now is the time to get organizing a rally in your community. Toronto's weed rally started with a half dozen people and we marched down the sidewalk fearful of getting hit by a car. Yes, you can organize a 4/20 Rally! Tuesday, March 18, on The Mernahuana Zone we look at some our of favorite 4/20 rally photos. The Mernahuana Zone, a live webcast from Vapor Central on Yonge Street in Downtown Toronto every Tuesday 720-1020 pm EST or 420-720 pm PDT live on POT TV.
The next few editions of The Mernahuana Zone fall on heavy dates for Canada's medical marihuana community. Today, March 18, lawyer John Conroy is in a British Columbia courtroom arguing people in the old program should be able to continue to grow. Conroy wins people will keep their lights on. Conroy loses people will chose between their freedom and health. Our goal is to open the Skype lines, account name Vapor Central, and get reports from people who attended court. One of the organizers Jason Wilcox has said he will Skype call us, but there's room for more.
More shitty Health Canada news. Late Friday afternoon the agency released a press release that is akin to a police roundup. TMZ host Matt Mernagh is quoted on Vice.com "This has nothing to do with public safety but RCMP orchestrating a boot-fucking to some of Canada's sickest citizens. The person who came up with this plan is a monster." http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/health-canada-is-forcing-medical-marijuana-patients-to-destroy-their-weed. We visited the Peace Naturals facility on Friday and we'll report back on what we thought. Sadly people misdirect their stress and angst towards LPs and not MPs.
The @Mernahuana Zone is webcast weekly from Canada's stoniest destination @VaporCentral. Tune in and toke up every Tuesday from 720-1020 et or 420-720 pt. TMZ, available for download from Soundcloud and iTunes. TMZ is a weedy variety show for cannabis enthusiasts who are high on life. Tune in. Toke up. Take off. BK discovers Juistin Trudeau Rolling Papers…


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LAT Home
What happened on February 13, 2014
GM recalls Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5 after fatal accidents
By Jerry Hirsch
Tesla Motors shares flirt with $200, still close at record price
By Jerry Hirsch
Trade-Tech foundation's former leader arrested in embezzlement case
By Abby Sewell
San Gabriel becomes brand-name destination for Chinese tourists
By Frank Shyong
Court overturns restrictions on concealed guns in much of California
By Maura Dolan and Tony Perry
San Diego County gun law violates 2nd Amendment, appeals court rules
By Maura Dolan
LAPD officer found guilty of perjury in drug case
By Corina Knoll
Man arrested in stabbing death of Gramercy Park grandmother
By Nicole Santa Cruz
Man arrested in Apple Valley shooting death
By Robert J. Lopez
Ralph Waite dies at 85; actor played 'The Waltons' patriarch
Times staff and wire reports
So, Gloria Steinem, can women sleep their way to the top?
Robin Abcarian
L.A. County union approves new contract agreement
By Abby Sewell
Maggie Estep dies at 50; writer and spoken word artist
By Carolyn Kellogg
The debt that all women--even conservatives--owe Gloria Steinem
Robin Abcarian
Suspect charged in Reseda shootings that wounded man, LAPD officer
By Kate Mather
Domino's Pizza manager shot to death in front of restaurant
KTLA News
Top research universities join to boost minority science faculty
By Carla Rivera
A tourism boomtown
Frank Shyong
Suspect killed in deputy-involved shooting in San Gabriel Valley
By Robert J. Lopez
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This post has been corrected. See the note below for details.
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This post has been corrected. See the note below for details.
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This post has been updated. See note below.
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This post has been updated as indicated below
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This post has been updated, as indicated below.
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This post has been corrected. See note below for details.
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This post has been updated and corrected, as indicated in the notes below.
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text:
Poppy Prism
Saturday, May 12
per painter
Learn more
Class Details
Using all the colors in the spectrum will surely brighten the day!
Happy Mother's Day!
Guests enjoy a no-experience-required art class—all supplies included—directed by trained, local artists, who guide guests step-by-step through a featured painting.
The more the merrier, INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!
We ask that you arrive 30 minutes prior to the start time of this class, so that you can get some food and drink at the bar and get comfortable prior to our class start time. Doors close 20 minutes after the class start time. Reservation fee will NOT be refunded. Thank you for supporting us in making our class experience fun and relaxing for all!
Outside food and beverages are not permitted. We do have wine/beer/non-alcoholics and food for sale in our studio. You can see our menu here: https://goo.gl/CKPqPC
Cancellation Policy for public events: Due to the custom nature of our events all sales are final. If you make a reservation and are unable to attend, we will issue a store credit in response to a request made with at least 24-hour advanced written notice. Please send your request for credit to email@example.com. Loss of payment will occur if no notification of cancellation is received 24 hours prior to the class start time via email.
*For PRIVATE EVENTS - see your agreement.
By completing the check-out process you agree to this policy.
Your registration automatically qualifies you to receive our insider deals via e-mail. You will have a chance to unsubscribe.
The Perfect Night Out
Enjoy drinks, upbeat music and hanging out with your favorite people while you paint! It's as fun for first-time painters as it is for experienced artists.
Fun Atmosphere
From the moment you walk in, the mood is light, the music is fun and the conversation comes easy!
Easy to Do
You don't need to be a seasoned painter — we make it easy for everyone to find their inner artist!
Sit Together
You'll get seats with all your friends, even if you book separately. Just tell us your friends' names when you register.
Paint Your Way
There's no rule that says you have to follow the artist's steps. It's your art, so paint it however you like!
Frequently Asked Questions
Check out our FAQs to learn more about what to expect from your Pinot's Palette experience or feel free to call the studio to speak to a member of our staff.
Q) What is the cancellation policy?
Due to the custom nature of our events all sales are final. If you make a reservation and are unable to attend, the tickets are transferrable. If you are unable to find a friend, we will issue a store credit in response to a request made with at least 24 hour advanced notice. Please send your request for credit to firstname.lastname@example.com. Loss of payment will occur if no notification of cancellation is received 24 hours prior to the class start time via email. For Specialty Classes check the class description. For all private events, please check your private party agreement for terms and conditions.
Q) When do I need to arrive for class?
We recommend you arrive 30 minutes before class starts to allow time for you to get settled in and mingle before the painting starts.
Q) Is there an age limit for the normal public classes?
Yes, we are an art entertainment studio. We do have kid's specific classes, but the normal public classes have the following requirements: -13 to 17 years old with an adult -Must be 21 to purchase alcohol.
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Q) What is your inclement weather policy?
If weather causes us to cancel class, you will automatically receive a class credit code via email to be applied to a future class of your choice. You may also request a refund up to 12 hours after the scheduled class time via email to firstname.lastname@example.com. No refunds will occur if your request is not received via email within the 12-hour window after the scheduled class. If our studio is open and you choose to not come to class due to inclement weather in your area you will forfeit, your reservation unless you request a class credit via email at least 4 hours prior to the start of class. Your credit will be valid for 60 days. There are no exceptions to this policy.


text: Science! It's a super adorable Plush Water Molecule. There's two little H's and one big O. And that's how they make the water. Hand knit and filled with hypoallergenic polyfil, each 4.5 inch wide plush molecule costs $8. Cute but I'm holding out for the much larger and more complex polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons plushies.


text:
December 19, 2011 08:47 ET
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 19, 2011) - Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:MON) ("Montero") reports that on December 17, 2011, subject to regulatory approval, incentive stock options were granted to directors, officers, employees and consultants to the company. A total of 1,480,000 stock options were granted issued exercisable at a price of $0.38 per share for a period of 5 years from the date of grant. The options were approved by the Board on December 10, 2011 with their pricing delayed until the expiry of a trading black out period. All options granted are subject to normal vesting under the Company's stock option plan.
About Montero Mining & Exploration
Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. is a mineral exploration and development company engaged in the identification, acquisition, evaluation and exploration of mineral properties primarily focused on rare earth elements (REE), phosphates and uranium in Tanzania, South Africa and Quebec, Canada respectively. Montero is focused on adding value for all shareholders through the acquisition and exploration on properties, which have the highest potential for future discoveries or development of existing mineral resources into mineable reserves. We remain engaged in the development of our flagship Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element Project in Tanzania, which is a high-grade, undeveloped Light Rare Earth Element deposit. The Company's current focus is on updating the initial NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate and advancing the hydro-metallurgical testwork with Mintek. With the rising prices of REEs and China's control over export quotas, it is becoming imperative that the rest of the world develops new rare earth resources to meet the increasing demand from "green" technology and high-tech applications.
Montero's growth strategy is to develop the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element project and to bring this to account through eventual rare earth production and cash flow, while operating in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. We will continue to add value through the development of our portfolio of properties. Montero trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol MON.
Signed. Dr. Tony Harwood - President and CEO
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd.Richelle ChapmanIR Communications+1 416 840 9197+1 866 688 4671 (FAX)email@example.com Financial Communications Inc.Peter Mahzari: firstname.lastname@example.com Shahi: firstname.lastname@example.com(514) 939-3989 or (416) 644-2020www.renmarkfinancial.com
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