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When his son was born in 2014, Jorge Matias held the infant in the hospital and sang him the lullabies he had learned as a child in Guatemala. He teased the boy's mother that he would raise their son to speak Spanish, and one day the two of them would talk in secret around her.
But the boy was born with heroin in his system and, when it cleared from his body, Illinois child welfare officials placed him in a foster home. To get his son back, Matias had to complete a long list of requirements, including ending his relationship with the boy's mother, a heroin addict.
Matias visited the boy at his caseworker's office, changed diapers and learned to prepare a bottle. He documented his son's growth with photos and videos on his cellphone.
Shortly before the boy turned 1, at a visit with his father at a library, his foster mother sitting nearby, he spoke what was, for Matias, his child's first word. Not in Spanish. Or in English. But in Slovak. Mamka. Mommy.
In that moment, Matias realized his son was being raised speaking a language he did not understand. He feared what would happen if it took longer to get him back.
Matias sought out the Eastern European men he worked with on carpentry jobs and learned to use language apps on his phone for useful words and phrases. Slowly, he picked up a handful of Slovak words: Blanket. Bottle. Up. Down. Tomatoes. Chicken.
But he couldn't keep up. By the time the boy turned 2, in the summer of 2016, Matias told a therapist during a required session that he was worried about his growing inability to communicate with his son.
Six months later, his son began to scream when Matias picked him up for visits. He cried out for his foster father. "Ocko," he called him, the Slovak word for daddy.
A History of Falling Short
For more than 40 years, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has been under a federal court order to place the children of Spanish-speaking, Latino parents in foster homes where that language is spoken.
This order, known as the Burgos consent decree, has the power to benefit thousands of families in a state with one of the country's largest Spanish-speaking populations. In fact, the consent decree often is cited as a national model, most recently in a study of how child welfare agencies across the U.S. serve immigrant families, an issue that's only become more critical amid the heightened political climate around immigration.
But a ProPublica Illinois investigation has found that DCFS has repeatedly failed in its obligations to help Spanish-speaking families. The agency continues to place children in homes where their parents' language isn't spoken and to assign caseworkers who don't speak Spanish to parents who aren't proficient in English. Hundreds of families across generations have been affected, beginning with the family for whom the consent decree is named and continuing to this day, with the story of Matias' children, who were placed in a foster home where neither English nor Spanish was spoken.
In some cases, the language gap has caused workers to miss key information in investigations of abuse and neglect, records show, contributing to the injuries and deaths of children in state care. The shortcomings extend to the private agencies that work with these families and those charged with overseeing enforcement of the court order.
"You're destroying families," said Layla Suleiman Gonzalez, a former federal court monitor of the consent decree who now teaches at Loyola University Chicago. "Once you take away a child's language, you're taking his or her identity, his connection to the family and the community and the culture."
The agency's records show nearly 300 possible Burgos violations since 2005. That number is almost certainly an undercount because basic information about a case, including race, ethnicity and language preferences, frequently has been unreliable and, in some instances, was deliberately falsified by staffers.
DCFS cannot provide a consistent count of children of Spanish-speaking parents who are currently in foster homes where Spanish is not spoken. The agency initially provided data that showed more than 50 children in recent placements that could violate the consent decree. DCFS spokesman Jassen Strokosch later said there were only two violations. In May, he said the agency performed a case-by-case review and reported that the correct figure was fewer than 25.
Finally, this week, Strokosch acknowledged "difficulties providing accurate numbers." He added that now, "from top to bottom, we're looking at better ways to do that reporting."
Some placements may appear to violate Burgos but don't because the agency might have prioritized other factors, such as the medical needs of the child, above language, he said. Other placements may violate agency policy but not Burgos, because the consent decree covers families in the Chicago area but DCFS policy applies the order statewide.
Still, Strokosch said, complying with Burgos and ensuring that Spanish-speaking families across Illinois receive services in their own language is a priority of DCFS acting director Marc Smith, who was appointed to the position in April by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Smith is the agency's 13th leader in the last decade.
"DCFS is committed to being fully responsive to the needs of the children and families we serve, providing care and services that accounts for differences in culture, language, and background," Strokosch said.
For an agency that has long struggled with high-profile child deaths and crushing caseloads, it's easy to see how Burgos has been ignored, said Rubén Castillo, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the first federal court monitor on the consent decree. DCFS, he said, has been so overwhelmed by responding to crises that it has not prioritized issues specific to Latinos, who make up just 8% of the more than 16,000 children in state care.
"I have yet to see any big push on the part of any of the directors of DCFS to either hire Hispanic workers or to seek to have more Hispanic foster families," Castillo said. "I think there's been too many transitions, too many new priorities, too many emergency cases, too many kids dying in bad situations."
For years, no organization outside DCFS has been able to examine if it complies with the court decree.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a national civil rights group that represents families in the Burgos litigation, said the state has repeatedly refused to provide information that would help it monitor the consent decree. MALDEF leaders, in interviews and in a written statement, said they are now considering their legal options but worry the protections granted to families under the consent decree could be eliminated if they take DCFS back to court.
The preservation of families stands as a guiding principle in child welfare. But violating parents' Burgos rights can delay reunification, a process that may already take years. Children who are cut off from their birth parents may end up with anglicized names, different religious practices or immersed in a foreign culture.
In some cases, prolonged separations make it almost impossible to determine what's best for these children: returning them to birth parents they may barely know or keeping them with foster parents who, perhaps, should never have had them for so long but who have watched them grow and loved them as their own.
A Promise of Reform
Leopoldo and Iris Burgos moved to Chicago from Puerto Rico in 1970 and spoke only Spanish. In March 1972, DCFS investigators took custody of two of their children, Olga and Henry. Nearly half a century later, the specific allegation against the parents is unclear. News reports from the late 1980s say the children were found filthy and pecked by chickens the family kept in their apartment.
Caseworkers from a private agency contracted by DCFS placed Olga, who was around 3 at the time, and Henry, then around 6, in separate foster homes where only English was spoken.
Four social workers would handle the case over the next three years. None spoke Spanish.
The language barriers delayed even the simplest interactions. In a sworn affidavit, Iris Burgos said she didn't see her daughter for seven months "because I could not communicate with anyone" from the agency.
All notices sent to the family were in English. The Burgos' oldest daughter, about 11 at the time, often served as an interpreter. It's unclear why she or other siblings weren't taken into custody.
A bilingual caseworker wasn't assigned until three years after the family entered the child welfare system. "For the first time," Iris Burgos said in the affidavit, "we now know what is expected of us and how we can plan a program which will hopefully lead to the eventual return of our children."
What happened to the Burgos family was standard for the era. A DCFS study from 1974 found that 80% of children of Latino parents taken into state care were placed in non-Latino foster homes. Some 67% of cases involving Spanish-speaking parents were handled by caseworkers who didn't speak the language.
In November 1975, the nonprofit Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago filed a class-action civil rights lawsuit against DCFS and two of its vendors arguing systematic discrimination against Spanish-speaking Latino families.
Less than two years later, with the lawsuit still pending, DCFS agreed to reforms. Chief among them was a mandate to place children of Spanish-speaking families in foster homes where their language would be preserved. If an appropriate home couldn't be found within two months, the state needed to keep a record of every effort made to find one.
The consent decree covered Spanish-speaking families in Chicago and its suburbs whose children were taken into DCFS custody. The agency later extended its policies statewide and to families that had been investigated for abuse or neglect but whose children hadn't been removed from their home.
DCFS also agreed to increase the number of Spanish-language foster homes, hire more bilingual staff and translate case documents. And it promised to maintain an accurate count of Latino families for whom Spanish was the primary language, information essential to track compliance.
It was an ambitious goal, one that DCFS struggled to meet from the beginning.
Waiving His Rights
Jorge Matias left Guatemala in 2003, when relatives living in Chicago came to visit the small town where he had grown up with nine brothers and sisters. He was a teenager at the time who, after finishing high school, worked digging irrigation ditches on a banana plantation. His relatives' return trek to the U.S. presented an opportunity to pursue a better life.
As Matias and a relative crossed the border on foot near El Paso, they were apprehended by immigration agents. But they were quickly released with a warning to expect a notice in the mail to appear in immigration court.
Matias, now 34, didn't think much of the encounter as he made his way to Chicago. He moved into an apartment near Humboldt Park, on the city's Near West Side, with his father, who had immigrated years earlier. Within a few years, Matias was earning as much as $40,000 a year. "I started all the way at the bottom," he said, "but when I learned carpentry, I was able to make that money." Every few weeks, he wired money back home to his mother.
When his father returned to Guatemala, Matias stayed behind. He liked his life in Humboldt Park, where he could take walks through the neighborhood's namesake park and hear people speaking Spanish. His routine included taking the bus to evening English classes on the city's North Side. He would study English for years and come to comprehend it, though it would remain difficult for other people to understand him.
One day in 2012, Matias was on the bus on the way to class when he noticed Heather Penar. He liked her smile and made small talk. She responded, friendly and open. "She was someone I could practice my English with," Matias recalled. "She understood me." And Penar, too, was drawn to him. In a recent interview, she said she'd never felt "so safe and warm and secure" with anybody before Matias.
They dated casually at first, getting takeout from Thai and Mexican restaurants and heading to the park to talk.
Matias asked her to move in with him after he learned she was pregnant. They talked about getting married and moving to suburban Oak Park. But her addiction to heroin and Xanax, she said, derailed their plans.
Penar, who has been convicted of shoplifting and drug possession, said she hid her addiction from Matias until he found her passed out one day on the bathroom floor. He said he thought about leaving her but wanted to help her get clean. He took her to a clinic, where she was given methadone.
Penar gave birth in the summer of 2013 to a boy who had been exposed to drugs. Matias said he visited the boy for weeks at the hospital until a paternity test showed he was not the father, and the boy was placed in a foster home.
The following summer, Penar gave birth to another drug-exposed son. A DNA test confirming that Matias was the father wouldn't be given until after the boy was placed with the Slovak foster parents, Jana and Peter Palenik.
Children's Home & Aid, the nonprofit child welfare organization that had the case on a contract with DCFS, has declined to comment for this story. The Paleniks declined repeated interview requests.
DCFS said state law prohibits it from discussing individual cases. In April, a Cook County Juvenile Court judge issued an order prohibiting ProPublica Illinois from publishing the names or images of the children, citing privacy issues.
A supervisor from Children's Home & Aid later told DCFS that one reason the boy wasn't placed in a home where Spanish was spoken was the delay in determining paternity, according to case notes. That delay, the supervisor said, was also a factor in why the Paleniks weren't told what language to speak to the infant.
After his son had been with the Paleniks for about six weeks, DCFS told Matias he could request a home where Spanish was spoken. Matias said he had relatives who would take his son, although he was happy with the care the Paleniks provided and didn't see the need to move him, records show.
Matias, who thought he would get his son back in a few months, said he couldn't imagine this decision would have long-term effects. At the time, Matias thought the Paleniks spoke English at home. He didn't know they were from Slovakia until months after his son had been placed there. The Paleniks later told DCFS they spoke only Slovak at home.
The day after the meeting with DCFS, Matias told an aide that he didn't "consider himself to be fluent in English," according to the case file. Then his caseworker and a bilingual colleague asked Matias whether he wanted services in English or Spanish. If he chose Spanish, the caseworker told him, she would no longer be on the case. If he chose English, his caseworker said, "she would find Spanish services for the things he is required to do" to get custody.
Matias chose English. By doing so, the supervisor from Children's Home & Aid later told DCFS, Matias agreed to relinquish his Burgos rights.
Later, Matias told DCFS workers he was told he could bring his son home faster by choosing English, according to the case file.
A Lack of Oversight
In the years after the Burgos consent decree was signed, lawyers and court-appointed monitors repeatedly found that DCFS had mishandled waivers or coerced parents into giving up their Burgos rights.
In 1979, a little over two years after the decree went into effect, the Legal Assistance Foundation took DCFS back to court, in part because DCFS claimed 113 Spanish-speaking clients had waived their rights though it could provide copies of only 13 waivers. Some had been signed by children.
The issue came up again in 1991. In his first report on DCFS compliance, Castillo, the first court-appointed monitor, described cases in which workers would "essentially coerce families to execute Burgos waivers" by telling them they wouldn't be reunited with their children. He said the agency's misuse of waivers could "swallow up the entire purpose" of the court order.
As a result, DCFS agreed to stop using the waivers, though a language determination form has effectively replaced them. Today, parents whose primary language is Spanish waive their rights by saying they prefer to receive services in English on the forms. Strokosch said DCFS does not consider the forms waivers and said any attempt to "influence a parent's selection of a preferred language with the promise of faster services would be totally unacceptable and immediately investigated."
Other problems periodically arose, including not translating records and using children as interpreters. In one case, described in a 2008 report from DCFS' inspector general, a supervisor persuaded an immigrant mother to sign a document giving up guardianship of her baby. The document was in English, which she could not read.
DCFS also continues to assign caseworkers who don't speak Spanish to Latino families. Agency records of active cases involving Spanish-speaking families as of January 2019 showed more than 100 Spanish-speaking families were being served by caseworkers who cannot speak Spanish. It's unclear whether they used interpreters. DCFS said it reviewed its records and found that many caseworkers were wrongly labeled as not speaking Spanish when, in fact, they do.
Inaccurate coding and data collection has been a persistent problem at the agency. A 1985 outside study found DCFS did not properly identify whether families were Hispanic. A 1997 monitoring report found inaccurate or inconsistent data had led to a likely undercount of families who preferred services in Spanish. A 2017 agency video celebrating the consent decree's 40th anniversary features DCFS' in-house Burgos coordinator explaining how "today we still have an issue on coding the families correctly in terms of not only their ethnicity but the language that they use, if they need an interpreter, if it's a Burgos-class family."
Matias' son, for instance, is listed as white and English-speaking in the agency's case file. DCFS records show that the agency has particularly struggled to track language preferences for families like his, where the father speaks Spanish and the mother English. Burgos requirements apply even if just one parent prefers Spanish.
Caseworkers also have intentionally misclassified families. In a 2009 review, DCFS' in-house Burgos coordinator, Lourdes Rodriguez, found that staff in a Chicago-area office labeled families as white and English-speaking to reduce caseload numbers and bilingual staffing requirements. "I do not have enough bilingual investigators and what am I to do, management knows that we are violating the Burgos Consent Decree, but I have to assign the cases anyway to whom I have available," a case supervisor said at the time, according to the review.
Strokosch said the agency is "making improvements to the way Burgos consent decree compliance is tracked at DCFS and aims to be fully transparent with stakeholders and the public as we move forward."
MALDEF took over the job of representing families in the Burgos litigation in 1996. In a recent interview, Nina Perales, MALDEF's vice president of litigation, said that, from the start, it was a struggle to get information that would allow it to monitor compliance. She said MALDEF lawyers wrote a number of letters over several years asking the Illinois attorney general's office, which represents DCFS in the Burgos litigation, for monitoring reports. But the information was either incomplete or not provided. Their last communication was in 2012; then, according to Perales, the attorney general's office said it was not required to provide those reports and that MALDEF would have to discover Burgos violations on its own.
"The agency shut the door," she said. "They were not going to provide any more information. They were not going to cooperate with us on enforcement."
The attorney general's office disagreed with Perales' characterization and said the "consent decree directs the plaintiffs to work with DCFS to ensure the state is in compliance with the decree, and the Attorney General's office will continue to be willing to meet with the plaintiffs to help facilitate that process."
Since 2012, MALDEF attorneys have met with community organizations and others in "a continuing investigation of Burgos compliance" and researched strategies to ensure Spanish-speaking families in Illinois are served, Perales said. But proving discrimination under federal civil rights law has become more difficult since the Burgos litigation was first filed; plaintiffs now have to show intent, not just the effects of discrimination. Returning to court, Perales said, could unravel the consent decree and undermine its protections.
"The issue," she said, "is as pressing if not more today than it was in the 1970s."
A New Generation of Burgos Violations
A generation after the Burgos lawsuit was filed, another Spanish-speaking father went to court to fight for children who had been placed in a home where only English was spoken.
DCFS took custody of Jose Zapata's first daughter in 1997, when she was 6 months old, after police in west suburban Elgin said they observed the baby's mother handling her roughly. At the time, Zapata and the mother were separated, though she was pregnant with their second daughter.
Both daughters would eventually be placed in the foster home of an English-speaking couple. Zapata didn't speak English or have a lawyer — he wouldn't be appointed one for nearly a year — but he set about seeking custody of his daughters.
From the start, language complicated his efforts. DCFS did not assign a bilingual caseworker for about a year. Interpreters weren't always provided. A psychological assessment found Zapata lacked the intellectual capacity to care for the girls; the assessment was administered in English. When Zapata was tested again in Spanish, court records show, his scores improved.
Zapata's status as an undocumented immigrant also counted against him. At court hearings, a caseworker and an attorney hired by the foster parents said it showed his "disregard" for the law.
As the case continued, Zapata married another woman and had a son. But he said he spent so much time driving to visits, therapy, parenting classes, drug counseling and other requirements that he couldn't support his family. "They kept me busy all day for years," said Zapata, who worked weekends and nights at an aunt's grocery store.
Relatives gave the family money for food, formula and diapers. His in-laws moved in to help pay the bills.
All the while, the relationship between Zapata and the foster family deteriorated, court records show. The foster parents baptized his daughters in their Protestant church without his knowledge. If he arrived a few minutes late to his youngest daughter's therapy, held two hours away at the foster parents' home, they wouldn't let him in.
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The foster parents said they doubted Zapata's ability to care for the girls. "We could accept the return of the children to their father if objective evidence were provided that he could indeed parent these children," they wrote. "After two years we have grown to love these children and just want to ensure that they will have the opportunity to grow up to become beautiful and productive members of our society."
The case took a turn in Zapata's favor when, after two years, he reached out to the Mexican Consulate in Chicago. Salvador Cicero, an attorney there at the time, remembers the look of defeat on Zapata's face when they met. "Everybody tells me I have to sign my children over," he told Cicero.
The consulate found him attorneys, got the attention of reporters on both sides of the border and developed a relationship with DCFS leadership. Agency officials eventually conducted their own investigation and found that Zapata's Burgos rights had been violated.
As a result of the case, DCFS and the Mexican Consulate signed an agreement in 2001 that requires the agency to inform Mexican parents that they can ask for their consulate to be notified if their children are taken into custody.
Finally, in 2004, more than six years after his daughters were taken into custody, Zapata brought them home. But no one knew how the girls, who couldn't speak Spanish, would adapt.
Progress and Setbacks
Several days a week, Matias left work early and arrived late, cutting into his pay, to make it to visits, therapy, classes and random drug tests in his quest to gain custody of his son.
His caseworker reminded him that he would need to prove he was "financially capable" of meeting his son's needs. He signed a lease on a two-bedroom apartment with the understanding that DCFS would help him cover the deposit, but he didn't get the assistance because his son's return home was not imminent.
When Matias was approved for unsupervised visits, he was too embarrassed to have the visits take place in his sparsely furnished apartment. He got permission to meet his son in the home of an aunt and uncle who lived nearby.
Children's Home & Aid staff visited their apartment and spoke with his aunt in the fall of 2015, when the boy was 1, records show. But it's unclear if she or any of Matias' other relatives were considered as potential foster families; DCFS typically encourages placements with relatives before strangers. Agency records say no relatives "were able to care for him."
Matias said he suggested the aunt and uncle, in addition to another set of relatives. Both sets of relatives told ProPublica Illinois they would have been happy to take in their nephew's son. Such an arrangement would have made it "easier to stay connected to my son," Matias said. And they would have raised the boy speaking Spanish.
Case notes indicate that, in late 2015, Matias' caseworker told him it was time to begin overnight visits. When he expressed anxiety about having sole responsibility for his son overnight, the Paleniks invited him to spend the night at their home so he could learn his son's routine.
Then Matias' caseworker discovered he had been seeing the boy's mother. The progress he had made on getting back his son came to a halt. His caseworker worried about his ability to protect the boy from Penar's substance abuse. When she relapsed, Penar would disappear for months at a time.
Matias, who has never been accused of abuse or neglect, said he tried to cut ties with her. He changed his cellphone number and dated another woman. But he said it was hard to say no when Penar asked for money for methadone or for a ride to visit her two daughters from prior relationships who lived with relatives in the suburbs. Even now, after all that's happened, Matias says he still loves her.
Soon after it was discovered that Matias was still seeing Penar, he asked for a caseworker who spoke Spanish. The agency agreed. Matias said his original caseworker didn't seem to understand his accented English and often asked him to repeat himself. Despite all the classes he'd taken, Matias could never express himself the way he wanted in English. And he said he didn't think the caseworker took his concerns seriously.
It's unclear why Matias' request didn't trigger Burgos protections, or if Children's Home & Aid or DCFS considered moving his son to a foster home where Spanish was spoken.
As the months passed, the Paleniks grew attached to the boy. And he grew attached to them. The Paleniks live in a single-story, brick home on a tree-lined street in a southwest suburb. Some of the neighbors are, like them, Eastern European immigrants. Their children have grown up together, speaking Slovak and Polish.
Two neighbors described the Paleniks as good parents and said they have watched them teach the boy to ride a bicycle and take him to a nearby park. The Paleniks, who are from the northern part of Slovakia near the border with Poland, took the boy there to see relatives, records show.
Not long after the boy turned 2, DCFS approved overnight visits. But the boy cried when Matias came to pick him up. Matias called his new caseworker to say he didn't think his son liked him.
The Paleniks also complained of changes to the boy's behavior. "We have to get up several times every night to calm and reassure him," they wrote in a December 2016 email included in the case file. "It is steadily getting worse, and we are worried what may happen next."
The agency ended the overnight visits and Jana Palenik reported that the boy's behavior improved.
After that, Children's Home & Aid sent Matias to child-parent psychotherapy designed to help him bond with his son. But Jana Palenik sat in on the sessions. She needed to be there, the therapist wrote, because the boy spoke mostly Slovak.
There is no indication that anybody from Children's Home & Aid or DCFS considered if the father and son's inability to speak the same language contributed to their struggle to bond.
Then, in September 2017, the case reached a tipping point. Penar gave birth to Matias' second child. The baby girl, who also was born with heroin in her system, was placed with the Paleniks. They started asking about adoption, saying their trust in Matias was "completely broken due to him lying about his relationship with Heather," according to case notes.
By early 2018, the agency recommended terminating Matias' parental rights and awarding guardianship to the Paleniks. Workers cited Matias' continued contact with Penar and his inability, despite interventions, to bond with his son.
Lives at Stake
DCFS is charged with protecting children in its care. But the agency's shortcomings serving Spanish-speaking families has contributed to failures to investigate cases in which children ended up being hurt and even killed, according to records.
ProPublica Illinois reviewed annual reports since 2005 from the agency's inspector general's office, which examines child deaths and other major cases of abuse or neglect when the family has had contact with DCFS within the previous 12 months. The review found more than a half-dozen cases where language barriers contributed to a flawed investigation, including at least three that ended in a child's death.
One case involved a 6-month-old boy who died in a 2005 trailer fire in western Illinois. A DCFS investigator had previously visited the home with an interpreter and noted potentially hazardous space heaters. The investigator relied on the interpreter's opinion that the space heaters were safe. Nobody warned the family about the risk, the father later told the Belleville News-Democrat.
"If they would have told us it was bad," he said, "we would have gotten rid of them."
In response, the inspector general recommended DCFS hire a Spanish-speaking worker for the region around Belleville. DCFS agreed, saying at the time that it actively pursues hiring Spanish-speaking staff for each region.
In another case, a DCFS worker who did not speak Spanish relied on a number of interpreters, including relatives, while investigating the abuse of an 8-month-old boy in 2004 in Aurora, a heavily Latino suburb west of Chicago. DCFS closed its investigation of the case, but the baby died a few days later after being shaken. His father was convicted of murder. The inspector general's office told DCFS it needed more bilingual workers in areas with growing Spanish-speaking populations.
In yet another case, no Spanish-speaking hotline operators were available in 2010 to take a call reporting suspected abuse of a 1-year-old girl. By the time the caller finally got through two days later and then, later still, an investigator checked in on her, the bruises had faded.
The girl died a few days later of suffocation and blunt force trauma. Her mother was later convicted of aggravated battery of a child. After the inspector general's report on the death came out in 2012, Rodriguez, the agency's Burgos in-house coordinator, began looking into staffing at the hotline call center. DCFS in 2016 opened a second call center staffed with more bilingual operators, including one Spanish speaker per shift.
Rodriguez also asked to be notified of deaths of Latino children to determine if language barriers somehow contributed, according to a 2015 memo. The agency did not provide this notification. Strokosch, the DCFS spokesman, said Rodriguez could investigate those cases without any special notification.
"Lourdes' opinion that she needs to have that notification is her own opinion. Every child death is investigated, whether it's Burgos or not," he said. "If language was a barrier in those cases, we would expect to see that in the findings."
Thousands of DCFS investigations each year list Spanish as families' preferred language, records show. Agency policy calls for such cases to be handled by a bilingual investigator, and only if one is not available should an interpreter be used. Relatives, who might be biased, should be avoided as interpreters, according to policy.
But a February staffing report found the pace of hiring Latino and bilingual workers hasn't kept up with the state's growing Latino population and an increasing number of investigations requiring Spanish. In fact, DCFS last year reported fewer bilingual employees than it did a decade ago.
The agency also falls short of a state law mandating more bilingual staff at agencies where public services are most used. The law requires 194 bilingual frontline workers at DCFS; last year the agency reported 156.
The lack of bilingual workers also has jeopardized other investigations. In one case, cited in the inspector general's 2011 report, three siblings denied they were abused by their mother when a maternal aunt was used as an interpreter. Only after a bilingual worker interviewed one of the children did he admit they had been physically and sexually abused. According to the inspector general's report, he said he had been "unwilling to discuss the subject in the presence of his aunt."
The investigator also failed to translate documents from the family's home country, including a doctor's assessment that the children were "in danger of being seriously injured or killed if left in the mother's custody." DCFS suspended the investigator and supervisor on the case, according to the inspector general's report.
Many workers rely on an agency language line for interpretation. More than 2,000 calls were made to the language line requesting Spanish interpreters from June 2017 through May 2018, records show. The average call lasted 15 minutes. Dozens exceeded an hour.
Rodriguez has documented significant problems with the language line. Workers, according to a 2012 memo, worried they "may be putting children at risk" and "their licenses in jeopardy" by using it. Interpreters sometimes provided a five-word summary of 10-minute conversations. Parents said they did not always understand the interpretations.
DCFS did not seek changes in response to Rodriguez's concerns. Strokosch said he cannot comment on the quality of translations in 2012, but he said the agency is confident in the language line today.
An Arrest
On Aug. 14, 2018, Matias woke up before dawn, nervous, excited and, for the first time in years, hopeful. He was scheduled to meet with a new caseworker, this time one who worked directly for DCFS.
Five months earlier, his public defender had filed a complaint with the agency's inspector general alleging that Children's Home & Aid workers had bullied Matias, made disparaging comments about undocumented immigrants and refused to talk to him about the case in his attorney's presence.
The inspector general opened an investigation and, last July, issued an interim report that indicated serious bias against Matias and an unnecessary delay in finding a permanent home for his children. The inspector general recommended that DCFS conduct its own review and decide if Children's Home & Aid should be removed from the case. DCFS took over the case and opened an internal investigation into whether Matias' Burgos rights had been violated.
That August day, as Matias drove toward the DCFS offices for his first meeting with the new caseworker, all he could think about was making a good impression. But just a few blocks from his apartment, Matias was pulled over by an unmarked car with flashing lights. It was U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
An agent ran his fingerprints and discovered a deportation order tied to Matias' failure to appear at an immigration hearing scheduled after he had been caught crossing the border more than a decade earlier. An ICE spokeswoman said agents had been outside his apartment building looking for someone else; they didn't target Matias, who had no criminal record.
Unlike the political climate two decades ago, when authorities overlooked Zapata's immigration status, under the Trump administration nearly everyone who is undocumented is a priority for deportation, regardless of criminal record or familial ties. In November, three months after his arrest, Matias was sent back to Guatemala.
The Fundamental Dilemma
In February, Acting DCFS Inspector General Meryl Paniak issued a report that found Matias' parental rights were violated. His case, she wrote, was perhaps worse than that of the original Burgos family.
The confidential report emphasized that the consent decree "is not a mere formality" but "an expression of the need to respect ties to families of origin, to facilitate return home." Paniak wrote that "placing any child in a home from birth where they are not taught any language by which they can communicate with their family of origin violates the basic precept of child welfare."
The way Children's Home & Aid asked Matias whether he preferred services in English or Spanish encouraged him to waive his Burgos rights, the inspector general found. The report pointed out that Matias had initially asked for services in Spanish for the boy born in 2013, before learning he was not the father. "There was no reason to ask him again," Paniak wrote.
The report revealed that Children's Home & Aid determined Matias was an unfit parent based on unsupported assumptions, including describing him as "mentally ill or impaired" because he didn't make enough progress toward getting his children back.
The inspector general also found that Children's Home & Aid conducted excessive drug testing without cause. Matias had not been suspected of using drugs and, records show, never tested positive.
The inspector general recommended that Children's Home & Aid reimburse DCFS for the costs of the drug testing and present a plan to address the "pattern of biased decision-making that pervaded in this case."
DCFS said it has agreed to the recommendations. A Children's Home & Aid official said the organization responded to the report and submitted a proposed plan but wouldn't comment further.
In her report, the inspector general highlights the dilemma in deciding what's best for Matias' children: "It is not clear whether, after four years with one foster family and after [his daughter] was also placed with the Paleniks, what the best interests of the children are at this point in time," she wrote. "It would be difficult to remove [his son] from the only home he has known since birth, and there is also an interest in keeping the siblings together."
History provides dramatically different versions of what could happen.
Olga and Henry Burgos were unable to bond with their parents after they were reunited, the family later said. For Olga Burgos, the years living with her parents after they regained custody were like "being in a foreign country," she said in a recent series of text messages. She relied on her older siblings to interpret.
"It was very very hard because I had to have someone at the house to tell me what my parents were telling me and my siblings were not always around," she said.
She was sent to Puerto Rico for several years to live with her grandmother and learn Spanish. She was held back in school in Puerto Rico, placed in a third-grade classroom though she had been in fifth grade in Chicago. "Imagine an 11 year old in [third] grade," she wrote. "I was one lost girl."
After high school, she returned to Chicago and worked as a housekeeper. She often thought about her foster parents and, years later, moved to Arizona to be with them, according to a 2007 article in the Chicago Tribune. Henry, according to an earlier Tribune article, had run away repeatedly and never learned Spanish.
By comparison, Zapata still relives the joy of having his daughters back. Now 21 and 22, they live at home. One works as a dental assistant; the other pitches in at the family's grocery store while taking a break from community college. Through their father, they declined to be interviewed.
Zapata wept as he described the months after he won custody. The girls refused to be apart and slept in the same bed. They had nightmares. For the first year, Zapata would check on them two or three times a night.
"My girls had some worries. They asked, 'How did this happen?'" Zapata recalled.
He had learned enough English to communicate with his daughters when they came home, but he wanted them to learn Spanish. For several months, he took them to Spanish lessons on Saturday mornings.
They were baptized again, this time in the Catholic Church. They had their first communions and celebrated their 15th birthdays with traditional quinceañera parties. Each summer, his daughters visit their grandparents in Mexico.
With pride in his voice, Zapata said they "speak like Mexicans."
Still, the pain of reliving what happened has kept Zapata from sitting down with them to discuss the case. He said he plans to have that conversation one day. He has kept a box of records for when that day comes.
Love, From a Distance
In February, Penar gave birth to Matias' third child, another girl. Again, DCFS took custody.
In interviews in February and March, Penar said she hadn't used drugs for several months. She blames herself for what has happened to her family. "I always trusted I'd eventually get it together and be the mother I wanted to be," she said.
Matias remains in Guatemala, living in the two-story house built with the remittances he sent over the years. He picks up jobs in construction and as a driver but can't find a steady income. He misses his old life, his old neighborhood, even snow. More than anything, he misses his children.
He said he has thought about returning to the U.S. illegally but won't do it. He could end up in prison. And he still wonders if somebody involved in his children's case reported him to immigration authorities last August; if that happened once, it could happen again.
A Cook County Juvenile Court judge is expected to rule soon on where his children will live. Matias wants them with him in Guatemala.
If his children can't be with him, Matias said he'd like them to live with his relatives in Chicago, not with the Paleniks. "Maybe they were victims, too," he said of the Paleniks. "But now they want to keep my children." He fears that if they remain with the Paleniks, they will have an identity crisis later in life. "I want them to know their roots and their relatives," he said.
For now, the two oldest children remain with them. After Matias' arrest, DCFS encouraged the couple to expose the children to cartoons and music in Spanish. In September, the boy started attending preschool.
A neighbor from Poland whose daughter has grown up alongside Matias' son said the boy "speaks Slovak, some Polish, and he's learning English." The Paleniks have told her they want to adopt the children. "They love them like their own," she said. "They would do anything for them."
In February, Jana Palenik started an online fundraiser for legal fees related to the case.
"Being a foster mom comes with everything that motherhood provides; plus extra worry for the kids' future," she wrote on a GoFundMe page she has since taken down. "After 5 years as foster parents, my husband and I have come to a point where seeking professional legal services is necessary in order to assure that all further court decisions are being done in the children's best interests. While asking for donations to fund the legal costs, I'm also asking for prayers for our kiddos to have [a] happy and safe future."
Matias' youngest child is with his aunt and uncle, Gloria Arellano and Freddy Perez, who have embraced life with a newborn. Arellano quit her job and spends her days taking the baby to doctor's appointments, meetings with DCFS and on walks in her stroller. The girl, who has her father's wide eyes, is getting her first teeth and learning to smile. Outside court hearings, lawyers, caseworkers and Jana Palenik often take turns holding the baby and trying to make her laugh.
Arellano and Perez are Matias' connection to the daughter he has never met. Nearly every morning, he messages them on Facebook to ask about his "princesa." Arellano sends him photos and videos of the girl, usually dressed in pink with a flowered bow on her head.
They are conflicted about what's best for their nephew's children. They think siblings should grow up together and are remodeling the second floor of their home in case the others join them. At the boy's fifth birthday party at the Paleniks' home this month, they watched him hug the baby and call her his sister. At her own home, Arellano often pulls up videos on her phone of the older children to show the baby her siblings.
"Deep in my heart, I know that what happened here was wrong. Jorge's rights were violated," Arellano said. "And now DCFS wants to do its job. But they showed up too late."
She and her husband have seen how close the older children are to their foster parents. Recently, they saw the Paleniks and the children by chance at Walmart. From a few aisles away, they watched them shop. Jana Palenik beamed as she fussed over the girl, almost 2 now, in her arms. Her husband lifted the boy in the air then set him down. He smiled as he walked alongside his foster parents.
They looked like a family.


text:
A SCHOOL holiday program at Midland PCYC that helps at risk youth has welcomed a donation from The Good Guys in Midland to help fund their Safe Space initiative.
Midland PCYC area manager Jackie Abbott said the donation made school holidays that little bit better.
"Safe Space provides youth with a variety of fun activities, meals and transport in a safe environment where they have access to support, guidance and mentors over the school holidays," she said.
"We are so grateful to The Good Guys in Midland for this $1`200 donation which will fund food for our program until June 30, 2017."
Ms Abbott said the Safe Space initiative provided activities for children between the ages of 12 and 18.
"The program is an intervention initiative to provide the youth within Midland and surrounding suburbs with a safe place to gather, interact with each other and participate in team and confidence building activities as well as fun games," she said.
"It has been provided to ensure the youth through boredom are not tempted to go out and place themselves or others in danger.
"All participants in the program have access to transport to ensure they arrive and get back home safely each night and they are also provided with a meal and drinks."
The Good Guys Midland store executive manager David Germinario said his team were proud to support Midland PCYC.
"We like to do anything we can to help kids in our community and hope this makes their school holidays that little bit better," he says.
The Safe Space Program is funded with a $25,000 WA Police Community Crime Prevention Grant.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This mocha avocado mousse secretly has avocado disguised within swirls of deep, dark chocolate flavor. Not only is it delicious, but it's healthy and nutritious. Win-win.
This Mocha Avocado Mousse is one of those sneaky treats! No one will ever know that it's made with avocado!
This post may contain Amazon affiliate links for your convenience, but with no added cost to you.
I'm not usually a nature hater, but I'm still at war with a squirrel in my avocado tree. You may recall my anger at said creature over a year ago when I posted my Avocado and Tomato Salad.
Well, all this time later, that squirrel still gets to more of my avocados than I do! I pick so many of them off the ground that I just had to do something different with the avocados as they were ripening all at once.
Serendipity struck when I saw Manu's Menu's post for Chocolate Avocado Mousse! It looked so dark, thick and rich, and so incredibly easy to make. I made a few changes as I wanted a more boozy dessert, and though coffee might be a nice addition. Just click here if you want to make Manu's original chocolate recipe in which she uses honey and maple syrup, instead of confectioner's sugar, which is an even healthier version.
By the way, no one in my family realized that there was avocado in the Mocha Avocado Mousse until I told them (but not until after they'd all scoffed them)!
Mocha (Avocado) Mousse
adapted from Manu's Menu Chocolate Avocado Mousse
- 1/2 cup (4 oz) dark chocolate (good quality like Barry or Lindt)
- 2 medium avocados, peeled and cored
- 1/4 cup (1 oz) unsweetened cocoa
- 3 tbsp Kahlua or other coffee flavored liqueur
- 1/4 tsp espresso powder
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (more or less to taste)
Melt the chocolate and set aside.
Place the remaining ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Add the melted chocolate and blend until evenly mixed.
Ta dah! See how easy that was? It's ready!
You can taste it to see if you like more sugar or more coffee flavor and adjust to your liking.
Pipe or spoon into serving glasses, bowls or cups and refrigerate until ready to serve. If you liked my Mocha Avocado Mousse, I bet you'll like more of my desserts, some of which can be found directly below.
Don't miss another recipe or travel post; sign up for my free subscription below!
I promise not to sell or share your info, ever.
A delicious mocha mousse made with avocados, and is totally vegan.
Mocha (Avocado) Mousse...and no, it doesn't taste weird!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4
Serving Size: 1 glass
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 477 Total Fat: 21g Saturated Fat: 7g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 11g Cholesterol: 2mg Sodium: 48mg Carbohydrates: 56g Fiber: 11g Sugar: 34g Protein: 7g
A delicious mocha mousse made with avocados, and is totally vegan.


text:
1. General Information:
To burn or not to burn, a hot topic - A debate on whether or not WtE plants are suitable for the city of Beijing.---
by Meng Jing, China DailyJune 22, 2010
Emissions of PCDD/Fs from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators in China - Recently there have been demonstrations against WTE in some parts of China. A top quality technical paper shows that six WTEs in China have dioxin emissions lower than the EU standard. But, unfortunately, some others emit dioxins at levels SIXTY times higher than the average dioxin concentration of U.S. WTEs. Such plants give a bad name to all WTEs in China and elsewhere.---
by Yuwen Ni, Haijun Zhang, Su Fan, Xueping Zhang, Qing Zhang, and Jiping Chen
Chemosphere 75, February 2009
China's Trash Incinerators Loom as Global Pollution Hazard, by Keith BradsherOld-time Incinerators are being built in China and give a bad name to modern WTEs that are also operating in the country.
Trip of Nickolas Themelis, WTERT Chair, to China
Visit of Professor Themelis to WTE Facilities and Laboratories in Chongqing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing
Waste Incineration in China
Municipal Solid Waste Management in China - (2004 Review by Alex Whitworth)
China's Waste Could be Treasure for Kyoto Scheme
Trash-Fueled Power Plant Starts Operation in Chongqing
Shanghai Garbage Power Plant Built
China's Largest Trash-Burning Power Plant in Operation
More Chinese Cities Turn Garbage into Power
Development of MSW Incineration Technology, by X. Li
Japan's TAKUMA Building Beijing WTE Plant
2. Waste-to-Energy Engineering Companies:
Chongqing SANFENG Environment Industry Co., Ltd
The BASIC® Energy Companies


text:
- Hand Tool Skills
- Joinery
- Biscuits
- Box Joints
- Butt Joints
- Dovetail Joints
- Frame & Panel
- Lap Joints
- Miter Joints
- Mortise & Tenon Joints
- Pocket-hole Joinery
- Rabbets, Dadoes & Grooves
- Lumber
- Making Furniture
- Assembly & Glue-Up
- Finishing
- Fixing Mistakes
- Blades, Bits & Accessories
- Drill Bits
- Router Bits
- Tablesaw Blades
- Hand Tools
- Card Scrapers
- Clamps
- Hand Planes
- Measuring Tools
- Blogs
- Video
Bowl-Turning Basics
Tools and Materials
The beauty of a well-balanced bowl lies in subtle details. A bowl that's meant to be used should invite human touch. Making one isn't beyond the means of even a beginner, as long as he's armed with a nice piece of wood and a few design concepts. And unlike other woodworking projects that require joinery and glue-ups, you can turn a small bowl in an hour or two.
Taken in profile, the upper half of the bowl is turned with a gentle concave curve. The lower half is shaped with a reversed curve. Under typical overhead lighting, the reversed curve creates a shadow that emphasizes the bowl's form. The angle where the two concave curves intersect has a practical function, too: It provides a wide lifting surface. A shallow foot lifts the bowl, both physically and visually. And on the inside, the rim is undercut slightly, emphasizing the form and a sense of containment.
A center-screw faceplate is a quick way to fix wood to the lathe for shaping the outside profile. When the bowl is remounted by its foot and is hollowed, I use a set of step jaws, which accepts three different foot diameters. I use a 1/2-in. spindle gouge for shaping the profile and a deep-fluted 1/2-in. bowl gouge for hollowing. A 3/8-in. spindle gouge comes in handy for detailing the foot. I use scrapers to clean up tool marks and tearout. For this bowl, a pair of 1-1/4-in. or 1-1/2-in. scrapers is used, one skewed for the outside curve and the other radiused for the interior. For sanding, I use handheld sandpaper and a portable drill fitted with sanding discs.
This article originally appeared in the May/June 1999 issue of Fine Woodworking.
How to Make
Rough out the profile
Shape the outside profile: Mount a bandsawn disc on a screw-center chuck. Set the lathe's tool rest about center height at an angle across the bottom corner of the blank. Spin the blank by hand to make sure it clears the tool rest. You may be tempted to true the outside of the disc first. Don't bother. Instead, begin by removing waste at the corner just above the foot, using the 1/2-in. spindle gouge. Place the gouge on the tool rest and roll it over to about 45° with the bevel facing the wood and the handle dropped about 15° to 20° below horizontal. Plant your left hand firmly on the rest over the tool, using it as a fulcrum against which the tool can pivot as you start the cut. Position your fingers so that they deflect the shavings. Move the handle with your body rather than with your hand: You'll get more power and control with less effort. Once the edge is cutting, start to squeeze the tool left along the rest with your left hand. By squeezing with the left hand as the edge pivots left, you take a broad sweeping cut, and you can adjust the thickness of the shaving by rolling the tool slightly with your right hand. This is a shear cut: As the tool moves forward, it slices into the wood. You're hogging away lots of material, and the surface will develop ridges. Adjust the rest frequently to maintain a gap of in. or less between it and the workpiece. Don't worry about the quality of cut at this stage. All you're doing is roughing out the profile.
Shape the base and foot
True the base: For a bowl to sit properly, its base must be perfectly flat, or better yet, slightly concave. I use the 1/2-in. spindle gouge to rough out the base and foot (see cut 8 in the PDF version). It's easy to remove more wood than necessary when truing the base, so here's what to do. Lay the tool on its side as you did for the roughing cuts, then gently squeeze only the tool's edge into the rim of the base. Don't push the handle away. Hold it firmly against your body while cutting. Once the tick-tick-tick noise stops, you have a trued surface. With the edge of the base trued, roll the tool 180° so that the bevel rubs the wood for a shear cut from the edge into the center.
Finish the profile with a few final passes
Work out the foot: Then use a pair of dividers to transfer the chuck-jaw diameter to the workpiece. Next, make cuts 9 and 10 in the drawing using the nose of a 3/8-in. gouge. The fingernail grind on this tool enables you to get into corners and tight spots. Start the cut with the gouge on its side, with the bevel aligned in the direction of cut (the flute will face away from center). The handle should be dropped 35° to 45° below horizontal; use your left hand to pin the tool firmly to the rest. For maximum control, bring the edge through an arc into the wood by raising the handle and then moving the tool forward across the rest only when the handle is near horizontal. If the gouge isn't right on its side, a catch is near certain as the wood bears down on the unsupported inside edge. Go gently in cuts 9 and 10 in the drawing, gradually reducing the diameter of the foot until you reach the marked diameter.
Remount and hollow the bowl
Finish the profile: Once the foot and base are complete, finish the bowl's profile (cuts 11 and 12) with a series of shear cuts. Using the 1/2-in. gouge, work from the smallest to largest diameter. The portion of the cutting edge doing the work lies 45° to the wood. To start the cut, use the same arcing technique as you did when turning the foot. If you get chatter marks, you're pushing the tool too vigorously into the wood. If the bevel isn't rubbing, you will get ridges. You cannot start a shear cut right at the top of the foot with a 1/2-in. gouge because there isn't room to rest the bevel. Take a very delicate shear cut against the grain here using the long nose of the 3/8-in. gouge, or try the right corner of a square-end scraper. Cut the upper curve in from each end to limit the possibility of unsupported grain splintering, particularly on the top edge. Again, start the cut with the 1/2-in. gouge on its side and bring the edge through an arc into the wood. A good shear cut will leave the surface ready for sanding, but you're not always that lucky. If there are patches of slightly torn grain, try shear scraping. Sanding out torn grain can take hours.
Sand and finish the inside
Hand-sand the bowl: I generally hand-sand the profile. Work through the grits beginning with 100, then on to 150, 220, 360 grit and finer if you feel so inclined. With the sanding completed, stop the lathe and slop mineral oil liberally over the bowl's surface. Then hold a block of soft beeswax against the spinning wood to build up a thin layer. Last, apply a soft cloth to the spinning bowl, which melts the wax into the pores. This is a safe finish for bowls that will be used for serving food.
Drill a depth hole: The wonderful thing about the new chucks introduced to the market in the last few years is that they allow you to remount the bowl by its why it's possible to finish the outside completely before tackling the interior. I own several sets of step jaws, which will clamp around any size foot, 8 in. or less. After remounting the bowl, true the top using a bowl gouge on its side. Then drill a depth hole in the center of the bowl. The depth hole does two things. First, it establishes the depth to which you will hollow, saving constant stops to measure as you go. Second, it removes the center of the blank, which is difficult to turn and is the source of many catches. A depth drill can be made by inserting a 1/4-in. or 3/8-in. twist drill bit into a shopmade handle. Measure the amount of the bowl that needs to be hollowed, leaving about in. of material in the base, and mark the depth drill. Use your thumb as a marker. Then turn on the lathe and push the bit into the hole left by the screw-chuck center until your finger reaches the workpiece. When withdrawing the tool, watch out: The metal and shavings get surprisingly hot.
Rough-cut and look for warping or an off-center base: Now you can get on with the hollowing using a deep-fluted 1/2-in. bowl gouge. Usually I work from the rim toward the center. The real hazard here is the tool kicking back as you start the cut, but this is easy to avoid if you start the cut with the gouge on its side and the flute facing center. If you start with the gouge flat and the flute up, it will catch every time. To start the cut, drop the handle 30° to 40° below center, then raise the handle to bring the edge through an arc into the wood, just as you did when roughing out the profile. Once the tool is in the wood, keep the bevel rubbing and rotate the tool very slightly counterclockwise to get larger shavings. It's best to rough-cut the bowl, then assess the situation. So before taking cut 17 (see the drawing), use calipers to measure the thickness of the wall and base. If you have a problem with the bowl running out of true or being off center or warping, now is the time to fix it by truing the upper curve of the profile. This bowl is designed with a flat rim. It's important that the inner and outer lips of the rim be turned on the same axis or the rim will be elliptical and look terrible.
Make the final cuts: When you come to the final shear cut (17), the bowl wall is somewhat flexible, so if you push too hard you'll have chatter marks unless you have your hand on the outside of the bowl to equalize the pressure of the tool. On the final cut with the 1/2-in. gouge, go as far around the curve as possible in one sweep with the bevel rubbing. Then switch to scrapers, which are easier to control, to finish the curve and bottom of the bowl. Aim for a 3/8-in.-thick rim. Slim the wall thickness slightly on either side of the profile angle. It is possible to shear cut right to the bottom of the bowl with a gouge, but I prefer the better control of a wide scraper with a radius slightly less than the curve of the bowl. You'll find cutting a broad curve easiest using a broad radiused scraper rather than one with a narrow, round nose. Although the scraper is 1-1/2-in. wide, use only about 1/2-in. or less of the edge at a time; otherwise, a catch is likely. This is not a molding tool. Keep the tool flat on the rest and sweep the edge through a broad arc to keep the curve flowing. Cuts should be light. Don't even think of scraping up the side toward the rim: The thin wall will flex and catch, and the bowl will likely blow apart. (With practice, you can shear-scrape this area.) Any small ridges or chatter marks in this area can be eliminated by heavy sanding.
I power-sand the inside of the bowl using cloth-backed self-adhesive discs mounted in a handheld drill. The power tool not only speeds up sanding, but it also helps maintain the sweep of the internal curve, especially across the bottom where hand-sanding often leaves a bump at the center. Right-angle drills are the easiest to control, but you might not be able to justify the expense for just a few bowls. If you do hand-sand and a bump develops across the center, stop the lathe and rotate it slowly by hand, sanding across center using a soft sanding pad to back the abrasive. A piece of foam rubber or rolled-up cloth works well. This ensures that the very center gets as much attention as the rest of the inside. Finish the inside of the bowl as you did the exterior, with mineral oil and beeswax. Wood is a wonderful knock-about material. A bowl like this handled with care will survive us all and look better for use. Wash it using detergent and hot water. And remember that whilst the first dent or stain of daily use is is a minor disaster, a thousand make a patina.


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ADAP-88: Nonlinear Earthquake Analysis of Concrete Arch Dams
Mojtahedi, Soheil; Fenves, Gregory L.; Reimer, Richard B
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1992
The modeling and dynamic analysis of concrete arch dams, the impounded water and foundation rock, is an important step in the earthquake safety evaluation of such systems. A linear earthquake analysis assuming an arch dam is an elastic monolithic structure usually shows large tensile stresses that exceed the tensile strength of concrete. Because arch dams are constructed as cantilever monoliths, the joints between the monoliths cannot develop the tensile stress predicted in a linear analysis. In reality, the contraction joints are expected to open and close during an earthquake, releasing arch stresses and redistributing the internal forces. ADAP-88 is a finite element analysis program for computing the earthquake response of arch dams including the nonlinear effect of contraction joint opening. The nonlinear joint elements are combined with shell, solid and fluid finite elements to model a complete arch dam system. Special consideration is given to resolving the stress distribution near the joints by using a refined mesh of solid elements. A numerical procedure for solving the equations of motion assumes that the nonlinearity in the model is restricted to the joints. The cantilever monoliths between contraction joints are modeled as linear substructures, resulting in a significant reduction of computation in the iterative solution of the nonlinear equations of motion. ADAP-88 includes a finite element mesh generator for typical arch dam geometries. The computer program RESVOR is used to compute the added mass for the water impounded in the reservoir, assuming the fluid is incompressible.


text:
Have us install outdoor landscape lighting to further illuminate falls
and accent key plantings, or create a rock fire-pit with large boulder seating
and slate work for a year-round peaceful haven where you can sit and daydream
GOLLER GRADE & GRAVEL LLC provides delivery and hauling services. We truck products from chosen quarries
or numerous other sources and deliver to the customer's destination site. We are
not a gravel or topsoil yard, but instead purchase products at wholesale and
provide delivery service. This provides savings for the customer who, for
instance, requests a five yard load of gravel when the quarry delivers a minimum
of 10 yards, which is too much for the customer. We deliver 5 yard loads.
What is the difference between Basalt and
These are geological terms referring to how the
stone was formed. Both are solid stones. For our purpose it serves as a
reference to the shape, color, and texture.
How heavy is a one-man stone? Also a
half-man, three-man and four-man?
Sometimes rock is referred to as a one-man rock, or two-man rock. Stone is
measured by how many men it would take to muscle it into position by using an 8'
bar or lever. Because men come in different sizes and strengths, a one-man rock
can be anywhere between a small rock and a rock weighing up to three hundred
pounds; a two-man rock can weigh upwards of nine hundred pounds.
How many yards are in a ton?
This will vary per stone. A cubic yard is 3' x 3' x 3'. Gravel will weigh
approx. 1.4 ton per cubic yard. Half-man and one-man rock will vary. There are
2,000 pounds in a ton.
ask us about other products you are interested in. Chances are we will be able
to point you in the right direction if we are not able to deliver them ourselves
Aquascape Inc.
Business of
Character Award


text:
Barclays Plc sold one-fifth of its stake in Barclays Africa Group Ltd as part of it plan to overhaul the British bank.
The bank sold 12.2 percent of its shares for about 13.1 billion rand, while leaving 50.1 percent of its holdings. The shares were sold at a discount of 7 percent to money managers. According to Barclays the sales would boost its capital ratio by 0.1 percentage points.
About 40 percent of the shares went to local institutions in South Africa, while the remaining were sold to international money managers.
"This represents an initial step towards delivering management's previously stated strategy to sell down its stake in Barclays Africa Group to a level that will permit regulatory de-consolidation over the next two to three years," Gary Greenwood, an analyst at Shore Capital Group Ltd., who rates Barclays a buy at 162 pence, said in a note.
Barclays Africa shares plunged 4.2 percent to 129.05 rand at 2:11 p.m. in Johannesburg.
Barclays chief executive officer Jes Staley said on Wednesday, this is an important first step in cutting its stake in the African business, explaining: "We continue to explore opportunities to reduce our shareholding, including capital market and strategic options."


text:
A game of musical chairs has begun among the top PR posts in the
broadcast world.
Channel 5's former PR chief Sally Osman has established herself at the
BBC's commissioning arm, heading up a team of 70 people promoting radio,
television, on-line and digital services. And while Channel 5 actively
hunts for her replacement, Granada is looking to fill corporate affairs
director Chris Hopson's shoes as he prepares to move on to a general
management position within the group. ITV is in the market for a
corporate and programme PR head, and the network's UK public affairs
head, Mark Gallagher, announced last week that he was moving to a newly
created top PR post at broadcast news company ITN.
Many of the broadcasters are using the personnel change as an
opportunity to re-evaluate the way they promote their programmes and
communicate their corporate stance.
The need for better PR has been brought home by increased competition
from the explosion of new digital and cable channels. And since the
beginning of the year, more urgent pressures have forced broadcasters to
Firstly, there was the media outcry following the revelations of faked
documentaries and participants in shows such as the Connection and the
Vanessa Show. Crisis management has become an important factor. 'When
the stories were coming out, you needed someone there who could give a
proper response and you didn't always get them,' says media writer
Michael Leapman.
Secondly, ITV's scrapping of News at Ten has sparked a major ratings
war. The network has used its popular show Who Wants To Be A
in its prime-time slot to ensure healthy viewing figures, aggressively
scheduling it against Casualty, East Enders and even Comic Relief.
While there are now, because of the explosion of channels, more
programmes competing for attention, newspapers are devoting more space
than ever before to television.
However, the number of programmes made by independent producers is also
increasing and publicity for these is often handled by the producers
Broadcast communications directors complain that while these producers
are keen to trumpet their shows, they put less effort into advertising
where and when their work will be shown.
Osman, who has had plenty of experience dealing with independent
producers at Channel 5, says broadcasters are realising that tight
co-ordination not only with producers but across on-air promotions,
billboard advertising and media relations, is key.
'Publicity used to drive communications, but now it has to be part of a
wider mix,' she says. 'All the elements of communication need to speak
with one voice. We pioneered that at Channel 5.'
Channel 5 has created a strong brand and made effective use of it, both
on air and through poster campaigns. Its current billboard posters,
advertising that its evening news is now half an hour before ITV's, are
a case in point.
The new post which ITV is hoping to fill will oversee media relations
for both the programmes and the network as a corporate entity.
Richard Eyre's appointment as chief executive of the ITV companies in
1997 marked the creation of a stronger corporate centre to the
Before Eyre's appointment, programme publicity came under overall
control of Network Centre, while public affairs was the responsibility
of Barry Cox, formerly director of the ITV Association. Leslie Hill,
chairman of the ITV council, was the only person with a remit covering
both arms of the network. Now Eyre also oversees both.
ITV's marketing and commercial director John Hardie says there is a
rationale behind the new PR post. 'Over the last 18 months, the network
has taken over more and more aspects of ITV marketing and there is now a
need to manage a whole range of issues as well as programme publicity,'
he says.
Granada's Hopson argues that a strong public affairs team is
increasingly necessary to deal with Government rulings as regulatory
change has been accelerated by the gathering pace of technological
advances. He estimates that 50 or 60 media organisations lobbied to
influence the shape of the last Broadcasting Act, in 1996. 'In that kind
of environment there is a real premium on getting the highest quality
corporate affairs team you can to argue your case,' he says.
According to some commentators, Carlton's acquisition of Planet 24, run
by newly ennobled Labour peer Waheed Alli, was in part driven by
Carlton's need to get closer to the current Government. Media writer
Maggie Brown says: 'Carlton's acquisition of Planet 24 was all about
needing to be in the charmed circle.'
As ITV's experience with News at Ten shows, programming and public
affairs are often inter-dependent. Recruiting for roles which combine
responsibility for corporate and programme PR and for public affairs is
becoming increasingly necessary.
ITV and ITN, where Gallagher's job covers both public affairs and media
relations, have recognised this. Leapman believes the realisation has
not come too soon. 'If ITV had had better PR they could have got News at
Ten out of the way sooner than they did,' he says.


text:
Aldi supermarket sales increase by a third
Discount supermarket Aldi has recorded record sales of £6.89 billion for its last financial year, a 31% increase on the previous (2013) year's figure of £5.27bn.
During the same period, Aldi invested £878m in UK expansion following £438m in capital expenditure in 2014 on new stores and regional distribution centres.
The discounter has also expanded its range of products to attract more customers, including deli items and the Exquisite Collection of Wines, which has sold over 1,000 bottles per hour.
Matthew Barnes, chief executive of Aldi UK & Ireland, said: "As the grocery market continues to evolve, our unique model, operational efficiency, private ownership and financial strength mean we're able to keep investing in our business – from people and presence to products and prices."
Plans are already in place for further UK expansion with the launch of an eCommerce operation early next year.
Barnes said: "The past 25 years has been an incredible journey for Aldi in the UK. During that time, the grocery market has changed beyond recognition – and changed for the better.
"At present, there are still 47% of households that don't shop with us. We're hugely excited about the enormous scope for growth over the next 25 years."
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By Michio Jimbo and Tetsuji Miwa
In accordance with the NSF-CBMS local convention lectures offered by way of Miwa in June 1993, this e-book surveys contemporary advancements within the interaction among solvable lattice types in statistical mechanics and illustration thought of quantum affine algebras. simply because ends up in this topic have been scattered within the literature, this e-book fills the necessity for a scientific account, focusing cognizance on basics with no assuming earlier wisdom approximately lattice types or illustration idea. After a short account of simple rules in statistical mechanics, the authors speak about the traditional topics touching on solvable lattice versions in statistical mechanics, the most examples being the spin $1/2$ XXZ chain and the six-vertex version. The ebook is going directly to introduce the most items of analysis, the nook move matrices and the vertex operators, and discusses a few of their elements from the point of view of physics. as soon as the actual motivations are in position, the authors go back to the maths, protecting the Frenkel-Jing bosonization of a definite module, formulation for the vertex operators utilizing bosons, the position of illustration conception, and correlation services and shape components. The restrict of the $XXX$ version is in short mentioned, and the ebook closes with a dialogue of alternative different types of versions and similar works.
Read or Download Algebraic analysis of solvable lattice models PDF
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Extra info for Algebraic analysis of solvable lattice models
Example text
Currently, nanoemulsions are popular to be utilized in functional food systems to encapsulate, protect, and deliver nutraceuticals, which has aroused much attention from the scientific community. Massivenatural phytochemicals extracted from food-based materials have proved to have exciting benefits or to improve health problems. Fig. 2 displays a summary of some lipophilic functional compounds that have been studied comprehensively and commonly incorporated in foods or cosmetic nanoemulsions. Unfortunately, most of them possess poor water solubility.
Scanlon describe microemulsions (definition, formulation, thermodynamic aspects, and applications); the use of ultrasound measurement principles (velocity and Volume Preface xxix xxx Volume Preface attenuation and their relation to compressibility and particle sizing); and finally, the characterization of nonfood and food grade emulsions, nano- and microemulsions using various ultrasonic resonator technology (URT) devices. , in Chapter 14, Application of Self-Emulsifying Delivery Systems for Effective Delivery of Nutraceuticals, compile the available data of various Self-Emulsifying Delivery Systems reported for improving the delivery of nutraceuticals and describe their future potential after critically viewing their advantages and limitations.
Fig. 5 shows a representative schematic for spontaneous emulsification. The surfactant moves from the organic phase to the water phase, leading to interfacial turbulence. Then the spontaneous O/W droplet formation may result from the increase of entropy and the decrease of the Gibbs free energy of the system. Phase inversion composition (PIC) is a method that optimizes the curvature by changing the composition at certain temperature (commonly at room temperature). The practical operation is progressive dilution with water or oil phase.


text: Always baked fresh and available along the boardwalks and bike carts zipping through the town at sunset, date stuffed brioche is a favorite evening snack among the people of Lebanon. Growing up, we didn't have to wait for a trip to Lebanon to enjoy this satisfying treat. Continue reading "Date stuffed brioche { بريوش بالتمر}"


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Mount Alyeska
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Mt Alyeska Aerial Tram & Hike
Mt Alyeska is 2300 feet in elevation and features the easy way, the aerial tram, and the hard way (aka, rewarding) of walking up. Regardless of your choice, you ...
- By: Adventure Travel Trade Association
- Published: Jan 19, 2017
- Duration: 1:09
- Views: 419
Girdwood Mount Alyeska Hike - ALASKA
A bunch of short videos put together showing a family hike up and back down Mount Alyeska in Girdwood Alaska. We even saw a black bear, not too uncommon ...
- By: Alaska John
- Published: July 21, 2014
- Duration: 5:50
- Views: 382
Hiking & Scrambling in Alaska - Mount Alyeska
Climbing Mount Alyeska near Anchorage, Alaska with Clare in the summer of 2019.
- By: phil behan
- Published: Aug 31, 2019
- Duration: 9:19
- Views: 114


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2 Belgium style waffles topped with fresh berry preserves and whipped cream
3 Crispy chicken wings with Belgium style waffle ans warm syrup.
3 Egg omelet with Colby Jack cheese, bacon and sausage.
6 egg white omelet with bell pepper, onion, mushroom, tomato and spinach.
3 Egg Omelet with sharp cheddar, chicken apple sausage and spinach.
Hand cut romaine topped with croutons and shredded Parmesan.
Hand cut romaine topped with cucumbers, grape, tomatoes, sweet red onions and grilled jerk chicken.
Hand cut romaine with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, boiled egg, grilled chicken, bacon bits and shredded cheddar.
1/4 lb. Hand picked burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon and cheddar.
Seasoned sirloin with onions, bell pepper and provolone.
Hand carved chicken breast with lettuce, tomato and mayo.
Catfish fillet with lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce.
Over linguini with butter garlic biscuits.
Over rice with steamed mixed veggies.
With mashed potatoes and green beans.
With butter beans.
In mushroom gravy.
Served with choice of 2 sides.
3 Pieces.
With rice and peas.
With rice and beans.
With fries.
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U kunt dit product eventueel wel online bestellen.
Rubbish bins, but also waste buckets, waste containers, wheelie bins, and nappy bins can really start to smell, particularly because of rotting vegetable, fruit, meat or fish waste and dirty nappies. The bin freshener HG against bin smell absorbs this smell effectively and produces a fresh fragrance.


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Find out what Atlas Copco is doing locally.
The Industrial Technique business area provides industrial power tools, assembly systems, quality assurance products, software and service through a global network.
The Industrial Technique business area provides industrial power tools and systems, industrial assembly solutions, quality assurance products, software and service through a global network. The business area innovates for sustainable productivity for customers in the automotive, aerospace, general industries and maintenance and vehicle service industries. Principal product development and manufacturing units are located in Sweden, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan and Hungary.
The vision is to be First in Mind—First in Choice as a supplier of industrial power tools, assembly solutions, quality assurance products, software, and services to customers in the motor vehicle and general industry. The strategy is to continue to grow the business profitably by building on the technological leadership and continuously offering products and services that improve customers' productivity, quality, safety and ergonomics. Important activities are to extend the product offering and to provide additional services, know-how and training. The business area is also increasing its presence in targeted geographical markets. The presence is enhanced by utilizing a brand portfolio strategy. The business area is actively looking at acquiring complementary businesses. Growth should be achieved in a way that is economically, environmentally and socially responsible.
The motor vehicle industry, including sub-suppliers, is a key customer segment representing more than half of Industrial Technique's revenues, and the applications served are primarily assembly operations. The motor vehicle industry has been at the forefront of demanding more accurate fastening tools that minimize errors in production and enable recording and traceability of operations. The business area has successfully developed advanced electric industrial tools and assembly systems that assist customers in achieving fastening according to their specifications and minimizing errors and interruptions in production. This also includes a wide offering of quality assurance and quality improvement solutions. With the increasing requirement of lower fuel consumption and the use of lighter materials, the motor vehicle industry is looking to alternative assembly solutions. The business area offers dispensing equipment for adhesives and sealants as well as self-pierce riveting equipment and rivets to cater these needs. In general industry, industrial tools are used in a number of applications, such as assembly, drilling and material removal. Customers are found in assembly operations, e.g. electronics, aerospace, appliances, energy and off-road vehicles, in general industrial manufacturing, the energy sector, oil and gas, shipyards, foundries, and among machine tool builders. The equipment supplied includes assembly tools for a wide torque range, drills, percussive tools, grinders, hoists and trolleys, and accessories. Air motors are supplied separately for different industries and applications. For vehicle service, car and truck service and tire and body shops, the equipment supplied includes impact wrenches, percussive tools, drills, sanders, and grinders. There is a growing demand for service, e.g. maintenance contracts and calibration services that improve customers' productivity.
A leading market position globally in most of its operations. Industrial Technique's competitors in the industrial tools business include Apex Tool Group, Ingersoll-Rand, Stanley Black & Decker, Uryu, Bosch and several local and regional competitors. In the area of adhesive and sealant equipment, the primary competitors are Nordson, Graco and Dürr. For self-pierce riveting, the main competitors are Stanley Black & Decker and Böllhoff.


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Do Ceilings Have To Be White?
We asked Amy Lau, an interior designer in New York City, for her tips on how to enrich that fifth wall.
Do the ceiling last. I like to choose a color for the ceiling only after I know the wall color. Colorful ceilings often work best with neutral walls.
Go Soft. Paler hues work best on ceilings in bedrooms and living spaces—save brightly colored ceilings for kids' rooms. I love a very pale blue, especially if the rug is also blue, or a pale green. If the wall color is a medium neutral, like some grays and beiges, I like to cut the wall color in half and add 50% white for the ceiling—it's enveloping and draws the eye up.
Consider High Gloss. A lacquer-like finish, such as the oil-based high gloss I used in the room shown here (Benjamin Moore's Wythe Blue), has a liquid quality that reflects light and adds a sense of spaciousness. But the surface has to be perfect; a glossy finish shows every flaw. That's one reason ceilings are so often matte white.
Designer Amy Lau is a fan of ceiling colors drawn from nature, such as sky blue and leaf green.


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Cookie Set by Le Toy Van
Young children can bake up some treats with the wooden Cookie Set from Le Toy Van. Age 18 months .
In stock
Young children can bake up some treats with the Cookie Set from Le Toy Van! This shape-sorter cookie set with baking tray features five diversely shaped cookies with interchangeable toppings plus a rolling pin and an oven mitt. The baking tray is also scaled to fit in the LE TOY VAN ovens. Suitable for ages 18 months .
Additional information
|0.85 kg
|33 × 28 × 5 cm
|Age from
18 mths
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For orders of £50 or more, we offer FREE delivery Monday to Friday (excluding Public Holidays) throughout mainland UK (not including the Scottish Highlands and Islands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands and Northern Ireland).
Our standard UK mainland delivery charge for orders under £50 is £3.00p per order.
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For International orders – or should you have a specific delivery request – please don't hesitate to call or email us, we will be pleased to help wherever we can and will endeavour to obtain the best possible price for your delivery.
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Natalie Portman
Awards are so unnecessary because I think we get so much out of our work just by doing it. The work is a reward in itself. - Natalie Portman
I love quotations spoken & written by great men & women and I love collecting those ever inspiring words of wisdom.


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Pike Restaurant
We pride ourselves on the superb cuisine and the relaxed atmosphere of the Pike restaurant suite, with many and vary courses. This restaurant provides a wine list, menus to suit vegetarians and those with special dietary requirements. Food Served All Day
The Piker's Lodge Bar / Lounge
The Bar has been designed to give you a warm & welcome feeling while you wine & dine.
Pikers Lodge is the perfect venue for your wedding in the village of Lough Gowna
Find Us
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About Us
CompTs & Cs
Foxy Feet Competion Ts & Cs
The promoter is: FOXY FEET SHOE BOUTIQUE
The competition is open to residents of the United Kingdom aged 18 years or over except employees of Foxy Feet Shoe Boutique and their close relatives and anyone otherwise connected with the organisation or judging of the competition.
There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.
By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
Route to entry for the competition and details of how to enter are through Facebook.
Only one entry will be accepted per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.
Closing date for entry will be Announced via face book. After this date the no further entries to the competition will be permitted.
No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
The rules of the company's etition and how to enter are as follows: Follow, Like, share the Foxy Feet Facebook page and add a comment. Any inappropriate words will be deleted and reported.
The promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, serious illness, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the promoter's control. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.
The promoter is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this competition.
The prize is as follows: one pair of shoes of the winners choice from the current spring/summer stock on display within the premises of Foxy Feet Shoe Boutique at 68 High street, Lindfield, West Sussex, RH16 2HL on the chosen date to be arranged and agreed by the promoter with the winning entry.
The prize is as stated and no cash or other alternatives will be offered. The prizes are not transferable. Prizes are subject to availability and we reserve the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.
Winners will be chosen at random from all entries received and verified by Promoter and or its agents.
The winner will be notified by Facebook or messenger within 28 days of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.
The promoter will notify the winner when and where the prize can be collected and must be within 28 days of notification.
The promoter's decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
The competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by [English] law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of [England].
The winner agrees to the use of his/her name and image in any publicity material, as well as their entry. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current [UK] data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant's prior consent.
The winner's name will be available 28 days after closing date by emailing the following address -
Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Network. You are providing your information to Foxy Feet Shoe Boutique and not to any other party.
Foxy Feet Shoe Boutique shall have the right, at its sole discretion and at any time, to change or modify these terms and conditions, such change shall be effective immediately upon posting to
Foxy Feet Shoe Boutique also reserves the right to cancel the competition if circumstances arise outside of its control.
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Reading the Law Lawfully (1 Timothy 1:8–11)
(Sermon Audio)
This Sunday we considered 1 Timothy 1:8–11 and the good news of God's law. If there is anything in church history that has puzzled and divided Christians it is the relationship between the law and the gospel. Yet, in this passage we are given a clear understanding of how Paul read the Law of Moses.
With application for today, Sunday's sermon sought to show how Paul read the Law lawfully and how we should do the same. You can listen to the sermon here. Additional resources can be found below.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor David Continue reading


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A lazy post:
The reference to Micawber is from 7 years ago, and this post.
Joe Garland's (Chiefly) Running Blog
a zombie from the dead says, "this site seems defunct." why don't you go back to your "westchester trails" origins and write as beautifully and genuinely as you did back then. you moved and inspired more people then than this onerous and contentious blog ever has.