Universe : Scientists still in the murk about cosmic ‘dark energy’

Few forms of art seem more rarefied than Renaissance polyphony. Its flow of religious praise melded to sinuous contrapuntal melodies appears to belong not just to another time but to another universe. Yet at Sunday’s concert by the extraordinary Blue Heron Renaissance Choir, the real world managed to creep subtly and uneasily in.

The largest single work on the chorus’s all-English program was the “Missa Mater Christi” by John Taverner. This Mass setting is based on a motet of the same name, and each of its four polyphonic movements - the opening Kyrie is chanted - reuses and explores music from the motet, teasing out its material into a sweeping series of variations.

Poll about another universe

A couple wildcards with the poll: it says the questions were asked to registered voters “from King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.” For one, this is likely to be a relatively low-turnout general election so accurate polls need to have a quality likely-voter screen, not just a sampling of registered voters.

Two, if the voters weren’t screened down to those actually living within the relevant boundaries then that’s another problem. The election for this measure will be for voters living within the current Sound Transit district plus another universe of exurban Snohomish County residents (roughly Marysville, Lake Stevens, Snohomish, and Monroe) who will only vote on - and only potentially pay - the road tax. That’s a rather different universe than a full sampling of registered voters across the entire tri-county area on both the roads and transit portions of the measure. Without such a screen to ensure the question actually gets asked to truly eligible voters the poll becomes somewhat worthless. If there was such a screen it has more value.