text:
"""Tests for conformal prediction calibration and predictions."""
import functools
from absl.testing import absltest
from absl.testing import parameterized

import chex
import jax
import jax.numpy as jnp
import numpy as np

import conformal_prediction as cp
import test_utils as cptutils

class ConformalPredictionTest(parameterized.TestCase):

  def setUp(self):
    super(ConformalPredictionTest, self).setUp()
    np.random.seed(0)

  @parameterized.parameters([
      dict(array=np.array([]), q=0.5),
      dict(array=np.linspace(0, 1, 100), q=-0.1),
      dict(array=np.linspace(0, 1, 100), q=1.1),
      dict(array=np.linspace(0, 1, 100).reshape(2, 50), q=0.5),
  ])
  def test_conformal_quantile_errors(self, array, q):
    with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
      cp.conformal_quantile_with_checks(jnp.array(array), q=q)

  def _test_validation_coverage(self, calibrate, predict, alpha):
    num_examples = 10000
    num_classes = 10
    labels = cptutils.get_labels(num_examples, num_classes)
    probabilities = cptutils.get_probabilities(labels, 5)
    threshold = calibrate(probabilities, labels, alpha)
    confidence_sets = predict(probabilities, threshold)
    # Some methods will have perfect coverage in this case as the true class
    # always represents the largest probability.
    # Others will only have 1 - alpha coverage as coverage is independent of
    # sorting.
    self.assertGreaterEqual(
        jnp.sum(confidence_sets[jnp.arange(confidence_sets.shape[0]), labels]),
        int(num_examples * (1 - alpha)))

  @parameterized.parameters([
      dict(alpha=0.1),
      dict(alpha=0.01),
  ])
  def test_threshold_confidence_sets_validation_coverage(self, alpha):
    calibrate = cp.calibrate_threshold_with_checks
    predict = cp.predict_threshold_with_checks
    self._test_validation_coverage(calibrate, predict, alpha)

  @parameterized.parameters([
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100, 10)),
           labels=np.zeros((100)).astype(int)),
  ])
  def test_calibrate_predict_threshold_jit(self, probabilities, labels):
    calibrate_threshold_fn = jax.jit(
        functools.partial(cp.calibrate_threshold, alpha=0.1))
    predict_threshold_fn = jax.jit(cp.predict_threshold)
    tau = calibrate_threshold_fn(probabilities, labels)
    confidence_sets = predict_threshold_fn(probabilities, tau)
    chex.assert_shape(confidence_sets, probabilities.shape)

  @parameterized.parameters([
      dict(probabilities=np.array([]), tau=0),
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100)), tau=0),
  ])
  def test_predict_threshold_errors(self, probabilities, tau):
    with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
      cp.predict_threshold_with_checks(jnp.array(probabilities), tau)

  @parameterized.parameters([
      dict(alpha=0.1, k_reg=None, lambda_reg=None),
      dict(alpha=0.01, k_reg=None, lambda_reg=None),
      dict(alpha=0.1, k_reg=1, lambda_reg=0),
      dict(alpha=0.01, k_reg=1, lambda_reg=0),
      dict(alpha=0.1, k_reg=1, lambda_reg=0.5),
      dict(alpha=0.01, k_reg=1, lambda_reg=0.5),
  ])
  def test_raps_confidence_sets_validation_coverage(
      self, alpha, k_reg, lambda_reg):
    calibrate = functools.partial(
        cp.calibrate_raps_with_checks,
        k_reg=k_reg, lambda_reg=lambda_reg)
    predict = functools.partial(
        cp.predict_raps_with_checks, k_reg=k_reg, lambda_reg=lambda_reg)
    self._test_validation_coverage(calibrate, predict, alpha)

  @parameterized.parameters([
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100, 10)),
           labels=np.zeros((100)).astype(int)),
  ])
  def test_calibrate_predict_raps_jit(self, probabilities, labels):
    calibrate_raps_fn = jax.jit(functools.partial(
        cp.calibrate_raps, alpha=0.1, k_reg=1, lambda_reg=0.5))
    predict_raps_fn = jax.jit(functools.partial(
        cp.predict_raps, k_reg=1, lambda_reg=0.5))
    rng = jax.random.PRNGKey(0)
    tau = calibrate_raps_fn(probabilities, labels, rng=rng)
    confidence_sets = predict_raps_fn(probabilities, tau, rng=rng)
    chex.assert_shape(confidence_sets, probabilities.shape)

  @parameterized.parameters([
      dict(probabilities=np.array([]),
           labels=np.array([]), alpha=0.1),
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100)),
           labels=np.ones((100), dtype=int), alpha=0.1),
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100, 10)),
           labels=np.ones((100), dtype=int) * 99, alpha=0.1),
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100, 10)),
           labels=np.ones((100)) * 0.5, alpha=0.1),
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100, 10)),
           labels=np.ones((100), dtype=int), alpha=-0.1),
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100, 10)),
           labels=np.ones((100), dtype=int), alpha=1.1),
  ])
  def test_calibrate_raps_errors(self, probabilities, labels, alpha):
    with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
      cp.calibrate_raps_with_checks(
          jnp.array(probabilities), jnp.array(labels), alpha, rng=None)

  @parameterized.parameters([
      dict(probabilities=np.array([]), tau=0.9),
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100)), tau=0.9),
      dict(probabilities=np.zeros((100, 10)), tau=-0.1),
  ])
  def test_predict_raps_errors(self, probabilities, tau):
    with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
      cp.predict_raps_with_checks(jnp.array(probabilities), tau, rng=None)

if __name__ == '__main__':
  absltest.main()


text:
Jeremy Renner and Václav Vorlíček to be honoured at Karlovy Vary closing
The 52nd Karlovy Vary international film festival comes to an end on Saturday night with the traditional glitzy awards ceremony. Alongside the announcement of this year's prize winners, Hollywood star Jeremy Renner and veteran Czech director Václav Vorlíček will be honoured at the close of the biggest film event in Central and Eastern Europe.
Khibula, photo: Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary As every year, there are 12 films vying for the Best Film gong at the 2017 edition of the Karlovy Vary IFF. Among them is Khibula by Georgian director George Ovashvili, who won the top prize three years ago with Corn Island.
If Ovashvili is to repeat that feat he will have to overcome strong competition from the likes of The Cakemaker by the Berlin-based Israeli first-time director Ofir Raul Grazier, which received long ovations after its world premiere on Tuesday.
The Czech entrant for best film is The Little Crusader by Václav Kadrnka. Though it has been generally well-received it is based on a poem and has been described as a medieval road movie and may prove too unconventional to lift the main prize.
Whichever of the highly diverse selection of pictures has most impressed the five-member KVIFF Grand Jury will become clear at the closing ceremony early on Saturday evening.
As for the movies that have enjoyed the greatest reaction from the festival's predominantly young audiences, the aforementioned The Cakemaker was leading the audience award rankings on Friday morning.
Jeremy Renner, photo: Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary Second with one day to go was Červená, a new documentary about the 91-year-old Czech opera singer Soňa Červená by Olga Sommerová.
Another domestic documentary, The White World According to Daliborek by Vít Klusák, has also been an audience hit. The director's handling of his protagonist, a Czech neo-Nazi, has made it perhaps the most talked about, even divisive, film at the 52nd Karlovy Vary.
Also in the top 10 at the time of writing is US independent romantic comedy The Big Sick. It was the opening film and its popularity will be seen as confirming that the organisers made a good choice for the curtain raiser.
Václav Vorlíček, photo: Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary The biggest name at the closing ceremony at Hotel Thermal's Grand Hall will be Hollywood actor Jeremy Renner. The star of The Hurt Locker, Arrival and countless other hits, Renner (46) is introducing his latest work Wind River at KVIFF and will be presented with the festival's President's Award on Saturday evening.
Also receiving that honour will be the great Czech screenwriter and director Václav Vorlíček. Now 87, Vorlíček is responsible for such cherished movies as Who Wants to Kill Jessie, The End of Agent W4C and Three Nuts for Cinderella (also known as Three Wishes for Cinderella).
Karlovy Vary climaxes with top prize for The Father, honour for Patricia Clarkson
The 54th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival culminated at the weekend, with the Grand Prix going to Bulgarian…
Karlovy Vary – "The perfect place to present films by upcoming filmmakers from the region"
For over a decade and a half, the Karlovy Vary film festival has been bringing works from the former communist bloc to broader international attention…
Best served old: Victims seek revenge for communist-era crimes in new Czech film
One of the most discussed Czech films at the Karlovy Vary festival is Old-Timers (Staříci) by Martin Dušek and Ondřej Provazník. It's based…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Richard Rohr on the True Meaning of "Apocalypse"
by Sarah Haykel | Jan 27, 2021 | Resources
Richard Rohr, Unveiling: At the beginning of the New Year, I read a great article by Christian Contemplative, Richard Rohr, about the Greek word that apocalypse comes from. It's not a scary word at all. What it actually means is remarkable and so timely! The...
What My Dad Says About Faith
by Sarah Haykel | Jan 20, 2021 | Quotes
What My Dad Says About Faith My dad and I were talking recently. He always says these really profound things when we're having heart to hearts. Well, not always. Sometimes I'm like, "Daaadddd!!!!" because I don't agree with what he's saying or it's hard to get...
Embodiment Through The Alexander Technique
Embodiement Through The Alexander Technique My first introduction to conscious embodiment came through the Alexander Technique. Ellen, a teaching artist that worked for the same organization I did, told me about her Alexander Technique practice and encouraged...
From Victimhood to Empowerment with One New Perspective (and Learning More About White Privilege)
by Sarah Haykel | Jan 6, 2021 | Quotes
Life is happening for me not to me A few weeks ago I decided to join an online summit where thought leaders on love and romantic relationships shared their experiences. As I listened to one of the conversations, the host of the summit shared an insightful...


text:
HomeDrama
From A to Z From Z to A Latest Menu Order Rating Likes
Drama, Thriller, War
In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
"Black Book" tells the moving story of a young Jewish woman who joins the Resistance in The Hague and gets entangled in a deadly web of double-dealing and betrayal. It is is an epic thriller of great courage and fierce emotion--played out against the dying, explosive months of WW II.
The film had its world premiere on 1 September 2006 at the Venice Film Festival. Winner of three Golden Calves, Black Book won the most awards at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2006.
'The film manages to turn German occupied Holland circa 1944 into a fast-paced thrill ride without sacrificing the emotional core and very real human toll.' From the Front Row
'Seven years after he disappeared with the whimper that was Hollow Man, Paul Verhoeven has returned with what may be his best film.' Stop Smiling
'The handsomely mounted, heedlessly pulpy modernist World War II thriller that "The Good German" and "Valkyrie" failed to be - a dizzying rush of daring rescues, sexual intrigue, treachery, betrayal, gunfights, hasty conclusions and harrowing consequences.' The Film Yap
Austin Film Critics Association 2007 Winner of the AFCA Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Capri, Hollywood 2007 Winner of the Capri Cult Award
Golden and Platin Film, Netherlands 2007 Winner of the Diamond Film
Nederlands Film Festival 2006 Winner of the Golden Calf for Best Film, Best Actress and Best Director of a Feature Film
Venice Film Festival 2006 Winner of the Young Cinema Award for Best International Film
The Grifters
A small-time conman has torn loyalties between his estranged mother and new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play. The Grifters is an american neo-noir crime drama film directed by Stephen Frears, produced by Martin Scorsese, and starring John Cusack, Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening. The film follows a trio of con artists who are intent on out-foxing each other. Roy Dillon (John Cusack) life is thrown into turmoil when his estranged mother Lilly (Anjelica Huston) returns home in an attempt to evade the law. The Grifters had its world premiere at the Toronto Festival of Festivals at the Elgin Theater and had a brief Academy Award-qualifying run in New York City and Los Angeles.
'A darkly cynical and uncompromising gem.' Film 4 'Best to savour The Grifters for its handsome design -- the picture looks as clean as a Hockney landscape -- and its juicy performances.' TIME Magazine 'A slick and stylish neo-noir crime drama featuring three exceptional performances.' BackSeat Mafia
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Winner BSFC Award for Best Actress Edgar Allan Poe Awards Winner Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Film Independent Spirit Awards Winner of theIndependent Spirit Award for Best Feature and Best Female Lead London Critics Circle Film Awards Winner ALFS Award Newcomer of the Year National Board of Review, USA Winner NBR Award for Top Ten Films
Drama, Horror, Thriller
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. Take Shelter is a 2011 American psychological thriller drama film, written and directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The plot follows a young husband and father (Shannon) who is plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, and questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. The film won two Saturn Awards, Best Writing for Nichols and Best Actor for Shannon, and was nominated for two more, Best Horror or Thriller Film and Best Actress for Chastain.
'What makes Nichols' film so satisfying, at least until the melodrama of the final act, is the deftness of the characterisations and the constant sense that things are probably considerably more complex than they're perceived.' Sight and Sound 'An impressively sustained slow-burn parable from writer-director Jeff Nichols, shot with ominous beauty, guarding its mysteries with care.' Daily Telegraph UK 'A hallucinatory thriller anchored by a deeply resonant sense of unease.' Variety
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2012 Winner of the Saturn Award for Best Actor - Michael Shannon Best Writing - Jeff Nichols Austin Film Critics Association 2011 Winner of the AFCA Award for Best Actor - Michael Shannon Best Supporting Actress - Jessica Chastain Winner of the Austin Film Award - Jeff Nichols Winner of the Breakthrough Artist Award- Jessica Chastain Cannes Film Festival 2011 Winner of the Critics Week Grand Prize - Jeff Nichols Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize for Directors' Fortnight or Critics' Week - Jeff Nichols Winner of the SACD Award - Jeff Nichols New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2011 Winner NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actress - Jessica Chastain New York Film Critics, Online 2011 Winner of the NYFCO Award for Best Actor - Michael Shannon Breakthrough Performance - Jessica Chastain Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2011 Winner of the TFCA Award for Best Actor - Michael Shannon Best Supporting Actress - Jessica Chastain
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
A young Pakistani man is chasing corporate success on Wall Street. He finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family's homeland. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an award winning 2012 political thriller drama film based on the 2007 novel. The film tells a post-9/11 story about the impact of the Al Qaeda attacks on one Pakistani man and his treatment by Americans in reaction to them. The film premiered as the opening film for the 69th Venice International Film Festival, and at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival. The film won "Centenary Award" at the 43rd International Film Festival of India. The film has received several awards, many of them honouring the film's efforts to address tolerance and xenophobia.
'Nair has found a real gem in Riz Ahmed, who anchors the film with a charismatically watchable performance. He's in virtually every frame and you hang on his every word.' Toronto Star 'A film like this stands or falls on the performance of its lead, and the young British actor Riz Ahmed doesn't disappoint.' Washington Examiner 'I found several of the story's twists both startling and, in retrospect, totally believable.' The American Conservatist 'Nair lets her drama unfold thoughtfully and draws impressive supporting performances from Kiefer Sutherland, as Changez's Wall Street boss, and Liev Schreiber.' The Mail on Sunday (UK)
CAAMFest 2013 Winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative - Mira Nair Mill Valley Film Festival 2012 Winner of the Audience Award for Favourite World Feature - Mira Nair Munich Film Festival 2013 Winner of the Bernhard Wicki Film Award for Best Film - Mira Nair (director)
Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A young woman develops a taste for human blood after experimental plastic surgery, and her victims turn into blood-thirsty zombies, leading into a city-wide epidemic. Rabid is an award winning Canadian-American drama, horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. It features Marilyn Chambers in the lead role, supported by Frank Moore, Joe Silver and Howard Ryshpan.
'None of the other recent apocalypse movies has shown so much political or cinematic sophistication.' Time Out 'An intelligent predecessor to some more moronic efforts in the same genre.' Film 4
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival Winner of best Screenplay and Best Special Effects


The Software QA tester works as an integral part of the product development process at Propeller Health to make sure that the high quality results that come from well validated software delight and enrich the patient experience.
Participating and eventually leading group discussions to review how changes in the software could lead to risks and hazards for the patient (and how to mitigate these risks). Creating and executing test plans to assess and validate that these new features didn't break something else. Iterating on the quality process used to test the software to improve the overall product quality, test coverage, automate the routine tasks that can't be done by a human.
You will work on a small 5-7 person, self-organized product development team with other smart, creative and passionate engineers, designers and quality assurance teammates.
You get to work with a passionate, driven team doing the QA testing work you love. Propeller is the leading mobile platform for respiratory health management and this position puts you in the center of the innovation happening in digital health. An opportunity to work with data, systems and processes to improve the lives of people living with respiratory disease.


This time it was Queen Anne's Lace, our oldest doe, doing the honors. Both are males. We got them moved from the mucky main goat area (pictured above) and into the kidding pen, which is now getting pretty crowded — three does and six kids. We also put down an additional bale of fresh straw, just for good measure.
Homeschooled Farm Girl did everything she could to get the weaker of the two kids (the one laying down in the photo above) to nurse, but he's having trouble even standing up. We're not really sure he's going to make it, but we'll do what we can. His twin brother, by contrast, is up and walking around great. And yesterday's triplets are all doing well. Stay tuned!
Today marked a first: in all our years of raising goats, we finally had a set of triplets born to us! We've had several sets of triplets from our Icelandic sheep, but our goats have never done anything more than twin.
I discovered the birth while out in the barn this afternoon taking care of chores. One little kid was wandering around the goat area, and my first thought was that Hollyhock's recent arrival had escaped from the kidding pen and couldn't rejoin her mother. But a closer look showed this kid was a newborn, wet from the birth and with some umbilical cord still dangling. Then I spotted the two other kids, swarming the mother goat. Homeschooled Farm Girl helped inspect all the mature does, and we confirmed only one had recently delivered.
What's amusing how crazy the genetics are getting: one of the three is quite dark, one is white, and the other is in-between. HFG tells me we have two males and one female.
Wilbur decided to do a close inspection of his new little charge. Until Mother Goat butted him away.
We moved Mom and her triplets to the kidding pen, with Hollyhock and her kid. I administered shots of Bovi Sera to all, and to the mother. And now the four kids are having a grand time getting to know each other.
We had bitterly cold weather last night; the thermometer read -5F this morning when I got up, which is close to the coldest I recall from this winter. Yesterday was +5, I believe.
Yet, despite the intense cold, the goat kid born two days ago continues to thrive. It helps that the lower portion of the barn has remained closed day and night, and I've been leaving the lights on 24 hours per day. The inside temperature was 26F when I went out this morning; it felt quite warm after walking across the driveway at -5F, but 26 degrees is still objectively very cold. Especially for a two day old baby animal.
The hardiness of these animals is remarkable. The kid had hunkered down in a cozy portion of the pen, next to Mom, and was just fine when she stood up to greet me.
After getting taunted by 50+ degree weather toward the end of last week, winter came howling back in yesterday with a vengance. We got several inches of snow dumped on us, and I spent a good chunk of this morning shoveling out the driveway yet again. Now the winds are picking up, and I've decided I'm officially Sick of February.
Then, when I went to the barn to take care of evening chores, I heard an instantly-recognizable high pitched cry coming from the goat area. I looked, and discovered that Hollyhock had given birth to a beautiful (if sort of dirty) little female kid.
Homeschooled Farm Girl and I moved Holyhock and the kid to the kidding pen, ensured they had fresh water and plenty of hay, and some fresh straw. We also made sure the teats were clear, and that the kid got latched on. After losing a kid last year because the mother goat's teats were clogged (and we didn't discover it until the kid was too weak to be saved), this is something we're definitely checking now after every kidding and lambing.
I also gave mother and kid injections of Bovi Sera, which will help boost their immunity and help recover more quickly from the birth. Especially given the nasty weather that is forcing its way through every crack in the drafty old barn's walls, we want to make sure the two of them get every advantage possible.
Here's looking forward to a healthy kid, and lots of goat milk soon! We've sure missed it.
We have had geese almost from the beginning of our great farming adventure, and even named our place in Illinois "Rolling Goose Farm." These awesome birds have been on my mind recently, and I wanted to say a word or two about them — especially for those who might be thinking ahead to the coming growing season. Assuming this crazy deep freeze we've been in literally all year ever thaws.
Every small farm ought to have some chickens. They're the easiest birds to raise, and provide both eggs and meat. And you can put them in a tractor pen to till/fertilize garden beds before planting and after harvest.
After chickens, though, I'd recommend geese. They're on my mind because we cooked one up the weekend before last, for some dinner guests, and I'm still thinking about how good it was. I'd gone out and butchered a young gander on Saturday, and then we roasted it fresh on Sunday. It weighed about ten pounds, dressed out, and even (barely) fit into the largest cast iron dutch oven. It was the perfect size to provide an all-you-can-eat meal for two average sized families (four adults and six kids), with enough left over to make a big pot of soup for a couple of dinners during the week. When you serve a goose up like this, it's almost guaranteed to make a memorable impression for a guest — for the simple reason that most Americans have never experienced it. And certainly not a fresh, young, domestic goose (as opposed to an old Canada goose that's flown back and forth to South America five times and is as tough as shoe leather).
Unless you've experienced it, it's difficult to describe just how delicious this melted goose fat is. It can even be saved and used as a bread spread, or in any number of other ways. When I'm putting the soup on at the end of the night, I make sure I scrape every drop out of the roasting pan and into the soup pot with a spatula. The richness it adds to the soup will kick your eyes wide open the first time you try it.
And the birds are neither difficult nor expensive to raise. Yes, goslings cost quite a bit to buy. Ten bucks each from our local feed store, but they can be had for less if you shop around. Cackle Hatchery, for example, offers sixteen White Embden goslings for $117, which works out to $7.35 before shipping. It's the same price for Gray Toulouse goslings, which is the other meat breed we recommend.
That appears to be quite a bit more than a broad breasted turkey poult, which yields much more meat than a goose. But once the birds are out of the brooder, the advantage tips the other direction. The turkey has been bred to require lots of high protein supplemental feed. The goose, by contrast, will do quite well on nothing but grass (we do let them have some supplemental grain, especially after the grass dies, to fatten them up a little). And while the turkeys are stupid and need plenty of supervision, geese are highly self-reliant. The gaggle can even fight off predators up to the size of foxes and small dogs. Geese can be left out in a pasture for long periods of time, and will be happy as long as they have grass, shade, and water. Our mature geese adopt the young goslings within minutes of release from the brooder, and quickly incorporate them into the flock. They're also very cold hardy; we've never had one freeze to death, even when the temp in their outbuilding has plunged below zero.
They're best butchered and eaten in their first year; we've heard they can get tough with age, so we haven't even tried eating the mature geese. I imagine they'd still make very good stock and soup, but they're so fun to watch and so easy to keep (and just eat grass for so much of the year), we've preferred to just let them live.
The one big hassle with geese is plucking them. There's a reason geese are so cold hardy: they have a ton of small, downy, impenetrable feathers all up and down their front. Even when we had an excellent mechanical plucker, the geese took longer than any other bird to get all the feathers off of. And getting the very last feathers off, for a perfectly clean-looking carcass, is extremely difficult no matter what equipment you're using. Plunging the dead goose into a big pot of scalding water makes the job easier, but it's still much harder than plucking a chicken or turkey. Waterfowl have oily feathers designed to repel water ("like water off a duck's back"), so it takes some work to get the scalding water all the way down to the skin. I find it helps to dry pluck some feathers, to open up the chest and belly a little, before plunging the bird into the water.
Which brings us to marketing your geese. Our family doesn't care if there are a few small downy feathers on the bird; they disappear once it's in the oven, anyhow. If you're planning to sell the geese, however, make sure your customers understand this and feel the same way. Most will be quite understanding — they will be overjoyed just finding someone with fresh, natural, farm-raised goose for sale. But you don't want confusion or questions about why the bird isn't perfect-looking. And you really don't want to have to go over the bird with a pair of tweezers, extracting every last tiny little feather you can find.
How much can you get for a goose? We've charged $5/pound, dressed weight, or $50 for the typical bird (they can grow larger if you feed them more grain, but you have to pay for that grain), and customers don't blink. In most states, you'll have to sell directly from your farm to the consumer. No restaurants, supermarkets, or shipping across state lines. Otherwise, you'll need to have the birds butchered at a USDA facility, and there are very few of those that will touch waterfowl. Which is why geese are so hard to find at the supermarket or even in restaurants. And why word of mouth that you have geese for sale will spread among those who really appreciate these delicious birds, and are willing to pay for a special holiday dinner centerpiece. Most of our calls have come from Europeans, among whom goose is a much more common holiday tradition. A simple posting on sites like Eat Wild or Local Harvest will get you plenty of calls. And, using the costs above, selling just three geese more than pays for 16 goslings. There are feed costs, of course, but the other 13 goslings are essentially yours for free.
We're no longer actively marketing our geese; we've been too busy, and for the time being are satisfied keeping them for ourselves and serving them to dinner guests. But whether you're looking for a nice product to pay some of your farm bills, or just a delicious centerpiece neither you nor your guests will forget, geese are an excellent bird to try.
I got an interesting note from a good friend this morning. They've recently moved to the country, themselves, and like us have been eating in a more "crunchy" manner. Their children don't have the allergy problems that ours do, but they've noticed that their kids have been much healthier on a more natural diet. What they apparently hadn't realized is just how unusual (even radical) people like us can appear in the eyes of other parents.
On a separate topic, we're watching a friend's child for the next few days. The mother asked if we could feed her more child-friendly food. We weren't quite sure what she meant, as we had watched the daughter before and fed her what our kids ate. So we asked the mom, and she said nevermind; she would just send some food along. So, when the daughter was dropped off at our house, we saw what her mom brought. She packed 2 1-gallon bags of Fruit Loops and 2 boxes of macaroni and cheese. Oh, now we understand.
While we probably don't eat as healthily as your family does, we were somewhat pleased that we probably do eat reasonably healthy foods, or at least avoid the truly over-processed foods most of the time. At the same time, we also felt a little disturbed that our friends lived on fruit loops. Probably ranks up there with Twinkies on the processed food spectrum.
I can only really add one thing to this: sometimes it's heartening to get a good reminder that, even though our approach to nutrition may not be perfect, we sure have come a long way and are at least getting the big "child-friendly" picture a lot more right than we did before.


text:
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 69 -- The Happiness Patrol
30 December 2019 (9:16pm GMT)
The Doctor and Ace on a planet where happiness is enforced. A giant man of candy executes Killjoys and the Doctor sings. Happiness will prevail!
Gallifrey's Most Wanted -- Episode 068 Timelash
The Doctor and Peri face off against a mutant dictator despite interference by future time travel "expert," H. G. Wells.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted -- Episode 067 Earthshock
2 December 2019 (12:19am GMT)
The story Old Who has been waiting for - Cybermen in the hold, drunk aunties in the Captain's chair, and Adric out the airlock.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted -- 066 Terror of the Zygons
The Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry return to Earth to help the Brigadier. They find the Loch Ness Monster, Zygons, and Scots. All this and we discuss the frugalness of the Scots and the power of puppetry.'
Gallifrey's Most Wanted -- Episode 066 Terror of the Zygons
Gallifrey's Most Wanted -- Episode 065 The Mind of Evil
3 November 2019 (4:50pm GMT)
The Master returns with another dastardly plot (albeit a convoluted one) to disrupt World Peace. The Doctor unleashes Venusian martial arts while the UNIT gang break INTO prison.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 064 -- The Faceless Ones
The "Duchess" goes missing. Jamie snogs a Queen and aliens capture gap-year coeds. Episodes are missing, so OldWho watches recons and NuWho reads the book.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 063 -- The Keys of Marinus
The original TARDIS crew land on Marinus and sent out on an adventure suitable for a Republic Serial. We unravel the good and bad of this patchwork tale.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 062 -- Time Heist
Clara attempts a normal date with Danny, only to be pulled into a bank robbery with the Doctor. But she can't remember how she got talked into it or how they arrived at the bank.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 61 -- The Vampires of Venice
9 September 2019 (8:24am GMT)
The Doctor whisks Amy and Rory off on a romantic trip to 16th century Venice, but all plans for romance go out the window as the Doctor suspects menace emanating from a school for girls.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 061 -- The Vampires of Venice
Gallifey's Most Wanted Episode 060 -- The Girl in the Fireplace
Another Moffat Masterpiece where Time gets Wimey. The Doctor meets a powerful woman of the past and it isn't clear who helps who more.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 059 -- Dalek
Journey with us to an underground bunker in Utah. Meet a deranged billionaire, see the prize of his collection and watch the Doctor confront his past.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 058 -- Minuet in Hell
An Edwardian adventuress in an 18th century "gentlemen's club?" Add a time traveler with amnesia and you've got yourself an 8th Doctor story courtesy of Big Finish.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 057 -- Remembrance of the Daleks
Ace, Nitro-9, and a baseball bat -- Does it get any better? We discuss NuWho's Favorite OldWho story, and debate the best Dalek stories ever.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 056 -- "The Two Doctors"
1 June 2019 (6:31pm GMT)
Peri and Sixie meet Jamie and his Doctor, but they are in bad shape, Jamie has gone feral and the Doctor has gone all Andrugum. Hijinx ensue. We might not be entirely kind to the writing team on this one.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 055 -- "Black Orchid"
Nyssa has a double, Tegan dances the Charleston, the Doctor gets lost and Adric is a bottomless pit. We've watched so you don't have to. Not the best Doctor Who ever, but as British country house murder mysteries go, it's not too bad.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 054 -- "Revenge of the Cybermen"
Iconic Doctor and companion meet an iconic monster and defeat them using . . . gold?!? Also, Harry Sullivan is an imbecile. We discuss what is wrong and what is right about this story.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 053 -- "Terror of the Autons"
Two important figures join the Doctor this time -- The Master and Jo Grant. In Grant, the Doctor gets a groovy girl Friday, and in the Master, the Doctor meets his match.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 052 -- "The Macra Terror"
Consider this a "We Watched So You Don't Have To" moment in reconstruction history and wait for the animation coming out at the end of the year. . Also, forgive OldWho's edits -- he's got a learning curve as he takes over editing from NuWho for a while.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 051 -- "Marco Polo"
We've arrived at the first major hurdle to watching Old Who -- missing episodes, of which Marco Polo is the first, with zero footage remaining. So how did we "watch?" Audio (lifted by passionate fans and gifted back to BBC), narration (by one of the surviving cast members, William Russell), telesnaps (we explain) and the Target novelization. None of which make us miss it any less. [Tech note: We record over Skype and this week's feed was not ideal. Couldn't be fixed, so we apologize and promise to do what we can to prevent it in the future.]
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 050G -- "Resolution"
Starting the New Year off with a bang, facing off against an old enemy. So we have some questions, and comments and then talk of our plans for the whole blasted year that we have to wait for another NuWho.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 050F Witchfinders, Away & Ranskoor Av Kolos
Series 11 wraps with a NuWho style Historical, an uneven Scandinavian avant garde film and a finale with a "minor bad." We review the season and look forward to the next.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 050E -- "Tsuranga, Punjab and Kerblam!"
Wherein we review 3 of the 13th Doctor stories, "The Tsuranga Conundrum," "Demons of the Punjab," and "Kerblam!" AKA as "Base Under Siege," "Aliens in an Historical Setting," and "80s Extravaganza."
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 050D -- "Arachnids in the U.K."
The Doctor and Team TARDIS fight corporate greed and masses of overgrown creepy spiders in Sheffield. Yaz deals with family drama. And the Twitterverse can still find things to complain about.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 050C -- "Rosa"
In this episode we see a true historical handled in a unique way. And an important American story handled with care by a British creative team. We continue to be blown away by the visual beauty and storytelling genius that comes across the airwaves each week.
Gallifrey's Most Wanted Episode 050B -- "The Ghost Monument"
Another spectacular new episode from Chibnall & Co. New planet, new monsters, a new TARDIS -- and beautifully shot with new cameras. And a new podcast from us covering it all.


text:
VARIENG Home CoRD Home Corpora News Sitemap
Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States (LAMSAS)
(Entry based on project homepage.)
Project leaders: Originally Hans Kurath, later Raven I. McDavid, Jr., now William A. Kretzschmar, Jr.
Size: 1162 records
Period: 1933-1974
Project home page:http://www.lap.uga.edu/Site/LAMSAS.html
Status of work:
Fieldwork complete, consisting of paper field records. Edited list manuscripts have also been completed. Many responses in standard orthography, some in fine phonetics, have been keyboarded and are available online on LAP Web site.
The 1162 records cover the area from the St. Lawrence Valley to the Northeastern corner of Florida and from the eastern tip of Long Island to the Ohio border. The Middle Atlantic States include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The South Atlantic States include Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, eastern Georgia, and northeastern Florida.
Nature of recordings:
Based on a 104 page questionnaire in the Linguistic Atlas format, slightly edited from the New England questionnaire after preliminary interviews in the new region. The data was collected from 1933-1974. Records previous to 1950 were transcribed by the original fieldworker during the interview. Recordings made after 1950 were transcribed from tape by Raven McDavid, but the tapes do not survive unless shared in the LAGS project. For the methodology see Kretzschmar et al. Handbook of the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States
The manuscripts are housed in the Special Collections repository of the Library, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602. For information about access to original records, contact the Linguistic Atlas Project office.
Reference line and copyright
The data/materials of the LAP Web site are provided to users at the cost of reproduction (at no cost for materials downloaded from the LAP Web site). Users may copy, display, or give away the data/materials. Users should not resell them in whole or in part, because they are governed by the "cost of reproduction" condition. Users should indicate in any subsequent publication using LAP data/materials that they have obtained the data/materials from the LAP Web site, and indicate that reproduction, copying, distribution, display, etc., as the case may be, of any LAP data/ materials is governed by the "cost of reproduction" condition.
Online, files available for download: http://www.lap.uga.edu/Site/DDC.html
CoRD Entry prepared by Emanuela Costea
Entry verified and approved by Prof Bill Kretzschmar.


text:
CannaRelief
bySponsored
A strong edible can knock anyone down; whether it's too much because they didn't know, too much because they thought they could handle it, or too much because it was their first time and they had no idea what to expect, a strong edible "trip" can be pretty debilitating. CannaRelief is one of the newest and simplest products on the market designed as an antidote for the side effects of a strong THC trip; the main ingredient is just CBD.
Research has shown that when you eat THC, your liver turns about half of it into 11-hydroxy-THC, a more potent metabolite. This other substance explains the different feel edibles have, added onto the fact that the effect always lasts longer than if you smoke or vape it.
Cannabidiol, or CBD, the second most commonly occurring cannabinoid in the trichomes of Cannabis sativa interacts with the same receptor THC does in a way that tones down some of its possible anxiogenic (anxiety-producing) effects. Even back in 1982 doctors had already noticed how CBD reduces the subjective high felt by people given either THC or THC and CBD together.
CannaRelief comes in a little shot-sized bottle with 20 or 50 milligrams of pure hemp CBD in a blend of other products such as ginger, citicoline, and alpha pinene, as well as vitamins such as vitamin C, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.
When you feel like you've had a little too much, a shot of CannaRelief should tone down stop the "trip." You'll still be high, but the overwhelming and uncomfortable feeling of "when is this going to end" will go away within 10 minutes to a half an hour.
High Times Sponsored Content. Click here to learn more
Marijuana Legalized in Ohio… Or Not
byRuss Belville
My Pot Leaves Are Covered With White Dust
byDanny Danko
byTim Brinkhof
Billy Bands' Rap Journey Has Only Just Begun
Up-and-coming hip hop artist Billy Bands talks about his background, his music, and his appreciation for our favorite herb.
byJustin Ivey
High Times Greats
On August 20, 2020, Steve Earle tragically lost his son, Justin Townes Earle. The album 'J.T.' is dedicated to him.
byHigh Times
The Authenticity Of Grandson
The Canadian-American singer/songwriter opens up about the inspiration behind his debut album, "Death of an Optimist, '' and his longtime relationship with cannabis.
byStephen Laddin


Spence Cutler is a psychopath. He's never felt empathy or guilt. However, a fateful encounter with a new drug is about to give him a dose of too much reality, and he takes a mind-bending trip down the psychedelic highway of consciousness to come face to face with his own morality and his own twisted soul.
Steven Kovak has been kicked out of his apartment by his girlfriend. Steven has a new apartment, and decides to slip the cable guy (Chip) $50 for free cable. Steven then fakes an interest in Chip's line of work. However Chip takes this to heart trying to become Steven's best bud. When Steven no longer wants to be Chips friend the man who can do it all goes on an all out assault to ruin Steven's life. In the backdrop is the delicate sub-plot of the trial of a former kid star for murdering his brother.


If you install a system like Feedburner on your blog, you'll make it easier for your customer to stay up to date. They'll be able to easily subscribe to your blog and they can choose how they want to receive updates – email, RSS reader, etc. These services range from free to fairly low cost and the setup is quite easy – you simply install a piece of code or a widget into your blog.
The Mike Jordan Outfit: Dress them up like a famous athlete, movie star or famous positive role model that they admire. This is fun to do as a group, because then the kids can help and encourage each other. A group of motivated kids can do a great job of turning this into a successful event. Get each child to find a cool saying, quote or song lyric from the star written on their treat bag.
What else could a little girl want than to be a fairy or a princess? Or both – a fairy princess. Let's begin first with princesses. Just like a miniature prom, the dress IS everything. If the little girl doesn't feel the dress up to par then she isn't going to feel the role of princess. Sure, you could go out, buy one of those dressup costumes that any store with toys has in the girls toy section, buy a beautiful tiara, elegant shoes and even a scepter to finish the ensemble. But some of the accessories to the dress (on average I've found the dresses cost around USD) are a tad extreme for so little a material. However, there are alternatives to the accessories that cost a great deal less.
Little boys love to imitate big boys. The dollar store has hard hats and other construction items for boys. Purchase a cheap tool belt with plastic tools and a yellow hard hat. Blue jeans and a plaid shirt make the little boys construction worker Halloween costume look authentic. Total cost for this Halloween costume is just .00 plus tax.


text:
Parashat Shelach Lecha
Written by Rabbi Barbara Borts
What does it mean to "have faith?" We use this expression in a variety of situations – have a little faith in me; keep the faith; be faithful – all of which tend to be used by people concerning their relationships with other people. But the main use of the expression 'faith' is in the realm of religion. Google 'faith' and, having glanced through the shoe shop and the beauty products listed there, you will find enormous numbers of websites to do with religion, in many people's minds synonymous with faith. Faith can simply imply a belief in God, but it often carries a stronger nuance of conviction that prayer and trust will bring about particular, generally benevolent or at least appropriate, ends and that the best faith is 'blind' faith. And it is interesting that, in the first of many pages of that Google search, there was not one Jewish source.
This confirms my own experience. Jews don't speak very often about 'having faith.' We do not see ourselves as a 'faith' community. When I founded a local branch of the CCJ, and my Christian co-founder referred to the gathering as being amongst people of faith, one of my congregants piped up that he was actually an agnostic. Explaining membership in a synagogue and Jewish identity to a committed Christian was one of our first interfaith [there that word is again] conversations.
With this in mind, how does one approach a parashah such as Shelach Lecha? In it, God tells Moses to send out scouts to bring back news of the land which the people are about to inherit. Ten of the spies speak tremblingly about mighty warriors whom they fear the Israelites cannot defeat in battle, and the people are terrified, even after Joshua and Caleb, the remaining scouts, tell them that the land is wonderful and that God has promised to be by their sides and deliver this land to them. Joshua and Caleb tell the people to 'have faith' in God. And when they evince a lack of such faith, by stoning the positive messengers, God issues the ultimate punishment, stating that this first generation will not live to see the end purpose of their long journey from slavery into wandering, will never arrive.
I have long wondered about the diffidence Jews show to the idea of putting faith in God to the exclusion of exercising human reason. Most of the people that I know believe that in all such difficult situations, they would wish to confirm for themselves the best course of action without praying on it, or awaiting some supernatural salvation. The history of this struggle between faith and human action is recorded in the Torah, here and in other places, where, from the point of view of God, the Israelites rebel and revolt, and where from the point of view of the Israelites, it seems perfectly reasonable to be fearful about unknown and dangerous situations.
There was an interesting article in Scientific American, commenting on some studies which propose that "encouraging people to think intuitively increased people's belief in God… [and] that encouraging people to think analytically reduced their tendency to believe in God. Together these findings suggest that belief may at least partly stem from our thinking styles."1
This is quite fascinating. If our Israelite ancestors were demonstrating their commitment to analysing for themselves the dangers posed in the conquest of the land, then it would follow that this independence needed to be rooted out by any means possible, as a threat to religion and to God. And yet how could a progressive rabbi tell their congregants that they should not think for themselves, analyse situations and draw their own conclusions in life? This would go against everything most of us believe about human dignity and self-determination.
This is a work in progress, but I would like to posit that perhaps the issue is not faith and belief versus rational thought and agnosticism/atheism, but rather, that these can be separated into different spheres of human experience. In terms of action and decision-making, humanity must reserve for itself the right to explore, challenge, question, analyse, and understand everything about the world they inhabit and the lives they live, coming to their own conclusions about the best course of action. Perhaps I vote for lack of faith as the way for people to proceed in the world. Yes to the Israelites who said that they were afraid and needed more reassurances before engaging in battle.
On the other hand, the human propensity for questioning and thinking and making decisions based on rational thought needs to be tempered with the best that religion has to offer, the values that lie alongside these difficult to explain Torah stories which warn against human creativity, the tales that try to teach compassion, connection, and caring. We need intuition/feeling mind as much as we need rational mind. In the first, we can find God, a rich source of inspiration to live well, do well, and to ground our lives in something beyond ourselves. The Israelites at the edge of the land desperately needed something to transform their story of enslavement and suffering into something of meaning, and it was from this they ran away. So no to the Israelites whose rational fears prevented them from doing something audacious and living boldly.
As Jews, we do the rational bit of religion very well, perhaps to the exclusion of the intuitive bit, which, without detracting from the right to protest even against the very heavens, is the other side of human religious creativity, to worship, to feel gratitude, to add meaning through ritual observances, and, to paraphrase words of Heschel, to perceive the wondrousness of life.
1Daisy Grewal, "How Critical Thinkers Lose Their Faith in God," Scientific American, May 1, 2012. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-critical-thinkers-lose-faith-god/
Rabbi Barbara Borts


text:
Analysis: What the election results tell about the reality of war-torn Syria
Ken Stone writes in Strategic Culture:
Syrian election on 13 April was a vote of confidence by the Syrian people in their government. 5,085,444 voters cast their ballots out of a possible 8,834,994 eligible voters.
The overall participation rate of 58% (virtually identical to Canada's last federal election) exceeded the government's expectations in most places but was low in others. For example, it was over 80% in Homs but only 52% in Tartous. What might explain the uneven results is the history of the war. People who suffered the most from the war, for example in Homs, were probably more grateful for their liberation and more motivated to exercise their political rights than people in Tartous who saw no fighting at all (though they lost thousands upon thousands of sons and grandsons in the war).
Also significant was the fact that over 140,000 refugees returned across the Lebanese border in just one day in order to vote. And the polling hours in Damascus, which suffered a lot from the fighting, had to be extended until 11 pm to accommodate all the voters. There were even polling stations set up by the government in recently liberated Palmyra and Al-Qaryaten, though those polls were largely symbolic because the inhabitants of those towns have not yet been able to return to their homes due to widespread destruction, following liberation by the Syrian Arab Army.
The voter participation rate is key to this election, more important than the individual candidates who were elected. Here's why: you need to understand elections in a constitutionally-created state, in which one party dominates, in terms of a strike vote in a trade union. It demonstrates continuing confidence in the leadership at a turning point in the struggle. A union would not be satisfied with a strike vote of 58%, going into a strike. And probably the Syrian government would have wished for a higher rate going into the negotiations at Geneva. But it knew from the start that holding the elections under the conditions of war and occupation was a gamble, because there are a lot of eligible voters living outside of Syria right now, living in places besieged by the terrorists, and who have died but not yet been accounted for. Taking into account these factors, the participation rate would probably have been much higher.
Among our solidarity delegation, we have been pleased that the Syrian authorities did not try to inflate the figures to make the election results appear better than they actually were: it reinforces our contention that the Syrian government is a credible force in the serious negotiations ahead.
As mentioned, the turning point for Syria is the current round of negotiations taking place right now in Geneva to find a lasting political solution to the crisis. Today, the Syrian delegation took their seats with a mandate from the Syrian people, whereas the opposition delegation of head-choppers cobbled together at the last minute by the USA and Saudi Arabia have no mandate at all from the unfortunate Syrians who suffer under military occupation in "rebel-held" areas. No elections were held there. Western governments, such as the USA, have dismissed the Syrian election out of hand, though the participation rate in the last US election was only 48%. […]
It bears repeating that these parliamentary elections were defiantly called by the Syrian government as "an exercise in national sovereignty." The point was to show the world, especially those western and Gulf states, who have waged the five-year long war of aggression against Syria, that Syrians are united in the belief that Syrians, and only Syrians, will decide the fate of Syria.
It appears that the gamble paid off.
Related report in Syria Perspective:
Syrian parliamentary elections complete success; Sunnis dominate seats in People's Assembly; women achieve new levels
Tagged with: elections, Syria
mukul chand
mohandeer
Reblogged this on Worldtruth and commented:
It's a lot better than the election results of the UK where only 24% of the returned votes put the Conservatives in power given that the other 76% did not want Conservatives. UK's democracy is neither fair nor representative unlike that of Syria's.
And now the opposition representatives to the Geneva peace talks have flounced out of the talks.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government representatives are staying on in Geneva, waiting for the talks to resume.
These loser opposition fores really are pathetic. They thought others would force Assad out of office for them.
Their problem is that they do not have a leader with the acumen, strategic understanding and charisma of an Assad.
Meanwhile, they wander from capital city to capital city, hoping like Dickens Mr Micawber that "something will turn up".
What a truly pathetic bunch of losers they truly are.
Reply to John
Hold the Fort John. The US and EU/UN/Saudi cavalry might still ride in "to the rescue" of the Syrian people and impose a democratic government on them. Everybody knows the Syrians don't know what's good for them. Obama, Cameron and Saudi Arabia have said so and of course they have the backing of the truly honourable mainstream press. As for the "nicer" head choppers, they were relying on the US and other fine examples of western and Saudi/Qatar "civilised" democratic and humanitarian governments to denounce the elections, to save the Syrian people from themselves.
Oh wait, they already have. Hooda thunk it!


This presentation explores the 'practice' of fashion and how by exploring the 'process' undertaken by the fashion designer, our experience of fashion and its outcomes can reach beyond traditional models and be expansive in nature. Large-scale fashion industry is primarily concerned with placing the 'value' within fashion firmly on the 'product's' shoulders. However as can be seen in recent times the speed of change, reliance on the 'new', and emphasis on product, has placed huge pressure on both industry and designer.
The talk explores the potential, power and role that the small-scale fashion practitioner has within future fashion practice, and how by engaging with other artistic and creative disciplines in an inter-disciplinary manner the 'value' of fashion could be re-placed within concept, practice and process. The talk will explore how looking forward we can create, articulate and consume fashion in a way that is expansive and experimental in nature, crossing cultural social and creative boundaries.
This viewpoint will be articulated through Chant's own and other small-scale inter-disciplinary fashion practices, which seek to provoke intimate, personal, and individual fashion experiences in response to pattern, image, garment and fashion objects. This inter-disciplinary approach engages with diverse forms of representation, including photography, film, art and installation thus expanding fashion 'process' and the way that we practice fashion.
As a fashion/textile practitioner, Armando's creative practice focuses on pattern, surface, layering, mark-making and gesture, using mixed analogue and digital techniques to generate abstract and interpretive images, and their subsequent emotional resonance. The practice is trans- and inter-disciplinary and expansive in context, taking the form of drawing, photography, film and installation, all sited in the context of fashion. He has participated in exhibitions in London, Melbourne and Sydney that reflect his approach and challenge the perceptions of a 'fashion' practice. Professionally he has worked internationally across diverse creative disciplines and industries, including fashion and textile design, art direction and curatorial practice. As an academic, Armando is currently a lecturer in the Fashion & Textiles Design program at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and undertaking a practice-led PhD at RMIT University in Melbourne.


Google just introduced the Chromecast, the small and affordable device that lets us simply plug into our HD TV. Chromecast allow user to use phone, tablet or laptop to push online content on a TV screen. It works with Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV and Google Play Music. Google also released Chromecast SDK for developers.
Chromecast is a small dongle like device you can plug into your TV USB and it'll connect to your home Wi-Fi. Once Chromecast is setup and ready. Users can use their phone, tablet or laptop to browse and cast content to TV, play and pause & control the volume.
The device worked across platforms: Android tablets and Smartphone, iOS, Chrome Mac and Windows. It's like a personal remote.
Chromecast just need Wi-Fi enabled to support device and HDTV and of course your Wi-Fi connection.
Starting today, the Chromecast device is available for $35 on Google Play, Amazon.com and BestBuy.com. It will be available in Best Buy stores across the U.S. Starting July 28. For a limited time, you also get three months of Netflix included.


text:
Tag Archives: buck v bell
'Imbeciles' and 'Illiberal Reformers' – An NYT Book Review Mini-Rant
'Imbeciles' and 'Illiberal Reformers' – The New York Times Book Review
Trigger warning: The review contains a discussion of "eu"genics. May lead to depression at the unlikely prospect that the American elite will ever be anything but entitled assholes. May also cause excessive swearing and the urge to vomit.
The book under review examines the people and law behind the notorious Buck v. Bell decision, in which Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, writing for an 8-1 majority, endorsed the practice of sterilizing people perceived to be of lower intelligence — called, in the law and in his decision, "imbeciles."
The tone of this review is that not only is forced sterilization wrong but that it is somehow shocking to find support for it amongst the progressive elite of the turn of the 20th Century.
"Imbeciles" examines one of the darkest chapters of progressive reform, and "Illiberal Reformers" looks at the perils of intellectual arrogance in dealing with explosive social issues.
The review concludes in the future warning tense:
Buck v. Bell "has never been overturned." In a world where the Human Genome Project is currently mapping heredity at breakneck speed, that fact alone should send shivers down the spine.
No, dear readers, the intellectual arrogance that puts people's life at risk based on their cognitive and physical abilities does not live in a dystopian future of genomic discrimination. It has tenure and a chair with a name at Princeton — endorsing the murder of infants with disabilities — and is currently at work in many state legislatures around the country, trying to pave an easy path to physician-assisted suicide for people with disabilities.
Cartoon credit: Amy Hasbrouk, Toujours Vivant/Not Dead Yet.
Why is it so easy to see now that Buck v. Bell was wrong and evil, but not to come to the same conclusion about Peter Singer and the urge to make suicide easier for people with disabilities?
This entry was posted in Disability Pride, Disability Rights, Hypocrisy, Things That Are Inexplicably OK and tagged assisted suicide, buck v bell, imbeciles and illiberal reformers, new york times book review, oliver wendell holmes, Peter Singer, princeton on March 20, 2016 by Amy Farr Robertson.


David Gormley celebrates his early goal with creator Ewan McNeil.
Peter MacDonald celebrates after making it 2-0.
Scott Linton and Archie McPhee chase the ball.
Chris McLeish and Phil Johnston battle for possession.
David Gormley can't believe he's been penalised.
The referee speaks to Barry Ferguson.
Matthew Cooper gets above David Gormley for a header.
Peter MacDonald tries to hold the ball up in the closing minutes.


Social networking site says it was unnecessary, "sorry for any inconvenience."
#illuminati? Yes, that must be it.
Facebook recently triggered a spate of requests for copies of its users' government IDs, according to a report from The Drum. But this time around, the request may not go down as smoothly in light of the news of the National Security Agency's monitoring and collecting data from Facebook and several other technology companies and services.
Facebook's last surge in government ID requests came in January, when both it and Instagram locked some users out and said the users needed to provide a copy of a government ID before they could log back in. Facebook's terms of service require that users have profiles with their real names and birthdays, and the company claims that it must verify this information for users who appear to be in violation of the terms of service.
When you can't complain on Facebook, you complain on Twitter, and complain the Facebook users did. Most were angry and uncomfortable, which is to be expected, and some didn't believe Facebook would actually request such a thing.
Facebook asks users to obscure personally identifying information from ID cards other than their photo, name, and birthday before sending the copy. Facebook claims that it permanently deletes the document from its servers "after [it resolves] your issue," though Ars has found in the past that Facebook is less than rigorous about deleting files you ask it to delete. Facebook gave Ars the following statement: "Earlier this evening, we showed an account verification message to a very small portion of our users unnecessarily. We promptly removed the messages when we discovered the error. We're sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused."
Like most companies named in the NSA scandal, Facebook denies complicity in the NSA's data collection operations. But reports indicate that the NSA is quite aggressive and doesn't always (or even usually) wait for an invitation from online services to get at the information they store on users. Reports from the New York Times indicate that the NSA works to break commonly used security and encryption technologies like virtual private networks (VPNs) and the secure sockets layer (SSL) and transport layer security (TLS) protocols.


The Drake is one of Chicago's signature hotels and has been part of the Gold Coast skyline since it was build in 1920. It has over 530 bedrooms and 74 suites, or roughly 3,600 walls in our terms. It also hosts several restaurants, ballrooms and Club International. Ascher Brothers was involved in The Drake's major renovation which included a large amount of wood working.


A website domain is the name that is associated with a website address, for example YourBusnessName.com. If you do not have an existing domain then you may search for an available name and purchase it through our registry.
If your organization has already purchased a domain name then the domain must be reconfigured to point to our servers. Please follow the steps below if you would like your existing domain associated to your Easy Address website.
If you are using email with your current domain then recreate the mailboxes within your Easy Address administrative website located under "Manage Email Accounts".
Please be aware that it may take up to 48 hours before you are able to pull up your Easy Address website through the domain name after the name servers are changed.
You may also transfer your domain from its existing registry to the Easy Address registry.


text:
Q: Xcode Interface Builder Misplaced Views / Fix Misplacement Issues When I move an item (button, label, view, whatever) either by dragging it or changing the values in the attributes inspector, (it seems) more often than not I get a yellow "misplaced view" warning and have to go "Update constraints".  Other times this does not happen.
What is the secret to when this happens and when it does not?  I am using Auto Layout and Size Classes. I am using Xcode 7, but it seems to have been this way for a while, it's not new behavior.
What is this newbie missing?
Thank you.

A: The "Update Constraints" option is kind of weird because Xcode would have to "guess" what we want and usually it will guess it wrong. I think the best approach is to directly change the values of the constraints (or the constraints themselves - you can clear the constraints of an object and set the new ones, or just select and delete each of them) to the ones that represent what you want for your UI.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
'The Silent Child,' About the Struggles of a Deaf Girl, Wins Oscar
Acceptance speech delivered in sign language.
When writer and actress Rachel Shenton accepted the Oscar for best live-action short film, she fulfilled a promise made to its young star, Maisie Sly, delivering her speech in British Sign Language.
The film depicts the struggles of a profoundly deaf child, and was inspired by Shenton's father, who last his hearing when she was a child.
Shenton and her fiance, Chris Overton, also thanked their parents, who baked and sold cupcakes to finance the film.
The young star "held the Oscar, she said it was very heavy, she had her photograph taken with it and then said she wanted to go back and see her brothers and sisters, so she's keeping it real," Shenton told The Guardian.
Read the full story:


text:
The Weston Sessions - *VOL.III Out Now*
Another Shade Of Smith And Brewer
Live 16/12/17
Smith & Brewer
Reviews for 'Another Shade Of Smith And brewer'
Alan Cackett (Former Maverick Editor, member of the BCMA Hall Of Fame) -
https://www.alancackett.com/smith-brewer-another-shade-of-smith-brewer
Smith and Brewer might conjure up thoughts of a firm of accountants or solicitors, but the musical duo of Ben Smith and Jimmy Brewer are as far removed from the stuffiness of those professions as can be. They create guitar-driven country-rock that's dreamy and fiery, spontaneous and well-crafted. From beginning to end, Smith and Brewer exemplify originality and utilise their talents to make country music with a brain. They consistently deliver impressive performances; their harmonies, guitars, and percussion are all point perfect. This British pair is very reminiscent of the merging of two famous duos together, the Louvins and Everlys without sounding too much like either of the brother pairings. While honouring the past, this debut album sounds as bright as a new penny. That about sums up the feel of this recording: planted in yesteryear but cultivated firmly in the now. The duo shine as a beacon of warm and quirky outsiderdom in a rising tide of cookie-cutter Nashville Americana that is currently the norm for most UK 'country' acts.
Blended together Ben and Jimmy's voices sound made for each other, soaring and guiding the music through all the ups and downs of these finely crafted songs. Upholding the highest standard in harmony-drenched cool-vibes country-rock, these dozen self-penned songs cover all the relationship issues from unrequited love to enduring passion and all the heartbreak in between. While this album may have more in common with songwriters from years past than it does with anything currently on country radio, this pair's music is hardly a nostalgic throwback. It's something new and entirely different, a unique approach that simultaneously pushes the boundaries of today's country music and reclaims decades-old traditions for a new generation of listeners.
Opener Isabella sounds like Ira and Charlie Louvin being dragged into the 21st century in a most pleasing manner. An ethereal force blending two voices to form a single sound, which is at once effortless, yet powerful and demands your full attention. Entrancingly soft instrumentation is perfect for the aching Another Shade Of Blue, which gives rise to a relaxing ambience ahead of the hushed but harmonious and heartfelt singing. The rhythm section of Eric Lavansch (drums) and Tom Sinnett (bass) is introduced for Life's Too Short with concise and intricate guitar and light-hearted lyrics with all the harmonies and jangle of the Byrds at their best. Beatific but thrillingly rhythmic, the duo's earnest tones beam with radiance on Favourite Photograph. The dynamically combustive Don't Say You Don't Love Me outlines the difficulties all relationships go through, but genuine love should overcome most niggling obstacles.
The sound quality on Love You Forever like the rest of the album, is clear, spacious and uncluttered. The band stretches out a rhapsodic melody like a ribbon chasing the wind. For me, the highlight comes with Music City, a kind of love-hate nod to Nashville. Over the past few years there's been several songs by Brit acts paying homage to the home of country music. Most have been sugar-coated and rather twee. Not this one; it's real and honest and captures the Nashville beyond the bright lights of Broadway. The boys finish this rather special debut with the whimsical A Lovely Day For Doing Nothing. Bucolic melody, intricate acoustic guitar-picking and lazy, dusty vocals disguise a break-up that has yet to hit home. This is determined music, as evolved as it is respectful of its roots.
Equal parts expressive guitar technique and mesmeric country-rock distillation, Ben and Jimmy and their musical buddies run through these songs with a carefree attitude, borrowing and rearranging sounds and tonality as they see fit. Remarkably, long after the music ends, you'll find yourself humming these timeless songs, nodding with a misty-eyed grin as the world dissolves away.
Rob Ramsey, Maverick Magazine Nov/Dec 2019
"Absolutely golden DIY"
The songs for this album were recorded back in 2018 in a very makeshift studio as Smith and Brewer set about following their dreams in the music world, but their DIY methods, determination and strong belief in themselves have gone a long way as this album is certainly a memorable one for the right reasons. Complete with strong melodies and impressive guitar work, the duo have put together a fine collection of songs that give them something physical they can hold in their hands and hopefully get on a few festival bills in 2020 on the back of it. Blow Wind Blow and Love You Forever are two that perhaps shine the brightest on this record, but this is an album you can listen to from track one to track 12 and feel like you've gained a big insight into the duo, as well as embarked on something notable yourself.
Su O'Brien, Folking.com'
https://folking.com/smith-and-brewer-another-shade-of-smith-and-brewer-own-label-smbr01/?fbclid=IwAR2hpgMbaHyN2gm4M__bKzCtNwNatbzo7rY9V0rJZI6WZJ_NjTln3Mcyq2Y
'Since first being introduced to each other by Joan Armatrading in 2015, Ben Smith and Jimmy Brewer have strode ahead boldly. Another Shade Of Smith And Brewer sees our eponymous duo filling out to a full band for their first proper studio album.
Many of the songs here feel like much-loved old friends, friends with a makeover and now gleamingly buff, toned and muscular. The addition of Eric Lavansch's drums and Tom Sinnett's bass has lent another dimension and dynamic to Smith and Brewer's compositions, allowing for greater meatiness and tonal variety.
But, not so fast. The album is bookended by classic Smith And Brewer duets of two of their finest songs. 'Isabella' appears in intimate close up, with its brittle-bright picking and those trademark tightly wrapped harmonies. Later, the melancholically laid-back 'Lovely Day For Doing Nothing' will languidly usher us out.
So it's song two before the difference, the band sound proper, kicks in with a muted drum signalling a subtly reworked 'Another Shade Of Blue'. More dramatic changes are afoot though, as 'Life's Too Short' takes on a very attractive new aspect as a pacy, energetic rockabilly romp, while hints of the early '70s – a homeopathic dose of Allman Brothers, maybe – infuse the American country soft-rock of 'Favourite Photograph'. (Even the album title, "Another Shade Of…" has a vaguely 70s throwback feel of polo-necked easy listening about it – mercifully not reflected in the contents).
A trio of 'B' songs follow. That's not a comment on quality, they just all begin with the same letter. There's a strong streak of self-deprecation in the tender 'Better Than Your Father', a touching paternal wishing spell and in 'Better Man' with its fear of being an undeserving recipient of love. In the middle of this trio, temptation beckons. 'Blow Wind Blow', is transformed by a shuffling beat that smoothes the shift between verse and falsetto chorus which marks the central heart vs.head dichotomy of the song.
'Don't Say You Don't Love Me' sashays along with new power, drawing on bold percussion and African-influenced swagger. On 'Julietta', the dense, fluid interplay and occasionally staccato guitars now intertwine over a fast-rolling bassline and 'Love You Forever' gains a punchy richness from a brush of drums.
'Music City' may signal another kind of shift for Smith And Brewer, who have proven themselves as highly creative lyricists, albeit often focused on love in its many guises. This drily funny tale of the pair's Nashville trip manages to convey excitements and frustrations equally, all set to a full-steam ahead rocking country blues with a thrusting road-trip bassline. If it's a new direction, it's a very promising one.
The new line-up allows for more exploration of Smith and Brewer's love of Americana, edging them away from Simon & Garfunkel territory and into something altogether more robust. With their, by now, firmly established talents in songwriting, close harmonies and guitar skills, the expansion into a band feels like the next logical step, moving their sound on and giving it room to grow in the future.
Album - Smith and Brewer - Live 16/12/17
'There's a definite feel of Simon and Garfunkel about this duo: two beautifully blended voices, accompanied with acoustic guitars. Very easy to hear why they were such a hit with Joan Armatrading [...]"Life's Too Short" is a real foot-tapping bluegrass ear worm. Once you've heard it, it is difficult to get it out of your head [...] Definitely a duo to watch out for - a modern day replacement for Simon and Garfunkel - what's not to like?'
http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/reviews/smith-and-brewer-live/
Fairport's Cropredy Convention Reviews
'Fairport are then swiftly followed by Smith & Brewer [...] and their Americana-infused acoustic playing, combined with August sun and a few beers is the perfect way to get us into the festival vibe for this most friendly and laid-back of festivals.'
http://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2018/08/gig-review-cropredy-festival-9-11-august-2018/
'The easy pace of the opening of the festival continued with Smith & Brewer. The young duo built a quick rapport with the crowd – their stage manner was excellent and their country tinged acoustic songs warmed the crowd up well for the rest of the day.'
https://louderthanwar.com/fairports-cropredy-convention-2018-festival-review/
'One of the newer traditions saw Fairport Convention Acoustic opening the festival [...] followed by one of my bands of the weekend, Smith and Brewer, a guitar duo very much in the vein of Simon and Garfunkel. Soulful vocals atop some amazing guitar work, one to look out for.'
https://www.festivalsforall.com/article/fairports-cropredy-convention-2018-review
'Smith and Brewer were very reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel enrapturing the crowd with just themselves and two guitars.'
https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/whats-on/review-fairport-s-cropredy-convention-1-8603740
'Other standouts were [...] the harmonious Smith and Brewer, who at times guitar-picked like Doc Watson. (Watch out for these two).'
https://jayjayemgee.wordpress.com/2018/08/12/cropredy-2018-as-eclectic-as-ever/
Cambridge Folk Festival Reviews
'On the home-grown front Ben Smith & Jimmy Brewer are two of the finest guitarists out there and did two great sets. The musical interplay between them is jaw-dropping and they were clearly having a blast as were their audience.'
https://americana-uk.com/cambridge-folk-festival-cherry-hinton-hall-cambridge-2-5-august-2018#more-16888
'Ben Smith and Jimmy Brewer, a most personable and hugely talented Americana guitar duo.'
http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2018/08/07/festival-report-cambridge-folk-festival-2018/
'...Love, in all its aspects, is very often the subject matter, and on 'Better Than Your Father', Smith's beautiful hymn to his son, it's a pragmatic wish-list, "may you not pick up bad habits, I'll try not to give you mine". Yet even as the chirpy country of 'Life's Too Short' coldly throws out "if she wants to leave you for somebody new, then let her", it also features some gorgeously warm intricate picking. Along with the insistent, rolling blues of 'Julietta' with its frenetic guitar interplay there's no doubting just how seriously good Smith & Brewer are and how compactly they work together...'
https://folking.com/smith-and-brewer-live-16-12-2017-own-label/
'Ben Smith and Jimmy Brewer two-part harmonies, romantic lyrics and warm guitar interplay are laid bare.'
https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/live-reviews/americanafest-2017
'I'm utterly beguiled by this duo's charming blend of close harmonies and melodious songs. It's an obvious, perhaps even rather tainted comparison to make, but they're a sort of English Simon and Garfunkel – without the relationship issues, hopefully.
[...]A group of students filing out say, "Well, that was really great", and mean it. It was, really great.'
https://folking.com/smith-and-brewer-mumford-theatre-cambridge-21st-april-2018/
'The stand-out performance was undoubtedly their opener, "Isabella". Its strength rested on the seamless harmonies: they sounded instinctual and they were extremely impressive to watch. It was easy to get carried away by the melodies and those delicious harmonies, themselves. The song: about returning home and missing a loved one was just a pleasure to listen to. Combining elements of bluegrass, country, even with a slightly funky edge (even for an acoustic set) Smith and Brewer's music was a treat for the ears.'
http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/live/CathrynBrianLive.php/
'Seated purveyors of songs about weather and a whole range of human emotions both good and bad, delivered with twin guitars and perfect harmonies [...] The last time we saw Ben and Jimmy they were fresh back from their recent trip to the US and were now styled by the finest malls Nashville had to offer. Clearly buoyed from a successful trip and having played support slots with Graham Gouldman of 10CC and Ralph McTell their star is clearly on the rise.
https://www.w21music.com/single-post/2018/01/16/Midwinterfest-2018-Day-2-Saturday-Afternoon-with-Ben-Smith-and-Jimmy-Brewer
'Songs that really pack a lot into their short duration, painting human emotions with a level of depth not often seen within the confines of a three minute song [...] Their eponymous EP is a pretty good representation of what they sound like live, voices and guitars in perfect harmony.'
https://www.w21music.com/single-post/2018/01/09/Midwinterfest-Preview-3-Ben-Smith-Jimmy-Brewer-EP-Review-x-2
There is lots to enjoy in a Ben and Jimmy set, we were immediately taken with "Another Shade Of Blue" with Jimmy's almost Spanish guitar solo, while the pathos of "Lovely Day To Do Nothing" with food "delivered in boxes I forget to throw away" gets us every time. With a sound that is paradoxically both fresh and retro they are enormous fun to watch and marvel at as both their respective vocals and guitar playing interact. [...] The closing song, the up tempo "Don't Say You Don't Love Me" almost had touches of Sonny Curtis and Buddy Holly about it while remaining definitively theirs.
https://www.w21music.com/single-post/2017/10/01/Kate-Ellis-Vinyl-Launch-with-Lisa-Wright-Ben-Smith-Jimmy-Brewer-Kaity-Rae
'Closing with a storming "Julietta" complete with a guitar break so awe inspiring it drew applause from the crowd mid song, and "Don't Say You Don't Love Me" the morning session completed on a high. There's an album due from these guys later in the year with a full band playing on it that we are really looking forward to.
https://www.w21music.com/single-post/2018/04/09/Ramblin-Roots-Sunday-Morning-Session-The-Savannahs-Ags-Connolly-Smith-Brewer---High-Wycombe?fb_comment_id=1530056450426093_1531229246975480
From RnR Magazine
| +447815 751 229


text:
Limo Driver Shot In Back In Center City, Police SayOfficers arrested one man, but they're still searching for the shooter.
Fight Outside Center City Hookah Lounge Ends With Two Men Shot: PolicePolice say the two men started fighting outside a hookah lounge at 12th and Locust Streets just after 1 a.m.
Police Searching For Suspect Who Allegedly Opened Fire On Another Car In Center City In OctoberThe shooting happened on Oct. 29 just before 4:30 p.m. at South 21st and Market Streets in Center City.
Center City Restaurants, Bars Bringing Holiday Cheer With Christmas In July MakeoverThere will be Christmas-themed cocktails in souvenir cups and socially-distanced outdoor dining.
Police: 2 Suspects Break Into Middle Child Deli, Steal Jar Of Change In Center CityThe robbery happened at the Middle Child Deli on the 200 block of South 11th Street on Nov. 11 around 1 a.m.
Water Service Restored After Main Break Hampered Businesses In Heart Of Center CityWater service was restored around 6:30 p.m. and road repairs were completed a short time later.
Temporary Street Closures In Center City SundayBecause of the nature of the work, the streets will close be closed to pedestrian traffic during this time.
Santa Claus Ditching His Reindeer For SEPTA's 'Santa Express'Santa Claus is ditching his reindeer and hoping on SEPTA to kick-off the holiday season in Center City Friday for the 28th annual SEPTA Santa Express.
Delivery Drivers Cashed In On Snowy Conditions In Center CityFood delivery drivers were cashing in on the snow as the streets in Center City went down hill real fast.
Eagles Faithful Get Inked At 20th Annual Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention: 'I Love It'If there was ever a time to get an Eagles tattoo, this would probably be it.
Eagles Fans Get Rare Chance To Take Photo With Lombardi Trophy In Center CityIf winning the Super Bowl hasn't settled in yet, snapping a picture with the Lombardi Trophy should fix that.
Police Investigating Deadly Spring Garden ShootingPolice are investigating the shooting of a 39-year-old man in Center City Philadelphia.
Masses At Cathedral Basilica Draw Thousands: 'It's Everyone's Home For Christmas'Father Dennis Gill says at the first mass alone on Christmas Eve drew people from all over.
Hundreds Take Part In Philadelphia's Most Popular Holiday ActivitiesPhiladelphia City Hall was buzzing with hundreds of people enjoying Christmas Village and the Rothman Institute Ice Rink, hoping to take a spin on the ice.
Philly Lawyer Accused Of Having Sex With Girl Sentenced To PrisonA Center City lawyer is going to prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old victim of sex trafficking.


text:
Home Community WATCH: Alime gets new lease on life after receiving hearing aid
WATCH: Alime gets new lease on life after receiving hearing aid
A new set of hearing aids has given six-year-old Alime Nkhohliso a new lease on life and a chance to be a fully active child.
Thanks to a random act of kindness from a good samaritan – who has chosen to remain anonymous – Alime can hear properly and is no longer the subject of insults from her peers.
Alime received the hearing aids, which cost R30 000, in July from a specialist in East London.
Her confidence has sky-rocketed and she is now a bubbly young girl who is full of smiles.
Alime, of Ndevana village outside Berlin, was born with a hearing impairment that left her partially deaf throughout her early childhood.
The girl's grandmother Medrina Bulwana, 62, described the Gugulethu Lower Primary School Grade 1 pupil as being reserved and withdrawn because of her hearing impairment.
Bulwana said she was grateful to the anonymous donor, saying her granddaughter's life had changed for the better.
Alime told sister newspaper the Daily Dispatch yesterday she was excited she could now hear properly.
"Now that I have these aids, I can hear people well and I enjoy playing with other kids now because they can hear me now," she said.
The little girl became emotional when she recalled her life before the hearing aids.
"I was deaf. The other kids used to make fun of me and I would cry."
When the Dispatch visited the little girl's home, Bulwana said her granddaughter came to live with her as a toddler and as she grew, it became more and more evident that she had a hearing problem.
Bulwana said she had taken the little girl to clinics as well as traditional healers, but "nothing" seemed to help her.
"She was an unhappy child and was often alone because when she played with other kids they would make fun of her, calling her isithulu (deaf).
"This troubled her. She would always ask me why they were calling her that and she ended up avoiding them altogether. It hurt me to see her like that," Bulwana said.
The family's pastor, Sakhiwo Bani, was instrumental in changing Alime's life.
"We did not have the means to get Alime this hearing aid on our own. "This has given her a new and comfortable life like kids her age, and for that we are eternally grateful."
Alime is now a vibrant girl who loves singing. She said she wants to be a nurse when she grows up.
Alime's teacher Thokozile Majiza said the change in the little girl's personality was significant.
"Before she had the hearing aids, she was a lonely, isolated and withdrawn child who was always alone.
"She wouldn't play and interact with other kids. Even during break time, she would choose to sit alone inside the class.
She is now very active and plays and mixes with other kids.
"Even in the class, she now participates, asks questions and is confident and vibrant in the classroom," she said
Bulwana said life in their one-roomed house was now a happier one. "She is elated. The aids are the first thing she asks for when she wakes up each morning and she enjoys greeting people in the streets because she can hear them clearly now.
"Now that she can hear, I have so much joy in my heart. This has given her a new lease on life."
However, the grandmother said life was hard for them as they lived only on her social grant and relied on assistance from neighbours and friends to make ends meet.
"Alime does not have a birth certificate, which hinders her from receiving the child grant.
Previous articlePower outage in Gonubie for substation work
Next articleFarmer's murder shocks district
Thousands of pupils could be stranded due to transport standoff
High court sides with student, rules that matric results can be published by media
BREAKING: Gauteng High Court rules matric results can be published
Young rural talent are all set to get with programme
No end to couple's driveway nightmare
Pet Pals sanctuary taking shape: New animal shelter adds some colour