#Charter Bus in Indiana

[nationwidecarservice]

An Indiana Charter Bus Will Be of Tremendous Help to Guests for On-Time Arrivals

An Indiana Charter Bus Will Be of Tremendous Help to Guests for On-Time Arrivals. What You Need to Talk to your Guests About Before the Wedding. No one likes showing up ill prepared no matter where they go, certainly not for the time span of a wedding. Lots of work is put into the wedding to make sure that guests are comfortable, just like great Jacksonville Car Service makes sure their riders…

[ledenews]

WLU Alumni Association Supply Free Bus Ride to Support Hilltopper in Regionals

ATTENTION ALUMNI, FANS, AND COMMUNITY!Join us TUESDAY, MARCH 14 as we travel to Indiana, PA to watch WLU compete for the Atlantic Regional Championship!A charter bus is being offered by the Alumni Association FREE of charge! *game ticket not included To reserve your spot, email: alumni@westliberty.edu *limited seats available. The charter bus will be leaving @ 4 p.m. Game time is 7 p.m.Wheeling Park White Palace 801 National Rd, Wheeling, WV 26003 Read the full article

[cheaplimoservicenearme]

An Indiana Charter Bus Will Be of Tremendous Help to Guests for On-Time Arrivals. What You Need to Talk to your Guests About Before the Wedding. No one likes showing up ill prepared no matter where they go, certainly not for the time span of a wedding. Lots of work is put into the wedding to make sure that guests are comfortable, just like great Jacksonville Car Service makes sure their riders feel comfort. Yet if you don’t pay attention to the details, all your hard work could go unnoticed. There are some things you guests need to know before anything else, aside from the best Jacksonville Black Car Service. Let your guests know whether you will be providing transportation or not. An Indiana Party Bus will be of tremendous help to guests for on-time arrivals. This will let them know whether they need extra time to prepare and navigate.You’ll know if you need just one Indianapolis Charter Bus, or two. Getting in touch with them is as easy as phoning (800) 942-6281, or going to our website quotes@nationwidecar.com. You can take your time on our website to fill out a short online reservation form, get a free quote or simply have a look at our impressive fleet.

[metalheadcowboy]

Just a little Kegboys thought,,,,,

Steve, Billy, and Tommy on a charter bus on the way back from a competition. It’s late, well, not late late, but maybe considering they were on the bus back to Indiana at 6:00 AM sharp and it was now 8:30 PM. Up until this point the bus was far too loud to sleep. There was whooping, there was hollering, there was laughing, there was screaming. with plenty of “your mom” and like jokes to spare, much to Steve’s prissy dismay. But now, a peaceful quiet fell over the group, one of calm, one of contentment. Billy sat on an isle seat next to Tommy, letting the freckled boys head rest on his shoulders, soft snores escaping his lips, but what was new? Steve sat in the seat across from them, one he fought to get to his own and won, torso stretched across the seats, long legs sprawled across the isle while his feet rested in Billy’s lap, ankles gently scratched by dull fingernails. And Billy had a crick in his neck, his ass felt like it was going to fall off, and one of his feet was completely numb inside of his Nike, but there was no place he’d rather be than in this bus, moonlight peeking through the windows, shining on the faces of his two champion boys.

[hockeynascarfan91258]

A/N: Links to Chapter 1-3 posted at bottom of page!

Chapter 4

It had been a few days since Eden left Sids after they raped her.    She called out sick from work she couldn't face them.    The team was headed out to California and Eden asked if she could fly out and meet the team there.    They said that was fine.     Eden went out a day early and did some sight seeing.       It was nice.     The team arrived later that day.     She had just gotten finished eating when there was a knock at the door.    Eden goes and sees it was Sid.

"Eden please open the door." Sid says.

He had carnations her favorite in his hands and a stuffed Panda bear too.   Eden figured she might as well hear him out.    She opens the door.  

"What Sid?" Eden says.

"I am sorry for what I did to you the other day." Sid says.

"Oh you mean raping me when I said no." Eden replies snarky.

"Yes I am sorry baby.   It will never happen again.     Kris is sorry too these are from us." Sid says.

"Look let's just let by gones be bygones.   I  won't say anything about what happened.   I won't tell your secret." Eden says.

"Please baby.    Think about it.    We really do love you." Sid says.

"Okay I will think about it okay." Eden says.

"Good baby.    We love you and don't want to loose you." Sid says.

"I will think about it okay.   Now I just want to go lie down.   I am not feeling well." Eden says.

"Okay feel better." Sid says kissing her softly on the lips.

"Thanks Sid.   Goodnight I will see you at practice tomorrow." Eden replies.

"Okay baby." Sid says kissing her head.

Eden took the flowers and Panda and shut the door behind him.    She wasn't thinking about anything she was walking out of this and going to be with Chase.  

That was when her phone went off. It was Chase.

"Meet me down in the lobby." Chase texts.

"Wait you're here!" Eden texts back.

"Yup got a race here in Cali and then racing Phoenix and Vegas." Chase says.

"Let me change and I'll be right down." Eden says.

She throws on a pair of jeans and a black be brave shirt.    She then heads down to the lobby.

Chase was standing there waiting for her. She runs to him.

"Chase." Eden exclaims practically jumping on him.

"Hey princess." Chase says kissing her.

Eden kisses back not caring who was watching.

"I'm so happy you are here." Eden says.

"I am happy too I get too see my girl. Now let's go I have a special date planned just the two of us." Chase says.

They link hands and head out to them rental car. They both get in. Chase takes off towards San Diego.

"Where are we going?" Eden asks.

"You will see." Chase says smiling at her.

45 minutes later they arrive at the zoo.

"The San Diego Zoo!" Eden  says excitedly.

'Well I know how much you love animals especially pandas so I figured I needed to bring you." Chase  says.

They park. They then head to the entrance. Chase  pays for them them. They find out there was a bus called the Kangaroo Bus that would drop them off at various parts of the park. They get on the bus and it takes them to the first part of the zoo. The Australian Outback. Inside there they see the Australian Wander which was full of plants that come from down under, along with Camels, Koalas. Laughing Kookabura's, Tasmanian Devils and Wombats.

It was fun. They got to hold a koala, play with a kangaroo and ride a camel together.

Eden was taking all kinds of pictures.

From there they head into the Lost Forest exhibit,. There they see Bog Garden, Bonabo's , Fern Canyon, Flamingos, Ginger Garden, harpy eagels, Hawaiian pants, Hippo's, Mandrills, Monkey's, Okapi's, orangutans, Otter's and pygmy Hippos pygmy marmosets, Tapirs, terrace lagoon, and Tigers.

"I want a hippo for Christmas is one of my favorite Xmas songs so I love hippos." Eden says.

"They are intriguing animals." Chase says.

They continue on. They were holding hands and acting like a real couple and Eden was loving it. They then get on the Kangaroo bus and head to the nest spot for them. They then do the Panda Canyon, where they see Amur Leopard's, Giant Panda's red pandas and Takins.

"Pandas are my absolute favorite animal in the whole wide world." Eden says.

"I know now come with me." Chase says.

They head behind the habitat where they met a zookeeper. Chase paid extra for them to be able to play with one of the panda's. It was one of the Cubs born not that long ago. Also Eden was adopting it and could name it. Eden was having the time of her life. Chase had them take picture and a video. She ended up naming the bear Chase. Finally they leave.

"Thank you for doing that for me. I love it." Eden says.

"I am glad baby." Chase says.

That was when Eden ran to the trash can and threw up. Chase held her hair back. He also got her ginger Ale.

"Do you want to go home?" Chase asks.

"Nope I'm okay now." Eden says.

They then head to the Africa Rocks where they got to see and play with the penguins.

They head around the zoo seeing more different animals. They saved the best for last where Eden  got to see the polar bears another one of her favorites. It was neat to see them out playing. Eden  took more pictures.    Finally they headed to the gift shop and Eden got a few things. Chase got her a few things as well and they left.

"Thank you Clyde for a much needed fun day." Eden says.

"You are welcome Princes." Chase says.

"Our first official date." Eden says.

"And it's not over yet." Chase says.

They hop in the car and head back towards Los Angeles.    Chase heads to Disneyland and parks.

"Disneyland baby?" Eden asks.

"But of course. Have to take my Princess to the happiest place on earth." Chase replies.

"I love you." Eden says.

"I love you more princess." Chase replies kissing her hand.

He then gets out of the car and gets her door. Eden gets out and they head to Disneyland hand in hand. They head inside and   stop first at Sleeping Beauty's castle and have someone take a picture of them in front.   

They got a few different ones including of one of them kissing.   After that they head to start riding rides.   They  get on Alice and Wonderland, Astro Orbiter, Autopia, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Chip and Dale's tree house, the Disney Gallery, Disney Railroad, The Disneyland Story presenting Great moments with Mr. Lincoln, Donald's Boat, Enchanted Tiki Room, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Frontierland Shootin' Exposition, Gadget's Go Coaster, Goofy's playhouse, Indiana Jones adventure, It's a small world, Jungle Cruise, King Arthur's Carrousel, Mad Tea Party, Main Street Cinema, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mark Twain Riverboat, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Mickey's house and meet Mickey, Minnie's house, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Pincchio's Darin Journey, Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyers Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin, Snow Whites Scary adventure, Space Mountain, Star Tours The Adventure continues, Star wars Launch Bay, Star Wars Path of the Jedi, Storybook land canal boats, Tarzan's treehouse, Dumbo the flying elephant, Haunted Mansion, Main street vehicles, Splash Mountain, Davey Crockett's Explorer canoes, and Sailing Ship Colombia.  

"I am hungry." Eden says after they finished riding the rides.

"Me too." Chase  replies.

"Let's  eat and then we can continue on." Eden  says.

"Sounds good.:" Chase  says.

They decide to eat at the Carnation Café.    They both get burgers and fries and milkshakes.    After they eat they head and do a few shows.   They do a Star Wars Character Experience and then they do Jedi Training.   That was fun they then meet fairy friends at Pixie Hallow and meet the Disney princess at Royal Hall. Chase took a few pictures of Eden. He got a her few things. He figured for Halloween she could be a princess and he would be a race car driver.

They  continue on and get on Animation Academy, Fliks Flyers, Francis Ladybug Boggie, Golden Zephyr, Goofy's sky school, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, Heimlich's chew chew train, it's tough to be a bug, Jumpin Jellyfish, King Triton's carousel, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's undersea adventure, Luigi's Rollickin Roadsters, Maters Junkyard Jamboree, Monsters Inc. Mike and Sully to the rescue, Princess Dot Puddle Park, Radiator Springs racers, Red car trolley, Silly Symphony Swings, Soarin around the world, Sorcerers workshop, Toy Story Midway Mania, Tuck and Rolls Drive em buggies, Turtle Talk with Crush, The Bakery Tour, California Screamin, Games of the Boardwalk, Grizzly River run, Mickey's Fun Wheel, Redwood Creek Challenge trail, Frozen at Disneyland resort, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters after dark.

They then head and see Ana and Elsa's Royal Welcome, Frozen Live at Hyperion, Meet Olaf, and Meet the Residents of Radiator Springs in Cars land.

Finally, they head back to the car and head to Universal Studios.   They go inside and get on rides.   They ride on Harry Potter and the Forbidden journey, The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, Flight of the Hippogrif, Fast and the Furious Supercharged, King Kong 360, The Walking Dead attraction, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Jurassic Park the ride, Transformers The ride, The Simpson Ride, Revenge of the Mummy Ride, Super Silly Fun Land, Sill Swirly Fun Ride, Special Effects show, Water World, Universal's animal actors, and Charter sightings.

They finish everything they wanted to do at the park before heading back to the car.

They then head back to the car and back to the track. Chase  had something special planned for them. He had it set up and ready to go.

"What's this?" Eden says seeing a table set up for two.

"Dinner for two baby." Chase says.

"Awww Clyde." Eden says kissing him.

Chase kisses back. He then helps her sit down.

He goes and heats up their food. He had made chicken parmigiana and noodles along with a salad. When it was done he sits it in the table and then takes his seat. They each take a piece of chicken and some noodles.   They then add a little bit more sauce to each before sprinkling it with parmesan cheese.   They put some salad in their salad bowls and add the dressing.   Chase pours them each a glass of wine.

Eden takes a bite of the food and then says

"Oh my god it tastes as good as it smells."

"Thanks.   The sauce is my mothers homemade recipe." Chase  says.

"Well it's good." Eden  says.

They eat and enjoy each others company.   Once they finished Eden helped Chase  clean up and put the leftovers away and load the dishwasher.

"The flowers are for you." Chase says to her.

"Thank you Clyde.  Carnations are my favorite flower and pink is my favorite color." Eden  says.

"I know baby." Chase says.

"So wha are we going to watch?" Eden  asks.

"Since  I know how much you love scary movies I have the Conjuring universe movies ready to go." Chase replies.

"Lead the way." Eden says.

Chase lead her to the game room.   They both sit on the couch as Chase turns on the Nun.   The movie starts.    Not even five minutes into it Chase jumps at a scary part.

"Damn." Chase says.

"You really hate scary movies don't you?" Eden asks.

"Yes I do.    But I will watch them because I know you like them." Chase says.

"Well I will keep you safe Clyde." Eden says.

"I know." Chase says as another scary part happens.

They movie went on.   Eden felt him get a little tense and knew he was scared so she leaned in a little closer trying to comfort him.   Chase puts his arm around her pulling her closer to him.  She leaned her head on his shoulder.  

It got to the part where the priest was buried A alive.    Chase started to shake.   That was one of his phobias being trapped someplace not being able to get out.   He was claustrophobic.

"Oh Chase." Eden says leaning in placing a soft kiss on his lips.

She would do anything at that moment to make him feel better.   She never experienced a man so vulnerable.

Chase kisses back putting his hands on each side of her cheeks.  Eden parts her lips slightly.   Chase deepens the kiss exploring her mouth with his tongue.

"Mmm." Chase moans deep in his throat.

"Mmm." Eden moans too.

"God Princess ." Chase says once they both come up for air.

"You are a good kisser Clyde." Eden says.

"So are you Princess." Chase replies.

  She looks deep into his eyes and sees a bunch of emotion swirling in them.

Chase leans in kissing her again pulling her all but into his lap.   His hands roam up the back of her shirt setting her skin on fire. 

"God Clyde take me to bed." Eden moans when he let her up for air again.

"God baby are you sure?" Chase asks.

"God yes." Eden says she wanted him so bad.

Chase picks her up carrying her into his bedroom.   He sits her on her feet closing the door.    Once the door was closed Eden pushes him up against it.

"Eden." Chase moans.

"I want you and I am going to take you." Eden says.

"I want you too." Chade says.

She starts to lift his shirt up placing soft kisses along his chest as she does.

"Fuck." Chase moans.

Once she gets the shirt up and and over his she throws it to the floor.

"You have the most amazing body Clyde." Eden says running her nails lightly down his chest to the band of his jeans.

"Thanks Princess oh god." Chase moans as she pops open the button and pulls the zipper down running her finger up his happy trail.

She works the jeans down his hips kissing his stomach with light fluttery kisses as she does.  Chase just moans.

She then works his boxer briefs down as well freeing his rock hard cock.   Eden licks her lips.  She places soft kisses on his stomach again before running her tongue down his happy trail.   She places soft kisses on each thigh before slowly taking his cock into her mouth.

"Fuck Eden." Chase moans running his fingers through her hair.

She sucks him in nice and slow running her tongue along the underside of his shaft.   She looks up locking eyes with him.   She keeps sucking him in and out of her mouth slowly.

"Fuck Eden that's it suck my dick baby." Chase moans gently pulling her hair as he starts to thrust.

Eden kept going slowly torturing him bringing him to the verge of cumming.

"God baby I am going to cum." Chase moans he didn't know what she wanted.

Eden gently starts to play with his balls never taking her eyes off him.

"Princess oh god." Chase moans as he cums hard down her throat.

Eden swallows every drop before slowly licking him clean.   She then slowly works her way back up his body pulling him in for a kiss.   She explores every inch of his mouth with her tongue letting him taste himself on her lips and tongue.   Chase slowly backs her towards the bed.  He breaks the kiss long enough to pull her shirt over her head tossing it.

"Jesus Eden that bra." Chase moans seeing it.

He pulls one strap down kissing her shoulder as he does.  Then kisses the other as he pulls that strap down.   He sucks and licks the tops of each breast peaking out from the cup.   He pulls the cups down taking one in his mouth running a circle around her nipple with his tongue before sucking on it gently nibbling on it bringing it to a peak.

"Clyde." Eden moans running her fingers in his hair.  

Chase moves to the other breast doing the same thing.   He slowly unclasps the bra pulling it off tossing it aside as well.    He then kisses softly down her stomach to the band of her jeans. 

He uses his teeth to pop open the button lightly nibbling on her belly as he slowly inches them down her hips and legs. Eden steps out of them kicking off her shoes.

"God baby those panties.  God so wet." Chase moans running his mouth over her pussy smelling her juices.

He then slowly works them down over her hips and down her legs.     Eden kicks them off.   He then slowly kisses his way up her legs placing a kiss on each thigh.   He blows cool breath across her mound as she slowly spreads her legs.   He runs his tongue up and down her slit before pushing inside starting to fuck her with his tongue. 

Not long after he started Eden gently pulls his hair pulling him away from her.

"Fuck me Clyde." Eden  says all but begging him.

"God okay baby."  Chase says kissing his way up her body.   He picks her up kissing her letting her taste her on his lips and tongue and gently lays her down on the bed.

"God please Clyde I need you inside me now." Eden moans.

"God baby." Chase moans as he gently pushes inside her.

"God yes." Eden moans as he starts to thrust gently at first.

He wanted to go slow letting her adjust to his size.   She was so tight and wet.

"Jesus Eden you feel so good.  Like a glove." Chase moans.

"God fuck me Clyde hard and fast." Eden moans digging her nails into his back.

Chase moves a little harder and faster.   Eden wraps her legs around his waist letting him go deeper inside her.

"Eden oh god." Chase moans going even harder.

"Clyde god that's it." Eden moans as he stretched her even further.

She throws her head back arching into him.  It felt so good.

"God baby I am not going to last." Chase moans

"Cum baby let me feel it." Eden monas.

"Eden sweet Eden." Chase moans looking deep into her eyes as he cums hard deep inside her.

"Clyde oh god." Eden moans shuttering as her orgasm rushes through her.

She cums with him feeling him coat her insides.   She just moans as her body shutters from the pleasure.

Chase kisses her gently on the lips and then the jaw and neck as they ride it out.   

"God Clyde again  I need you again." Eden moans.

She just wanted to feel that good again and not think about anything.

"Okay Eden but this time it will be nice and slow." Chase says.

"Please." Eden begs.

Chase starts to move again inside her taking it nice and slow.

"Eden god." Chase moans loving being inside her.

"Clyde god." Eden moans as he slowly builds her up.

"So close." Eden moans.

"Cum baby." Chase moans.

"Clyde." Eden moans as she cums.

"That's it baby milk my release." Chase moans as he cums again inside her.

They make love a few more times before Eden's eyelashes started to flutter.   Chase gets up.

"Where are you going?" Eden asks sleepily.

"Shhh baby I will be back." Chase says kissing her softly on the lips.

He goes into the bathroom grabbing a wash cloth wetting it with warm water.   He then comes over and gently wipes her down cleaning her.

He goes and tosses the rag in the hamper and then climbs into bed beside her.   She curls up to him laying her head on his chest.   Chase pulls the blanket up over them kissing her head as they both fall asleep.

**************************

The next morning Eden and Chase woke up when the alarm went off.

"Good morning baby:" Chase says.

"Good morning, oh god." Eden says getting up and running to the bathroom.

She made it just in time to empty her stomach in the toilet. Chase was right behind her. She got her everything up. Chase then picks her up gently and carries her back to bed.

"Sorry baby." Eden says.

"For what?" Chase asks.

"Getting sick." Eden replies.

"It's okay." Chase replies.

"I need to go back. I have to change before I head to practice." Eden replies.

"Yeah I know. I am glad I was able to see you." Chase says.

"Me too I will try and make the race on Sunday." Eden adds.

Chase smiles. He gives her a few shirts from his collection. They then head to the car and head back to Eden's hotel.

"I will see you later princess. I love you." Chase says.

"I will see you later Clyde. I love you too." Eden replies.

They share a few more kisses not wanting to part ways. But finally Eden heads inside and up to her room. She showered and got dressed and then heads down to the bus. Once everyone was on they head to the arena. Eden goes and gets the exam room set up in case they would need it for anything. That was when she felt arms snake around her waist.

"Hey baby, I missed you last night." Sid says.

"Hi Sid. Sorry I was so tired. Still getting used to the time change." Eden replies lying.

She didn't know what he would do if he knew she was with Chase. She was scared of him. It sucked cus she had a contract and had to work with the Penguins until the end of the 2021 season. Even though she wanted to quit.

"I know it can take effect on you but you will get used to it." Sid says.

"I know. Don't you have practice?" Eden asks.

" I do but I wanted to know if you were doing anything after?" Sid asks.

"No I don't. Sunday I am going to the NASCAR race before the game that night. But nothing today." Eden replies.

"Okay maybe I can come to your room, we can order room service and watch movies." Sid says.

"Okay." Eden says.

"Good see you then." Sid replies.

"Is Kris coming too?" Eden asks.

"Nope just me this time." Sid says.

"Okay." Eden replies.

Sid kisses her and leaves to attend practice. Eden grabs a little something from the snack bar and goes and watches practice. Halfway through Kris took a high stick to the face and there was blood.

"I got it." Eden says.

Kris comes down the runway and into the exam room. Eden follows him in. Kris was sitting on the table.

"Damn that hurt like a son of a bitch." Kris says.

"Sorry Kris." Eden says dabbing the blood away with a towel.

"It's okay. Is it bad?" Kris asks.

"Yes going to need stitches but shouldn't keep you out of the game tomorrow." Eden says.

"Good." Kris says.

Eden stitches him up. Kris puts his hand over hers.

"Thank you. Sorry for the other day Eden. Are you okay?" Kris asks.

"Yeah I'm okay. And your welcome it's my job." Eden says.

"I know. Im still thankful for you." Kris says.

"I know. I don't know what's going to happen between us but I promise I won't tell anyone about you and Sid. I just don't think I can do this. It took me to moving away and being away from him to realize how much I love Chase." Eden says.

"I know I can tell. Look if you want out that is fine. I know you won't tell anyone about me and Sid but I don't know if Sid will let you go." Kris says.

"I know." Eden says.

"Did you ever love us?" Kris asks.

"I loved you Kris you never hurt me.   Sid in the other hand." Eden says looking down.

"I'm sorry he hurt you Eden." Kris says lifting her head up.

He leans in and kisses her.    Eden kisses back.

"God." Eden moans as she pulls away.

"Go lock the door." Kris says.

Eden goes and locks the door.     She comes back over and climbs into his lap.

"God." Eden moans as he shreds her panties.

"I like skirts." Kris says.

"God." Eden moans as Kris pushes up into her.

"Ride me pretty girl. You know you want to." Kris says.

"God Kris." Eden moans as she starts to move up and down.

"That's it pretty girl." Kris says grabbing her hips.

They needed to be faster. Kris took control of their movements. Eden bit her arm throwing her head back to keep from screaming out. Kris nips and sucks her neck as they move.

"Eden fuck." Kris calls out as he cums hard deep inside of her.

"Kris. "Eden moans out as she cums with him.

They ride it out and Kris picks her up off of him. He stands up and fixes himself.

Kris then kisses her head before walking out the door. Eden collected herself. She then cleans up the exam room and prepared it from the game tomorrow. She then heads out and gets on the bus.

Once all the boys were on board they all head back to the hotel. Eden goes up to her room. She changes into her new Chase Elliott shirt and a pair of lounge pants. She wasn't feeling the greatest. She was laying down when there was a knock at her door. She gets up and opens it. Sid was there with room service and flowers.

"Come in." Eden says letting him in.

"Thanks." Sid says kissing her cheek.

Eden shuts the door.

"What did you bring?" Eden asks.

"Chicken noodle soup and ginger ale. Because I know you said you weren't feeling good." Sid says.

"I am not." Eden replies.

"I am sorry. Well let's eat and then we can relax and watch something on Netflix or something." Sid says.

Eden nods her head yes. So far it was going okay and she wasn't afraid. This was the Sid she started dating. They ate the soup and Eden nibbled the saltines. She sipped the ginger ale. Finally they laid in bed and Eden turned on Netflix. She turned on Sweet Home Alabama one of her favorite movies. She started to think about Chase. This movie was the story of their lives. Sid started to kiss her. Eden kisses back closing her eyes. As they were making out Sid runs his hands down her body. He runs them down her pants and under wear rubbing her pussy before sticking a finger in.

"Hmm nice and wet for me pretty girl." Sid says.

"Yes." Eden moans. She was pretending it was Chase.

"Want me to fuck you pretty girl?" Sid asks.

"Please." Eden begs.

Sid slides her pants and panties off followed by his jeans and boxer briefs. He then hovers over her running his tip along her entrance.

"Soaking for daddy." Sid moans.

"God don't tease." Eden begs.

Sid pushes into her and starts to move thrusting hard and fast.

"Fuck baby." Sid moans as she moves with him.

She wrapped her legs around his waist letting him go deeper.

"God." Eden moans digging her nails into his back.

She still had her eyes closed pretending it was Chase fucking her.

"That's it pretty girl milk my cock baby get ready to take my cum." Sid moans.

"GOd." Eden moans she was almost there.

"Fuck Eden god." Sid moans as he cums hard pumping her pussy full of his cum.

"Clyde oh god Clyde." Eden calls out as she cums too.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" Sid shouts slapping her.

Eden's eyes flashed open and she realized that by her fantasizing about Chase she called out his name.

"Umm." Eden says.

"Did you call me Clyde? Were you thinking about another man while I was fucking you." Sid screams at her.

Eden was so scared she didn't know what to say.

"Answer me you ungrateful ass whore." Sid screams.

"Yes I am so disgusted by you and how you treat me that in order for me to even attempt to have sex I have to think about Chase so I can get off." Eden screams out pushing him off of her.

She gets up off the bed. She was going to hide in the bathroom or something. She had her cell phone.

"You fucking whore. Don't you ever push me again or I will rip your hair out and choke you with it." Sid yells grabbing her hair pulling her back to him.

"Ow you are hurting me." Eden says.

"You think I fucking care. I hope it hurts. Remeber I am the only guy besides Kris who can cum in your sweet pussy. We are the only ones who can fuck you." Sid says.

"Fuck off Sid. I want out of this. I can't stand you. I fucking hate you. Get out." Eden screams turning around wailing out on him.

"You want to hit me bitch. I am going to show you." Sid says.

He picks her up throwing her back into the mirror glass shattering. He bashes her head against it not caring that it busted her head open. He then throws her down onto the floor throwing the mirror down on top of her covering her in glass.

"I will kill you before I ever let you leave." Sid says.

"Please I need help." Eden cries out.

"Fuck that bleed for all I care. If I can't have you no one will." Sid says as he kicks her hard.

Eden whimpers. Sid then leaves the room door slamming behind him. Eden still had her cell phone. It took everything in her to dial his number.

"Hey Princess." Chase says answering on the first ring.

"Chase help. I am hurt." Eden says.

"Eden? Where are you?" Chase asks panicked.

"Hotel Chase. Hurry." Eden says before she blacked out.

"Hang tight princess. I am coming to get you." Chase says.

You ever love somebody so much

You can barely breathe, when you're with them, you meet

And neither one of you, even know what hit 'em

Got that warm fuzzy feeling, yeah them chills, used to get 'em

Now you're getting fucking sick, of looking at 'em

You swore you've never hit 'em, never do nothing to hurt 'em

Now you're in each other's face,

Spewing venom in your words, when you spit 'em

You push, pull each other's hair, scratch, claw, bit 'em

Throw 'em down, pin 'em, so lost in the moments, when you're in 'em

It's the rage that took over it controls you both

So they say it's best, to go your separate ways

Guess that they don't know ya 'cause today, that was yesterday

Yesterday is over, it's a different day

Sound like broken records, playin' over, but you promised her

Next time you'll show restraint

You don't get another chance

Life is no Nintendo game, but you lied again

Now you get to watch her leave

Out the window, guess that's why they call it window pane

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn

But that's alright, because I like the way it hurts

Just gonna stand there and hear me cry

But that's alright, because I love the way you lie

I love the way you lie

I love the way you lie

[bountyofbeads]

Coronavirus Exposes Core Flaws, and Few Strengths, in China’s Governance https://nyti.ms/38FTXIO

Effects of Coronavirus Begin Echoing Far From Wuhan Epicenter

Hong Kong closed its schools for several weeks, Beijing began limiting bus travel in and out of the capital and China’s travel association suspended tour groups of citizens heading overseas.

By Chris Buckley and Tiffany May | Published Jan. 25, 2020Updated 6:11 p.m. ET | New York Times | Posted January 25, 2020 |

WUHAN, China — The repercussions from a mysterious virus that has sickened hundreds of people began reverberating far from its epicenter in central China on Saturday, as Hong Kong closed its schools for several weeks, Beijing began restricting buses in and out of the capital, and the country’s travel association suspended Chinese tour groups heading overseas.

The new measures, coming on top of previous travel restrictions that had effectively penned in tens of millions of people in Hubei, the province at the heart of the outbreak, are certain to further dampen celebrations of the Lunar New Year, which began on Saturday.

They came, too, as China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, who had said little publicly about the crisis despite growing criticism of the response, pledged Saturday that officials would “stand at the front line to safeguard social stability.”

The illness linked to the virus has killed at least 42 people and sickened more than 1,300 in China, according to official reports. Cases have been confirmed in all but one of China’s provinces and autonomous regions, as well as in at least 10 other countries as the virus has spread to Europe, the United States and, most recently, Australia.

Among the newest victims in China was a 62-year-old ear, nose and throat specialist, who died on Saturday, according to state news media. The state-owned television network said the doctor had been at the “front line” of the outbreak, despite retiring from a Wuhan hospital in March 2019.

And officials in the southern city of Hechi said on Saturday that a 2-year-old girl suffering from the coronavirus had been admitted to a hospital, becoming the youngest person known to be infected.

In a sign of how the coronavirus has shaken China, Mr. Xi convened a meeting of Communist Party leaders on Saturday to try to stem the outbreak.

“We’re sure to be able to win in this battle to beat the epidemic,” said Mr. Xi, according to a summary of his remarks by state media, offering some of his most extensive remarks to date on the crisis.

Mr. Xi called for stronger efforts to provide medicine and other supplies to affected areas. Shortages have angered doctors and medical workers, particularly in Wuhan, the Hubei provincial capital where the outbreak began. Hospitals have issued pleas for donated supplies.

Party leaders also directed railway stations, airports and ports to step up measures to deter the spread of the virus, through ventilation, disinfection and body temperature checks.

Chinese officials announced later Saturday that more than 1,200 medical personnel would be sent to Wuhan and over 10,000 beds in 24 local hospitals would be requisitioned for treating confirmed and suspected cases of the virus.

But the official response so far has drawn stinging rebukes on social media, where people are questioning whether the authorities are accurately reporting the number of cases or doing enough to rein in the outbreak. In particular, people have denounced the perceived indifference of local, provincial and even national authorities.

“Where is that person? He is not on the front line,” one user wrote on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, in an apparent reference to Mr. Xi.

State media has maintained a steady drumbeat of positive news about the outbreak, praising the sacrifices of responders and everyday people. But there was little doubt that the disease had derailed celebrations of the Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest holiday and busiest travel period.

Travel constraints imposed earlier in Wuhan and 12 nearby cities have effectively penned in 35 million people. Wuhan tightened its restrictions further on Saturday, with a ban on most vehicle traffic in the city center.

The restrictions began spreading far beyond Wuhan, too: In Beijing, the city government said it would halt all inter-province buses beginning on Sunday, effectively limiting road travel into the capital.

The association of China’s travel agencies said that it would suspend all tour groups and the sale of flight and hotel packages for citizens headed overseas, starting on Monday. Groups already on their trips were allowed to continue, with the directive that travelers’ health be closely monitored.

The move to cut off group tours could have a ripple effect across countries that depend on Chinese tourists. While China is now home to an increasingly sophisticated population ready to hit the tourist routes by themselves, a large number of Chinese do not feel comfortable traveling abroad unless they are with a group.

New measures were also imposed in Hong Kong, where its leader, Carrie Lam, declared a health emergency. Five coronavirus patients connected to Wuhan are being treated in Hong Kong, and more than 100 others are suspected of having the viral pneumonia.

Lunar New Year celebrations are being canceled in Hong Kong, schools will be closed until mid-February and the Hong Kong Marathon has been called off. The city is also suspending flights and train services to Wuhan.

A study by the medical journal The Lancet, published on Friday, raised new concerns that people infected with the coronavirus might be able to spread it even if they do not have flu-like symptoms.

Researchers studied a family in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, five of whom had traveled to Wuhan and two of whom had come in contact with an infected relative in a hospital there. Testing conducted after the family flew home found that six members had the coronavirus, including one who had not gone to Wuhan.

One infected family member, a child, had no symptoms, suggesting that people with the virus might be spreading it without knowing that they have it, the study found.

“It shows this new coronavirus is able to transfer between person to person, in a hospital setting, a family home setting, and also in an intercity setting,” Yuen Kwok-yung, an author of the study, said in an interview. “This is exactly what makes this new disease difficult to control.”

The United States Embassy said on Saturday that all American employees at its consulate in Wuhan have been ordered to leave. The United States government is arranging a charter flight to evacuate American diplomats and citizens on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the plan.

For people in the United States with close ties to China, the outbreak has brought worry, disappointment and scrutiny. Some Chinese-Americans have had their Lunar New Year plans waylaid, as travel schedules for the coming week and beyond are interrupted.

Chinese-Americans have scrambled, though, to send aid to their friends and family in China.

Sean Shi, of Issaquah, Wash., said he shipped several boxes of masks to China in a friend’s luggage, hoping that they could reach friends in the Wuhan area. Later in the day, Mr. Shi was back at a hardware store, buying another 46 masks for some of his former peers at Wuhan University.

“We understand it’s a tough situation over there — the panic, the shortage of equipment,” Mr. Shi said. “We just realized the situation is very serious — more serious than we thought.”

______

Christopher Buckley reported from Wuhan, and Tiffany May from Hong Kong. Reporting was contributed by Steven Lee Myers, Vivian Wang, Raymond Zhong, Carlos Tejada, Rick Gladstone, Mike Baker, Jeffrey E. Singer and Elian Peltier. Yiwei Wang and Claire Fu contributed research.

*********

Coronavirus Exposes Core Flaws, and Few Strengths, in China’s Governance

While China can mobilize a huge national response to the outbreak, its response to the crisis is also a lesson in how the country’s political weak points can carry grave consequences for world health.

By Max Fisher | Published Jan. 25, 2020 Updated 4:13 p.m. ET |New York Times|

Posted January 25, 2020 |

It was the initial news reports that first suggested China’s political system might be getting in the way of its ability to confront the coronavirus outbreak.

The outbreak seemed to already be a full-blown crisis, infecting dozens in China and even some abroad, by the time it became widely reported.

This seeming delay was of a familiar pattern in China, one suggesting that local officials may have played down early warning signs or simply did not coordinate enough to see the problem’s scope.

While outsiders might suspect an attempted cover-up as the cause, experts see something much more worrying: weaknesses at the very heart of the Chinese system.

Its rigidly hierarchical bureaucracy discourages local officials from raising bad news with central bosses whose help they might need. And it silos those officials off from one another, making it harder to see, much less manage, the full scope of spiraling crises.

“That’s why you never really hear about problems emerging on a local scale in China,” said John Yasuda, who studies China’s approach to health crises at Indiana University. “By the time that we hear about it, and that the problem reaches the central government, it’s because it’s become a huge problem.”

While much remains unknown about the outbreak, a common theme is emerging.

Any political system is better at solving some problems than others. But the coronavirus, like other health crises before it, is bringing out some of the deepest flaws and contradictions in a Chinese system that, for all its historic feats, remains a work in progress.

Those flaws, which have long frustrated Chinese leaders, appear to have played a role in everything from the pace at which officials responded to the coronavirus outbreak, to China’s yearslong inability to address the health risks that experts have long warned could lead to an outbreak just like this one.

While the country is now mobilizing a nationwide response — one of the system’s strengths — the incident is already a lesson in the political weak points that can bring grave consequences for China and, as infections spread, the world.

A System at Odds With Itself

“When you look at the coronavirus, it looks a lot like what happened with SARS. It involves a very similar template,” Mr. Yasuda said.

The SARS epidemic, which killed hundreds of people in 2002 and 2003, initially spread unchecked when local Chinese officials minimized early reports.

Their fear was not public unrest, it later emerged, but getting in trouble with the party bosses who controlled their careers.

Guan Yi, a professor of infectious diseases in Hong Kong who helped identify SARS, has accused Chinese authorities of once more delaying action, including by obstructing his own efforts to investigate the outbreak.

“This is a continuous theme in central-local relations in China. You do not want to be the one to bring bad news,” said Vivienne Shue, a prominent China scholar at Oxford University.

That gulf between central leaders in Beijing and local officials who run the country day-to-day, Ms. Shue said, is “the core conundrum in how that system works.”

It leads officials on both sides of the center-local divide “to do many counterproductive, irrational things,” she said, in their efforts to manage and manipulate one another.

That has included holding back reports of potential crises, in the hopes of solving things without the bosses finding out.

At the same time, China’s quasi-imperial system leaves the top party bosses in Beijing with little direct power over what happens in the provinces — policy proclamations are sometimes ignored or defied — other than promoting or punishing subordinates.

The two ends of the system are engaged in a constant push-pull dynamic, putting them occasionally at odds — particularly in moments of crisis, when each is looking to blame the other.

This has been an issue throughout China’s modern history, Ms. Shue said, with power fluctuating between the center and the periphery. Xi Jinping, China’s current leader, has sought to centralize power, setting up Beijing-based working groups to exert more control outside the capital.

But the system’s underlying contradiction remains. Mr. Xi’s tightening grip may make local leaders all the more wary of releasing information that could invite his wrath.

As China modernizes, integrating its once-disparate provinces and cities, local mistakes can become national crises before Beijing is even aware that something has happened, as may have happened with the coronavirus outbreak.

“As logistics and the distribution systems have expanded, you really see how the local and national have been linked together,” Mr. Yasuda said, referring to the hastening rate at which health, environmental and economic crises can now spread.

That is not all downside. The central government has enormous capacity to mobilize in a crisis, as it is doing now, locking down several major cities to slow the disease’s spread.

“Once a clear problem has emerged, it’s very good at diverting resources,” Mr. Yasuda said of China’s political system. “But it’s not good at dealing with emerging problems. So it’s built to be reactive instead of proactive.”

WHEN CHINA’S STRENGTHS BECOME A SOURCE OF PERIL

In some ways, China’s system has been a source of strength.

Party bosses set priorities, then reward the institutions and officials who best carry them out.

And since the days of Mao Zedong, China has operated under a system known as fragmented authoritarianism, in which even the most local leaders have near-absolute authority over their remit.

That has led to a culture of what Elizabeth J. Perry, a Harvard University scholar, has called “guerrilla governance,” in which results take precedence over procedure or accountability, and in which it is all leaders for themselves.

This approach is seen as crucial in having enabled China to lift hundreds of millions of citizens out of poverty and turn itself from global backwater into world power.

But it can be disastrous when it comes to managing health and environmental issues.

Disease and pollution don’t respect provincial or municipal borders. And because of the way they spread, it often takes a unified, nationwide policy to prevent or stop them — something for which guerrilla governance is ill-suited.

“It’s very difficult to come together to create a clear actionable plan,” Mr. Yasuda said, adding that, for any health or environmental regulation to work, “you want it to be standardized, you want it to be transparent, you want it to be accountable.”

But China’s system de-emphasizes those concerns, sometimes to disastrous effect.

In the mid-2000s, Beijing demanded a drastic increase in milk production. When factory farms were unable to meet their targets, officials conscripted vast numbers of rural farmers. Some of the farmers, struggling to meet their quotas, watered down their milk, then added an industrial chemical known as melamine to fool quality sensors. The tainted milk poisoned thousands of infants.

Experts fear a similar regulatory failure may have enabled the coronavirus outbreak: the longstanding inability to clean up so-called wet markets, which are stuffed with livestock living and dead, domesticated and wild. Though the outbreak’s cause is still being studied, Wuhan’s wet market is considered a prime suspect.

The markets have long been considered a major threat to public health, particularly as a vector for transmitting diseases from animals to humans. And they are a lesson in the perils of patchwork, decentralized regulations like China’s: While some markets are more carefully policed than others, all it takes is one to cause an outbreak.

In another echo of the tainted milk scandal, top-down political priorities provide an incentive to look the other way. Taking down the markets, which are popular, would risk a public outcry. Local officials had every reason to fear that their bosses, who have not made the markets a priority, would punish them for causing trouble.

Aligning With Public Good, Or Not

A foundational mission of any political system is to align its leaders’ incentives with the needs and desires of the wider public.

Democracies seek to do this through “the competition of interests,” Ms. Shue said, on the belief that inviting everyone to participate will naturally pull the system toward the common good. This system, like any, has flaws, for example by handing more power to those with more money.

Within China, Ms. Shue added, the common good “is seen as something that should be designed from above, like a watch being engineered to run perfectly.”

But sometimes the watch can be designed in ways that harm the public good.

In 2001, for instance, Beijing ordered provincial officials to reduce water pollution from factories. Many provinces simply moved the factories to their borders, ensuring pollutants would flow into the next district. Nationwide, water pollution worsened.

So far, the coronavirus outbreak seems to highlight both the strengths and perils of China’s model. Beijing, apparently having learned from the SARS epidemic, has pushed for faster and more drastic action.

But the same systemic problems, from gun-shy local officials to weak health regulations, appear to be recurring as well — a reminder that the system remains, Ms. Shue said, “a work in progress.”

*********

China’s Omnivorous Markets Are in the Eye of a Lethal Outbreak Once Again

The coronavirus that has spread from Wuhan has been linked to the sale of live wildlife at a market that experts describe as a perfect incubator for novel pathogens.

By Steven Lee Myers | Published Jan. 25, 2020 Updated 8:06 p.m. ET | New York | Posted January 25, 2020 |

LANGFANG, China — The typical market in China has fruits and vegetables, butchered beef, pork and lamb, whole plucked chickens — with heads and beaks attached — and live crabs and fish, spewing water out of churning tanks. Some sell more unusual fare, including live snakes, turtles and cicadas, guinea pigs, bamboo rats, badgers, hedgehogs, otters, palm civets, even wolf cubs.

The markets are fixtures in scores of Chinese cities, and now, for at least the second time in two decades, they are the source of an epidemic that has spread fear, taxed the Communist Party bureaucracy and exposed the epidemiological risks that can spawn in places where humans and wildlife converge.

The novel coronavirus that has already killed at least 56 and sickened more than 1,370 in China and around the world is believed to have spread from exactly one of these places: a wholesale market in Wuhan, a city in central China, where vendors legally sold live animals from stalls in close quarters with hundreds of others.

“This is where you get new and emerging diseases that the human population has never seen before,” said Kevin J. Olival, a biologist and vice president of research with EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit research organization, who has tracked previous outbreaks.

[ UPDATES ON THE CORONAVIRUS: Xi Jinping warned that China faced a “grave situation” as the epidemic “accelerated.”]

While the exact path of the pathogen has not yet been established, government officials and scientists said the new contagion had ominous similarities with the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in late 2002, which killed nearly 800 people and sickened thousands more around the world.

Now, as the government struggles to contain public anger over the outbreak, it is facing calls to do more to regulate or even ban the sale of wildlife — and growing questions about why so little has changed in the 17 years since SARS.

That disease was ultimately traced to a coronavirus that jumped from bats to Asian palm civets, a catlike creature prized as a delicacy in southern China, and then to humans involved in the wildlife trade there. According to officials and scientists, the new virus also appears to have originated in bats and made the jump to another mammal, though which one is not yet clear.

The latest outbreak — the scope of which is still unfolding — has led to calls inside and outside of China for better regulations or even an end to this kind of culinary adventurism. While turtle and boar meat are not uncommon in Chinese restaurants, game meats such as civet cats, snakes or pangolins tend to be considered specialties only in some regions. Their consumption is driven as much by the desire to flaunt wealth as by a mix of superstition and belief about the health benefits of wildlife.

Once the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was identified as the most likely source of this outbreak in December, the authorities promptly closed it, though it was not clear what happened to the animals that had been for sale there. Officials announced only on Wednesday that they had banned the sale of wild animals throughout the province. Two other provinces, Henan and Inner Mongolia, also imposed suspensions on the trade this past week.

On Friday, officials from three national agencies announced tighter controls, including a suspension nationally of the sale and transport of animals possibly linked to the new coronavirus. The statement specified only badgers and bamboo rats, a species of rodent found in southern China that lives in (and eats) bamboo thickets. Both had been advertised for sale in the market in Wuhan.

The flurry of government action came after an unusual outpouring of public sentiment against the trade of live animals. A campaign on Weibo, the social media platform, drew 45 million views with the hashtag #rejectgamemeat.

“Eating game does not cure impotence or have healing powers,” Jin Sichen, a television presenter in Nanjing, a city in southeastern China, wrote on his Weibo page on Wednesday. “Game not only doesn’t cure disease, it can also make you, your family, friends and even more people sick.”

“One must be mentally sick to eat game in order to show off and flaunt,” Mr. Jin added.

A group of 19 Chinese scholars also called on the government to do more to regulate the trade and the public to stop eating wild animals.

The Wildlife Conservation Society, an advocacy organization based in New York, called for a global ban on the commercial sale of wildlife, especially in markets like those in China, saying that the latest outbreak proved the public health threat.

Christian Walzer, the organization’s executive director of health, said that the astonishing diversity of wild animals in markets like these, packed in small cages in crowded market stalls, created a perfect laboratory for the unintentional incubation of new viruses that can enter human cells. Viruses can be spread through saliva, blood or feces.

“Each animal is a package of pathogens,” he said in a telephone interview.

But some Chinese consumers ascribe traditional medicinal benefits to the animals. Vendors and even officials in state news media have touted wildlife as alternative sources of protein and sources of revenue in impoverished regions.

An article by the Xinhua news agency last fall, for example, said that farming bamboo rats was helping to lift people out of poverty in Guangxi, another southern province.

Worries about meat supplies surged last year over the outbreak of African swine fever, which led to the killing of 40 percent of the country’s pigs. Production of domesticated livestock on the country’s farms is, compared to the sale of wildlife, subjected to far more regulation and inspection. Outbreaks still occur, but they are identified more quickly.

Part of the problem with the wildlife trade is that there is far less regulation, despite the greater risk of live animals’ infecting each other and people, especially in markets that can be unsanitary.

Mr. Walzer said that one problem with the legal production of some species is that it can blur the lines between those raised in captivity and those captured in the wild, where unknown viruses have existed for years without contact with humans.

“It’s a public health hazard, not only in China but everywhere,” he said.

At the peak of the SARS outbreak in 2003, the authorities banned the sale of civets and culled the existing stocks, but within months they ended the ban and trade had resumed as before.

“It is driven by interests,” Qin Xiaona, president of the Capital Animal Welfare Association, an advocacy organization in Beijing, said of the current outbreak. “Many people profit from the wildlife trade today.”

According to a medical blog posted on WeChat, the health authorities in Wuhan visited the market in September and inspected eight vendors selling frogs, snakes and hedgehogs, among other animals. All were licensed to sell wildlife, and no violations were found.

Despite the spread of the virus around the country, a Hong Kong television network, I-Cable News Channel, found scores of wild animals still for sale on Wednesday at a market in Qingyuan, a city in Guangdong, the province where SARS originated.

THE EPIDEMIC HAS NOW PUT SELLERS ON THE DEFENSIVE.

“Are you sure it is eating wild animals that has caused the epidemic?” said Zheng Ming, the sales manager of James Gorman contributed reporting from New York. Zoe Mou in Beijing and Claire Fu in Chengdu contributed research. selling animals in Yichang, a city 180 miles west of Wuhan. Until the ban on sales announced this past week, he sold porcupines, civets, guinea pigs and bamboo rats among others.

“We observe the law,” he said. “This is a completely legal business.”

**********

Coronavirus Spurs China to Suspend Tours Abroad and Xi to Warn of a ‘Grave Situation’......Concern over the outbreak has crept closer to central government offices and the ruling Communist Party’s seat of power.

PUBLISHED Jan. 25, 2020 Updated 8:32 p.m. ET | New York Times | Posted January 25, 2020 |

CHINA MOVES TO RESTRICT TRAVEL, INCLUDING TOURS ABROAD.

China said on Saturday that it would suspend all tour groups and the sale of flight and hotel packages for its citizens headed overseas, starting on Monday.

The association for China’s travel agencies said tour groups that were in the middle of their trips could proceed with their itineraries but should closely monitor the health of their travelers.

This measure may come as welcome news to countries that have been gearing up to screen travelers from China for fevers and other signs of infection.

The Beijing city government also announced on Saturday that it would suspend all inter-province buses from Sunday, effectively limiting road travel into the capital.

The measures, taken hundreds of miles from Wuhan, where the outbreak of a novel coronavirus began, were a sign that concerns over the spread of the outbreak have crept close to central government offices and the ruling Communist Party’s seat of power.

Wuhan also tightened its restrictions further on Saturday with a ban on vehicle traffic in the city center, to begin at midnight.

The local government said some vehicles would be exempted, including shuttle buses and trucks moving supplies. Residents responded with frustration on social media. One woman, who said she was pregnant and near her due date, asked if she was supposed to walk to her gynecologist’s office.

All the reported deaths from the outbreak have been in mainland China, but travelers have spread the virus to numerous other places. Cases have been confirmed in Australia, Malaysia, Nepal, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, France and the United States.

The authorities in Wuhan said they would also speed up the customs process for donated supplies, as hospitals in the city raise the alarm about a shortage of hospital gowns, surgical masks and other necessities.

A notice posted Saturday on the website of the city’s customs agency said that new channels were being put in place to ensure that donations were put to immediate use. Overseas donations will be exempted from tax duties, the notice said.

During past crises, the authorities in China have been criticized for their reluctance to accept overseas assistance, apparently preferring to project a sense of control. As China has grown more affluent, it has become a provider of aid rather than a recipient, particularly to regions like Africa.

China has made exceptions during some past disasters, including a devastating earthquake centered on Sichuan Province in 2008.

SCHOOLS IN HONG KONG AND THE MAINLAND POSTPONE CLASSES

On Saturday, Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, declared a health emergency in the semiautonomous Chinese city and said schools would be closed until mid-February.

Two American universities with campuses in China also postponed their start dates. Duke Kunshan University, a partnership between Duke University in North Carolina and Wuhan University, said it would not resume classes until Feb. 17.

Classes had originally been scheduled to resume Feb. 3, after the Lunar New Year vacation. (Duke Kunshan University is not in Wuhan, but in Jiangsu Province, more than 400 miles away.)

New York University also announced that its Shanghai campus would start its spring semester one week later than planned, at the request of municipal authorities.

Schools in Hubei Province, where Wuhan is and where the outbreak has hit the hardest, had already decided to delay the start dates at all schools, from kindergarten through college.

Fifteen more deaths are reported, including one in Shanghai.

China on Sunday morning announced 15 more deaths from the new coronavirus, including one in Shanghai, the first to be reported so far in the metropolis.

Thirteen more deaths were also announced in Hubei Province, where the outbreak began, and one was announced in Henan Province. The latest deaths brought the toll in China to 56.

Across the country, 688 cases of the new virus were diagnosed on Saturday, the government said early Sunday.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases to 1,975. Deaths from the coronavirus had previously been reported outside of Hubei, the outbreak’s epicenter.

But the death in Shanghai, which is amoung China’s most populous cities and a major commercial hub, is likely to add to anxieties about the disease’s spread.

Shanghai’s municipal health commission said on Saturday that the patient who died was an 88-year-old man.

Nationwide, more than 400 new cases of the virus were diagnosed, officials said early Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in China to more than 1,370.

Travel restrictions in Wuhan and 12 other cities have essentially penned in 35 million people on the country’s biggest holiday, normally a time for traveling to visit family.

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH PANIC?

Though the number of coronavirus cases and deaths is alarming, public health experts have so far warned against mass anxiety. After all, the common flu kills roughly 35,000 people a year and hospitalizes about 200,000 in the United States alone.

It is too soon to know the mortality rate of the virus in the new outbreak. But there are signs that this outbreak could be far more serious than the common flu. For one, the virus has been identified as a coronavirus, named for the spikes that protrude from its membrane. Other coronaviruses have far higher mortality rates than the common flu, and have also led to global outbreaks.

Chinese citizens are also haunted by the memory of the SARS epidemic in 2002 and 2003, a coronavirus outbreak that also started in China and eventually killed more than 800 people worldwide. During that epidemic, Beijing at first played down the crisis and withheld information, eventually drawing widespread criticism.

And conclusive evidence about how the outbreak started is lacking. While officials in Wuhan first traced it to a seafood market, some patients who have fallen ill never visited the market. Researchers have also offered disparate explanations for what animals may have transmitted the virus to humans.

The Chinese government has promised far more transparency than in the SARS crisis, and the World Health Organization has praised its cooperation with the scientific community.

Still, mistrust of the local and national authorities is evident on Chinese social media. And China’s health system has already struggled under the new virus’s strain, with hospitals in Wuhan issuing urgent requests for help and donations.

Xi Jinping, China’s leader, says the nation will ‘beat the epidemic.’

In a sign of how the spread of the coronavirus has deeply shaken China, the nation’s top leader, Xi Jinping, convened a meeting of the Communist Party leadership on Saturday to begin an offensive to stanch the spread of the outbreak, improve treatment of victims and speed supplies to areas under lockdown.

“We’re sure to be able to win in this battle to beat the epidemic through prevention and control,” Mr. Xi said, according to an official summary delivered on Chinese television.

Until now, Mr. Xi had said little publicly about the growing crisis, even as confirmed cases of infection with the new and little understood coronavirus multiplied over the past week and Wuhan — the city in central China where the virus first spread — and nearby areas came under a net of travel restrictions intended to contain the outbreak.

Mr. Xi issued brief orders about the emerging epidemic five days ago. Now, though, he has ordered mobilization across the country and drastic measures to hold back the virus, which is linked to pneumonia symptoms that can be deadly.

The China television report showed Mr. Xi speaking to the six other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Communist Party’s topmost decision-making body, and a circle of other grave-faced officials. The leadership meeting took place on the first full day of China’s weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, a time when the entire country, including party leaders, usually take time off for family get-togethers and relaxation.

“Confronted with the grave situation of this accelerating spread of pneumonia from infections with the novel coronavirus, we must step up the centralized and united leadership under the party central” leadership, Mr. Xi said.

The Communist Party will establish a top-level team, called a leadership small group, to grapple with the crisis, the meeting said, giving efforts to fight the outbreak greater urgency and centralized coordination. Here are some of the other measures and main points announced:

Mr. Xi demanded strong efforts to provide medicine and other supplies, a point of anger among many doctors and medical workers in Wuhan who have complained about a shortage of protective masks, gowns and other safety equipment.

Officials in Hubei Province, where the outbreak began, received an implicit telling off. Residents and many other Chinese people have said that officials did not respond seriously enough. Hubei, the meeting said, “must make containment and control of the epidemic its topmost priority, adopting even stricter measures to prevent it expanding within and spreading outward.”

The meeting called for concentrating resources, experts and treatment to cope with the surge of infections, including sending patients with serious symptoms to designated medical units. This suggests that there may be more hospitals built or modified to deal solely with the outbreak.

LOCAL AND MILITARY MEDICAL RESOURCES ARE TO BE POOLED FOR THE RESPONSE.

Public spaces across China, including railway stations, airports, and ports, were told to step up measures to deter the spread of the virus, including ventilation, disinfection, and body temperature checks for people. “When suspected cases are found they must be held for observation locally,” the meeting ordered.

Beijing response highlights longstanding tensions between national and local officials.

In his remarks on Saturday, Mr. Xi also seemed to address Chinese citizens’ growing dissatisfaction with the official response. On Chinese social media, users have asked whether the authorities have accurately reported the number of cases or taken enough steps to rein in their spread.

Commenters have especially condemned the perceived absence of the local, provincial and even national authorities in the heart of the outbreak. Mr. Xi had made few public remarks about the disease before Saturday, when he called for officials to “stand at the front line to safeguard social stability.”

“Where is that person? He is not on the front line,” one user wrote on Weibo, a Twitterlike platform, an apparent reference to Mr. Xi. The posts were quickly deleted.

A professor of infectious diseases in Hong Kong who helped identify SARS, Guan Yi, has accused Chinese authorities of delaying action and of obstructing his efforts to investigate the outbreak.

Local officials in China have long had incentives to avoid revealing problems that might invite the wrath of party bosses. But Mr. Xi’s efforts to centralize power in Beijing have further weakened local authorities and increased their incentive to deny problems.

It’s part of a longstanding pattern that can make both levels of government slow to acknowledge problems, then blame each other once a problem is revealed.

State media has maintained a steady drumbeat of positive news as the outbreak has spread, praising the sacrifices of responders and everyday people.

“This is a continuous theme in central-local relations in China. You do not want to be the one to bring bad news,” said Vivienne Shue, a prominent China scholar at Oxford University.

U.S. ORDERS THE EVACUATION OF AMERICAN CONSULATE EMPLOYEES.

The State Department has ordered all American employees at the United States Consulate in Wuhan to leave the city, as a lockdown imposed on central China expanded, the United States Embassy said on Saturday.

It said the evacuation of its American staff members and their families was necessary because of the spreading outbreak of the coronavirus, the disruptions caused by the restrictions on transportation in Wuhan and the overwhelming of hospitals.

The evacuation order, made on Thursday, according to a statement from the United States Embassy, was a sign that the measures imposed by the Chinese authorities to try to contain the outbreak of the mysterious coronavirus may be escalating alarm and confusion.

Lines have formed at hospitals and residents have complained that the traffic restrictions have made it nearly impossible to seek timely medical help.

The United States government is arranging a charter flight to evacuate American diplomats and citizens on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the plan. The plane would likely take evacuees to the West Coast of the United States, this person said.

Medical staff would be aboard the plane to screen passengers, and evacuees who were not American diplomatic officers would be responsible for the cost of the flight, according to the person briefed on the plan.

The French Consulate in Wuhan also told its citizens on Friday that it was considering setting up bus rides for those who wished to leave the city, in cooperation with the Chinese authorities, according to France’s Foreign Ministry.

Hong Kong declares a state of emergency and shuts schools.

On Saturday, Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, declared a health emergency in the semiautonomous Chinese city and said schools would be closed until mid-February.

The city is treating five coronavirus patients connected to Wuhan, and more than 100 others are suspected of having the viral pneumonia.

Hong Kong is also suspending flights and train services to Wuhan and will cancel all Lunar New Year celebrations. The Hong Kong Marathon, originally scheduled for early February, has also been called off.

Masks and hand sanitizers have sold out in most pharmacies in the city as residents have stocked up on supplies in a panic since last week.

Yuen Kwok-yung, a leading expert in infectious diseases who discovered the agent causing the coronavirus, had called for schools and universities to remain closed beyond the Lunar New Year holiday in an effort to contain the infection’s reach.

Recent cases have shown that people who do not show symptoms could transmit the disease, according to a study published in The Lancet on Friday of which he was a co-author.

“If there are local cases in Hong Kong that is not directly connected to Wuhan, this is a big issue,” Dr. Yuen said in a phone interview. “It would mean that this epidemic has reached another level of severity.”

[onlinebu49105ceav-blog]

You Will Be Able To Excel With A Dwelling Enterprise: This is How!

A home based business might be exciting and thrilling. You don't have a manager, you've got all the gain, and you appear to be all of the decisions. While that may be thrilling, it may well be worrisome if you do not have the fitting information. Luckily, just a few tricks to maintain to you track.

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Taking over a home based business is usually a dream come true, are closely related something that you're doing and tackle what we need to address. Let the following pointers be a basis for your firm, helping you increasing and go out with the proper issues in mind. A home based business could be challenging but rewarding. Attempt to which have rewarding moments than challenging moments by learning as equal as you can--More on web design.

[indianapolispartybus]

Affordable party buses in Indianapolis

Indianapolis Party Bus!

Indy is an exciting city with plenty of things to see and to do, and a party bus is the perfect way to get around town. When it comes to finding the perfect party b us or limo, Indianapolis Party Bus should be your first call. We're here for you 24 hours per day and our vast fleet is sure to have something you'll love! Our limo buses are equipped with all the amenities you need to have a great time, including an amazing sound system, colorful disco lights, and plenty of space for dancing. We also have a wide selection of charter buses and stretch limos to choose from, so you can find the perfect transportation for your event. Our party bus rental service is the best in town, and we're here to make sure you have a great time.

Rent a Bus for Any Event

A party bus in Indianapolis is a great way to celebrate a special occasion. Whether it's a bachelor or bachelorette party, birthday, anniversary, or just a night out on the town, a party bus can make your event even more memorable. Party buses are available for rent from many different companies in the Indianapolis area, and they come in a variety of sizes and styles to suit your needs. Most party buses have comfortable seating for up to 40 passengers, and some even have amenities like TVs, sound systems, and bars. Chartering a party bus is a great way to offer transportation for large groups, and it's much more affordable than renting multiple limos or shuttles. When booking a party bus, be sure to ask about any special deals or discounts that may be available.

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[asp1990]

Day 6: Tuesday June 28th, 2022

Breakfast: Apple Danish and a latte Lunch: Disneyland food – hotdog and chicken nuggets Dinner: Gorgonzola and spinach gnocchi with an iced tea from the minimart

Steps: 22, 814

We were up early this morning to get the bus to DISNEYLAND! Amara was super excited despite having been twice before. I was quietly excited but not sure what to expect – Nana always said she’d take all of her grandkids if she ever won Tattslotto, but that never happened, so today I took myself!

We got a coffee and pastry on the way to the designated pickup point for our charter bus. It was a 50-minute drive in some really congested traffic, but we arrived shortly after 10am. We were walking from the carpark to the park entrance when Tim realised that he’d left his bag, with his passport, on the bus! PANIC! We ran back to the bus stop, but our busses had already left. We tried to call the bus company but there was no answer. We tried to get another bus chauffer to help us, but they were useless. Tim was in angry business mode and told Amara and I to go in and he’d meet us later. We both wanted to stay and help, but he stormed off, so we lined up.

It took us about 40 minutes to shake the funk of losing Tim. We went straight to the gift shops to buy a t-shirt and matching mouse ears. We were spoilt for choice! If I had a lot of money, it would be very easy to spend it on Disney merch. When we came out, the character parade had started and that started to lift my spirits. They absolutely PUMPED a super catchy song through the speakers and the characters all came out on floats with Disney dancers and performed for everyone. It was awesome!

We then lined up to get a photo with Mickey, which took an hour… ugh. I called Morgan while we were in the line because I was connected to WIFI and caught up with him. We finally met Mickey – it felt a bit like a private parlour – we got ushered out of the queue area and into a room where there was a Micky and 2 photographers. They absolutely loved that Amara and I were from Australia and kindly took photos on Amara’s phone as well so we wouldn’t have to pay 20 euro for a park pic.

We went back outside and it was starting to get very hot. We walked over to line up for Pirates of the Caribbean and waited for about 25 minutes to get onto the ride. It was fun! By the time we got out, we had a message from Tim saying that he’d made it to the bus depot and gotten his bag back! Woohoo! We’d been wondering if he’d be able to get it back in a day and were worried that it would affect our ability to get to London the next day if Tim didn’t have a passport. Thank goodness! He was on his way back to the park and arrived about 90 minutes later. We lined up to get some lunch (so many damn lines) and got some nuggets and chips. I had wanted pizza or something a bit healthier, but that didn’t appear to be an option. Around this time my stomach started feeling a bit crook, so I had to make a long visit to the bathroom until I felt better – what a day! I was worried it wouldn’t pass, but it did and we were back in action. After lunch we saw the parade again, had another boogie and got a photo in front of the castle with Tim.

We lined up next for the Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain which I was a bit nervous about – I’d only ever been on the Scooby Doo Coaster at Movie World when I was 12 and I hated it. This was THE rollercoaster and it was hectic and I had my eyes closed for half of it. Amara and Tim loved it and we all came out with raised heart rates and a rejuvenated view of the day after a rough start.

After that we went to the following attractions: • Alice’s Curious Labyrinth maze • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril rollercoaster • Le Passage Enchanté d’Alladin • Mickey’s PhilharMagic 3D movie experience • Phantom Manor • Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast • Le Carrousel de Lancelot

The lines for Peter Pan and Pinocchio were always a 60+ minute wait and none of us were keen to go on the spinning teacups, so we sporadically snacked and then visited all the souvenir shops again. At 8pm we lined up for the carousel and it was our last ride before our bus back into Paris, which left at 9pm. We were cooked!

The bus took about 1hr in traffic and everyone was quiet. When we got off the bus, we said goodbye to Tim, who was going to visit a colleague who was also in Paris (no idea how he had the energy) and Amara and I walked home on sore feet. We stopped at a corner store to get a bottle of water and I got a microwave gnocchi dinner that was surprisingly tasty! I wrote my diary, watched a bit of TV and then packed up my luggage for our journey tomorrow to London!

Paris has been absolutely sensational, but 6 days was enough. It would be nice to explore the other parts of France, but we have definitely done all of main Paris. We have walked 69km over 6 days and seen all of the main landmarks and a theme park. Paris is expensive and beautiful and easy to move around. I have spent too much money, but I have had a blast.

[nationwidecarservice]

An Indiana Charter Bus Will Be of Tremendous Help to Guests for On-Time Arrivals

An Indiana Charter Bus Will Be of Tremendous Help to Guests for On-Time Arrivals

What You Need to Talk to your Guests About Before the Wedding. No one likes showing up ill prepared no matter where they go, certainly not for the time span of a wedding. Lots of work is put into the wedding to make sure that guests are comfortable, just like great Jacksonville Car Service makes sure their riders feel comfort. Yet if you don’t pay attention to the details, all your hard work…

[blackkudos]

Rod Paige

Roderick Raynor (Rod) Paige (born June 17, 1933) served as the 7th United States Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005. Paige, who grew up in Mississippi, moved from classroom teacher to college dean and school superintendent to be the first African American to serve as the nation's education chief.

Paige was sitting with George W. Bush at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, when Bush received the news that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

On November 15, 2004, Paige announced his resignation after overseeing the President's education agenda for four years. White House domestic policy adviser Margaret Spellings was nominated as his successor. The U.S. Senate confirmed her on January 20, 2005 after Bush's inauguration for a second term.

Paige has been serving as interim president of his alma mater, Jackson State University, since November 1, 2016.

Early life and education

Born in Monticello, Mississippi, Paige is the son of public school educators. He earned a bachelor's degree from Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi and a Master's degree and a Doctor of Physical Education degree from Indiana University Bloomington. He also holds an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Houston, which was presented to him in 2000.

Career

Paige served in the United States Navy from 1955 to 1957. Paige then taught health and physical education and coached at Hinds Agricultural High School and Hinds Community College in Mississippi from 1957 to 1963. From 1964 to 1968, Paige served as head football coach at Jackson State University, compiling a record of 25 wins, 19 losses and 2 ties. Most notably, he recruited and coached Lem Barney who went on to a successful career with the Detroit Lions and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. From 1971 to 1975, Paige served as head football coach at Texas Southern University, and served as the university's athletic director from 1971 to 1980.

Paige first moved to Houston in the 1970s and settled in the Brentwood subdivision. He started a move to excise a dump from the edge of the community. The Texas Supreme Court eventually sided with the residents.

Paige was a teacher at Texas Southern University from 1980 to 1984 and became the Dean of the College of Education in 1984, where he served until 1994. Paige also established the university's Center for Excellence in Urban Education, a research facility that concentrates on issues related to instruction and management in urban school systems.

As a trustee and an officer of the Board of Education of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) from 1989 to 1994, Paige coauthored the board's 'A Declaration of Beliefs and Visions', a statement of purpose and goals for the school district that called for fundamental reform through decentralization, a focus on instruction, accountability at all levels, and development of a core curriculum. A Declaration of Beliefs and Visions was the catalyst that launched the ongoing, comprehensive restructuring of HISD. As an HISD trustee, Paige launched a municipal-style, accredited police department at HISD with police officers certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education. Paige’s board of education began that effort to provide better school safety, and the HISD police department remains the only school district police department in the country to earn accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

Paige became the superintendent of schools of HISD in 1994. As superintendent, Paige created the Peer Examination, Evaluation, and Redesign (PEER) program, which solicits recommendations from business and community professionals for strengthening school support services and programs. He started a system of charter schools that have broad authority in decisions regarding staffing, textbooks, and materials. He saw to it that HISD paid teachers salaries competitive with those offered by other large Texas school districts. Paige made HISD the first school district in the state to institute performance contracts modeled on those in the private sector, whereby senior staff members' continued employment with HISD is based on their performance. He also introduced teacher incentive pay, which rewards teachers for raising test scores.

While he was superintendent, Paige led the district to enter into contracts with private schools to use them to teach some HISD students rather than placing those students into overcrowded public schools. Under Paige HISD contracted with three private schools that were certified by the Texas Education Agency to teach HISD students so their parents didn’t have to bus them to schools across the city.

Many touted the "Houston Miracle" accomplished under Paige where student test scores rose under his leadership. However, some schools underreported the number of drop-outs during his watch.

Paige served as the United States Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush. The No Child Left Behind law that set new accountability standards nationwide was developed with Paige’s help, and it was Paige’s Department of Education that implemented the law. The Bush White House’s development of the principles of No Child Left Behind drew in part on the successes of the Houston Independent School District under Paige.

Under Paige, the department earned “clean” audits from Ernst and Young for three consecutive years. Prior to 2001, the department had achieved only one clean audit in its history, and that audit was by the Department's Office of Inspector General.

Paige proposed amendments to the regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide more flexibility for educators to establish single-sex classes and schools at the elementary and secondary levels.

Paige once referred to the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, as a "terrorist organization."

Other activities

Paige has served on review committees of the Texas Education Agency and the State Board of Education's Task Force on High School Education, and he has chaired the Youth Employment Issues Subcommittee of the National Commission for Employment Policy of the U.S. Department of Labor. Paige is a member of the NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He is a former member of the Houston Job Training Partnership Council, the Community Advisory Board of Texas Commerce Bank, the American Leadership Forum, and the board of directors of the Texas Business and Education Coalition. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the American College of Education.

Legacy

Houston ISD renamed campus of James Bowie Elementary School after Paige, naming it Rod Paige Elementary School. His hometown of Monticello, Mississippi renamed its middle School Rod Paige Middle School.

Wikipedia

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/02/19/n-c-a-a-basketball-tournaments-will-welcome-fans-after-all/

N.C.A.A. Basketball Tournaments Will Welcome Fans After All

The N.C.A.A. announced on Friday that it would welcome fans — tens of thousands of them — to Indianapolis and San Antonio, where the entire men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are to be held this season, in a move that will generate millions in ticket revenue but risk further spread of the coronavirus to and from far-flung regions of the country.

The 68-team men’s tournament, which begins on March 18, will be played in Indianapolis before crowds of up to 25 percent capacity at sites ranging from the quaint 9,100-seat Hinkle Fieldhouse, where the movie “Hoosiers” was filmed, to the cavernous Lucas Oil Fieldhouse, which in a normal year could hold up to 70,000 fans for the regional finals and the Final Four.

The 64-team women’s tournament, which begins on March 21, will allow up to 17 percent capacity from the regional semifinals through the championship final in San Antonio. Those games will be played at the Alamodome, which has a 31,900-seat capacity for basketball. (Crowds at the first- and second-round games, some of which will be played in small arenas, will be limited to several hundred friends and family members.) The capacity limits were decided after consultation with local health authorities, the N.C.A.A. said.

Still, several public health experts said they were baffled by the decision.

“I can’t see any good reason to do that, and I can see a lot of bad reasons to do that,” said John Swartzberg, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, who has studied infectious diseases and served as an adviser for the Pac-12 Conference. “Bringing people from all over the country to a congregate setting is just nuts.”

The N.C.A.A. made the decision to move its entire tournaments, which are each normally played at more than a dozen sites around the country, to Indianapolis and San Antonio to create a more restrictive environment for the dozens of teams involved and give the single-elimination tournaments a greater chance of avoiding interruptions because of positive tests.

Extensive measures are being put in place to play the games. All athletes, coaches and staff members will be required to have seven consecutive negative coronavirus tests before arriving in Indianapolis or San Antonio via a chartered plane or bus. Once they are there, testing will continue. All meals will be served in hotel rooms or in rooms with distanced assigned seating. Players, coaches and staff members also must wear contact-tracing devices throughout the tournament that measure if someone is within six feet of an infected person who also wears a device.

Previously, plans had been made for family and friends to attend the games with each player, and for coaches and staff member to each receive six tickets. Those guests would be prohibited from interacting with players, coaches or staff members during the tournament.

But having thousands of fans arrive from all over the country without the same measures creates a risk of turning the tournaments into super-spreader events, said Ana Bento, an assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Fans will be required only to wear masks and to practice social distancing in the arenas.

“At this point in the epidemic, we can no longer say we don’t know enough,” Bento said. “We know what to avoid in order to minimize risk. This is something that carries a lot of risk.”

Said Kathleen Bachynski, an assistant professor of public health at Muhlenberg College: “When you start bringing in thousands of people who have not been through these protocols ahead of time, you really are adding a much higher level of risk.”

Updated 

Feb. 19, 2021, 7:57 p.m. ET

“And to what benefit?” she added.

A benefit for the N.C.A.A. could be gaining a portion of the ticket revenue that would be expected in a typical year, and holding each tournament in one location should reduce some of the travel costs that the organization covers for teams. The N.C.A.A. said last month its revenue had dropped by $600 million last year — a 50 percent decline — largely because of the cancellation of the men’s basketball tournament. The vast majority of N.C.A.A. revenue is redistributed to the colleges, but the reduction forced the organization to tap into reserves, cut salaries and institute furloughs and layoffs. Its staff is about one-quarter smaller than it was a year ago, the N.C.A.A. president, Mark Emmert, told The New York Times last month.

The N.C.A.A. said it would announce information on ticket sales for the basketball tournaments next month.

The decision to allow fans comes at a fluid moment in the pandemic. Known cases are declining and thousands of people are being vaccinated each day in the United States, but those steps forward could be offset by new variants of the virus that spread more aggressively and may not be as easily countered by some vaccines. At the moment, many cities are trying to figure out how to fully open schools.

The circumstances may change by the time the tournaments start or when they conclude — with as many as 17,500 fans watching the men and about 5,500 spectators for the women in the final games.

But some things won’t change: The virus is more easily transmissible indoors, making a basketball arena more conducive to spreading the virus than an open-air football stadium. And fans, even if they are masked up and sitting at a recommended distance from one another while watching games, are going to spend time on other activities in the host cities.

“It’s not just having all these people in the stands,” Swartzberg said. “All these people are staying in a hotel and eating in a restaurant and drinking at a bar. Indianapolis is probably going to be celebrating what’s going on. All of these things don’t make sense in the midst of a pandemic.”

He added: “I can understand the argument for parents or siblings of the players to attend. But to open it up to as much as 25 percent of capacity? The only reason to do that is not player safety or family safety — it’s to sell tickets.”

Source

[thomasblanky-moved]

I've been feeling the thing abut pussy power since i heard about it and it makes me feel better to know I'm not alone in that

i took a charter bus to washington DC back in january for the women’s march on DC the day after trumps inauguration, and in the windows of the bus they had put up posters that said “pence’s pussy patrol” (i’m from indiana, and the bus left from indianapolis, so pence was our governor) and when my partner and i brought our discomfort to the coordinators we were brushed off and it made me very angry

i’ll say it again: if your feminism isn’t intersectional, then it’s trash. feminism should be working for more than just cishet, middle/upper-class white women. feminism- true feminism- is an effort to better the lives of poor women, of trans women, of sapphic women, of women of color.

[soulmate-game]

Okay, you guys...

You guys realize my post covered precisely 20% of what happened on the week-long trip, right?

Like. There was that girl’s mysterious infection (I hope that was solved, She still had it when the trip ended. I honestly have no idea what that was.) The 1million rickety, fucking Indiana-Jones level rickety wood bridges we were forced to walk over. Some of them over actual rivers with sharp rocks. The at least three poison dart frogs that hopped terrifyingly close to our short-sleeve clad skin. The howler monkeys.

Those of you who know, know that that needs no follow up. Howler Monkeys.

That time that our tour guide reached right into a termite mound and ate some, only commenting; “they taste like peanuts. Want to try?”

The bullet ants.

That giant iguana lounging on the outside of our window.

Oh. There was a kidnap and hostage thing. It took up most of our trip. People legit kidnapped an overpriced sloth plush that one of the jocks was tricked into buying, and ransomed it. They left fucking HINTS as to where the sloth was every time we boarded our charter bus. There was a tuft of stuffing left attached to one of the notes at one point. Shit got weird.

Diego fell off his raft while we were white water rafting. He lost his paddle and had to sit in the middle of the raft in the Spot of Shame since he couldn’t help do anything.

Did I mention Diego ran into an alligator behind one of our hotel/resorts at night when most of our group went on a guided night walk to try to see sloths? We were playing water polo, and the ball got knocked down the hill behind the pool. He and one of the jocks went to go get it. Turns out there’s a slow river behind the resort. Five minutes later, both he and the jock are hightailing it back to the resort. Apparently Diego stepped slightly into the water to grab the ball, only to notice a giant splash and big reptilian form not far away. They didn’t stay to confirm if it was an alligator, they just ran. Like sensible human beings. Considering that same resort had a lake in the middle of it that definitely had alligators in it, I am willing to bet it was the real deal.

That trip was Crazy. Like. Crazy.

Don’t worry, the next chapter of The Heroes’ Game and the next chapter for the Marinette Kent (Lament Of a Kent in AO3) are both coming out soon. I’m actually getting places with them, yay!

But I’m rereading the Heroes’ Game from start to finish, to reacquaint myself with how I wrote the story and the overall feel I’m going for it. I do this every time I take more than a week break from writing any particular story. Those of you who also write long stories know that even if you wrote every word yourself, you still forget details of your own story after a while. So I’m just refreshing them in my mind right now.

But I got to chapter three, and started thinking about my own high school trip. Because when I graduated from high school, my grandparents paid so that I could go on a graduation trip to Costa Rica with the rest of my graduating class (that could both afford the trip and signed up to go). And let me tell you, that trip was CRAZY. Before I went, I thought that the stereotype of high school trips out of country being wrought with mishaps, rule-breaking, and almost-or-actual-injury-or-death were seriously exaggerated.

No. No, I was wrong. Even though we were told that we would still have to abide by US law (legal drinking age 21), most of my group still got drunk. Like, really really drunk, because legal age of drinking in Costa Rica is 18. And our chaperones, which were one or two teachers and a handful of parents, just... let it happen? I was honestly the only sober person in the pool at one point, because our resort/hotel (don’t get excited, it wasn’t as fancy as it sounds) had an almost floating-bar thing in the pool. I just sat there drinking my virgin strawberry daiquiri as one of the jock-type dudes (three drinks in at the time) had a much-less-jock-type-Dude on his shoulders chugging another (probably the guy’s third or fourth) drink. While dangerously close to the deep side of the pool.

Yeah, our chaperones just watched this happen with mildly concerned but mostly chill expressions. While all of them also nursed drinks.

That’s just from our second or third night of the trip, guys. Lots of crazy shit happened. At one point, one of the guys legit had to run from an alligator... or crocodile? Geez it’s been so long I’ve forgotten. I don’t think the crocodile was actually interested in him, but it scared the shit out of him nonetheless. For good fucking reason, but still.

Poor Diego. He was our primary unofficial translator, considering he’s a native Spanish speaker, but all the bad shit happened to him. He came out okay though, nobody was seriously injured. But we came pretty close.

Anyway, I was reminded of this trip because of that one scene in HG where Marinette mentions she has a hotel room to herself. Well, in my trip I originally shared my room with two other girls. But then, one of the other girls really liked staying up late and almost got locked out of our room since me and my other roommate (my then-best friend Bella) went to sleep fairly early. So, she switched to another room. Then Bella had to deal with the aftermath of her friends getting drunk and having emotional breakdowns (as teenagers do) and I somehow ended up having a hotel room completely to myself for about half the trip. It was wondrous. She still kept her stuff in my room since technically she wasn’t aloud to leave me in a room by myself, but she never actually stayed in our room after that day. :P

I am 100% the only kid who followed the rules on that trip. Minus that one time I snuck out because someone screamed, but that was just because I was worried. Turns out it was just a momma spider getting squished and releasing a million baby spiders from her dead body. Nothing serious.

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3 Essentials You Need to Let Your Guests Know About Before the Wedding

No one likes showing up ill prepared no matter where they go, certainly not for the time span of a wedding. Lots of work is put into the wedding to make sure that guests are comfortable, just like great Jacksonville Car Service makes sure their riders feel comfort. Yet if you don’t pay attention to the details, all your hard work could go unnoticed.

There are some things you guests need to know before anything else, aside from the best Jacksonville Black Car Service.

 Tell you guests if most of your wedding will take place outside, and certainly if it’s an outdoor only venue. Many complications take place during outdoor weddings, but if you consider all aspects, the wedding and work, will surely be worth it. Outdoor weddings prompt for proper footwear, O-rings for high heels, fans, light clothing, and anything other than metal chairs.

Let your guests know whether you will be providing transportation or not. An Indiana Charter Bus will be of tremendous help to guests for on-time arrivals. This will let them know whether they need extra time to prepare and navigate.

Please give your guests a heads up on the headcount. Are you enforcing the plus one rule, or can they bring as many friends as they’d like? Let your guests know ahead of time just how many guests it is okay to bring. This will make things easier for you. You’ll know if you need just one Indianapolis Charter Bus, or two. Food is important here too, if everyone person you invite brings an extra person, you could find yourself running low on the buffet line.

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Source: https://nationwidecar12.blogspot.com/2019/11/3-essentials-you-need-to-let-your.html