The newest addition to my pages of photos from the Fox Valley is a page of photos from Neenah's Riverside Park, emphasizing the "Playing in the Rain" sculpture and fountain. Just released today.

The Hmong New Year Celebration in Appleton will be held Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006, at Appleton East High School. It is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but the best time to show up is usually after 10 a.m. This is a huge Hmong celebration with dancing, music, food, costumes, ball tossing games, and lots of fun. Maybe I'll run into you there, though I won't have much time.

I've created a new page, "The Top Ten Things You Need to Know Before You Buy a Home." It covers ten selected issues, plus a few more at the end as a bonus. The article is based in part on an interview with a top local realtor, Bradd Syring, and on my own experience. I welcome further suggestions. The ten issues I focus on are:

1. Affordability:


2. Safety


3. Taxes and services


4. Our local tradition of high quality construction by local craftsmen


5. Unusual interior trends


6. Basements(including the radon issue)


7. Garages


8. Climate and geography (including landscaping issues and our delightful LACK of termite)


9. Location: tips on picking your neighborhood


10. What to look for in a realtor - and the challenges of "for sale by owner"

I hope the page is helpful to some of you coming to our area or otherwise shopping for a home in the Fox Valley - one of the best and most affordable places to live in the United States.

On my Hmong-related Web page, Hmong Culture Clash, I discuss some of the challenges that Hmong people in Wisconsin have faced due to clashes between their traditions and our culture and legal system. Things have improved a lot over the years as the Hmong people have become informed about US laws and culture, but there are still challenges and areas of clash.

One interesting example is the area of marriage. In Laos and in Hmong culture, teenage marriage is common. Girls age fourteen to sixteen are likely to marry older Hmong boys. In fact, that used to be legal in the United States, but now in Wisconsin one must be over sixteen (marriage at sixteen is possible with parental consent). Some immigrants from Laos have followed their traditional ways of early marriage, only to learn that it is against the law. I have one friend, for example, who came to the US and soon married a Hmong teenage wife that he met in Appleton. The "marriage" was done Hmong style, with a shaman conducting the ceremony and so forth, but was not a legal marriage. While Hmong teenage marriages still occur regularly, they don't seem to be prosecuted in many cases by the local authorities, but his case was prosecuted. He ended up being on probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor offense. Not a great way to start married life! And not a great thing to have on your public records, either. Fortunately, both of them matured and grew and have achieved significant things in their lives, and have raised a great family.

Several of my Hmong friends have joined me in encouraging Hmong youth to not get married too early, and certainly to not violate US law, even if chances of prosecution seem low. A growing number of Hmong women, for example, recognize that the lost educational opportunities by marrying too early can be a great disadvantage for a Hmong girl. Some of the most vocal opponents of Hmong teenage marriage I know are Hmong women who made that mistake. Some have worked wonders in overcoming that challenge and continuing their education, and I salute them. Meanwhile, I encourage young people to think seriously about marriage and take their time. Under eighteen is just too early, in my opinion.

I think school officials throughout the Fox Valley should be sensitive to the problems of teenage marriage and listent to the grapevine to know who's planning to make that mistake. Early intervention can prevent the problem in some cases, or help people step out of an unwise and illegal relationship until they are old enough to make that decision on their own and in accordance with law. I think the schools offer the best hope for dealing with this problem. From what I've seen, I think there are opportunities in the schools to help Hmong youth better understand their options, the law, and their future opportunities.

I have removed my Web page on the Hmong hunter incident, given that it has caused so much concern and pain for the folks in Liberty.

This post previously dealt with a report of booby traps in the Liberty area with possible connections to hunting problems out there. But local residents have made some good points in identifying problems with the report. (Their comments to the original post of Oct. 23 are still attached here.) They have also made some good points in criticizing my posts about the media's handling of the Toua Lor hunting case. I have had several people feel that I was damaging Mr. van Dinter, as if I had implied he was a racist. That is terribly wrong and missed the point I was trying to make. In no way have I suggested that Mr. van Dinter was racist. I have stated that he seems like a reasonable individual and that he may have acted in good faith. But the media emphasis of a HMONG hunter versus an obviously white landowner has clearly stirred racial tensions, especially by repeatedly bringing up the Chai Vang massacre of white hunters. The racial overtones in the reporting of the story cannot be ignored - but that doesn't mean that race was a factor in what happened in the woods. I repeat, Mr. van Dinter strikes me as a decent and pleasant guy and not as some kind of racist. The whole mess with the hunting incident is unfortunate for both parties - though remember that the accused faces 13 years in jail. But if I've said anything that has caused pain for Mr. van Dinter, I am deeply sorry. The fact that almost no one reads this blog or has read the page I have now withdrawn should be of some comfort, I hope.

Again, if anyone has interpreted by complaints on media coverage or my discussion of Hmong community concerns to mean that I think racism was involved in Mr. van Dinter's actions, I am deeply sorry. That is not what I mean.

My post with the final letter-to-the-editor contains some updated statements, including this one, based on clarifications I have received from some people in Liberty:

Now let me point out that if someone had pointed a gun at me under these circumstances, I, too, would have called the police. Calling the police to report such a thing was surely a reasonable and responsible action. My concern is not with the man who reported Toua, but how the media reported the story.

While I've been trying to share the viewpoints of some in the Hmong community who feel that Toua has been treated unfairly by the press, and who feel that Hmong hunters have been treated unfairly in some other cases, the input from Town of Liberty folks helps me realize that the way I've discussed the story may be unkind toward them or toward Mr. van Dinter, which is not my intent. I'm sorry for that, and also sorry for not being accurate in my reference to the town official comments that were printed in some papers. I appreciate his input to correct my misunderstanding and misinterpretation.