Indian Courts have in several decisions held that matters, in which grave allegations of fraud, conspiracy or misappropriation are made, are too serious to be tried by arbitrators. Therefore, in India, and several other countries, such matters cannot be the subject-matter of arbitration. This view has also been upheld by the Supreme Court of India in N. Radhakrishnan vs Maestro Engineers ("N Radhkrishnan"). The Courts have given various reasons for holding that arbitrators are incompetent to hear such matters. Reputation of the party, ineffectiveness of arbitration where substantial amount of documentary evidence needs to be produced and lack of legal knowledge of the arbitrator, are some of the most cited reasons for limiting the scope of arbitration by such a huge extent. It is also necessary to consider the impact of such a limitation on Indian arbitration law, from an international commercial arbitration perspective.
This article aims to analyze whether arbitration tribunals should be allowed to hear such matters and whether they can function effectively in cases involving fraud. It is to be noted that this article focuses only on fraud, conspiracy or misappropriation that relates only to the issues between parties of a valid arbitration agreement. This article does not dwell into issues which arise when the arbitration agreement itself was obtained by fraud, misrepresentation, coercion, undue influence or on mistake of fact. 'Fraud' wherever used in this article includes conspiracy or misappropriation and other similar acts, but only from the perspective of civil law. It is well settled in law that criminal offences cannot be referred to arbitration, and the author does not dispute the correctness of such a limitation on arbitration.
Part II of this article analyzes the various judgements that have held that matters involving allegations of fraud cannot be tried by arbitrators. It also compares the ratio of the judgements passed under the provisions of The Arbitration Act, 1940 ("the Act of 1940") with the judgements passed under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ("the Act of 1996"). Part III of this article tests, theoretically, the applicability of 'confidentiality' on arbitration proceedings and awards, in India. It also considers confidentiality in arbitration proceedings, as a possible solution to widen the scope of arbitration, thereby bringing allegations of fraud within its ambit. Part IV proposes possible solutions to minimize judicial intervention in cases involving fraud, and also puts forth circumstances in which fraud claims can be tried by arbitrators.
In N Radhkrishnan, the parties before the Supreme Court had entered into a partnership and the partnership deed executed between them contained an arbitration clause. Disputes arose between the partners and letters were exchanged. In these letters, one partner who was the appellant, alleged fraud and serious malpractices by the other document partners and offered to resign from the partnership.
The appellant filed an application before the district court under section 8(1) of the Act of 1996 and requested the district court to refer the dispute to arbitration in light of the arbitration clause in the partnership deed. The district court dismissed the appellant's application to refer the matter to arbitration. On appeal, the Madras High Court also rejected his request for arbitration. The appellant then sought relief from the Supreme Court, but the Apex Court also found against him and dismissed his appeal to refer the dispute to arbitration. The reasoning adopted by the Supreme Court was that such situations cannot be appropriately settled by arbitration.
"Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, in matters governed by this Part (Part I of the Act), no judicial authority shall intervene except where so provided this Part (Part I of the Act)."
No provision of Part I of the Act of 1996 provides for judicial intervention in cases involving substantial questions relating to facts or those which involve serious allegations relating to fraud and malpractice. It is interesting to note that despite the huge impact of this judgement on section 5 of the Act, the Supreme Court's judgement does not once mention or refer to section 5 of the Act.
In N Radhkrishnan, the Supreme Court relied on Abdul Kadir Shamshuddin Bubere vs Madhav Prabhakar Oak, Haryana Telecom Ltd. vs. Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. and Oomor Sait Vs. Aslam Sait.
Abdul Kadir Shamshuddin Bubere vs Madhav Prabhakar Oak arose under the Act of 1940. In this case, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that "where serious allegations of fraud are made against a party and the party who is charged with fraud desires that the matter should be tried in open court, that would be a sufficient cause for the court not to order an arbitration agreement to be filed and not to make the reference to the arbitrator."
"(3) On such application being made, the Court shall direct notice thereof to be given to all parties to the agreement other than the applicants, requiring them to show cause within the time specified in the notice why the agreement should not be filed.
Section 20 was the only provision under the Chapter 'Arbitration With Intervention of a Court Where There Is No Suit Pending' of the Act of 1940. In the judgement of Abdul Kadir Shamshuddin Bubere vs Madhav Prabhakar Oak, the Court had the benefit of the wide scope of judicial intervention provided by section 20 of the Act of 1940. Therefore, under the circumstances, it is humbly submitted that this case should not have been relied on by the Court in N Radhakrishnan.
Although the correctness of the order is not doubted, emphasis must be placed on the fact that the Supreme Court passed such an opinion in an order, and not in a judgement, that too without making reference to any precedents, whatsoever. Other relevant factors such as lack of arbitration agreement with certain creditors were not gone into and more emphasis could have been placed on the uniqueness of the nature of winding up proceedings, bringing it out of the scope of arbitration.
The Court upheld the High Court's decision that "since the case relates to allegations of fraud and serious malpractices on the part of respondents, such a situation can only be settled in court through furtherance of detailed evidence by either parties and such a situation cannot be properly gone into by the arbitrator".
In H.G. Oomor Sait And Another vs O. Aslam Sait the Madras High Court held that although it was true that the discretion of the Civil Court to proceed with the suit is narrowed down by the Act, the Court unable read to anything from the Act of 1996 which would place a total embargo on the Civil Court to continue the proceedings before it only on the mere existence of an arbitration clause. A combined reading of all the provisions of the 1996 Act as well as section 8 disclosed that the time-tested reasons which were behind the several judgments of the various Courts as well as the English Courts holding that Civil Court can refuse to stay the suit and can proceed with the suit under certain circumstances continue to hold good even now. The Court acknowledged the short-comings and deficiencies of enquiries before an arbitrator. The Court laid down the reason why, over a century, Courts have repeatedly held that in cases where substantial questions of law arise for consideration or issues which require serious consideration of evidence relating to fraud and misrepresentation etc. are involved, such cases are best left to the civil court and that the arbitrator will not be competent to go into the said issues. It stated that the nature of the enquiry before an arbitrator is summary and that the rules of procedure and evidence are not binding.
In the above case the Court was of the opinion that the Act of 1996 did not remove the abovementioned inadequacies and deficiencies. The Rules of Procedure and evidence are not building on the proceedings before an arbitrator vide Section 19(1) of the Act. The Court agreed that a solemn agreement between the parties to resolve the disputes by an alternative forum before the arbitrator should be strictly complied with. Thus the Court held that disputes involving consideration of substantial questions of law and contested allegations of mala fides, fraud, misrepresentation etc. which depend on adducing of and scrutiny of detailed oral and documentary evidence, then the parties as well as the Civil Court would be justified in ignoring the arbitration clause.
Section 27 of the 1996 Act provides for the arbitrator to seek the assistance of the Court in taking evidence is an example of the admitted deficiencies of a proceeding before the arbitrator. Even after obtaining such assistance from the Civil Court, the arbitrator would still be unable to appreciate the demeanour of the witnesses which is an essential feature of appreciation of oral evidence. Assuming that the grounds of challenge of an arbitration award as provided under the New Act has been narrowed down compared to the old Act, that would be all the more reason why the jurisdiction of the Civil Court to go into such contentions issues like substantial questions of law or serious allegation of fraud etc., requiring detailed evidence, should be properly reserved for a Civil Court to go into and decide.
The Court also entertained the possibility that the arbitrator may not be even a law-knowing person.
The case of Bombay Gas Co. Ltd. vs Parmeshwar Mittal & Others, arose at a time when the proceedings under the Act of 1940 had not yet commenced and the Act of 1996 came into force. The Court said that the provisions of the new Act would apply. The Court in this case held that it is settled position of law that it is the person against whom fraud is alleged has an option to have the matter decided by the Civil Court.
English Courts have also held that in cases of fraud or misconduct or dishonesty or misappropriation of money or negligence involving the professional reputation of a party is charged, the court will in general refuse to send the dispute to arbitration if the party against whom such charges are made desires trial in open court. In the landmark judgement of Russel v. Russell the Court held that in order to oppose reference of the matter for arbitration, the objection to arbitration proceedings must be by the party on whom fraud has been alleged.
In Cunningham Reid v. Buchanan-Jardine, the plaintiff alleged the defendant of wrongful conversion of money. The dispute arose under a contract which contained an arbitration clause. The defendant applied for stay of the suit. The court held that despite the serious charge of fraud, there was no good reason why the normal course of allowing the matter to proceed to arbitration in accordance with the parties' agreement should not be adopted. The Court granted a stay, which was vacated in an appeal by the plaintiff, but was restored in a further appeal by the defendant. In the second appeal the Court held that a stay would be refused almost as of course if the party charged with fraud objected to a stay and wanted to clear his name in open court, but one could not escape from the conclusion laid down by the House of Lords that, if the case was the other way round, ie the party charged with fraud was seeking arbitration and the party charged with fraud was opposing a stay, then even if a strong prima facie case of fraud was made out, that was not by itself enough to warrant refusing a stay. Thus, the party on whom fraud was alleged had the right to choose whether or not to refer the matter for arbitration. It can be inferred that it is the reputation of the party on whom fraud is alleged, which is given importance.
This judgement has been commended by jurists, for it makes a valuable reconciliation between Russel v. Russell and Camita Cotton Oil Co. v. Granadex. S.A. And Tracomin S.A.
In another case, there was an arbitration clause in the contract of employment. The servant sued the master for wrongful dismissal. Since the master gave an undertaking to the court that he will not plead or suggest fraud in the arbitration proceedings, an application for stay was granted in favour of the master and the matter was referred to arbitration.
If factors such as reputation of the party are considered for not referring a matter for arbitration, then perhaps it is also relevant to take into account the level of confidentiality in arbitration proceedings. If arbitration proceedings and awards are made confidential, then it will protect the parties reputation, since allegations of fraud, etc. will not be made public. Conversely, when negative allegations have already entered the public domain, the party on whom such allegations are made may wish to clear his name by making the decision or award public. In such case, making arbitration proceedings and awards confidential will be counter-productive.
Article 30 of the LCIA India Arbitration Rules imposes a general principal of confidentiality in the deliberations, materials and even award in arbitration, and enumerates the limited circumstances in which the disclosure is permitted by the arbitrators and the parties to the arbitration. However, the Act of 1996 only mentions confidentiality only with respect to conciliation.
In England, the concept of confidentiality in arbitration, domestic as well as international, has slowly flourished. Although the English Arbitration Act, 1996 does not have any specific provision relating to confidentiality in arbitration proceedings, the general principles of confidentiality have been laid down in several cases. Thus, in English law, confidentiality is considered as an implied term in arbitration agreements.
It appears that, other than in England, the current trend in international arbitration is to discourage arbitral confidentiality. In the Australian case of Esso Australia Resources Ltd v. The Honourable Sidney James Plowman the court concluded that while confidentiality should be respected, it was not an essential attribute of arbitration. Courts in Sweden and the United States have moved away from a general duty of confidentiality in arbitration. The new French arbitration law states that subject to legal requirements, and unless otherwise agreed by the parties, arbitral proceedings shall be confidential in the case of domestic arbitration. Thus, the requirement of confidentiality in domestic arbitration proceedings is presumed. In the case of international arbitration, the new French arbitration law also provides that the deliberations of the arbitration tribunal must be confidential.
It is humbly submitted that preventing the matter from going into arbitration merely because the arbitrator is not a person having legal-knowledge and may not be aware of rules of procedure and evidence, is not sufficient cause to refrain the parties from proceeding with arbitration. The qualification of the arbitrator may always be an issue, for sometimes the disputes may arise on unforeseeable technical complexities, other than on areas of law. For example, some cases would require the arbitrator to have a high-level knowledge of accounts, architecture, stock markets, a specific area of engineering, etc. Even judges, who may be skilled only in law, must in several case, become experts on other technical aspects. The fact that the arbitrator does not have legal knowledge may affect the choice of the arbitrator, but not the arbitration proceedings itself. Therefore, if parties are restrained from proceeding with arbitration simply because a particular arbitrator is not an expert on the subject-matter of the arbitration, arbitration agreements will not be worth the papers they are printed on.
Even in Justice Bachawat's 'Law of Arbitration & Conciliation' it is stated that, in view of the mandatory provisions of section 8, the objections as to reference to arbitration on the grounds that the action of the defendant amounts to criminal offence and fabrication of the records are without any merit.
The issue of reputation of the parties can be resolved by giving the party on whom the fraud is alleged the option of confidentiality in arbitration proceedings. Since the Act of 1996 does not provide anything about confidentiality of the arbitration proceedings, Courts can adopt the practice of giving the "option of confidentiality", which would have a minimal interference with the arbitration proceedings, instead of giving the "option of clearing name in open court". As discussed above, when the arbitration proceedings are made compulsorily confidential it may prove to be counter-productive in cases where allegations of fraud against one of the parties has already entered the public domain. This issue does not arise when such party has the "option of confidentiality".
In the author's opinion, the most valid reason for limiting the scope of arbitration in cases of fraud is ineffectiveness of arbitration tribunals in processing substantial amount of evidence. It is submitted that this limitation does not arise solely due to the provisions of the Act, but due to practical difficulties in their implementation. Whenever judicial intervention is required in arbitration proceedings, delays are bound to arise. Unfortunately section 27 of the Act of 1996 is a necessary evil. The mechanism for dealing with applications under section 27 is, indeed, in need of improvement.
However, instead of ousting the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, perhaps the Courts could consider referring the matter for arbitration, while holding that the arbitrator, under section 16 of the Act of 1996, had the power to rule that the tribunal did not have jurisdiction, in cases where the evidence was too substantial. Thus, the decision of whether the evidence is too substantial or not, should be left to the arbitrator. This would ensure minimal judicial intervention in arbitration proceedings, and would be in-line with section 5 of the Act of 1996.
Excluding cases involving fraud or those involving large amount of documentary evidence from the scope of arbitration is a huge impediment on the flourishing of arbitration, as a mechanism for alternate dispute resolution, in India. Indian Courts must, as far as possible, refrain from interfering with the arbitral process. Such restrictions on arbitration also discourage parties from selecting the Act of 1996, or any part thereof, as the arbitral law.
However, until Courts change their view regarding fraud allegations and arbitration, or until the Act of 1996 is appropriately amended, parties entering into to an arbitration agreement and legal practitioners drafting such an agreement, must keep in mind the factors such as confidentiality of the arbitral proceedings, with respect to the nature of the possible disputes that may arise.
 Article 30 Confidentiality: 30.1 Unless the parties expressly agree in writing to the contrary, the parties undertake as a general principle to keep confidential all awards in their arbitration, together with all materials in the proceedings created for the purpose of the arbitration and all other documents produced by another party in the proceedings not otherwise in the public domain - save and to the extent that disclosure may be required of a party by legal duty, to protect or pursue a legal right or to enforce or challenge an award in bona fide legal proceedings before a court or other judicial authority.
30.2 The deliberations of the arbitral tribunal are likewise confidential to its members, save and to the extent that disclosure of an arbitrator's refusal to participate in the arbitration is required of the other members of the arbitral tribunal under Articles 10, 12 and 26.
30.3 The LCIA Court does not publish any award or any part of an award without the prior written consent of all parties and the arbitral tribunal.
 Commenced on 17 April 2010.
 Dolling-Baker v. Merrett  1 WLR 1205; Ali Shipping Corporation v. Shipyard Trogir  EWCA Civ 3054, Emmott v. Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd  EWCA Civ 184.
 Nigel Blackaby, Constantine Partasides, Alan Redfern, Martin Hunter, 'Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration, 5th Edition, Oxford University Press, (2009) at 2.152.


text:
You are here: Home / Buzz / Grand Mufti Calls for 'Destruction of All Churches in Region'
Grand Mufti Calls for 'Destruction of All Churches in Region'
March 23, 2012 By Raymond Ibrahim
EDITORIAL – According to several Arabic news sources, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, declared that it is "necessary to destroy all the churches of the region."
The Grand Mufti made his assertion in response to a question posed by a delegation from Kuwait: a Kuwaiti parliament member recently called for the "removal" of churches (he later "clarified" by saying he merely meant that no churches should be built in Kuwait), and the delegation wanted to confirm Sharia's position on churches.
Accordingly, the Grand Mufti "stressed that Kuwait was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, and therefore it is necessary to destroy all churches in it."
As with many grand muftis before him, the Sheikh based his proclamation on the famous tradition, or hadith, wherein the prophet of Islam declared on his deathbed that "There are not to be two religions in the [Arabian] Peninsula," which has always been interpreted to mean that only Islam can be practiced in the region.
While the facts of this account speak for themselves, consider further:
Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah is not just some random Muslim hating on churches. He is the Grand Mufti of the nation that brought Islam to the world. Moreover, he is the President of the Supreme Council of Ulema [Islamic scholars] and Chairman of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing of Fatwas. Accordingly, when it comes to what Islam teaches, his words are immensely authoritative.
Considering the hysteria that besets the West whenever non-authoritative individuals offend Islam— for instance, a fringe, unknown pastor [Terry Jones] — imagine what would happen if a Christian counterpart to the Grand Mufti, say the Pope, were to declare that all mosques in Italy must be destroyed; imagine the nonstop Western media frenzy that would erupt, all the shrill screams of "intolerance" and "bigot," demands for apologies if not resignation, nonstop handwringing by sensitive politicians, and worse.
Yet the Grand Mufti — the highest Islamic law authority of our "friend-and-ally" Saudi Arabia — gets a free pass when he incites Muslims to destroy churches, not that any extra incitement is needed (nary a month goes by without several churches being bombed and destroyed throughout the Islamic world). In fact, at the time of this writing, I have not seen this story, already some three days old [on 14-Mar-2012], translated on any English news source, though "newsworthy" stories are often translated in mere hours.
Likewise, consider the significance of the Grand Mufti's rationale for destroying churches: it is simply based on a hadith. But when non-Muslims evoke hadiths — this one or the countless others that incite violence and intolerance against the "infidel" — they are accused of being "Islamophobes," of intentionally slandering and misrepresenting Islam, of being obstacles on the road to "dialogue," and so forth.
Which leads to perhaps the most important point: Islam's teachings are so easily ascertained; there is no mystery in determining what is "right" and "wrong" in Islam. The Grand Mufti based his fatwa on a canonical hadith, which Muslims and (informed) non-Muslims know is part of Islam's sources of jurisprudence (or usul al-fiqh). And yet the West— with all its institutions of higher learning, including governmental agencies dealing with cultural and religious questions — is still thoroughly "confused" as to what Islam teaches.
All of this is nothing short of a scandal — a reminder of just how deep the mainstream media, academia, and most politicians have their collective heads thrust in the sand.
Meanwhile, here is the latest piece of evidence of just how bad churches have it in the Muslim world, for those who care to know.
Raymond Ibrahim
Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum. This editorial is reprinted with permission from the Middle East Forum.
A widely published author, best known for The Al Qaeda Reader (Doubleday, 2007), he guest lectures at universities, including the National Defense Intelligence College, briefs governmental agencies, such as U.S. Strategic Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and has testified before Congress regarding the conceptual failures that dominate American discourse concerning Islam and the worsening plight of Egypt's Christian Copts. Among other media, he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, CBN, and NPR.
Filed Under: Buzz, Editorial, World Tagged With: Islam, religion, Terry Jones
Avid Reader says
While this editorial is from a right-wing fascist organization it is important to note a few points.
1. No where it is mentioned that Saudi Arabia follows the teachings of Wahabism [also Salafism, Takfirism]. This school of thought is a fascist ideology that the vast majority of Muslims will agree is based on political thought and little to do with actually religion.
2. Wahabism and its patrons, the Saudi ruling family, are supported by the West. The question we must ask ourselves is why does the US, UK and other countries with a colonial history support such an ideology? Could it be as it serves its interests in following a 'divide and conquer' policy?
3. Wahabism targets all those who hold different beliefs to be ideological outside the fold of Islam. Even other Muslims especially Shia. One has to look at the killings in Pakistan.
4. This statement was condemned and rejected by both the Grand Mufti of Turkey and the AhlulBayt World Assembly in Iran. I will quote both of them here.
"We believe that the mentioned opinion is evidently against the aims of Islam, especially in a region that witnessed the descent of the Holy Quran and the first application of the Sunnah of the Prophet. It is against the Muslim tradition's established practice of respecting non-Muslims' rights as well," he noted.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-276525-turkeys-top-muslim-cleric-slams-saudi-mufti-over-his-call-to-destroy-churches.html
"First of all, Wahhabi muftis are not representing Islam. The world should know that the religion which is now being publicized in Saudi Arabia is not true Islam," Ahl al-Bait World Assembly said in a statement published by Ahl al-Bait News Agency (ABNA) on Tuesday.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/233420.html

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Microsoft recently announced that it is not going to manage Microsoft Commerce product from this year. This decision has made it very difficult for Companies having Microsoft Commerce based e-commerce sites to be in line with the latest technologies and be ahead of their competitors.
An easy and best solution is to migrate from Microsoft Commerce based e-commerce site to WebSphere Commerce based eCommerce site.
Why WebSphere Commerce based E-commerce Solution?
IBM WebSphere Commerce Enterprise software is the market leader and ranked No.1 by Gartner in their recent survey.
This includes shifting the catalog information from Microsoft commerce to WebSphere Commerce.
This includes extracting the order information from the Microsoft Commerce based e-commerce environment and loading into the WebSphere Commerce environment.
This includes extracting the member information from the Microsoft Commerce based e-commerce environment and loading into the WebSphere Commerce environment.
Run the Royal Cyber Migration Utility to generate the WebSphere Commerce specific file formats from the Microsoft Commerce catalog XML file.
Load the WebSphere Commerce specific file formats into the WebSphere Commerce using Data Load utility, or Management Center.


text:
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text:
/ Frank Sinatra
/ Nothing But The Best
Nothing But The Best (Remastered)
Preview Nothing But The Best (Remastered)
FRANK SINATRA DIGITAL REPRISE
Come Fly With Me (Remastered Album Version)
The Best Is Yet To Come (2008 Remastered)
The Way You Look Tonight (Remastered 2008)
Luck Be A Lady (2008 Remastered)
Bewitched (2008 Remastered)
The Good Life (Remastered Album Version)
The Girl From Ipanema (2008 Remastered)
Fly Me To The Moon (Remastered)
Summer Wind (Remastered 2008)
Strangers In The Night (Remastered 2008)
Call Me Irresponsible (Remastered Album Version)
Somethin' Stupid (2008 Remastered)
My Kind Of Town (Remastered 2008)
It Was A Very Good Year (Remastered 2008)
That's Life (Remastered 2008)
Moonlight Serenade (2008 Remastered)
Nothing But The Best (Remastered Album Version)
Drinking Again (2008 Remastered)
All My Tomorrows (2008 Remastered)
My Way (Remastered 2008)
Theme From New York, New York (Remastered 2008)
Body And Soul (Remastered Album Version)
℗ 2008 Frank Sinatra Enterprises, LLC
© 2008 Frank Sinatra Enterprises, LLC
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Out of the Night Johnny Hartman 2012


Why not make the most of your day at IWM Duxford and download our free family trails and resources? Bring the trails with you to learn and have fun!
Enjoy our secret activities before or after your visit to IWM Duxford. Crack secret codes and messages or make your own invisible ink.


Ask how to be a member of our homeschool group!
We are a Christian support/activity group for home school families in and around the Cabot area. We have activities, meetings and field trips throughout the school year.
Skating, Bowling, and Park Days.


text:
Q: kubernetes: How to set active namespace for all kubectl commands? I am working on kubernetes cluster. In my cluster i am having 3 namespaces.

*

*Default

*Staging

*Production
At a time when i want to work on staging namespace.
In every kubectl command i have to pass namespace
kubectl get pods -n staging

kubectl get deployment -n staging

Is there any way to set active namespace at a time?

A: kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<insert-namespace-name-here>

Refer here
Also you can use kubectx plugin

A: kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<insert-namespace-name-here>
# Validate it
kubectl config view --minify | grep namespace:

Ref: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/namespaces/#setting-the-namespace-preference

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
VINICIUS NIPOTE
With my MUSIC
comes to LIFE
This Soundcloud playlist highlights some of the game soundtracks I composed over the years.
Please note that the only place they are available for purchase and/or download is here.
I composed the earlier soundtracks for the game Battle Mech Frontier, developed by Nox Aquila. It is soon to be released on Steam.
Click here to visit its Steam page.
This is my first work as a composer for a short film. It is called The Young Folks and was directed by Leo Maino.
Scenario, storyline and soundtrack were all based on a song that carries the name of the movie.
You can listen to the full album either on Spotify or Deezer.
Despite being a graduate in Digital Game Development, my focus over the last five years has been on soundtrack writing for games and short films, while deepening my musical knowledge.
In addition to working on soundtracks, I am a professional bassist and currently formed a tribute group for legendary guitarist Pat Metheny. I also perform in the only active 'Steely Dan' and 'Yes' tribute groups located in Brazil.
Below is a video of me playing with the Steely Dan tribute band:
If you wish to contact me, please write me at vnipote@gmail.com or use the form to the right.
vnipote@gmail.com
Phone: +55 11 996975711
Discord: Bottino#0799
Vinicius Nipote - 2019 All rights reserved.


text:
Q: Rails 3: Has_many through and Me I'm fairly new to Rails, I got this code working but I think I'm preventing it from doing it some of its Rails magic:
Goal: Create a cause and have the creator become a member via the build method and the has_many :through association in the Cause_User_Membership table.
Question: I've gotten it to work, by creating a cause and then creating a membership 'manually.' Is there a way for the Cause_User_Membership relationship to be created automatically on the creation of a cause?
Cause_Controller.rb
def create
@cause = current_user.causes.build(params[:cause].merge :created_by => current_user.id)

respond_to do |format|
  if @cause.save
    @membership = current_user.cause_user_memberships.build(:cause_id => @cause.id)
    @membership.save
    format.json { render :json => {current_user: current_user, results: @cause}}
  else
    format.json { render :json => {Message: "You messed up"}}
  end
end
end

User.rb (snippet)
has_many :cause_user_memberships
has_many :causes, :through => :cause_user_memberships

Cause.rb
attr_accessible :title, :location, :description,...
has_many :cause_user_memberships
has_many :users, :through => :cause_user_memberships

Cause_User_Membership.rb (<--probably not my best model name)
    # == Schema Information
#
# Table name: cause_user_memberships
#
#  id         :integer          not null, primary key
#  user_id    :integer          not null
#  cause_id   :integer          not null
#  created_at :datetime         not null
#  updated_at :datetime         not null
#

class CauseUserMembership < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :cause_id, :user_id

  belongs_to :user #, :class_name => "User", :foreign_key => "user_id"
  belongs_to :cause #, :class_name => "Cause", :foreign_key => "cause_id"

end

A: Update:
I found a slightly more "magical" way to do this using accepts_nested_attributes_for. First, add a line to your CauseUserMembership model:
class CauseUserMembership < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :cause_id, :user_id

  belongs_to :user
  belongs_to :cause

  accepts_nested_attributes_for :cause

With that change, you can do this:
def create
  @membership = current_user.memberships.build
  @membership.cause = Cause.new(params[:cause].merge(:created_by => current_user.id)

  respond_to do |format|
    if @membership.save
      ...

Because you have told rails to accept nested attributes for the cause association on CauseUserMembership, it will save the new cause you assigned to @membership.cause when it saves the membership itself. So you can save both the cause and membership records at one time, rather than separately.
Original answer:
I think what you've done is pretty much the right way to do this. It can be simplified a tad bit: you don't need to build cause from current_user, you can just use new (the :through associations on cause and current_user are set when you create @membership).
So like this (I only changed the first line in create):
def create
  @cause = Cause.new(params[:cause].merge(:created_by => current_user.id))

  respond_to do |format|
    if @cause.save
      @membership = current_user.cause_user_memberships.build(:cause_id => @cause.id)
      @membership.save
      ...

See also: Many-to-Many through association Build/Create properties in Rails app


The HSE Centre of Development made a quarterly survey of forecasters February 13–20. Twenty-five experts, including analysts from Alfa Bank, BCS, Institute of Vnesheconombank, LUKOIL, Morgan Stanley, Nordea Bank, JPMorgan and others, took part in the survey.
Consensus forecast for the GDP in the Russian Federation for 2019 is 1.3%. The forecast was lowered by 0.1 percentage point when compared with the consensus assessment made three months ago. Four of 23 forecasters participating in both surveys reduced their projections for the current year by 0.5 percentage points and more, six by 0.1-0.4 percentage points, eight left the estimates unchanged, and only five increased their forecasts for the current year by no more than 0.1 percentage point.
Survey findings are the same as the official forecasts made by the government for 2019 – the Ministry of Economic Development expects the increase of the GDP by 1.3%. The consensus forecasts made by the economists and the authorities for 2020 are 1.8% and 2% respectively. Growth forecasts for 2021-2025 made by the experts are 1.1-1.4% lower than those of the Ministry of Economic Development.
At the same time, Sberbank lowered its forecast for the ruble exchange rate for the next two years. In December 2018, the bank estimated the average ruble rate at 66.5 rubles/dollar over the current forecast at 68.5 rubles/dollar. The previous projections for 2020 were at 67 rubles/dollar, while now bank analysts estimate the rate at 69 rubles/dollar. Adjusted inflation expectations for 2019 and 2020 vary from 4.8% to 4% respectively.
Previously the European Commission published a new forecast for the economic growth in the Euro area. The GDP of the Euro area is expected to grow by 1.3% in 2019 and 1.6% in 2020 over 1.9% and 2.0% growth forecasts made in November.


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The castle ticket includes admission to the Castle courtyard, the barrel cellar and the German Pharmacy Museum, and the ticket for the funicular (round trip from the lower station to the station "Molkenkur" with stopover at Heidelberg Castle).
TIPP: It is even easier with the HeidelbergCARD – where the castle ticket is already included! On top you can use public transport for free and you get several special deals for guided tours, museums, leisure activities, restaurants and shopping.


text:
24 Years Ago Today -- Game 6 of 1986 World Series
TJHinNYC
For the record, today marks the 24th anniversary of a truly momentous game in Mets history — the incredible comeback against the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
I had the great privilege (and enormous luck) of attending that game. A few days before, I won two Field Level box seat tickets in a (free) office raffle. It wasn't until the Mets won Game 4 to tie the Series that a future Game 6 was assured.
I knew from the very beginning of the game — when that guy parachuted onto the field with an enormous Mets banner behind him — that that would be a special night.
We all know what transpired in the finally innings of that game. There is, however, one small point I would like to make in correcting some people's recollection of that game. I have seen in some documentary footage that ceratin folks in the stands (and in the dugouts) noted that the DiamondVision operator inadvertently posted a message — after the second Mets out of the 10th inning — congratulating the Red Sox on their win. Regardless of what you may have heard or seen, the message had, in fact, just three words: "CONGRATULATIONS RED SOX"
It appeared for about two seconds. I was seated in the Field Level, about 2/3 of the way down the left field side. My peripheral vision caught something being put up on the DiamondVision message board, and a moment later it was gone — but not before making an indelible impression in my mind.
Anyway, a very small point, but something worth setting straight, I think.
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text:
Leverett Allen Adams (* 23. September 1877 in Lawrence, Kansas; † 18. August 1976 in La Jolla, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Zoologe und Museumskurator.

Leben

Familie und Ausbildung
Leverett Allen Adams, Sohn des James W. Adams und der Mary Janes Pierson Adams, absolvierte die Lawrence High School. Adams wandte sich im Anschluss dem Studium der Biologie an der University of Kansas zu, 1903 erwarb der den akademischen Grad eines Bachelor of Arts, 1906 den eines Master of Arts. 1915 wurde er an der Columbia University zum Doctor of Philosophy promoviert.

Der Kongregationalist Leverett Allen Adams, Anhänger der Republikaner, heiratete am 27. November 1917 Mary Loise Moss. Dieser Ehe entstammten die Kinder Leverett Allen junior, Virginia Louise und Mary Ladd. Adams verbrachte seinen Lebensabend in La Jolla im US-Bundesstaat Kalifornien, dort verstarb er im Sommer 1976 knapp vor Vollendung seines 99. Lebensjahres.

Beruflicher Werdegang
Leverett Allen Adams erhielt im Jahre 1903 eine Anstellung als Museum Assistant am Department of Zoology der University of Kansas. 1906 wechselte Adams als Assistant Professor of Biology an das State Teachers College nach Greeley im US-Bundesstaat Colorado, 1914 wurde er zum Leiter des Departments of Biology bestellt. 1921 folgte Leverett Allen Adams einem Ruf als Assistant Professor of Zoology an die University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1935 wurde er zum Associate Professor, 1938 zum Full Professor, 1939 zum Kurator des Natural History Museums ernannt, 1948 wurde er emeritiert.

Er wurde zum Fellow der American Association for the Advancement of Science und zum Mitglied der American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, der American Society of Zoologists, der American Association of Museums, der Association of Midwest Museums, der Acacia Fraternity (Ακακία), der Sigma Xi sowie der Beta Theta Pi gewählt. Adams veröffentlichte zahlreiche Aufsätze in wissenschaftlichen Zeitschriften. Sein Forschungsschwerpunkt galt den Wirbeltieren und der vergleichenden Anatomie.

Publikationen
 Description of the skull and separate cranial bones of the wolf-eel (Anarrhichtys ocellatus). In: University of Kansas science bulletin, v. 4, no. 16. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan. 1908.
 A memoir on the phylogeny of the jaw muscles in recent and fossil vertebrates. In: Studies in comparative osteology and myology, no. 2. Ph. D. Columbia University 1915, New York 1919.
 Necturus; a laboratory manual. Macmillan, New York 1926.
 A Memoir on the Phylogeny of the Faw Muscles in Recent and Fossil Vertebrates. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind. 1942.
 zusammen mit Samuel Eddy: Comparative anatomy; an introduction to the vertebrates. Wiley, New York 1949.

Literatur
 Beta Theta Pi: The Beta Theta Pi, Volume 67, Issue 6. Beta Theta Pi, 1940, S. 530, 531.
 Illinois State Archaeological Society: Journal of the Illinois State Archaeological Society. Volume V. Illinois State Archaeological Society, Springfield, Ill., 1947, S. 18, 19.
 Who was who in America. Volume V: 1969–1973. Marquis Who's Who. New Providence, NJ., 1973, S. 3.
 L. G. Pine, Edward Martell, Alberta Lawrence: Who was who among English and European authors, 1931-1949 : based on entries which first appeared in The Author's and writer's who's who & reference guide originally compiled by Edward Martell and L.G. Pine and in Who's who among living authors of older nations, originally compiled by Alberta Lawrence. in: Gale composite biographical dictionary series, no. 2.; Omnigraphics book.. Gale Research Co., Detroit, 1978, S. 8.
 Robert A. Croker: Pioneer Ecologist: The Life and Work of Victor Ernest Shelford, 1877-1968. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 1991, S. 183.

Weblinks
 Leverett A. Adams Papers, 1919–61. In: University of Illinois Archives; abgerufen am 3. August 2016

Zoologe
Kurator einer naturwissenschaftlichen Sammlung
Hochschullehrer (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Fellow der American Association for the Advancement of Science
US-Amerikaner
Geboren 1877
Gestorben 1976
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Food and Feasts of Jesus
The Original Mediterranean Diet, with Menus and Recipes
Douglas E. Neel and Joel A. Pugh
The New Testament is filled with stories of Jesus eating with people—from extravagant wedding banquets to simple meals of loaves and fishes. The Food and Feasts of Jesus offers a new perspective on life in biblical times by taking readers inside these meals. Food production and distribution impacted all aspects of ancient life, including the teachings of Jesus. From elaborate holiday feasts to a simple farmer's lunch, the book explores the significance of various meals, discusses key ingredients, places food within the socioeconomic conditions of the time, and offers accessible recipes for readers to make their own tastes of the first century. Ideal for individual reading or group study, this book opens a window into the tumultuous world of the first century and invites readers to smell, touch, and taste the era's food.
978-1-4422-1291-6 • Paperback • December 2013 • $19.95 • (£14.95)
978-1-4422-1292-3 • eBook • June 2012 • $18.95 • (£14.95)
Series: Religion in the Modern World
Subjects: Religion / Biblical Studies / General, Cooking / General, Cooking / History, Religion / Biblical Reference / General, Religion / Biblical Studies / History & Culture, Religion / History, Religion / Reference
Douglas E. Neel is an Episcopal priest. He owned a catering company specializing in first century food, teaches classes on ancient food and feasts, and makes his own cheese and wine. He lives in Pagosa Springs, CO. Read the author's culinary blog here.
Joel A. Pugh is CPA and President of a research and development company. He is a serious amateur cook, baker, and brewer and has studied ancient bread and winemaking. He lives in Dallas, TX.
Chapter 1: Why Eat the Food of Jesus and his Followers
Chapter 2: The Bounty of the First Century Kitchen
Chapter 3: Our Daily Bread
Chapter 4: The Farmer, Food, and Social Responsibility
Chapter 5: The Sabbath Feast
Chapter 6: The Banquet
Chapter 7: The Wedding Feast
Chapter 8: The Feast of the Passover
Supplement to Chapter 8: A First Century Passover Haggadah
Chapter 9: The Harvest Feast
Chapter 10: Eating with God; The Todah Feast
Chapter 11: Picnic at the Beach
Chapter 12: What We Have Learned and Why We Join the Feast
Everyone knows that Jesus fed thousands with just a few fish and loaves, but what did people of the first century eat on an everyday basis? According to Neel and Pugh, the ancient Middle Eastern diet has much in common with the region's contemporary foods despite 2,000 years of changing tastes and technological innovations. Jewish dietary proscriptions may have limited consumption of some foods, but the presence in Jerusalem of Roman occupation forces and other gentiles would have meant some diversity at table. The authors inventory available grains, fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish. Holidays of the era, most tied to the cycle of planting and harvesting, had their own specific traditions for feasts. For those who want to recreate a seder, the authors offer a sample Passover meal and its ritual prayers in both Hebrew and English. Recipes enable anyone to recreate entire meals that Jesus might well have enjoyed.
Neel, an Episcopal priest, and Pugh, a CPA, are both serious experts on ancient foodways. This enjoyable and tasty book is an insightful culinary study of Jesus's time and the role played by the preparation of food and its consumption. Their book allows the reader to 'study, taste, and experience the culture of the first century Holy Land.' The 50-plus recipes included permit the reader to incorporate these delicious and healthy foods into their own meals and celebrations. The authors see food as a gift from God and believe that in its preparation and consumption we create community. The authors not only present the recipes but also explore the significance of food in biblical times from everyday repasts to the specific meanings of food choices at rituals such as wedding feasts, religious gatherings, and Shabbat. The recipes feature the fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish, olive oil, and fresh spices that were used at the time and will enable readers to experience this important aspect of biblical studies. VERDICT This book is ideal for anyone looking for different and inspiring recipes as well as an excellent introduction to life in the first-century Holy Land. Highly recommended.
There's no doubt that food plays a big part in the most important moments of our lives. But have you ever wondered how the meals you share with family and friends today would compare to the food commonly found on the tables where Jesus once dined? In The Food and Feasts of Jesus, Douglas Neel and Joel Pugh open a delicious doorway into first-century kitchens, examining the basic ingredients of the day and serving up mouthwatering recipes for dishes commonly served at both special celebrations and ordinary meals. The authors reveal how preparing and sharing a feast became a key ingredient in defining culture and developing community—and how a return to cooking traditions of the past can bring us closer together in the present.
— U.S. Catholic
Most of the recipes in this book are simple enough for the home cook, and are likely to appeal even to eaters who are only slightly adventurous.... The authors' invitation to 'join the feast' is a nuanced and thoughtful one, aimed at separating the reader from 'our fast-food culture' and rediscovering the pleasure of creating entire delicious meals from scratch, inviting others to share, remembering those who do not have enough, and, in every bite, relishing the goodness and generosity of God, without whose sustaining hand there is no bread, no life.
— Education & Culture
Mr. Neel and Mr. Pugh's book dissects the food of Jesus' time: what people ate on a day-to-day basis, what they ate for religious feasts such as Passover, how social and economic conditions influenced diet, and why any of this still matters. And, as the subtitle suggests, the authors have developed recipes so you could theoretically serve a first-century meal at home, perhaps even on the floor as it might have been served then, with the multigenerational family sitting on cushions around the food.
It is clear from the tone and tempo of this book that Doug and co-author Joel Pugh greatly enjoyed themselves as they researched and wrote it. You should be prepared for the same fun experience as you read. Fair warning: Expect to get thirsty and hungry as you learn about all the food and feasts and peruse the multiple recipes at the end of most of the chapters. The author tell us that this is not a book for scholars. Rather, it is written for ordinary people who want to study, taste and experience the culture of the 1st Century Holy Land....This is much more than a cookbook. It is a reflection of 1st Century Mediterranean life written in an inviting, storytelling style.
— Pagosa Sun (Pagosa Springs, CO)
About twelve years ago, the Rev. Doug Neel – an avowed foodie and flyfisherman – was leading a Bible study in his parish in Texas about Luke's Gospel, when he noticed that in nearly every chapter, Jesus is at a banquet of some sort. This observation, and questions it raised for Neel about what such a banquet might have been like, prompted him to begin an in-depth exploration of the food and culture in the time of Jesus that led to a catering business, another way of teaching the New Testament, and ultimately to a book – co-authored with Joel Pugh – called The Food and Feasts of Jesus....Neel did extensive research for the book, whose chapters are structured around stories from the Bible, the cultural context for those stories, and recipes that high-light either part of the story or an event in the story. He and co-author Pugh consulted a number of sources, including Greek and Roman writings, and a first-century Roman cookbook. They also looked at archaeological findings about what kinds of pots and pans have been found from the first century, and at agricultural records of what kinds of crops were grown, both for internal consumption and for export....Neel's parish families have played a significant role in the book's evolution, from his ministry in Dallas prompting the idea for the book in the first place, to the women's group at St. Patrick's that helped him test the recipes he was developing and finalizing for the book. He hopes other congregations will use the book to encourage discussion, study and sharing food and conversation. Each chapter stands alone, so groups could take on just one chapter or meal, or they could work through the book, one teaching at a time. The book itself contains recommendations for how congregations and small groups might use it. Neel encourages people to engage the full experience of eating like Jesus and his peers did. 'They ate with their hands,' he says. 'I encourage people to try eating with their hands too – it is a very different experience.'
— Colorado Episcopalian
Go back to basics with The Food and Feasts of Jesus. Authors Neel and Pugh give readers an insight into 'the world of first-century fare with menus and recipes.' In addition to understanding life and culture in Biblical times, readers can experience for themselves what Jesus and his disciples ate for their meals. Try out recipes for ordinary meals shared by everyone living in the Holy Land as well as lavish fare eaten during Passover, Thanksgiving, banquets and weddings.
— MSN Lifestyle (XIN)
This unusual book is written not for scholars and historians, but for ordinary readers who want to know: W(hat) W(ould) J(esus) E(at)?...Neel and Pugh highlight the ways in which shared meals foster community, define identity, teach history, and reinforce cultural norms. They also place food within the dire socioeconomic conditions of the time, noting vast disparities between the diets of the rich and the poor and the disruption of the Jewish farm and food production occasioned by oppressive policies of Herod the Great. The book prompts readers to reflect on their own culinary habits, e.g., meat-heavy diets and the profound disconnect we moderns have with the growth and production of our own food—an enterprise in which 80 to 90% of the population was engaged in Jesus' day. Readers will also take from the book a renewed appreciation of the ways in which '[f]ood, feasting, food production, culture, and history are all intricately intertwined.'
— Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology
Understanding food in first-century Palestine helps readers better understand the context of Jesus' teaching, the authors write. They include simple, modernized recipes so that a home cook can prepare a daily meal, a light outdoor lunch or one of several special feasts.
— The Christian Chronicle
The Food and Feasts of Jesus: The Original Mediterranean Diet, with Menus and Recipes addresses just what the title promises, inviting the reader not only to come to a greater and more intimate understanding of the society of Jesus' time, but to actually try it out in a 21st century kitchen.
— Orange County Catholic
One does not need to be a cook to relish this book. It is as intriguing as it is informative. I hope you will savor it. Goodness only knows, I certainly have.
— Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
W(hat)W(ould)J(esus)E(at)? That's the question both posed and answered in this engaging book. Douglas E. Neel and Joel A. Pugh have combined serviceable knowledge of the Bible, a keen grasp of ancient Mediterranean culture and the culinary arts to fine effect. No wonder 'the Son of Man came eating and drinking.' No wonder the psalmist advised 'O taste and see.'
— Rev. Harry T. Cook, Episcopal priest, author of Long Live Salvation by Works
An excellent book for ordinary people who wish to experience and study the first century meals of Jesus. The recipes are classic for the ancient Mediterranean and the meals of the daily life in ancient Palestine. A feast for Christians and non Christians alike!
— Kathleen E. Corley, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
This book is a feast of information and thoughtful perspectives on the foods, meals, customs, and teachings about food at the time of Jesus. From religious festivals to weddings to Shabbat to everyday meals, the authors cover it all. They bring to life the eating experiences of rich and poor, men and women, in good times and bad, on feast days and on workdays. Many familiar biblical passages will be illuminated by this book, but the unexpected delight is the full description of foods available in Jesus' day, and recipes for complete meals so that people today can experience the foods and meals of the Bible.
— Lawrence Wills, Episcopal Divinity School
Happy are those who taste the feast of the kingdom of God Douglas Neel and Joel Pugh have prepared for them in The Food and Feasts of Jesus! This book offers a satisfying combination of history, stories, and recipes in a practical way to enhance modern Christian table fellowship. I particularly appreciated the friendly and respectful way the authors preserved the Jewish flavor of Jesus' meals.
— Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, Wheaton College
• Explains the importance of various foods and meals in first century culture
• Each chapter explores a different kind of meal and includes menu suggestions and recipes
Features more than 50 delicious recipes for foods ranging from flatbread and hummus to roasted quail with pomegranate glaze and lamb stew
Great for individual reading and cooking or group discussions and meals
Gives historical background and insights into biblical accounts
• Winner, U.S. Catholic Book Club (2014)


By Gord Brown on April 5th, 2019 .
Aurélie Rivard entered Thursday with intentions of beating herself.She fell short of her own personal best—but still emerged victorious in the race.
By Jonathan Chan on April 5th, 2019 .
Matthew Cabraja's rise through the Canadian swimming ranks has been as meteoric as it was surprising.
By Luke Simard and Marcus Rebelo on April 4th, 2019 .
Canada begins the tournament Thursday, against Switzerland at 9 AM EST, and then faces off against the United States Saturday at 12:30 EST followed by games against Russia and Finland to wrap up the group stage.
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Nicolas-Guy Turbide had one of the best showings of his career in Toronto and now is looking forward to the only international medal he doesn't have.


Basic, ugly, implementation of audioscrobbler/last.fm API in PHP, so that anyone can sign up, create an account, and modify their hosts file or plugin/client to point to libre.fm and start submitting their data to the project.
Once we have data coming in, we can start to write tools for people to get some of their data out of the last.fm API, and into their own hands. allow them to put this into their own website, or plug it into the main libre.fm website.


text:
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Anxiety and depression (A&D) are commonly reported among pregnant women from all over the world; however, there is a paucity of workable data from the developing countries including Pakistan. The current study, therefore, aims to find out the frequency and predictors of A&D among pregnant women attending a tertiary healthcare institutes in the city of Quetta, in the Balochistan province, Pakistan.
A questionnaire based, cross-sectional survey was conducted. The pre-validated Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used to assess the frequency of A&D among study respondents. Anxiety and depression scores were calculated via standard scoring procedures while logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of A&D. SPSS v. 20 was used for data analysis and p < 0.05 was taken as significant.
Seven hundred and fifty pregnant women responded to the survey. The majority of the respondents belonged to age group of 26–35 year (424, 56.4%) and had no formal education (283, 37.6%). Furthermore, 612 (81.4%) of the respondents were unemployed and had urban residencies (651, 86.6%). The mean anxiety score was 10.08 ± 2.52; the mean depression score was 9.51 ± 2.55 and the total HADS score was 19.23 ± 3.91 indicating moderate A&D among the current cohort. Logistic regression analysis reported significant goodness of fit (Chi square = 17.63, p = 0.030, DF = 3), indicating that the model was advisable. Among all variables, age had a significant association when compared with HADS scores [adjusted OR (odds ratios) = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.13–1.62, p < 0.001].
Moderate A&D was reported among the study respondents. Furthermore, age was highlighted as a predictor of A&D. The evidence from this study provides a motion of support programs for anxious and depressed pregnant women. The benefits of implementing good mental health in antenatal care have long-lasting benefits for both mother and infant. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate A&D screening in the existing antenatal programs.
Pregnancy and the transition to motherhood involve major physical and psychological changes in the expecting mothers. These changes can become linked to the development of anxiety and depression during the pregnancy [1, 2]. Furthermore, during this critical period, women often report lack of self-confidence and are susceptible to the untoward aspects of this major event in their lives. . Although, majority of women often see pregnancy and motherhood as a means and a social indicator of self-fulfillment, quite a few of them view pregnancy negatively, mainly because of apprehensions and fears related to childbirth, and an inadequate preparation for the upcoming mothering responsibilities. . Such negative perceptions can, regardless of the socioeconomic conditions, result in the development of clinical anxiety and depression (A&D) before and up to a year after childbirth, .
Anxiety is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, while depression is a state of low mood and aversion to physical activities that affects a person's thoughts, behavior, feeling and sense of well-being [5, 6]. Ante partum A&D is a major public health problem globally and A&D disorders are highly prevalent during pregnancy [7–9]. In comparison to men, women in reproductive age group are reported to have double the frequency of depressive illnesses . Women who experience a depressive illness during their first pregnancy are at greater risk for developing repeat episodes of depression, not only during their subsequent pregnancies but for the rest of their lives [11, 12]. For the past few decades, A&D during pregnancy has achieved greater attention as a possible risk factor for the development of postnatal complications with adverse infant outcomes and poor mother-baby bonding .
The prevalence of A&D during pregnancy varies from 10 to 20% in developed countries and is rated as the most established psychiatric disorders during pregnancy [14–17]. This empirical data authenticates that mood state, neuro-endocrine and immune system may play a critical role in the reproductive outcomes and fetal development . Unfortunately, mental health is not acknowledged and has not received enough attention in developing countries . The World Health Organization reported that almost one-in-three to one-in five pregnant women experiences a significant mental health problem in the developing countries . Furthermore, it was also reported that such high rates of A&D were because of poor socio-economic development of the population, physical and psychological abuse and violence, and paucity of good health care delivery systems especially the mental health facilities .
Higher rates of A&D are reported from the developing countries. A prevalence of 29% (ante partum anxiety) and 18% (ante partum depression) was reported from a population-based study in rural Bangladesh . Among the South Indian women, prevalence of depression during the last trimester was found to be 16% . A study conducted in an urban area of Pakistan reported that 18% of the pregnant women were anxious and depressed during their pregnancies . Another study conducted at the antenatal clinic of a teaching hospital in Lahore, Pakistan reported that 25% of the women suffered from depression and 34.5% from anxiety during their pregnancy . It is obvious from these studies that pregnancy related A&D is highly prevalent in the developing countries.
A number of factors related to the development of pregnancy associated A&D have been reported in the literature [25–27]. Where Lancaster and colleagues reported stress, lack of social support and domestic violence as significant predictors of A&D during pregnancy , Kazi et al. reported increasing age and lower educational levels to be significantly associated with A&D with pregnancy .
To the best of our knowledge, A&D during pregnancy has not been reported from rural parts of Pakistan. Keeping in view that A&D rates are high in urban areas, we hypothesize that severity of A&D would be higher in the remote areas of Pakistan. Consequently, this study aims to explore the frequency of A&D among pregnant women attending public healthcare facilities in a low-income region, particularly Quetta, Pakistan. This explorative study also aims to identify the predictors of A&D among pregnant women.
A cross-sectional, observational study was planned for this research. Pregnant women attending Gynecology Out Patient Departments (OPDs) for their routine antenatal checkups at four different tertiary care hospitals namely Sandeman Provincial Hospital (SPH), Bolan Medical Complex Hospital (BMCH), Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Hospital (MSBBH) and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Hospital (SKZH) were targeted for data collection. These four hospitals are the biggest government hospitals of Quetta city and provide major healthcare facilities to the general population. The Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) departments are well established in these hospitals, and all facilities and modern machinery are available. The total number of deliveries in the year 2015 at all four institutes were 23,236. Bolan Medical Complex Hospital shared the burden with 12,238 deliveries followed by SPH with 10,959 deliveries. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Hospital had 106 while MSBH had 43 deliveries. The study was conducted from August 2015 to July 2016.
The Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) was used to determine A&D in the current cohort of the respondents. The HADS was originally developed by Zingmond and Snaith and is commonly used to determine the level of A&D among pregnant women. The HADS is a fourteen itemed scale that generates ordinal data whereby seven items relate to anxiety and seven items are related to depression. Each item scoring is 0–3 and the score for the entire scale ranges from (0–42) with high scores indicating higher A&D among the respondents . The HADS has been thoroughly evaluated for cultural and standard validity in Pakistan . Therefore, validated HADS in Urdu language (Language Franca) was used for interviewing our participants . However, a pilot test was conducted before starting the official survey to ensure validity, logical sequence of questions, understanding and to establish a suitable time frame for the interview. The questionnaire was tested on 20 pregnant women and data were not included in the final analysis. The Cronbach alpha was used to assess the internal consistency of the research tool. The tool was declared reliable with alpha value of 0.80.
Pregnant women aged 15 years and above and having ability to communicate in Urdu (Language Franca) were targeted for the study. Patients having a previous history of A&D, on antidepressants for any other reasons, immigrants and not willing to participate were excluded from the study.
Determination of the sample size was carried out to ensure the minimum number of the respondents needed to be a representative sample of the whole population of Quetta city. By using a population based method through a double design effect, seven hundred and eighty four respondents were targeted for the study . The figure (n = 784) was based on 95% confidence interval, 5% margin of error and 10% of dropout added to the final sample.
In addition to HADS, a structured questionnaire was used to get basic information about the respondents, including socio-demographic parameters and other relevant information. All respondents were interviewed in a private area. To avoid bias, family members of the respondents were not allowed to participate or intervene during the interview. The responses were coded and analyzed by using IBM Statistical Package Social Sciences (SPSS) v. 20.0. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) test was used for normality assessment and non-normal tests were used accordingly. Descriptive analysis was conducted whereby frequencies and percentages were used to describe demographic characteristics. The HADS was scored by using recommended methods of the developers. The Chi Square test was used to determine the association among study variables while logistic regression was used to identify predictor of A&D in our study respondents.
Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the study respondents. Seven hundred and fifty two women participated with a response rate of 95.1%. The majority of the respondents belonged to age group of 26–35 year (424, 56.4%) and had no formal education. Furthermore, the majority of participates were unemployed (612, 81.4%) and were living in an urban locality (651, 86.6%).
Table 2 presents respondents' response towards HADS. Four hundred and ninety (65.2%) respondents felt tensed from time to time. When participants were asked about being feeling cheerful during pregnancy, three hundred and ninety one (52.0%) responded as 'not often'. Four hundred and twenty six (56.6%) respondents felt 'not very much' restless when they have to be on move while 252 (60.1%) respondents stated that they often felt sudden pain during pregnancy.
Tables 3 and 4 shows association among demographic and study questions. Respondents were asked about their feeling of getting tensed and wound up during pregnancy whereby age (p < 0.001) and number of children (p < 0.0011) were significantly associated with the statement. Furthermore, the Cramer's V reported weak positive association between the two variables (φc = 0.192 and 0.180 respectively). Those participants who felt cheerful during pregnancy had age (p = 0.006), monthly income (p = 0.001), and number of children (p < 0.001) associated with the question and had moderate positive effect size (φc = 0.215, 0.225 and 0.213 respectively). When respondents were asked about their feeling of getting sudden panic during pregnancy, a weak positive association was reported as monthly income (p = 0.001) and age (p = 0.007) were significantly associated with the statement (φc = 0.198 and 0.167). Furthermore, those participants who were enjoying a good book or radio and T.V program during pregnancy reported to have significant association with age (p = 0.003, φc = 0.212), education (p < 0.001, φc = 0.243) and monthly income (p = 0.004, φc = 0.245). Although there were some other significant associations (Table 3), the effect size was too little to produce a significant outcome of the model. For other variables, no association was reported among other variables and study questions.
Logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of A&D. The HADS scores were dichotomized into 'with stress/anxiety' and 'without stress/anxiety'. The model was reported as acceptable with high significant values (Chi square = 17.63, p = 0.030, DF = 3) with capability of 23.0–32.2% of the total variance explained. Among all variables, age shaped as a predicting variable against A&D (adjusted OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.13–1.62, p < 0.001). The model explained that an increase of 1% in age was associated with an increase of 1.23 in A&D provided all other variables remain constant.
The objective of the current study was to highlight the frequency and predictors of A&D among the current study respondents. In our study, 752 pregnant women participated with a total HADS score of 19.23 indicating A&D being moderately prevalent during pregnancy in Quetta city, Pakistan.
The rates of A&D during pregnancy vary around the globe, but as expected, it is higher in the developing nations . A higher rate of A&D among pregnant women in Pakistan is reported in the literature . A study conducted in antenatal clinic of a teaching hospital in Lahore, Pakistan reported that 25% of women suffered from depression and 34.5% from anxiety during pregnancy . Rozina and colleagues in their study reported from Hyderabad, Pakistan concluded that 18% of the study participants were anxious and depressed during pregnancy . In comparison, studies from the developed countries reported lower prevalence of A&D during pregnancy. For example, a nationwide survey conducted in the USA from 1996 to 2006 reported that prevalence of antenatal anxiety and depression in ten years was 7.8% . Gaynes and colleagues in their systematic review of 109 articles reported 13% of pregnant women to suffer from major/minor depression , while a higher prevalence of depression (20%, according to the Beck Depression Inventory) and anxiety (60%, according to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) among pregnant women in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2007 was also reported in the literature . Furthermore, in the comparison of antenatal depression among Pakistani and Canadian women, Mahboob et al. found a higher prevalence of antenatal depression among Pakistani women (48%) when compared with 31% of Canadian aboriginal .
The other part of the study examined the different responses to the questionnaire based on seven socio-demographic variables. Though the responses were different from women belonging to different socioeconomic groups having varying levels of education and different number of children, age of the pregnant women was shown to be the most significant predictor for the development of A&D. This was also shown in another study conducted at Karachi, Pakistan, where increasing age was associated with increasing A&D in women  of the reproductive age group, pregnant and otherwise . Our findings are also supported by another study conducted in China. The authors declared 30 years of age as a maximum to explore, because an increase in age influenced the level of A&D in pregnant women. Pregnancy in women aged more than 35 is perceived as highly risked that can lead to complications . On the contrary, high rates of A&D among pregnant women aged less than 30 years is also reported in the literature  which is also supported by the findings of Pigott and colleagues . Age is an important variable and an antenatal educational campaign must consider this variable before designing a learning program for the pregnant women.
Our study reported that unemployed women were more depressed during pregnancy. Unemployed women lack economic support and have a lot of free time to think about their pregnancy. Social support mechanisms serve as assistance in improving adaptation and emotional stability. It is reported that as social support increases psychological stress decreases . Hence, we can conclude that pregnant women having low levels of social support experience higher rates of A&D. This conclusion is supported by our study results as employed women were less depressed than unemployed women during their pregnancy. Employment yet again was mentioned as a strong protective factor against major depression in pregnancy , which however is not supported by the current study results.
Studies from the developed world report higher frequency of psychiatric disorders among urban populations when compared with rural . Findings from the current study reveal that 86.6% urban pregnant women were suffering from A&D. This may be explained by the unique environmental factors that pregnant women are exposed to in urban areas of developing countries. Firstly, there is a wide variation in the standards of living among the urban communities in developing countries. Secondly, even in some urban areas of Pakistan, there is lack of several basic facilities, including good healthcare services, clean drinking water, sanitation, and uninterrupted heating and power supply. The women in the rural areas on the other hand are less involved in important decision making and hence supposedly less exposed to the day to day stresses of life. It is hypothesized that rural pregnant women generally suffer less from A&D.
In our study those women were more depressed and anxious; whose number of children was 1–5. They may be depressed due to unplanned pregnancy or poverty may be a common source of A&D for pregnant women. One study conducted in Peshawar, Pakistan also reported a direct association between poverty and depression .
The HADS score indicates moderate anxiety and depression among the current cohort from the region of Quetta, Pakistan. The evidence from this study provides a motion for starting effective social support programs for anxious and depressed pregnant women. A comprehensive health promotion program regarding maternal mental health should be introduced, on one hand to the pregnant women in antenatal clinics and on the other, to the public in the community. Legislatures and policy makers must setup strategies in place which should effectively transfer the required knowledge and awareness to the pregnant women, their husbands, families and friends so that they can understand the early warning signs and symptoms of A&D and thus prevent its adverse outcomes for the betterment of the whole community.
Our study is limited to four tertiary care settings and the results cannot be generalized. A nationwide study is required to get a clear picture of A&D among pregnant women in Pakistan.
The authors would like to acknowledge the respondents for their participation in the study. No medical editor was involved in the preparation of this manuscript.
Data for the research is available and can be retrieved from the Faculty of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
RG Is the principal investigator while QI, FS and MAH are the co-investigators, who developed the study design, supervised data collection and conducted the statistical analysis. AK and NSB served as the field directors and supervised patient interaction and data collection process. FDA, SH and SB served as data managers and carried the data cleaning, data entry and statistical interpretation process. MB participated in providing support for the field work and acquiring mandatory approvals for the research. All authors contributed to development and review of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional Ethical Committee, Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, University of Balochistan approved the study. Permission from the respective medical superintendents was also taken into consideration. Additionally, written consent from the participants was also taken whereby participants were informed about their rights of participation in the study. They were also told that a refusal would not affect their subsequent care.
A global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/41864/1/0965546608_eng.pdf. Accessed 2 Jan 2017.
Mental health aspects of women's reproductive health: A global review of the literature. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43846/1/9789241563567_eng.pdf. Accessed 3 Jan 2017.
Surgeon general's workshop on women's mental health. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44650/. Accessed 3 Jan 2017.
Maternal mental health and child health and development in low and middle income countries. Available from: http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/mmh_jan08_meeting_report.pdf. Accessed 29 Dec 2016.
Gorstein J, Sullivan KM, Parvanta I, Begin F: Indicators and methods for cross-sectional surveys of vitamin and mineral status of populations. The Micronutrient Initiative (Ottawa) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta) 2007. Available from: http://www.who.int/vmnis/toolkit/mcn-micronutrient-surveys.pdf. Accessed 2 Jan 2017.


text:
MA thesis Floris Keehnen awarded with the Volkskrant thesis prize
Floris Keehnen has been awarded the Volkskrant thesis prize 2012 for his MA thesis entitled: "Trinkets (f)or treasure? The role of European material culture in intercultural contacts in Hispaniola during early colonial times."Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Corinne Hofman.
Europe's discovery of the 'New World' in 1492 is one of the most defining moments in history. It meant a sudden and unexpected encounter between two radically different cultures. It is often supposed that the Spaniards offered beads and mirrors to 'ignorant' indians, in exchange of which they received great quantities of valuable gold. The Taíno were passive bystanders in the process of Spanish imperialism and colonialism. This thesis aims to eliminate these misconceptions through a critical reassessment of the role of European material culture in Spanish-Taíno contacts in Hispaniola during the first decades of the colonial period, in order to contribute to the construction of a more nuanced view of cultural interaction, exchange and mutual adaptation, with an active participation of local communities. The focus is on the Taíno attitude towards these new (European) objects; why did the Taíno accept the seeming trinkets of the Europeans, what were the meaning and value of the 'strange' objects to them, and how and to what extent were these integrated into native society? Descriptions of the cultural-historical backgrounds of both parties form the basis for answering these questions. Besides, archaeology offers an indispensable dataset that, however, hitherto has not reached its full potential, not least because of the many difficulties involved in the archaeology of postcontact Taíno settlements. By combining archaeological and historical data in a unique way, it is demonstrated that existing native cultural, cosmological and esthetical concepts and ideas must have been leading in the acceptation of European objects.
The winner was announced on december 6th in the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis in Amsterdam.
Supervisor: Prof. dr. Corinne Hofman.
http://socialhistory.org/nl/nieuws/scriptieprijs-2012
History (research) (MA)


The debate over No Child Left Behind re-authorization is upon us.
In his recent speech kicking off the discussion, education secretary Arne Duncan asked not whether the central federal education law should be reauthorized, he merely asked how.
While the flat trend lines for overall achievement at the end of high school mask slight upticks for minority students (black students' scores, for instance, rose by 3-5 percent of the 500 point NAEP score scale), even those modest gains aren't attributable to federal spending. Almost that entire gain happened between 1980 and 1988, when federal spending per pupil declined.
And, in the twenty years since, the scores of African American students have drifted downard while federal spending has risen stratospherically.


text:
Release of 76 suspects blocked amid gov't-Gülenist tension
April 26 2015 14:44:46
Chief Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu accused Istanbul's 29th court of "issuing a ruling without seeing the investigation file [and having] no authority and no jurisdiction."
A Turkish court has ordered the release of 75 policemen and a media manager who were accused of belonging to "the parallel state" of the government's ally-turned-foe Fethullah Gülen, a U.S. based cleric, but a judge reversed the decision late April 25 as a chief prosecutor also intervened.
The defendants include former Istanbul police intelligence chief Ali Fuat Yılmazer, who was arrested in July, and Samanyolu Media Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca, who was arrested in December 2014. Like the rest of the suspects, both figures were detained as part of a major crackdown against Gülen-linked figures in the security bureaucracy and the media.
The 29th Criminal Court of First Instance in Istanbul forwarded the case on April 24 to the 32th Criminal Court of First Instance, which accepted the defendants' request for a recusal, ordering their release on April 25.
The 10th Penal Magistracy of Peace, however, canceled the release late April 25, citing a memo from the Chief Prosecutor's Office which argued that the court order was unlawful.
In a written statement late April 25, Chief Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu accused the 29th court of "issuing a ruling without seeing the investigation file [and having] no authority and no jurisdiction." The magistracy's ultimate decision confirmed that the release orders were "legally null and void," Salihoğlu said, according to Anadolu Agency.
The defendants' lawyers, on the other hand, slammed the legal procedure, arguing that "a magistrate cannot overrule the decision of a higher court."
Defense lawyers Gültekin Avcı and Ömer Turanlı also claimed that Salihoğlu "committed a crime by releasing a statement over an ongoing legal process," according to Doğan News Agency.
AKP locks horns with Gülenists
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Gülenists have been locking horns since corruption investigations that were launched in December 2013. Ankara has denounced the probes as a "dirty plot" to topple the government, constructed by a "parallel structure" group of civil servants embedded within the country's key institutions, including the judiciary and police.
Even after massive judicial reshuffling in past months, government figures still claim that certain judges and prosecutors are influenced by Gülenists.
As legal saga about scores of suspects continued, main opposition Republican People's Party deputy Mahmut Tanal, a lawyer himself, claimed that the judges who ordered their release could be the next target of the government.
"The judge may be replaced tomorrow," Tanal said April 26, according to Cihan News Agency.
The suspects in the case are accused of various crimes, including launching an organization to commit crimes, recording non-public conversations and forging official documents. The defendants deny any wrongdoing, claiming that they were targeted for revealing government corruption.
Türkiye to increase gold production to reduce imports: Erdoğan
Opposition alliance begins discussions for choosing candidate
Top court rejects HDP's demand to postpone closure case
Six-party alliance meets to discuss presidential candidate
Türkiye 'will not allow fait accompli targeting its national security'
İYİ Party to mobilize youth to vote in May 14 polls
Erdoğan: We reject community pressure that standardizes cultural climate


text:
package org.apache.camel.spring.interceptor;

import org.apache.camel.builder.RouteBuilder;
import org.apache.camel.spring.SpringRouteBuilder;
import org.junit.Test;

/**
 * Same route but not transacted
 */
public class TransactionalClientDataSourceMixedTransactedTest extends TransactionalClientDataSourceTest {

    @Test
    public void testTransactionRollback() throws Exception {
        // through the onException clause below we've marked the exceptions containing the message
        // "Donkey" as being handled so that we don't count with any exception on the client side.
        template.sendBody("direct:fail", "Hello World");

        int count = jdbc.queryForObject("select count(*) from books", Integer.class);
        // should get 2 books as the first operation will succeed and we are not transacted
        assertEquals("Number of books", 2, count);
    }

    protected RouteBuilder createRouteBuilder() throws Exception {
        return new SpringRouteBuilder() {
            public void configure() throws Exception {
                // ignore failure if its something with Donkey
                onException(IllegalArgumentException.class).onWhen(exceptionMessage().contains("Donkey")).handled(true);

                from("direct:okay")
                    // mark this route as transacted
                    .transacted()
                    .setBody(constant("Tiger in Action")).bean("bookService")
                    .setBody(constant("Elephant in Action")).bean("bookService")
                    .setBody(constant("Donkey in Action")).bean("bookService");

                from("direct:fail")
                    // and this route is not transacted
                    .setBody(constant("Tiger in Action")).bean("bookService")
                    .setBody(constant("Donkey in Action")).bean("bookService");
            }
        };
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Compatible with select cameras Works with DJI Zenmuse X4S & X5S Cameras. Also most Olympus PEN and O-MD cameras and Panasonic four-thirds cameras for use with your existing equipment. Manual focus clutch with distance scale Helps you achieve sharp, blur-free shots. The lens focuses as close as 9.8", so you can capture enhanced, up-close detail. 17mm focal length Accommodates a variety of shooting scenarios. f/22 minimum aperture and f/1.8 maximum aperture Offer optimal light gathering, resulting in clear, detailed images.