Photo courtesy of Lee Johnson. Tammy Vollom-Matturro conducts a rehearsal of the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra last summer. This year's Summer Music Festival gala concert will be held in Kenai on Aug. 14.
For the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra, preparing for the annual summer music festival involves many difficulties. Getting ready to perform a program of demanding, intricate, energetic and expressive works by Brahms, Mozart, Sibelius and Moussorgsky for the festival's centerpiece gala concerts is the primary challenge, but one that is as fulfilling as it is formidable.
Organizing rehearsals for the 60 or so musicians from Nikiski to Homer and points in between takes some logistical wizardry, as does coordinating with guest performers and soloists visiting from Outside. Wrangling enough musicians and local venues for two weeks of Noontime Tunes concerts on the central peninsula and Homer is no easy trick, either.
But this year brings a new wrinkle, one that has yet to be smoothed out. The popular chamber music dinner cruise from Homer across Kachemak Bay is changing destinations, from Tutka Bay to Halibut Cove. Instead of Champagne, Chocolate and Chopin a la Tutka, as it's been known in the past, Sunday's cruise needs a new name to go with the new direction.
Champagne, Chocolate and Chopin? Sips, Salmon and Sibelius? Vino, Victuals and Vivaldi? Mead, Mousse, and Mozart? Beverage, Barbecue and Beethoven? Toddy, Tarts and Telemann? Drinks, Dinner and Dvořák?
"We don't know what to call it yet," said Tammy Vollom-Matturro, KPO artistic director and conductor.
Photo courtesy of Lee Johnson. Evelyn Estava, with the Madison String Quartet, is one of the guest soloists to perform with the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra in its gala concerts next week.
What she does know is the Madison String Quartet will be performing on the cruise again this year, and they're well worth cruising along with, even if the destination were a garbage scow. Refuse, Rubbish and Rachmaninoff, perhaps?
"The Madison String Quartet, this is their third year up here and they're just a fantastic group. They always put on fabulous concerts. It's always a great one to go to," Vollom-Matturro said.
The cruise leaves Homer at 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $120 per person.
Two performers from the quartet, violinist Evelyn Estava and violist Michael Avagliano, are doing double duty this year as the guest soloists for the gala concerts, held in Kenai and Homer. They will perform Mozart's "Sinfonia Concertante" with the orchestra.
"It was a suggestion from the Madison String Quartet. We were trying to figure out what to do for the soloists this year, and they said, 'Hey, I know this piece featuring violin and viola.' And I said, 'Hey, I know that piece too.' It's very, very popular and very familiar," Vollom-Matturro said.
More than just being well-known, the piece fits in well with the overall theme of the concert, which Vollom-Matturro likens to this summer's weather — diverse and ever variable. The program starts off with Sibelius' "Finlandia," full of fanfares and all the warmth and promise a bright, sunny morning brings.
Next, Vollom-Matturro compares Mozart's "Sinfonia Concertante," with its easy, soothing rhythms and melodies, to a calm, relaxing summer day — bluebird skies plied by puffy white clouds.
Just as it seems safe to uncover the barbecue grill or head off on a camping trip, the weather takes a turn to foreboding and stormy, with "Night on Bald Mountain" by Moussorgsky. The piece is again quite recognizable, but somewhat out of place in a summer concert. With its moody, brooding feel, it's usually relegated to performances around Halloween. But Vollom-Matturro couldn't resist capitalizing on the date of the first gala concert on Aug. 13 — Friday the 13th.
"It's very moody and powerful and flamboyant, with lots of percussion and brass and everything. It's Friday the 13th, so we needed a little mood music there. And it's a great piece of music. Most people know that piece," she said.
Though July on the central Kenai Peninsula hasn't been the best example, weather patterns do shift, and even the rainy, windy stretches clear up. For Vollom-Matturro, that's where Brahms' "Symphony No. 2 in D Major" is a beautiful fit. She said it particularly reminds her of an Alaska summer — full of beauty, richness and variability.
"The Brahms is amazing in several ways. That's our big-guns piece. It's a bear, but it's a wonderful piece of music," she said.
The gala concerts will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13 at Homer Mariner Theatre, and Aug. 14 at the Renee C. Henderson Auditorium at Kenai Central High School, with a preconcert lecture preceding both performances at 6:45 p.m.
"It's a really good balance of classical and Romantic-era music, late Romantic-era music, so it's not all one genera. It's split up, and Moussorgsky is very a movie-music type," Vollom-Matturro said.
The Madison String Quartet will also perform with Kenai pianist Maria Allison and Mark Wolbers, music professor at University of Alaska Anchorage, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna; and with guest French horn players Anthony Cecere and Katie Dennis at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 15 at Faith Lutheran Church in Homer. Tickets for the gala concerts and chamber music performances are $15 for general admission, $12 for seniors and youth, and $10 for Raven's Club members. Tickets for all formal concerts are available at Charlotte's in Kenai, River City Books in Soldotna, and Etude Music Studio and the Homer Bookstore in Homer, or call 907-235-7579 for reservations.
Photos by Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter. Kent Peterson and Jeanne Duhan laugh with the audience during a break in their performance at St. Elias Brewing Co. on Monday. Their performance began two weeks of noon concerts at various venues around the central Kenai Peninsula and Homer.
peninsula that are a sort of lively breeze of music to tickle the ears. Orchestra members and other area musicians volunteer to perform at a variety of restaurants, coffee shops and public venues at noon Monday through Friday this week and next.
On the central peninsula, upcoming performances are: JulieAnn Smith at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center today, the Madison String Quartet at Charlotte's Restaurant in Kenai on Thursday, Jack Will and Sue Biggs at Veronica's Café in Kenai on Friday, Dan Pascucci at River City Books in Soldotna on Monday, Michelle Klaben and Tashina Wortham at the Funky Monkey in Kenai on Tuesday, the Central Peninsula Community Orchestra at the Soldotna Public Library on Aug. 11, Mi'shell Reid and Tashina Wortham at Kaladi Brothers on Kobuk Street in Soldotna on Aug. 12, and Hobo Jim at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center on Aug. 13. All noon concerts are free, though KPO organizers ask that listeners patronize the hosting businesses.
"We've got lots of good variety — people playing original compositions of folk music to people playing woodwind duets. We've got Hobo Jim, and Dan Pascucci is a hoot, so there's total variety. Pretty much anything you want, you'll find it at one of these concerts," Vollom-Matturro said.
"I kind of relay it to Alaska summers — lots of variety. Is it sunny? Wait, no, but not really rainy," she said.
And if the weather outside doesn't start showing a little more variety from clouds and rain, then the music festival could be just the bright spot needed this summer.
"We might as well be sitting inside doing something else, listening to great music," Vollom-Matturro said.


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The Limits of Science by Dr. Daham Ismail Alani
Posté lun 17/02/2014 - 13:15
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, a new world has emerged, one different from the previous two hundred years in intellect and philosophy as well as essence and shape. For as the nineteenth century was an era of reason and certainty, the twentieth century brought doubt and shaked both the stability of reason and the rigor of certainty. And whereas the nineteenth century was the age of confidence, stability and victory for humanity, the twentieth century proved to be one of wars, crisis and defeat of man by man.
The early characteristics of the third millennium are astounding in every way for they are difficult to interpret or predict at the present time. The traditional ideology of science that has dominated the last two hundred years was a logical sequence that stretched from observation to reason. Today, however, the links of this sequence are disconnected and random. Observation is often made without experiment, and experiments are conducted without understanding which, when made, still lacks the ability to predict, and when predictions are made, they are devoid of real understanding. Those separated links multiply in an unprecedented way perhaps because of the overlapping of sciences and technologies in general. Science has become increasingly technological, and the accumulation of knowledge has exceeded our capacity for comprehension as well as prodigiously diminished the lapse between discovery and application.
We would be mistaken to assume that history proceeds at our own pace or even at a predictable one, for the extent of progress itself defeats the expert attempts to assimilate that progress. Furthermore, an unprecedented phenomenon has emerged. Some societies are now suffering from the difficulty of assimilating technological achievements, especially in rich countries where technological gains and the investment of automation have resulted in increasingly lower manual labor averages thus generating an unsustainable unemployment. Moreover, the gains of development in medical sciences as well as the attainment of medical care have imposed upon society an aging population whose cost is all but easy to manage. In addition, the impact of some technologies on the environment and the future of its natural resources have alarmed some countries and shaken their confidence in the security of the future. The obscurity of tomorrow has become a fact conceded by everyone beginning with scientists.
Science has span in various directions. For on the one hand it seeks to explore mesoscopic bodies at the nucleus level in some live cell matters, and to deal with them through new technologies dubbed Nanotechnology. And on the other hand, it seeks the universe and soars in a sky without limits.
The function of science is no longer an observational and descriptive one as it was in the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. For then the physicist described the atom without using it, and the chemist described particles without creating new ones and the biologist attempted to comprehend the mechanisms of life and its functions without interfering with its course. Yet present day science has bestowed man with exceptional powers that have exceeded his ambitions to achieve prosperity and improve all aspects of life and its surrounding world.
Science today has endowed man with the power to destroy mankind, were he to lose his wisdom and proper judgment, as he has in the past in Hiroshima, when Oppenheimer commented: "We have committed a sin". It is not surprising then that the leader of the lamb Dolly's cloning team Ian Wilmut would himself worn against carelessness in this issue and the ethical dilemmas in question:" I think now to contemplate using our present techniques with humans would be quite inhuman". We are not only in danger of violating the natural order of life; we are threatening our own humanity.
For some who choose to ignore, as Jean Hamburger, president of the French Academie des Sciences remarks [1], that genetic engineering will never be able to add the gene ofbehaviour or the gene of intelligence to a human's genetic repertoire. French thinker Charles Montesquieu in his 1748 "Spirit of the Laws" [2] said that power should be curbed by its motivations. More than 250 years later, this seems truer than ever with modern sciences.
The future of science goes hand in hand with the future of mankind. That has become a fact dictated by the vision of science controlling all aspects of life. Today's science is conquering new horizons, yet its future seems ambiguous, and one question remains unanswered: Will science give man happiness, or will it bring on him misery and misfortune?
The mechanism of the science's evolution:
The astonishing achievements of science since the beginning of the twentieth century have lead to many questions regarding the course and direction of science.
One of the questions most debated amongst scientists concerns the nature of the evolution of science: is it even continuous process or one subject to abrupt change and unpredictable developments?
Does the intellect of generations stir the course of science then follow its sequence?
Does science thrive towards a predictable end, or is its course endless? Is their a logic behind scientific progress and discoveries, or is the mechanism of it progress ungoverned by any law? Is science the output of accumulated knowledge, or is it the outcome of variable forces pulling in different directions?
Many scientists have dedicated their efforts in attempt to answer these questions and to identify any patterns underlying the progress of science and its course. The latest and most debated theory remains that of American scientist Thomas Kuhn which he developed in his book:" The Structure of Scientific Revolutions"[3].
Kuhn's theory is based on the concept of paradigm that he defines as being the prevailing set of beliefs shared by scientists at a given time. According to Kuhn [3], periods of time will go by with a certain paradigm prevailing among scientists (normal or natural scientific periods). In such periods, scientists agree on basic concepts, on matters worth researching, and the means to be used in research. At the end of these "normal periods", a sudden crisis or development will produce scientific findings that will upset or contradict the present paradigm, thus giving birth to a new scientific theory or paradigm and scientists will shift from one set of beliefs to a new one. Thus starts a new "normal scientific period" with a new prevailing paradigm.
Kuhn further uses an event from history to demonstrate his vision of the mechanism of scientific progress. After the prevalence of Isaac Newton's physical theories on light as particles during the second half of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, a normal scientific period began where scientists in general agreed on this theory and rallied to study motion and gravity. That marked the prevalence of a paradigm based on Newton's theories. Scientists then used Newton's theory in their infinitely accurate calculations of planets orbits, thus realizing tremendous success in 1846 with predictions of the presence of planet "Neptune" in terms of its distance from the sun and its orbit, before astronomers had even discovered the very existence of Neptune.
However, towards the end of the 19th century, a new crisis emerged when scientists failed to explain the behavior of light and the phenomenon of electrical light where even Newton's theory failed in providing valid explanation. Once more, the change in the prevailing paradigm lead to a new paradigm to answer these questions, with the work of several non main stream scientists such as Einstein whose efforts between 1905 and 1915 culminated in theories that produced a new understanding of time, matter and energy, and the transformation of each of these forms into the other, with an overall better understanding of the notion of gravity. Einstein's theory of relativity thus became the new prevailing paradigm, with a new normal period where it became the accepted way of studying the motion of bodies and gravity. And, according to Kuhn, it is not possible to accept Einstein theory of relativity without admitting that Newton was wrong.
For according to Newton, mass is permanent and cannot be transformed to any other form, whereas it can change into energy according to Einstein. Therefore, one cannot consider these two theories as being one, for the validity of Einstein's theory is based on refuting some of Newton's assumptions. That is also the case of Ptolemy's popular notion that the earth is the center of the universe and that all other heavenly bodies rotate around it at regular speeds whereas Copernicus founded modern science with his notion of earth and other planets orbiting around the sun. Kuhn considers the transition from one paradigm to another to be comparable to a religious conversion, for it is far too deep of a change to be considered a free exercise of the mind.
Kuhn also likened the development of science to the evolution of nature as described by Darwin.
Evaluating Kuhn's theory:
Kuhn's theory "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" has produced an ongoing heated debate with various opinions pro or against. We will focus on the last notable who has discussed Kuhn's theory, Nobel laureate in physics for 1979, Steven Weinberg who says in his1998 article that the truth of scientific evolution has eluded Thomas Kuhn, for one must differentiate between what is constant and not subject to change with time, and the part prone to change in any comprehensive theory. Weinberg considers that Kuhn has failed to note this distinction. [4]
For instance, theories of physics have strong invariant elements not subject to changment exactly like the human skeleton is in the backbone of human anatomy or like finding antique clay vases would be in the world of archaeologists.
In addition this aspect of the theories usually relies on mathematical equations that are based on symbols and definitions that leave little room for error.There are also other aspects of any given theory of physics that are less rigid and more flexible and likely to change. This distinction is what Kuhn failed to make. Moreover, Weinberg [4] argues that the normal periods of science are not periods of latency and dormancy, but rather they are essential phases for scientific evolution.
The limits of science:
Scientists are divided on the issue of the limits of science into two opposite groups. On the one hand, some believe that there is no limit to science and that what science is yet to achieve will not be less in essence than its greatest accomplishments so far. On the other hand, others believe that science has exhausted its potential and is close to reaching its limits.
In 1994, Steven Weinberg published his renowned book "Dream of a Final theory" [5] where he predicted that science, lead by physics, is close to adding the final touches to a complete theory that would provide a final and comprehensive explanation of the world and the birth of the universe.
Weinberg based his prediction of this great expected newborn of science which would explain the universe on his conviction that science is now close to uniting the forces of gravity with the electromagnetic forces and the nuclear forces in one comprehensive theory known as the unified theory. Perhaps Mohamed Saladin El Naschie's research [6] comes along this line of thought, where many leading physicists anticipate he will accomplish ground breaking results that will crown his journey in science, and indeed we personally wish him the best of luck in fulfilling his destiny. Other notable attempts are due to the work of E.Witten and L.Smolin.
Weinberg's book of course resulted in a wide debate where some expressed their doubts and non acceptance regarding Weinberg's vision and found it a product of a very particular Weltanschauung.
Along that line came John Maddox's book "What Remains to Be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race" [7], where the author goes over science's great achievements and material progress in the past and the present, and what humanity accomplished along the way. He also defines the aspirations and higher objectives that science will thrive in order to reach, as well as the anticipated challenges and occasional unexpected developments that may take mankind by surprise.
In brief, Maddox foresees that the future of science is of great importance, and no less significant than what has been achieved in both past and present.
On the other hand, and far from this theory of the endless horizons science has yet to conquer, John Horgan's "The end of Science" published in 1996 pictures an aging science near its end that will no longer witness revolutions and great discoveries, and that will at most provide finishing details within the general frames that have been established.[8]
Horgan also cautions from scientists arrogance and their exaggerated confidence and sanctification of science. He also finds Weinberg's theory unacceptable, as to him the final theory is but a mirage drawing scientists blinded by their arrogance.
Bryan Appleyard takes the same position on the matter in his book:" Understanding the Present: Science and the soul of Modern Man" [9] where he goes over the unrealistic presumptions of scientists, criticizes their arrogance and demands containment of scientific research in order to redirect it, only this time to be based on principles of ethics and integrity devoid of arrogance. That is also the opinion of Edward Tenner in his book: "Why things bite back" [10]. In his book, Tenner severely blames scientists for the negative, inhuman, and harmful impact of science on the future of life on Earth, as well as the terrible consequences that came as a result of the greatest achievements, for instance nuclear and biological arms
And in 1998, John Barrow published his book "Impossibility: The limits of Science and the Science of limits" [11], where he describes the maturity of science as being closer to old age, and that consequently it is time for science to seek its end since it has become useless.
An increasing number of pessimist thinkers that cannot all be listed here continue to warn of the doomed end of science, and that explains the growing voices that are calling for a framework of universal principles and ethics to curb the evolution of science, one that all nations and cultures can agree upon, especially in biological sciences where attempts are occasionally made to alter creation and to clone creatures.
The limits of science from an Islamic point of view:
It might be of at least a philosophical interest to readers of a scientific journal such as C,S&F to venture in to recalling what the Koran,which is a moral codex for over,one and half billion people says of knowledge "it is only a little that is communicated to you, (O Men!)". The Konan repeatedly invites man to reflect and observe this universe as well as God's creation in almost 570 verses. Moreover, he informs us that we have touched but the tip of the iceberg in science, which indicates that the limits of science are not palpable as Horgan and Barrow or their supporters argue, and that there is a vast world of knowledge yet unexplored. However, the achievements of the human mind in the fields of science are limited by what is meant for us to be able to recognize the presence of The Originator of Creation:"Soon will We show them Our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that thy Lord doth witness all things?".
It is thus clear for us that science for Muslim scientists consolidates faith; especially that Islam makes it a duty for every Muslim to seek knowledge as is mentioned in the Hadith and many verses from the Koran. And Muslims, along with their nations, stand far from the circle that went from a faith that condemns science to a science that condemns faith. The writer feel that the above remarks are extremely important in view of current world event and are meant to encourage scientific debate on fundamental issues.
Science combined with faith helps scientists to distinguish through their moral culture and intellect between beneficial science, and harmful application of science and the author would like to recall many several statement by Einstein, Heisenberg, and Oppenheimer to mention only a few.
In Goethe's Faust as well as many religious beliefs the Koran relates a particular instance where Satan challenges Man to resist his temptation: "I will mislead them, and I will create in them false desires. Isn't there in the many attempts and biological experiments in genetic engineering clear references to the meaning insinuated in this verse? Perhaps it is all but a continuous circle that has lead us from basic necessities guided science, through periods of unimagined luxury and possibilities as well as appalling poverty and destruction, to a point that will lead us back to the very beginning, the birth of science that came when man first looked at the heavens, and questioned for the first time his origin, his presence and his destiny.
The debate over science will constantly be fueled by both fervent believers in the extraordinary path that still lies ahead of it, as well as the more skeptical ones who believe to have detected the signs of its nearing end. In truth, it is our future as a living species that we are trying to predict as we ponder over the evolution of science. It is our personal belief that as long as man is, and man thinks, science has not yet fulfilled its destiny. A much wiser man once said: "I think, therefore I am " this man is no less than Rene Descartes [12]. As long as we are here to question the nature of things, there will still be room for science to grow, and the endless questions we have to yet answer promise an endless horizon for science to conquer. But like a mature living being, it cannot afford to act without reason and care. More than ever, we need to exercise caution as we steer the course and applications of science…so that it may help us to better understand the world we live in, and ideally, to make it perhaps even better for all of us.
[1] Hamburger, Jean. L'avenir de la science, Paris: Dunod, 1991.
[2] Montesquieu, Charles. L'Esprit des Lois, 1758.
[3] Kuhn, Thomas S., the Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press, 1970.
[4] Weinberg, Steven. The New York Review of Books, October 1998.
[5] Weinberg, Steven. The Dream of a Final Theory, Vantage Books, 1994.
[6] Elnaschie, M.S. A Preview of E_Infinity Theory the Mass Spectrum of high energy particle physics, 2004.
[7] Maddox, John.What Remains to Be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race. Free Press, 1998.
[8] Horgan, John. The End of Science. Helix Books, 1996.
[9] Appleyard, Bryan.Understanding the Present: Science and the soul of Modern Man. Anchor Book: 1994.
[10] Tenner, Edward.Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences. New York, Vintage Books: 1996.
[11] Barrow, John D. Impossibility: The limits of Science and the Science of limits. Oxford University Books: 1998.
[12] Descartes, René.Letter dated March or April 1648 addressed to Silhon.
Dr Alani is senior advisor to the President of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Nottingham based specialist care home builder, Wynbrook have announced the appointment of Edward Day as a Contracts Surveyor.
The appointment follows an increase in the number of care home developments currently under construction by Wynbrook. Edward will split his time overseeing the build of two new major developments located in Melton Mowbray and Worcester.
The £4.7m project in Melton Mowbray is a new 88 bed care facility to provide both residential care and dementia care. The Worcester project is a new £4.9m 66 bed care facility. Residents in the Melton Mowbray care home will be able to enjoy many in-house entertainment facilities such as a cinema, gym, bar, restaurant and fabulous views over the River Eyre.
Edward is an experienced surveyor and holds a Masters degree in Quantity Surveying from Nottingham University. During his studies, Edward worked at Wynbrook to gain valuable practical experience. Since qualifying in 2010, Edward has worked in various construction project management roles for Mott MacDonald; a Global Engineering Consultancy, the Water Regulator; Ofwat and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.


Picnic Shelter Information: Four picnic shelters are available for family or other group gatherings. Each shelter may be reserved in advance. If shelters are not reserved, guests may use on a first-come, first-served basis at no charge.


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Falling in love with the wrong guy can simultaneously be the most painful and best thing to happen to you. Set him free to find a soul who wants to recite poetry for hours on end in the bathtub with him, and go find someone who subscribes to the age-old adage "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." You want a boyfriend, not a Siamese twin. As I prepare to walk down the aisle toward my own personal Disney hunk, Prince Tony, I can't help but be grateful for the guys I marry, but dated. He's totally down to binge watch Nicholas Sparks movies and eat cookie dough on the sofa with you, even though March Madness is happening.
If there's one thing they all have in common it's this: they're searching for a deeper connection, a meaningful relationship, and long-lasting love. If you're looking for marriage minded singles, this really is the place to start…The trend for meeting your future husband or wife online keeps growing and growing, and the numbers are staggering: now more than one in three marriages in the US are a direct result of online dating!Our members choose us in order to find lasting love, and because they are seeking a deeper connection. Understanding your personality is just one of our four core considerations when matching you up with potential partners; your location in the US, your level of education & income, and your own search preferences also decide who we'll introduce you to.We don't want to waste your time, so we send you just a handful of new matches daily so you can take the time to really consider each in turn.A dating site is a place where you can forget about your daily routine and chat at any time of the day.The main thing, however, is that an international dating site is a place to find new friends and strike up an exciting relationship, while sitting on your sofa with a cup of coffee.(This has actually happened to two of my friends, and looking from the outside in, it appears to be as dreamy as it sounds.) But, . Life isn't a Hollywood rom com; he doesn't realize he's in love with you in Act III — this is a never-ending miniseries of him treating you like a security blanket. He dreams of becoming a video game designer but has never looked into how you actually become one… Maybe he's a chef who owns his own restaurant and wants to make you breakfast in bed on a daily basis.
For those of us who don't live in a fairy tale, it takes the kissing of some freaky frogs to get to a prince (or a princess) charming. He just, you know, plays a lot of video games "for research." He lost his phone (again), so it's not his fault he forgot you had plans and didn't text you all weekend. Whoever he is, all of your friends will love him, your mom will start fantasizing (in detail) about what her grandchildren will look like, and you will feel nothing but an impending sense of doom. Just because someone is "perfect" doesn't mean they're perfect for you.So, as a follow-up to my last blog, here's my super scientific algorithm for the exes every girl should have in her back pocket, in order to find her Mr. He holds your hand and lets you cry when your ex gets engaged. (or Mrs.) Right (ie the guys who shattered my heart and taught me a thing or two about love): 1. He's got his mother's name tattooed over his heart. He creates a Pinterest profile, because you told him to. He loves you and is doing whatever it takes to make you happy, and you're taking advantage of him. Much like Grouper fish (from the family Serranidae, thanks, Wikipedia! A recent study conducted by Harvard and Chicago universities concluded that marriages which begin online are on average more satisfying and less likely to end in divorce.On top of which, you know that Elite Singles members are all here for the same reason – to find lasting love – and you can be confident that you're not wasting your time seeking marriage minded singles with us.Whether you're brand new to online dating, or have tried other dating sites without success, Elite Singles is here to help; with a wealth of marriage minded singles waiting to be matched with you, rest assured that we're taking your search for the love of your life as seriously as you are.
Make Her Want You Keep Her Hooked Treat Her Right Community Q&A Older women are more experienced, wiser, more mature, and more confident. It's hard enough to attract an older girl, but you've really got the odds stacked against you when you're a teenage guy trying to make an impression on someone older than you.


ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI)-- She's the lady of the lake with a secret for St. Louisans.
"Everybody in New York wants to work at the Muny," says Michele Ragusa who plays The Lady of the Lake in Spamalot.
"Yes, this is the summer gig to have," says Ragusa.
Summer wouldn't be the same in St. Louis without the Muny staging some musicals.
"Eight months ago we started all the designs and prep work and all of that," says Assistant Marketing Director Larry Pry. "Then the actors came in 11 days ago and here we go. They have 11 days of rehearsal and they open Monday night, that's it."
That means there's a lot of work for Spamalot's Monday night opening to start the Muny's 95th season.
"Spamalot along the lines of Urinetown and Book of Mormon," says Ragusa. "It's musicals that push the boundaries which I really appreciate and stand behind."
Today dancers stood ready for rehearsals of last minute choreography changes while craftsmen were busy building and painting set pieces.
It's all for a musical filled with mirth and mayhem from the talented comedy troupe known as Monty Python.
"Python fans know every line, similar to the Rocky Horror Picture Show," says Pry. "They know when the lines are coming and what to expect. Musical theater fans sit back and listen and know the song that's coming. Monty Python fans I think will be on the edge of their seat, waiting for that rabbit to come."
But before we jump down that hole, you could feel a buzz in the air at the Muny today as hundreds of people were working towards their common goal.
"Does anyone sleep this week?" asks Patrick Clark.
"Not really because we go home and think about what we have to do tomorrow so then we just go back to work," says Pry. "Cause we have a lot to do."
Come show time on Monday it'll be worth it, after all this is the summer gig to have.


Hiring a decent general contractor is usually a lengthy and tricky process, because there are a very few general contractors who are genuine as well as professional. If you find the info interesting you'll like what comes ahead, so keep reading.
The responsibilities of an over-all contractor are many, and acquiring these responsibilities seriously requires uncounted knowledge, skill, and diplomacy. To be a general contractor is a difficult job, and doing it right a doubly difficult one.
If you are in the process of hiring a general builder – or currently managing one – here is a list of the things which is why they should take full liability. Remember, a contractor is there to generate life easier for you, and will be more than qualified to deal with a renovation or new construction project from will finish. If they can't, you've hired the wrong person.
Liaise with architects/designers. Typically a general contractor will speak to the architect or designer way before the project start, and discuss and review and what will take place. You can also visit TICON General Contractors if you want to get professional help.
But it's a fine line between coming up with new ideas, and respecting the particular homeowner's decisions. You want someone who is going to suggest alternative ways of performing things, but who ultimately realizes that it's your house and your taste, and that you're the a single who's paying them those huge wads of cash towards the end of the day, not another way around!
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Rolls-Royce's Spirit of Ecstasy Flying Lady emblem is 100 years old this year. To mark the celebrations Rolls-Royce has commissioned, the famed and iconic British photographer Rankin to create a series of images. They have allowed Rankin full artistic license to create portraits of modern-day version of the Spirit of Ecstasy using his personal interpretation. Rankin will develop a series of 100 photos to mark this momentous occasion. The two photos in this series which have been released, features Rankin's wife Tuuli Shipster, a model. He has photographed her in close-up as well as in full-length picture in sensual profile draped in fabric, reminiscent of the original Spirit of Ecstasy.
Rankin's Spirit of Ecstasy portraits will be gradually presented over a few months. The original photos will tour throughout 2011 and will be presented at different events around the world.


"I love that AI War is so different from every other Real-Time strategy out these days...No other strategy game that I've played treats the player to battles of such epic proportions...AI War: Fleet Command is a game that combines equal portions of quality and quantity. Not only is it a great game, but it's a great big game. The battles, micromanagement, exploration, and discovery, will keep strategy gamers coming back."


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Entwurf endlich-dimensionaler Regler für lineare verteilt parametrische Systeme durch Ausgangsbeobachtung, Automatisierungstechnik 58 8 : 435-446. The modified integrodifferential boundary value problem is reduced to the minimization of a nonnegative functional under differential constraints. They arise naturally during the modeling of dynamic heat transfer processes. Two-sided energy estimates of exact solutions are derived. These systems, which are in the focus of this contribution, are assumed to be described by suitable partial differential equations.
Basic concepts of the linear theory of elasticity 3. The E-mail message field is required. An approach relying on the Ritz method and finite element technique is proposed to design the boundary control that moves the rod with certain accuracy to a given final state and minimizes the mean energy. Sobolev spaces -- Bibliography -- Index. Optimal Control and Estimation, Dover Publications, Inc. The investigation of beam systems leads to a wide class of initial-boundary value problems for which a large number of approaches is developed.
This book is unique in that it presents a profound mathematical analysis of general elasticity of deformed bodies, including the resulting interior stresses and displacements. Emuze is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Built Environment, and Head of the Unit for Lean Construction and Sustainability at the Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa. For the problems on the extension of a free plate made of two different materials and bending of a clamped rectangular plate on an elastic support, we carry out numerical simulation and analyze the results obtained by the method of integro-differential relations. Controlled motions of a thin elastic rod are studied. .
The resulting models, derived from a spatial semi-discretization employing a finite volume modeling technique, are parameterized by means of experimental identification procedures. The direct discretisation methods in optimal control problems are well known see, e. Such procedures , based on the so-called method of integro-differential relations Kostin and Saurin, 2012 , were investigated for mechanical systems with elasticities in Rauh et al. It directly follows from the last property that the functional Φ is nonnegative too. Prices are subject to change without notice. Therefore, the beam theories occupy a special place among approximate approaches in mechanics. The presented approaches aim at developing finitedimensional system descriptions for the design of various open-loop, closed-loop, and optimal control strategies as well as state, disturbance, and parameter estimation techniques.
The method of integrodifferential relations 5. This work studies best upper bounds on strain energy and surface displacements of an elastic body under boundary tractions prescribed on its surface. Results are presented for both elastostatic and elastodynamic problems, including a problem with crack growth. Explicit expressions for the best bound constants are derived for a circular body in plane strain and an elastic beam under transverse loading. All integrals can be easily evaluated over regularly shaped domains in general, spheres in three-dimensional problems and their boundaries. A families of statical and dynamical variational principles, in which displacement, stress, and momentum fields are varied, is proposed. A variational principle is formulated and validated; at certain boundary conditions, it leads to the principles of the potential and additional energy minima.
As an example, a problem of lateral controlled motions of a 3D rectilinear elastic prism with a rectangular cross section is investigated. For this reason, control-oriented modeling procedures for spatially distributed heating systems are described in this paper. Motions of a flexible electromechanical structure consisting of two joined beams clumped on a mobile carriage controlled with an electric driver are studied. A procedure is developed for coupling meshless methods such as the element-free Galerkin method with finite element methods. Where applicable, these finite element models are combined with finite volume representations to describe storage variables that are—with good accuracy—homogeneous over sufficiently large space domains. Saurin, Ishlinsky Institute for Problems in Mechanics, Russia. Computational Methods in Applied Sciences, vol 40.
This book is unique in that it presents a profound mathematical analysis of general elasticity of deformed bodies, including the resulting interior stresses and displacements. Integrodifferential Relations in Linear Elasticity, De Gruyter, Berlin. These estimates allow us to qualify finite-dimensional modelling, refine a coarse solution and make necessary corrections of the control law. In this paper, control-oriented models are derived for an experimental setup representing the structure of a typical high bay rack feeder. The numerical solution of the inverse dynamic problem, which is based on the method of integrodifferential relations and a model reduction technique, is presented and discussed.
They cover topics and methods in fields of current interest, with an emphasis on didactical presentation. The time í µí±‡ of the control process is fixed. The optimal control problem is to move the rack feeder from its initial state to terminal one in a fixed time and to minimize the mean mechanical energy of the system. Value is Relative: How Decision Making Theories affect Lean Construction 6. Deformations of elastic bodies are encountered in many areas in science, engineering and technology. Wastes in Construction: Concepts and Types 2.


I love Halloween. I have since my childhood. To me, October 31st heralds the official arrival of fall, long my favorite of all the seasons. The sensory spectacle provided by the annual seasonal transformation in the northeastern United States starting in early October is truly a multi-faceted experience not to be missed; the changing of the leaves, the vivid, warm colors, the crisp and inviting smells, the carnival of sounds, and don't forget football. What's not to love? And what a holiday this magical season brings. Anything can happen on Halloween. Anyone can show up at your door and challenge you with that ageless phrase, "Trick or treat?" Well, imagine the look on my face last Halloween when Phil Clements, maestro at Clements Loudspeakers, walked through my door with a quizzical smile on his face looking for me.
What a conversation we had. I was surprised to learn that back in the late '70s, Clements had been the designer of a little speaker called the Phase Research Model R. He was equally surprised to hear me rattle off a complete description of the thing and its price. Yes, I clearly remembered it as a speaker that performed well above its price point. I still have one of the sales brochures in my files. After about an hour's discussion, I had a brief chance to hear a pair of bookshelf speakers, the Clements 107di. With barely a 15-minute audition I was convinced that if these speakers sold for $600 they would be a bargain. I had deliberately guessed a bit low because I expected I was being set up. When Phil told me that these babies went for under $400 a pair, you could have just about knocked me over. I started the arrangements for a formal review right then and there.
In mid February, with all the hubbub of the Winter CES behind, products once again began showing up at Chez Weaver. Among the early arrivals were these little guys from Clements. The 107di (the "d" stands for dynamic and the "i" stands for image) is the middle sibling in the di series, with two little brothers each above and below 107di's price point. Nicely finished yet unassuming black boxes, 16.5" tall by 9.5" wide and 11" deep, they were fitted with a pair of typical plastic-nut five-way binding posts. The large 3" diameter port was near the bottom rear of the speaker. Removing the grille revealed the .75" polycarbonate ferrofluid-cooled tweeter and the 6.5" poly-laminate mid-woofer, both of which appear to be of Audax/Polydax lineage. Hmmm. Fairly unassuming again. The grille was attached with four ball-and-socket snaps and was covered with a fairly open-weave black cloth. Although attractive enough in fit and finish for their $390 retail price, with the exception of the ten-year warranty, the speakers appeared to be pretty average.
Over a decade ago, Phil Clements read the results of a listening test that changed the way he thought about speaker design. In the study, groups of people were subjected to listening to the same speaker complement with crossovers of varying designs. The speaker's cabinet, woofer, tweeter and crossover frequency remained identical, but the slope, or rate, of the crossover point was modified. The speakers were auditioned with 6dB-, 12dB-, 18dB- and 24dB-per-octave filter networks. The results of the test were quite interesting. Unanimously, the panel preferred the first-order 6dB-per-octave crossover, also known as an open-slope design, both in terms of providing a more "natural" sound and a more realistic presentation of the soundstage. The panel then chose, in order of sonic preference, the 18dB, then the 24dB and finally the 12dB crossovers. I'm not about to go into all the reasons why these subjective results make sense technically. More interesting is the story of how this one man chose to utilize the results to develop a high-quality yet affordable line of loudspeakers.
The desire to use the 6dB network was obvious given its inherent purity and the overwhelming preference among listeners. It is the only filter slope that electrically adds back to, or very near to, "zero" phase shift through the crossover-frequency region without the use of rigorous and destructive compensation. All the other networks impose easily measurable, and as easily audible, amounts of electrical phase shift in comparison to the input signal. Even with careful compensation it is next to impossible to retrieve the high degree of integrity inherent with the single-pole filter.
Even though the steep-slope filters tend to corrupt the original input signal by the huge amounts of electrical phase shift they impose, they do have several highly sought-after design benefits. One of the most important of these is the preservation of bandwidth power. Since the steeper-slope filters obviously mean a steeper roll off, certainly much faster than the open-slope design, they provide, with all else being equal, greater overall speaker sensitivity. The extended, slowly reducing slope of single-pole filters is typically not a good way to produce a terribly efficient speaker. Check the published sensitivities of other well-known champions of the open-slope crossover design, companies like Celestion, Thiel, Vandersteen, Sonus Faber, and Dunlavy. Their speakers are not known for their efficiency.
Other advantages derived from steep-slope filters include greater driver protection and increased detail, both of which are obviously highly desirable. Unfortunately, to gain these desirable results at the price point of the 107di, one typically has to impose high amounts of electrical phase shift. That is exactly what Clements wanted to avoid because it meant compromising the one thing that was paramount in his design goal, signal integrity.
So how does one maintain the integrity achievable with a first-order design and still find a way to apply the benefits desirable from the higher-order networks, and do it on a budget if possible? Based on the results of that earlier listening test, Phil decided he would like to see what he could do to impose no more than a single-pole filter electrically. Yet for the sake of greater resolution and dependability, he wanted to try to obtain final acoustical slopes of 18dB per octave, since that was the slope with the second-highest approval rating in the survey. If he could develop a way of combining the single-pole electrical slope for signal integrity along with the power preservation, better dynamics, higher protection capability, greater detail and cleanliness of the steeper slopes, he felt he would have a winner.
If only 6dB were available from the electrical filter, a single inductor in this case, then what else could be applied to help add another 12dB and achieve the desired 18dB total? Well, all drivers, at the end of their bandwidths, have an inherent roll-off determined by things like their size, mass, weight, materials, magnetic intensity, etc. Knowing all that, and paying great attention to detail, you could design a driver to roll-off at specific rates. So some, if not all, of the additional slope rate might be achieved by paying close attention to component driver design.
This control has to be achieved at a specific rate within a limited acceptable frequency range. If the bandwidth of the driver extends too far in frequency response, then once again, steep electrical slopes would be required to properly knock out unwanted bandwidth. Although many factors must be taken into account, a desired roll-off characteristic can be engineered into a driver. Difficult as this is for one driver, this process becomes exceedingly arduous to control with the addition of multiple drivers, as would be necessary in a two- or three-way design. All the other required design parameters of each different driver to be incorporated into the final design will combine, contribute, and limit certain ways to gain consistent slope rates from the components themselves. Certain slopes at or within the proper bandwidths could be counted on, but not always at the same rate. Now what?
This meant that yet a third element needed to be introduced, one that would get the desired overall 18dB-per-octave acoustic slopes with different components of varying characteristics, and do so consistently. This third factor had to be the most variable when applied. The perfect component was an impedance compensation network, which ideally every speaker should utilize anyway. Since all voice coil type drivers exhibit rising impedance caused by the voice coils inductive reactance, one highly desirable purpose of such networks, called "Zobels," is to equalize that rising impedance. This allows for the presentation of a much more friendly and consistent load to the amplifier. Add in that one of its other benefits is its ability to knock out frequency response at different points, variably in slope no less, and you've got the final ingredient in Phil Clements' super crossover recipe.
I don't believe in critical evaluation of any product right out of the box, and the 107di was no exception. When you audition these guys for yourself, make sure the pair you hear has been well run in. Some of the "edge" begins to disappear after ten hours or so, and at 60 or more hours of play, the speakers begin to show off their stuff. My first audition of these little guys was with my reference rig, and in this system even the interconnects and speaker cables cost more than the speakers under evaluation here. But what did they truly have to say for themselves? This was one sure way to find out.
One of my long-time standard evaluation records (that's right, I said record) is my Mobile Fidelity half-speed copy of Supertramp's Crime of the Century (Mobile Fidelity 1-005). There is a solo harp (that's a harmonica to those of you who find yourselves blues challenged) in the opening cut playing very deeply at center stage. As the tune progresses, there are numerous voices of children scattered through the very back of the stage covering nearly its entire width. There are a whole host of other things stage left and right at varying depths. The harp was recreated solidly where it belonged in the stage and had a wonderful warmth about it. The voices were placed deeply and accurately throughout the stage, as were the rest of the instruments in this fairly challenging soundstage. Hmmm. These diminutive speakers were beginning to hint at being considerably better than average.
I was justly amazed with what these little guys did with any Q-Sound effects they were supplied. Every cue was perfectly located and quite tonally correct. Moving to "Welcome to the Machine" from Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here (Columbia Half Speed HC33453), the weight of the "machine" was pretty convincingly portrayed, if just a bit fat in nature. The ports, a whopping 3" in diameter, start to generate a real breeze around 60Hz and continued to exhibit usable output as low as about 30Hz, though down considerably in terms of sensitivity. And even thought the little ports were moving air at a rate that would be impressive in a small cooling fan, there was no chuff or port noise whatsoever.
The piano from the "Fantaisie – Impromptu" on Horowitz: The Last Recording (Sony SK 45818), though presented slightly smaller and more constricted in three-dimensional space, was still nicely conveyed in terms of the warmth, body and the magic of the performance. The timbre and luster of the piano, which is one of the better attempts on CD in my opinion, was presented accurately and with the kind of "involvement" associated with the much higher-priced spreads.
With the Seven Years In Tibet soundtrack (Sony SK 60271), the 107di's recreated a nice impression of the heft of the lowest frequencies even though, being bookshelf speakers, they could not truly excavate the nethermost depths of the recording. The glimpse into the soundstage was just a bit shallower than I would like, with a bit more forward presentation than is realistic, but devastatingly insightful. Yo-Yo Ma's cello is surprisingly detailed as are the rest of the midrange voices presented here. There is a realistic interpretation of the upper frequencies with just a hint of hardness in the loftiest registers that is almost venial given the ease and vitality imparted through the midrange.
OK, but what about the real world? How likely is it that this speaker would be used in a $20,000-plus system? Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say. Dropping the speakers into my office system (consisting of a 50Wpc receiver, a portable CD player, and regular old interconnects and loudspeaker cables hitching everything together) seemed to be the logical next step. The results were unreal. Could it be that these speakers sounded even more impressive in this more humble and likely application? Yup. Not that they sounded better here than they had in my reference room, but they sounded as good. They retained all of their attributes, while their shortcomings seemed diminished. I had expected them to shrink when placed in the lesser system. If anything, the level of accomplishment actually grew. They took the system to new heights. Again, the appreciable tonal balance, excellent staging and adroit bass heft delighted me with their unwavering presence.
These little speakers are very engaging, rendered a startling glimpse into the soundstage, offered worthy mid-bass performance and had a convincingly neutral tonal balance, even if tilted a bit toward the darker side of neutral. My only complaints were pretty much what you would expect in a speaker selling for twice, maybe even three times, the price of the 107di. From the lower mids up they are a bit on the opaque side of transparency. There is a bit of hardness starting in the upper midrange and going on up, while the midbass is a tad loose and exaggerated. Damnation you say? Far from it. Remember the meager list price.
You know, I've been around this game for about a quarter of a century and I cannot name another loudspeaker manufacturer who puts this much thought and technology into a speaker at this price point. Once you crack the $1000 price range, yeah, maybe you expect to get this kind of design and execution. But at under $400, the Clements 107di is an unheard-of and unbelievable achievement.
While it is true that these little guys suffer from the same types of maladies as any inexpensive bookshelf speaker, they do so to a significantly lesser degree than anyone would have any right to expect given their extremely modest selling price. With the Clements 107di, your $400 buys you an extremely well-conceived and well-executed product with tremendous clarity, focus, openness and tonal truth. If your speaker budget is $650 or less, put these $390 standouts at the top of your short list.
Monster Cable Sigma Genesis 2000 moving-coil cartridge.
A special thanks goes out to Greg for his review of the 107di. Who can explain how sometimes things happen! Here I walk into an audio dealership to make a presentation of my loudspeaker line and end up with a product review. There's Greg, someone I had never met, kindly allowing me to do my dog and pony show, and never saying anything about his association with Soundstage until after the business at hand was said and done. As surprised as I was from that I was equally surprised, as he stated in the review, to hear him talk about some of my original products under the name of Phase Research Corp. originated in the late 70's, which employed patented bass, and later high output ribbon technologies. It is not often I get to exercise a stroll down memory lane about my products and the industry in general. Greg's knowledge, both historical and present, involving the industry is exceptional. It could not have made my day more than to share a few minutes with him about where the industry has come from and where it might be going.
Both Greg's knowledge and his love of music evidenced themselves well in his review of the 107di. I was most glad that he not only harnessed his reference $20,000 electronics system to the 107's, which is simply a terrific product, but also took the time to do so with an every day, down to earth basic stereo receiver and CD player, a portable one at that. I believe his observations about such with the 107's are correct. Do you get the exacting detail from a basic receiver and CD player that you would from high quality, high-end electronics? Not really, nor does anyone expect such.
I believe in the need for use of such all the time. Irrespective of a speaker's price, an uncomplicated, smooth speaker impedance curve is consistent with obtaining the smoothest electrical phase curve. Experience has taught me that such is a major component for great image, depth, and stage capability in a speaker along with something not mentioned much anymore, the accuracy of such as well. And interestingly, where you need a speaker with the smoothest and least complicated impedance load the most is not with the use of expensive, high tech, beefy power supply amps. While great with such, moreso, it is when the worst or least capable power supplies are used to drive the speaker as is the case with audio receivers. By design they are quite good but compromised in total capability by price and size considerations. So, somewhat ironically, one of my speaker technologies, an impedance compensation network, employed to help pleasure the critical stage, depth, and imaging requirements of the most demanding audiophile is the same technology that happens to be the ideal technology for speakers driven by today's many choices of audio receivers. It is the one speaker technology that greatly contributes, for all the right reasons, to making a typically associated receiver think it is on audiophile steroids. Unfortunately, and perhaps even more ironic is the fact that only a few speaker designers use such technology at any price point, and almost no one in the $1000/pair and under price range.
I use impedance compensation networks in all my products along with many other technologies some of which involve the filter network, which Greg has very astutely described. There are presently 14 models in the Clements "di" series all of which range from $225/pair to $999/pair, inclusive of powered subs, center channel models and bipolar surround speakers for sensational home theater complimented by 4 bookshelf and 4 floorstanding models for great musical enjoyment. Every speaker in the line enjoys the same engineering technologies irrespective of price or application. Price is not the common denominator of good loudspeaker design. Caring is.
Thanks again to Greg for his comprehensive review of my 107di, and to all the folks at SoundStage! with whom it is always a pleasure to work. I wish everyone the best, and keep up the great work and informative commentary that all of have come to enjoy at SoundStage!


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The 'Nigerian factor' and what it may imply for TB in Africa
In 2012 the first ever national survey of prevalence of infectious TB was conducted in Nigeria...
Nigeria's the most populous country in the region, and this was the first major African prevalence survey in years.
The results proved to be more than a little shocking: the measured 'crude prevalence of smear-positive TB' was revealed to be 256 cases per 100,000 population. In contrast the last estimated gross prevalence rate (one which included both smear-positive and smear-negative cases) which appeared in the 2013 Global TB Report was 163/100,000. This estimate, however, is not comparable with the survey's result - itwas made with the reckoning that 57% of the estimated prevalent disease was sputum-positive, with the rest being sputum-negative...
So the estimated prevalence of sputum-positive disease for 2012 (as published in the Prevalence Survey) was even lower at 93/100,000 – which is a considerable amount less than 256/100,000.
Which means that it looks like TB has been being underestimated by a factor of nearly three in a country which is both one of the WHO's 22 'High Burden Countries' and also one of the 27 'High Burden MDR-TB' ones. As such it should surely have been benefiting from extra attention and support from the WHO and so the implications of this survey should have caused shock waves around the world of medicine, public health and medical science. Very little about it appeared anywhere in the global media on the subject, however, in spite its devastatingly serious epidemiological import.
The survey's results were deemed by the WHO itself to be of "high quality". As such they warrant being taken seriously. And as such it's worth considering what they might mean, not just for Nigeria, but also for the rest of the region as well.
One of the most obvious conclusions is that the Case Detection Rate (or CDR – which is the percentage of cases who are being diagnosed in relation to the total estimated epidemic's incidence) was being estimated way too high for the country. Calculations from the survey suggest that as few as 16% of all recent cases can have been being spotted when this was previously being estimated and reported to be 51%. This means that there must be much more infectious disease in the community than was previously thought possible – or which was being used within the calculations which produced all of the other estimates for the country.
Other related estimates have now been recalculated and published in the recent WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2014 - with incidence rates for Nigeria that are now over 200% higher than in the previous report, prevalence rates that are 100% higher (amounting to a very frightening extra 300,000 current cases in the country), and a terrifying 400% hike in mortality numbers. This last highest percentage rise has been recalculated in consideration of the larger-than-previously-estimated number of untreated cases many of whom must be ending up dead.
But there are implications from this survey, of course, for the wider region as well, particularly given that Nigeria has the highest population of all of the countries in the African region.
It would certainly be rash to assume that Nigeria is typical of the rest of the continent and that these results can simply be extrapolated regionally because in ways it's not. In some important ways it is, though – the modern African phenomenon of sprawling city slums, for instance, is consistent across almost all of the more populous countries in the region. Worryingly it was found from the survey that the biggest variations in disease (and therefore the biggest discrepancies between survey and estimates) were in these very urban slums. The percentage of HIV co-infection among Nigeria's TB cases, however, is much lower - it's reckoned to be 25%, whilst it's 34% across the whole region and over 60% in most of the southern half of the continent. Logically therefore, the real mortality rates can be expected to be a lot more dreadful in southern Africa in similar circumstances. But Nigeria also has areas in its northern regions which are highly politically volatile so, although the WHO's Report doesn't identify this, it's probable that health infrastructures in these areas are under more extreme strain than in other parts of the region. It is fair to say that simple conclusions relating to the wider region shouldn't be casually drawn from the Nigerian data.
In actuality the WHO's Report is largely evasive on exactly what it believes this Survey really does imply though. Without such prevalence surveys there's really only one way of assessing the state of the disease and that's by using estimates. The Report reassures us that such estimates are normally calculated "based mainly on reported case notification data and expert opinion about the levels of under-reporting and under-diagnosis". What this Survey plainly indicates is that such expert opinion can on occasion be woefully wrong – in this case by a factor of three - but, perhaps understandably, the Global Report chooses not to labour this point or specifically identify it.
We'd like to take a minute to do so however, because very similar evidence that expert opinion concerning the African epidemic can be dramatically wrong exists elsewhere in the recent Global Report. In South Africa the gross estimate of new drug-resistant cases last year was reported to be 6,800; meanwhile the actual notifiednumber of drug-resistant cases in the country (in the same Report) was over 26,000 (or about three times the expert estimate). Frighteningly similarly to the Nigerian survey results, the incidence of South African TB seems to have been being estimated at levels that are three times lower than what they actually are - and in fact it's certainly more than this because this doesn't allow for any missing cases. Like Nigeria, South Africa is also one of those so-called 'High Burden Countries' and one of the 'High Burden MDR-TB Countries that have been warranting particular attention and support from the WHO. South Africa moreover is widely recognised as being a primary furnace not just for the African TB epidemic but for the global one as well.
In the WHO's Report there is actually a reference to the fact that the Nigerian estimates have been wayward though the number used to define the degree of variation seem to have been conservatively selected: the revised best estimate of prevalent Nigerian disease, it says, is now "approximately two times higher than the previous estimate" (choosing therefore not to mention the parallel facts that the incident disease can equally accurately be described as being approximately 'three times higher', or mortality 'four times'). Is this 'spin' (which is what we think it looks like)?
One of the revised estimates in the WHO's new Report also now allows for a 44% estimated increase in TB mortality for the African region specifically because of the Nigerian survey - but at the same time the Nigerian hike allows for just over 400%. This amounts to a nine-fold difference. Is the lower hike for the wider region entirely reasonable given the low rates of HIV co-infection in Nigeria and the number of other large urban slums elsewhere in the region? We think that it may not be.
The regional prevalence rates have also been recalculated, amounting to an increase of less than 4% when the Nigerian shift is 111%; and regional incidence rates have been recalibrated rising by nearly 12% when in Nigeria they have shifted by 328%. Do these huge differences really make coherent sense? We're far from sure that they do.
The Report does accept that this critical survey has necessitated an upward revision of global estimates of absolute numbers of disease, but at the same time the WHO specifically resists accepting the possibility that this might affect global trends. Is this in any way a correct assessment? We're not sure – in fact we don't think it really can be. Africa has the highest rates of TB regionally – so surely such significant revelation must have an impact on global trends? We wonder why on earth the WHO shows itself to be so reluctant to see it this way.


Video: "Broken Meetings (and how you'll fix them)"
A couple weeks ago, my pals at Twitter were kind enough to invite me in to visit with their (rapidly growing) team. The topic was meetings, so I used it as an opportunity to publicly premiere a talk I've been presenting to private clients over the past few months.
I hope you'll enjoy, Broken Meetings (and how you'll fix them).
You mentioned you gave a talk at Rutgers about future proofing your passion. Is this available as a podcast? I'd love to listen!
This poor kid emailed me to ask a really simple question. And I went and saddled him with the world's most circuitously long-winded answer. Surprise, surprise.
Thanks for the note, man. No I'm sorry its not up as audio AFAIK.
FWIW, it's a talk I'm asked to do more often lately so I wouldn't be surprised if it turns up sooner or later.
Since you were kind enough to ask, the talk—which comes out super different each time I do it— consists of a discursive mishmash of advice I wish I'd had the ears to hear in the year or five after graduating from college: primarily, that we never end up anywhere near where we'd expected, and that most of us would have been a lot happier a lot faster if we'd realized that we were often obsessing over the wrong things—starting with how much the world should care about our major.
Video: Merlin Mann - "Time & Attention Talk (improvised)"
Audio (mp3): "Merlin Mann - 'Rutgers Time & Attention Talk'"
This is a talk I did at Rutgers earlier this month. I kinda like it, but for a weird reason. Something something, perfect storm of technology Ragnarok, and yadda yadda, I had to start the talk 20 minutes late with no slides. Nothing.


Join us in celebration of the YETI Tundra's 10th anniversary! This event will showcase a selection of never-before-seen YETI films, visits from an array of brand ambassadors, and exciting raffles with exclusive YETI prizes to win. Plus, all event proceeds will go straight to supporting our friends at Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. Quadruple win!


text:
require 'spec_helper'

module Uphold
  module API
    describe PublicTransaction do
      let(:client) { Client.new }

      context '#all_public_transactions' do
        it 'gets all public transactions' do
          VCR.use_cassette('reserve/transactions') do
            transactions = client.all_public_transactions

            expect(transactions).to be_a(Array)
            expect(transactions.total_size).to eq 2
            expect(transactions.first).to be_a(Entities::Transaction)
            expect(transactions.first.id).to be_a(String)
          end
        end
      end

      context '#find_public_transaction' do
        it 'gets a public transaction' do
          VCR.use_cassette('reserve/transaction') do
            id = 'a97bb994-6e24-4a89-b653-e0a6d0bcf634'

            transaction = client.find_public_transaction(id: id)

            expect(transaction).to be_a(Entities::Transaction)
            expect(transaction.id).to eq id
          end
        end
      end
    end
  end
end


R. Laskar, T. K. Maji, S. Chaudhuri, A. Ghosh, N. Ray Chaudhuri, Synthesis and characterization of cis and trans isomers of [NiL2(NCS)2] [L=1- (2-aminoethyl)pyrrolidine]: X-ray single-crystal structures, Polyhedron. 19,	1803 - 1805 (2000).
Z. G. Soos, Y. Anusooya, Swapan K. Pati, Ring currents and charge stiffness of molecular and extended models of interacting fermions, J. Chem. Phys. 112,	3133 (2000).
Swapan K. Pati, Rajiv R. P. Singh, Correlated spin and orbital dimerizations in spin-orbital model, Phys. Rev. 5868 (2000).
S. Ramasesha, Swapan K. Pati, Z. Shuai and J. L. Bredas, The density matrix renormalization group method: application to the low-lying electronic states in conjugated polymers, Advances in Quantum Chemistry 38,	120 (2000).
T. K. Maji, G. Mostafa, P. S. Mukherjee, A. Mondal, A. J. Welch, K. Okamoto and N. Ray Chaudhuri, Synthesis, characterization of triamine complexes of nickel(II)selenocyanate and their thermally induced dimerization : X-ray single crystal structures of [Ni(dpt)(SeCN)2(H2O)] and [Ni(aepn)(SeCN)2(H2O)] (dpt = bis (3-aminopropyl)amine and aepn = (2-aminoethyl)(3-aminopropyl)amine, Polyhedron 19,	1903 (2000).
P. S. Mukherjee, T. K. Maji, G. Mostafa, T. Mallah and N. Ray Chaudhuri, First structurally alternating copper(II) chain with alternate single end-on and end-to-end azido Bridge: synthesis, crystal structure and low temperature magnetic study, Inorg. Chem. 39,	5147 (2000).
H. H. Ihara, K. Tanaka, Y. Tanaka, A. Iyo, N. Terada, M. Tokumoto, M. Ariyama, I. Hase, A. Sundaresan, N. Hamada, S. Miyashita, K. Tokiwa and T. Watanabe, Mechanism of Tc Enhancement in Cu1-xTlx-1234 and 1223 systems with Tc > 130k, Physica C 341-348,	487 - 488 (2000).
I. Kosaka, F. Honda, T. Kagayama, G. Oomi, E. V. Sampathkumaran and A. Sundaresan, Metal-insulator transition of Eu0.58Sr0.42MnO3 under high pressure, Physica B 500,	281 - 282 (2000).
A. Sundaresan, A. Maignan, E. Suard, C. Martin, M. Hervieu, J. L. Tholence and B. Raveau, Jahn-Teller distortion and magnetoresistance in electron doped Sr1-xCexMnO3 (x=0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4), Eur. Phys. J. B 14,	430 (2000).
N. A. Hill and U. V. Waghmare, First-principles study of strain/electronic interplay in ZnO; Stress and temperature dependence of the piezoelectric constants, Phys. Rev. B 62,	8802 (2000).
P. Murugavel, C. Narayana, A. Govindaraj, A. K. Sood and C. N. R. Rao, Brillouin scattering from C60 and C70 films: A comparative study of elastic properties, Chem. Phys. Lett. 331,	149 (2000).
B. C. Satishkumar, P. J. Thomas, A. Govindaraj and C. N. R. Rao, Y-junction carbon nanotubes, Appl. Phys. Lett. 77,	2530 (2000).
B. C. Satishkumar, A. Govindaraj, M. Nath and C. N. R. Rao, Synthesis of metal oxide nanorods using carbon nanotubes as templates, J. Mater. Chem. 10,	2115 (2000).
M. Nath, B. C. Satishkumar, A. Govindaraj and C. N. R. Rao, Formation of bundles of aligned carbon and carbon-nitrogen nanotubes on silica-supported iron and cobalt catalysts, Chem. Phys. Lett. 322,	333 (2000).
A. Govindaraj, B. C. Satishkumar, M. Nath and C. N. R. Rao, Metal nanowires and intercalated metal layers in single walled carbon nanotube bundles, Chem. Mater. 12,	202 (2000).
S. R. Mishra, M .S. Rawat, S. C. Mehandale, K. C. Rustogi, A. K. Sood, R. Bandopadhyay, A. Govindaraj and C. N. R. Rao, Optical limiting in single walled carbon nanotube suspensions, Chem. Phys. Lett. 317,	510 (2000).
P. V. Teradesai, A. K. Sood, D. V. S. Muthu, R. Sen, A. Govindaraj and C. N. R. Rao, Pressure-induced reversible transformation in single wall carbon nanotube bundles studied by Raman spectroscopy, Chem. Phys. Lett. 319,	296 (2000).
P. J. Thomas, G. U. Kulkarni and C. N. R. Rao, An investigation of two-dimensional arrays of thiolized Pd manocrystals, J. Phys. Chem. B 104,	8138 (2000).
P. J. Thomas, G. U. Kulkarni and C. N .R. Rao, Effect of size on the Coulomb staircase phenomenon in metal nanocrystals, Chem. Phys. Lett. 321,	163 (2000).
G. Raina, G. U. Kulkarni, R. T. Yadav, V. S. Ramamurthy and C. N. R. Rao, An indigenous cluster beam apparatus with a reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer, Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci (Chem. Sci.) 112,	83 (2000).
C. P. Vinod, K. R. Harikumar, G. U. Kulkarni and C. N. R. Rao, Interaction of carbon monoxide with Cu-Pd and Cu-Ni bimetallic clusters, Topics in Catal. 11/12,	293 (2000).
P. P. Edwards, R. L. Johnston and C. N. R. Rao, On the size-induced metal-insulator transition in clusters and small particles, Metal Clusters in Chemistry(P. Braunstein, L.A. Oro and P.R. Raithby, Eds.), Wiley-VCH 3,	(2000).
C. N. R. Rao, G.U. Kulkarni, P. J. Thomas and P. P. Edwards, Metal nanoparticles and their assemblies, Chem. Soc. Rev. 28,	27 (2000).
C. N. R. Rao, G. U. Kulkarni, A. Govindaraj, B. C. Satishkumar and P. J. Thomas, Metal nanoparticles, nanowires and carbon nanotubes, Pure Appl. Chem. 72,	21 (2000).
G. U. Kulkarni, R. S. Gopalan and C. N. R. Rao, Experimental and theoretical electronic charge densities in molecular crystals, J. Mol. Struc. 500,	339 (2000).
C. N. R. Rao, A. Ranganathan, V. R. Pedireddi and A. R. Raju, A novel hybrid layer compound containing silver sheets and an organic spacer, Chem. Commun. 39 (2000).
R. S. Gopalan, K. Das, G. U. Kulkarni and C. N. R. Rao, An experimental charge-density study of aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, J. Mol. Struc. 521,	97 (2000).
S. Chatterjee, V. R. Pedireddi, A. Ranganathan and C. N. R. Rao, Self-assembled four-membered networks of trimeric acid forming channel structures, J. Mol. Struc. 520,	107 (2000).
A. A. Ayi, A. Choudhury, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Cyclic acetate dimers formed by C-H...O hydrogen bonds in an open-framework zinc phosphate-acetate, New J. Chem. 25,	213 (2000).
A. Ranganathan, V. R. Pedireddi, G. Sanjayan, K. N. Ganesh and C. N. R. Rao, Sensitive dependence of the hydrogen-bonded assemblies of cyanuric acid - bipyridyl adducts on the solvent and the structure of the present acid, J. Mol. Struc. 522,	87 (2000).
R. S. Gopalan, G. U. Kulkarni and C. N. R. Rao, An experimental charge density study of the effect of the non-centric crystal field on the molecular properties of organic NLO materials, ChemPhysChem 1,	127 (2000).
A. A. Ayi, A. Choudhury, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Solution-mediated synthesis of a three-dimensional zinc phosphate in the presence of a monoamine, J. Mater. Chem. 10,	2606 (2000).
G. Gundiah and C. N. R. Rao, Macroporous oxide materials with three dimensionally interconnected pores, Solid State Sciences 2,	877 (2000).
A. Choudhury, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Layered Cobalt phosphates by the amine phosphate route, J. Solid State Chem. 155,	62 (2000).
S. Choudhury, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Formation of one-, two- and three-dimensional open-framework zinc phosphates in the presence of a tetramine, Inorg. Chem. 39,	4295 (2000).
S. Neeraj, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Zn4O4 tetrameric clusters in a zinc phosphate with channels, J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans. 2499 (2000).
P. A. Prasad, S. Neeraj, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Synthesis and structure of the first open-framework cadmium oxalate possessing channels, Chem. Commun. 1251 (2000).
A Choudhury, S. Neeraj, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, An unusual open-framework Cobalt (II) phosphate with a channel structure exhibiting structural and magnetic transitions, Angew. Chem. Intnl. Ed. 39,	3091 (2000).
R. Vaidhyanathan, S. Neeraj, P. A. Prasad, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Fascinating alkali halide structures of different dimensionalities in host lattices, Angew. Chem. Intnl. Ed. 39,	3470 (2000).
A. Choudhury, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Simple linear chain cobalt phosphates, J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans 2595 (2000).
E. E. Ebenso, K. Sardar, M. Chandrasekhar, A. R. Raju and C. N. R. Rao, Thin films of Ln1-xSrxCoO3 and SrRuO3 by nebulized spray pyrolysis, Solid State Sciences 2,	833 (2000).
A. Choudhury, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, A layered aluminium phosphate by the amine phosphate route, Intnl. J. Inorg. Mater. 2,	87 (2000).
S. Neeraj, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Isolation of a zinc phosphate primary building unit and its transformation to a layered phosphate, J. Solid State Chem. 150,	417 (2000).
S. Natarajan, S. Neeraj and C. N. R. Rao, Three-dimensional open-framework Co (II) and Zn (II) phosphates synthesized via the amine phosphate route, Solid State Sci. 2,	87 (2000).
C. N. R. Rao, S. Natarajan and S. Neeraj, Building open-framework metal phosphates from amine phosphates and a monomeric 4-membered ring phosphate, J. Solid State Chem. 152,	302 (2000).
S. Ayyappan, J. S. Chang, N. Stock, R. Hatfield, C. N. R. Rao and A. K. Cheetham, Synthesis, characterization and acid-base catalytic properties of ammonium containing Tin (II) phosphates, Intnl. J. Inorg. Mater. 2,	21 (2000).
C. N. R. Rao, S. Natarajan and S. Neeraj, Exploration of a simple universal route to the myriad of open-framework metal phosphates, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122,	2810 (2000).
A. Choudhury, S. Natarajan and C. N. R. Rao, Hybrid open-framework iron phosphate oxalates involving a dual role of the oxalate unit, Chem. Euro. J. 6,	1168 (2000).
S. Natarajan, S. Neeraj, A. Choudhury and C. N. R. Rao, Three-dimensional open-framework cobalt (II) phosphate by novel routes, Inorg. Chem. 39,	1426 (2000).
P. Murugavel, R. Sharma, A. R. Raju and C. N. R. Rao, A study of ferroelectric thin films deposited on a LaNiO3 barrier electrode by nebulized spray pyrolysis, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 33,	906 (2000).
P. Murugavel, C. Narayana, A .K. Sood and C. N. R. Rao, A. Brillouin scattering study of the quasi one-dimensional blue bronze, K0.3MoO3, J. Phys: Condens. Matter 12,	(2000).
A. Guha, N. Khare, A. K. Raychaudhuri and C. N. R. Rao, Magnetic fields resulting from non-linear electrical transport in single crystals of charge ordered Pr0.63Ca0.37MnO3, Phys.Rev. B 62,	(2000).
P. V. Vanitha, A. Arulraj, P. N. Santosh and C. N. R. Rao, Effect of cation size disorder on the structure and properties of rare earth cobaltates, Ln0.5A0.5CoO3, Chem. Mater. 12,	1666 (2000).
A. Arulraj, K. Ramesha, J. Gopalakrishnan and C. N. R. Rao, Magnetoresistance in the double perovskite Sr2CrMoO6, J. Solid State Chem. 155,	233 (2000).
L. Sudheendra, A. R. Raju and C. N. R. Rao, CMR and related properties of single crystals of cation-deficient LaMnO3, Intnl. J. Inorg. Mater. 2,	657 (2000).
S. Parashar, A. dos Santos, A. R. Raju, F. F. Lange, A. K. Cheetham and C. N. R. Rao, Charge ordering in thin films of bilayered rare earth manganates, Intnl. J. Inorg. Mater. 2,	651 (2000).
P. V. Vanitha, K. Vijayasarathy, A. K. Cheetham and C. N. R. Rao, Absence of ferromagnetism in electron-doped rare earth manganates, Solid State Commun. 115,	463 (2000).
A. Guha, A. K. Raychaudhuri, A. R. Raju and C. N .R. Rao, Non-linear conduction in charge-ordered Pr0.63Ca0.37MnO3: Effect of magnetic fields, Phys. Rev. B 62,	5320 (2000).
R. Gupta, J. P. Joshi, S. V. Bhat, A. K. Sood and C. N. R. Rao, An EPR study of Pr0.6Ca0.4MnO3 across the charge ordering transition, J. Phys: Condens. Matter 12,	6919 (2000).
P. Murugavel, C. Narayana, A. K. Sood, S. Parashar, A. R. Raju and C. N. R. Rao, Magnetic excitations in charge-ordered Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3: Brilluoin scattering study, Europhys. Lett. 52,	461 (2000).
C. Ritter, R. Mahendiran, M. R. Ibarra, L. Morellon, A. Maignan, B. Raveau and C. N. R. Rao, Direct evidence of phase segregation and magnetic field induced structural transition in Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 by neutral diffraction, Phys. Rev. B 61,	(2000).
C. N. R. Rao, A. Arulraj, A. K. Cheetham and B. Raveau, Charge ordering in rare earth manganates: The experimental situation, J. Phys: Condens. Matter. 12,	(2000).
C. N. R. Rao, Charge, spin and orbital ordering in the perovskite manganates, J. Phys. Chem. 104,	5877 (2000).
A. Biswas, A. Arulraj, A. K. Raychaudhuri and C. N. R. Rao, Collapse of the charge ordering gap of Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 in an applied magnetic field, J. Phys: Condens. Matter. 12,	(2000).
S. Parashar, E. E. Ebenso, A. R. Raju and C. N. R. Rao, Insulator-metal transitions induced by electric and magnetic fields in thin films of charge-ordered Pr1-xCaxMnO3, Solid State Commn. 114,	295 (2000).
C. N. R. Rao, A. R. Raju, V. Ponnambalam, S. Parashar and N. Kumar, Electric-field induced melting of the randomly pinned charged-ordered states of rare earth manganates and associated effects, Phys. Rev. B 61,	594 (2000).
J. Koilraj, V. K. Sharma, G. Marimuthu and M. K. Chandrashekaran, Presence of circadian rhythms in the locomotor activity of a typical cave-dwelling millipede Glyphiulus cavernicolus, Chronobiology International 17,	757 - 765 (2000).
V. K. Sharma, R. Chidambaram, R. Subbaraj and M. K. Chandrashekaran, Effect of restricted feeding on the locomotor activity rhythm in the nocturnal field mouse Mus booduga, Physiology and Behaviour 70,	81 - 87 (2000).
V. K. Sharma and M. K. Chandrashekaran, Probing the circadian oscillator of a mammal by 2-pulse perturbations, Chronobiology International 17,	129 - 136 (2000).
V. K. Sharma, R. Chidambaram and M. K.Chandrashekaran, Probing the circadian pacemaker of a mouse using two light pulses, Journal of Biological Rhythms 15,	67 - 73 (2000).
V. K. Sharma, R. Chidambaram, T. J. Singh, K. Lingakumar, R. Subbaraj and M. K. Chandrashekaran, Irradiance-dependency of UV-A induced phase shifts in the locomotor activity rhythm of the field mouse Mus booduga, Chronobiology International 17,	777 - 782 (2000).
V. K. Sharma, W. Engelmann and A. Johnsson, Static magnetic field lengthens the period of oscillation of the leaf movement rhythm in the telegraph plant Desmodium gyrans, Zeitschrift fuer Naturfor 55c,	638 - 642 (2000).
V. K. Sharma and M. K. Chandrashekaran, Probing the circadian pacemaker of a mouse using two light pulses, Journal of Biological Rhythms 15,	67 (2000).


Give me a break if I'm not smiling throughout the entire show. I had a wicked kidney infection with a touch of walking pneumonia when July 28 rolled around to retape the Outside the Box cable television show. We filmed two segments which will air in Oregon during the month of August. As soon as I have the details, I will post them here!
Thanks for the nice comments! I checked out your composting blog – good information as well. I'll be featured on local cable programming in August.
I'll keep the blog updated with dates. You might be interested as I mention organic gardening and the importance of compost during the segments.


Mexico has ratified the International Labour Organization Convention protecting workers' right to organise and access to collective bargaining.
On 20 September 2018, the Mexican Senate unanimously ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 98, adopted in Geneva, Switzerland in 1949. The Convention applies the principles of the right to organise and to bargain collectively.
The Convention protects workers' right against any acts of anti-union discrimination, in particular, acts whose purpose is to make a worker's employment conditional upon he or she not joining a union or relinquishing trade union membership. This provision grants workers full power and freedom to elect whether to belong to a union. It also eliminates the practice of using a 'closed shop clause' in collective agreements.
The Convention also provides that workers' and employers' organisations in a particular workplace may not interfere with each other; 'interference' being understood as any action aimed to promote the creation of a workers' organisation dominated by the employer or employers' organisations that financially support another workers' organisation, so as to place such workers' organisations under the employers' control.
It further provides for an obligation to create appropriate and efficient bodies to ensure respect of the right to organise, if necessary.
Inactive collective bargaining agreements will be affected once the Convention enters into force, since employers will be subject to a requirement to provide an active and accessible voluntary negotiation scheme for unionised workers.
The Convention will become a part of the Mexican legal system 12 months after being ratified with the ILO.


text:
You are here: Home » Uncategorized » Fucale Set to Regain Team Canada Magic at Spengler Cup
Fucale Set to Regain Team Canada Magic at Spengler Cup
Posted: 12:19 pm, December 21, 2016 by admin
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO – The Brampton Beast, ECHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, announce today that Beast netminder Zachary Fucale has been named to Team Canada for the upcoming 2016 Spengler Cup, taking place in Davos, Switzerland from December 26 through 31.
Fucale, 21, was one of the 23 players named to the club by Hockey Canada on Tuesday afternoon and is the lone player in the ECHL to be named to the squad. The Spengler Cup is the oldest club tournament in the world and Fucale will once again be wearing the maple leaf on his chest when the tournament kicks off on December 26 as Team Canada takes on HC Dinamo Minsk at 2:15 PM.
The Spengler Cup will certainly not be the first time that the Rosemere, Quebec native will suit up for Team Canada. Fucale was a mainstay on Team Canada's World Junior squad in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and helped win the gold medal in 2015 while posting the best goaltending numbers in the tournament, including a stellar 1.20 goals against average and a .939 save percentage.
Fucale and his Team Canada teammates are hoping to collect Canada's 14th title in the prestigious event as Canada has the opportunity to win back-to-back championships for the first time since the 2002 and 2003 tournaments.
Fans can catch all the action on Hockey Canada's official broadcast partner, TSN. TSN is scheduled to broadcast all 11 tournament games through until the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 31. For full broadcast details, please check your local listings.
Download the Beast Mobile App for FREE to get the latest news straight to your phone!
The Brampton Beast will be bringing their exciting brand of ECHL hockey back to the Powerade Centre this fall. Don't miss a minute of the action! 2016-17 Memberships are now available, starting at $34.78 plus HST per month.
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