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Comprising 6.4% of GDP, the transport sector is an indispensable cog in the local economy, and as business incentives grow, logistics, aviation services, and the quality of staff have come into focus.
With access to the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, as well as a direct link to Dubai, Sharjah looks set to be the next big transport and logistics market in the GCC. In coming years, the value of the local transportation sector is forecast to increase by the billions. According to Shurooq, Sharjah's investment authority, the value of transportation activity in the Emirate could reach AED1.82 billion in 2015 and AED2.06 billion in 2016. As the sector continues to attract global attention and more SMEs choose to operate out of Sharjah, transportation may be valued at up to AED3.43 billion by 2020.
Taking advantage of its prime geographic location—nestled between the other Emirates of Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, and Abu Dhabi—Sharjah has already developed world-class road infrastructure for logistics on land. However, its three deepwater ports and international airport handle the majority of cargo to and from the Emirate, making it a key hub for transport links from Africa, Europe, and Asia to the Middle East.
As part of a wider economic diversification program, the government is also incentivizing investors to participate in the transportation sector by reducing operating costs with free zones and a transparent legal system. Combined with a less saturated market and overall faster shipping times, it comes as no surprise that Sharjah-based companies are contributing more than 9% of the UAE's foreign trade.
Just 15km away from Dubai International Airport, and closer in distance and time than Al Maktoum, Sharjah International Airport is transforming itself into an optimal choice for SMEs operating in both the cargo and passenger transport segments. The airport is home to locally kept aircraft, a convenient stopover for refueling or FBO services, and a stepping stone for business and leisure travelers continuing on to Dubai.
In recent years, passenger and cargo numbers have shown favorable growth. In 2015, over 10 million passengers passed through the airport, representing a 5.5% increase from 2014. In YoY terms, there was a 12% increase in passenger traffic in 1Q2016, with even higher growth predicted for the end of the year. Meanwhile, air freight demand was projected to reach AED1.28 billion from 2012 to 2016. "Sharjah International Airport is expanding and growing; there are many attractive areas for foreign investment in general aviation, aircraft maintenance services, aircraft hangars, and other aviation activities," HE Ali Salim Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah International Airport, told TBY.
The airport is known for its efficient procedures, excellent services and facilities, and its strategic location, but the potential for growth as aviation companies tap into new segments of the air transportation market is what makes it an increasingly attractive base for SMEs. The support of the Department of Civil Aviation and the Sharjah Airport Authority has also helped attract investors that can not only benefit from the opportunities of working at an up-and-coming aviation center, but also contribute positively to Sharjah itself. Gama Aviation, an FBO provider operating in four locations worldwide, has capitalized on the opportunity. "It is a win-win situation," Martin Ringrose, Managing Director of Gama Aviation Middle East, told TBY. "We have taken [the airport] from a position where there was no business aviation here, to becoming a thriving business hub… also bringing new business to the other suppliers here."
A smaller scale of operations means a friendly, welcoming atmosphere for new companies and SMEs, many of which have found Sharjah an ideal place to conduct customized business in niche segments. "Though volumes of our operation are smaller, we are focusing on providing personalized service and tailored solutions to our customers and that is how we gain their loyalty," Saleh Al Aroud, Chairman of Rus Aviation, told TBY. Medium-sized companies like Rus Aviation have taken advantage of the potential in Sharjah by having full control of cargo handling from acceptance until departure. Having grown in parallel with the airport, Rus Aviation also enjoys the support of the Sharjah Airport Authority, and serves all the national carriers, including Etihad, Air Arabia, and Emirates. Now the company is looking to expand beyond the borders of the UAE, having signed an agreement with Etihad Rail and plans to expand its volume to the wider GCC.
Another key element destined to boost success in the air transportation segment has been the creation of a free zone within the airport. Setting up in the Sharjah International Airport Free Zone (SAIF ZONE) means less costs, efficient and straightforward customs processing, and accessibility to local government offices, maritime cargo connections, and the airport itself. Established in 1995, SAIF ZONE has a 24-hour licensing service, allowing businesses to be up and running quickly, and giving Sharjah a leading edge in the region. "We like the competitive advantage of being in Sharjah," Dr. Pirouz Hamidian-Rad, Chairman and CEO of Emir Aviation Services International FZC, told TBY. "[We] will continue to develop here with support from a conducive development strategy for the aviation sector." Over 5,500 companies are already based in SAIF ZONE, including global manufacturing, media, trading, and IT firms.
While plans for an integrated GCC railway is still in the works, land transportation to and from Sharjah still depends on road infrastructure, supported by three main deepwater ports: Port Khalid, Khor Fakkan, and Hamriyah Port. All three are managed by government-sanctioned Gulftainer, the largest port operator in the Middle East. As cargo increases faster than the ports can keep up, and expansion is limited by geography, the main challenge for Gulftainer in Sharjah is to increase the efficiency of its operations and make better use of the space available. "There are still big margins to improve productivity," Flemming Dalgaard, CEO of Gulftainer, told TBY, adding, "We have been using our existing space more efficiently. You can grow without expanding physically, and that is what we have been doing."
Port Khalid is located in Sharjah's city center, a mainstay of the Emirate's maritime and commercial industry for thousands of years. Since then, the port has become the first in the region to establish a container terminal, a Ro-Ro terminal, and a free trade terminal. Its other main features include a cold store with 5,000 tons of public capacity and 3,500 tons of private capacity, as well as six 4,600-sqm warehouses and five 7,200-sqm warehouses. Meanwhile, Khor Fakkan is located outside of the Strait of Hormuz and along the main east-west shipping route, and is the region's only natural deepwater port. It boasts the capacity to handle up to 5,000,000 TEUs per year. A few kilometers away lies Hamriyah Port, which exports petrochemicals and general cargo from its two container terminals, of 14m berth.
To maintain these three ports, Gulftainer places a focus on staying up to date with the latest equipment, technology, and workflow concepts. It also remains independent from financing institutions and larger shipping lines in order to be able to provide exactly what customers need. "We will tailor our products and services to meet those needs and deliver the best possible service, because we do not need to align those interests with the interests of other stakeholders. We are able to focus entirely on the customer," Dalgaard emphasized.
Recognizing that the UAE is a gateway for transhipment from East Africa, India, and beyond, Gulftainer sees Sharjah—with its free zones, transparency, world-class infrastructure, and quality control—as the ideal place for logistics SMEs to set up, benefitting from the overflow in other parts of the GCC. In response, Gulftainer has invested heavily in the Emirate, setting up its subsidiaries Momentum Logistics and Avalon Logistics to cover warehousing, trucking, custom clearance, and container repair. In total, Gulftainer provides 3,500 jobs.
The nascent transportation sector in Sharjah has led many operators to launch sophisticated human resources development programs, designed to further enhance the services that the Emirate can provide. Both Gulftainer and Rus Aviation highlighted the need for highly qualified and expertly trained staff during interviews. "We are now putting together a plan to invest more in our human resources; it is important to continuously train in the airline industry and we have trained a lot of our personnel," Rus Aviation Chairman Al Aroud told TBY. Gulftainer, too, sees an increase in capacity as one of the key building blocks for the future of transportation in Sharjah. In an interview with TBY, Gulftainer's Dalgaard explained, "We want to grow and expand, but our priority is to give the best possible customer service, and you need the best people to do so."


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Reims Cessna F152, G-OSFC, 24 May 2006
- From:
- Air Accidents Investigation Branch
- Date of occurrence:
- 24 May 2006
- Aircraft category:
- General aviation - fixed wing
- Report type:
- Bulletin - Correspondence investigation
- Aircraft type:
- Reims Cessna F152
- Location:
- 200 m short of Runway 22, Stapleford Aerodrome
- Registration:
Reims Cessna F152, G-OSFC
The aircraft crashed on short final approach in blustery conditions. The instructor reported that he believed the accident happened after 'windshear or a down-draft caused by the flow of air over the nearby hangars and trees caused the right wing to stall, and the aircraft to enter a spin to the right'. An aftercast from the Met Office stated that 'It is clear from both actual reports and radar imagery that a great deal of showery/CB activity lay over south-east and Central England at the time of the accident'.
Download report:
Reims Cessna F152, G-OSFC.pdf (320.04 kb)
Document information
Date of occurrence: 24 May 2006
From: Air Accidents Investigation Branch
Aircraft category: General aviation - fixed wing
Report type: Bulletin - Correspondence investigation
Aircraft type: Reims Cessna F152
Location: 200 m short of Runway 22, Stapleford Aerodrome
Registration: G-OSFC

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Cars
- New cars
- Tata
- Tata Indigo eCS
- Reviews
- Perfect option for middle class families
Perfect option for middle class families
User review on Tata Indigo eCS written by Pramir Roy Coudhury on 14 July 2015
Pramir Roy Coudhury's review on Tata Indigo eCS LS (TDI) BS III
Year of Manufacture : 2014 | Driven no. of Kms. : 22000
- Pros: Cost efficient, high fuel efficiency
- Cons: Outdated styling, quality of Interiors
I bought my car last year. The Indigo eCS is surely a cost efficient car and also provides a pretty good mileage figure. The car provides a spacious cabin with enough room space. The sedan is a good for travelling 4-5 people comfortably. The car is worth the amount that one has to pay for making it his or her own.
Read more →
User Reviews for Tata Indigo eCS Competitors
Maruti Suzuki Dzire
Honda Amaze
Hyundai Xcent
Tata Zest


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Sat 12th Jan 2013 9:00amConstantinesurf's Harlyn Surf Report
Surf conditions at 7.40 a.m. on Saturday 12th January 2013: There's a bit of a sideshore ruffle on those small waves, those small and crumbly waves! The swell is mainly rolling straight past the bay this morning but that is on the dropping tide too, so there might be a little more happening on this afternoon's incoing Spring tide. With the other side going off in such style and lots of other main breaks holding great, great shape, this kind of looks like a non-contender but there are a couple wading out in the half light and another getting changed, so maybe they see something different. If Harlyn is your favourite, then it might be worth a little look back this afternoon. But with this swell and that breeze, I think that it is a day for the other side! WWW.CONSTANTINESURF.COM is the place to go for our early bird SURF REPORT for Constantine Bay and Harlyn Bay as well as the surf forecast for tomorrow and the week ahead! Click on over and check out our shop while browsing images and info from the area. WWW.CONSTANTINESURF.COM
View the Harlyn Surf Report and Forecast. Constantinesurf's Reports have received a total of 1654725 views.
This report has received 644 views since 12/1/13.


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Published: Tuesday 14th October 2014 by The News Editor
A group of senior police officers in charge of keeping undercover policing in check lacks "teeth" and should be overhauled immediately, a damning report by inspectors has said.
A "root and branch" shake-up of the National Undercover Working Group, which aims to raise standards in undercover policing, is needed to address an "absence of scrutiny and challenge" of the covert tactic, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said.
It has been revealed that Metropolitan Police Commander Richard Martin stepped down as chairman of the Working Group during HMIC's inspection, which was commissioned by the Home Secretary in the wake of a series of scandals surrounding undercover policing.
"Poor knowledge and lack of expertise" among senior leaders was blocking progress in undercover policing, the inspectors found, despite recent criticism of tactics used by officers, such as forming sexual relationships with women they spied on and adopting dead children's identities.
In its report, HMIC reveals for the first time that there are 1,229 undercover officers working in England and Wales and a total of 3,466 undercover operations were authorised between October 2009 and September 2013.
Inspector Stephen Otter, who led the inspection, said: "It was disappointing to find inconsistencies and shortcomings in the way undercover officers were supported by policies, systems and training across the country.
"Throughout our inspection, undercover officers were consistent in voicing their concerns about the ways in which forces required them to work differently from other forces and from what they understood from their training to be a nationally agreed way of working.
"This is clearly inefficient and, at worst, could lead to avoidable mistakes being made."
Inspectors raise concerns about the "poor knowledge and lack of expertise" of senior leaders who authorise the use of undercover officers, although they found officers themselves to be "knowledgeable, professional and courageous".
HMIC said the professional standards body, the College of Policing, had to cancel three of the four courses which it had organised for authorising officers as the the numbers of chief officers signing up to attend was so low.
"It did not come as any surprise to us, therefore, to find that the quality of written authorities by assistant chief constables varied greatly, with too many not providing sufficient details to explain the necessity and proportionality of the decision to authorise the deployment of undercover officers," the report said.
Elsewhere, the Inspectorate criticises the lack of psychological support in some forces and has called for a combined 10-year cap on length of tenure for foundation and advanced undercover officers after it found an example of one officer who had worked on undercover operations for more than 20 years.
Inspectors said it was "disappointing" to find "material weaknesses" in the leadership of undercover policing and urged c hief constables to work together immediately to adopt a single set of standard operating procedures.
Commander Martin remains a member of the Working Group but was replaced as chairman by Bedfordshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.
Mr Martin, a former British Army serviceman, became national lead for undercover policing in January 2013. He joined West Midlands Police in 1994 and moved to the Metropolitan Police in 2004 following a stint in the National Criminal Intelligence Service.
It found that a review by the now-defunct National Policing Improvement Agency, which finished in July 2012, was broadly ignored by the Working Group with many forces yet to implement its recommendations.
HMIC found the Working Group lacked " effective and co-ordinated direction", was "un clear about its role" and its chair and members were also unclear about how it was being held to account for the work which it was undertaking.
"This is unacceptable, especially in the light of today's widely-held understanding of just how important sound oversight of this essential yet intrusive police tactic is," the report added .
Elsewhere, a "culture of secrecy amongst the undercover community" and a view that the "undercover community has been nailed shut for years" were hindering progress.
Inspectors said in one instance they were initially denied access to covert premises housing an undercover unit and were told that "chief officers were not allowed access to the same premises".
This "closed" attitude was behind the "failure" of the police to adapt undercover policing response to online threats such as child sexual exploitation.
It found that 25 forces had a dedicated undercover online capability, 13 further forces worked with neighbouring forces on the issue and five forces did not have any undercover online capability at all.
It added that the official Authorised Professional Practice Covert Undercover Operations guidance was not fit for purpose.
Mr Boutcher said: "Commander Richard Martin made a decision in August 2014 that, as undercover policing is such an important issue, the working group would benefit from the leadership of a more senior police officer with a greater influence nationally.
"The role was advertised to chief police officers and I was appointed to take on leadership of the group.
"Richard Martin is still providing a valuable contribution to the working group and has done an outstanding job in designing the programme of work that is now delivering the improvements that the report recommends."
Published: Tuesday 14th October 2014 by The News Editor


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Former PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN and current HELLYEAH drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott is one of a number of musicians who have come out in support of LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe, who is facing manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic.Blythe, 41, is accused of causing the fatal injury that occurred at LAMB OF GOD's May 24, 2010 show in Prague. The singer allegedly either pushed or struck a 19-year-old fan named Daniel N. — a guitarist in a local metal band — and that person died almost a month later of bleeding in the brain. Randy has been charged with causing "bodily harm of the fourth degree, resulting in the death of a fan" and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Vinnie Paul's brother "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, the co-founder and lead guitarist of PANTERA, was killed on December 8, 2004 while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. Speaking to Loudwire about Blythe's incarceration, Vinnie said (see video below), "I'd just like to say, to start with, it's a bad situation all the way around. I mean, some situations are kind of screwy here and there; [but this is] a bad situation all the way around. I don't know anything about their laws over there [in the Czech Republic], I don't know exactly what happened, but, to me, it seems like [Randy is] being made some kind of scapegoat." He continued, "After seeing what happened first-hand to my brother, none of us thought that there was an evil bone in that guy's [Nathan Gale] skin when he came up on stage — he looked like a security guard or a cop — and ten seconds later, four people are dead. So you don't know what these people's intentions are when they come up on stage. Slash has been attacked on stage… several [other] people [as well]. You just don't know. You don't know if that's gonna be a high five, or a loose cannon with a fucking knife. So, if [Randy] did anything to protect himself, he had a right to, as far as I'm concerned. There's no way I could picture Randy Blythe wanting to harm anybody — he's the fucking nicest guy in the fucking world. It's just a bad situation. And we feel for the person that died; obviously, that's a tragedy. But, once again, like I said, we don't live there, we don't know exactly what happened, but it sure does look like [Randy is] paying a price for something that maybe he didn't do."
VINNIE PAUL: It Seems Like RANDY BLYTHE Is Being Made Some Kind Of Scapegoat
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The Friends of Cuerden Hall Residents have launched their first event in conjunction with the Broughton Players to raise funds for Sue Ryder.
They are hosting a Murder Mystery evening on October 26 at School Lane Club, Bamber Bridge, from 7.30pm. The murder mystery will be performed by Broughton Players, after which, guests can decide 'who dunnit' over a hotpot supper.
There will also be a quiz and a raffle. Tickets are £7.50 from the Sue Ryder shop, Leyland; Sue Ryder Cuerden Hall; Sainsburys; the Withy Arms; and School Lane Club, Bamber Bridge.


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Recently the Rev. Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, was a guest on "The Spiritual Life" radio show produced by the First Parish Church in Duxbury, MA. In this program much of Rev. Morales' campaign platform is revisited.
First Parish's weekly radio program, "The Spiritual Life: Growing a Soul and Helping Repair the World," airs Sunday mornings at 6:30 a.m. on WATD, 95.9 FM. Two programs — one devoted to "Spirituality and Faith" and the other to how we put our "Faith into Action" — are aired the first and second Sundays and repeated the third and fourth Sundays of the month.
Listen to the program Direct link to half hour Mp3.
Visit the show's page on the First Parish Church Duxbury, MA website
UPDATE: More interviews with our Association's president . Know of other interviews with Rev. Peter Morales? We'd love to know about them.
On September 30, 2009, Dr. Becker interviewed the Rev. Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, on Spirit Talk, Rev Randy's M-W-F 2pm program on KONK-am.
You may access the audio recording here. Thanks to Randy Becker for bringing this to our attention.


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Search ends after 'passenger goes overboard' on ferry in English Channel
A SEARCH for a passenger who reportedly went overboard on a ferry in the English Channel has ended.
A passenger was reported missing at around 1.30am on Thursday as the Pride of Kent ferry was around six miles off the Dover coast.
RNLI lifeboats, a helicopter from Lee-on-Solent and a tug boat from the Port of Dover were all involved in the search.
The operation was originally described as "massive" as it was feared a female passenger from the ferry was missing.
But all the passengers and crew were accounted for when the ship docked in Calais, France.
However a witness on board the vessel insists they saw someone fall into the water.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency statement said: "The Pride of Kent has arrived at Calais and a head count has been carried out.
"All crew and passengers, including the woman believed to be missing, have been accounted for safe and well.
"However, a witness on board the ferry insists they saw someone go overboard.
"The search involving two lifeboats from Dover and Dungeness is continuing."
A spokesman for the HM Coastguard earlier announced: "Dover Coastguard was contacted just after 1.30am by the ferry who reported that a female passenger was missing and they believed she had gone overboard.
"At the time they were approximately six miles off Dover.
"A massive search was launched, including the Coastguard helicopter from Lee-on-Solent, RNLI lifeboats from Dungeness, Dover and Walmer plus the lifeboat from Calais, along with a tug boat from the Port of Dover and other ferries that have been passing through the area."


text:
Log-AndError 1.01 Latest
Kwalitee Issues
- buildtool_not_executable
Change the permissions of Build.PL/Makefile.PL to not-executable.
- has_meta_yml
Add a META.yml to the distribution. Your buildtool should be able to autogenerate it.
- manifest_matches_dist
Run a proper command ("make manifest" or "./Build manifest", maybe with a force option), or use a distribution builder to generate the MANIFEST. Or update MANIFEST manually.
- MANIFEST (8) does not match dist (11):
- Missing in MANIFEST: .DS_Store, devel/x.pl, lib/.DS_Store
- no_pod_errors
Remove the POD errors. You can check for POD errors automatically by including Test::Pod to your test suite.
Error: Log-AndError/lib/Log/AndError.pm -- Around line 539: =over without closing =back
- consistent_version
Split the distribution, or fix the version numbers to make them consistent (use the highest version number to avoid version downgrade).
Error: 0.01,1.01
- has_meta_json
Add a META.json to the distribution. Your buildtool should be able to autogenerate it.
- meta_yml_has_license
Define the license if you are using in Build.PL. If you are using MakeMaker (Makefile.PL) you should upgrade to ExtUtils::MakeMaker version 6.31.
- use_warnings
Add 'use warnings' (or its equivalents) to all modules (this will require perl > 5.6), or convince us that your favorite module is well-known enough and people can easily see the modules warn when something bad happens.
Error: Log::AndError, Log::AndError::Constants
- has_separate_license_file
This is not a critical issue. Currently mainly informative for the CPANTS authors. It might be removed later.


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Happy Friday!! I'm excited for today's third Fab Favorites Link Up! It's been so brilliant reading all your posts and discovering new bloggers. Remember… let's meet here every week and share what we love, you can link up anything… one of your previous posts that you like, or a post about your favorite things. It could be anything!
Plus, each week I'll be joined by some wonderful Co-Hosts! Today, we're lucky to have Kahana from A Beautiful Life and Janise from Mama In Heels with us, be sure to go and say a big hello! If you're interested in co-hosting, please email me for details. And finally, I'm excited to share a few of my favorite things this week, I feel like the stores went quiet for a while with stock, but over the last couple of days I've found so many pieces I adore (sorry bank balance!)…
|STYLE ELIXIR (Follow here!) | A BEAUTIFUL LIFE (Follow here!) | MAMA IN HEELS (Follow here!)
Join The Link Up Now!
|STYLE ELIXIR (Follow here!) | BOHEMIAN BUNNY (Follow here!) | RHEA ETCETERA (Follow here!)
Friday's Fab Favorites Link Up:
Andrea from Bohemian Bunny (follow via Bloglovin')
Rhea from Rhea Etcetera (follow via Bloglovin')
2. Link up anything… it could be one of your previous posts that you like, or a post about your favorite things!
3. Please include a link back to this post within your post (because it's such a nice thing to do!)
4. Now simply add your link below! We hope you all enjoy meeting other boggers and discovering some new things.
5. If you would like to Co-Host Friday's Fab Favorites, email firstname.lastname@example.com for more details!


text:
The U.S. needs more than a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow to conquer the next technological challenge, say critics of a proposed battery bounty. The research tab for developing superior a next-generation battery for hybrid-electric vehicles will far exceed the $300 million prize put forward by presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain, leading consultants say, adding incentive money is better spent up front. And additional funds must be set aside to promote the ...
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Britain's new coalition government will introduce a levy on banks under a major overhaul aimed at preventing another global financial crisis, according to a joint accord published Wednesday.
"The parties agree that reform to the banking system is essential to avoid a repeat of Labour's financial crisis, to promote a competitive economy, to sustain the recovery and to protect and sustain jobs," said the agreement between the new centre-right coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
"We agree that a banking levy will be introduced. We will seek a detailed agreement on implementation."
Britain's Conservative party, led by new Prime Minister David Cameron, has forged a coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats that ended 13 years of Labour Party rule.
The pair said Wednesday that they would seek to examine whether retail and investment banking divisions could be separated to lessen risk in the financial system -- which was a key plank of the Liberal Democrat election manifesto.
"The parties wish to reduce systemic risk in the banking system and will establish an independent commission to investigate the complex issue of separating retail and investment banking in a sustainable way," they said
"While recognising that this would take time to get right, the commission will be given an initial time frame of one year to report."
The coalition will also seek to grant wider oversight powers to the Bank of England, overhauling the regulatory system under which the global financial crisis erupted in 2007.
"We agree to bring forward proposals to give the Bank of England control of macro-prudential regulation and oversight of micro-prudential regulation."
The two political parties also said they would work towards increasing the level at which people began to pay income tax -- eventually to 10,000 pounds (11,723 euros, 14,878 dollars) compared with the current level of 6,475 pounds.
"The parties agree that the personal allowance for income tax should be increased in order to help lower and middle income earners.
"We also agree to a longer-term policy objective of further increasing the personal allowance to 10,000 pounds, making further real steps each year towards this objective."
The coalition added that it would seek to link the basic state pension with average earnings from April 2011, instead of with the rate of inflation. The earnings link was scrapped in 1980 under Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government.


text:
Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
May 25 (Reuters) - Vadilal Enterprises Ltd
* Says recommended a dividend of INR 0.80 per share Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2017 Reuters. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Claymore Episode 17 English Subbed
You are watching Claymore Episode 17 English Subbed from the Claymore Anime Show. Watch or Download Claymore Episode 17 MP4 English Sub and other episodes of Claymore Streamed for Free.
"The Witch's Maw (Part 3)"
Stream Claymore Episode 17
Episode Summary: Clare manages to bring Jean back from an awakened state, gaining her loyalty, and returns to help Galatea. Together, the battle shifts and Dauf is defeated, though Riful saves his life. Clare finally lands a hit on Riful and so she explains about the Northern Kingdom and the name of its ruler, Isley. Galatea returns to her mission objective to return Clare to the organization, but decides to abandon it.


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Under the Civil Rights Act (U.S. Code Title 42 Section 1983) and other federal and state civil rights laws, people who have been treated unjustly by the police, prison guards and other agents of the government can sue for money damages and other types of legal redress.
At BarketMarion, our attorneys pursue civil rights on behalf of clients on Long Island and in New York City, helping them obtain fair compensation for police brutality, unlawful detention and imprisonment, and other violations of their civil and constitutional rights.
We handle cases involving all types of allegations against government entities, including:
- Police misconduct: We hold police departments accountable for abuses such as the use of excessive force during arrests, false arrests and unjustified warrantless searches.
- Prison misconduct: We help the inmates of prisons and jails take legal action in response to violations such as physical abuse, sexual abuse and misuse of solitary confinement.
- Prosecutorial misconduct: We pursue civil rights claims against criminal prosecutors who have abused their positions to take unwarranted and malicious actions against our clients.
Misconduct by those entrusted to protect and serve us must never be tolerated, and our attorneys see to it that deserving victims of such abuses have their day in court.


text:
View Product Bulletin
View Installation Video
Evocative of the traditional Japanese deep-soaking "ofuro" tub, the PureScape 034 Freestanding Acrylic Bathtub is a singular bathing experience. This tub is extra deep, eighteen inches from drain to overflow line, and is perfect for full-body soaks. Its solid, one-piece construction is perfectly complimented by its steep-sided, tiered exterior walls that have been inspired by their originals and recreated in modern materials. The premium acrylic material and thick-sturdy walls also provide for excellent heat retention. At forty inches wide this is our smallest, most space-conscious tub, and it can therefore provide the Aquatica bathing experience in even the most compact of bathrooms.
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♂ Jordell
What does Jordell mean?
Jordell as a boys' name has its root in Hebrew, and the name Jordell means "down-flowing". Jordell is an alternate spelling of Jordan (Hebrew).
ASSOCIATED WITH Jo-
OTHER FORMS VIA JORDAN Jordaan, Jordain, Jordao, Jorden, Jordi, Jordon▼, Jordy▲, JordynCREATIVE FORMS
Jordell Diego (J.D.), ..
How popular is Jordell?
Jordell is an uncommonly occurring given name for males. Jordell is an equally unusual last name for all people. (2000 U.S. DEMOGRAPHICS)
Which version is better?
Jordan (#60 FROM RECENT DATA), Jordy (#874), Jordyn (#966), Jordi (#1175), Jorden (#1191) and Jordon (#1624) are the popular variation forms of Jordell (NOT RANKED) appearing in the Top 2000. Other forms, like Jordain, are uncommon. These relations of Jordell reached the height of their popularity 18 years ago (USAGE OF 0.84%) and are now significantly less widespread (USAGE 0.38%, 55% LESS), with the form Jordon becoming somewhat outmoded. Jordy is the most fashionable boy name here. (2015 U.S. SSA RECORDS)
Similar Names
Recommended sound-alike names are Ardell, Cardell, Codell, Cordell, Cordelle, Cornell, Coryell, Dorrell, Gardell, Gorrell, Jarell, Jarrell, Jarvell, Jerell, Jerrell▼, Joell, Jontell (see Jonte), Jorel, Jorell, Jorrel, Jorrell, Kordel, Kordell, Kordelle, Kornell, Lornell (see Lorne), Morell, Morrell, Norvell, Norwell, Rodell, Sorrell, Verdell, Vondell and Wardell. These names tend to be more commonly used than Jordell.See names in meaning and etymology.


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- Arrest Number: 2009036990
- First Name: SAMANTHA
- Last Name: MATTHEWS
- Middle Name: MARIE
- Suffix:
- Current Age: 39
- Booking Date: 1/11/2017 2:12:00 PM
- Height: 5' 7"
- Weight: 145 lbs
- Hair Color: BROWN
- Eye Color: BLUE
- Race: White
- Sex: F
- Arresting Agency: PULASKI CO. SHERIFF DEPT.
- Arrest Date: 01/11/2017
- City: Winamac
- State: Indiana
booking information
SAMANTHA MATTHEWS was booked on 1/11/2017 2:12:00 PM. MATTHEWS was arrested by PULASKI CO. SHERIFF DEPT. in Winamac, Indiana. MATTHEWS was 39 years old at the time of the arrest.
SAMANTHA MATTHEWS may not have been convicted of the charges or crimes listed and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Please contact the PULASKI CO. SHERIFF DEPT. for more information regarding arrest records.
We are not affiliated with the PULASKI CO. SHERIFF DEPT. and we cannot make any claims as to the validity of the records provided by them.


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I'm considering a visit to Versailles during our 1st trip to Paris in July. We have 8 nights in Paris, and we would do a day-trip to Versailles. (After Paris we'll be taking the train to Switzerland.)
With 8 nights in Paris, is Versailles a must see? I dislike crowds, especially indoors, where they can make me feel claustrophobic. But I'm intrigued by the history of Versailles. Also, the fountains only run on weekends in July...and I understand weekends are the most crowded days for Versailles. Should we avoid a weekend visit to Versailles, and just miss the fountains & music show?
So here's what I'm considering:
--buy Museum Pass in advance
--Pre-book the 1.5 hour tour of the royal apartments at palace for 7 euros in order to skip the line at Versailles
--Take train to Versailles and arrive before 9:00am
-- Do the 1.5 hour pre-booked royal apartments tour in the morning (9:30 to 11:00, I think)
--Exit palace at 11:00 and head for Marie's hamlet
--Visit gardens after Marie's hamlet & have lunch
--Re-enter the palace at 4:30 to see the room we missed. (palace closes at 6:30 in July?)
What do you think? Will this plan be enjoyable, and allow us to avoid the worst of the crowds? Should we avoid Versailles on weekends when the fountains are running? Or is that water & music show really worth it? Or is it touristy?
OR we could skip Versailles and do a different day-trip from Paris? To where? Giverny? Fountainbleau? Although I'm fascinated by Versailles, I tend to be happiest if I can plan on avoiding the worst of the crowds, and find a peaceful spot.
Thanks for your thoughts, advice and opinions!
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Versailles & musical fountains: Touristy or Magical? Skip it or Don't Miss?
I'm considering a visit to Versailles during our 1st trip to Paris in July. We have 8 nights in Paris, and we would do a day-trip to Versailles. (After Paris we'll be taking the train to Switzerland.)
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I really enjoyed the gardens of Versailles and I was there on a holiday when, because entrance to the gardens were free, thousands and thousands and thousands of people were there. The gardens are so vast, there was no sense of crowding in the slightest. You'd need millions of people there for that to happen.
Not so, of course, the interior of the palace, which is everything you fear. I happen to be bored blind by most palaces anyway, and while enjoyed looking out the windows from the hall of mirrors, I otherwise could have skipped it. Heresy to many, but I've since learned to skip most palace interiors everywhere. Just not my style. However, if you are interested, a 1.5 hour tour sounds efficient and yes, not on a weekend.
Inside or out, Versailles is the very definition of a tourist attraction. However, not much is tricked up for tourists (there is recorded music now instead of court musicians). While the fountains were turned on while I was in the gardens, and there was music all around, I didn't actually witness a music and fountain show, and didn't feel deprived-- but I don't think I would have avoided it for fear of crowds if I wanted to see it. For me, part of the fun of being at Versailles with so many other people was the feeling that the louts got the boot and the ordinary people got the palace! Vive la revolution!
If you are fascinated by Versailles, you can find plenty of peace and quiet, certainly if you are willing to hike over to Marie's hameu. Although I wasn't playing close attention, it did appear to me that visitors could rent bikes (as well as rowboats for the lake), and were I going again, I might opt for renting a bike to get around the gardens.
Overall, I was surprised I liked Versailes so much.
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you can also get a "petit train" to the Hameau which should save the legs.
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If I can add one more thought: Versailles is really not only emblematic of a certain extremely important aspect of French culture and history, and embedded in the national identity, it also served as the model for practically all other super-fabulous royal or state gardens the world over, and later public gardens too -- and I am not sure Versailles has ever been topped for grandeur that still manages to be harmoniously beautiful. If that sort of thing interests you, then Versailles is the mother ship, and reshaped a lot of the man-made world.
As for Giverny as an alternate, be aware that the most important part of the gardens from an historic and aesthetic viewpoint are fairly small, and the gardens attract a great, great many people in summertime. For those who are students and lovers of Monet's work, it is thrilling to see -- but even the most diehard Monet enthusiast would probably have a hard time dealing with the crowds in July.
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sandralist: Please do add as many thoughts as you'd like! I enjoy hearing everyone's varied experiences at Versailles. The main reason I like palaces is to imagine the people living there. But being trapped in a tourist sandwich wouldn't achieve this goal. So, I'm leaving towards booking that short 1.5 hour tour of the royal apartments, and skipping the rest of the insides of the palace.
The gardens and Marie's hamlet sounds very enjoyable. I don't actually care about the music & fountain show, but it would be nice to see the fountains running though. However that's only possible on weekends in July.
I'm leaning towards going on a weekday in July when the fountains aren't running. Just unsure if that's the best choice for us.
Also good to know that Giverny would also be crowded in July. Then we won't do both Giverny and Versailles.
annhig: Thanks, I'll look up more info about the petit train to the Hameau. Is the Hameau Marie's Hamlet?
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If seeing the special weekend fountain diplays is not a 'must' for you, then a better plan is probably weekdays. Never having been there in July, I don't know really know how much of an advantage that is. I think you do need to set your psyche on zen-for-crowds, and let your imagination take you into a different dimension.
But once you are out of the interiors, I don't think you will feel the gardens are "crowded". There are entire international airfields smaller than the grounds of Versailles. Walking around the gardens, you will also be able to feel how it was to live there. You will also probably understand why Marie Antoinette wanted someplace that was cosy, homey and private -- away from non-stop show-off nature of the court and its constant parade of parties.
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Mrs. Peabody and I did an unconventional visit to Versailles. We had previously toured the palace, so we skipped it. We walked the grounds and gardens, toured the Trianons Grand and Petit, and visited the Hamlet. We sat by the fountains while they tested them for a night show. We walked about 5 miles (pedometer!) and had a wonderful day. Nothing even resembled a crowd.
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The first time I went to Versailles was a rainy, cold, overcast Thursday in September and it was still packed with people. The castle is going to be crowded, no matter when you go. I can't even imagine how it would be in July. I was happy to see the inside but it's not something I would do again and while I don't think I'm as bothered by tourists as other people, I really didn't enjoy how crowded that was. Still I think the very early 1.5 hour tour sounds pretty good. You still get to see the palace and we didn't do a tour but we took around that much time anyway.
But really, the gardens are the highlight. I've never seen the magical fountains and definitely wouldn't pay extra for that but honestly, the gardens will be impressive whether you see that or not. The grounds are MASSIVE. I went and wandered around in the gardens on a free Tuesday in spring and I still didn't make it to Marie Antoinette's hamlet because it's just so darn far. But it is SO beautiful and I'm sure it will be spectacular and lovely that time of year. I actually loved walking around the gardens and seeing all these people, French and tourists, lolling about and enjoying the grounds because in the age of royalty, none of us would have even gotten beyond the gates. I felt very fortunate to be able to enjoy those gardens now and for free! Even though there will be a lot of people, it's so big that it's unlikely to feel crowded. And you can even rent a boat and go boating on the Grand Canal. Have fun.
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To be honest, the interior of the palace with be VERY crowded in July. I think the palace is a bit underwhelming because it was ransacked after the revolution but the gardens, farm and outlying buildings are spectacular. If you go, remember that once you get through the palace you will have plenty of space in the gardens. They are worth it.
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are there any night-time visits available when you will be there?
that might be an idea to miss most of the crowds.
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Thanks for all the ideas! annhig, I can see if Versailles is open at night during our visit in July. But since they have night-time shows, I'm guessing those could be crowded as well?
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This thread is very old so things might have changed, but if they haven't, the amount of detail about the nighttime events at Versailles is useful
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Versailles is an awesome place to relax and enjoy your holiday. 100% recommended! The musical fountain especially is worth looking.
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I think if you skip Versailles you'll regret it. Now, given your statement: "I dislike crowds, especially indoors, where they can make me feel claustrophobic." let's talk about another palace, in fact the largest one in Europe: The Louvre.
Don't like crowds? I suggest you figure out a way, NOW, to negotiate the place.
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This thread is 2 years old...likely the OP has been and gone.
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After ACC Concrete put on hold its ready-mix concrete expansion plans, it is now the turn of Aditya Birla Group. Grasim, which has been hit by the slowdown in the real estate sector, will not make any further investment in RMC unless demand picks up.
"Grasim has slowed down on its RMC expansion and is not planning any further investment in FY10," Sanjeev Bafna, president and deputy CFO of Grasim, told FE.
Bafna further said the company has spend about Rs 300 crore in expanding its RMC business so far, of which hardly Rs 100 crore was spent in FY09. Grasim currently has 39 RMC units and UltraTech has about 27 units in operation. Published under Cement News


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Fall weather has arrived, and it's time to change up our pie baking to match the season.
This is the time of year when we love pies filled with apples, pumpkin or sweet potato, but why stop there? Why not make an Osgood pie?
What, you may ask, is that?
Some cookbooks say to think of a chess pie or vinegar pie with the addition of raisins, nuts and spice in sweet custard. That certainly sounds good, but it somehow shortchanges the uniqueness of this pie. The version I made reminded friends more of a fruitcake pie, only without the hated waxy citron cherries and pineapple.
There was no Osgood, at least so far as culinary history can show. Several cookbook writers, including Betty Furness, call it an oh-so-good pie, which leads many to think Osgood is merely a condensed version of that. That may also explain why this old-fashioned wonder is also known as allgood pie in some quarters, according to The Big Apple, a online compendium of food references.
But no one knows who made the first oh-so-good pie or where. Some legends point to Texas, others merely to some Southern region in which pecans grow. In the news clippings references on The Big Apple, the earliest mention dates back to neither; it is from the Indianapolis Star in 1911. More mentions arose in the 1920s and 1930s, suggesting but the pie's popularity seems to have dropped off the charts in the 1950s.
By 1970, the Associated Press' food editor, Cecily Brownstone, professed she had never heard of the pie, The Big Apple reports. According to an article she wrote that appeared in the Dallas Morning News, "A Greenwich Village restaurant in New York City, specializing in Tex-Mex cuisine, serves an interesting dessert called Osgood Pie. When we first ate the pie there we didn't remember ever seeing a recipe for it. But searching among our 3,000 cookbooks yielded results: two cookbooks from Texas and one devoted to Southern cookery had versions of the dessert."
In my own collection, I found five versions of Osgood Pie in cookbooks as diverse as Morton G. Clark's "The Wide, Wide World of Texas Cooking" and "We Make You Kindly Welcome," a collection of Shaker recipes from Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. Both books appeared in 1970, the same year as Brownstone's article. Furness included Oh-So-Good Pie in her widely used 1954 "The Betty Furness Westinghouse Cookbook," and Woman's Day offered a version in its 1978 collection, "Old-Fashioned Desserts."
The 1989 "Eats: A Folk History of Texas Foods," by Ernestine Sewell Linck and Joyce Gibson Roach, offers no background on the pie, but the authors do make this observation: "Any of the molasses, raisin, chess, Osgood pies and their like — sticky, syrupy, often open-faced — could be called 'shoo-fly pies,' so called because of the worrisome winged visitors that came to the table uninvited. The children were given white cloths that they waved about to keep flies off the food."
They also quote a 1941 article from Virginia Walker on "Pie Suppers in East Texas" that sheds a little light on why Osgood pie was so highly regarded in the Depression era: "The people who lived a cut above the folk would bring some pie with a store-bought ingredient like raisins or coconut." It was a rare treat at a time when most people had to make do with what they had. It's still a rare treat that's worth the time it takes to make it.
Below are two variations on Osgood pie to get you started. I made the version from Woman's Day, which came together easily, except I don't have an 8-inch pie pan, so the filling in mine was a bit thin. No one seemed to mind it, especially when topped with whipped cream.
Few recipes for this dessert are alike, though most use raisins and pecans mixed with eggs, sugar and butter. Several versions add dates. Some call for vinegar, others for lemon juice. As for the spices, the choice of cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves is up to you. I may add different dried fruits, such as cherries or cranberries, the next time I make one. Or you could add chocolate chips, which is what a friend told me she expected when she saw the dark pieces in the pie filling before learning they were raisins; it may not be old-fashioned, but it would be oh so good.
Texas Osgood Pie
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 cup pecans
1 cup pitted, cut-up dates
1/2 cup white raisins
1 pinch salt
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar and beat in the egg yolks. Fold in nuts, dates, raisins and salt. Beat egg whites until stuff and fold into the mixture. Turn into pie shell and bake until done (about 45 minutes). Serve hot or cold.
Makes 6 or 8 servings.
From "The Wide, Wide World of Texas Cooking" by Morton G. Clark
Woman's Day's Osgood Pie
"Though the origin of this pie is unknown, recipes occasionally appear in regional cookbooks of Southern states where pecans are grown," according to Barbara Myers in the 1978 cookbook, "Woman's Day Old-Fashioned Desserts." "The chewy filling, which includes raisins as well as nuts, has a thin, crisp meringue crust that develops while baking." I thoroughly and gently folded the entire mass of egg whites into the dough and it formed no meringue on mine.
2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped raisins
2 egg whites
1 (8-inch) unbaked pie crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the egg yolks slightly. Add the sugar, melted butter, cinnamon cloves and vinegar. Blend well. Add the pecans and raisins. Mix well.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold in.
Turn the filling into the pie crust and spread evenly. Bake in oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until set. The egg whites will rise to the top, forming a thin crust. To test the filling, insert a toothpick halfway between the outer crust and the center; it should come out clean. Also, when done, the meringue will pull slightly away from the rest of the pie.
Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature. Cut with a thin, sharp knife to avoid crumbling the meringue crust.
Makes 6 or 8 servings.
From "Woman's Day Old-Fashioned Desserts" by Barbara Myers


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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
It is hard to imagine a more tempting subject for a biography than William Hogarth (1697-1764), a man whose life was so knotted up in the tangled issues of his time. His personal involvement in the new Foundling Hospital, in questions of copyright and the academy, allow Uglow (Elizabeth Gaskell) to reflect on social, philosophical and even commercial issues of the day. But it is mostly in her detailed and engrossing examination of the contexts and contents of Hogarth's work, particularly of his satires and his seriesA Rake's Progress, A Harlot's Progress, Marriage la Modethat Uglow elucidates Hogarth's life and Georgian society. Having trained as an engraver, Hogarth had roots in an art that was timely and popular. In many ways, Hogarth had more in common with friends like Henry Fielding, David Garrick and Laurence Sterne than with colleagues in the visual arts. In his sharp awareness of human frailty, he is very much a descendant of Swift; he even continues Swift's Battle of the Books, in a different mediumand on the side of the moderns. When many painters were aping anything Italian, particularly heroic history paintings, Hogarth was resolutely contemporary and English. As Uglow points out, "any fool could tell a pious tale, but true `morals' were inseparable from mores, the way people lived in their wild and glorious and dirty detail." It is this detail that Uglow brings to her portrait of the caustic, nave, vain, witty, generous Hogarth, and to his equally complicated times. 200 b&w illustrations, 14 color plates. British, translation, dramatic rights: Faber & Faber. (Nov.) FYI: In November, Yale will publish a new edition of Hogarth's The Analysis of Beauty. ($30 200p ISBN 0-300-07335-6; $15 paper -07346-1); in December, Univ. of California will publish an exhibition catalogue called Hogarth and His Times by David Bindman. 170 b&w illustrations, 6 color plates. ($45 208p ISBN 0-520-21299-1; $29.95 -21300-9)


text: 'To most visitors and locals, Darwin is a vibrant, tropical city in the Top End. Although not always obvious to visitors, Darwin is also a living Aboriginal cultural landscape. This book peels back layers to show the rich heritage and complex cultures of Aboriginal people, both before and since colonisation. It includes contemporary and historical sites that range from the harbour to the beaches, monsoon forests, gardens, parks, camping places, exhibitions, cultural displays and buildings in the CBD, supplemented by information about sites not accessible to visitors.' (Source: Publisher's website)


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50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind - #34 & #35
Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
I read a quote somewhere that it was your behaviour that makes you a good person, not your beliefs. I liked it, mostly because it was always something I wanted to say for a number of years but could never put it so concisely.
I went to school and worked with a lot of "religious" people who thought themselves to be morally upstanding people. I found them to be especially closed minded and impractical in their approach to the world we live in, and the worst, hypocritical. I learned of so many couples that "saved themselves for marriage" but had done everything sexual except intercourse... Really? I mean, I could care less what they did, but that they had the nerve to be condescending towards me and others because we hadn't "saved ourselves for marriage" was a bit much.
For a long time I didn't mention that I had any religious affiliation because I didn't want to be classed with people who promoted love and forgiveness but were quick to judge your life style choices. I wanted people to get to know me, and that I was a pretty open person, that I tried to live a balanced lifestyle, that just happened to include religion and spirituality. I believe that a healthy sense of spirituality is important, that it should have a place in your life, but shouldn't become your life.
Over the years of learning about religions, the history of religion, and religious people, I now know that it has always been about power: control over territory, resources, and people. Religion has been a long standing platform for people to exert power and
control and it's just been history repeating itself over and over again
because someone has a new interpretation about how life should be
Religious bodies continue to rope people in today because it promises the non-tangible needs to people that they are searching for
and want fulfilled: a sense of belonging, hope, forgiveness, a home,
charity, respite, etc etc. Innocent when you look at them this way, but quickly twisted by those in authoritative positions.
As my dad would say, "Don't hand your brain in at the door. God gave us a brain for a reason."


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Choose view
153 out of 240
Rank: 17 out of 44
Year Charter School Law Was Enacted: 1996
Estimated Number of Charter Schools in 2016-17: 66
Estimated Number of Charter School Students in 2016-17: 31,700
South Carolina law does not cap charter public school growth, provides multiple authorizing options to charter applicants, and provides a fair amount of autonomy and accountability to charter schools. However, it also provides inequitable funding to charter schools, especially around facilities, technology, and transportation.
Potential areas for improvement include ensuring equitable funding by increasing per-pupil funding, providing equitable access to capital funding, and ensuring access to vacant and underutilized facilities. South Carolina could also consider ensuring transparency regarding educational service providers, allowing multischool charter contracts or multicontract governing boards, and strengthening accountability for full-time virtual charter schools.
Model Law Component
South Carolina's Charter Law
1. No Caps
weight = 3 | Possible total = 12
South Carolina law does not place any caps on charter school growth.
1A. No numeric or geographic limits are placed on the number of charter schools or students.
1B. If caps exist, there is room for growth.
2. A Variety of Charter Public Schools Allowed
weight = 2 | Possible total = 8
South Carolina law allows new start-ups and public school conversions.
2A. New startups.
2B. Public school conversions.
3. Multiple Authorizers Available
Under South Carolina law, applicants can apply to their local school district, the South Carolina Public Charter School District, or a public or independent institution of higher learning that registers with the South Carolina Department of Education. There is considerable authorizing activity by local school districts and the South Carolina Public Charter School District.
3A. The state allows two or more authorizing options (e.g., school districts and a state charter schools commission) for each applicant with direct application to each authorizer.
4. Authorizer & Overall Program Accountability System Required
South Carolina law requires a public or an independent institution of higher learning that wants to serve as an authorizer to register with (not apply to) the South Carolina Department of Education. It does not require a registration process for local school boards to affirm their interest in chartering to the state.
South Carolina law requires a charter school to report annually to its authorizer and the authorizer shall compile those reports into a single document that must be submitted to the South Carolina Department of Education and that must include, at a minimum, the following: the number of students enrolled in the charter school from year to year; the success of students in achieving the specific educational goals for which the charter school was established; an analysis of achievement gaps among major groupings of students in both proficiency and growth; the identity and certification status of the teaching staff; the financial performance and sustainability of the authorizer's charter schools; and board performance and stewardship including compliance with applicable laws. It does not require the report to include information that summarizes the agency's authorizing activities.
While the law does not require the legislature and governor to regularly review the performance of the South Carolina Public Charter School District as an authorizer, they can do so at any time. In addition, the ability of the South Carolina Public Charter School District to continue authorizing can be removed by the legislature and governor (the entities that gave it that authority).
South Carolina law requires the state board of education to compile evaluations to include, but not be limited to, school report cards of charter schools received from authorizers. It requires the state board to review information regarding the regulations and policies from which charter schools were released to determine if the releases assisted or impeded the charter schools in meeting their stated goals and objectives.
The law does not require a regular review process by an authorizer oversight body of local school board and higher education authorizers and does not give an authorizer oversight body the authority to sanction local school board and higher education authorizers, including removal of authorizer right to approve schools.
4A. Registration process for school boards to affirm their interest in authorizing.
4B. Application process for other eligible authorizing entities (except a state charter schools commission).
4C. Authorizer submission of annual report.
4D. The ability for the state to conduct a review of an authorizer's performance.
4E. The ability for the state to sanction an authorizer for poor performance, including suspending an authorizer's authority to approve new schools.
4F. Periodic formal evaluation of overall state charter school program and outcomes.
5. Adequate Authorizer Funding
South Carolina law includes a small number of the model law's provisions for adequate authorizer funding.
South Carolina law provides that the South Carolina Public Charter School District may retain no more than two percent of the total state appropriations for each charter school it authorizes to cover the costs for overseeing its charter schools. The law provides that this fee does not include costs incurred in delivering services that a charter school may purchase at its discretion from the District. These provisions don't apply to local school board and higher education authorizers.
South Carolina law requires that all services centrally or otherwise provided by an authorizer including, but not limited to, food services, custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services, libraries, and warehousing are subject to negotiation between a charter school and the authorizer and must be outlined in the school's charter contract. The model law calls for such services to be included in a contract separate from the school's charter contract.
5A. A uniform statewide formula that guarantees annual authorizer funding that is not subject to annual legislative appropriations.
5B. Requirement to publicly report detailed authorizer expenditures.
5C. Separate contract for any services purchased from an authorizer by a school.
5D. Prohibition on authorizers requiring schools to purchase services from them.
6. Transparent Charter Application, Review, and Decisionmaking Processes
weight = 4 | Possible total = 16
South Carolina law provides application elements for all schools. The law provides additional application elements specific to conversion schools, educational service providers, and replications.
South Carolina law requires that decisions on applications must be made at a public hearing, with authorizers stating reasons for denials in writing.
6A. Application elements for all schools.
6B. Additional application elements specific to conversion schools.
6C. Additional application elements specific to using educational service providers.
6D. Additional application elements specific to replications.
6E. Requirement for thorough evaluation of each application, including an in-person interview and a public meeting.
6F. Application approval criteria.
6G. All charter approval or denial decisions made in a public meeting with authorizers stating reasons for denials in writing.
7. Performance-Based Charter Contracts Required
South Carolina law provides that a charter application constitutes an agreement between the charter school and the authorizer. It requires that a charter contract between the charter school and the authorizer must be executed and must reflect all provisions outlined in the applications as well as the roles, powers, responsibilities, and performance expectations for each party to the contract. However, it does not require that contracts define academic and operational performance expectations by which the school will be judged, based on a performance framework.
South Carolina law provides an initial term of 10 years with annual reviews.
7A. With such contracts being created as a separate document from the application and executed by the governing board of the charter school and the authorizer.
7B. With such contracts defining the roles, powers, and responsibilities for the school and its authorizer.
7C. With such contracts defining academic, financial, and operational performance expectations by which the school will be judged based on a performance framework.
7D. With such contracts providing an initial term of five operating years.
8. Comprehensive Charter School Monitoring and Data Collection Processes
South Carolina law requires that charter schools must report annually on performance data and other information to their authorizer and to the state department of education. South Carolina law requires authorizers to annually evaluate the progress schools make towards the pupil achievement standards identified in the charter application.
Under the law, charter schools must adhere to the accounting, auditing, and reporting procedures that are applicable to district public schools in South Carolina.
South Carolina law requires authorizers to conduct or require oversight activities that enable them to fulfill their responsibilities including conducting appropriate inquiries and investigations, but only if those activities are consistent with the intent of the state's charter law, adhere to the terms of the charter contract, and do not unduly inhibit the autonomy granted to charter schools.
South Carolina law requires authorizers to collect an annual report from each of their authorized schools and submit them to the South Carolina Department of Education.
The law requires an authorizer to notify a charter school of perceived problems if the school's performance or legal compliance appears to be unsatisfactory and provide reasonable opportunity for the school to remedy the problem, unless the problem warrants revocation and revocation timeframes apply.
It also requires an authorizer to take appropriate corrective actions or exercise sanctions short of revocation in response to apparent deficiencies in charter school performance or legal compliance. These actions or sanctions may include requiring a school to develop and execute a corrective action plan within a specified timeframe.
8A. Required annual school performance reports.
8B. Financial accountability for charter schools (e.g., generally accepted accounting principles, independent annual audit reported to authorizer).
8C. Authorizer authority to conduct oversight activities.
8D. Authorizer notification to its schools of perceived problems, with opportunities to remedy such problems.
8E. Authorizer authority to take appropriate corrective actions or exercise sanctions short of revocation.
8F. Authorizer may not request duplicative data submission from its charter schools and may not use performance framework to create cumbersome reporting requirements.
9. Clear Processes for Renewal, Nonrenewal, and Revocation Decisions
South Carolina law dictates that schools must submit a renewal application and identifies what such applications must contain. However, it does not require authorizers to issue school performance renewal reports to schools whose charter will expire the following year and to issue renewal application guidance that provides an opportunity for schools to augment their performance record and discuss improvements and future plans.
The law provides that a charter school may be closed for committing a material violation of the conditions, standards, performance expectations, or procedures provided for in the charter application or charter school contract or both, failing to meet the academic performance standards and expectations as defined in the charter application or charter school contract or both, failing to maintain its books and records according to generally accepted accounting principles or failed to create an appropriate system of internal control or both, or violating any provision of law from which the charter school was not specifically exempted.
The law provides that an authorizer shall permanently close any charter school at the conclusion of the school year after receiving the lowest performance rating as define by the federal accountability system for three consecutive years. This provision does not apply to any charter school serving fifty percent or more students with disabilities or any charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus by its authorizer per state law.
South Carolina law requires authorizers to annually evaluate the progress schools make towards the pupil achievement standards identified in the charter application and use that information in making renewal or revocation decisions.
The law provides that renewal terms are for 10 years with annual reviews. It does not allow authorizers to vary the length of the charter renewal contract terms based on performance or other issues.
At least 60 days before not renewing or terminating a charter school, the law requires the authorizer to notify the school in writing and make a hearing available.
The law requires authorizers to state reasons for non-renewals and revocations in writing, but does not require all charter renewal, non-renewal, and revocation decisions be made in a public meeting.
Prior to any charter school closure, the law requires the authorizer to develop a charter school closure protocol to ensure timely notification to parents, orderly transition of students and student records to new schools, and proper disposition of school funds, property, and net assets in accordance with the requirements of the law.
The law contains some provisions regarding the transfer of a charter contract from one authorizer to another, but it does not require state approval for such a transfer.
9A. Authorizer must issue school performance renewal reports to schools whose charter will expire the following year.
9B. Schools seeking renewal must apply for it.
9C. Authorizers must issue renewal application guidance that provides an opportunity for schools to augment their performance record and discuss improvements and future plans.
9D. Ability to have a differentiated process for renewal of high-performing charter schools.
9E. Authorizers must use clear criteria for renewal and nonrenewal/revocation.
9F. Authorizers must ground renewal decisions based on evidence regarding the school's performance over the term of the charter contract in accordance with the performance framework set forth in the charter contract.
9G. Requirement that authorizers close chronically low-performing charter schools unless exceptional circumstances exist.
9H. Authorizers must have the authority to vary length of charter renewal contract terms based on performance or other issues.
9I. Authorizers must provide charter schools with timely notification of potential revocation or nonrenewal (including reasons) and reasonable time to respond.
9J. Authorizers must provide charter schools with due process for nonrenewal and revocation decisions (e.g., public hearing, submission of evidence).
9K. All charter renewal, nonrenewal, and revocation decisions must be made in a public meeting, with authorizers stating reasons for nonrenewals and revocations in writing.
9L. Authorizers must have school closure protocols to ensure timely parent notification, orderly student and record transitions, and property and asset disposition.
9M. Any transfer of charter contracts from one authorizer to another are only allowed if they are approved by the state.
10. Transparency Regarding Educational Service Providers (ESPs) Allowed
South Carolina law includes a small number of the model law's provisions regarding educational service providers. South Carolina law allows a charter school board to contract for services, but does not include any of the model law's other provisions for transparency regarding educational service providers.
10A. All types of educational service providers (both for-profit and nonprofit) are allowed to operate all or parts of schools.
10B. The charter application requires (1) performance data for all current and past schools operated by the ESP, and (2) explanation and evidence of the ESP's capacity for successful growth while maintaining quality in existing schools.
10C. A performance contract is required between the independent charter school board and the ESP, with such contract approved by the school's authorizer.
10D. School governing boards operate as entities completely independent of any ESP, individuals compensated by an ESP are prohibited from serving as voting members on such boards, and existing and potential conflicts of interest between the two entities are required to be disclosed and explained in the charter application.
10E. Provides that charter school governing boards must have access to ESP records necessary to oversee the ESP contract.
10F. An ESP must annually provide information to its charter school governing board on how that ESP spends public funding it receives when the ESP is performing a public function under applicable state law.
10G. Requires that similar criminal history record checks and fingerprinting requirements applicable to other public schools shall also be mandatory for on-site employees of ESPs who regularly come into contact with students.
11. Fiscally and Legally Autonomous Schools with Independent Charter Public School Boards
South Carolina law requires charter schools to incorporate as non-profits.
South Carolina law requires charter schools to have their own governing board independent of the authorizer that may sue and be sued.
11A. Fiscally autonomous schools (e.g., schools have clear statutory authority to receive and disburse funds; incur debt; and pledge, assign, or encumber assets as collateral).
11B. Legally autonomous schools (e.g., schools have clear statutory authority to enter into contracts and leases, sue and be sued in their own names, and acquire real property).
11C. Independent school governing boards created specifically to govern their charter schools.
12. Clear Student Enrollment and Lottery Procedures
South Carolina law requires charter schools to provide open enrollment to any student in the state. However, it also provides that a charter school must give priority to in-district children versus out-of-district children and that the out-of-district enrollment must not exceed twenty percent of the total enrollment of the charter school without the approval of the authorizer and the sending local school board.
The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, gender, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education.
Under South Carolina law, a lottery is required if applications exceed available seats.
South Carolina law requires that the racial composition of the charter school enrollment reflect that of the local school district in which the charter school is located or that of the targeted student population of the local school district that the charter school proposes to serve, defined as differing by no more than twenty percent from that population.
South Carolina law requires a converted school to give priority in enrollment to students enrolled in the school at the time of conversion and students who reside within the former attendance area of that public school thereafter. It also requires a charter school to give enrollment preference to students enrolled in the school the previous school year and states that an enrollment preference for returning students excludes those students from entering into a lottery.
The law allows a charter school to give enrollment priority to a sibling of a pupil currently enrolled and attending or who within the last six years attended the school for at least one complete academic year. The law also allows a charter school to give enrollment priority to children of a charter school employee and children of the charter committee, provided their enrollment does not constitute more than twenty percent of the enrollment of the charter school (not ten percent).
It also allows a charter school located on a federal military installation or base where the appropriate authorities have made buildings, facilities, and grounds on the installation or base available for use by the charter school as its principal location to give enrollment priority to otherwise eligible students who are dependents of military personnel living in military housing on the base or installation or who are currently stationed at the base or installation, not to exceed fifty percent of the total enrollment of the charter school.
12A. Open enrollment to any student in the state.
12B. Anti-discrimination provisions regarding admissions.
12C. Required enrollment preferences for previously enrolled students within conversions and for prior-year students within charter schools.
12D. Lottery requirements.
13. Automatic Exemptions from Many State and District Laws and Regulations
Except as provided in the state's charter school law, South Carolina law exempts a charter school from all provisions of law and regulation applicable to a public school, a school board, or a school district, although a charter school may elect to comply with one or more of these provisions of law or regulation. However, the provisions of state law concerning employment and dismissal of teachers apply to staff at conversion charter schools that were there at the time of conversion.
The law provides that up to 10% of teachers in conversions and 25% in start-ups may be non-certified. In either a new or converted charter school, the law provides that a teacher teaching in the core academic areas as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind law must be certified in those areas or possess a baccalaureate or graduate degree in the subject he or she is hired to teach.
13A. Exemptions from all laws, except those covering health, safety, civil rights, student accountability, employee criminal history checks, open meetings, freedom of information, and generally accepted accounting principles.
13B. Exemption from state teacher certification requirements.
14. Automatic Collective Bargaining Exemption
South Carolina law provides that charter schools are exempt from participation in any district personnel policies, except that the provisions of state law concerning employment and dismissal of teachers apply to staff at conversion charter schools that were there at the time of conversion.
14A. Charter schools authorized by nonlocal board authorizers are exempt from participation in any district collective bargaining agreements.
14B. Charter schools authorized by local boards are exempt from participation in any district collective bargaining agreements.
15. Multischool Charter Contracts and/or Multicharter Contract Boards Allowed
South Carolina law is silent regarding these arrangements.
15A. An independent charter school board may oversee multiple schools linked under a single contract with independent fiscal and academic accountability for each school.
15B. An independent charter school board may hold multiple charter contracts with independent fiscal and academic accountability for each school.
16. Extracurricular and Interscholastic Activities Eligibility and Access
weight = 1 | Possible total = 4
South Carolina law provides that a charter school is eligible for federally sponsored, state-sponsored or district-sponsored interscholastic leagues, competitions, awards, scholarships, grants, and recognition programs for students, educators, administrators, staff, and schools to the same extent as all other public schools.
South Carolina law allows charter school students in schools not providing extra-curricular and interscholastic activities to have access to those activities at the resident public school the students would otherwise attend.
16A. Laws or regulations explicitly state that charter school students and employees are eligible to participate in all extracurricular and interscholastic activities available to noncharter public school students and employees.
16B. Laws or regulations explicitly allow charter school students in schools not providing extracurricular and interscholastic activities to have access to those activities at noncharter public schools.
17. Clear Provisions Regarding Special Education Responsibilities
South Carolina law provides that an authorizer of a charter school is the charter school's Local Education Agency (LEA) and a charter school is a school within that LEA. It also states that authorizers retain responsibility for special education and must ensure that students enrolled in their charter schools are served in a manner consistent with LEA obligations under applicable federal, state, and local law.
17A. Clarity regarding which entity is the local education agency (LEA) responsible for providing special education services.
17B. Clarity regarding the flow of federal, state, and local special education funds to the designated LEA.
17C. Clarity regarding funding for low-incident, high-cost services for charter schools (in the same amount and/or in a manner similar to other LEAs).
17D. Clarity that charter schools have access to all regional and state services and supports available to traditional districts.
18. Equitable Operational Funding and Equal Access to All State and Federal Categorical Funding
South Carolina law provides that a local school board authorizer must distribute state, county, and school district funds to a charter school as determined by a formula created in law.
It also provides that the South Carolina Public Charter School District or public or independent institution of higher learning authorizer must receive and distribute state funds to a charter school as provided by the General Assembly. These schools are ineligible to receive local funding. The state budget includes dollars for these schools along with the base student cost per student that each school receives. These dollars equate to $1,900 per virtual charter school student and $3,600 per brick and mortar charter school student.
The law provides that authorizers shall distribute to charter schools federal funds that are allocated to the authorizer on the basis of the number of special characteristics of the students attending the charter schools. The law also provides that the proportionate share of state and federal resources generated by students or staff serving them must be directed to the authorizer. It requires an authorizer to supply to a school the proportional share of each categorical fund for which the charter school qualified within ten business days after the authorizer receives the funds. If the authorizer fails to do so, the law allows the South Carolina Department of Education to fine the authorizer an amount equivalent to the withheld amounts.
South Carolina law provides that charter schools are responsible for providing or contracting for transportation to in-district students. The law provides that the state is not responsible for student transportation unless the charter school is designated by the local school district as the only school selected within the school district's attendance area.
In a national study of charter school funding (University of Arkansas, Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands, 2014), South Carolina charter schools were receiving on average $9,045 per pupil in public funds, while district public schools would have received $10,266 for those students. As a result, the state's charter schools were receiving $1,221 per pupil - or 11.9% - less than what the district public schools would have received for those students. This figure includes all sources of funding, and analysis reveals continued inequities for both operational and capital funding (see component 19 for information on capital issues).
18A. Equitable operational funding statutorily driven.
18B. Equal access to all applicable categorical federal and state funding and clear guidance on the pass-through of such funds.
18C. Funding for transportation similar to school districts.
18D. Annual report offering district and charter public school funding comparisons and including annual recommendations to the legislature for any needed equity enhancements.
19. Equitable Access to Capital Funding and Facilities
South Carolina law contains a small number of the model law's provisions regarding equitable access to capital funding and facilities.
South Carolina law provides that charter schools are eligible for tax-exempt financing through the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority.
South Carolina law requires the state department of education to make available, upon request, a list of vacant and unused buildings and vacant and unused portions of buildings that are owned by school districts and that may be suitable for the operation of a charter school. It provides that if a school district declares a building surplus and chooses to sell or lease the building, a charter school's board of directors or a charter committee operating or applying within the school district must be given the first refusal to purchase or lease the building under the same or better terms and conditions as it would be offered to the public.
South Carolina law creates a Charter School Facility Revolving Loan Program. There is currently $1.1 million appropriated to this program.
Facilities Funding
19A. A per-pupil facilities allowance that annually reflects actual average district capital costs.
19B. A state grant program for charter school facilities.
19C. Equal access to existing state facilities programs available to noncharter public schools.
Access to Public Space
19D. A requirement for districts to provide school district space or funding to charter schools if the majority of that school's students reside in that district.
19E. Right of first refusal to purchase or lease at or below fair market value a closed, unused, or underused public school facility or property.
Access to Financing Tools
19F. A state loan program for charter school facilities.
19G. Equal access to tax-exempt bonding authorities or allowing charter schools to have their own bonding authority.
19H. Pledging the moral obligation of the state to help charter schools obtain more favorable bond financing terms.
19I. The creation and funding of a state charter school debt reserve fund.
19J. The inclusion of charter schools in school district bonding and mill levy requests.
19K. A mechanism to provide credit enhancement for charter school facilities.
19L. Charter schools allowed to contract at or below fair market value with a school district, a college or university, or any other public or for-profit or nonprofit private entity for the use of facility for a school building.
19M. Certain entities allowed to provide space to charter schools within their facilities under their preexisting zoning and land use designations.
19N. Charter school facilities exempt from ad valorem taxes and other assessment fees not applicable to other public schools.
20. Access to Relevant Employee Retirement Systems
South Carolina law gives charter school teachers and personnel equal access to the state retirement system. It requires that original staff at conversion charter schools remain employees of the district and therefore must participate, but makes it optional for other staff to participate.
20A. Charter schools have access to relevant state retirement systems available to other public schools.
20B. Charter schools have the option to participate (i.e., not required).
21. Full-Time Virtual Charter School Provisions (if such schools allowed by state)
South Carolina law contains a small number of the model law's provisions regarding full-time virtual charter schools.
South Carolina law includes some additional accountability for full-time virtual charter schools, such as those related to record keeping, the provision of equipment, teachers, and other program services (including at least 25% of a student's time being engaged in instructional opportunities in real time such as meetings with teachers and educational field trips and outings, as well as the requirement of bi-weekly parent-teacher conferences in person or by phone).
The law also requires the inclusion of performance criteria the school must use to measure obtainment of academic performance goals, and that the school must also monitor and track student progress and attendance.
The law does not address the other provisions related to full-time virtual charter schools found in the model law.
21A. An authorizing structure whereby full-time virtual charter schools that serve students from more than one district may be approved only by an authorizer with statewide chartering jurisdiction and authority, full-time virtual charter schools that serve students from one school district may be authorized by that school district, and a cap is placed on the total amount of funding that an authorizer may withhold from a full-time virtual charter school.
21B. Legally permissible criteria and processes for enrollment based on the existence of supports needed for student success.
21C. Enrollment level provisions that establish maximum enrollment levels for each year of a charter contract, with any increases in enrollment from one year to the next based on whether the school meets its performance requirements.
21D. Accountability provisions that include virtual-specific goals regarding student enrollment, attendance, engagement, achievement, truancy, and attrition.
21E. Funding levels per student based on costs proposed and justified by the operators.
21F. Performance-based funding whereby full-time virtual charter schools are funded via a performance-based funding system based on meeting the accountability performance provisions.


text:
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Hardly a traditional Valentines card, but this will be appreciated by my other half who loves a good laugh, he's not got a romantic bone in his body. Embellishments would be a complete and utter waste of time, so it's really simple.
High winds sleet and snow here for the past few days, no phone line since last Monday, so far I've had 4 dates to reconnect me, promised communication doesn't happen and I'm fed up trying to get it resolved. We luckily have intermittent internet so I can check the website for the updates, which they promise then don't post.
Paper from Papermania
Image from Rick St. Dennis coloured with promarkers
17 comments:
This is such a funny card! He is so cute!ReplyDelete
This is just adorable! It gave me a huge smile & I'm sure your hubby will love it too! Hope your phone service gets up soon! Thanks for joining us this week at QKR Stampede for the weekly challenge!ReplyDelete
Hee hee! oh this sure made me lol Meg… he's wonderful !!! Love the paper and embellies too… it's a great design and hubby will love it!ReplyDelete
So sorry about your phone line being down… I hope they come soon and get it sorted. This weather really does cause problems. Our car had flat battery... we knew it was very low and going... but it died during the snowy weather last week... luckily we got a nice AA Man and he did the running around and sorted out a new one for my Mum! :-))
Lots of sunshine here all today but oh so cold!
Hope you have a lovely evening!
Big hugs, Sue B xx
Such a fun card, love your design.ReplyDelete
hugs Jacee
Simply Paper Card Design
Hehe, such a fun card, thank you for playing with Sweet Stampin' this week.ReplyDelete
Warm hugs
Thank you for playing with Simply Create too.ReplyDelete
Warm hugs
This is a brilliant card, such a fun image. I hope your weather improves and you get your telephone reconnected soon.ReplyDelete
I love it, the image is awesome and I love the way you used the sketch with the wiggly middle strip of paper. Thanks for playing along at MAWTT this week. Claire MAWTT DTReplyDelete
Thanks for entering our C.R.A.F.T. Challenge this week!ReplyDelete
Monica - DT
Devilously good.ReplyDelete
Thank you for sharing with us at the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge. - Myrna DT
LOL, I love the card as well as your description, Meg! I think your guy is gonna love it! Thanks for joining us at House of Cards! Hope you join us again soon! HUGS! :) Mynn xxReplyDelete
Adorable! Cute little devil! Very pretty card with some fun details! Thanks for playing along with us over at House of Cards!ReplyDelete
Ha, ha! Fab card...perfect for my other half to!ReplyDelete
Thank you for sharing with us this week at Sweet Stampin, Wedgie xxx
Ha! So very saucy! Love it!ReplyDelete
A fabulous 'different' valentine's card. Rick certainly does bring humour to lots of images. Hope your husband gets a girlie one for you :). Thanks for joining in with our 'For the Boys' challenge this week at Passion for Promarkers, and good luckReplyDelete
Eileen x
Cool card! Thanks for joining us at The Crazy Challenges.ReplyDelete
haha! Little devil! I like it!Thank you for joining in with HOC! Pat DT xReplyDelete