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Fun things to do with the kids during Vacation Week

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Between all the holiday shopping, end of term projects,  ornament swaps, cookie exchanges, your job and giving back to the community, it’s no wonder you haven’t had time to nail down vacation week adventure plans for your brood. Because that’s what good parents do, right?There’s good news: There’s plenty to be had over the busy holiday week. If you’re looking for educational, adventurous, or even simply a way to keep them busy, there are still ways to make vacation week fabulous.Consider these itineraries for an easy yet interesting family adventure.Sparkling city funBundle up, head in to Boston and start your adventure at the Seaport with Snowport (https://www.bostonseaport.xyz/), a fun pop-up village of cool holiday themed shopping and food. It’s all served out of quaint sheds in a lovely setting, and the perfect way to spend whatever crisp bills were tucked into holiday cards.From there, meander down Summer Street to Congress Street, Sudbury Street to Nort...

6 key Norman Lear TV shows and where to watch them

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Norman Lear wasn’t just an epochal talent — he was highly prolific to boot. So much so that the legendary producer, who died Tuesday at 101, had at least one TV series, and as many as nine at once, on the air throughout the entire period between 1971 and 1986.To help you get a handle on where to start with Lear, or where to catch up with your old favorites, we asked our critics to compile a list of his six most essential TV shows and where to stream them.‘All in the Family’ (CBS, 1971-1979)Prime-time television was revolutionized by “All in the Family” when it premiered in 1971. The half-hour sitcom dared to tackle politics and social ills in a comedy set in the cramped Bunker household, where bigoted, grousing patriarch Archie (Carroll O’Connor) laid bare America’s changing values in the midst of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and women’s liberation. Hate him or love him, Archie was a reflection of a country in flux, and “All in the Family” a demarcation point for the c...

‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’ heads to Netflix nest

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Britain’s Aardman Animation is rightly admired for its phenomenal success over the years with stop-motion clay figures. Its breakthrough and still most successful hit is “Chicken Run” – which has now spawned a 23-years-later sequel “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.”“Nugget” director Sam Fell remembers the hook that drew everyone to “Chicken Run” – “It’s ‘The Great Escape’ – with chickens!”“That was a massive milestone for the studio. Eventually,” he said in a virtual press conference, “a new single line came about that unlocked a new version of it, a new story. That line was, ‘This time, they’re breaking in.’ With just that one line, it promised a new kind of movie for Aardman. A break-in, a heist, and all of the comic invention that it conjures up with the ingenuity of Aardman characters breaking into a ginormous building and the unlikeliness of chickens as action heroes.“No Tom Cruise, no Sly Stallone. It’s chickens! It just had this inherently comic notion to it ̵...

Is artificial intelligence taking over my job?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Q. I work in HR. My work is slowly being given to AI. Am I outsourcing my job to technology? I enjoy what I do, but if I’m becoming obsolete, what’s my next step?A. Embrace technology. Although AI has been around for years, work handled by generative AI can amplify your productivity so you can dive into deep thinking work.While your profession has a strong people component, the work also includes transactional tasks (like processing an internal transfer date that triggers a new salary and business unit.)Automation changes the nature of work — both people and technology become more valuable. By partnering with AI to handle monotonous tasks, you can be more high-level strategic by immersing yourself in invigorating brainstorming sessions and exchanging ideas that tap into your highest talents and skills.According to the IBM Institute for Business Value research, AI is about people and how work gets done. In the AI era, people skills are essential.The research shows that pe...

Volunteering has health benefits, especially for seniors

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Dear Mayo Clinic: My neighbor recently retired, and I’ve been trying to convince her to volunteer at the library with me. She’s not swayed by my stories of feeling good from helping others. Can you share some other benefits of dedicating her time and energy to a cause?A: Thank you for volunteering in your community and for trying to persuade your neighbor to join you. Volunteers make an immeasurable difference in people’s lives.The act of volunteering also benefits a person’s health as well. Research has shown that volunteering offers significant health benefits, especially for older adults. Here are the top three you can share with your neighbor:1. Improves physical and mental health.Volunteer activities keep people moving and thinking at the same time. Research has found that volunteering among adults who are 60 and older provided benefits to physical and mental health. Volunteers report better physical health than nonvolunteers.Volunteering leads to lower ...

Active Olivia loves to play Just Dance

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Olivia is a friendly and spunky young girl who enjoys cooking, playing with her dolls, painting her nails and board games. She also enjoys being active and playing at the playground.Olivia is social, friendly and outgoing and easily engages in conversation. Olivia has built positive relationships with her peers and caregivers. She responds well to support and praise. Olivia can get silly and is often seen joking with others.Olivia will benefit from a home with at least one female parent, with or without older children in the home. A family will need to have the time and patience to appropriately care for Olivia in order to best support her needs. Olivia has a relationship with her three siblings, and a family should be willing to support these relationships post-adoption.Can I adopt?If you’re at least 18 years old, have a stable source of income, and room in your heart, you may be a perfect match to adopt a waiting child. Adoptive parents can be single, married, or partnered; experi...

Cheating ex wants her back at the holidays

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Q. My ex cheated and broke up our family, which we worked hard to blend for more than 20 years. By the time I left, I was pretty disgusted with his antics. My ex was awful during the breakup and made our adult children choose with whom they would spend Christmas. This holiday is different. He is texting me things like, “I want you in my life so I will do what I have to do to make that happen.” I don’t know what that means, and my kids are putting pressure on me to take him seriously. What’s good ex-etiquette?A. Around the holidays I always get questions about spending time as a family even though there has been a breakup. It’s like people watch the Sci-Fi Channel all year long and then around the holidays switch to Hallmark.I’m not surprised your kids want you to consider his offer. No matter what has happened in the past, kids of any age want their parents to reconcile. Unfortunately, they don’t look at cheating the same way you do.If you fear your ex is playing games and you want ...

Dear Abby: Kids want $$ mom needs to live on

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Dear Abby: My husband of 30 years died. We weren’t rich. I was 54 years old. We each had a will leaving all our assets to the other. We were self-employed, so there was no IRA or 401(k). I sold our only piece of property, and as a result, I have a small savings.My daughters have now cut ties with me because I won’t give them money that I need to live on and will need for my future. I have been alienated from all the grandchildren as well. I feel terrible about it, but I’m scared about my future if I give my savings away. My daughters are all married and doing well financially. Is this normal? I gave them all of their father’s personal items after he passed. How can I feel better about all of this? — Lost Them All at OnceDear Lost Them: Please accept my sympathy. Emotional blackmail is not “normal.” Neither is holding the grandkids for ransom, which is what your daughters are doing. I hope you realize they will continue to do this as long as ...

Climate negotiators urged to reach a consensus on curbing warming as COP28 talks near crunch time

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Negotiators have been urged to narrow down their options and agree on how to save Earth from disastrous levels of warming as the clock runs down on United Nations climate talks and the summit’s president remains determined to finish up talks by Tuesday.“Now is the time to shift gears and get to consensus,” COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber said in a plenary session late Saturday.There some were signs negotiators were moving forward Sunday: For the first time since the talks began 11 days ago, a draft agreement on global adaptation goals — which will determine how poor countries will brace themselves for weather extremes worsened by climate change from drought to deluge to more intense storms — was released.The draft text expresses concern over the gap between the money needed for adaptation and how much countries are getting, but it doesn’t say exactly how much money is needed for the world to adapt to climate change. One option in the draft pr...

For Putin, winning reelection could be easier than resolving the many challenges facing Russia

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

For President Vladimir Putin, winning reelection will probably be the easy part. His sweeping grip on Russia’s political scene has virtually assured him another six-year term that would extend his two dozen years in power. More daunting will be the thorny challenges that lie ahead.The stalemated war in Ukraine, unyielding Western pressure that compounds Russia’s economic problems, and intensifying infighting among the ruling elite will loom over Putin’s next term and erode his pledges of stability.THE WAR IN UKRAINEWhat Putin expected to be a quick campaign in 2022 to establish Kremlin control over its neighbor has turned into a grinding war of attrition that has incurred massive personnel losses and drained Russia’s resources.While Russia has prevented Ukraine’s army from making any significant gains during its summer counteroffensive, the Kremlin doesn’t have enough manpower and equipment to mount any major campaigns of its own.The resulting stalemate sets the stage fo...