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Christmas in New York 2
Our 12th Annual!
Please call (877) 284-4222 or (201) 857-3523 for more information or to book your trip today!
Christmas in New York December 9 – 12, 2021
"Thank you for a wonderful tour. We did not know what to expect. We have traveled a little, but never on a planned tour. The highlights were your incredible organization, attention to detail and personal attention to each and every one of us. The hotel's spaciousness, class and location could not have been better.
The itinerary was nothing short of wonderful in every aspect and the surprises were special and very much appreciated. In all, we were so impressed and will be quick to recommend to our friends. We hope to travel with you again and look forward to future trips with you."
— Geri and Don K. (Surrey, British Columbia) – "Christmas in New York" Guests
Broadway Across America is excited to introduce its 12th Anniversary celebration of its "Christmas in New York" excursion – an all-time favorite among our subscribers. Each year we pair two popular Broadway shows with two quintessential New York City Christmas experiences – The Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree – to create an unforgettable New York City getaway.
There is nothing quite like New York City during the Christmas season. Peruse the impeccably decorated shops on 5th Avenue. If we are fortunate, some gently falling snow, a cup of hot chocolate… perhaps a cozy café table watching the ice skaters in Bryant Park or at Rockefeller Center.
This package has been thoughtfully put together to immerse you in the magic of the Christmas season in New York City – not to mention access to some great Broadway shows while you are here!
Your first evening in New York features an elegant welcome dinner with your fellow travelers, featuring sumptuous appetizers, entrees, flowing cocktails and dessert.
From there it is on to the exhilaration and wonder of The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the world-famous Radio City Rockettes! The Spectacular is dazzlingly grand and genuinely moving, an enduring tradition which has awed and inspired for more than 85 years.
Complimenting an intimate and exquisite Q & A lunch at Sardi's, your itinerary options feature a choice between Mrs. Doubtfire, Company starring Tony ® Award winners Patti LuPone and Katrina Lenk and Diana, which bring the legend of the princess to thrilling new life on Broadway. There's no letdown on Thursday when you experience Six, the riveting new London import and an early Best New Musical Tony front-runner, and its tantalizing take on the wives of Henry VIII.
Note: you may also inquire about substituting one of the above show choices for Six.
Besides the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and your two Broadway shows, we have so much more in store for you!
If it's staged as it traditionally has been, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting will have taken place the week before. You'll have the opportunity to view the tree in all its glory on a less crowded evening than the night of the lighting!
Your Christmas in New York experience is capped with an insiders' tour of Radio Music Hall.
Projected as groups of 20 to 24 guests, your package features elegant full-service accommodations within a block of Times Square, private town car service, round trip airfare, lunch at famed Broadway hotspot Sardi's and some behind-the-scenes exclusives while every detail of your trip is attended to by our dedicated staff.
For the holiday season there's truly no better place to be than New York City with ideal timing for shopping and seeing the sights while the Big Apple is decked out in its holiday finest.
Come join Broadway Across America for this unforgettable experience!
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Make time for joy this season at the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes presented by Chase. Get your tickets today and choose a date that fits into your holiday schedule. There is no better place than Radio City Music Hall to share joy, laughter, and lasting memories as you take in the legendary precision and grace of the Rockettes. The Christmas Spectacular is sure to become an unforgettable part of your Christmas tradition.
Diana the Musical tells the story of one of the most beloved women of modern times. Engaged to a prince she barely knows,19-year-old Diana Spencer is thrust onto the world stage and, overnight, becomes the most famous woman in the world. As she struggles to navigate her way within the rigid structure of the royal family, Princess Diana finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage, eventually finding her voice by devoting herself to those in need. Forced to endure a media spotlight brighter than the world has ever known, Princess Diana defies all expectations to emerge as her own woman and create a legacy that will endure forever.
Written by Tony winners Joe DiPietro and David Bryan, with direction by Tony winner Christopher Ashley, choreography by Olivier Award winner Kelly Devine and musical supervision and arrangements by Olivier Award winner Ian Eisendrath, Diana the Musical celebrates the life of Princess Diana and the light of her legacy that continues to shine across the world.
Helloooooooo! Mrs. Doubtfire is a musical now, poppets, and she's here to make everything better! Based upon the beloved 1993 Twentieth Century Fox Motion Picture, Mrs. Doubtfire features a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell, music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, (the Tony Award®-nominated team behind Something Rotten!), direction by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks (Hello, Dolly!), choreography by Lorin Latarro (Waitress), and music supervision by Ethan Popp (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical).
Daniel Hillard, a struggling, out-of-work actor, will do anything for his kids. After losing custody in a messy divorce, he disguises himself as Scottish nanny Euphegenia Doubtfire in a desperate attempt to stay in their lives. As his new persona begins to take on a life of her own, Mrs. Doubtfire teaches Daniel more than he bargained for about how to be a father. A hysterical and heartfelt story about holding onto your loved ones against all odds, Mrs. Doubtfire is the next big musical comedy for families — of all kinds.
The quintessential musical comedy about the search for love and cocktails in the Big Apple is turned on its head in Marianne Elliott's revelatory staging, in which musical theater's most iconic bachelor becomes a bachelorette. At Bobbie's 35th birthday party, all her friends are wondering why isn't she married? Why can't she find the right man? And, why can't she settle down and have a family? This whip smart musical, given a game-changing makeover for a modern-day Manhattan, features some of Sondheim's best loved songs, including "Company," "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," "The Ladies Who Lunch," "Side by Side," and the iconic "Being Alive."
Roundtrip coach class airfare to New York from most major cities within the continental U.S. Please inquire about any supplements from Canadian cities and certain U.S. cities and flights.
Roundtrip airport – hotel transfers via private town car service
Three (3) nights full-service accommodations in the heart of New York City amidst the distinctive 4-diamond comforts of the M Social New York Times Square – rm/tx/dbl occ.
Thursday, December 9: Invitations to an elegant welcome dinner with fellow guests featuring fine food and flowing cocktails. Our recent welcome dinners for this program have been held at the Capital Grille where we hope to return for 2021.
Thursday, December 9: Two (2) prime orchestra tickets to the timeless classic, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.
Friday, December 10: Invitations to an exquisite group lunch including fine food and beverages at Sardi's, the famed fixture known for its caricatures of Broadway stars. At lunch we will be treated to a Q & A session with some engaging Broadway performers, including a Radio City Rockette. Enjoy behind-the-scenes stories, photo ops and perhaps even a song or two!
Friday, December 10: Orchestra/front mezzanine seating to your choice from among the following Broadway shows:
Diana at the Longacre Theatre
Mrs. Doubtfire at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre
Company at Bernard Jacobs Theatre
Saturday, December 11: Orchestra/front mezzanine seating to Six at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
Radio City Music Hall tour – explore the theater, lounges and corridors of the most iconic theater in New York. Go behind-the-scenes and get an insider's view of New York's legendary entertainment venue where the biggest names in show business perform.
Exclusive opportunity for a post-show chat back with cast members of one of your shows #
On-site program management by professional tour and travel staff.
Comprehensive guest itineraries
* An appropriate, comparable substitution may be made for certain program elements if group minimums are not met.
# Post-show opportunities subject to availability of particular actors on a particular performance day and subject to the industry's post-show experience guidelines which are currently being reviewed. More details to follow as the weekend draws closer.
* Performances that guests see may be at different times than those described herein.
Call (877) 284-4222 or (201) 857-3523 for more information or to confirm your places!
BAA Price for TWO: $5208
Please inquire about custom pricing from nearby cities such as Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore
# An appropriate, comparable substitution may be made for certain program elements if group minimums are not met
* Post-show opportunities subject to availability of particular actors on a particular performance day and subject to the industry's post-show experience guidelines which are currently being reviewed. More details to follow as the weekend draws closer.


This is a red fox profile sketch that I made. I think his eyes are a bit too big, but, he is a sketch after all. The materials used are Faber-Castell PITT artist pens. In this case I only used a lighter grey and a really dark grey (almost black). Before I use the pens I do a light sketch with graphite pencil. Perhaps I'll make sure to scan the process I take in future post.
I love it! It's so awesome. And the fact that you have the same background as your blog really makes it POP!


The dynamics of hot electrons are central to understanding the properties of many electronic devices. But their ultra-short lifetime, typically 100 fs or less, and hence their corresponding transport length-scale of a few nanometers severely constrains real space investigations. Here we report variable temperature and voltage measurements of the nonlocal manipulation of adsorbed molecules on the Si(111)-7x7 surface in the scanning tunnelling microscope. The range of the nonlocal effect increases with temperature and, at constant temperature, is invariant over a wide range of electron energies. The measurements probe, in real space, the underlying hot electron dynamics on the 10 nm scale and are well described by a two-dimensional diffusive model with a single decay channel, consistent with 2PPE measurements of the real time dynamics.
Lock, D., Rusimova, K., Pan, T., Palmer, R., Sloan, P., 2015. Atomically resolved real-space imaging of hot electron dynamics. University of Bath Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.15125/BATH-00126.
Room temperature data for local manipulation of toluene molecules.
Room temperature data for nonlocal manipulation of benzene molecules.
Room temperature data for local manipulation of chlorobenzene molecules.
Variable temperature data for nonlocal manipulation of chlorobenzene molecules.
Room temperature data for nonlocal manipulation of toluene molecules.
All data files available under a CC-BY 4.0 licence.
Please see main paper methods section. For radial distributions we present the raw N/N0 and thermally corrected data as well, again see methods section for details.
Lock, D., Rusimova, K. R., Pan, T. L., Palmer, R. E. and Sloan, P. A., 2015. Atomically resolved real-space imaging of hot electron dynamics. Nature Communications, 6(1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9365.


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The LML Star (also known as Star De Luxe in Europe or  Stella in United States) is a model motor scooter manufactured by Lohia Machinery Limited in Kanpur, India between 1999 and 2017 and based on the italian Piaggio Vespa PX.

History
In 1986, LML began a joint venture with scooter manufacturer Piaggio, through which the Italian company sold its Vespa PX model to the Indian market. This model lacks an automatic lubrication system thus two-stroke oil must be pre-mixed with petrol. An upgraded version of this scooter was called the LML Select 2. Production of the LML NV and LML Select 2 ended in 2004. Up until 2004, Bajaj Chetak was its chief competitor in its segment (150 cc, 2 stroke scooter) in the Indian market. The company revised production in 2007 and subsequently sold two-stroke and four-stroke models. There was another model produced by LML, called Vespa A1; unlike other vespas it features split seating. The driver's seat had a spring beneath it and another separate seat for pillion.

The Stella and Vespa P-series scooters share much of their design and engineering and many of their parts are interchangeable. Genuine Scooters was formed to import the scooter to the United States market. Production was interrupted by a labor strike from 2005 to mid-2006 but resumed once the dispute was settled.

Genuine Scooter stopped importing in June 2017 after LML hit financial trouble.

Characteristics

The Stella features a  two-stroke engine. Like "vintage" European scooters, it operates with a four-speed "twist-grip" manual transmission.  Other traditional features include a steel frame, spare tire, and styling.

The 2007 and 2008 models include better quality paint, grips, and a redesigned headlight.

The two-stroke version of the scooter is authorized through Genuine Scooters dealers throughout most of the United States, but not in California due to state regulations. In 2011, Genuine developed a four-stroke version of the Stella which meets California emission standards.

References

Indian motor scooters
Motorcycles introduced in 1986
Two-stroke motorcycles

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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home : news : lakelands & beyond July 15, 2019
Speeding Takes You Nowhere Fast
"Speeding Takes You Nowhere Fast": Speed Enforcement Is Focus For Southeastern States July 14-20
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces that it will join five Southeastern states in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Region 4 for Operation Southern Shield – an increased enforcement effort to reduce speed-related deaths and collisions on the roadways. The campaign will run from July 14th through July 20th.
The states participating include South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee. Operation Southern Shield also has been added as a component to SCDPS' annual Target Zero (Law Enforcement) Challenge, with local law enforcement agencies across the state participating.
In 2018, there were 44,810 speed-related collisions on South Carolina roadways, and more than 36 percent of all fatal roadway collisions in South Carolina were speed-related.
So far this year, 492 people have died on South Carolina roads, compared to 529 last year.
Operation Southern Shield was developed by NHTSA Region 4 in 2017 and focuses on the heavy summer travel period when the rate of fatal and injury crashes within the Southeastern United States is higher than any other time of the year.
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Join Revival at St. Paul AME Church
Join Revival at St. Paul AME Church! St. Paul AME Church located in Cokesbury, SC invites you to join revival beginning on July 14th to the 17th.
SC National Guard Foundation Scholarships
The South Carolina National Guard Foundation (SCNGF) is pleased to announce that $76,000 in scholarships was awarded to 75 deserving recipients this past June. Recipients were honored at a scholarship luncheon held last month in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Foundation is honored to fund $76,000 in scholarships to these very deserving students. There was a record number of applicants this year and funding would not have been possible without the generous support from Foundation donors.
Lee and Eleanor Logan Contribute to the Abbeville Promise
Lee and Eleanor Logan present a check for $5,000 to Abbeville Promise Co-Chair Jeff Wilson of WCTEL.
Stoll Industries Expanding Abbeville County Operations
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Stoll Industries, a producer of high-quality, custom metal fireplace doors, screens, metal wall panels, countertops and more, today announced plans to expand its operations in Abbeville County. The $1.1 million investment is creating 30 jobs over the next five years. "At Stoll Industries, we believe our mission to our community and country is to be intentional in our actions, building an environment of honesty and faith that creates a platform for God in the workplace" says Darris Stoll, Operations Manager of Stoll Industries.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and operated by the third generation of the Stoll family, Stoll Industries incorporates new, innovative technology with creative design ideas to manufacture custom metal products for any room. The company is planning a 17,000-square-foot expansion to its facility located at 153 Highway 201 in Abbeville County to create space for additional production areas for new products.
Kid's Day at Musgrove Mill State Historic Site, July 20, 2019
On July 20, 2019 Musgrove Mill State Historic Site will be offering a Kid's Day program from 9:00am-12:00pm for children ages 8-15. Come spend the day with a SC State Park Ranger. The kids will be taken on a one hour Ranger guided hike of the 1.1 mile British Encampment Trail where they will learn about trail and wilderness safety.
Pettigrew Hardware & Supply contributes to The Abbeville Promise
Steve Pettigrew, owner of Pettigrew Hardware & Supply, presents a check for $2,500 to Abbeville Promise Gift Coordinator Lee Logan. The Abbeville Promise scholarship program will provide any Abbeville resident who earns a high school diploma the opportunity to earn an associate degree at Piedmont Technical College free of tuition and fees.
SC Festival of Stars off to a great start
Hundreds of festival lovers took over the Ninety Six Park Friday as the SC Festival of Stars kicked off their Independence Day Celebration. If the first day was an indicator of fun, then today is going to be a blast.
Ranger Guided Battlefield Hike at Musgrove Mill State Historic Site, July 6, 2019
On Saturday July 6, 2019 Musgrove Mill State Historic Site will be offering a guided hike of the battlefield trail. The Battle of Musgrove's Mill, which occurred on August 19th, 1780, was a vital turning point in the Patriot's fight for independence on the South Carolina Backcountry. This Ranger-led hike will cover the 1.5-mile battlefield trail, during which you will learn about why the battle was fought at Musgrove Mill, who participated, and what occurred during the battle.
Piper takes 1st Place during 3rd Annual Dog Show at Abbeville Nursing Home
Abbeville Nursing Home held its 3rd Annual Dog Show, Friday, June 21, 2019. Our judges were: Residents: Leona Stevenson, Barbara Dove, Nancy Barnette, and Patsy Wells and Staff Member: Bridget White: Social Service Director
Contestants were: Georgia Bell, a Chihuahua, owned by Helen Speers (ANH Staff Member), Layla, a Schnauzer, owned by Dianne Ledoux (ANH Nurse), Patch, an American Straffordshire Bull Terrier, owned by Susan Greenfield, Puck, a Chinese Crestepoo, Owned by Renee Bledsoe (ANH Activity Director), Piper, a Long Hair Chihuahua, owned by Halee Webb: 1st Place Winner, Jose, a Lab, owned by John Gray: 2nd Place Winner, Tootsie, a Yorkie, owned by Susie Coleman (ANH Director of Nursing): 3rd Place Winner and Bo, a Miniature Dachshund, owned by Celeste Grindstaff
Ninety Six Town Elections to be held Nov 5
Greenwood County Voter and Elections issues information on the upcoming elections for the town of Ninety Six. Come November 5, 2019 the election will include the town Mayor, three Councilmembers and a CPW Commissioner.
Greenwood man facing triple murder charges from Abbeville shooting
A Greenwood man has been arrested in connection to a shooting in Abbeville County that claimed the life of three with one still in the hospital.
Officers responded Sunday morning around 3 a.m. to Hickory Heights Apartments on Cambridge Street in Abbeville. They found two victims dead and a third died after being transported to the local hospital. A fourth person remains in the hospital and their condition is unknown currently.
Tom's Place contributes to The Abbeville Promise
Tom's Place presents a check for $100 to Abbeville Promise Campaign Coordinator Lee Logan. The Abbeville Promise scholarship program will provide any Abbeville resident who earns a high school diploma the opportunity to earn an associate degree at Piedmont Technical College free of tuition and fees. The goal for the campaign to endow the Abbeville Promise scholarship program is $1.2 million.
For more information about the Abbeville Promise or to donate contact the Freshwater Coast Foundation at 864-446-2773 or abbevillepromise@wctel.net.
Mosquitoes? Call Brown's Mosquito & Pest Control
It's that time of the year for those pesky mosquitoes! Don't let them ruin your backyard fun and relaxing evenings, Call Brown's Mosquito & Pest Control today!
With over ten years experience, owner Chris Brown and staff can provide mosquito control without any contracts to sign. You can get a One-Time treatment or agree on a Three Week or Monthly service. Brown says he wants customers to be comfortable doing business with them.
Brown's Mosquito & Pest Control also provides treatments for fire ants, outdoor flea & ticks and any general pests like roaches, spiders, wasps and more.
Brown's Mosquito & Pest Control serves Greenwood and surrounding counties. Contact Chris Brown at (864) 992-8379.
SAGE Automotive Interiors contributes to The Abbeville Promise
Sage Automotive Interiors presents a check for $25,000 to Abbeville Promise Gift Campaign Coordinator Lee Logan. The Abbeville Promise scholarship program will provide any Abbeville resident who earns a high school diploma the opportunity to earn an associate degree at Piedmont Technical College free of tuition and fees.
The goal for the campaign to endow the Abbeville Promise scholarship program is $1.2 million. For more information about the Abbeville Promise or to donate contact the Freshwater Coast Foundation at 864-446-2773 or abbevillepromise@wctel.net.
Sewer Overflow incident in Hodges
The Town of Ware Shoals has experienced a Sanitary Sewer Overflow on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at the Mulberry Creek Pump Station, 5901 Highway 25 N., Hodges SC.
The spill / overflow was released from a pump station at the above address with a volume of sewage estimated at 15,000 gallons.
WCTEL Hosts Freshwater Coast Community Foundation Business Plan Competition
WCTEL hosted the Freshwater Coast Community Foundation(FCCF) business plan competition at their Abbeville Office. This event was planned, coordinated, and executed by Wilder Ferreira, Director of the Freshwater Coast Center for Rural Development. Competitors were comprised of 8 students from the local high schools who won their school business plan competitions.
38th Annual Stock Car Race benefit for Shriner's Hospitals
The Laurens County Shrine Club is conducting its 38th Annual Stock Car Race Tuesday Night, June 11, 2019 at the Laurens County Speedway located at 435 Racetrack Road in Laurens, SC. The pit gates open at 4:00 p.m. and the grandstands will open at 6:00 p.m. Pit admission is $35 for ages 12 and up and grandstand admission is $20 for ages 12 and up. Children 11 and under are admitted free. This is an annual benefit race sponsored by the Laurens County Shrine Club to benefit Shriner's Hospitals.
Uldrick Builders contribute to The Abbeville Promise
Uldrick Builders Project Managers Daniel London, Steve Lyle, Jacob Cochran, Riley Lane, Mark Grey, and Robert Parnell along with Uldrick Builders' Electrical Project Manager Robin Brock present a check for $10,000 to Abbeville Promise co-chair Andy Timmerman of Abbeville First Bank.
The Abbeville Promise scholarship program will provide any Abbeville resident who earns a high school diploma the opportunity to earn an associate degree at Piedmont Technical College free of tuition and fees. The goal for the campaign to endow the Abbeville Promise scholarship program is $1.2 million. For more information about the Abbeville Promise or to donate contact the Freshwater Coast Foundation at 864-446-2773 or abbevillepromise@wctel.net.
WCTEL Awards $11,000 in College Scholarships Awards given by WCTEL and the Foundation for Rural Service.
West Carolina Tel (WCTEL) recently awarded the recipients of the WCTEL & Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) 2019 college scholarships, totaling $11,000 in funds to help local youth pursue further learning. All scholarship applications are mailed to FRS and independently judged in Washington, DC, by a panel of judges selected by FRS.
Sewer overflow at Turkey Creek Pump Station in Hodges
The Town of Ware Shoals has experienced a Sanitary Sewer Overflow on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, at the Turkey Creek Pump Station located at 7101 Highway 25 North in Hodges, SC.
Officials say that the amount of spill/overflow was estimated around 30,000 gallons.
The run-off from this spill was contained and vacuumed up with equipment for disposal. Some sewage may have found its way into Turkey Creek located approximately 200 feet from the pump station flowing in an eastwardly direction.
The area of the Sanitary Sewer Overflow was cleaned and disinfected to minimize any public health threat from this incident. Public Health agencies have been notified.
Hite & Stone Attorneys at Law contribute to The Abbeville Promise
Hite & Stone Attorneys at Law Partners Anne Marie Hempy, Tombo Hite, and Heather Stone present a check for $5,000 to Abbeville Promise co-chair Andy Timmerman of Abbeville First Bank. The Abbeville Promise scholarship program will provide any Abbeville resident who earns a high school diploma the opportunity to earn an associate degree at Piedmont Technical College free of tuition and fees.
The goal for the campaign to endow the Abbeville Promise scholarship program is $1.2 million.
Kid's Day at Musgrove Mill State Historic Site, June 15, 2019
On June 15, 2019 Musgrove Mill State Historic Site will be offering a Kid's Day program from 9:00am-12:00pm for children ages 8-15. Come spend the day with a SC Revolutionary War militia man. The kids will be taken on a one hour guided hike of the 1.1 mile British Encampment Trail led by a Ranger dressed as a Revolutionary War militia man where they will learn about the history of the Battle of Musgrove Mill. They will then learn how to make beeswax candles, which they will be able to take home with them. The kids will end the program with a militia muster armed with wooden muskets and learn how to be Revolutionary War militia soldiers followed by the Ranger giving a musket loading and firing demonstration.
WSHS students to experience college life through partnership with Lander
Junior and senior students at Ware Shoals High School of Greenwood School District 51 will experience life as a college student thanks to a Dual Enrollment partnership between the district and Lander University.
Abbeville Nursing Home workers challenge helps those in need
During Abbeville Nursing Home's National Skilled Nursing Home Week, the Wings One and Two challenged one another in a Can Good Drive. Their theme was "Live Soulfully ".
Renee Bledsoe, Activity Director, came up with a way to get all of the staff and families involved by having a can good drive. The challenge was that each Wing would collect as many can good items from Mother's Day until that Friday and the winning Wing would have bragging rights. Wing 2 staff and family were the winners but together with the staff members and family members of both Wings, they collected 408 can good items.
These items were donated to UCMAC- United Christian Ministries of Abbeville County. Bridget White, the Social Services Director and her daughter, Gabriella White, who are also Miss Celebrations USA Queens, were given the task of delivering the can good items to the food bank.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Buy the Market Griffon here.
Best for: skiers that want a great ski for harder snow and a very forgiving ski for un groomed snow. You will ski longer, have more fun, and get less tired on the Pinnacle 88. Designed for the way new generation skiers ski.


Home → Businesses → The Value of Social Media Sponsorships?
Blog posts and videos have the highest value for marketers Paying for mentions in social media, or social media sponsorships, has become a more popular marketing tactic. By late 2009, it had attracted the attention of the US Federal Trade Commission, which released regulations requiring bloggers and certain other online publishers to disclose when they receive cash, free products or other compensation for a product or brand mention. But marketers are still interested in this form of outreach. In Q2 2011, social media advertising company IZEA surveyed marketers and publishers about their preferences for such practices and the value they place on certain sponsorships. The survey found that 48.8% of marketers have used a sponsored blog post, while 32.5% said they would use it, and 39.4% have sponsored a tweet, while 35.6% said they would use that social media sponsorship. Additionally, only 23.2% have sponsored an online video, but 50.2% said they would use such a social media sponsorship. These marketers are carefully monitoring these mentions and measuring how well they influence sales and business results by looking at quality and sentiment of content, cost-per-click, shares, cost per acquisition and more. Quality of a post was the most important measure of success, with 80% of respondents saying it was very important or important. Only 5.9% said it was not important.
Clickthrough rates were also important or very important for 74.9% of respondents. Only 4.3% noted clickthrough rates as not important. After measuring these activities, marketers put a monetary value on the different types of social media sponsorships. Blog posts and videos were the mentions with the most value, calculated to be $114.71 and $112.46, respectively, while Twitter edged out Facebook. Tweets were valued at $63.64, compared to $55.16 for a Facebook update. Social media sponsorship can be a controversial practice, particularly if bloggers and other publishers do not disclose when they some type of compensation for a product or brand mention. But as marketers continue to measure success and see the value in these mentions, doing social media sponsorships the correct way will become a more accepted practice.
Social media is important for all types of businesses.. Thank you for sharing!!


Getting organic – why get organic spices and herbs?
It is advised for each and every individual to invest at the very least 20 minutes in the Sun to generate and excellent dosage of Vitamin D3. If you suffer from high blood pressure or hypotension, you might find Vitamin D3 beneficial because it assists with the policy of high blood pressure. Vitamin D3 assists the elderly individuals live longer and healthier lives. Vitamin D3 has actually additionally verified itself to be a great treatment option for rickets. There are essentially over 100 health benefits of Vitamin D3. By taking MegaFood Vitamin D3 1000 IU, you advertise the healthy and balanced performance of your immune system, you will certainly have stronger bones. The organic foods' extracts which were contributed to this valuable supplement provide collaborating co-factors that boost use. Not only is Vitamin D3 included in MegaFood Vitamin D3 1000 IU but likewise vital aminoacids and sterols which restore the body and militarize use. This outstanding supplement is a non-GMO, dairy-free, and also herbicide-free item. ca, a trustworthy Canadian internet site that distributes excellent whole-food supplements around the world. While searching vitasave.
It's that time of year again: chilly and flu season! There are several valuable methods you can stay clear of catching unwanted pests like obtaining your annual influenza shot, washing your hands often, and also avoiding call with others that are ill. A healthy and balanced body immune system will certainly in some cases ruin undesirable burglars even before you experience signs and symptoms. But what supplements do you require to aid improve your body immune system versus the acute rhinitis and also influenza? The complying with vitamins and also dietary supplements are believed to assist the body immune system fight unwanted germs at faster price making and also reduce their going along with symptoms. People taking vitamins A, C, as well as E showed to have healthier T cells, which are antigen presenting body immune system cells. ZincZinc is a mineral that is additionally required to keep the immune system healthy as well as running efficiently. ProbioticsProbiotics are good microorganisms that keep your digestive system tract controlled and reveal some benefits when it comes to your body immune system. The most preferred resource of probiotics is yogurt. It is necessary to remember taking these nutritional supplements as well as vitamins is not insurance policy against the cold and flu. When you provide your body with these supplements along with proper amounts of sleep, water consumption, as well as sanitation, you are making sure that your immune system is working at its max possibility.
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Home Business South Africa: New Energy Regime Will Deepen Inequality
BusinessEnergy
South Africa: New Energy Regime Will Deepen Inequality
written by November 18, 2020
If the state and workers collaborate, however, new rules for electricity generation could benefit all as small-scale renewable energy plants add power to the grid – and to the people.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy recently announced legislative changes that allow municipalities to develop small-scale capacity to generate electricity. This will weaken Eskom's monopoly over electricity sales, encourage renewable energy generation and allegedly open a path for municipalities to chart a just recovery for the economy.
To understand whether these developments will transform the economy or simply deepen existing faultlines, it is important to map the dynamics that prompted this shift.
The government's October budget is intent on an "infrastructure-led" economic recovery plan, with President Cyril Ramaphosa set to solicit private investment to restimulate the economy. Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni also confirmed the move to unbundle Eskom into separate generation, transmission and distribution companies.
Procurement for large-scale energy infrastructure is determined by the government's Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). This includes new Eskom projects and private independent power producers (IPPs), which largely consist of renewable energy resources. IPPs make use of power-purchasing agreements, typically covering a 20 to 25-year period, that define the tariff of electricity sales and quality of supply conditions, among other factors.
The City of Cape Town, run by opposition party the Democratic Alliance, has historically played a prominent role in lobbying for municipal generation as part of a broader effort to increase the participation of private enterprises in the energy sector. The City has gone as far as developing its own mini-integrated resource plan, dividing its anticipated generation capacity into smaller projects for which private entities can bid.
This means participating municipalities will have to secure substantial investment finance, as renewable energy systems tend to require a large initial capital outlay. This will privilege larger metros such as Cape Town and Johannesburg, which have a higher likelihood of raising money for new projects.
In addition, as is the case with IPPs at the national level, municipalities will need to assume a significant portion of the contractual risks of new projects to provide greater security for investors. This could end up effectively excluding the participation of municipalities that are already struggling.
Municipal electricity generation in South Africa
Municipal generation is not new in South Africa. Early utility-scale electricity generation has its roots in private power provision to increase mechanisation in the lucrative mines of the Witwaterstrand in the early 20th century.
As wealthy, largely white residents and commercial enterprises began to make use of an expanding array of consumer electronics, municipal coal-powered plants were built to meet the rising suburban demand, alongside increasing demand in the mines during the early phases of industrialisation.
Growth in the mining sector attracted local and international capital for early power plants, with land and coal mine owners competing to secure concessions to build transmission lines and acquire favourable purchase agreements.
Eskom, initially Escom, was developed as a formidable state-owned enterprise through the expropriation of private plants and, following waves of strikes at municipal plants, limiting municipal generation. This formed a state monopoly for electricity generation, transmission and distribution.
As houses, mines and factories began using more electricity, a national grid was formed, connecting previously separate power networks across South and Southern Africa. Large-scale plants were built in strategic areas, allowing for the dispatch of energy to other parts of the country. Eskom began to benefit from economies of scale.
A turn towards neoliberal economic policies, widespread corruption and mismanagement, and a steady decline in the manufacturing and mining sectors, has prompted the move to unbundle Eskom's operations. The state's monopoly in the energy sector is now unravelling.
The myth of municipalities going off grid
The complexity of procurement procedures will prove a hurdle for municipalities, and it remains unclear what role the National Treasury will play in mitigating risk for the projects.
Officials promoting municipal generation through new private, potentially renewable energy plants say it will reduce dependency on Eskom, assuring residents and commercial enterprises of a consistent supply during load shedding.
Despite remarks from the media that these developments imply municipalities will go "off grid", the reality is that these plants feed into the existing national grid, which offers stability, storage and additional capacity.
This is true for countries such as Germany and Denmark, with high levels of renewable energy in their national grid. They benefit from the stability offered by their physical grid connections to neighboring state's power systems. Services such as NordPool and the European Power Exchange, connecting 16 and 8 countries respectively, derive energy from an array of sources across Europe with complementary characteristics.
Far from being independent of public grids, private generation is reliant on public infrastructure to dispatch power, and to maintain and sustain the networks from which IPPs solicit profits. It is, in essence, a public-private partnership.
Legislative clarity is slowly emerging on the rules for decentralised private electricity generation, but it is clear that as private generators sell more reliable supply solutions to businesses and industries of various scales, Eskom stands to lose massive amounts of money. This despite its network infrastructure itself being central to the economic viability of the small-scale private energy solutions.
A turn towards worker-run industries
A report by the Public Affairs Research Institute discusses the effect of the development of Eskom's Medupi power station on the expansion and development of the Lephalale local municipality.
The boom in economic activity in the area, stemming from investment by Eskom and coal giant Exxaro, led to an increase in the municipality's population and subsequently in electricity demand. The municipality, like most across the country, carries the weight of racial segregation characterised by unequal access to basic infrastructure, compounded by rapid urban growth. The municipal funding system is reliant on the collection of rates and water and electricity tariffs, which disadvantages under-resourced municipalities such as Lephalale. These municipalities battle to raise the capital to build new infrastructure, particularly in shack settlements. Self-organised connections are routinely used by residents, and municipalities cannot meet their financial obligations to Eskom. Without the implementation of significant reforms, these trends in inequality will continue to grow between differently resourced municipalities, and between the impoverished and the wealthy.
In February, the Congress of South African Trade Unions put forward a proposal to the National Economic Development and Labour Council for an Eskom bailout using workers' pensions invested in the Public Investment Corporation, the Investment Development Corporation and the Development Bank of South Africa.
The call accompanied requirements for a comprehensive forensic audit of Eskom, along with decisive action against corruption. National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) deputy secretary Karl Cloete criticised the proposal as focused on covering the outstanding debt and "saving Eskom" without giving clarity on how to finance the energy transition.
Much needs to be debated by workers on the proposal to use pension funds to bail out Eskom. But what is not being foregrounded is how refinancing Eskom with workers' pensions could be used to increase worker control of the state-owned enterprise through governance reform, shifting from its present neoliberal corporate structure.
Coordination between state instruments and worker committees in failing manufacturing companies facing imminent closure could explore, experiment and materially support the seizure of these companies to re-establish manufacturing under state ownership or worker self-management. The devastating impact of the current economic crisis is an opportunity to take a chance on ourselves in favour of solutions that prioritise bailout funds for large corporations under the gospel of trickle-down economics.
Once these companies are seized, they could repurpose a portion of the industries' productive capacity to develop products and materials for renewable energy systems, among other products providing basic services, that could be used locally and exported when in surplus. Smaller-scale municipal plants to generate renewable energy, financed by union finance instruments and pension funds, could then be built, in part, to benefit a new state or worker-controlled manufacturing plant, linking the benefits of economic small-scale generation technologies to stimulate the planned development of labour-intensive industries. If public land is used, parasitic rental agreements with wealthy landowners can be avoided for these new infrastructure developments.
To support this shift, it will be crucial to leverage technical skills in universities and technical and vocational education and training colleges to develop infrastructure solutions compatible with community ownership and worker self-management. These centres of learning should develop programmes that introduce cooperative development planning, along with courses to upskill technical workers interested in transforming existing enterprises.
Opportunities for municipal generation linked to cooperatives in waste recycling and energy and food production have been outlined by the Alternative Information and Development Centre and deepened by coalitions such as the Co-operative and Policy Alternative Center and the Climate Justice Charter.
In the spirit of Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee founder Trevor Ngwane's remarks, "Electricity and water are basic necessities which every human being should have access to. Electricity is produced by the workers – they pay twice as they pay with labour and they pay with cash… "
The 2012 resolution of Numsa's ninth congress asserted the need for social ownership as a potentially important strategy for the working class to stop private interests coopting renewable energy technology in the name of environmentalism and market efficiency.
Municipal generation should not be used by private developers to cash in on low-risk investments backed by the state. Rather, it could present a way to socialise the ownership of the sector at a small scale as part of the broader strategy to meet the basic needs of the majority of South Africans.
This article forms part of work towards the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research's energy project.
AfricabusinessBusiness and Financecurrent eventsdeepeneconomyEnergyGovernanceInequalitynewspoliticsRegimeSouthSouth AfricaSouthern AfricasportsSustainable Developmenttradetravel
ASUU strike: 'Shame on you' – Singer, Simi blasts Nigerian leaders
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text:
Summerbee predicts City win – just!
Nicky Summerbee reckons it will be City 2 Liverpool 1 when the nation's top two go head to head at the Etihad on Sunday. The showdown is being widely predicted as the game that will decide the Premier League title.
Summerbee, the son of the Blues' legendary winger Mike, told the Betfred TV Football Show that he believes City having home advantage and more midfield creativity will be the telling factors.
But he believes the visitors may well take advantage of City's lack of an established centre forward, with Liverpool's tactics to allow Pep Guardiola's team to have much of the possession – but then hit them on the counter attack.
Liverpool are just one point behind City but with a better goal difference. The match has added spice as Liverpool could land the quad, while City chase a treble …. and don't forget they play each other next Saturday at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final.
Summerbee forecast a gloomy weekend too for Liverpool's Merseyside rivals Everton. He told the show he thinks Manchester United will win at Goodison – and Burnley will pick up all three points at Norwich, thus putting Frank Lampard's Toffees in the bottom three.
City v Liverpool odds
Alan Firkins2022-12-24T18:53:30+00:00Friday, 8 April 2022, 22:58|Betfred Blog, Betfred TV, Features, Football, Sport|
About the Author: Alan Firkins
Sports fan. Wordsmith (guess you'll be the judge of that). Former decent-level footballer, cricketer. Abysmal golfer. Truly abysmal.


text:
A Liopleurodon a hüllők (Reptilia) osztályának plezioszauruszok (Plesiosauria) rendjébe, ezen belül a plioszaurusz-félék (Pliosauridae) családjába tartozó fosszilis nem.

Rendszerezése
A nembe az alábbi 2 faj tartozik:

Liopleurodon ferox Sauvage, 1873 – típusfaj
Liopleurodon pachydeirus Seeley, 1869

Tudnivalók
A Liopleurodon egy eléggé közismert és jól megmaradt fosszília. Az állat egyfajta pliosaurus, más néven rövidnyakú plesiosaurus volt. A Liopleurodon 160-155 millió évvel élt ezelőtt, a késő jura korban.

A Pliosauroidea a plezioszauruszok egyik alrendje. A plezioszauruszok azok a hüllők közé tartoznak, amelyek visszatértek a tengerbe. E rend fajai a korai jura korban jelentek meg, és már az elején két nagy csoportra szakadtak: a hosszúnyakú-plezioszauruszokra (Cryptoclidus, Elasmosaurus, Plesiosaurus) és a rövidnyakú-plezioszauruszokra (Kronosaurus, Liopleurodon, Pliosaurus).

A Liopleurodonnak négy nagy úszója volt. A mérete vitatott. A Dinoszauruszok, a Föld urai című brit dokumentumfilm az állatot 25 méter hosszú, 150 t tömegű óriásként, minden idők legnagyobb ragadozójaként rekonstruálta. Ezek az adatok más kutatások szerint túlzóak, a hosszát pedig 6,39 méterre becsülik.

Hatalmas szájában a fogak csokrosan helyezkedtek el szájának első felében. A fosszilis gyomortartalom, valamint ichthyosaurusok és más plezioszauruszok uszonyain lévő fognyomok azt mutatják, hogy a Liopleurodon egy falánk és veszélyes ragadozó lehetett.

A koponya újabb keletű tanulmányozása kimutatta, hogy az állat képes lehetett az orrlyukaival érzékelni a vízben lévő hangokat. Ez a képessége segítette abban, hogy pontosabban megállapítsa, honnan jönnek a szagok. Amikor nyitott szájjal úszott, a víz behatolt a szájpadlásában levő nyílásokba, amely összeköttetésben volt az orral. Ezután a víz áthatolt az orrüregen, és a szemek előtti nyílásokon távozott.

Lelőhelyek
Liopleurodon maradványokat találtak Németországban, Franciaországban, Angliában és Oroszországban. Ebben az időben Európa nagy részét tenger borította.

Jegyzetek

Források
Walking with Dinosaurs-Fact File: Liopleurodon

További információk
Liopleurodon information and photos, The Plesiosaur Directory
Article on the giant pliosaur skull once assigned to Liopleurodon, Tetrapod Zoology

Plezioszauruszok
Hüllőnemek
Élővilág a jurában
Európa őshüllői


text:
Berlin wants to prosecute US handlers of German spies
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas ( Reuters / Thomas Peter) © Reuters
Criminal prosecution is likely to be expanded on Americans involved in recruiting and supervising activities of German officials spying for the US intelligence, Germany's Justice Minister Heiko Maas told Welt am Sonntag.
If investigators find a body of evidence that alleged double agents in Germany's federal intelligence service and Defense Ministry have been spying to the benefit of American intelligence, "the investigation would extend on their feasible patrons," Maas declared.
According to Welt am Sonntag, the alleged spymaster is the US citizen Andrew M., a 52-year-old international political consultant, who allegedly received confidential military documents from the Germans.
"The law applies to everyone without discrimination," Maas said, stressing that intelligence security laws apply on friendly states either. "Those who do not abide by the law in this country may have to face criminal prosecution," he said.
"Spying among friends is like breaching a diplomatic dam," Maas said.
"The evidence for espionage activities is very strong," an anonymous security officer closely familiar with the case told the paper. "If I were the federal prosecutor, I would press charges."
An unceasing row of intelligence scandals, that started over a year ago with revelations of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who have revealed that the US has been extensively eavesdropping Germans, Chancellor Angela Merkel included, for years now.
The scandal grew fiercer after on July 2, 2014, Germany's secret service arrested a German citizen employed by national Federal Intelligence Service (BND) on suspicion of spying for the US. The BND official allegedly got 25,000 euro for his services.
Just a week later Bild am Sonntag, Germany's largest-selling national Sunday paper, reported that the US secret services had recruited more than a dozen officials in various German government ministries to work as spies, including BND and the Ministry of Defense, with some of them working for the CIA for many years.
This revelation resulted in Germany expelling the CIA chief in Berlin as retaliation step and 'in addition to existing issues'.
The opposition to the ruling Chancellor Angela Merkel's party in Bundestag craves for blood of political opponents and would like to make maximal use the scandal. The left party Die Linke and its leader Katja Kipping demanded earlier that they expect the federal government to "present a concerted action plan against US spying in Germany."
Now Kipping's party colleague and deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee which oversees the intelligence services, André Hahn, who also called earlier for a "no spy" agreement with the US, has expressed full support to possible prosecution of the foreign citizens if they have been involved in the spy scandal.
"If the Attorney General finds out with whom the suspect has had contact for years, it must be understood that this track and the background of this person will be cleared up completely," André Hahn said. "For those Americans who violate our laws and do not enjoy diplomatic immunity, the German criminal law shall apply."
Trends:NSA
Germany to probe alleged NSA snooping of Chancellor Merkel's phone
Germany is NSA's primary host of surveillance architecture in Europe – report
NSA whistleblowers testify in Bundestag inquiry, disclose 'totalitarian' surveillance
Germany arrests suspected 'double agent' for working for US - report
'Enough is enough': Berlin outraged by alleged US spying
Merkel's mad: German leader indignant over 'serious' US spying allegations
Officials admit US had recruited German spy
First since WWII: Germany may start spying back on US after double-agent scandal
Germany expels CIA Berlin chief over NSA spying
Over a dozen CIA-recruited spies work in German ministries – report
US or Russia? Germany at crossroads as spying scandals multiply


text:
Ecomodernism
An Ecomodernist Manifesto - English
Un Manifiesto Ecomodernista - Español
Un Manifeste Èco-moderniste - Français
Il Manifesto Degli Ecomodernisti - Italiano
Ein Ökomodernes Manifest - Deutsch
生态现代主义宣言 - JIǍNHUÀZÌ
現代的環境主義宣言 - Japanese
Manifesto Ya Ikolojia Ya Kisasa - Kiswahili
Sebuah Manifesto Ecomodernist - Bahasa Indonesia
Ett Ekomdernistiskt Manifest - Svenska
Een Ecomodernistisch Manifest - Nederlands
Manifest Ekomodernistyczny - Język Polski
No. 18 / Fall 2022 - The New Nuclear Explosion
No. 17 / Summer 2022 - Produce Problems
No. 16 / Spring 2022 - Climate Geopolitics
No. 15/ Winter 2022 - After the Green New Deal
No. 14 / Summer 2021 - Ecomodern Justice
No. 13 / Winter 2021 - Uncomfortable Knowledge
Generation Fellowship - Apply
Our 2022 Generation Fellows
Sustainability or Bust?
Ecomodern Dispatches
By Emma Brush and Alex Trembath
Another year, another Earth Overshoot Day.
The calendar date marking our overdrawn ecological credit—as Time, Popular Science, and the Christian Science Monitor have all reported—is upon us. Actually, it passed: according to the Global Footprint Network's "ecological accounting tool," we officially used up the resources that can be regenerated in a year on August 8.
The very notion of "ecological overshoot," however, remains flawed, both as a metric and as a concept. Our own Linus Blomqvist wrote on this subject last year, summarizing his own analysis over the ecological footprint. But with the turning of our ecological clock, we'll briefly return to the subject here, with an eye towards ecomodernism and the much-debated meaning of the word "sustainable."
The language Global Footprint Network uses to describe its work provides some insight. "The Ecological Footprint," according to its website, "tells us how close we are to the goal of sustainable living. Footprint accounts work like bank statements, documenting whether we are living within our ecological budget or consuming nature's resources faster than the planet can renew them." The fact that this analogy resonates with misconceptions about national (economic) debt points to the basic, and misleading, assumption that underlies this framework: that balance—the hallmark of "sustainability"—is the gold standard when it comes to the natural world.
We might note first that contemporary ecology has largely discredited the "balance of nature" framework, and has replaced it with a dynamic model of constant change. But even beyond this scientific disconnect, sustainability remains a troubled construct, as Jeremy Butman argues in a recent New York Times op-ed. As Butman puts it, the sustainability movement has been defined by a misplaced faith in nature's Edenic perfection, an understanding that derives from Romantics like Wordsworth and transcendentalists like Thoreau. Prior to this philosophical turn (i.e., from Aristotle through to Hobbes), nature was viewed as cruel and ever-changing; since then, it has come to embody a once-changeless harmony that is rapidly eroding at the hands of human influence.
Most damaging for our purposes is the strange nostalgia that accompanies such a stance—a mourning for a lost wholeness that never really existed. Rather than to trap ourselves in such a state of melancholia, Butman urges, we need to instead "face the future" and "say 'yes' to the anthropocene." In order to do so, we'll need to change the language we use to define our relations with the nonhuman world. What Butman is proposing, in other words, is a paradigm shift—from a backward-facing sustainability, rooted in "preserving" and "sustaining," to a forward-facing "adaptability."
Ecomodernism, too, proceeds from such a posture of pragmatic affirmation, saying "yes" to the possibility of a "good, or even great, Anthropocene." Where Butman and ecomodernists might differ, of course, is in the application of this model.
Butman draws from Bruno Latour in his understanding that humans and nature are so deeply embroiled that we can neither "let nature be" nor control it, and should therefore embrace such an enmeshed relationship. Ecomodernists, on the other hand, emphasize that an increasing dependence on nature will mostly prove destructive, and as such, endorse intensification and substitution as an antidote to agricultural expansion and biodiversity loss. The disagreement here recalls a rebuke of the framework that Mr. Latour himself gave at our Breakthrough Dialogue last year, which surfaced some tension even among self-described ecomodernists over whether, how, and to what extent humanity and nature can really "decouple."
Nevertheless, Butman, ecomodernists, and surely many others can agree on the fundamental premises that make sustainability so problematic. First is the assumption of a prelapsarian natural world. In fact, Butman says, humans have been altering their climes for millennia—and the planet has been in turmoil all on its own for far longer. Second is the notion that sustainability will serve to return us to nature. Instead, we should note, sustainability is fundamentally a human project; in Butman's words, "we preserve the resources needed for human consumption, whether that means energy consumption or aesthetic consumption." And finally, sustainability presupposes an attitude resigned to the status quo—of a world with limits that must be adhered to. Such a failure to think creatively and constructively may not only fail to curtail environmental destruction, but it may also prevent us from reaching our full potential when it comes to conservation, human development, and adaptation to climate change.
Certainly, more will have to change about our policies and strategies than simply the words we use to describe them. But language plays a role in these processes as well, and in the shape of public perception. As the confusion about GMOs shows, labels matter. And sustainability, in the way it's been brandished for decades, is one that environmentalists could do without.
As a result of the "zero emissions credits" that operators of nuclear plants will now receive under New York's Clean Energy Standard, Exelon has agreed to purchase the struggling FitzPatrick plant, which was previously scheduled to close in 2017. Robert Walton of Utility Dive and Samantha House of Syracuse also report on the details and emission reduction benefits of the deal. Brad Jones, CEO of NYISO, echoed this optimism in a recent interview with Utility Dive: "Retaining the nuclear fleet is important not only to achieving the Clean Energy Standard, but also to maintaining fuel diversity."
A recent comment by conservation scientists in Nature issues a reminder that the primary drivers of biodiversity loss remain overexploitation and agriculture. According to their analysis, 62 percent of a sample set of species from the IUCN's Red List are threatened by agricultural expansion. Land-sparing, unfortunately, is not discussed as a strategy for conservation here...
New research from Yale's Dan Kahan shows that a curiosity about science reduces polarization over climate change. The question now becomes "whether there is an effective way to prime people to be more science-curious -- which could then also have political ramifications."
Alex Trembath
Alex Trembath is Deputy Director at Breakthrough.
Emma Brush
Emma Brush is Co-Managing Editor of the Breakthrough Journal.
The Breakthrough
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text:
Interesting Numbers
Department of Health figures uncovered by this newspaper show that during 2006 more than 3,800 women underwent at least their fourth abortion, including more than 1,300 who were on their fifth or more. Of more than 60,000 women who underwent a "repeat" abortion, almost 15,000 were on their third.
These included 65 women who had their sixth abortion by the age of 30, and 82 girls aged under 18 who had already experienced three, and more than 50 women who had had eight abortions or more.
Dr Peter Saunders, general secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said: "This is just so grotesquely bleak." He said the situation was "approaching the sorts of things we used to hear about Soviet Russia. "When you try to imagine a woman who has had eight abortions, or perhaps more, it is absolutely clear that she is using it as a form of contraception."
He may indeed be on one highly vocal side of the debate, but he has a point, doesn\'t he?
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8 thoughts on "Interesting Numbers"
Kit May 18, 2008 at 8:06 am
Can you imagine what sort of mothers these women would be?
JuliaM May 18, 2008 at 9:28 am
Can you imagine what sort of children they'd produce..?
Andrew McG May 18, 2008 at 9:30 am
Link to source is screwed up.
Tim adds: Ta, fixed.
Philip Thomas May 18, 2008 at 11:26 am
Kit, JuliaM, agreed. Oddly, I find the idea of one abortion, not something that particularly concerns me (though I have steadfastly done my damnedest to avoid it in my relationships). Yet the idea of eight I find absolutely abominable. It must be the callousness and carelessness it represents. One accident in a lifetime is just that, eight is a bloody campaign.
dearieme May 18, 2008 at 1:10 pm
"Can you imagine what sort of children they'd produce..?" Wot, girls?
Little Black Sambo May 18, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Kit and JuliaM: spoken like true Warnocks!
Kay Tie May 18, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I think abortion is morally repugnant. So are lots of things. I make make judgements about people, but I'm damn sure I don't want the State to start making judgements, rapidly followed by actions.
Precisely.
JuliaM on Oh Dear. How Sad
ken on Piercing the corporate veil
JuliaM on Piercing the corporate veil


text:
Journal of Adventist Mission Studies
Home > JAMS > Vol. 17 (2021) > No. 1
Mission Leadership Development in the Chinese Adventist Church: Reflections in the Light of Traditional Chinese Philosophies of Leadership
Different schools of thought have emphasized multiples aspects of leadership, preeminently in the western hemisphere for the last decades (Bennis 1959; Greenleaf 1977; Malphus 2003). As China more decisively steps into the global arena through internationalization of its economy and political influence, scholars are only scratching the surface in exploring the pluralistic styles of Chinese indigenous leadership in both national and international organizations where the Chinese play significant leadership roles (Chen and Lee 2008: xv; Zhang, Chen, and Chen, and Ang 2014).
Contextual leadership is essential for the healthy development of any organization and that is equally true when it comes to leadership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in China. As Ma and Tsui denote, "traditional philosophical and cultural roots influence the thought patterns and behaviors of all citizens in a community including its leaders. Hence, leadership practices would reflect unique cultural idiosyncrasies even . . . in a rapidly changing context" such as contemporary China (2015:13).
Although western leadership schools of thought have increasingly been studied in Chinese academia and their models applied in organizational settings throughout China since the 1980s, there are still several cultural features from traditional Chinese leadership philosophies playing a significant role in the contemporary Chinese leadership landscape.
This article explores cultural leadership aspects among the Seventh-day Adventist Church in China, and how those traits impact the church missiologically, followed by a brief summary of strategies for effective mission leadership development.
(2021) "Mission Leadership Development in the Chinese Adventist Church: Reflections in the Light of Traditional Chinese Philosophies of Leadership," Journal of Adventist Mission Studies: Vol. 17: No. 1, 43-55.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/jams/vol17/iss1/5
Missions and World Christianity Commons, Practical Theology Commons
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In the recent times, the construction industry has come up with another type of fascia material that is now widely accepted and used. One of the reasons for its popularity is its durability and economy of use, time and space. This is called as Unplasticised Polyvinyl Chloride (UPVC). This material is used to manufacture soffits and fascia. Its usage is found to be heat resistant and has excellent thermal qualities as well. This means that it is ideal for extreme winter conditions. Its maintenance is easy and can be simply done with a wipe of a cloth, rather than removing and replacing or going through the entire process of arduous fixing. Therefore, this type of soffits and fascia are considered to be best retrofits for homes that are exposed to extreme weather conditions especially cold weathers. UPVC also has the ability to expand and contract, thus, making it flexible to adapt to different temperatures as well.


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Where <FailingService> and <ServiceName> vary according to the specific event and services installed. There may be more than one event ID 7003 reported.
Many event ID 1003, 2003, 13528, and other performance-related events may be recorded in the Application event log because of RPC problems.
The Client for Microsoft Networks component is actually the Workstation service. If you remove this service, the Netlogon and RPC Locator services are also removed. When you reinstall the Client for Microsoft Networks component, the Netlogon and RPC Locator services are also reinstalled, but the Netlogon service is not configured to depend on the Server service when the computer starts.
In SBS 2000, right-click My Network Places, and then click Properties. In SBS 2003, open Control Panel , and then double-click Network Connections.
Right-click the internal network connection, and then click Properties.
Click Install, click Client, and then click Add.
Click Client for Microsoft Networks, and then click OK.
Click OK in each dialog box until all networking properties are closed, and then restart the Small Business Server (SBS) 2000 server.
Log on to the computer. Ignore any warnings about services that cannot start. Start the Services tool.
Verify that the startup type for the RPC Locator service is set to Automatic, and then start the service.
Verify that the startup type for the Netlogon service is set to Automatic. Do not start the Netlogon service yet.
On the Edit menu, click Multi String, type LanmanServer on a line by itself, and then click OK.
In the Services tool, start the Netlogon service.
Verify that you can use Active Directory by using a program such as Active Directory Users and Computers to view or modify Active Directory.
If the server takes a long time to restart, or if you receive warnings that services cannot start, use the Services tool to verify that the Netlogon service is set to Automatic and has started. You may have to set the startup type two times.


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Grand Street Shuttle
The Grand Street Shuttle was a New York City Subway service that operated during the long Manhattan Bridge rehabilitation project while the north tracks (connecting to the IND Sixth Avenue Line via the Chrystie Street Connection) were closed. It usually ran between Broadway–Lafayette Street and Grand Street, picking up the slack from rerouted or suspended B and D service.
Northern end
West Fourth Street
Southern end
2 Route
Service disruptions that took the Manhattan Bridge north tracks out of service, with the shuttle running between Broadway–Lafayette Street and Grand Street, included the following:
March 12, 1984 and August 10 to November 3, 1985 (B and D cut back to West Fourth Street–Washington Square)[1][2]
April 30 to November 12, 1995 (B running only between Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street and Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue while the D was running between Norwood–205th Street and 34th Street–Herald Square).
During the first phase of the Manhattan Bridge rehabilitation, from April 26, 1986 to December 11, 1988,[3] the shuttle was extended to 57th Street/Sixth Avenue, running via the Sixth Avenue local tracks, and was called the Sixth Avenue Shuttle while the B and D terminated at 34th Street–Herald Square. Regular service had been expected to resume on October 26, 1986.[4]
The final Grand Street Shuttle service began on July 22, 2001, again between Broadway–Lafayette Street and Grand Street, while the B and D services were truncated to 34th Street–Herald Square. The Sixth Avenue Shuttle (which also ended at Broadway–Lafayette Street) was ended on December 16, 2001 with the rerouting of F trains to the 63rd Street Tunnel and introduction of the V train, and the Grand Street Shuttle was extended north to West Fourth Street–Washington Square. The rehabilitation was finished on February 22, 2004, and the shuttle was discontinued. Also during this time, a shuttle bus ran between Canal Street and Grand Street.[5][6][7]
RouteEdit
Station service legend
Stops all times
Stops all times except late nights
Stops late nights only
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details
Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
↑ Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
in the indicated direction only
Elevator access to mezzanine only
Subway transfers
West Fourth Street–Washington Square
<F>
C
E
(IND Eighth Avenue Line) PATH at 9th Street
Broadway–Lafayette Street
(IRT Lexington Avenue Line at Bleecker Street[8])
^ "Trains Being Rerouted on Manhattan Bridge". The New York Times. March 12, 1984. p. B5. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
^ "Repair of the Subway Tracks on Manhattan Bridge is Done". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 2, 1985. p. 29. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
^ Annual Report on 1989 Rapid Routes Schedules and Service Planning. New York City Transit Authority, Operations Planning Department. June 1, 1990. p. 56.
^ "Washington Heights, Central Park West And Grand Concourse Riders Your Guide To Service Changes On The B D During Rehabilitation Work April 26 Through October 26, 1986". New York City Transit Authority. April 1986. Missing or empty |url= (help)
^ Manhattan Bridge Service Changes, MTA service notice, 2001
^ New Subway Service!, MTA service notice, February 22, 2004; accessed April 21, 2010
^ "MTA NYC Transit Manhattan Bridge Information". February 5, 2004. Archived from the original on February 5, 2004. Retrieved September 18, 2016. CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
^ At the time, there was a transfer to downtown trains only. A bidirectional transfer was created after the shuttle's discontinuation.
3 Months Ago, Residents of Queens Were Mad as Hell. Guess What, Brooklyn, Bronx and Manhattan?, MTA service notice, 1985
Grand Street Shuttle Timetable (2003)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_Street_Shuttle&oldid=916977639"


Jet Airways, is the domestic airline in India, began to operate the 5th of May 1993. Actually operates 370 daily flights to 63 cities, 43 in India and 20 international. Jet Airways is the biggest historic success in India's aviation industry, and one of the world´s fast growing airlines, operating with a fleet of 8 Airbus 330-200, 4 Airbus 330-300, 5 ATR 72-5001, 3 ATR 72-600,5 Boeing 737-700, 6 Boeing 737-8006, 2 Boeing 737-900, 4 Boeing 737-900ER,10 Boeing 777-300ER. That makes a total of 117 aircrafts.
Is the best domestic airline in India, now flying international.
The Silversea Cruises story starts in the early 90´s, where the Lefebvre family of Rome, former owners of Sitmar Cruises, created and organized a unique cruise company that engaged to build and operate high quality ships of ultra-luxurious standards. The name "Silversea" was chosen because it connotes quality and luxury, capturing the romance and special sensations of the sea. Silversea Cruises is one of the last cruise company that is still privately owned.
Currently operates a fleet of 5 classic and 3 expedition ships (soon to be a total of 9 with the incorporation of Silver Muse in 2017) carrying from 100 to 540 guests depending of the ship, with itineraries to all seven continents and more than 800 destinations worldwide. The fleet was built with the absolute purpose of introducing it into the ultra-luxury market, the company H.O. is located in the city of Monaco.
Today, Silversea is definitely recognized as the most elite luxury experience and is regularly praised by its passengers and tourism industry publications.
Silver Cloud, Silver Wind, Silver Shadow, Silver Whisper, Silver Spirit, and the Silver Muse.
Established in 2001, SeaDream Yacht Club has achieved the industry's highest accolades for its two-innovative cruising mega yachts. "It's Yachting, Not Cruising", defines SeaDream's mission: to provide a casual yachting experience that will exceed our guests' expectations. This is our pleasure.
Paul Gauguin Cruises is an ultra luxury cruise company designed specifically to sail the shallow seas of Tahiti, French Polynesia and South Pacific all year around and can visit small ports where larger ships can't reach and effortlessly blending into the stunning natural beauty of the South Seas.
The Paul Gauguin was built in 1998, remodelled in 2006, provides passengers the highest level of service and excellence in sailing with the opportunity to meet the wonders of Tahiti, French Polynesia and the South Pacific aboard a specially built boat to sail to those destinations.
Paul Gauguin is owned by Pacific Beachcomber S C Company.
Paul Gauguin is leader in the South Pacific navigation.
The allure of river cruising with Scenic is self-evident, as we provide a truly all-inclusive experience. We have over 30 years of experience in hand-crafting unforgettable trips, and our goal is to provide you with the most relaxing and enjoyable vacation possible.
Throughout Europe and Asia, rivers once vital to trade now bustle with people who have come to explore the magic and imagine the history of these majestic waterways. The banks are lined with the same magnificent architecture of times past, and the cultures and traditions still persist in the culture today. To experience the enchantment for yourself, cruise the waterways of the Danube, Rhône, Seine, Bordeaux region, Rhine, Moselle or Mekong through such diverse countries as the Netherlands, France, Russia, Portugal, Germany, Hungary and Vietnam.
Scenic has to sail 15 luxury river ships that depending the route will sail with a ship capacity of between 44 to 169 passengers.
In addition to keep on presuming that we have the best and most luxurious river boats in Europe, SCENIC CRUISES is committed to the "absolutely all inclusive" concept, which goes beyond the traditional "ALL INCLUDED". Scenic guests can enjoy private butler service, unlimited drinks (including minibar), 24-hour room service, high international cuisine, themed dinners with show and WIFI.
Hertz is the most profitable company that rents / leases vehicles and equipment, totally focused on its customers in all markets where they offer service.
Strengthens its global leadership position through a shared culture of the workforce and its partners thus making strategic investments in the brand and its products values.
It operates in approximately 150 countries within the US, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa, Middle East and New Zealand.
APG Network is the world's leading network for Airline Distribution and Financial Services.
GET – Global Extended Territories services.
APG AIRLINES, is based in France and operates a single Beechcraft 200 aircraft.
The airline will start its initial scheduled route between Nice and Bergamo airport on 28 October 2016 with two weekly flights.
With the launch of APG AIRLINES, APG is also able to reactivate its APG IET product in which over 100 airlines participate, and which going forward will operate using the code GP of APG AIRLINES.
APG Airline acts as an interline hub for airlines allowing APG IET airline clients to interline with any of the other 100+ airlines in the programme without direct interline agreements or links.
Avianca Brasil, previously known as Ocean Air, was created in 1998 as a taxi airline, with the purpose to lend a service to petrol companies. In 2002, the company started to operate regional flights between Guarulhos (São Paulo), Santos Dumont airport (Río de Janeiro), Macaé y Campos dos Goytacazes, with Embraer Brasilia EMB-120 airlpanes.
By the end of 2013 it was confirmed that Avianca Brasil will be part of Star Alliance, within some changes in the Company, like the merge with Avianca International.
The airline Atlasjet was established on March 14, 2001 in Turkey and operated its first flight on June 1, 2001. In April 2004, this group acquired 50% of the shares of the company OgerTours and then in February 2006, Mr. Murat Ersoyse took over as the president of the airline. In 2015 the company decided to continue, but under the name of Atlasglobal, making a review of its corporate identity, and continuing to expand its network of international flights under the new slogan "A world beyond dreams" and presenting their comfort and quality on board to a wider audience. The fleet of AtlasGlobal has 26 Airbus aircraft: 1 A319- 9 A320 -16 A321, that operates his network of scheduled flights throughout Turkey, North Cyprus, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
1 B737-400 and 2 B737-500. Fly over 20 daily flights to seven domestic destinations such as Cuzco, Lima, Arequipa, Tacna, Piura, Iquitos, Tarapotos, Pucallpa and 1 international destination: La Paz (Bolivia). The addition of the new fleet will allow shortly start operations more international and regional destinations, as city of La Paz, our first international destination. It also has a convenient frequent flyer program called Peruvian Pass, has excellent service and punctuality, and this makes it the preferred airline for those who fly daily by Peru.
One of the oldest private French airline, with more than 70 years in the market, started operations in 1946, and after a few years exactly in 1950 started to develop international routes to Northern Africa, Lebanon and Far East. In 2001 was taken over by GoFast Group (specialized in logistics, freight, industrial projects and tourism). And launched the first scheduled flight in 2003 to Algeria. In 2006 signed an agreement with the airbus A320 and launched new routes to Portugal, Morroco and Tunisia. In 2008 opening of the route to Mali and launch of the Azur Plus frequent flyer program. 2012 entry of HNA group (specialized in logistics, aviation, investements and tourism) in the capital of Aigle Azur. 2015 launch of new route Marseilles -Dakar. In 2016 Aigle Azur celebrated its 70 anniversary and 10 years of operating Portugal, Launch of new routes Lyons-Porto, Lyons- Dakar and Paris- Conakry (via Bamako).
With nearly twenty years' experience in meeting its customers' needs, XL Airways is a French airline specialising in long-haul flights.
Each year, we fly over a million passengers to the Antilles, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the United States and the Mediterranean region.
Based at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, XL Airways also operates flights from Marseilles (to La Réunion and Punta Cana) and four other French airports (Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes and Toulouse, to Punta Cana).
In addition to these regular flights, the airline also operates chartered flights all year round on behalf of the main French and European tour operators.
The XL Airways fleet is made up of recent aircraft suited to the destinations served by the airline.
Our flights are operated with Airbus A330-300 and A330-200 aircraft.


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We Are Broken but We Are Valued
Posted on December 5, 2021 by 5pints - Positively Positive
A Rabbi tells the story of a motivational speaker who started off by holding up a crisp new $20 bill. "Who wants this?" he asked. And just about every hand in the room shot up. "I'm going to give this $20 to one of you," he said. "But first, I'm going to do this." And he crumpled up the bill. "Who wants it now?" he asked. The hands stayed up. "Really?" he said. "Well what if I do this?" and he dropped the bill on the floor and began to stomp on it. Then he paused and picked up the bill and held it up, crumpled and dirty. "Who wants it now?" he demanded. And all the hands went back up.
"My friends," he said "you've learned a valuable lesson. When I started the bill was worth $20. And no matter what I did to it, you still wanted it. Because no matter what happened to that bill, it did not lose its value."
"Many times," he went on, "we are that bill. We are crushed, we are crumbled. We are dropped to the ground into the dirt as if we are worthless. Bad decisions or hapless circumstances make us feel as if we have no value. But never forget, no matter what has happened to you, you will always have value.
There are many versions of the crumpled dollar story out there. Says the Rabbi, "We are valued, we are valuable, no matter what. We are each of us already deserving. We may be crumpled but we never lose our intrinsic worth.
We are all broken. Not always in the most dramatic ways. We have all experienced brokenness, loss and pain. Sometimes we are overwhelmed and feel crumpled and worthless. Even all alone. But human value is innate in us. When we are lost and alone, when we are certain that no one knows us or loves us; when-crumpled and torn we doubt our own value: there is a path. The Psalmist, who knows well the pain of life, tells us about the Holy One who knows us.
"He heals the broken hearted, and binds up their wounds."
Says the Rabbi, "No matter how crumpled and crushed we are, so long as the breath of life is within us, we can give thanks for life. And from that place of gratitude, we can feel a Divine Presence supporting us. Sometimes, even in our pain, our spirits can soar because we have value."
May we have the patience to still the voice of our own despair. May we have the courage to reach out to Holiness and begin to feel whole again. May God's embrace remind us that no matter how we are crumpled, we are still valued.
Rabbi Hirshel Jaffe, a cancer survivor, is a motivational/inspirational speaker on the theme NEVER GIVE UP! He authored "Why Me? Why Anyone?" which chronicles his rescue from leukemia and his spiritual triumph over despair. Known as "The Running Rabbi" for competing in the NY Marathon, he received the "Award of Courage" from President Ronald Reagan in a White House ceremony. Rabbi Jaffe was one of the clergy who visited the American hostages in Iran to offer them comfort and hope and was asked by the President to greet them at the White House upon their return. He received an honorary Doctorate from his seminary for "his work with the sick, and his noble influence upon all people. You can find more information on his website.
Image courtesy of Juliano Astc.


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Education/ Opinion
'Wraparound' services helping kids succeed
Expansion of City Connects program to Springfield yielding results
By Daniel J. Warwick and Mary Walsh 1 Comment May 3, 2017
WHEN CHILDREN WALK into their schools, they make everyone feel what they feel. Teachers, principals, even superintendents can all feel the burdens students carry, especially those who struggle with poverty and despair. Some children talk about their challenges. Others don't. Either way, educators and administrators feel the weight of the hunger, homelessness, mental health challenges, incarceration of parents, and other hardships that many children bear. We have to feel it, because being connected to children is the only way that we can successfully do our jobs.
Feeling, of course, isn't enough, which is why Springfield school officials have spent years trying to overcome the barriers that children face outside school so that they can thrive in school, build strong social and emotional skills, and do better on statewide tests like the MCAS and PARCC exams.
We're always looking for new ways to do this work. In 2010, when we saw Boston schools taking part in the City Connects program – a project based at Boston College that connects each student to a tailored array of services and enrichment programs – we thought the approach could work in Springfield. Evidence showed that City Connects was working in Boston.
Studies show that students in City Connects elementary schools in Boston have better grades in reading and math, and better work habits. When followed into 8th grade, students who attended a City Connects elementary school significantly outperformed their peers on statewide tests of English language arts and math, narrowing achievement gaps by half to two-thirds. Students who attended City Connects elementary schools were roughly half as likely as their peers to drop out of high school.
As explained on the City Connects website, the program works to provide children with the types of support outside the classroom that will help them succeed in the classroom.
Seeing evidence of effectiveness, we chose to set up City Connects in Springfield using funding from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Wraparound Zones Initiative.
In 2011, City Connects launched in five consistently low-performing Springfield schools that the state had declared "transformation" schools. We hired a program manager to oversee the effort across the schools, and expanded to eight schools in 2012 and to 15 schools this year. Each school is staffed with a site coordinator.
Each fall, site coordinators sit down with every teacher to do a whole class review, a student-by-student look at barriers to learning and healthy development. We identify each student's needs, and importantly, their strengths, everything from a positive attitude to a talent for arts or just having a big heart.
Science is on our side. Researchers repeatedly tell us that children's brains are harmed by growing up in disadvantaged circumstances and by toxic stress – which includes abuse, neglect, violence, caregiver substance abuse, or mental illness, and the hardships of severe poverty. City Connects helps us by addressing each child's unique combination of stressors.
Our site coordinator connects each child to a customized set of needed services, from food and clothes to eye exams and dental care. On Fridays, we fill children's backpacks with food to ensure they eat over the weekend. Sometimes we deliver beds to families who are sleeping on the floor. City Connects also links children to afterschool and summer programs, enriching experiences that can help expand children's worlds.
The beauty of this work is that the resources already exist. City Connects is fueled by over 100 community partners with programs and staff that are already out there waiting to help.
We're up against a lot. When we started, 92 percent of students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Many were English language learners, and many of our families were moving in and out of schools.
Fortunately, we've also learned a lot. One crucial lesson is that we can change children's lives just by providing them with resources that already exist, connecting each child to the right service at the right time. City Connects also meshed well with our existing efforts, including PBIS, the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports program, which focuses on building students' academic and social and emotional skills.
We also found that, initially, we had high turnover among our site coordinators. The job's pay and benefits weren't strong enough to retain people. So when the Wraparound Zone funding ran out, we put the site coordinators into our school budget – and we unionized these jobs. That has enabled us to attract and retain higher-quality staff members.
The pivotal victory? City Connects is helping Springfield's kids. A rigorous study found that after three years of implementing City Connects in previously underperforming schools, there was no longer a significant gap in test scores between students in those schools and students in the rest of the district. Two of Springfield's City Connects schools have moved up to become Level 1 schools, the highest rank in the state education department's accountability system. The other three schools in the study have moved up to Level 3.
We've also seen our teachers change. Students' challenging behaviors and poor work habits are easier to understand and address when teachers know a child is staying in a homeless shelter or witnessing violence at home. In a satisfaction survey, 83 percent of responding teachers said they used this knowledge to tailor their teaching strategies by using small group work, movement, and more visuals to reach children with different learning styles, and 89 percent said they would recommend City Connects to a colleague.
Principals' ratings concur. One hundred percent say they would recommend City Connects to other principals, while 91 percent say they've seen improvements in academic achievement, classroom behavior, health and well-being, and school climate. And principals who don't have City Connects in their schools are asking how they can get it.
This is no accident. Springfield's success matches outcomes in City Connects schools across the country. Feed kids, address the trauma in their lives, provide them with care and needed services, and they will prosper. Their brains will get sturdier. And they will become healthier and develop into stronger learners.
The upshot? To improve students' educational outcomes, we must address the challenges in their lives that interfere with learning. To close the opportunity and achievement gaps in Massachusetts — and nationally – we have to look at the needs of the whole child. City Connects is one cost-effective way to do this. Economists at Columbia University found that City Connects produces a return on investment to society of $3 for every $1 spent. Children who benefit from this investment may well become the workers who fuel our state's economy in the future.
We need to make this kind of investment in more of our schools. Districts need sufficient funding to provide integrated, comprehensive support for kids that capitalizes on existing resources. We hope this will be a priority for Gov. Baker and the Legislature as they negotiate the state budget — and as the state education department and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education implement new criteria for school accountability.
Daniel J. Warwick
Superintendent, Springfield Public Schools
Professor of Urban Education, Boston College
As one principal in a Springfield City Connects school said, children were falling through the cracks because help that already exists was beyond their reach. We'll all be better off if we can catch those kids and connect them to what they need, so that we can prepare them — and the Commonwealth — for brighter futures.
Daniel J. Warwick is superintendent of the Springfield Public Schools. Mary Walsh is the Daniel E. Kearns Professor of Urban Education & Innovative Leadership at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College and the executive director of City Connects.
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Prestigious two bedroom one living room suites are located on the last floor. The Penthouses incredible panoramic terrace views offer an outlook over the blue waters of Kas, our beautiful garden and over the local Marina & Yacht Club.
1 Bedroom with a Queen size bed and 1 bedroom with two Twin size beds, plus the convertible sofa in the living room can accomodate up to 5 people comfortably.


You know that you want to "do social." You know that it's important. Now you need to figure out what you're setting out to accomplish. "Fire, then aim" is not a strategy we recommend, and it's a quick way to get disenfranchised with any type of strategy and execution plan, not just social media.
But because social media has been touted to be a save-all, miracle-working destination for our businesses, we tend to hop onto a platform before we've really decided what it means for our business. So before you dive into Facebook, build a presence on Twitter or connect with your network on LinkedIn, it's time to set some goals, and align your expectations so that your strategy has a higher chance of succeeding from the get-go.
Awareness: The visibility of your company, or presence online within social media platforms.
Reach: How many unique users are seeing your content?
Impressions: How frequently your users are seeing your content?
Number of mentions on social media.
Traffic to your website from social media.
Engagement: The rate of which users are engaging with your company online.
Engagement rate of the users who are seeing your content. How many of them are engaging?
Average engaged users — how many, on average, users are engaging with your content?
Website/Business: What kind of impact your strategy is having on your business.
Conversions on your website that were generated from your social presence.
Reputation: How this is impacting the sentiment surrounding your brand?
As a forewarning, you can't achieve everything. We recommend that you select a few goals to begin with, and expand as you start to feel more comfortable with your presence on the platform. What's even more important is finding a baseline for where your organization sits currently. If you don't have a social presence, great — you can start from the bottom and see great success right away because your strategy was focused from the beginning. If you do have a presence, see where your greatest areas of weakness are, so that you can align your goals with those areas as a way to see improvement.
Milena Regos is a principal at Out&About Marketing. Out&About Marketing is a social media consultancy with focus and experience in the fitness industry. For more information visit www.outandaboutmarketing.com.