R.I.P. Barbie: America's Most Iconic Blonde Is Fading Out Into History (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMokNHWPcxHBVxO7M2E9zFi7mvRXG9lEfJ9BbpRP_ZQpaMD9Cw6kwfFiJNbUKpSYaPHah3TAghnxaTOysp7OvJy0XBVOng6gxU9N4aocD_78v2d4keTlYYReGJfi_PCq_M3LiDh_yF-E8/s1600/n-BARBIE-large570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMokNHWPcxHBVxO7M2E9zFi7mvRXG9lEfJ9BbpRP_ZQpaMD9Cw6kwfFiJNbUKpSYaPHah3TAghnxaTOysp7OvJy0XBVOng6gxU9N4aocD_78v2d4keTlYYReGJfi_PCq_M3LiDh_yF-E8/s1600/n-BARBIE-large570.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">There’s little in America that looks virtually the same as it did 55 years ago, but Barbie is an exception.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Over the years, Barbie maker Mattel has <a href="http://www.npr.org/multimedia/2009/02/barbie/barbie50/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">peppered the iconic doll with cosmetic fixes</a> -- giving her a mod hairstyle like Jackie Kennedy in the 1960s, sending her to work in a skirt suit in the 1980s and turning her into an Olympic gymnast in the 1990s -- to keep up with Americans' changing preferences. Still, in popular imagination, Barbie is Barbie: The blond teenager with unrealistic proportions and delicate feet made just-so for stepping out in high heels.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite nearly constant outcry over her image, Barbie has sold. Parents have <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/arts/ruth-handler-whose-barbie-gave-dolls-curves-dies-at-85.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">bought more than 1 billion Barbies</a> over the years, and she’s widely considered the most successful doll ever. But now, Barbie’s controversial look may be in danger of killing her. Barbie <a href="http://news.mattel.com/News/Mattel-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2013-Financial-Results-and-Declares-Quarterly-Dividend-3ef.aspx" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">sales dropped 13 percent worldwide last quarter</a> from a year before -- and<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/barbie-sales-2013_n_3609688.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">that’s after a string of bad quarters</a> in late 2012 and early 2013.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">The “disproportionately sized blond girl” is losing her appeal, said Matthew Hudak, an analyst at consumer analytics firm Euromonitor International. Instead of Barbie, parents are opting for dolls and toys less representative of the so-called the "princess culture" that teaches little girls they should strive to be white, thin, beautiful, and with a man.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“Parents aren’t really going after Barbie for their daughters -- they’re looking towards these other brands -- because Barbie has this running stigma that it creates a negative self-image for a girl,” he said. “It’s something that’s been in the background for some time, and now it’s really starting to develop more.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">But if Barbie goes down, she’ll fall as the icon Mattel created her to be, not as a doll catering to the whims of her critics. The company launched a campaign earlier this month featuring photos of Barbie and the hashtag "unapologetic," encouraging girls to follow Barbie's example and not apologize for how they look.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">The campaign also includes a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/11/barbie-sports-illustrated_n_4768864.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">partnership with Sports Illustrated</a> and its famous swimsuit issue, and Barbie will have a feature in the magazine.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">"Because Barbie is an icon, she often times gets dragged into the cultural conversation," said Michelle Chidoni, a Mattel spokeswoman. "Barbie is often asked to apologize for what she looks like, but she is who she is."</div><center data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></center><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No Stranger To Scandal</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">When Barbie first launched in 1959, she was controversial for different reasons. Unlike most other dolls on the market, she didn’t look like a kid. She was 17, buxom and a fashion model. “Many people found her scandalous, and worried that she would make girls think about sex,” said Elizabeth Chin, a professor of media and design practice at the Arts Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. Chin is working on a book about the doll as a cultural symbol, and how that plays out in how kids interact with her.</div><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Barbie’s creator, Ruth Handler, reportedly first came up with the idea for the doll after watching <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/arts/ruth-handler-whose-barbie-gave-dolls-curves-dies-at-85.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">her daughter revel in changing the outfits on her paper dolls</a>. Her company, Mattel, launched the first Barbie in 1959, after Handler pushed the idea on her male colleagues for years.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s no wonder they were prudish. The first iteration of Barbie supposedly resembled a German sex doll named Lilli, who Handler spotted on a trip to Europe. Lilli’s “main function in life was to try and chisel money out of men with her looks,” according to Yona McDonough, the author of the <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Barbie Chronicles</em>. (Mattel doesn’t include Lilli in its official Barbie origin story, though McDonough and other historians have <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/arts/ruth-handler-whose-barbie-gave-dolls-curves-dies-at-85.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">cited her as an inspiration for Barbie.</a>)</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">McDonough said Barbie had more of an independent-woman bent than other dolls at the time. “There was definitely a subversive element in this doll because even though she conformed to a lot of the stereotypes of the day, the outfits kind of created identities for her,” McDonough said. “Ken is an accessory, She’s a bride but she is never a wife. The whole mythology did not include her being married.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Barbie’s gumption and independence were part of what made her attractive to girls, Chidoni, the Mattel spokeswoman, noted, and she flew off the shelves within a few months of her launch. Barbie also transformed the toy and marketing world along with her, according to Chin.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“The first Barbie TV commercial is actually the first time that TV advertising is really aimed directly at the child,” Chin said. “It’s a changing moment of consumerism in America and the entire world, where they're now skipping the parents.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="astronaut barbie" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1607313/original.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><center style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Astronaut Barbie in the 1960s, 1980s and the 1990s.</em></center><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">And as America changed, Barbie changed too, Chin said. When the second-wave feminist movement began to take shape in the 1960s, Barbie became a career woman -- even <a href="http://www.npr.org/multimedia/2009/02/barbie/barbie50/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">launching into space in 1965</a>. After Americans became more concerned with multiculturalism, <a href="http://www.npr.org/multimedia/2009/02/barbie/barbie50/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">Mattel launched African-American and Hispanic Barbies in 1980</a>. Finally, after mounting pressure, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1997/12/barbies-new-bod-bfd" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">Barbie’s proportions become slightly more realistic</a>in the 1990s.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“The history, certainly in the United States, of how families and mothers and girls have related to Barbie pretty much follows the other social things that are happening,” Chin said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Can Barbie keep up this time?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">'Heritage'</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">More moms and young women today are looking up to real live female icons -- people like Janet Yellen, who was named chair of the Federal Reserve earlier this year, Hillary Clinton, who could be the next U.S. president, and Tina Fey, whose humor and wit have won her acclaim. While many Barbies, including an Angela Merkel doll and a president doll, are modeled after powerful women, most associate the doll more with aspiring to own a Malibu dream house than becoming president. To some, giving a young girl a doll like that seems more <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/16/topless-femen-protest-barbie-house-opening_n_3287469.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">out of touch</a> than ever.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Karissa Taylor is one of those moms concerned about the message that Barbie could send to her girls. The 40-year-old Seattle attorney and mother of two said she knew from the day she had her first daughter that Barbies weren’t welcome in her home. Taylor does what she can in the battle to draw some of her daughters' attention away from Barbies.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">She brings her 5-year-old along with her to the gym and to watch women's sports, but images of "princess culture" have still managed to seep into her home, Taylor said. One recent afternoon, her 5-year-old came home from school complaining that she didn’t want to wear a pair of pants because they made her look fat, and she wanted to look pretty like a princess, Taylor said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“It’s just everywhere,” she said. “I caved in on the Disney princess stuff and kind of wish I hadn’t. At least Disney has some kind of strong female figures, but Barbie I just don’t get the same vibe.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">In the past few years, more complaints have also surfaced about the doll's proportions. An attempt to imagine how a human with Barbie's same measurements<a href="http://www.visualizing.org/visualizations/if-barbie-were-real" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">would function in real life</a> found she'd have to walk on all-fours, couldn't lift anything with her wrists, and would only have room for half a liver. But in an interview with Fast Company earlier this month, Barbie's head designer said <a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/3025620/barbies-lead-designer-defends-barbies-crazy-proportions" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">there are no plans to change the doll's look</a>, saying she "was never designed to be realistic" and there's an "issue of heritage."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="real barbie" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1607331/original.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><center style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nickolay Lamm's 3-D model of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/normal-barbie-nickolay-lamm_n_3529460.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #683db9; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">what Barbie would look like</a> if she had the proportions of an average 19-year-old girl.</em></center><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Chidoni, the Mattel spokeswoman, said the recent sales downtick isn't evidence that consumers might be changing their minds about the doll.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">"As a 55-year-old brand we see ups and downs, but Barbie is an icon and she is a brand that girls continue to love," she said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">But Hudak, the toy analyst, said he expects things to get worse for the blond bombshell -- not better. As more American kids come from multicultural backgrounds, and interest in electronic games and toys continues to climb, Barbie likely will just become less attractive, he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“It’s hard to think that the money is going to come back because future generations of kids will have more and more trouble relating to Barbie,” he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Not So Bad?</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">But not all little girls are ready to throw away their plastic teen dolls just yet.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Tracy Stewart, a 46-year-old mom of two, said she always assumed she'd never buy a Barbie for her kids. “I kind of came up with a blanket response which was Barbie equals bad," she said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Once her daughter started asking for the doll when she was about 6 and a half, Stewart said she decided that too much was being laid at the Barbie's petite feet. “I would watch my son playing Star Wars and making gun sounds, and never think that he was going to grow up and rob banks and use guns,” she said. Since allowing Barbie into her home, creating Barbie stories with her daughter has given them an opportunity to talk about who her daughter wants to grow up to be, Stewart said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“When I was young, my Barbies were essentially running a brothel, and I didn’t grow up to be a prostitute,” Stewart said. “Barbie takes a lot of heat and is sometimes more of a distraction from things that are actually really hurting girls. Now, I'm grateful for any toy that allows me to sit with my kids and hear what's going on in their heads. Today, Fruit Ninja is much more of an obstacle in my parenting than Barbie."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Chidoni also drew the focus to a child's experience with the doll. "If you watch your daughter experience Barbie through her eyes, it's very different from the cultural conversation that people have about Barbie," she said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">The way that Stewart’s daughter plays with the doll is pretty typical of most girls, according to Chin, who has interviewed dozens of kids about their Barbie-playing habits for her research.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“Just because the company markets Barbie with a particularly kind of story, it's pretty clear that kids don’t necessarily follow those scripts,” she said, adding that kids do everything from chopping off Barbies' heads to making bowling games to creating Barbie porn videos.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“They’re pretty complicated -- those darn kids -- and they’re pretty smart,” Chin said. “I’m less worried about Barbie than I am the culture that produces Barbie. At the same time, she is kind of this lightning rod representative of these things.”</div>

R.I.P. Barbie: America's Most Iconic Blonde Is Fading Out Into History (BLOG)

There’s little in America that looks virtually the same as it did 55 years ago, but Barbie is an exception. Over the years, Barbie maker Mat...

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Market Saturation In The Gun Industry?

It seems the panic buying spree as the result of the Sandy Hook massacre and the resulting fear of tighter gun controls might have finally peaked and is starting to taper off according to a story linked to by <a href="http://bearingarms.com/but-will-i-find-some-22lr-before-i-reach-retirement-age/">Bearing Arms</a>.<br /><br />The article quotes a <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-13/locked-and-loaded-gun-fans-stop-buying">Bloomberg article </a>a bit but comes to the same conclusion that I did.<br />Although gun buyers may have reached the point that they feel somewhat comfortable about supplies, ammo is still a whole 'nuther story.<br /><br />From the <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-13/locked-and-loaded-gun-fans-stop-buying">Bloomberg</a> piece;<br /><blockquote>Americans, apparently, may finally have enough guns and ammunition.<br /><br />Cabela’s (CAB), a chain of outdoor stores that specialize in hunting and fishing equipment, said this morning the firearms market is cooling drastically.<br /><br />Sales at Cabela’s stores open more than one year plummeted 10.1 percent in the recent quarter, primarily because of sluggish firearms sales and a “much sharper than expected” decline in ammunition buying, says Chief Executive Tommy Millner. Excluding guns and ammo, same-store sales were down only 3.5 percent for the retailer, which is based in Sidney, Neb.<br /><br /><br />The thinning crowd of gun buyers should not have been a surprise. In October, Cabela’s warned that the market was cooling “significantly.” FBI background checks, a leading indicator of firearm demand, have also been dropping. Federal applications to make a gun purchase last month were one-third fewer than a year ago.</blockquote><br />From <a href="http://bearingarms.com/but-will-i-find-some-22lr-before-i-reach-retirement-age/">Bearing Arms</a>, the part I agree with;<br /><br /><blockquote>While firearms are durable goods, ammunition is expendable, and the supply is in need of constant replenishment. Now that we have more guns on the market than ever before—and more shooters—the demand for ammunition is still high, and the cycle of speculation and hoarding continues, especially for harder to find cartridges in less common calibers and rimfire cartridges.<br /><br />Things should return to normal for most centerfire cartridges over the next 6-9 months as long as there are no more panic-induced buying sprees. The rimfire market? Well, I’m pretty sure you didn’t want to shoot that .22LR until 2016, anyway.</blockquote><br />There is of course much more at both places.<br /><br />I see ammunition acquisition as still being a major concern for quite some time into the future and believe we will never again see the inexpensive costs per round we enjoyed before December 2012.<br /><br />

Market Saturation In The Gun Industry?

It seems the panic buying spree as the result of the Sandy Hook massacre and the resulting fear of tighter gun controls might have finally p...

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Drake: High Times at the YOLO Estate (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGc65o4fO5wX6bJjzAMFSUVSmfAEOXC8EC4n81DwS4bFVcWrL5qs0RF606k63orhB5N4wxg7dPBYU6lSW0ebcr9a59OoqWnhZUoXyPQpXMXFPMy3CvRYqGN3O0D6yo-dc7Hz6cTDq9xk/s1600/20140213-drake-x600-1392308999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGc65o4fO5wX6bJjzAMFSUVSmfAEOXC8EC4n81DwS4bFVcWrL5qs0RF606k63orhB5N4wxg7dPBYU6lSW0ebcr9a59OoqWnhZUoXyPQpXMXFPMy3CvRYqGN3O0D6yo-dc7Hz6cTDq9xk/s1600/20140213-drake-x600-1392308999.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Drake is worried that his waterfall is too loud. He rises from a wicker armchair and walks toward a control pad in the corner of his flagstone patio. "I want to be sure your tape recorder gets everything," he says, fiddling with some settings. It's a sunny January afternoon in Hidden Hills, California, a gated community where Drake owns a three-acre compound, 30 miles up the 101 from Los Angeles. A hundred feet from the patio, across his enormous swimming pool – the rippling waters of which contain two very big statues of voluptuous women, on their knees, in bikinis – what was a pummeling cascade becomes a whispering drizzle. Behind the falls, you can now see a man-made grotto, tricked out with a wet bar, illuminated wading pools, flatscreen TVs and a dozen other details that take time to register fully. Are those iron torches, affixed to the grotto's interior walls, belching flames? They are. Is that a pair of majestic elk, fashioned from stone, standing sentinel up top? Yes – they match the stone giraffe you may have noticed out front, next to the driveway. Off to the right is a standalone, 25-seat movie theater; a combination tennis-basketball court; a mechanical bull; and a half-dozen stables for horses that Drake does not own. "That's a water slide that comes from the top," he says. "I'm obsessed with, like, residential pools. One of my goals in life is to have the biggest residential pool on the planet."</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Back in his native Toronto, Drake is in the early stages of building a place on the city's outskirts that will include "an Olympic-size pool inside the house," he says. Until that's done, this is his pleasure pad; built in the 1970s, with 12,500 square feet of space, the property is as eccentric as it is grandiose. The vibe inside is part dude ranch, part gentleman's manor, part Medieval Times: rustic wooden beams stained a deep chocolaty brown; marble-top side tables; vaulted fireplaces; craggy, cavelike walls. "Originally, I had a sign outside that said the yolo estate," he says – he popularized the acronym, which stands for You Only Live Once, in a single – "but it got stolen three times, and it was getting a bit costly to replace it, so I just changed it to the street number. I love that some kid has that sign in his bedroom."</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">When Drake, who's 27, brings women here, he delights in flipping a switch beside a bookshelf, which swings open to reveal his bedroom. "This house was the desktop image on my computer years before I bought it," Drake says. He's wearing black basketball shorts, red socks pulled up to the knees and a black T-shirt decorated with white spiders; his beard is landscaped just so. "I was like, 'What are the world's craziest residential pools?' and when I searched online, this came up." In 2007, a then-unsigned Drake tried, and failed, to hunt this place down during an L.A. trip. In 2009, the compound hit the market with an asking price of $27 million. The seller, a steakhouse-chain restaurateur, "was at a low moment," Drake recalls. "He needed money." In 2012, Drake snagged the property for $7.7 million. "I stole it from him!" he says.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">A running theme when Drake discusses himself is that if he dreams about doing something, it's only a matter of time till he gets it done. In 2001, lacking any professional acting experience, he went from being the only child of a grade-school-teacher single mom who was subsisting on disability checks to a nationally known TV star, landing a lead role on the Canadian teen drama <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Degrassi: The Next Generation</em>. In 2009, having gravitated toward music, Drake knocked the American hip-hop mainstream askew, rewriting the genre's emotional and musical vocabulary with a combination of ferocious rapping and supple singing, blowout bravado and flaying self-doubt. Drake, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, cleared a path for category-busting R&B artists like Frank Ocean, Miguel and the Weeknd, and in the process he became the biggest Jewish rapper since the Beastie Boys. Bar mitzvahed in 1999, Drake must be the only pop artist alive who can both recite from the Torah and get away with constantly using the word "nigga" in his lyrics – his mother is white; his father is black.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Drake's coup, building on the example of Kanye West, was to flout prevailing notions about what sort of background a rapper should come from and what kinds of things he should rap about: On one typically candid song, he drunk-dials a former flame and makes an ass of himself trying to woo her. Such vulnerable displays have invited mockery from old-guard hip-hop gatekeepers (including, oddly, Common, who called Drake "soft") and anonymous online hordes. "There's these GIFs about me, these stupid stereotypes people have of me as this overly emotional character that cries in his room every night," says Drake. "There are jokes because of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Degrassi</em>, because I'm Canadian, because I make music for women. There are memes of guys crying to my music." He scowls, then shrugs. "I love it. I heart those photos when I see them on Instagram."</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Drake just finished a national tour for his platinum third album, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nothing Was the Same</em>, and he's got some downtime before heading out to New York, where he'll perform at a Super Bowl concert organized by Diddy. Two nights ago, Drake blew off the Grammys even though he was up for three awards, including one for Best Rap Album. He partied instead at a West Hollywood nightclub where Rihanna was also hanging out, which prompted a round of online gossip – Rihanna and Drake were romantically involved years ago, but Drake says they're not anymore: "She's the ultimate fantasy. I mean, I think about it. Like, 'Man, that would be good.' We have fun together, she's cool and shit. But we're just friends. That's my dog for life." He says he doesn't have a girlfriend. "I'm not after pussy like I was three years ago, when I was trying to make up for all the years when no girl would talk to me," he says. "But I haven't met somebody that makes everybody else not matter."</div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Read more: <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/drake-high-times-at-the-yolo-estate-20140213#ixzz2tE2Yf2iy" style="color: #003399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/drake-high-times-at-the-yolo-estate-20140213#ixzz2tE2Yf2iy</a> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Follow us: <a href="http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=bbJxak64Kr4kEzacwqm_6l&u=rollingstone" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@rollingstone on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=bbJxak64Kr4kEzacwqm_6l&u=RollingStone" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">RollingStone on Facebook</a></span>

Drake: High Times at the YOLO Estate (BLOG)

Drake is worried that his waterfall is too loud. He rises from a wicker armchair and walks toward a control pad in the corner of his flagsto...

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Venezuelan Government Orders The Army Into The Cities To Crush Protests And To Arrest Opposition Leaders

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kwa5voNl3FY" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Army Sent Into Venezuelan Cities As Unrest Prompts Coup Warning -- The Telegraph</b></span></div><br /><i>President Nicolás Maduro claims 'fascist' opponents orchestrated protest violence that claimed three lives as part of plan to overthrow government </i><br /><br />Venezuelan troops fanned out across the capital, Caracas, and other major cities on Thursday after President Nicolás Maduro ordered a military clampdown against deadly unrest that he warned was part of a "fascist" coup plot. <br /><br />Piles of burning rubbish sat smoking along Caracas' main avenue as troops moved to secure the city following an outbreak of street violence that left three dead on Wednesday. Armed soldiers surrounded government buildings and diverted traffic, while riot troops guarded entrances to the shuttered subway system as residents picked their way through broken glass. <br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/10636911/Army-sent-in-to-Venezuelan-cities-as-unrest-prompts-coup-warning.html">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More News On The Growing Unrest In Venezuela</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://world.time.com/2014/02/13/venezuela-seeks-opposition-leaders-arrest-after-protests-turned-deadly/">Venezuela Seeks Opposition Leader’s Arrest After Protests Turned Deadly</a> -- Time/Reuters<br /><a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/venezuela-opposition-leader-drops-out-of-sight-as-arrest-rumours-swirl-1.1684069">Venezuela opposition leader drops out of sight as arrest rumours swirl</a> -- CTV/AP<br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303704304579381000595339052?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303704304579381000595339052.html">Venezuelan President Moves Against Opposition After Deadly Protests </a>-- Wall Street Journal<br /><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/venezuelan-president-bans-protests-after-three-killed-20140214-hvcbt.html">Venezuelan president bans protests after three killed </a>-- Sydney Morning Herald<br /><a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=1599634&CategoryId=10717">Venezuela’s President Bans Street Protests after Three Killed</a> -- Latin American Herald Tribune<br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hy7LI6Bch-m_VqbjKNEHgt12XSvA?docId=15251534-1fd8-4c9f-93e6-c0aa5a3aa8cd">Maduro says no chance of coup after deadly Venezuela demos</a> -- AFP<br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-venezuela-protests-20140213,0,437076.story#axzz2t41LE47C">Venezuela protests turn deadly; Maduro accuses opponents of coup plot</a> -- L.A. Times<br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26166094">Venezuela student protest ends in deadly violence</a> -- BBC<br /><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2557696/3-killed-Venezuelan-protests-turn-violent.html">Three people killed after motorcycle-riding vigilante gang fires at anti-government protesters in Venezuela </a>-- Daily Mail<br /><a href="http://rt.com/news/venezuela-riots-kill-students-827/">Venezuela coup? Gunfire, clashes as 3 dead in violent Caracas protest (PHOTOS, VIDEO)</a> -- RT<br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/world/americas/venezuela-protests/">Venezuela anti-government protests turn deadly; 3 killed</a> -- CNN<br /><a href="http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/13/venezuela-s-woes-economy-tanks-as-crime-soars/">Venezuela’s woes: economy tanks as crime soars </a>-- Euronews<br /><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/a-venezuelan-spring-three-killed-as-armed-vigilantes-on-motorcycles-attack-antigovernment-protesters-9124935.html">A Venezuelan Spring? Three killed as armed vigilantes on motorcycles attack anti-government protesters</a> -- The Independent<br /><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/venezuelans-are-rioting-against-president-nicolas-maduro-people-are-dying-1555262">Venezuelans Are Rioting Against President Nicolás Maduro, And People Are Dying</a> -- Patricia Rey Mallén, IBTimes

Venezuelan Government Orders The Army Into The Cities To Crush Protests And To Arrest Opposition Leaders

Army Sent Into Venezuelan Cities As Unrest Prompts Coup Warning -- The Telegraph President Nicolás Maduro claims 'fascist' opponents...

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American Teens Are Even More Stressed Than Adults (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb7WJv-aRsAOGmuL4gXIK96siA2tjTfb0giPCHQ3tWKOwfs9vSYIh1u7gSkGMX5mB_E03fDJasrm1zZrTEZ_1000pbAVD1IwdEG81hFprPnTuicWMuRU2x6JBMfsLSBlFq6SHw-qXrKkY/s1600/n-TEEN-STRESS-large570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb7WJv-aRsAOGmuL4gXIK96siA2tjTfb0giPCHQ3tWKOwfs9vSYIh1u7gSkGMX5mB_E03fDJasrm1zZrTEZ_1000pbAVD1IwdEG81hFprPnTuicWMuRU2x6JBMfsLSBlFq6SHw-qXrKkY/s1600/n-TEEN-STRESS-large570.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Last year, the American Psychological Association's Stress in America survey found that Millennials, aged 18-33, were the country's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/millennials-stress_n_2646947.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">most-stressed generation</a>. Now, the title belongs to an even younger demographic: American teenagers.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Even before the pressures of work and adulthood set in, for most young Americans, stress has already become a fact of daily life. And this sets the stage early for unhealthy behaviors and lifestyle choices that may increase the risk of developing<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/stress-health-effects-cancer-immune-system_n_2599551.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">stress-related health problems</a> down the road.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">American teenagers are now the most stressed-out age group in the U.S., according to<a href="http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/highlights.aspx" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">APA's 2013 Stress In America survey</a>. While adults rate their stress at a 5.1 on a 10-point scale, teens rate their stress levels at 5.8.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/highlights.aspx" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">This year's report</a>, conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of APA, consisted of 1,950 adults and 1,018 teens in the U.S. in August 2013. <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here are some of the survey's biggest findings about teens and stress:</strong></div><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Teens report that their stress level during the school year (5.8/10) far exceeds what they believe to be a healthy level of stress (3.9/10).</li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">31 percent of teens report feeling overwhelmed as a result of stress, 30 percent say that they feel sad or depressed as a result of stress, and 36 percent report feeling tired or fatigued because of stress.</li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Only 16 percent of teens say their stress levels have declined in the past year, while 31 percent say their stress has increased in the past year.</li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yet teens are more likely than adults to report that stress has no effect on their physical health (54 percent) or their mental health (52 percent).</li><li class="last" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">42 percent of teens say that they're either not doing enough to manage their stress or they're not sure if they're doing enough.</li></ul><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“It is alarming that the teen stress experience is so similar to that of adults. It is even more concerning that they seem to underestimate the potential impact that stress has on their physical and mental health,” APA CEO and Executive Vice President Norman B. Anderson, PhD, said in a statement. “In order to break this cycle of stress and unhealthy behaviors as a nation, we need to provide teens with better support and health education at school and home, at the community level and in their interactions with health care professionals.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Teens' habits around sleep, exercise and technology (the average teen consumes an average of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/postlive/teens-are-spending-more-time-consuming-media-on-mobile-devices/2013/03/12/309bb242-8689-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">7.5 hours of media</a> per day) may play a role in contributing to higher stress levels. More than one in three teens says that stress has kept him up at night in the past month. But most teens aren't sleeping enough to begin with: The average teen sleeps 7.4 hours on a school night (far less than the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.htm" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">9-10 hours recommended by the CDC</a>), the APA survey found. The survey also found that one in five teens reports exercising less than once a week or not at all, despite the proven <a href="http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/benefits-of-exercisereduces-stress-anxiety-and-helps-fight-depression" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">stress-relieving benefits of physical activity</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">The negative health effects of lack of sleep and too much screen time for teens could be significant. Teens who don't get enough sleep are four times as likely as well-rested teens to develop major depressive disorder,<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/06/272441146/less-sleep-more-time-online-amp-up-teen-depression-risk" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink"> according to a recent University of Texas study</a>, while teens who are already depressed are more likely to lose sleep. Teens who spend a lot of time on the Internet are also as likely to exhibit depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts as teens who misuse drugs and skip school, <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/06/272441146/less-sleep-more-time-online-amp-up-teen-depression-risk" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">according to a recent Swedish study</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Parents, who may be a source of stress for teens -- research<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2012/07/25/how-parents-stress-can-hurt-a-child-from-the-inside-out/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink"> has suggested</a> that adults pass stress down to their children -- can also be part of the solution.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“Parents and other adults can play a critical role in helping teens get a handle on stress by modeling healthy stress management behaviors,” Anderson said. “When spending time with teens, we can encourage them to exercise, eat well, get the sleep they need and seek support from health care professionals like psychologists to help them develop healthier coping mechanisms for stress sooner rather than later.”</div>

American Teens Are Even More Stressed Than Adults (BLOG)

Last year, the American Psychological Association's Stress in America survey found that Millennials, aged 18-33, were the country's ...

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Building 7 questions remain

<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>God knows the answer!</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Are you ready to meet God?</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8E2_AiJi2YWVWpiuBqeF1978huoqN2xC5U4jqgpeaz__C1JIyQABKeVoaPncdxIEoS2XBcfrD_bghgI9SDdwyQ0ZVEHmivw7Q5DaL0eHvyydyzEcLXwetYKyLExfXOkepY7CmGK3YL4/s1600/WTC7.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8E2_AiJi2YWVWpiuBqeF1978huoqN2xC5U4jqgpeaz__C1JIyQABKeVoaPncdxIEoS2XBcfrD_bghgI9SDdwyQ0ZVEHmivw7Q5DaL0eHvyydyzEcLXwetYKyLExfXOkepY7CmGK3YL4/s1600/WTC7.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><b>But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.</b></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><b>--REVELATION 21.8</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Journalists mock Americans who have questions...</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kNwnPt-8S8k?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/y913Xp4OcR8?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/73qK4j32iuo?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZyKR2-A0KPU?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>

Building 7 questions remain

God knows the answer! Are you ready to meet God?   But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, a...

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Marijuana May Stop The Spread Of HIV, Study Finds (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5ofvTxF7orNkhVxh4FmCvH-rHlj05orv4wJQ9ltmiT6_xcFvoQcUqDAgj9LdQmC7ZAffmniVNLM0iLh3eCtRvADcd6muf0_VTSmiVwTVTF3OgWt4T8zFa4-if9gNFLX4kovxaWEaDRw/s1600/n-MARIJUANA-PLANT-large570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5ofvTxF7orNkhVxh4FmCvH-rHlj05orv4wJQ9ltmiT6_xcFvoQcUqDAgj9LdQmC7ZAffmniVNLM0iLh3eCtRvADcd6muf0_VTSmiVwTVTF3OgWt4T8zFa4-if9gNFLX4kovxaWEaDRw/s1600/n-MARIJUANA-PLANT-large570.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Marijuana has long been used to effectively treat symptoms associated with HIV, such as chronic pain and weight loss. But a growing body of research suggests the plant may be able to stop the spread of the disease itself.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Adding to these findings is a Louisiana State University study <a href="http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/aid.2013.0182" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">published last week</a> in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. For 17 months, scientists administered a daily dose of THC, an active ingredient in cannabis, to monkeys infected with an animal form of the virus. Over the course of that period, scientists found that damage to immune tissue in the primates' stomachs, one of the most common areas in the body for HIV infection to spread, decreased.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">"These findings reveal novel mechanisms that may potentially contribute to cannabinoid-mediated disease modulation," Dr. Patricia Molina, the study's lead author, wrote. The report goes on to explain that while HIV spreads by infecting and killing off immune cells, the monkeys that received the daily THC treatments maintained higher levels of healthy cells.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Similar research <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3131805/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">spearheaded by Molina in 2011</a> found that infected monkeys treated with THC had a better chance of surviving. And a report published in 2012 pointed to evidence that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/marijuana-fights-aids_n_1373224.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">marijuana-like compounds can fight HIV</a> in late-stage AIDS patients.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Last year, an oncologist from the United Kingdom found that marijuana compounds can <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/25/marijuana-cancer_n_4158865.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">kill cancer cells in leukemia patients</a>, and scientists at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco have <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/25/marijuana-cancer_n_4158865.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6aa3b1; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">conducted research</a> that suggests those compounds can also effectively combat other forms of aggressive cancer.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Huffington Post</div>

Marijuana May Stop The Spread Of HIV, Study Finds (BLOG)

Marijuana has long been used to effectively treat symptoms associated with HIV, such as chronic pain and weight loss. But a growing body of ...

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This'll Keep You Busy

Damn things.<br />It isn't like I live to be peering down my nose through my glasses trying to spot things all the time.<br /><br />It's bad enough at work with these damn Bi-focals.<br /><br />Here is one of those spot the sniper pics. The answer will be below it.<br /><br />Then I am going to link to a site with a bunch more that aren't so easy.<br /><br />Good luck.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmW8Gd6TsD7dBpLQesxiPBgql_WC_UTJtzRJWOc4-iXzL-mU5DeLxfVlFU9AcMQEwN55t9YRcvrdDMDj3C9_5d8JvBBgSjZiuLqr3uFbzk8OKMW4JyP_MVEHavkwNwf0qR8nnuKqh37UDU/s1600/ku-xlarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmW8Gd6TsD7dBpLQesxiPBgql_WC_UTJtzRJWOc4-iXzL-mU5DeLxfVlFU9AcMQEwN55t9YRcvrdDMDj3C9_5d8JvBBgSjZiuLqr3uFbzk8OKMW4JyP_MVEHavkwNwf0qR8nnuKqh37UDU/s640/ku-xlarge.jpg" /></a></div><br />Here's the answer,<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXkiu_O6X9MvynzlB094OjklRiA2icyzDVOAwuMeVPeh5hoWBKP8t7PF84ZO9SbSwMZ9vnQg3QTsNI_yruS0kWCp-rGthw5oXdDUwvwWgDWHoLK5iBHJOEEf3WInNfKU2yDLSzs_RPOgm/s1600/ku-xlarge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXkiu_O6X9MvynzlB094OjklRiA2icyzDVOAwuMeVPeh5hoWBKP8t7PF84ZO9SbSwMZ9vnQg3QTsNI_yruS0kWCp-rGthw5oXdDUwvwWgDWHoLK5iBHJOEEf3WInNfKU2yDLSzs_RPOgm/s640/ku-xlarge2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://kotaku.com/see-if-you-can-spot-the-camouflaged-snipers-in-these-pi-1521673891">Here is the link to a few more of the hateful things</a>.<br /><br /><br />The finger of blame points to <a href="http://www.fark.com/">FARK </a>for this time waster.<br /><br /><br />

This'll Keep You Busy

Damn things. It isn't like I live to be peering down my nose through my glasses trying to spot things all the time. It's bad enough ...

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Why Is U.S. Sen. John McCain Flooding Twitter With Syrian Atrocity Pics?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">WARNING: Graphic - These photos were reviewed & verified by three renowned int'l war crimes prosecutors <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Syria&src=hash">#Syria</a> <a href="http://t.co/PctSd3hgCs">pic.twitter.com/PctSd3hgCs</a><br />— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/statuses/433642051800793088">February 12, 2014</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sen. John McCain Floods Twitter With Syrian Atrocity Pics That ‘Haunt Me’ -- ABC News</b></span></div><br />Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., flooded his Twitter account Wednesday with graphic photos showing atrocities allegedly committed by the Assad regime in Syria.<br /><br />“These images haunt me, but what haunts me more is thought that we’ll continue to do nothing #Syria,” McCain said in one of the tweets, which showed a photo of a child whose legs appeared to be badly injured.<br /><br />McCain also showed giant versions of the photos propped up on easels on the Senate floor during a speech today.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/02/sen-john-mccain-floods-twitter-with-syrian-atrocity-pics-that-haunt-me/">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><b>Update:</b> <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/13/john-mccain-tweets-horrific-syria-pictures/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fpolitics+%28Internal+-+Politics+-+Text%29">John McCain tweets horrific Syria pictures</a> -- FOX News<br /><br /><b>My Comment:</b> What's my take .... I have already seen these pictures, and while they are horrible .... the civil war in Syria is not our fight.<br /><br />U.S. Sen. John McCain's Twitter feed <b><a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain">is here.</a></b>

Why Is U.S. Sen. John McCain Flooding Twitter With Syrian Atrocity Pics?

WARNING: Graphic - These photos were reviewed & verified by three renowned int'l war crimes prosecutors #Syria pic.twitter.com/PctS...

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The 7 Most Annoying Things Of 2014 So Far (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNM-WMFc05gCEpeEkKJYEjuxcaR4Ca6TZd-ScidVdoCZfZbuUkoQOZqanbjtsfuvfMB4BWcxo6MmkGKXmGuxyYpOTtZUtzHFmCcvar9WJyNjcopAwX8RNprfKadMfTxad5bn2sfV4xirc/s1600/annoyed2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNM-WMFc05gCEpeEkKJYEjuxcaR4Ca6TZd-ScidVdoCZfZbuUkoQOZqanbjtsfuvfMB4BWcxo6MmkGKXmGuxyYpOTtZUtzHFmCcvar9WJyNjcopAwX8RNprfKadMfTxad5bn2sfV4xirc/s1600/annoyed2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="content" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">We are just seven weeks into 2014 and already I am annoyed, verklempt if you will. Here's a list of the top 7 things pushing me -- and others -- over the top.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1) The weather.</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="polar vortex" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1619297/thumbs/r-POLAR-VORTEX-large570.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Whether it's global warming or not, can someone please make it stop snowing already and turn up the heat outside? By mid-January, you couldn't even find a kid in the suburbs willing to shovel out your car for $30 because they had already earned enough to pay for college in the first two weeks. And forget what school closures have done to working parents. Seriously, who didn't consider the simple solution of just eating their young and solving the dual problems of kids driving you insane and the refrigerator being empty?</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/02/07/over-two-thirds-of-the-continental-usa-covered-with-snow/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">More than two-thirds of the continental United States is under snow.</a> New York City's Central Park <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/01/08/polar-vortex-spreads-into-eastern-southern-us/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">broke a 118-year-record when the temperature dropped to 4 degree</a>s; the record of 6 degrees had stood since 1896. Meanwhile California, where I live, is in a major drought and we are so convinced that a forest fire is going to wipe us out that we drive around with fire extinguishers to douse idiots who toss lit cigarettes out their car windows. This is some kind of a world-wide test, isn't it? And we are all failing.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2) The polar vortex.</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="polar vortex" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1619305/thumbs/r-POLAR-VORTEX-large570.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes, we know we already covered weather. It's the term "polar vortex" that is annoying me now. "Think of this as a polar hurricane," said NBC News' Al Roker. No, Al, actually I don't want to think of it at all. And what hurricane ever lasted a whole month? Huh, Al? Huh? Polar vortex has entered our vernacular and appears here to stay. It's right up there with chads as words I wished I never had to learn.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3) The flu.</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="flu" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1619313/thumbs/r-FLU-large570.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Sure the <a href="http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/01/28/east-bay-woman-dies-suddenly-from-h1n1-flu-virus/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">story about the otherwise healthy woman from the San Francisco Bay area who came down with the flu on Tuesday and was dead by Saturday was more than a little scary.</a> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/14/3162641/flu-season-young-people/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">We are in the throes of a nationwide flu epidemic that is affecting younger people who didn't get flu shots more than ever.</a> Offices are decimated, not that friends back east could get to them most days because of the road conditions and bitter cold anyway. But just when they reopen the roads and got the kids back in school, what happened? Whammo! Home they come again, sick. Back here in 80-degree Los Angeles, my husband and two kids are both down for the count as I write this. I follow them around with a can of Lysol spray and have them in surgical masks. I just waded through a sea of dirty Kleenex to get to the bathroom sink. Not amused.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4) The baby giraffe.</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="copenhagen zoo" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1619325/thumbs/r-COPENHAGEN-ZOO-large570.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Workers at the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/copenhagen-zoo-kills-healthy-giraffe-front-children-article-1.1609146" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark killed a healthy two-year-old giraffe</a>using a bolt gun, then fed chunks of its dissected corpse to the zoo's lions, while visitors, including children, looked on. I am beyond words. The Associated Press later reported that zoo officials have received death threats. I swear I didn't make them but do want to urge everyone to boycott the Copenhagen Zoo. Hell, let's skip traveling to Denmark altogether and put our tourist dollars toward a better place. Maybe somewhere sunny and warm and germ-free.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5) Woody Allen.</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="woody allen soon yi" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1619328/thumbs/r-WOODY-ALLEN-SOON-YI-large570.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">OK, he's maybe more than just an annoyance. I'm fine with him being tried in court, just not the court of public opinion. I was also fine with not really thinking about him for the past 21 years. Again, this is one of those situations where we want to vote with our wallets; I haven't seen one of his movies in decades -- 2.1 decades to be precise.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">6) The reaction to the Coke commercial in the Super Bowl.</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="super bowl coca cola" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1619341/thumbs/r-SUPER-BOWL-COCA-COLA-large570.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes America, you just disappoint me. For a nation of immigrants to object so strongly to the multi-lingual rendition of "America the Beautiful" is pathetic and hypocritical. <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/02/06/coca-cola-advertisement-coke-ad-olympic-games--super-bowl-diversity/5255119/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">I hereby sentence those whiners to a Super Bowl filled with stupid soda commercials featuring white polar bears.</a> There, are you happy now? And kudos to Coke for sticking to its guns and using the same ad in the Olympics.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7) The Internet and the Sochi Olympics.</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><img alt="sochi olympics toilets" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1619348/thumbs/r-SOCHI-OLYMPICS-TOILETS-large570.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">I am an Olympic junkie. I love love love the Olympics and eagerly await the competitions, hanging on baited breath to see which athletes stick their landings. But what have we gotten instead this year? A fur hat full of Internet snark. First it was reporters complaining about their unfinished hotel rooms. Then we heard about all the stray dogs being rounded up and executed Soviet-style. Then came the public mocking of the <a href="http://gawker.com/the-russian-police-choir-sang-get-lucky-at-the-openin-1518475274" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">Russian police choir singing "Get Lucky," </a>and the Olympic ring failure and all the (untrue) <a href="http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/502070-olympic-ring-mishap-man-responsible-satire-boris-avdeyev-not-found-dead-stabbed-in-sochi/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">talk about the guy responsible being found dead</a> the next day. Then the stray dogs were <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics/thousands-stray-dogs-sochi-saved-pre-olympics-killings-homes-article-1.1608976" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">saved by a Russian billionaire</a>. How'd Shaun White do? The athletes got lost in the Internet noise. But at least there was the Coke commercial.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Follow Ann Brenoff on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AnnBrenoff" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1464; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.twitter.com/AnnBrenoff</a></strong></div>

The 7 Most Annoying Things Of 2014 So Far (BLOG)

We are just seven weeks into 2014 and already I am annoyed, verklempt if you will. Here's a list of the top 7 things pushing me -- and o...

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Wall Street Moves Higher

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>U.S. Government continues to buy stocks </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmisaCbxK_hpbqeF3IlvAXpJkZowfr4cOdWsNm3SEqc69Q_pu7gGKLallSpgE_vIxibks7tPkZJVwgh-OeIw_1rjKmXtvl3WmEWMQvOKkhAw3elD37Y-UO6eK87rs9fbL76MZRkMNUOGc/s1600/FederalReservepic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmisaCbxK_hpbqeF3IlvAXpJkZowfr4cOdWsNm3SEqc69Q_pu7gGKLallSpgE_vIxibks7tPkZJVwgh-OeIw_1rjKmXtvl3WmEWMQvOKkhAw3elD37Y-UO6eK87rs9fbL76MZRkMNUOGc/s1600/FederalReservepic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Takes WALL STREET INDEXES higher</b></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkQWd7nZ6ayjudqA0dNG8sVAofDQ4y72InQ2vTQhqVuuj2-u0kBRMmIVRGWPIbQEDD2r823lHtCnic-y6E3UpmgOXWNNwNG0jNxl45CfT0B8EVlBc5IHfGonk0omHWVDMozlyXdFozp4/s1600/WallStreetmoneyPIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkQWd7nZ6ayjudqA0dNG8sVAofDQ4y72InQ2vTQhqVuuj2-u0kBRMmIVRGWPIbQEDD2r823lHtCnic-y6E3UpmgOXWNNwNG0jNxl45CfT0B8EVlBc5IHfGonk0omHWVDMozlyXdFozp4/s1600/WallStreetmoneyPIC.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>  </b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Market pushes higher on ARTIFICIAL TRADES</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>DJIA crosses 16,000</b></span><br /><br /><img alt="http://markets.money.cnn.com/markets/overview/modules/chart.asp" src="http://markets.money.cnn.com/markets/overview/modules/chart.asp" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Warren Buffett laughs at the SMALL INVESTORS and RETIREES:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warren-buffett-is-laughing-at-you-for-selling-2014-02-13" style="color: red;">http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warren-buffett-is-laughing-at-you-for-selling-2014-02-13</a> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>...developing... </b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>

Wall Street Moves Higher

U.S. Government continues to buy stocks   Takes WALL STREET INDEXES higher   Market pushes higher on ARTIFICIAL TRADES DJIA crosses 16,000 W...

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#FolkMoMA Reuse

MoMA says it will <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/nyregion/folk-art-building-will-be-demolished-but-its-facade-will-live-on.html?ref=nyregion&_r=2" rel="nofollow">dismantle the Folk Art Museum's bronze-panel facade and store it somewhere</a>. How about tilting it up and making the facade a constant presence of the building they demolished, casting a shadow over the "Art Bay"?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/12504816453/" title="FolkMoMA2 by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="FolkMoMA2" height="383" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3810/12504816453_9f19296ffd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Original photo of Folk Art facade by me. Original rendering of MoMA expansion by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. See alternatives to MoMA's storage solution at <a href="http://folkmoma.tumblr.com/">FolkMoMA</a>.

#FolkMoMA Reuse

MoMA says it will dismantle the Folk Art Museum's bronze-panel facade and store it somewhere . How about tilting it up and making the fa...

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Gold breaks above $1,300 as market fear rises

<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Investors are seeking a SAFE HAVEN</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><img alt="Live New York Gold Chart [Kitco Inc.]" border="0" hspace="0" src="http://www.kitco.com/images/live/nygold.gif" vspace="0" width="630" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">SILVER also moving higher</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://charts.kitco.com/KitcoCharts/index.jsp?Symbol=SILVER&Currency=USD&multiCurrency=true&langId=EN&utm_source=kitco&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=20110407_iCharts_live_silver_ny_chart&utm_campaign=iCharts" id="yui_3_5_1_1_1392316391958_165" target="_blank"><img alt="Live New York Silver Chart [ Kitco Inc. ]" border="0" height="250" hspace="0" src="http://www.kitco.com/images/live/nysilver.gif" vspace="0" width="630" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P87FkJzB0L0?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe> <br /><b>...developing...</b></div>

Gold breaks above $1,300 as market fear rises

Investors are seeking a SAFE HAVEN SILVER also moving higher ...developing...

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Digital Harassment Is the New Means of Domestic Abuse (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVhp9tLPlWUV0QDSVWMjJDnnEYnROH59IgoqlOcNu8MQqa-J0oFZo-6y8INxKcelBJPB4qRVCsoJ9FiBhxiGuvp9zFPaxuwjUMLQ3CKL4xf0Q-q1nBzb4YtrusMb7RJIbhWZWiyOGLs4/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVhp9tLPlWUV0QDSVWMjJDnnEYnROH59IgoqlOcNu8MQqa-J0oFZo-6y8INxKcelBJPB4qRVCsoJ9FiBhxiGuvp9zFPaxuwjUMLQ3CKL4xf0Q-q1nBzb4YtrusMb7RJIbhWZWiyOGLs4/s1600/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="dek char-limit multiline" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: TitlingGothicFBCondRegular, 'Arial Narrow', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px !important; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 10px 0px 24px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">More girls are reporting their boyfriends stalk them via text message or threaten to humiliate them with social media. What starts in cyberspace rarely ends there.</div><section class="article-body-content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">When most hear the words “domestic violence,” the image of someone physically battered comes to mind. But technology is increasingly replacing fists as the weapon of choice in abusive relationships.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Katie Ray-Jones, president of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, explained that one of the goals of Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month this February is to educate teens and their parents about the perils of dating abuse in all its forms. Ray-Jones explained that in recent years they have seen a significant increase in the number of girls contacting the Hotline to report treatment by their boyfriends that didn’t fit traditional definitions of violence but certainly constituted abuse.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“What we’re hearing a lot on the hotline and prompted us to engage in a digital abuse awareness strategy was a lot of young people were talking about their partner—boyfriend or girlfriend—constantly texting them and if they don’t respond in appropriate time there are repercussions and a fight breaks out,” she said. Others reported their partners “constantly texting them to know where they are and who they are talking to.”</div><blockquote class="blockquote" style="background-color: black; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; color: white; display: table; float: left; font-family: TitlingGothicFBStandCond; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 350px; line-height: inherit; margin: 9px 31px 9px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; quotes: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline; width: 235px;"><div class="centerer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: table-cell; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 350px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: middle; width: 235px;"><div class="safe-area" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-height: 340px; max-width: 200px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 28px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: 1.6px; line-height: 32.20000076293945px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">One teen reported her boyfriend would text her on a designated schedule so he could be sure she wasn’t with someone else cheating.</div></div></div></blockquote><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Some reported their boyfriends threatened to post demeaning photos of them on social media if the teens disobeyed their commands. Others said their boyfriends set up fake Facebook accounts to test whether or not they were interacting with members of the opposite sex without permission. In what sounded like a particularly extreme case of technology being used as a form of control, one teen reported her boyfriend would text her on a designated schedule so he could be sure she wasn’t with someone else cheating. When he would sleep, he had his friends continue texting her on the schedule, and whether she was trying to sleep or not she was expected to reply or face physical violence. This story sounded hard to believe until I spoke with Brittny Henderson a 23-year-old victim of dating abuse, much of it carried out through technology before allegedly escalating to physical violence.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Henderson was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin when she attended a speech on dating abuse. The speaker was sharing the story of his daughter who had been in an abusive relationship. “Everything he said about her had happened to me,” she said. “That presentation hit home and it hit hard. It opened my eyes to the fact that I had been in abusive relationship.” It was also “the first time I’d even heard the term dating abuse,” she said.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">As a shy high-school freshman, Henderson was pursued by senior who was a popular football star. She felt so in awe that he expressed interest in her that she never questioned the appropriateness of some of his behavior. Initially it began with him regularly critiquing her appearance, reminding her that many girls wondered why he had chosen to be with “someone like her.” But the real warning sign she now realizes was the amount of time he expected her to be available to him by phone. Henderson explained that he would often spend time at her home when they weren’t at school together, and after her parents would ask him to leave, he would call her and ask to stay on the phone with him for the entire drive home. After both dressed for bed, he would call her again. “I would wake up to his voice screaming at me on the phone because I had fallen asleep,” she said.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite her friends and family expressing alarm the relationship continued for years and his abuse escalated. After becoming upset she was spending too much time at a summer job and not enough with him, Henderson said he locked her car keys in his trunk. When that didn’t work, he put her work uniform in a running shower so she was unable to wear it that day. Henderson’s boss then reported strange calls. Some days a family emergency required her to leave work immediately. These behaviors, while disturbing, never seemed to fit the traditional definitions of abuse as Henderson and others knew it. But one incident did. “He pinned me against the wall by my throat,” Henderson said, after he interpreted her laughter as directed at him.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">After Henderson’s father put his foot down and demanded they stop seeing each other, she continued the relationship—until she heard the speech on dating violence at her university. She now tries to educate other teens on dating abuse as a member of the Youth Advisory Board for LoveIsRespect.org. Her advice to other girls: “You deserve to be treated with respect and you deserve to be in a relationship that empowers you.” Henderson also encourages girls to “Have your own friends and your own goals.” The advice given to friends and family worried someone they love is in an abusive relationship is to tread lightly. Henderson said her ex-boyfriend worked to drive a wedge between her and her friends and family, and their criticism of him played into the idea that they were Romeo and Juliet against the world.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">“What’s really important is if your friend is going through an abusive relationship, just listen to them. Be there for them,” Henderson said. But she also suggested visiting resources like LoveIsRespect.org or confiding in an adult you trust who is not necessarily your friend’s parent, which she believes would simply have pushed her further away.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Henderson also expressed concern that while schools stay virtually silent on the issue of teen relationship abuse, pop culture is perpetuating dating violence. The mega-hit <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Twilight</i> franchise and MTV’s <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Jersey Shore</i>.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6;"><br />Roberta Valente, a consultant who works with the Hotline, said laws are struggling to keep up with the changing digital landscape. “This is a new world for legislators,” she wrote in an email. Valente also wrote that those working in the domestic violence non-profit space are hopeful there will be more that can be done from a law enforcement standpoint eventually, particularly with efforts to seriously address cyber-stalking.</span>Katie Ray-Jones said she is hoping to educate parents and teens on some signs to look out for. One is being conscious of the amount of time teens spend on the phone as well as social media, as well as establishing boundaries and consent. For instance, spending a lot of time texting is not unusual, but doing so because teens are expected to by a significant other is a warning sign. They also want to educate teens on the fact that they have a right not to give your boyfriend or girlfriend passwords to social media accounts or to take photos that make them uncomfortable.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">In Henderon’s case, her boyfriend eventually served a short amount of time in jail for another crime but never faced any penalties for his alleged treatment of her. “It took me until I was 18 to learn there was such as thing as dating abuse.” Her hope is that by speaking out she can reach another girl earlier.</div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1875em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Visit <a href="http://www.loveisrespect.org/" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-in-out; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6c899d; cursor: pointer; display: inline; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-in-out;" target="_blank">http://www.loveisrespect.org</a> for resources on teen dating violence.</div></section>

Digital Harassment Is the New Means of Domestic Abuse (BLOG)

More girls are reporting their boyfriends stalk them via text message or threaten to humiliate them with social media. What starts in cybers...

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