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Alternatives to Kakistocracy -Government by the Worst
February 6, 2017 April 15, 2017 communelifeblogLeave a comment
by Pamela Boyce Simms, transition.midatlantic.hub@gmail.com
co-published on the GEO blog
Day 17 of the First 100 Days
The Administration of the 45th President of the United States
We've had a front row seat for two weeks to American kakistocracy – government by the worst, most incompetent, and inappropriate persons. We've witnessed the new administration's willful disregard for the Constitution, lack of forethought or regard for the sweeping impact of policy decisions on the population, and the steady, targeted erosion of rights. Americans took to the streets to resist the pathology of self-serving, morally bankrupt oligarchs.
Solution-thinking: Counter fragmentation with collaboration. If a dysfunctional government ignores the needs of its constituents and seeks to normalize discrimination, we respond by affirming our diversity and strengthen our interdependence. If the executive branch is plagued by power-and-control infighting, operates under cover of darkness, and is ruled by impulse, we counterbalance with collaboration, transparency, and wisdom. The task of transforming the collective unconscious so as to give rise to a new kind of government falls to us.
Alternatives: Resistance is a vital "holding action" that saves lives and alleviates suffering. Long term localized resilience-building will get us through the eye of the climate change needle. For environmentalists and
Collaborative, Evolutionary Culture-building
allies, step one is to take our cue from natural living systems which self-organize seamlessly. Step two is to look to the best examples of human ecosystems which are already actively engaged in biomimicry —modeling systems on nature, and biological processes.
Make like a tree: Organic, self-organizing tree intelligence. Oh, would that we could behave like trees, our oldest companions on Earth! Trees are social beings. They speak a sophisticated silent language, communicating complex information via smell, taste and electrical impluse. We're only just beginning to understand non-human consciousness.
Trees share their food and sometimes nourish competitors. They know the advantages of working together. On its own a tree cannot establish a consistent local climate. It's at the mercy of the wind and weather. But together many trees create an ecosystem that moderates weather extremes. In this protected environment trees can live to be very old. To get to this point the community must remain intact no matter what. If every tree was only looking out for itself, quite a few would never reach old age. Regular fatalities would result in large gaps in the tree canopy allowing storms to ravage the community and uproot members. Summer heat would reach the forest floor and dry it out. Every tree would suffer.
Every tree therefore is valuable and worth keeping around for as long as possible. That's why sick individuals are nourished by neighbor trees until they recover. Next time it may be the other way around. The supporting tree may be the one in need of assistance.(The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben, 2016)
Human ecosystem self-organizing: While "collaboration" and "cooperation" have become buzzwords, relatively few Americans —conditioned as we are in a competitive, top-down, hierarchical culture, really know what that looks like over the long haul. Authentic cooperation requires people to change deeply imprinted habit patterns which are continually reinforced by a society that deliberately seeks to divide us. We are called to compassionately heal our schisms. We seek true unity and regenerative wholeness.
While many movements commit intellectually to pursuing wholeness through cooperation, thousands of intentional communities throughout the United States already demonstrate just that. Intentional communities are groups of people who have decided to find ways to live together cooperatively. Irrespective of how diverse a group of people in an intentional community may be, there is a shared allegiance to the baseline value of sustained cooperation.
The Fellowship for Intentional Community and the Point "A" Project which creates urban Income-sharing communities are standard bearers in the intentional community movement. They embrace anyone with the gumption to self-liberate from the corrosive mainstream matrix. Intentional communities offer supportive pathways toward healthy interdependence and ways to thrive in breathing space that takes some distance from the mainstream.
As per Raven, a spokesperson for the Point A Project, "Intentional communities are laboratories for social change. Each one tries something different and sees how it works. That's why there are five different income-sharing intentional communities clustered together in Louisa County, Virginia for example. Most communities have some type of mission. So, the Virginia communities of Twin Oaks, Acorn, Cambia, LEF, and Sapling have been described as slightly different "flavors" of community —each having a different emphasis, and attracting different folks. The big draws to intentional community are the opportunity to be around a group of like-minded people, and wanting to be part of something bigger than oneself. In community you have support. When things get difficult it's good not to be alone. And sharing, even the light sharing that is done in co-housing communities just makes people's lives easier."
In Raven's home community of Ganas, an intentional community on Staten Island in New York City, deep relationship-building as a deliberate process takes center stage. Environmental resilience, social justice, urban communal living, and agroecology, organic or biodynamic farming are some of the underlying drivers of other communities.
While living in intentional community may be a giant step away from the mainstream for some, we would all be wise to gravitate toward kindred spirits with whom we can navigate the rough waters that lie ahead. If the first 17 days of the new administration foreshadow the next four years in the context of anticipated climate change, we will need to tap deeply into our own inner resilience, and most especially, we'll need each other.
Faciltating Regional Transition to Resilience
Pamela Boyce Simms, transition.midatlantic.hub@gmail.com
See: The First 100 Days – We Have Choices
Movements & Struggles:
Institutions & Structures:
Visions & Models:
Economic Sectors:
Ecological Processes
Practices, Tools & Strategies:
Networking & Collaboration
Go to Pamela Boyce Simms's blog
Communes Model the "Great Transition"
August 15, 2016 April 19, 2017 communelifeblog2 Comments
By Pamela Boyce Simms
Intentional communities, especially communes, are the bushwhacking pathfinders for the rest of us social movement folk. Communes in any era are windows into the growing edge of society's thinking. Communitarians dare to do, live, and demonstrate the deep cooperation that many want, but relatively few have the chops to try.
As a convener of a six-state Mid-Atlantic network of environmentalists it's my pleasure to spend time visiting friends in intentional communities as I go about my work in the region. Ganas (NY), The Keep (DC), Twin Oaks (VA), and Acorn (VA) are
Acorn Community Farm Sign
favorites. As a former retreatant in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, communitarian life nourishes and challenges me in helpful ways. As a resilience network organizer, I'm inspired by the relocalization of production and work toward self-reliance that communes model.
Like the Fellowship for Intentional Communities (FIC), and the Federation of Egalitarian Communities (FEC), the Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub (MATH) is about secession from the exploitive extractive growth-economy.
Pamela Boyce Simms and Ira Wallace at Acorn
We build local, alternative ways for living together in community that are then supported by broad networks. We seek wholeness through cooperation. Environmentalists working toward the "Great Transition*" embrace anyone with the gumption to self-liberate from the corrosive mainstream matrix, wean their area from fossil fuel dependency, and move toward resilience. We work against the backdrop of climate change, resource depletion, and economic instability.
Wholeness through cooperation is what will get us through the eye of the needle of the Great Transition, the accelerating societal transformation which is in process. Communes already demonstrate just that. Irrespective of how diverse a group of people in a commune may be, they share an allegiance to the baseline value of sustained cooperation. Transition initiatives do not have that luxury.
Unlike intentional communities, Transition organizers deal with scattershot, heterogeneous populations in any given locality with a range of commitment levels to conscious living. As former FIC administrator Laird Schaub asserts, "before Transition initiatives can work, people need to learn how to simply get along. They're starting from scratch. Transition initiatives die when they don't get these necessary nutrients fast enough."
While "collaboration" and "cooperation" have become buzzwords, relatively few Americans—conditioned as we are in a competitive, top down, power-and-control culture—know what that looks like in practice. Authentic cooperation requires people to change deeply imprinted habit patterns that are continually reinforced by society.
Laurie Simons, documentary filmmaker and member of the GANAS community in Staten Island, NY, reflects on her personal transformation:
"I am used to being right. However, I'm finding that I'm no longer concerned about being right. I went from feeling threatened if not right, to asking for and welcoming input from others. By listening to others' perspectives my 'rightness' is enriched…People bring ideas that I would never have thought of and I end up with something that is more effective and sensitive."
Michael Johnson, a founding member of GANAS notes that,
"The community began with the research question, 'Why is it that communication breaks down and community operations so often revert to top down?' Over the years we've created a culture of cooperation that permeates members all of the time; tapping into the cooperative aspects of their personalities."
Dinner preparation at The Keep in DC
The Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub (MATH) sees Income sharing communities as the epitome of New Economy principles—compassion in action that can usher in the "next system." As per GPaul Blundell of the Point A Project, "In intentional community, more of our lives are of common interest. In egalitarian, income-sharing communities, your life IS the economy, and work is recast as cooperative work. So the material and financial aspects of your life and wellbeing are of public interest."
No one has the movement-hotline to absolute truth. The Mid-Atlantic Transition and intentional communities movement can each learn volumes from the other about environmental resilience-building and cooperative living respectively. To that end, we are purposefully pursuing cross pollination.
The two movements work together to share lessons learned about egalitarian community building. Interchange between the two movements is happening in the zone where their missions overlap. That is, in the space where people summon the grit to live consciously and unplug from the dysfunction of the homogenized American norm. The FIC and FEC have joined the Spokescouncil of Egalitarian Resilience Networks, an "affinity circle" within the Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub (MATH) constellation, to help spark the joint work of the two movements. The Spokescouncil is working to hold a "network of networks" accountable to the basic tenets of egalitarian process.
Accelerating climate change means that incessant "transitioning" is the new norm to which we'll be adjusting for perpetuity. "Transition" connotes profound transformation. And that transformation begins from within.
Transition initiatives need to dig deep in order to cultivate trust-building, the scaffolding of long term collaboration. MATH affirms communes as laboratories —concrete demonstrations—of the cooperative culture that sparks inner transformation.
Waxing strongest when times are toughest, the Transition and intentional communities movements offer wholeness in community as an alternative to demoralizing social fragmentation. True to form, these movements are doing what they do best—working together to overcome challenges. The Transition and intentional communities movements demonstrate that we are never out of options.
We are resilient.
*The Great Transition is a systemic framework for understanding how we might hospice outworn ways of living that no longer serve us and the Earth, and give birth to an emergent, more compassionate and resilient future. A broad spectrum of grassroots, citizen-led, community initiatives sustain the movement toward the Great Transition against the backdrop of climate change, resource depletion, and economic instability. Purposeful groups of friends and neighbors mitigate these converging global crises by engaging their communities in environmental education and actions that increase local self-reliance and resilience. They catalyze relocalization of economies and low carbon lifestyles by innovating, networking, collaborating, and replicating proven strategies, respecting the deep, fractal patterns of nature, and diverse cultures in their localities. "Transitioners" work with deliberation to create a fulfilling and inspiring local way of life that can withstand the shocks of rapidly shifting global systems.
Pamela Boyce Simms, KD2GUF, is a Convener of the Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub and an Eco-Buddhist-Quaker environmental activist.


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'We have a firearms problem' Chief Durham addresses crime at town hall
Posted 12:34 am, April 19, 2017, by Vernon Freeman Jr. and Shelby Brown, Updated at 12:44AM, April 19, 2017
RICHMOND, Va. -- On the heels of several deadly shootings in the City of Richmond, Police Chief Alfred Durham didn't mince words at a packed town hall meeting Tuesday night.
"We have a problem with firearms in this city," said Durham.
Sharing recent crime trends Durham was blunt about the challenges the police department faces when it comes to increased violent crime numbers.
He told the crowd of more than one hundred people how police continue to work to solve what he calls one of the biggest problems plaguing our streets.
Tuesday night dozens of Richmond residents shared passionate concerns about how to turn the tide of violence.
Chief Durham
Neighbors and police alike challenged each other to be a part of the solution.
"There are more of you than police. We need your help," said Durham. "We can't be everywhere, but you guys are a force multiplied. One things for sure, when you call 911 we will be there."
"I have actually looked people in the eye. I know you're doing wrong. I've taken a picture of them with my cell phone. I don't care. This is my block and I'm taking it back," said one city resident.
The passionate comment drew heavy applause from the audience. It's a message that Durham and other city leaders are hoping more neighbors will follow.
"A crime that you don't report… A gun that you don't report today is a gun that could be pointed at your son, your daughter, your loved one. We have got to step up," said Richmond City Councilman Mike Jones.
Many residents agreed to put a big dent in city crime, parents have to take a big step early on raising their children inside their homes.
"Plain and simple… You can't say it's not my issue," said one speaker. "It is your issue because if you don't reach out while they are this big (gesturing to the ground) when they get this big (gesturing to the sky) you're going to have a problem."
Topics: Richmond
Drug testing for teachers no longer a requirement at Richmond Public Schools
After 23 years in the department, William Smith named Richmond Police Chief
'Senseless, cowardly act:' Police plead for leads in park shooting that killed 9-year-old
Police identify 22-year-old woman killed in Shockoe Bottom hit-and-run
What Richmond Police is doing to make online exchanges safer
Richmond mom has specific questions for son's killer
Two people shot within 10 minutes in Richmond
City Council votes to ban guns in Richmond buildings, parks
Dozens gather to pray for healing after park shooting kills 9-year-old girl
'Blessed' 11-year-old boy recovering after deadly shooting in Richmond park
Prayer walk held 6 days after Richmond girl's slaying in park
4 teen suspects sought after quarrel leads to Northside shooting
Witnesses describe chaos during fatal Shockoe Bottom hit and run
Shots fired on Forest Hill Avenue, 3 shooting victims arrive at hospital

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Jacques Larue-Langlois est un journaliste et un militant socialiste et indépendantiste québécois, né le  et mort le .

Biographie
Il dirigea le Mouvement pour le désarmement nucléaire et la paix, puis fonda en 1966 un Comité d'aide pour soutenir Pierre Vallières et Charles Gagnon, arrêtés peu de temps auparavant à New York pour une manifestation en faveur de l'indépendance du Québec. Bien que son engagement radical ne l'amena jamais à entreprendre des actions violentes, il fut assimilé au Front de libération du Québec et licencié par son employeur, Radio-Canada, en 1968. Il fonda alors l'Agence de presse libre du Québec. Arrêté pendant la Crise d'octobre, il a été emprisonné pendant quatre mois et accusé de «conspiration séditieuse» en compagnie de quatre coaccusés (Michel Chartrand, Pierre Vallières, Charles Gagnon, Robert Lemieux). Il a tiré de son expérience le recueil de poésie Plein cap sur la liberté. Il a ensuite enseigné le journalisme à l'UQAM, où une salle de presse située au  du pavillon Judith-Jasmin porte son nom, et collaboré au Devoir comme critique de théâtre, puis à l'aut'journal.

Références

Liens externes

Journaliste québécois
Naissance en novembre 1934
Décès en juin 2001
Décès à 66 ans

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Successful small companies can rapidly go out of business if they lack money. Likewise, unprofitable unprof small businesses can be survived for a long period of time if they have a decent money balance. Simply puts, cash is the life blood of American small businesses.
Unfortunately, most of big city and small town traditional loan providers have rigid and strict criteria that their customers must satisfy.
Companies have a separate credit ranking from business owner. Even if the business owner has a high credit history, the business might not have an established credit rating (specifically if recently developed). For that reason, potential lenders need to use services with that take the business owner's personal credit into factor to consider which accepts candidates with less than best credit.
Frequently, brick and mortar loan providers just service companies doing 20k or more in regular monthly earnings. This disqualifies smaller sized companies doing 10k-15k in month-to-month revenue.
Because of the rigorous previously mentioned credentials criteria imposed by traditional loan providers, more and more entrepreneur are turning to the myriad of online loaning services now readily available to small business owners in Rosston, Arkansas.


Ever want to get inside the mind of a recruiter or hiring manager during an interview? According to a recent post on U.S. News & World Report, Allison Green writes there are several things interviewers are thinking but won't tell you.
2. You shouldn't over sell yourself. If you've ever tried to buy a car and felt pummeled by an overzealous salesperson or tried to quit your gym membership only to be talked into remaining a member, we hear ya. The good news is you're aware and most likely ticked off when people are too aggressive so the key point as you're interviewing is to not be that guy or gal. Considering interviewers are people, too they can spot when a job candidate tries to hard to sell him or herself. Instead of focusing on the aggressive sell, highlight what you can bring to the table and why they should hire you. Keep it simple.
3. Little things count. This point is so important, it must be repeated (all together now) — little things count. We've seen hiring managers get turned off when a candidate was rude to a receptionist or in another instance, someone acted weird with a bowl of candy (and be weird, we mean to walk by en route to an interview room and grab three pieces to quickly hurl them into one's mouth). Newsflash: As a job seeker, your behavior is being evaluated from start to finish, up and down, all around. Yes, interviews and follow ups count like the thank-you note but your soft skills are important, too.
4. Know when to stop talking. In the piece, Green writes, "Your answers to your interviewer's questions should be direct and to-the-point. Rambling and unnecessary tangents raise doubts about your ability to organize your thoughts and convey needed information quickly." As you're self-aware about succinctness of your responses (or in some cases, lack thereof), it's never to late to pull back the reigns, read his or her body language, and also ask a question. Green also suggests stopping yourself after two minutes of talking and simply asking the interviewer if more examples are necessary.


Government of India has launched a service called e-IPO Service (Electronic Indian Postal Order) w.e.f. 22.03.2013 to facilitate Indian citizens abroad across the globe to purchase an e-IPO by paying the fee online to access the information under the RTI Act, 2005 from the Central Public Authorities. In order to facilitate obtaining the information under the RTI Act, 2005 by Indian citizens living abroad from Indian Missions/Posts under Ministry of External Affairs, the facility of e-IPO has been recently further extended to 176 Indian Missions/Posts across the globe including Consulate General of India, Jeddah.
[b] The user has to select the Ministry/Department from whom he/she desires to seek the information under the RTI Act and the e-IPO so generated, by making payment using Debit or Credit card, can be used to seek information from that Ministry/Department only.
[c] A printout of the e-IPO is required to be attached with the RTI application. If the RTI application is being filed electronically; e-IPO is required to be attached as an attachment.
[d] This facility is only for purchasing an Indian Postal Order electronically. All the requirements for filing an RTI application as well as other provisions regarding eligibility, time limit, exemptions etc., as provided in the RTI Act, 2005 will continue to apply.
[e-IPO (Electronic Indian Postal Order) Facility has been launched by the Government of India to enable Indian citizens abroad to purchase an Indian Postal Order electronically by paying fee online through the above Web link to seek information under the RTI Act, 2005.


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Dr. Pies and Psychiatry's 'Solid Center'
October 22, 2015 By Phil Hickey | 9 Comments
Ronald Pies, MD, is one of American's most eminent and prestigious psychiatrists. He is the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Psychiatric Times, and he is a Professor of Psychiatry at both Syracuse and Tufts.
I disagree with many of Dr. Pies' contentions, and I have expressed these disagreements in detail in various posts (for instance, here, here, and here). But there is one area where I have to acknowledge Dr. Pies' efforts: he never gives up in his defense of his beloved psychiatry, even in the face of the most damaging counter-evidence.
For instance, on more than one occasion, he has asserted, with apparent sincerity and conviction, that psychiatry never promoted the chemical imbalance theory of depression!
Here's a quote from Nuances, Narratives, and the 'Chemical Imbalance' Debate in Psychiatry, April 15, 2014:
"…the 'chemical imbalance theory' was never a real theory, nor was it widely propounded by responsible practitioners in the field of psychiatry."
And from Serotonin: How Psychiatry Got Over its "High School Crush", on September 15, 2015:
"Alas, antipsychiatry bloggers continue to bang away at the notion that 'Psychiatry' (that sinister, monolithic corporate entity) deliberately duped the public by promoting a bogus 'chemical imbalance theory,' in cahoots with 'Big Pharma.' Suffice it to say that this line of argumentation is itself bogus, for reasons I have reiterated at length in several venues."
His latest contentions in this area were demolished by Robert Whitaker on September 21, 2015, but Dr. Pies has demonstrated a remarkable resilience against factual material that runs contrary to his cherished notions. So it remains to be seen whether or not he will be back with this particular message.
Meanwhile, he's working on another buttress to shore up the crumbling psychiatric sandcastle. On October 7, 2015, he published Psychiatry's Solid Center in the Psychiatric times. Here's the opening paragraph:
"Most psychiatrists do not fit neatly into the biological or psychodynamic camps. Instead, like surgeons, they will implement tools that reduce the suffering and enhance the well-being of the patient."
I'm not familiar with the state of psychiatry at Syracuse or Tufts, but in the rest of the US, the vast majority of psychiatrists very emphatically do fit neatly into the biological camp, and do conduct their practices in accordance with a simplistic biological model.
Of course, my experiences are limited by my horizons. It may be that, outside of my ken, psychiatrists are busy providing hour-long therapy sessions to their clients – helping them identify and unravel their unconscious emotional conflicts, or engaging in family therapy, conflict resolution, skill training, etc. Or maybe not.
Douglas Mossman, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of the Institute of Law and Psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati, has written on this topic. Dr. Mossman writes a regular column called Malpractice Rx in the publication Current Psychiatry. The following quote is from an article dated June 2010, and is in response to a reader psychiatrist who had asked how he could "…attend to patients' needs, be empathic, listen actively, and still produce proper documentation?"
"In medical malpractice cases, the jury decides 'whether the physician's actions were consistent with what other physicians customarily do under similar circumstances.' Even psychiatrists who deplore 15-minute med checks recognize that they have become standard care in psychiatry."
In other words, if all, or even most, psychiatrists are doing 15-minute med checks, then there is little chance of a successful malpractice suit. He is also saying quite clearly that 15-minute med checks have become "standard care" in psychiatry. And lest there be any residual uncertainty, at the end of the article under the heading BOTTOM LINE, Dr. Mossman wrote:
"Brief medication visits—also known as 15-minute 'med checks'—have become standard care in psychiatry."
Not much ambiguity there.
And Glen Gabbard, MD, a widely published professor of psychiatry at Baylor and, interestingly, Syracuse, has written in Psychiatric Times, on September 3, 2009:
"There can be little doubt in our current era that the brief 'med check' is becoming standard practice in psychiatry."
This was in 2009, and there have been no indications in the interim that psychiatry is backing away from this approach.
So if the majority of psychiatrists are spending the majority of their practice time doing 15-minute med checks, isn't it reasonable to infer that they might "fit neatly", to use Dr. Pies' own phrase, into the biological camp? And in fact, Dr. Pies himself, in an earlier paper (Psychiatrists, Physicians, and the Prescriptive Bond) has written:
"Unfortunately, many prescriptions for psychotropics are written in haste—often after the infamous '15-minute med check' – and without any real understanding of the patient's inner life or psychopathology."
Dr. Pies continues by telling us that he was fortunate in that his psychiatric training was fostered by those in what he calls the "great solid center" of psychiatry. This is interesting, of course, and one can readily entertain feelings of joy and gratitude, that Dr. Pies apparently escaped the bio-reductionist nonsense, that has now become a dominant feature of psychiatric training and practice.
Dr. Pies continues:
"And critics of psychiatry who insist that the field has become exclusively 'biological' are also missing the larger and more enduring picture."
Well I think I could count myself as a critic of psychiatry, and I have to say that one of us is certainly missing the bigger picture. Since the 70's, I have interacted with a great many psychiatrists in a wide range of contexts and locations, but I cannot recall one who conceptualized his/her role as anything other than the prescribing of drugs or high-voltage electric shocks to the brain. And in fact, I can recall only one psychiatrist, an elderly man who had trained in Vienna in the '30's, who expressed even the slightest regrets or misgivings in this regard. I can still remember his exact words: "I was trained as a psychotherapist, but all they want me to do now is prescribe drugs."
Every other psychiatrist I've ever met has expressed nothing but satisfaction with what is sometimes referred to as the "drug revolution" that, according to the rhetoric, has enabled psychiatry to take its "rightful place" as a legitimate science-based medical specialty.
Dr. Pies continues at some length on the wide-ranging aspects of his psychiatric training. He tells us that at one point in his training, he ran a poetry therapy group on an inpatient unit, and that he "…became a believer in pragmatic pluralism and psychiatry's crucial role as a bridge between the medical sciences and the humanities."
This last statement is ambiguous, in that it could mean that Dr. Pies believes that psychiatry should be such a bridge, or that psychiatry is such a bridge. If Dr. Pies intended the former, then that's interesting, though not pertinent to his main thesis, but if he meant the latter, then I suggest his contention is not only false, but entirely lacking in credibility. Indeed, in my experience, it is one of psychiatry's great priorities to dispel any such perceptions, and to establish itself as a "real" medical specialty with expertise in biochemistry, drugs, electric shocks, etc… In this regard, it is noteworthy that Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, arguably the greatest and most eminent psychiatrist in the world today, has appeared in promotional videos wearing a white lab coat! One wouldn't want to make too much of this. Perhaps he just couldn't find anything else to wear. But it certainly militates against the notion that psychiatry is involved in any bridge-building to the humanities.
Dr. Pies tells us that in his 35 years of practice, psychiatry has been such a bridge for him, and I certainly have no reason to doubt this. But this is not, I suggest, an accurate description of psychiatry generally. Indeed, with a measure of wistfulness, Dr. Pies himself concedes this point:
"Maybe that's why I find it so troubling that many in the general public—and indeed, many within the profession—see psychiatry as having pitched its tent squarely and solely in the 'biological' camp." [Emphasis added]
Note the phrase: "…many within the profession…" I would say the vast, vast majority within the profession, but let's not quibble over details.
Back to Dr. Pies' article:
"This perception [that psychiatry has pitched its tent squarely and solely in the biological camp] is not without some foundation, and there is no question that, in the 1990s, American psychiatry took a 'biological turn' that has never fully swung back to the psychosocial end of the continuum. But to view today's psychiatry as merely biology-based is to see it 'through a glass, darkly.' When we look to the solid center of this profession, we see thousands of skilled clinicians, researchers, and teachers who are as comfortable with motives as with molecules. The solid center rejects the notion that we must choose between biology or psychology, between medication and psychotherapy."
Well, perhaps we, on this side of the debate, are seeing psychiatry "through a glass darkly", but I suggest it is more plausible that Dr. Pies is seeing his beloved profession through a rose-colored glass. He tells us that there are "thousands of skilled clinicians, researchers, and teachers who are as comfortable with motives as with molecules". This may be true. But in their actual work, the vast majority of clinicians and researchers appear far more concerned with the latter. Indeed, indifference to motivation has been enshrined in the DSM since Robert Spitzer's DSM-III. Within the context of "psychiatric diagnosis", it doesn't matter why a person might, for instance, be very suspicious of his neighbors. If the suspiciousness crosses a vaguely-defined threshold of severity/implausibility, then it becomes a symptom of "schizophrenia". Similarly, if a child is routinely disobedient to his/her parents, no attempt is made within psychiatry to explore why this might be so. The disobedience is simply chalked up as a "symptom" of oppositional defiant disorder. Similarly, no attention is given within the DSM as to why an individual is feeling depressed, anxious, angry, etc.. The presence of the particular thought, feeling, or behavior is all that's needed to establish the "diagnosis", and the "diagnosis" is all that's needed to justify the prescription. The why questions are never even asked.
Daniel Carlat, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts, and author of the book Unhinged: The Trouble with Psychiatry – A Doctor's Revelations about a Profession in Crisis, is very open about this. Here's a quote from an interview he gave on NPR on July 13, 2010:
"…there's kind of an unofficial policy among psychiatrists, at least among some, which is the don't-ask-don't-tell policy, which is that we have our patients coming in, we know we have 15 or 20 minutes to see them. We want to learn a certain amount about how they're doing, obviously, because we want to make sure that our medications are working and that we know if we need to increase the dose or add something else.
But on the other hand, we don't want to ask too many questions because if we start to hear too much information, then we're going to run into a time issue where we're going to have to kind of push them out of the office perhaps just at the point where they're about to reveal something that could really be crucial to understanding their treatment."
Sounds a bit like biological psychiatry to me.
Back to Dr. Pies:
"As a broad generalization, those in the center conceive psychiatric 'disease' as something that afflicts persons, not 'minds' or 'brains'—a point stressed by the late Dr Robert Kendell. Thus, the 'mental versus physical' debates are seen as sterile and fruitless. Those following the 'Middle Path' (to borrow a term from Buddhism) are preoccupied not with elaborate theories, but with relieving the suffering and incapacity of those who seek our help. Those in psychiatry's solid center use the best established treatments to alleviate the patient's illness—whether with 'talk therapy,' medication, or both."
There are several noteworthy features in this paragraph. Firstly, note that Dr. Pies has placed the word "disease" inside quotation marks. In normal usage, this would indicate that he's using the word to mean: not a real disease. A Freudian slip perhaps, as Dr. Pies has asserted the disease status of psychiatric "diagnoses" on many previous occasions.
Secondly, the first sentence in the above quote is a truly delightful piece of psychiatric spin. Let's open it up. Dr. Pies is asserting that he and his right-minded colleagues in the "solid center" conceive of psychiatric disease as something that afflicts persons, not minds or brains. But this is entirely incidental to the main issue. Take, for example, depression. Psychiatry conceives of this as an illness (provided a certain ill-defined level of severity is present) – specifically an illness of the brain. Those of us on this side of the debate argue otherwise – that it is not an illness, but rather the normal, adaptive response to loss, or to an unfulfilling lifestyle. But both groups agree, indeed it's hard to imagine how we could disagree, that depression afflicts persons. Even the most die-hard bio-reductionist would subscribe to that: depression is a brain disease that afflicts the person who owns the brain! While those of us on this side would say: depression is a normal reaction to depressing events/circumstances that afflicts the person experiencing these events/circumstances.
What Dr. Pies has done here is make a statement that looks and sounds like an important distinction, but which in reality is banal to the point of meaninglessness. And he's used this non-distinction in his ongoing, futile attempt to defend his beloved profession. But he's avoiding the reality: that psychiatry's blatant promotion of its various illness theories is a hoax.
Thirdly, the statement "Thus, the 'mental versus physical' debates are seen as sterile and fruitless" has similar problems. The issue is not "mental vs. physical", posed by Dr. Pies as a kind of theoretical dichotomy. The issue is whether or not depression, say, should be conceptualized as a normal response to depressing events/circumstances or as a neurological pathology. This is not a sterile or fruitless debate, and by mischaracterizing it as such, Dr. Pies is either being deliberately deceptive, or has missed the point of the entire conflict. In fact, whether depression should be conceptualized as a normal response or as a neurological pathology isn't really a matter for debate at all. It's a question of fact: do all the individuals whom psychiatry identifies as having depressive illness have a characteristic neural pathology? After forty years of highly motivated and well-funded research, no such pathology has been identified, and the time honored notion, that depression is the normal response to depressing circumstances is as credible today as it has always been.
Fourthly, "Those following the 'Middle Path' (to borrow a term from Buddhism) are preoccupied not with elaborate theories, but with relieving the suffering and incapacity of those who seek our help." In other words, Dr. Pies and his stalwart colleagues from the solid center are not preoccupied with elaborate theories, (which is good to know, because as a general rule, most of his incursions in this area are riddled with error and fallacy), but with relieving the suffering and incapacity of those who seek their help. And here again, dear readers, marvel at the spin – the implication, so beautifully and expertly wrapped up, that those of us who do feel strongly about psychiatric fallacy, deception, and destructiveness, are somehow neglecting our responsibilities to relieve the suffering and incapacity of those who seek our help. Such cads we are. But never worry, Dr. Pies and his cadre in the "solid center" will step into the breach of our remissness, pick up the slack, and minister dutifully to those who seek their help. This is such a comfort!
As I've said on other occasions about Dr. Pies' writings: this is doctoral level spin.
Dr. Pies next provides brief sketches of Karl Jaspers, MD, Eric Kandel, MD, and Glen Gabbard, MD, all of whom Dr. Pies describes as exemplary of the "holistic tradition". These are interesting diversions, of course, but they shed no light on Dr. Pies' primary thesis that "Most psychiatrists do not fit neatly into the biological or psychodynamic camp."
The great irony of all this is that to the best of my knowledge, Dr. Pies has never aligned himself with the bio-reductionist majority, that has dominated psychiatry for the past 40 or 50 years. But no amount of humanism or eclecticism can rescue him from psychiatry's fundamental and pervasive fallacy: that all significant problems of thinking , feeling, and/or behaving regardless of their genesis – are illnesses. The fact is that the vast majority of problems of thinking, feeling, and/or behaving are not illnesses, and that treating these problems as if they were illnesses is counter-productive, disempowering, stigmatizing, and deceptive. This is the critical issue that no amount of psychiatric sophistry or verbal chicanery can neutralize.
Dr. Pies indicated in the article that he has a liking for poetry. I also have a fondness for poetry, and in the current debate, I often find comfort in the poem Say not the Struggle nought Availeth, by the great Victorian poet Arthur Hugh Clough. Here's the third stanza:
"For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main."
The main, Dr. Pies, a symbol of that great, cleansing surge of truth and logic, whose flowing tide is already eating at psychiatry's foundations, and which will one day, when the lifeline of pharma money dries up, wash psychiatry, and all its spurious trappings, into the depths of historical obscurity.
Filed Under: A Behavioral Approach to Mental Disorders Tagged With: chemical imbalance theory, Psychiatric "spin"


text:
The "New Normal" – Social Media
By Sofia de la VegaLatest News
2020 has rocked our economy. Unemployment has skyrocketed, travel and tourism has been decimated, and people are more conscious about where their money goes. It is clearly not business as usual.
Graduating Perspective
By Interns Spring 2020 ClassLatest News
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly affected working styles across the globe. The same is true at Cerrell: we're all working from home, including us interns! Our intern class is made up of recent graduates and graduate students, who have had to adjust not only to remote work but to remote school as well during this time of transition.
Raising Revenue: Communication Strategies for Cities
By Brandon StephensonLatest News
Most cities throughout California are facing a quandary – how can they replace revenue that's derived from economic activities when the economy has mostly come to a standstill? And for some, calling the current situation a quandary is probably a gross understatement.
Up to the Task: Moving a Public Meeting Online
By John AndersonLatest News
Governor Newsom's March 19 Stay at Home order abruptly impacted how all Californian's live, work and play. Workplaces that weren't deemed essential had to quickly adapt to a new normal. Many of us focused on maintaining productivity and services that somewhat resemble life before COVID-19 – a true example of learning as you go.
PR Quick Tips: Healthcare
By Amy RosenfeldLatest News
While we've all seen missteps by brands and companies trying to market their non-essential products and stay relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and health care organizations don't need to do this dance. Whether they're treating COVID-19 patients or not, there's no greater time for health care systems, both large and small, to be talking to the public about what they do best: providing life-saving and life-changing care to patients and disseminating medically-accurate information to keep people and communities healthy.
A Changing Electorate
By John Anderson and Kathryn BurkeLatest News
With unemployment rates soaring, economic uncertainty is now a real concern for people and communities across the country and throughout the world. For people furloughed in industries like service and hospitality and for extremely vulnerable populations like low-income families with children and unhoused individuals, resources and support are critically needed.
By CerrellLatest News
Lee Cerrell: Mentor, Friend and Mom
Today we honor the memory of our beloved Lee Cerrell. Lee was not only a pioneering political consultant and campaign advisor, but an incredible mentor, friend, and mom to those at Cerrell and in her community. She was a changemaker, undoubtedly setting the stage for future generations of women in politics. We often say she's one of the reasons we reference ourselves as a Cerrell family—and we're proud to have been able to continue this tradition. Here's to you Lee.
The American Cancer Society National Volunteer Leadership Summit brought together volunteers and leaders from across the county to Atlanta, GA to celebrate its victories and focus its mission to save...
SHSMD Connections is the leading annual conference for healthcare strategists hosted by the Society of Healthcare Strategy & Market Development. The conference connects leading innovators in marketing, planning, business development,...
Ready to tell your story? Contact Us
Cerrell Company News
Three Things from Cerrell (monthly newsletter)
© 2021 Cerrell. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Rory McIlroy Extends Deal With Nike
Co Down golfer Rory McIlroy has extended his clothing contract with Nike.
McIlroy signed a deal in 2013 and he has entered a contract for a further ten years.
The firm announced last year that it would no longer produces clubs and balls and is to focus on golf clothing and footwear.
Taking to Twitter McIlroy wrote: "Looking forward to the next 10+ years as a @nike athlete!"
(CD/MH)
Ministers Welcome 'Transformative' Belfast Region City Deal
Executive Minister's have welcomed the news of the signing of the "transformative" £1billion Belfast Region City Deal.
£1bn Belfast City Deal To Create 20,000 New Jobs
The first ever City Deal for Northern Ireland will unlock £1 billion of transformative co-investment, delivering more than 20 highly ambitious projects and programmes and creating up to 20,000 new jobs.
Holywood Golfer Is Top Of The World
Holywood Northern Ireland has made global news this morning as a young golfer from the Co Down Club, Rory McIlroy, 22, carved his name into the record books overnight with a spectacular victory at the US Open.
Man Jailed For 24 Years For Preparation Of Terrorist Acts
A 32-year-old man has been jailed for 24 years at Belfast Crown Court, after pleading guilty to one count of preparation of terrorist acts. Niall Lehd, from Larne, will serve 24 years in prison and 5 years on licence. Upon his release from prison Lehd will also be subject to Terrorist Notification conditions for 30 years.
Man Jailed For 'At Least' 22 Years For Murder Of Adrian Ismay
A 50-year-old Belfast man has been jailed for a minimum of 22 years for the 2016 murder of prison officer Adrian Ismay. Christopher Robinson was convicted of the murder of the prison officer in January this year, and received a mandatory life sentence.


text:
Pop Culture | Movies | 90s
'Halloween' Producer Wants To Revive 'Scream' And 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'
By Tanya | Sep 13, 2018
Dimension Films / Columbia Pictures
When it comes to classic horror movies, I think we can all agree that Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer are two of the best.
These movies are iconic, and while a lot of people hate remakes and reboots, there's one person who is itching to get his hands on them. Jason Blum and his company, Blumhouse Productions is responsible for several iconic horror movies. He's also the one taking a run at bringing back Michael Meyers in the new installment of Halloween.
Flickr - Gage Skidmore
The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last weekend, and at the event he opened up about some of his future plans, which includes bringing back some other favorites.
So far the word is that the new Halloween movie is well-liked, but it's not the only movie that he wants to try to bring back.
He's spoken out about how he would like to try and bring back I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream, even though both of these movies already had sequels.
"I'd like to [revive them,] yeah," Blum said. "I would like to do both of them, but it's a rights situation with all those movies."
Juse because he wants to make them, doesn't mean he actually will be able to. "It's very tangled and very complicated. It's one thing to say you want to do them and it's a whole other thing to get to actually do it."
He explained just how long it took to get Halloween made, and it was actually a surprisingly long time.
"To give you some idea, Halloween was in the works with us for four or five years before it evolved, so, there are business obstacles to cross but, in theory, if you said to me, 'Would you like to do a Scream movie?' My answer would be, 'Of course.' Sadly it doesn't work like that."
Well, the Halloween revival comes out on October 19th, so maybe if that ends up doing really well the companies who currently own the rights to the horror classics will work with Blum to bring them back.
Source - iHorror / Cinema Blend / ComicBook
Would you want to watch a revival of Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer? If you had to pick one, which would you prefer.
Tags: horror, i know what you did last summer, scream, movies, revival


A squad of boys, ages 12 to 14, scoured Spokane's North Side and offered to do a spring cleaning of yards. The homeowners were pleased with the results – until they found out what the boys did with the rubbish.
They simply dumped it on neighboring lots.
In fact, a great deal of it was dumped on the lot of U.S. Sen. Miles Poindexter, who was away in Washington, D.C.
His lot had been "selected, seemingly, as the official dump for most of the youngsters." The caretaker later found an "immense pile of refuse" at the back.
From the exercise beat: Students at Cheney Normal School went on a walking-for-exercise spree. One group of boys walked the 17 miles from Cheney to Spokane in three hours and 41 minutes. A group of girls made the trip in four hours and 20 minutes, breaking the previous girls' record by 10 minutes.


text:
Q: Show that $A'B'$ and $C'D'$ intersect on $AC$, and $A'D'$ and $B'C'$ intersect on $BD$. The problem is: If on the sides $AB, BC, CD, DA$ of a $\square ABCD$ points $A', B', C', D'$ are taken such that $\overline{AA'}\cdot \overline{BB'}\cdot \overline{CC'}\cdot \overline{DD'}= \overline{A'B} \cdot \overline{B'C} \cdot \overline{C'D} \cdot\overline{D'A}$, show that $A'B'$ and $C'D'$ intersect on $AC$, and $A'D'$ and $B'C'$ intersect on $BD$.
This is a geometry class, we learned Menelaus theorem, Ceva's theorem, Desargue's Theorem(copolar, coaxial) and Pascal's Mystic Hexagram.
I draw the picture.

A:
Your given
$$
AA'\times BB'\times CC'\times DD'= A'B \times B'C \times C'D \times D'A
$$
can be rewritten as
$$\frac{A^{}A'}{A'B^{}}\times\frac{B^{}B'}{B'C^{}}\times\frac{C^{}C'}{C'D^{}}\times\frac{D^{}D'}{D'A^{}}=1.\qquad \qquad (1)$$
Let $A'D'$ intersect $DB$ at $F$ and $B'C'$ intersect $DB$ at $E.$
By Menelaus's theorem we have
$$
\frac{A^{}A'}{A'B^{}}\times\frac{BF}{FD}\times\frac{D^{}D'}{D'A^{}}=-1 \Rightarrow
\frac{A^{}A'}{A'B^{}}\times\frac{D^{}D'}{D'A^{}}=\frac{FD}{FB}.
\qquad \qquad (2)
$$
and
$$
\frac{C^{}C'}{C'D^{}}\times\frac{DE}{EB}\times\frac{B^{}B'}{B'C^{}}=-1 \Rightarrow
\frac{C^{}C'}{C'D^{}}\times\frac{B^{}B'}{B'C^{}}=\frac{EB}{ED}.
\qquad \qquad (3)
$$
Combining $(1),(2)$, and $(3)$ we get
$$
\frac{FD}{FB} \times \frac{EB}{ED} = 1.
$$
Using $FB=FD+DB$ and $EB=ED+DB$ and a little manipulation we find that $FD=ED$, hence $F=E$ and $A'D'\cap DB \cap B'C'= F.$
By a similar argument $C'D'$ and $A'B'$ meet on $AC.$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Year 7 Admissions
Admission to Year 7 is by the 11+ selection test.
11+ Test for September 2020 Entry
Main Test Date: 21 September 2019
Applicants must register for the 11+ tests which take place in September each year. The deadline date to register is in July of the previous academic year. Please see the Consortium of Selective Schools Website for details www.csse.org.uk
11+ Test information and sample tests can also be found on CSSE website www.csse.org.uk
The School Admissions Policy 2019-2020 can be downloaded here
The School Admissions Policy 2020-2021 can be downloaded here.
The Fair Access and Partnership Plan Summary can be downloaded here
The Parents or Guardians of Students who are in receipt of FSM, PPG or have been LAC or PLAC MUST complete the Supplementary Information here
Applicants for places other than for the start of Year 7 will be tested if and when a place becomes available. The school holds an 'enquiry list' for applicants who wish to be considered for testing should a place become available. Where a vacancy does occur, all applicants on the enquiry list will be contacted and invited to sit the entrance tests. The tests are held at the discretion of the school. The tests and assessments will not aim to replicate the 11+ selection tests but will seek to establish whether the applicant can sustain the pace of the school's classroom education, fit the levels of achievement of the relevant year group, and has sufficient knowledge and understanding to undertake the relevant year group's existing programmes of study. An academic reference may also be sought from the applicant's current school. The school reserves the right not to fill a place if the candidates are not judged to be of the required academic standard.
Please see the School Admissions Policy below.
Applications should be made on the Essex Mid Term Admissions Form (see link below)
Essex County Council information regarding mid-term admissions
Essex County Council Mid-term Admission Application Form
Click here for the Sixth Form section of the website to download a copy of the Prospectus and details about the Sixth Form Admissions process.
The Sixth Form Admissions Policy is contained in the School Admissions Policy which can be downloaded from the links above.
Fair Access and Partnership Plan Summary


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Ghost Hill Cellars Pinot Noir Blanc – Willamette Valley Gem
This is the latest chapter in our ongoing series of posts about wines and wine makers that we feature on our Online Wine Store. Our Topochines Vino wine store focuses on small-production wines from family wineries in the United States and Europe. This chapter is dedicated to one of our newer winery partners, Ghost Hill Cellars in Oregon's Willamette Valley, whose 2013 and 2014 Pinot Noir Blanc are sold on our site.
Most of the world's champagne is made from the red Pinot Noir grape. After the Pinot Noir grapes are pressed, the extracted juice is removed before the dark skins contribute any color. What emerges from this process is a clear liquid that will, after a couple of fermentations, become champagne. What many people do not know is that a still, white wine can also be produced from Pinot Noir Grapes; this wine is called Pinot Noir Blanc, or white Pinot Noir. We encountered this wine recently during a trip to find unique wines for our Topochines Vino wine store. We were so impressed with the wine that we snapped up several cases and the 2013 and 2014 vintages are now available here: Ghost Hill Pinot Noir Blanc.
Just before Thanksgiving, we spent nearly a week in Oregon's Willamette Valley crisscrossing the Valley from one A.V.A. to another. One of our favorite stops was the intriguingly named Ghost Hill in the Yamhill-Carlton District. According to legend, in the late 1890's a miner was traveling from Southern Oregon to sell his gold in Portland. He made the fateful decision to stop for the night and set up camp at the top of what is now known as Ghost Hill. During the night, so the story goes, the miner was robbed and killed, his horse mortally injured, and his hard-earned gold stolen. To this day, the miner is said to wander the hill looking for his stolen gold and to right the wrongs that befell him that night. Hence the name Ghost Hill.
Not hard to imagine a ghost on that hill
While the miner may be still searching for his gold, the Bayliss family has struck gold of its own on this property – wine gold, that is. In total, the Bayliss family owns 234 acres of farmland, a true "Century" farm – meaning it has been owned continuously by the same family for over 100 years. In the case of the Bayliss clan, they are on their fifth generation working this land. For most of the 20th Century, the Ghost Hill land was dedicated to sheep and cattle, hay, and other crops. In 1999, Mike Bayliss and his wife Dendra decided to plant Pinot Noir on a portion of the property and today they farm a 16-acre parcel planted 100% to Pinot Noir. Their Ghost Hill Cellars label produces several different wines from these grapes – the above-mentioned Pinot Noir Blanc, a rosé of Pinot Noir, and two separate Pinot Noir offerings.
We did our tasting in the cozy Ghost Hill tasting room, with owners Mike and Dendra pouring the wines and telling us more about each of the wines. Mike and his son Michael built the wooden Ghost Hill tasting room building by hand,
inspired by prospector shacks of the 1850s. The building features a sliding barn door,
reclaimed windows from the nearby Trappist Abbey Church, and a counter made from the former altar floor.
Ghost Hill Cellars tasting room
Mike and Dendra live on the Ghost Hill estate in the same farmhouse where Mike was born 70 years ago. He and Dendra have been married for 50 years and they are true partners managing this large farm. As Ghost Hill only makes wine from Pinot Noir, we made our way through their portfolio, starting with the whites, moving to the "pink," and on to the red.
We started our tasting with the 2013 Ghost Hill Cellars Pinot Noir Blanc, and tasted it side-by-side with the same wine from the 2014 vintage.
We enjoyed both wines immensely; they were crisp and refreshing with aromatics of pear and spice and, on the palate, apple, pear and honey. Our next wine was the 2015 Ghost Hill Cellars Rosé of Pinot Noir.
Like the white Pinot Noir, the Rosé was crisp and refreshing with a nice balance of fruit and acidity. Strawberry and citrus on the nose give way on the palate to a luscious blend of watermelon, citrus fruit and strawberry.
Our final two wines were (red) Pinot Noir offerings – the 2012 Ghost Hill Cellars Prospector's Reserve and the 2013 Bayliss-Bower Pinot Noir. Both of these wines are blends of four different Pinot Noir clones from Ghost Hill's estate vineyards. Both wines are classic expressions of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, although the Prospector's Reserve (priced slightly higher than the Bayliss-Bower) is a bit more dense and full-bodied. Either wine would make for a great pairing with Christmas dinner.
For us, the "trifecta" of wine tasting occurs when we encounter (1) wines that we love, (2) in a magical location, (3) made by people that we like and admire. Ghost Hill Cellars hit the trifecta for us.


March 16 1996: Page, Bunyip, Braspadeek, the edge, christchurch.
Thursday 26th November: Shihad, blue light disco tour: @ The Ministry, Christchurch.
Rockquest 1999: heats and finals.-Joe Greens band.
New Years 99/2000- King Kapisi, Bunyip, Pitch Black, Takaka, Golden Bay.
Saturday 5th Feb: Bic Runga (valentine's performance) arts centre courtyard, Christchurch.
2nd Feb: Tribal rising: ZX81, Psilo, Misnoma, flow, Fleur, Phact, Adrenaline, Mr. Exit: Gun Turrets Richmond Hill/ Port Of Lyttleton.
Friday 9th March: Fur Patrol, Betchadupa, and Canvas, Union Hall, Wellington.
Saturday 10th March, Bands In the Square: Goodshirt, Betchadupa, Slim, Cassette: Civic Square, Wellington.
Friday 21st September: Rockquest Finals: Goodshirt, Carriage H, Canvas, mother Guru: Wellington Town Hall, Wellington.
Saturday 26th January: Nu Directions: Concord Dawn, Shapeshifter, Dreadford, Katalyst, Downtown Brow, Salmonella sound system, Solaa, Bunyip, verse 2, Fable DJ's Pylon, Kaps.
Sat 26th January: Cripple Mister Onion, Valerie Violet- the Cauldron Christchurch.
July 27, 2002: Betchadupa & D4 & Pan Am @ Indigo, Wellington.
Friday August 24th 2002: Pine, Minisnap at the Dux, Christchurch.
Saturday 23 November: World Series: Fur Patrol, Stellar, Che Fu, Carly Binding at The St. James Auckland.
Saturday 14 December: Goodshirt, Sarah Browne, Evermore, Palisers, Waiheke Island.
Sunday 30th March 2003: Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals and Jack Johnson, Queens Wharf Events Centre, Wellington.
Friday 2 April: steffan van soest hit machine, Into the Void, Palace of Wisdom,@ The Media Club, Christchurch.
Saturday 17 April: Batrider and Steffan Van Soest Hit Machine, Wunderbar, Lyttleton.
Fri 20th: THE BIG DAY OUT: Pluto, Coco Solid, Sleater Kinney, The end of Fashion, The Magic Numbers, The Brunettes, The go! team, the bats, die die die, shihad, the white stripes, mars volta, franz ferdinand, iggy pop and the stooges, Henry rollins, the living end. @ erricson stadium, auckland.
Sat 11th: The Renderers, lo-liners @ the harbourlight lyttleton.


(of Parker & Unwin/Letchworth Garden City fame); c1908.
Only two other known examples in the public domain; one at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York and the other at Crabtree Farms (extensive collection of top British Arts & Crafts including Voysey), also in America.
Illustrated in Dean Hawkes (ed.), Modern Country Homes in England: The Arts and Crafts Architecture of Barry Parker, Cambridge, 1986.
Clear influences of CFA Voysey.
Barry Parker (1867-1947) was an Arts and Crafts architect and town planner.
Together with Raymond Unwin they created the master housing plan for Letchworth Garden City.
Parker's designs ranged from jewellery, textiles, Arts & Crafts furniture, houses and gardens, estates, community halls and churches to the complete Garden City.
Approx 49" overall height; 19.25" seat height. 25" overall width, 24" overall depth.
PS We also have in stock Barry Parker's own walking stick!


text:
<?php

namespace ZF2rapid\Task\Fetch;

use Zend\Code\Reflection\ClassReflection;
use Zend\Code\Reflection\DocBlock\Tag\ReturnTag;
use Zend\Console\ColorInterface as Color;
use ZFrapidCore\Task\AbstractTask;

/**
 * Class LoadControllers
 *
 * @package ZF2rapid\Task\Fetch
 */
class LoadControllers extends AbstractTask
{
    /**
     * Process the command
     *
     * @return integer
     */
    public function processCommandTask()
    {
        // initialize controller list
        $loadedControllers = [];

        // loop through loaded modules and fetch controllers for module
        foreach ($this->params->loadedModules as $moduleName => $moduleObject) {
            $loadedControllers[$moduleName] = $this->loadControllerForModule(
                $moduleObject
            );
        }

        // set loaded modules
        $this->params->loadedControllers = $loadedControllers;

        // check loaded modules
        if (!empty($this->params->loadedControllers)) {
            return 0;
        }

        $this->console->writeTaskLine(
            'task_fetch_load_controllers_not_found',
            [
                $this->console->colorize(
                    $this->params->workingPath, Color::GREEN
                )
            ]
        );

        return 1;
    }

    /**
     * Get controllers for a module
     *
     * @param $moduleObject
     *
     * @return array
     */
    protected function loadControllerForModule($moduleObject)
    {
        // initialize controllers
        $controllers = [];

        // check for configuration
        if (!method_exists($moduleObject, 'getConfig')) {
            return $controllers;
        }

        // get module configuration
        $moduleConfig = $moduleObject->getConfig();

        // check for no configured controllers
        if (!isset($moduleConfig['controllers'])) {
            return $controllers;
        }

        // loop through controllers
        foreach ($moduleConfig['controllers'] as $type => $loadedControllers) {
            // skip if not invokable nor factory
            if (!in_array($type, ['invokables', 'factories'])) {
                continue;
            }

            // initialize controller type
            $controllers[$type] = [];

            // loop through controller list
            foreach ($loadedControllers as $controllerKey => $controllerClass) {

                // check for controller param
                if (count($this->params->paramControllerList) > 0
                    && !in_array(
                        $controllerKey, $this->params->paramControllerList
                    )
                ) {
                    continue;
                }

                // check if controller class or factory does not exist
                if (!class_exists($controllerClass)) {
                    continue;
                }

                // check for factory
                if (in_array(
                    'Zend\ServiceManager\FactoryInterface',
                    class_implements($controllerClass)
                )) {
                    // start class reflection
                    $classReflection = new ClassReflection($controllerClass);

                    // get create method and doc block
                    $method = $classReflection->getMethod('createService');
                    $docBlock = $method->getDocBlock();

                    // check doc block for return tag and use class
                    if ($docBlock) {
                        // loop through all doc blocks
                        foreach ($docBlock->getTags() as $tag) {
                            /** @var $tag ReturnTag */
                            if ($tag->getName() != 'return') {
                                continue;
                            }

                            $controllerClass
                                = $classReflection->getNamespaceName() . '\\'
                                . $tag->getTypes()[0];

                        }
                    } else {
                        // try to read controller instantiation from method
                        preg_match_all(
                            '^\$controller\s*=\s*new\s*([a-zA-z0-9]+)\(\)\;^',
                            $method->getContents(),
                            $matches
                        );

                        $controllerClass
                            = $classReflection->getNamespaceName() . '\\'
                            . $matches[1][0];

                    }
                }

                // check for class existence
                if (!class_exists($controllerClass)) {
                    break;
                }

                // add controller class for type
                $controllers[$type][$controllerKey] = $controllerClass;
            }
        }

        // loop through controllers
        foreach ($controllers as $type => $controllerList) {
            // check if any controller exists for type
            if (empty($controllerList)) {
                unset ($controllers[$type]);

                // otherwise sort controllers
            } else {
                ksort($controllers[$type]);
            }
        }

        return $controllers;
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Did you know that white chocolate isn't even real chocolate? It's just made from the cocoa butter i.e. it's basically fat. That's why this is last.
This flavor wasn't bad, just basic. Little bit cocoa-y, little bit sweet, little bit chalky. This chocolate is like a nice person you meet at a networking event, but then you never think about them again.
At first bite, this chocolate tastes mostly like the Dark Heart, if a little bit sweeter. Then, when you get into the caramel, it gets even better. The caramel is the golden nugget in a lump of cocoa.
This one is so smooth and sweet! If you're ever craving a single bite of creamy chocolate, this is a really good option. Plus, it's individually wrapped so you can hide it in your purse in case of sugar emergency.
This is just like the Lindor Milk Truffle, but darker and better. That's all I have to say about that.
Smooth, and a pleasant mixture of slightly bitter and sweet, this one is my favorite! For reference, it's a little bit like an adult version of Nutella hidden in a chocolate suitcase. When you open the box, grab this one first before anyone else gets ahold of it.
Or even better, eat a whole box by yourself and don't share with anyone! It's National Milk Chocolate Day, go wild.


The other day I was a few miles outside the small town of Doune, when I was faced with a 'road closed' sign.
There was no diversion marked, but when I got my map out I saw that I could take a detour through the nearby hamlet of Argaty.
Although tiny in terms of human population, Argaty lays claim to being central Scotland's only red kite feeding station, and has quite a number of visitors as a result.
The feeding station is open all year round so that you can pop along to watch red kites from a hide, and they have a website here if you'd like more information.
A rather substantial bus shelter, but one with a bit of a story to tell.
The inscription above the window at the back of the shelter reads: "To commemorate the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth May 1937" and has the words "Fealty" and "Homage" on either side.
Commemorative plaques and other architectural paraphernalia to mark coronations are not uncommon, but I don't think I've ever seen a bus shelter built for the purpose. Mind you, I say it was built for the coronation but perhaps that's not true; it might already have been there and just been inscribed to mark the event.
I searched online a bit and wasn't able to find any mention of this bus shelter anywhere.
I did, however, find information about a completely different bus shelter in the village of Stokenchurch in the south of England, which was erected not for the 1937 coronation but for the present Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Malcolm Penny and Jennie Ferrigno (name of dog unknown), representatives of Stokenchurch Parish Council and Red Kite Community Housing Association, who jointly erected the bus shelter.
As can be seen above, the Stokenchurch Diamond Jubilee bus shelter is a very different design from the Argaty one and has a metal plaque attached to it commemorating the Diamond Jubilee.
There are several other bus shelters throughout the UK that were erected for the Diamond Jubilee, but I chose to highlight this one because of its very tenuous link with the one at Argaty.
It's barely worth mentioning perhaps, but the fact that the Stokenchurch one was partly funded by a company called Red Kite caught my attention. Could there be other links between red kites and bus shelters that I've yet to uncover? Life is full of curious coincidences.
A bit beyond the graveyard at Bendochy in Perthshire, there's an Intriguing Sight parked up on grass just off the road.
In my youth we didn't have mobile phones. In order to make calls when out and about, we relied on the Post Office to provide red phoneboxes with public phones in them. You could shove a 10p piece into a slot to make a call, and when the money was running out the 'pips' would alert you to the fact that you were about to be cut off. This was all part of normal life.
In this day and age, with virtually everyone having a mobile phone, I don't know how many red phoneboxes still contain working phones, but it seems to me to be not very many.
Britain's red phoneboxes, or kiosks as they were first known, came into being in 1921, and were painted red to make them stand out. There have been a variety of designs over the years, all of which are illustrated and described on the impressively detailed website, The Telephone Box.
When you get closer to the phonebox at Bendochy, you find that where it used to say 'TELEPHONE' in the white space at the top, it now says 'Bendochy' and there's a little 'i' after it, signifying 'information'.
I keep meaning to pin up a little flyer about my book on the pinboard, and stick a copy of the book on a bookshelf.
Bendochy's phonebox is just one of over 1,500 such boxes to have been adopted by local communities and put to good use now that they no longer contain phones.
The decomissioned boxes have found all sorts of new leases of life. Quite a few contain defibrillators purchased by local villagers and installed in case of medical emergencies. There are also phoneboxes that have turned into art galleries and grocery shops.
If you fancy adopting your local phonebox, you can do it for the bargain price of £1.00 by applying to British Telecom.
They have a website all about it here, and they're very keen to hear from people with interesting suggestions.
Browsing through computer files today, I was reminded of taking tea in some rather nice places outwith Scotland. After Scotland, England is the place I've taken tea most, but I've also had some more far flung tearoom delights.
I've changed laptops three times in recent years, and during all these changes appear to have mislaid quite a lot of photos. I daresay they're somewhere on SD cards or discs, but from amongst those readily available I found a batch from Dubai.
I worked in a Dubai shipyard for a few months in 2010, in the middle of summer, which was almost unbearably hot. We didn't get much time off, but on one occasion I went into town with a friend and discovered a marvellous tearoom called Shakespeare & Co.
We hopped out of a taxi in the city under burning skies, in desperate need of some refreshment, and saw a place that looked like it might meet our requirements. From the outside I had no expectation of what we'd find inside. When I walked in and saw the cakes on display, I was quite astonished.
The whole place was very beautiful, and if I were writing a guide to taking tea in Dubai, this place would certainly be in it.
In the next picture, note the Arab gentleman seated on the sofa wearing the traditional headdress. The design of this headdress is centuries old, unlike the mobile phone he's checking.
It was late morning when we got there and I opted for a mini cheesecake, while my friend had a cooked breakfast. We both had Darjeeling tea.
There was a very smiley chef visible through a hatch next to the dining area and he looked so happy that I asked if I could take his photo. He cheerfully said yes and then promptly put on a serious face for the camera. I tried to cajole him into beaming his lovely smile again for the shot, but he was having none of it. I expect he wanted to look like an earnest fellow sincere about his work.
After our delicious salads at the wonderful Fife cafe that featured as last week's Tearoom of the Week, my delectable assistant and I took afternoon refreshments in another Fife eatery.
The crow-stepped gable is a very useful form of architecture for people who need to climb up onto a roof, giving secure stone steps up from standard ladder height to the top of a building.
If you fancy climbing up a few crow-stepped gables, but find you're a bit nervous about the height and steepness, you'd be well advised to pop across the border into England for a bit of practise first. Apparently roofs like these tend to be steeper in Scotland, so that snow can slide off more easily.
Although the idea of stepping up them does entice me (and has done, ever since I first saw Mary Poppins climb up a crow-stepped gable made of smoke in the Disney movie) my fear of heights prevents me from actually trying it out. I prefer to enjoy them safely from ground level.
The tearoom we proposed to take afternoon snacks in is next-door to a shop full of wooden items shipped in from Asia, and fancying a little look around the goods on display, we popped in.
There were two almost life size elephants in one part of the shop. I thought it might be nice to buy one, put it into a trailer attached to the back of my car and tour around the country with it.
These ones were sitting at the door ready to welcome people into the shop. Those two small things at the front on either side of the little elephant are, believe it or not, carvings of elephant rumps, for sale at £1 a go. I did consider buying one, I must admit.
Only a few steps from the shop full of wooden elephants was the tearoom we were headed for. The building is a wooden structure that doesn't give anything away from the outside.
Since there's a bit of an elephant theme to this post, I'm going to sneak in one more. I bought this one for a friend a few years ago, and he's been named George. He's quite big and is meant as a doorstop (although I believe my friend keeps him on the bed). He's filled with sand and his outer material is silk.
He really is a most charming and delightful little fellow.


As I live and breathe: Everyone should have a chance at a new beginning.
I have taken a few knocks for not blogging enough since my surgery and healing.
I put years into this blog. Blogging about everything: very personal, sad, pathetic, heartfelt and happy. I have had a very hard time coming back here and blogging negativity. This blog is a large part of my life; of who I am and why I am the person I am now.
My daughter is expecting a baby boy in April. My first grandson! I couldn't be happier for her and Fernando, and Layla too. I love my church and the people there. I love all the pastors and congregation. I have found a long lost friend who I love spending time with. I have bible studies 2 or 3 days a week. I am living in a body that now responds to my physical demands, so I am enjoying going to the gym as often as possible.
Does one try and push aside life's painful experiences and focus on the good? I do.... And, I have been.
For some time my private life has been a mess and I prefer not to dwell on it. I prefer to look forward at everything life has for me in the future.
Exactly this time last year Bill asked me for a divorce. Well he did again a few months ago. This time he told me that he doesn't love me anymore. That he wants to move on, and will be moving out of the state as soon as we can get our "lives" separated. We have still been living together and he is drinking, which makes things very volatile. I don't know if I am coming home to good Bill or angry Bill. He wants to live as roommates, yet there are so many feelings involved that it is an impossible request.
I still love him, and I suspect he still loves me. I think he spent so many years being my care giver that now having a healthy me around, he doesn't feel like he has control anymore. No more does he need to cook and clean for me. I can do my own shopping, and I can clean house. I think he misses that control. He has been a care giver and one of those people who always wants to take care of those he loves..... that now cutting the strings and letting me go do things alone bothers him.
I found out that I love life. I love Church. I love exercising. I love being out and about, and he prefers to stay home. I did that for too long. I wonder if this sort of thing happens to people who come through serious diseases and their spouses can't adjust.
I told him when I was sick that I just wanted to get out and live life before it was too late. Well, now I am living and I won't just sit at home any longer and talk about things to do.
So... That's why I haven't been here for a while. I just wanted to get through this privately. But I suppose once I began opening up I lost the right to privacy? That was suggested. I don't want anyone to think that you following this blog didn't mean anything to me, because it did and still does. I thought part of this blog was venting, but also a large part of it would be helping people going through the same circumstances, and yes having a support system of those who chose to follow me.
Once I had my surgery and it went so well, I thought it might be time for a break before I continued the next chapter.
I will be back more often to post. I may begin slowly to change my future to more of a private life. I hope my friends will understand.
While your blog I am sure has touched many, you don't owe anyone. Personally, I would much rather see you out living and enjoying life and have less time to blog!!
This is obviously quite a season of change for you....and you are making the most of it all. I am SO happy for you....don't let ANYONE try to rein you in!! "It is for FREEDOM that Jesus set us free!!" Gal 5:1.
Your only obligation is to Him and whatever HE tells you to do!
Thank you Connie. I feel the same way you do and so appreciate your comment.
I was thinking about you the other day, missing reading your blog and knowing how you were doing. In my mind's eye you were "out and about" enjoying your life since your recovery from surgery.
I consider your blog a gift and you don't owe me another word...this is your blog and your life. You have a right to live your life however you choose and you also have a right to privacy.
You, Kellie dear, have earned every bit of enjoyment of your life you can find!
Thank you so much Bonnie. I do miss my friends I have met here and on Ex, however it seems my life now is so full that I have little time to blog. Thank you for your kind words.
Hey, Kellie, I knew I could come see your blog here, but I was being stubborn and just waiting on EX for you. I didn't read anything about you owing your adoring public blogs, but I figured the same as Bonnie and Connie...you were out DOING instead of not doing.
I'm glad that that is the case, but I'm sorry about your husband. I'll be thinking of you, more than even before.
Just thinking of, Kellie. And sending love.
Just thinking of you Kellie. And sending love. Chapters close and new ones open.


CMIG Leasing is working to sell its two biggest remaining shipping assets as its stricken parent group struggles with bond payments.
Sources said AVIC International Leasing is said to be the leading contender to pick up the 9,411-teu sisterships MSC Michela and MSC Clea (both built 2016). But the client, container giant Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), is understood to be reluctant to cooperate on documentation, which is slowing the sale process.
The Jiangnan Shanghai Changxing Heavy Industry-built sisterships are understood to have been circulated informally to a number of Chinese ship-finance players before stock-listed AVIC was called upon.
AVIC officials declined to confirm the negotiations towards a transaction. An aviation and shipping official of CMIG Leasing could not be reached for comment.
Shipping forms only a small part of the CNY 300bn ($44.3bn) portfolio of CMIG Leasing's parent, financially stricken China Minsheng International Group (CMIG). Its major sectors include assets in solar energy, manufacturing, sustainable and renewable energy, real estate and business jets.
But the whole group is understood to be under pressure after a partial payment of a CNY 3bn private placement bond in late January and a sell-off by bond investors last week, according to Chinese media reports. The sell-off reportedly saw a CNY 4.48bn three-year bond lose 30% of its value.
Chinese financial news organisation Caixin reported this week that 15 CMIG bonds mature this year. The company must come up with CNY 20.8bn in repayments to bond investors.
All investment sectors in the group have been asked to pitch in to build liquidity.
This is not the first round of asset sell-offs to affect the company's container shipping fleet.
In September 2018, TradeWinds reported on the sale of five panamax and sub-panamax containerships in the fleet of Singapore's Pacific International Lines for $88.9m.
CMIG Leasing is one of several unrelated Chinese companies involved in shipping that share the Minsheng name. The best known is Minsheng Financial Leasing, a subsidiary of non state-owned China Minsheng Bank.
CMIG Leasing is part of a second Minsheng. Dong Wenbiao, the former chairman of China Minsheng Bank, split with his former group and organised 59 Chinese corporations as shareholders in the confusingly named CMIG. CMIG Leasing is CMIG's joint venture with South Korea's KEB Hana Bank.
A third Minsheng is equity investor China Minsheng Trust, which is understood to have some overlapping shareholders with CMIG but no management link.
The fourth and oldest Minsheng is a river and coastal container and car-carrier specialist, Minsheng Shipping, which dates back to pre-revolutionary China.


Multi-disciplinary designer and passionate CrossFit athlete.
Carlz J heads up Södeström Creative, specialising in graphic design, branding and digital art. Her distinctive designs already feature in CrossFit gyms around the globe, on fitness industry websites, social media pages and print collateral.
Born with a respiratory condition that left her only one functioning lung, at best a 53% lung capacity, Carlz J has smashed through her limitations, her doubts and fears to live her best life possible. In her own words, Carlz J believes that: "Your body is capable of more than you imagine, it just takes a strong mind, determination and a bit of heart!" 21.15.NINE is the embodiment of this belief.


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Södertälje SK – szwedzki klub hokejowy z siedzibą w Södertälje, występujący w rozgrywkach Allsvenskan.

W czerwcu 2015 prezesem klubu została Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd.

Sukcesy
  Złoty medal mistrzostw Szwecji (7 razy): 1925, 1931, 1941, 1944, 1953, 1956, 1985
  Srebrny medal mistrzostw Szwecji (1 raz): 1986
 Awans do Elitserien: 2007

Zawodnicy

Przypisy

Linki zewnętrzne
 Oficjalna strona klubu

Szwedzkie kluby hokejowe
Kluby hokejowe założone w XX wieku


If you want to squeeze more value out of your vacation dollar, plan on squeezing more stuff into fewer pieces of luggage this summer. Airlines are starting to charge passengers $25 or higher for more than one checked bag. Many airlines will charge you extra if your bag exceeds their weight limit.
If you want to squeeze more value out of your vacation dollar, plan on squeezing more stuff into fewer pieces of luggage this summer.
Airlines are starting to charge passengers $25 or higher for more than one checked bag. Many airlines will charge you extra if your bag exceeds their weight limit. Some of the new regulations take effect in May. Be sure to check with your airline or travel agent before your trip.
Honing your travel wardrobe can help simplify your life, as well as save money.
"You're going on vacation to get away from it all. You don't want to take it all with you," said Cindy Marshall, a travel expert with AAA.
Marshall gave a free "How to Pack" seminar at the Talbot's clothing store in Stroud Township recently.
Marshall advised starting with a spare room, where you can lay out the pieces you think you'll need for your trip. Your goal should then be to remove half of the clothing.
"It's narrowing down our choices," she said. "Pick clothing that works well with at least two others pieces."
Don't worry about having a different outfit every day.
"I know your mother never told you this, but you can wear the same clothes more than once, unless it's stained or stinking," she said. "The person next to you is not going to remember what you wore the day before."
For women, a versatile vacation wardrobe can consist of as little as 10 basic pieces in coordinating colors such as navy, white and red. The magic word is layering. Be sure to include a few tanks or T-shirts, a wrinkle-free shirt, a cardigan and blazer, a dress plus coordinating bottoms: pants, jeans, shorts or skirt.
Pay special attention to pieces that can do double duty: for instance, an oversized T-shirt that you can sleep in, as well as wear as a beach cover-up.
Marshall also recommends a pair of pants with an elastic waist for the end of the trip. You know, something comfy to wear after those extra visits to the midnight buffet on your cruise ship.
Don't pack "his" and "hers" bags. Mix items so that if one bag gets lost, both travelers will still have extra clothing. Use a plastic dry cleaner bag to line each suitcase. This will protect clothes in case luggage gets wet while sitting on an airport tarmac and "bleeds" onto the contents. Put bulky items on the bottom. Use every available space, e.g. roll neckties and put them inside shoes. Put underwear in a Ziplock bag, squeeze out the air to save space. Roll knits instead of folding. Wear the heaviest pair of shoes you plan on taking. Don't take any jewelry of monetary or sentimental value unless you plan to wear it the whole time. Keep film in your carry-on bag. High-powered X-rays used on checked luggage can ruin your photos.


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Dollar General (DG) – Bullish outlook signals extension of retail boom
Plans to add around 1,000 new units to the store network next year, raising the total number of stores to about 18,000
While the pandemic-driven shopping spree continues to boost retail sales, there is also apprehension that the momentum might wane once normalcy returns to the market. The earnings report released by discount store chain Dollar General (NYSE: DG) last week signaled the possibility of a slowdown, but the management's bullish outlook indicates the current momentum will be mostly sustained.
Related: Dollar General Corporation Q3 2020 Earnings Transcript
That is good news for long-term investors who would prefer to shrug off the decline in the company's market value after the earnings announcement and focus on the long-term prospects. The stock dropped slightly and underperformed the market since then, joining industry-leaders like Walmart (WMT) that witnessed a brief sell-off.
Buying Opportunity
The dip in valuation offers an opportunity for those looking to invest in Dollar General, as experts predict a rebound in the coming months. Most of the analysts following the stock recommend buying it. On the flip side, the stock has not been very popular among hedge funds in recent times, but that is just one of the many criteria for assessing stocks.
Given the continuing macroeconomic uncertainty, marked by weakness in the labor market and people's purchasing power, the holiday season is going to be a test of Dollar General's resilience. The positive reports on the COVID vaccine have given rise to concerns that the current uptrend is temporary. But, the optimists are of the view that customers have gotten used to their new shopping habit and the conveniences that offer. So, it is likely that the transformation is irreversible and retailers who adapt to the changing customer taste would stay on the high-growth path going forward.
Store Expansion
Meanwhile, the market was more impressed by Dollar General's ambitious growth plans than its earnings performance, since the projection gives an insight into the prospects of the broad sector. The company is looking to add more than 1,000 new units to its store network next year, raising the total number of stores to about 18,000 while also remodeling as many as 1,750 outlets.
That will be complemented by the improved assortment and initiatives like DG Fresh for self-distribution of food. The increased focus on the food category shows the company wants to give tough competition to some of the leading food retailers. But benefits from the drop in promotional costs during the pandemic and other cost-savings might not be there in the post-COVID era, resulting in lower margins.
Comps Surge
Continuing the recent trend, comparable-store sales grew in double-digits in the third quarter, but at a slower pace than in the previous two quarters. Total sales climbed 17% to $8.2 billion, led by the core Consumables category. The momentum was widespread across all business segments, supported by the expanded e-commerce capabilities and pickup facilities introduced in view of the virus-related safety concerns. As a result, earnings moved up 17% annually to $8.2 billion during the three-month period.
The company continues to outperform fellow store operator Dollar Tree (DLTR), in terms of stock price and financial performance. While Dollar Tree lags behind its bigger rival in comparable sales and revenue generation, it has embarked on a drive to expand the store network after reporting impressive earnings last month. The stock has been trading higher, after getting a big boost from the strong earnings, and is probably poised to catch up with Dollar General.
The recent performance of Dollar General's stock shows the stronger-than-expected third-quarter results did not impress the market. The shares pared most of their recent gains soon after the earnings report and maintained the downtrend since then. The stock, which climbed to an all-time high of $213.43 in mid-October, gained 28% in 2020.
Read the full conference call transcript here. It's free!
ConsumerE-commerce
Retail: A look at some of the recent trends and near-term expectations of some leading retailers
Dollar Tree (DLTR) vs. Dollar General (DG): How did the third quarter turn out for these discount retailers?
Dollar General (DG): Five takeaways from the discount store's Q3 earnings report
Infographic: Key highlights from Dollar General's (DG) Q3 2022 earnings results
Dollar Tree (DLTR) vs. Dollar General (DG): How the discount retailers fared in Q2


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Out & About // Donna Visits a Celebration of Special Olympics at North High School
by tacchamb | Jun 8, 2017 | Out and About
Celebration of Special Olympics organizers, Torrance Police Department, Torrance Fire Department and Torrance Unified School District with Event Participants at North High School
This past week I had a memorable experience visiting the launch of a new youth activation campaign to create the first truly unified generation – a generation in which young people with and without intellectual disabilities create a future of respect and inclusion for everyone. This celebration urges youth everywhere to play and ultimately live unified, breaking down the barriers that exclude people with intellectual disabilities. The #PlayUnified movement is inspired by a simple principle: training, playing and competing together is a quick path to understanding, acceptance and friendship.
"The Special Olympics event was consistent with the inclusive, friendly, tolerant, caring and compassionate culture that is such an important part of North High School. Special Olympics were a loving gift and experience of inclusiveness and teamwork for everyone who participated in and put their hands together to clap and root for the participants," stated Ron Richardson, North High School principal.
The celebration was kicked off with a welcome from Torrance Mayor Patrick J. Furey, followed by the introduction of the participants. Students in the stands waved posters and cheered for the athletes as they were introduced. The participants competed in the 50 yard dash, 100 yard dash, relay and softball throw. Torrance Police Chief, Mark Matsuda hung a medal around each of the participant's necks and a certificate from a member of the Police Department was also presented. Also in attendance at this heartwarming event were members of the Torrance Fire Department and Torrance Unified School district personnel.


Calculates the number of true positives.
For example, if y_true is [0, 1, 1, 1] and y_pred is [1, 0, 1, 1] then the true positives value is 2. If the weights were specified as [0, 0, 1, 0] then the true positives value would be 1.
If sample_weight is given, calculates the sum of the weights of true positives. This metric creates one local variable, true_positives that is used to keep track of the number of true positives.


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The new development at WTC is intricately interwoven into the existing fabric of the complex, creating a stimulating combination of richness and identity for the campus.
On the north, the characteristic curved glass roof extends further east in a swooping wave along the Strawinskylaan. The dynamic form of the roof profile embraces three office pavilions beneath. The pavilions will animate the northern edge of the campus and are conceived as a recognisable re-interpretation of the original extension of the WTC along Zuidplein on the west.
Glazed atria between the pavilions bring daylight deep into the plan and establish flexible meeting hubs for the new working community.
CBRE Investment Management
Offices, Conference and Amenities
20,000sqm Refurbishment
32,000sqm Extension
Completion late 2022
The new tower incorporates one of the original four towers, retaining and reinforcing the 1970s foundations and reusing and expanding the existing concrete structure – thus preserving its embodied carbon. The existing core is combined with a new high-rise core, and the tower volume rises from the orthogonal geometry of the WTC grid at its base, but gains a new freedom as it soars up into the sky.
The proposed additional space fits seamlessly into the existing complex, delivering efficient and captivating workplace within an exciting new architecture, and heralding a fresh phase in the continued development of the WTC campus.
One Embassy Gardens, London, UK
The Edge, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
World Trade Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands