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Well, I have a daunting task in front of me, to some degree, to take you into the third chapter of Genesis and deal with one of the great portions of Scripture. But turn in your Bibles, if you will, to the third chapter of Genesis and we'll see how far we can go in this incredibly important portion of Scripture.
As I've said to you in the past in our study of Genesis chapter 3, for some people this is deemed the most important chapter in the Bible because it is the third chapter of Genesis which defines for us why the world is the way it is. It defines for us the problem of fallen civilization, of fallen society, of fallen humanity in a fallen universe. Not to understand the third chapter of Genesis is not to understand anything about the reality of the world in which we live and the people who are a part of it.
On the other hand, to grasp Genesis 3 is to have an appropriate world view. It is to understand, as I said at the concert a few nights ago, that all the problems that exist in the universe are a result of sin and that sin originates in the account of Genesis chapter 3.
Now we come in our study of Genesis chapter 3 to verses 14 and 15. Let me read them to you. "And the Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, more than every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel."
Here is the beginning of the section of Genesis 3 in which we have the divine curse. We have a curse on the serpent. We have a curse on Satan. We have a curse also on the woman in verse 16. We have a curse on the man from verse 17 to 19. All of the principles involved in the Fall are cursed by God.
We have already studied the Fall itself. We have studied the divine confrontation that occurred after the Fall. The Fall is in verses 1 to 7, verses 8 to 13 is the divine confrontation when God comes to Adam and Eve in the garden and confronts them about their sin. And now you have, starting in verse 14, the curse. And here we find out why the world is the way it is.
I was reading again Irwin Luetzer's (???) book The Serpent of Paradisethis week. And he begins one of his chapters of that book with an interesting account. He says there was a construction company that had invited various contractors to submit bids for a major building complex. All things being equal, the contractor who submitted the lowest bid would get the job. Needless to say, the bids had to be submitted in secret.
On the last day the bids could be tendered, a contractor walked into the office of the president of the company with a Bid Application in his hand. To his surprise, the office of the president was empty. He stood alone, venturing a glance at the huge mahogany desk. Much to his surprise, he saw on the desk the bid of his major competitor lying there. The only problem was there was a can of pop sitting directly over the most important figure in the document, the final bid. If this contractor knew the amount that was written on that line, he could adjust his own bid to come in just beneath it and the multi-million dollar job would be his.
The contractor nervously paced the floor knowing full well what was at stake. He contemplated moving the can for just a second, reading the figure and then putting it back. He touched the can but found himself unable to do that. He glanced around the room one more time, now confident that no one was looking, he lifted the can quickly, intently glanced at the number and put the can back instantly. Much to his chagrin as he lifted the can from the desk, hundreds of BBs spilled onto the desk and rolled all over the floor.
This was a setup. That contractor experienced the law of unintended consequences. He thought he could control the fallout of his dishonesty, but discovered that unforsaken events had been built into the temptation. One single act had repercussions he could not have anticipated, the can of soda was not what it appeared to be.
And that's exactly what happened to Satan when he felt the law of unintended consequences at his own rebellion in heaven against God. And that is exactly what happened to Adam and Eve when they set in motion a spiritual avalanche as a result of their sin and they, too, experienced the law of unintended consequences. Lucifer had no idea of what would be set in motion over his rebellion in heaven. And neither did Adam and Eve have any idea of what would be the effect of them succumbing to the temptation.
The ultimate impact of that temptation comes in the form of a curse. And as I just read, the curse begins with the serpent and with Satan in verses 14 and 15. Now remember, this is a very, very important chapter. It defines for us why the world is the way it is, why man is the way he is. It also helps us to understand why there has to be a plan of salvation, why there has to be a sacrifice for sin. But it also defines for us Satan and how we are to view him for here in this curse we are given a condensed course in satanology. From the first part of the chapter where we saw the Fall, to a discussion of the meaning of depravity in verses 8 to 13, we now come to the curse
Going back to the discussion we had on depravity which was a long time ago, I want to remind you that depravity, I define, as a condition of the human soul in which there is disobedience to God, lack of fellowship with God, the sentence of death, unwillingness to acknowledge sin, concern only for the consequences of evil, not the evil itself, blame-shifting and constant effort to exonerate and exalt oneself. This condition is so comprehensive that even the sinner before God though afraid cannot honestly repent. That is the definition I gave you a few weeks ago. This is the condition of depravity. Man is evil and he cannot understand how evil. He has no fellowship with God and no matter how he tries he cannot earnestly repent. We saw that with Adam and Eve.
This condition is true of every person. It cannot in any way be altered by any sinner. We have not the power nor the will to do that.
So paradise was lost when man sinned. It was lost not only for Adam and Eve, but it was lost for all people who would follow them. The loss of blessing and the loss of goodness is presented to us then in these curses and by the curses we get the picture of the result of the sin that took place in Eden.
You will notice in your Bible, if you have a Bible that does this and it should, that this is poetry. There is a change in the prose. The verses don't run all the way to the margins, that is an indication that there is a rhythmical that's poetic. You have a similar situation back in chapter 2 verse 23, the first sort of love song was offered back there and that, too, is poetic. Well there's some poetry here. There's a rhythmical presentation of this, almost as if God was saying it in such a way that it could be easily remembered because of the meter that's incorporated into the Hebrew poetry. Here is the punishment section, if you will. The Fall comes in the first few verses, then man's depravity is defined. And here God's judicial penalty on the culprits is rendered. Absolute divine justice renders a perfect sentence.
Now I want to just make a comment at this point. There are natural consequences to sin in life. That is true. We understand that. There are processes we set in motion by our sin and we need to be reminded of that. For example, if you tell a lie and it's a very important lie because somehow you think it will extract you from a very difficult situation, it is very likely you will then enter into a process by which you will have to continue to lie and you will have to develop your lie even further as the search for the truth begins. You'll perhaps have to lie to other people and other circumstances and other situations to continue to cover your lie.
It is true that if you drink alcohol and become drunk, there are natural processes that will occur. You may become inebriated, out of control. You may behave yourself in a way that is wicked and sinful. You may find yourself becoming a drunkard, out of control. You may find yourself developing physical illnesses as well.
If you commit sins of unfaithfulness in a marriage, then you have catapulted yourself into a very difficult situation. And now you have to lie about your unfaithfulness. You have to deceive your spouse. You have to deceive your children. You have to deceive the people around you. And so the consequences go on.
If you engage in fornication, it may be that you acquire some...some disease, some disease that comes because of sexual sin. And those consequences may dog you all your life. If you get involved in homosexuality you may end up with AIDS. If you are a person filled with hate, your hate is going to cause venom to be spewed around, of course, of the person you hate and probably the people around you. And the natural processes that sets in motion are to alienate you from people and to make you an undesirable person. You'll find yourself lonely. You'll find yourself bitter.
If, on the other hand, you kill somebody, you take a life. You may find yourself the subject of criminal indictment. You may even find yourself the subject of personal vengeance by certain people. If you defraud people, you may wind up being sued. You may lose your property. In America you may lose everything you have because of damages.
So there is in the factor of sin certain natural processes that to one degree or another are set in motion. It's kind of the law of Galatians 6, the law of sowing and reaping. Whatever a man sows, he reaps. You plant a certain behavior and you reap a certain kind of process that comes out of that behavior.
We're not talking about that here. This is not what this curse is about. This is not a matter of the processes that are engaged when you sin. This is not a matter of the sequence of the consequence of sinful behavior. What we're looking at here is a far-greater reality than that. It is the reality of divine judgment. This is the Almighty God and judge of the universe stepping in to render a sentence. This is not any kind of natural process, or even any kind of spiritual process. This is a sentence by the divine judge.
And I want to add another footnote here because it's very important to remind you of it. Sin violated God's law. It violated God's nature. It violated God's glory. It violated and destroyed paradise. It ruined the heart of Adam and Eve, catapulted the whole human race into iniquity. It gave a certain...a certain power to the enemy, Satan, because now he had become, as it were, the god of this age, the ruler of this world who would now have a measure of control over these fallen people.
But in spite of all of those effects of sin, it's important to remind you that man's sin did not and does not threaten God's sovereignty. It only changes the paradigm in which that sovereignty operates. God is still sovereign and the immediate articulation of the curses demonstrate God's sovereignty. Is no less sovereign in a fallen world than He was in a unfallen world. He was no less the sovereign God over Lucifer after his fall than he was before his fall. No less sovereign over Adam and Eve after their fall than before their fall. God is not a victim of Satan. He never will be a victim of Satan. God is still sovereign in His universe. The paradigm shifts but God is sovereign and the demonstration of that is in the curse.
It's important to say that because there are people today within the framework of quote/unquote evangelicalism who would do everything they could to convince you that Satan is now sovereign and that God, along with all the rest of us, is doing His very best to overcome the sovereign who is Satan. But we have no reason to assume that whatsoever because immediately upon the Fall, God takes His sovereign place and pronounces what amounts to sovereign curses on the serpent, on Satan, on the woman and on the man. And they extend to all humanity. So God has given up no sovereignty. It is a different paradigm that His sovereignty operates in. Now we see His sovereignty in ways that Adam and Eve wouldn't see them before the Fall, in ways that bring judgment on sin. But He is still the sovereign. He is the sovereign over Satan and all humanity.
Now in the curse here there are just two things to consider. Pretty easy to outline this. In verse 14 you have the curse of the natural serpent. In verse 15 you have the curse of the supernatural Satan.
Verse 14, "And the Lord God said to the serpent." He speaks to the animal, the instrument of Satan. And He says, "Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, more than every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go and dust shall you eat all the days of your life."
God actually curses the animal. The animal has no rational mind. The animal has no sense of sin. The animal was simply used by Lucifer, by Satan. But God curses the animal anyway, even though the animal is not necessarily a willing and rational partner. Quite the opposite, the animal is irrational and is literally usurped by Satan himself. Not a rational and not a willing tool. The snake knows nothing of the curse either. The snake knew nothing of the temptation. The snake knew nothing of the sin. And the snake actually knows nothing of the curse because it cannot personally, rationally grasp the curse. But cursing the serpent serves a purpose and I'll show you what that is.
"Cursed are you more than all cattle, more than every beast of the field." Now this might at first seem to indicate that God cursed all the animals. Well, He didn't. That is not what that is intending to say. Otherwise there would be no culpability for the tool that Satan used. The Hebrew text is not saying that God cursed all the animals and God cursed the serpent more than. In Hebrew it is not so much a comparative term as a selective term. One could wish that perhaps it was translated a little differently. The idea is not that all the cattle, which is the term referred to domestic animals in the creation account in Genesis 1, nor all of the beasts, the wild beasts which refers to those which are non-domesticated, those large animals, those wild beasts. The idea is not that all the cattle, domestic animals, all of the wild animals were also cursed but that the serpent was more cursed. The idea of the Hebrew here is rather that out of all the animals, out of all the domestic animals, indicated by cattle, out of all the non-domestic animals, indicated by the beasts the wild beasts, every beast of the field, out of all of those the serpent was selected to be cursed. That's the idea. The idea of the Hebrew text is that the serpent alone is cursed.
Now it is true that all the animals feel the effects of the Fall. They all feel the effect of the earth. They all feel the effect of the fact that God has cursed the ground, which we will find out about when we get down to verse 17 and following. They feel the impact of sin in the world. All animals as a result of the Fall will decay. They will age. They will get diseases. And they will die. That's why Romans 8 says in very straightforward language that the whole creation groans. And that is true because all the created universe feels the effect of sin. It says the creation, verse 20 of Romans 8, was subjected to futility, not of its own will. It isn't the fault of the animals. It isn't the fault of the ground. It isn't the fault of the plants. It isn't the fault of the planet or the stars, the sun, the moon. It isn't their fault. They were not responsible or guilty, not of their own will. But they have been subjected to futility. And verse 22 says the whole creation groans and suffers the pains, or the birth pangs until now. It is true that the animals feel the curse. They get old, they get sick, and they die.
But that's not what it's talking about here. There is, obviously, on all that exists in a fallen universe a sort of general effect, a general impact that sin has brought into the universe. As...Jeremiah puts it this way, it's a great statement, Jeremiah 12:4, "How long is the land to mourn and the vegetation of the countryside to wither for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. Animals and birds have been snatched away." It is true that the animal world, like the plant world and the whole created universe, feels the effect of sin. But it is not the case that they were all specifically cursed. And so we could read this, "The Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, you have been the instrument of temptation, cursed are you out of all cattle and out of every beast of the field.'"
Now that brings up the question, since the animal itself was not responsible for its actions, was not willingly compliant, and was not rationally involved, it couldn't be rationally involved in the temptation, the sin or even the curse, what is the point of punishing the animal when the animal doesn't experience any of it? The animal doesn't know if it's alive or dead, it has no self-consciousness. What is the point of cursing a non-rational creature?
And the answer is very simple. Cursing the serpent turned it into a symbol, turned it into a constant reminder of the degradation of Satan. Satan was really synonymous with the serpent. Remember in Revelation 12:9 and Revelation 20:2, SAtan is called there that dragon, that serpent. We know the serpent in the garden is Satan because of Revelation 12:9 and Revelation 20 and verse 2. God curses that serpent so that the serpent becomes a perpetual constant picture of the devastation and the reproach that Satan bears. The snakes of the world are symbols of the divine judgment on Satan.
Now what was it that Satan sought? Go back in to the pre-fall of Satan's time in the glories of God's heaven. And what did Lucifer want? Lucifer was the anointed cherub, according to the prophet, and he was the high,,,maybe the highest ranking one, perhaps even the music director of heaven. But that wasn't enough. He wanted to be higher and so he says, as the prophet records, "I will, I will, I will, I will, I will," five times, "raise myself above God, I will take over the throne of God, I'll exalt myself, I'll lift myself up." That's what he sought to do. And, of course, instead of being able to lift himself up, he was thrown down, he was cast out, as Revelation says. He was thrown out of heaven and he was cast down to the earth. He comes to the earth and he wants when he gets on the earth to sort of reassert that climbing kind of idea, he wants to exalt himself again and he wants to become the sovereign over man. So he leads Adam and Eve in a successful temptation and then imagines himself to be the sovereign now. Now he has caused the fall of Adam and Eve and now they are under his control, he is...as Hebrews 2 says...holds over them the fear of death all their life long. He is the god of this age, the ruler of this world.
So, having been thrown down to earth, he is now crawled up a little higher and he's elevated himself again where he sees himself as a kind of sovereign over a fallen humanity.
And then God throws him down again and this is symbolized by the statement in verse 14, "On your belly shall you go and the dust shall you eat all the days of your life."
"On your belly shall you go" in the Hebrew is the word "crawl." And every time you see a snake slithering and crawling around, it is a sign and a symbol of the humiliation of Satan. It is a reminder of the divine judgment on him for tempting Adam and Eve in sin. And it is not to say that snakes are ugly, they are, after all, the creation of God and certainly Lucifer was a brilliant and shining and glorious angel, his beauty described for us, as you remember, by the prophet Isaiah and even by Ezekiel. It is not that they are ugly, there are snakes that are beautiful in color and design. It is that they even in their beauty are symbols of something beautiful that sought to be high being cast down to the lowest level.
Leviticus 11:42 says, "Whatever crawls on its belly you shall not eat for they are detestable." It was an abomination, really, to eat a snake. They were unclean animals. And always, and I think even in modern times, always of all animals they are the most vile, the most hated and the most scorned and for the most part, the most feared. Rabbinic legend holds, and it's perhaps an accurate thing, that the serpent before the temptation was an upright creature. Perhaps that's why Revelation also refers to him as a dragon. Perhaps he had some feet, but no more. Now he is altered and he is cast down.
Snakes don't feel the curse but they do illustrate it. Every time you see a snake you are reminded of that serpent in the garden who sought to lift himself up and got thrown down again to ride in the dirt. And I think as Luphold(?) writes, the fact that this beast still stands under a curse is apparent from the peculiar revulsion that it still rouses in most people. Its peculiarly sinuous movements, its silent glide as a form of locomotion, its sinister and fascinating look, its vibrant tongue, its peculiar rearing of the head all contribute to remind men of the peculiar history in which the serpent once shared.
Further humiliation, not only crawling on your belly, further humiliation, "And dust shall you eat." That doesn't mean that dust is the food of a snake. Most snakes eat insects, small rodents, things like that. They don't eat dirt, they just live in it. That's what it means. Dust shall you eat...not as a food but as a result of writhing on the ground.
If you go back into the Old Testament, there are a lot of interesting phrases in the Old Testament, one is "to lick the dust." We use that today when we say a certain team played a game but they licked the dust. What do we mean by that? They were...what?...were defeated. It is a sign of defeat. And that's exactly what it was in the Old Testament. When an enemy licked the dust, it literally meant they fell in battle to the ground. In Psalm 72 verse 9, "Let the nomads of the desert bow before Him and His enemies lick the dust." It's a symbol of being vanquished, a symbol of being totally defeated and brought low, down to the lowest level.
In Isaiah 49, also, verse 23, I think it's verse 23, "And kings will be your guardians, their princes your nurses, they will bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet." In this case, of course, again this is a promise that they're going to be people, high-ranking people who are going to finally in the end when God gives the Kingdom to Israel bow down in the dirt before them. The prophet Micah, chapter 7 and verse 17, also uses that expression.
So that's the idea that the serpent crawls on the ground and eats the dirt as a constant symbol of a degraded and defeated Satan. It's maybe a bizarre way to think about it but snakes are like a rainbow, every time you see a rainbow what are you to remember? That God promised...what?...He would never destroy the world by water. Every time you see a snake, you can remember that Satan who sought to lift himself up was cast down to earth and when he sought on earth to lift himself up again, he was cast down again and his being cast down is symbolized by snakes. They are constant reminders that Satan is a defeated enemy.
Now obviously for the snake, as I said, non-rational, without a soul, not self-conscious, this means nothing. But to us it becomes a very important symbol.
Then there's another statement as the Lord makes this very precise. "And you're going to be on your belly and you're going to eat dust all the days of your life." The curse will never be removed. That's very interesting. As long as there are snakes, they'll crawl on the ground. They'll be doomed to be visible symbols of a vanquished king of darkness. They are doomed to be perpetual symbols of the demolishing of Satan's ambitions. They are a perpetual symbol of the defeat of the devil.
Let me show you this. Turn to Isaiah 65...there are only 66 chapters there so chapter 65. As you come to the end of Isaiah, you come to discussions of the millennial kingdom, when the Lord removes the curse. There's going to come a time when the curse will be removed. And look at verse 25, at that time during the millennial kingdom, the wolf and the lamb shall graze together. Now that can't happen today. Why? The lamb is dinner, that can't happen. But the curse is removed so that they are no longer natural enemies. Animals don't kill each other. The lion stops being carnivorous and goes back to the way he was before the Fall, they were all vegetarian, and he eats straw like an ox. So you have dramatic changes in the animal kingdom. Wolves and lambs who are natural enemies get along fine. And no more carnivorous animals, the most familiar of the carnivores would be the lion, he eats straw like an ox. But look at the next statement, "Dust shall be the serpents food." No matter what else changes in the Millennium, snakes don't change. They lose their poison, as Isaiah tells us, and a child will be able to come near them. They will no longer have the power to kill, but they will all crawl in the same way they've always crawled.
Well why would he even put that in there, "And dust shall be the serpents food," unless it was adversative, unless it was contractive, unless he was reiterating the point that had been made in the original curse. Now this does tell us, folks, hate to say this, there will be snakes in the Millennium. Some of you probably thought a millennial earth would be void of snakes. They'll be there, they won't be harmful, but they'll still be the same, crawling in the dirt because they will always be symbols of a vanquished Satan. And they still are the most hated of animals, the most feared of animals, and that's reasonable.
You know what I've noticed in the society today, I think you notice it too, there is a new interest in snakes. And it seems to me the further people get away from God, the deeper they go into drugs and sex and the occult and paganism, the more they become enamored with snakes. In the early days of the Christian church there was a sect and the sect was known as the Ophites, not a Christian sect. But as the name implies, one that worshiped the devil. Ophisis the Greek word for serpent. The Ophites worshiped the snake. They worshiped Satan. A symbol of that sect was a snake. But those people really didn't worship the snake, they worshiped the Satan who is symbolized in the snake.
In more recent times there is a group called the Yesadee(??), they're in the Druz(?) mountains of Syria. And the Yesadee are devil worshipers. They're very much like the Ophites. The Yesadee worship the devil and the emblem of their religion is the snake. And this is the perversion and the deep wickedness for calling good and calling God what God Himself has cursed.
So snakes are still associated with paganism. Still associated with the occult. Even the medical snake that's on the symbol of medicine comes from the cult of snake worship in Corinth. So God has permanently given us a symbol of a vanquished Satan.
So much for the natural serpent, how about the supernatural Satan, or the supernatural spirit. Verse 15, "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel."
Here you have God speaking not to the snake but to Satan, not to the natural serpent but the supernatural spirit. From the symbol to the reality. The disgusting wretched Satan who may move around like a roaring lion, but is really a lowly snake. And by the way, he doesn't speak. He had a lot to say in the garden, he has nothing to say here. God is the sovereign, God alone speaks. His rebellion failed in heaven and it has failed on earth. And Satan is subject to God's judgment. And what you have in verse 15 is God's judgment on Satan.
And I don't have time to develop all of this, I want to do that next week because we want to come to the Lord's table. But I do want to give you the sense of what this is all about. Here's what Satan is thinking:
"I failed to a degree in heaven and yet I succeeded. I was thrown out of heaven but I took a third of the angels with me so I have my kingdom."
He came to earth cast down, as Revelation 12 says, and he goes into the garden and he's still trying to take over for God. He's trying to be a sovereign in his own right. And he is successful in capturing Adam and Eve. He's successful. And at this point Satan may well have felt that he had made a massive dent in the divine purpose, that God had gone to all of this wondrous effort to create a universe and place man and woman in His universe on the earth and it was so magnificent and it was a paradise like the original paradise of heaven before the angels were thrown out and Satan succeeded in wrecking paradise. He succeeded in gaining the devotion of Adam and Eve. And that is really essentially what happened.
Eve believed Satan instead of God and so did Adam. Adam wasn't deceived specifically by Satan, but he could see Eve and she wasn't dead and Satan had said, "You can eat of this tree and you'll be like God and God doesn't like people to be like Him because He doesn't like the competition. He's really trying to hold something back. He's trying to prevent you from getting something wonderful and good. He's trying to hold back the opportunity you have to be like Him. And I know He said in the day you eat you're going to die, but you won't die." And Eve ate and she didn't die. And Adam saw..."Wow, this could be great, she didn't die, she's still alive, I'll do this, I'll be like God," etc., etc.
They believed Satan and so Satan now realizes that he has engaged himself with man and become a kind of sovereign. Now Adam and Eve believe him instead of believing God. And it's very likely that Satan may well at this point have thought, "I have won the full devotion of humanity. I have won the mother of all living," as Eve is called down in verse 20. "I have one Adam to my side. He doubts God. He questions God and he believes me. And now...Satan may be saying...I have captured humanity and now they will aide me in my effort to overthrow the Almighty God. I now have a third of the angels and I know have all of the humans. There aren't many, just two, but it's a start." Satan may well have thought that he had become the sovereign of man, that he had become the sovereign over the race and now he was in charge of them. And if Adam and Eve who were perfect fell so easily, what would imperfect sinners do before the onslaught of his temptation? You can see him beginning to lick his chops and rub his hands and think to himself, "I now have not only demons but I have men to fight my battle against Almighty God."
And that's why God says what He says. "I will put enmity between you and the woman...between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise Him on the heel." Satan, you are absolutely wrong. Enmity means conflict. Enmity means hostility. Enmity means hatred. And God says to him, "Don't think too fast about your successes because I curse you, Satan, by making you the enemy of the woman and the enemy of the seed of the woman. And One will come who will crush your head."
Now that's a very direct answer to the assumption that must have been in the mind of Satan that he had just acquired some great power, pulled off a great coup and now had total control over the man and the woman. And immediately God says, "I will put enmity, conflict, hostility, hatred, you will not rule easily, you will not rule successfully. You will not have complete control. I will bring humanity into conflict with you."
Now listen. There was already enmity in the world, but the enmity was between man and whom? And God. There wasn't at this point any enmity between man and Satan. Adam and Eve had followed Satan, there was no hostility there. There was no enmity there. And you don't find them running around the garden after they sinned hiding from the serpent. Who are they hiding from? God. There was enmity there. Satan could see that or sense that, or know that. And that's why it's very likely that Satan concludes..."Aha, I've got them, now they're...now there is hostility between them and God and now there is conflict between them and God, there is a desire to run from God, to hide from God because they don't see God...listen...as their friend anymore. They see God as their enemy and they see me as their friend." So Satan is going to conclude this couldn't be any better.
God immediately steps in and says, "Guess again. The enmity I'm going to put between you and that woman. You're not going to have Eve and you're not going to have sovereignty over her seed. In fact, one of them is going to come and crush your head."
Well, we'll dig into that a little more next time. Suffice it to say, who was it that came to crush the serpent's head? It was the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we'll see next Sunday night, He did it on the cross. That was where He really rendered the blow. He pronounced His judgment in the garden, but the real death blow came at the cross. Satan thought man was now going to be the enemy of God, and God says you're wrong, man's going to be your enemy. I'm going to bring back man to be My friend and I'm going to make you his enemy.
Now that is the first glimmer...are you ready for this?...of the gospel. Did you get that? That's the first glimmer of the gospel, that man who is now the enemy of God, wrong enemy, will become the friend of God and the enemy of Satan. God is going to do that. He says, "I will put that enmity there, sovereignly." Again I say, God didn't lose any of His power, any of His sovereignty. The paradigm shifted and God has to recover paradise but He says to Satan, "Don't you think for a moment that you have now conquered all on this earth. I will make man My friend and your enemy." And I say it again, that is the first glimmer of the gospel, the good news that we who were enemies of God can become His friend again. More of that next time. Let's pray.
Father, we know that the way in which we have been made Your friends is through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You that Satan is a degraded and destroyed enemy, that Satan is our enemy and You are our friend, whereas once with Adam and Eve You had become the enemy and Satan the friend. But, Lord, the world is so full of people who are still like Adam and Eve. You are their enemy and Satan is their friend. How tragic. But how wondrous is the gospel that helps us to have the right friend and the right enemy and You are our friend because of Jesus Christ and the great victory He won on the cross. And we celebrate tonight our friendship with You by remembering His cross where the death blow against Satan and sin and death and hell were struck and we thank You, O God, that it has been applied to us by faith alone in Christ alone through grace alone.
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Next Episode of Judge Judy is
Season 23 / Episode 244 and airs on 26 August 2019 20:00
Judge Judy is a courtroom series stars former family court judge Judith Sheindlin. Each episode finds Judge Judy presiding over real small-claims cases inside a televised courtroom. Judge Judy brings her trademark wit and wisdom to the widely successful half-hour series where justice is dispensed at lightning speed.
Jerry Bishop(Announcer)
Judy Sheindlin(Judge)
Petri Hawkins-Byrd(Bailiff)
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Tuesday August 20, 2019; 11:23 pm EDT
A small staging delivers on theater's favorite things
Compass Rose opens its little new theater with a giant of American musical theater.
Written in 1959 with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein and book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, The Sound of Music went on to win the Best Musical Tony Award.
No surprise there: Music has a
dramatic true story for inspiration, and Hammerstein's brilliant lyrics and songs sound vibrant over 50 years later.
How does a small theater like Compass Rose produce an expansive musical set incuding the Alps, a castle and a monastery?
Surprisingly well.
Indicating locale changes with minimal props and changing banners, the three-level set by Joe Powell allows the audience to imagine the setting for themselves. A center-stage staircase helps director Lucinda Merry-Browne delineate action areas, even using the audience center row.
Merry-Browne cast the show effectively and moves the action along smoothly. She focused on characters, drawing highly realistic interplay from child-actors and enlisting powerful adult voices to carry the memorable music. This music is so good that having a single piano accompany the music (by Erika Knepp) loses nothing in the downscaling.
The Sound of Music requires a Maria with warmth and a beautiful voice. Merry-Browne found her in Katie Keyser. Vocally strong, Keyser is particularly good in her scenes with the children. Watch her glances to each child; they are distinctly different and thoroughly realistic.
To provide balance, a strong Captain von Trapp is needed. Andre Softeland takes von Trapp from isolated loneliness to sweet loveliness without losing the strength of conviction he needs to spirit his family away from Nazi forces.
As the Mother Abbess who nurtures Maria, Jill Sharpe Compton has the powerhouse song, "Climb Every Mountain." Since the acoustics in the Compass Rose Theater are extraordinarily good, when Compton lets loose, her voice rings throughout the space.
The nuns' chorus — made up of Lynn Garretson (Sister Margaretta), Rebecca Dreyfuss (Sister Sophia) and Maggie Leigh Walker (Sister Berthe) — blend their voices beautifully. Their success, as well as that of the children's chorus is due to musical director Anita O'Connor.
The children work as a strong unit, yet each has a distinct personality. And the voices! It's hard to believe such accomplished singers and actors are so young. The children are Mariel White (Liesl), Daniel Starnes (Friedrich), Mallory Holson (Louisa), Annabelle Cotton (Kurt), Madelyn Schloss (Brigitta), Sarah Grace Clifton (Marta) and Sophia Nasreen Riazi-Sekowski (Gretl).
The second act with its dark political overtones isn't as effective as the effervescent first act. But who can quibble after hearing talented youngsters and adults sing glowing music from The Sound of Music?
The most memorable moment of the show is when Softeland wistfully sings "Edelweiss." This ode to Austria's national flower becomes his solo statement of patriotism, and he delivers it softly and haltingly, until it fades to a stop. Then the children take up the chorus, an amazing look passes between von Trapp and Maria and they all end the song together.
In this show of big music and big sets, that small moment shows the power of this small theater company.


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Shuttle Bus
From Midwinter2009
Free shuttle buses, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, will operate between all participating hotels and the Colorado Convention Center during the Meeting. Accessible service will also be provided for attendees needing additional assistance. Shuttle bus service schedules (including daily pick-up times, locations and destinations) will be published in Cognotes, the daily newspaper of the Meeting. For accessibility assistance, please call 800-523-4046. Don't forget to stop by Gale Cengage Learning's booth and say thanks for the lift!


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Miami Dolphins
CBS sacks Dan Marino; Dolphins mum on possible interest
Former Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino lost his marquee television job Tuesday when he and CBS parted ways after 12 seasons as an analyst on its NFL studio show.
CBS also dropped Shannon Sharpe and hired former All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez for its pregame, postgame and halftime programming.
Marino's next career move is uncertain. His agent, Marvin Demoff, conveyed through his assistant that he would not be answering questions about Marino on Tuesday, and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross declined to respond when asked if he would have interest in hiring Marino.
But the Dolphins have not pursued Marino this offseason, even though they were aware that he potentially would be interested in a role with the organization. According to an associate, Ross has felt no need to hire a Bill Parcells-type president who would oversee football operations.
CBS Sports president Sean McManus said Marino's departure "was a collaborative decision — us wanting to make some changes and Dan wanting to pursue other professional opportunities. We both decided it has been a great partnership. Dan remains a very good friend. He will hopefully find something every bit as challenging."
McManus said he wasn't sure what opportunities Marino planned to pursue.
CBS has a game analyst role open following the retirement of Dan Dierdorf, but McManus said that job was offered to neither Marino nor Sharpe.
"Both are really good at studio analysis," McManus said, adding he had no issue with Marino's job performance. "We didn't think they were interested" in the game analyst role."
CBS likely will add a fifth person, probably a former defensive player, to join James Brown, Gonzalez, Bill Cowher and Boomer Esiason on its studio show.
Marino, 52, spent his entire 17-year career with the Dolphins, retiring after the 1999 season, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005, his first year of eligibility.
He had been with CBS since the start of the 2002 season and also appeared on HBO's Inside the NFL (which now airs on Showtime) from 2002-07. Early in 2004, he returned to the Dolphins as senior vice president of football operations, but resigned three weeks later, saying the role was not in the best interests of himself or his family.
Marino and the Dolphins spoke about a role two years ago, but the Dolphins never pursued the matter.


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BALTIMORE & O R. CO. v. GROEGER(1925)
[266 U.S. 521, 522] Messrs. W. T. Kinder and S. H. Tolles, both of Cleveland, Ohio, for petitioner.
Mr. E. C. Chapman, of Cleveland, Ohio, for respondent.
Mr. Justice BUTLER delivered the opinion of the Court.
Respondent, administratrix of the estate of her deceased husband, John C. Groeger, brought this action against the petitioner in the District Court for the Northern [266 U.S. 521, 523] District of Ohio, to recover damages for his death. He was a locomotive engineer, employed by the defendant, and at the time of his death, September 3, 1920, was operating a steam locomotive propelling an interstate train. He was killed by the explosion of the boiler. The action was brought under the federal Employers' Liability Act of April 22, 1908, 35 Stat. 65 (Comp. St. 8657-8665), and the federal Boiler Inspection Act of February 17, 1911, 2, 36 Stat. 913 (Comp. St. 8631), amended by Act March 4, 1915, 38 Stat. 1192 (Comp. St. 8639a).
The court submitted for decision of the jury two issues: Whether the explosion was caused in whole or in part by an unsafe and insufficient condition permitted by defendant in and about the crown sheet of the boiler; and whether defendant's failure to have a fusible plug in the crown sheet violated section 2 of the Boiler Inspection Act. There was a verdict and judgment for plaintiff. Defendant took the case to the Circuit Court of Appeals, where the judgment was affirmed. 288 F. 321.
1. Defendant asserts that section 2 of the Boiler Inspection Act prescribes no definite or ascertainable standard of duty. That section provides that it shall be unlawful 'for any common carrier ... to use any locomotive engine propelled by steam power ... unless the boiler ... and appurtenances thereof are in proper condition and safe to operate in the service to which the same is put, that the same may be employed in the active service of such carrier in moving traffic without unnecessary peril to life or limb. ...' It imposes upon the carrier a higher degree of duty than theretofore existed. The requirement of the statute is substituted for the common-law rule which holds the employer to ordinary care to provide his employees a reasonably safe place in which, and reasonably safe appliances and machinery with which, to work. It is as definite and certain as is the common-law rule, and to hold that the duty imposed cannot be ascertained would be as unreasonable as it [266 U.S. 521, 524] would be to declare that the common-law rule which is ordinarily applied in personal injury actions brought by employees against employers is too indefinite to be enforced or complied with. The contention is without merit.
2. Defendant insists that there was no evidence to support a finding that the explosion resulted from any defective or dangerous condition of the crown sheet.
The credibility of witnesses, the weight and probative value of evidence are to be determined by the jury and not by the judge. However, many decisions of this court1 establish that, in every case, it is the duty of the judge to direct a verdict in favor of one of the parties when the testimony and all the inferences which the jury could justifiably draw therefrom would be insufficient to support a different finding. [266 U.S. 521, 525] The parts of the fire box and boiler involved may be described briefly. One side of the metal forming the top and sides of the fire box is exposed to the fire, and the other side forms a part of the boiler and, when the engine is in use, is covered by water. In order to strengthen and to hold in proper position the sides and top of the fire box in relation to the opposite exterior walls of the boiler, staybolts are used, extending from the inside of the fire box to the outside of the boiler. There were 1,464 such bolts on the engine under consideration. The top of the fire box is called the crown sheet. It is kept covered with water while the engine is in operation, and if allowed to be without water thereon, it will become so overheated that damage or explosion will be liable to result. Fusible plugs are made of soft metal, which will melt at relatively low temperature. They may be, and sometimes are, inserted into and used as part of the crown sheet, and are so shaped and placed that the end of the plug inside the boiler extends slightly above the surface of the metal surrounding it. It is intended that, if the water on the crown sheet shall be too low, the fire will melt out the plug before greater damage or explosion results, and allow the steam to escape from the boiler into the fire box and so relieve the pressure and check or extinguish the fire.
Rule 25, approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission, is as follows:
Rule 14 of the Commission is as follows:
This does not [266 U.S. 521, 526] purport to require fusible plugs to be used. There was none in the crown sheet in question. It was shown that the boiler had seven broken staybolts, and that they had been broken some time before the day the explosion occurred. Three were intermediate on one side within a radius of 16 inches; three, two of which were adjacent, were intermediate on the other side within a radius of 12 inches, and one was at the front end of the crown sheet. Use of the boiler in that condition violated rule 25. The evidence showed that overheating of the crown sheet has a tendency to injure and fracture staybolts; but it was not shown what caused these to break. All persons on the engine-engineer, fireman, and brakeman-were killed. The train stopped at Foster's Tower, about 3 miles from the place of the explosion, and there water was taken into the tank. A brakeman employed on another train, then at that station, testified that he went into the cab of Groeger's engine, and that, while there, he observed that water and steam were escaping from the boiler into the fire box; that he heard the sizzling of the water upon the fire; that, when he opened the fire box door, steam gushed out; that the fire was dead; that the steam gauge showed 160 pounds pressure, and that water was being put into the boiler by the two injectors. There was no evidence that, prior to the day of the explosion, there was any improper or unsafe condition or defect in the boiler, other than the broken staybolts. The testimony of the locomotive engineers, who operated the engine several days immediately preceding the explosion, was to the effect that the injectors, gauge cocks, and water glass-the means by which the supply of water in the boiler was controlled and observed-were in good condition. The testimony of a number of witnesses, whose experience qualified them to give opinion evidence on the basis of conditions existing after the explosion, supported the defendant's contention that the [266 U.S. 521, 527] broken staybolts did not cause or have any connection with the explosion, and, as to that matter, there was no substantial conflict in the evidence. The location of these broken staybolts in relation to the place of the tear or rupture was shown to be such that the explosion was not caused by them. And we find no evidence in the record to support a finding that they caused or contributed to cause the explosion.
But we agree with the Circuit Court of Appeals that, under section 2 of the statute, there was sufficient evidence to sustain the verdict, wholly apart from the broken staybolts. Defendant's duty to have the boiler in a safe condition to operate so that it could be used without unnecessary peril to its employees was absolute and continuing. No notice to the defendant, actual or constructive, of the defects or unsafe condition of the boiler was necessary to plaintiff's case. Defendant is liable if its breach of duty contributed to cause the death. We are bound to assume that the condition of the boiler at Foster, a very short time before the explosion, was as indicated by the testimony of the brakeman above referred to. His credibility and the weight properly to be given to his testimony were for the jury. And if the boiler was in the condition he described, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that a breach of duty of defendant caused or contributed to cause the explosion. We think it did not conclusively appear that the failure of deceased properly to operate the engine was the sole cause of the explosion. It follows that the evidence made a case for the jury.
3. The court, in harmony with the provisions of section 2, instructed the jury that the standard of defendant's duty was to put and keep the locomotive in proper condition and safe to operate, and that it would be a violation of defendant's duty if the engine, as to the crown sheet, was permitted to be in such a condition that it could not be employed in the active service of the carrier moving the [266 U.S. 521, 528] traffic without unnecessary peril to life or limb, and further instructed as follows:
That act was passed to promote the safety of employees and is to be read and applied with the federal Employers' Liability Act. Under the latter, defendant is liable for any negligence chargeable to it which caused or contributed to cause decedent's death (section 1), and he will not be held guilty of contributory negligence (section 3) or to have assumed the risks of his employment (section 4) if a violation of section 2 of the Boiler Inspection Act contributed to cause his death. See Great Northern Ry. Co. v. Donaldson, 246 U.S. 121, 124 , 38 S. Ct. 230, Ann. Cas. 1918C, 581; St. Louis Iron Mountain & S. Ry. v. Taylor, 210 U.S. 281, 294 , 28 S. Ct. 616; Louisville & Nashville R. R. Co. v. Layton, 243 U.S. 617, 620 , 37 S. Ct. 456.
By the last-mentioned section, defendant was bound absolutely to furnish what before, under the common law, [266 U.S. 521, 529] it was its duty to exercise ordinary care to provide. The carriers were left free to determine how their boilers should be kept in proper condition for use without unnecessary danger. The things required for that purpose were not prescribed or changed by the act; but use of boilers unless safe to operate as specified was made unlawful, and liability for consequences follows violation of the act. It is a well-established rule that the master is not bound to furnish the latest or best tools or appliances for the use of his servants. That rule is applicable here, and we hold that defendant was not liable for failure to furnish the best mechanical contrivances and investions or to discard appliances upon discovery of later improvements, provided the boiler was in proper condition and safe to operate, as required by the statute. Chicago & Northwestern Ry. Co. v. Bower, 241 U.S. 470, 474 , 36 S. Ct. 624; Patton v. Texas & Pacific R. R. Co., 179 U.S. 658, 664 , 21 S. Ct. 275; Washington, etc., Railway Co. v. McDade, 135 U.S. 554, 570 , 10 S. Ct. 1044.
The jury was by the charge authorized to find that the act required defendant to have a fusible plug in the crown sheet of the boiler. There is nothing in the act or in any rule, regulation or order authorized by it, which specifies the use of fusible plugs. This, however, does not relieve the defendant of the duty to have and keep its boilers safe for use as required by the act. Great Northern Ry. Co. v. Donaldson, supra, 128 (38 S. Ct. 230). The use of fusible plugs has been known for a long time. The record does not contain a complete showing of the extent of their use; but it appears that the Erie Railroad uses them, and that for some years defendant used them; that defendant has now about 2,700 locomotives, and does not have fusible plugs in any of them; and it was shown that they are not used by the New York Central, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Illinois Central, or the Nickel Plate. In 1899, the American Railway Master Mechanics' Association, whose members represent nearly all the railroads in [266 U.S. 521, 530] the country, passed a resolution expressing the sense of the association to be 'that the use of fusible plugs in the crown sheets of locomotive fire boxes is not conducive to the prevention of the overheating of the crown sheet.' It appears that, among practical men experienced in such matters, there is a difference of opinion as to the usefulness of such plugs. If the question whether the standard of duty fixed by the act required defendant to have a fusible plug in the crown sheet of the boiler were one for the determination of a jury, we think there was evidence which would sustain a verdict in the affirmative or in the negative. But we think the question was not for the jury. Southern Pacific Co. v. Seley, 152 U.S. 145, 150 , 14 S. Ct. 530; Tuttle v. Detroit, G. H . & M. R. Co., 122 U.S. 180, 194 , 7 S. Ct. 1166; Randall v. Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co., 109 U.S. 478, 483 , 3 S. Ct. 322; Kilpatrick v. Choctaw, O. & G. R. Co., 121 F. 11, 57 C. C. A. 255; Richards v. Rough, 53 Mich. 212, 216, 18 N. W. 785. And see Southern Pacific Co. v. Berkshire, 254 U.S. 415, 417 , 41 S. Ct. 162. The act required a condition which would permit use of the locomotive without unnecessary danger. It left to the carrier the choice of means to be employed to effect that result. While the burden was on the plaintiff to prove a violation of the act by defendant, she was not bound to show that any particular contrivance or invention was suitable or necessary to have and keep the boiler in proper condition. There is a multitude of mechanical questions involved in determining the proper construction, maintenance and use of the boilers, other parts of locomotives, their tenders and appurtenances, all of which are covered by the Boiler Inspection Act, as amended. Inventions are occurring frequently, and there are many devices to accomplish the same purpose. Comparative merits as to safety or utility are most difficult to determine. It is not for the courts to lay down rules which will operate to restrict the carriers in their choice of mechanical means by which their locomotives, boilers, engine tenders and appurtenances [266 U.S. 521, 531] are to be kept in proper condition. Nor are such matters to be left to the varying and uncertain opinions and verdicts of juries. The interests of the carriers will best be served by having and keeping their locomotive boilers safe; and it may well be left to their officers and engineers to decide the engineering questions involved in determining whether to use fusible plugs or other means to that end. Tuttle v. Detroit, G. H. & M. R. Co., supra, page 194 (7 S. Ct. 1166); Richards v. Rough, supra, page 216 ( 18 N. W. 785). The presence or absence of a fusible plug was a matter properly to be taken into consideration in connection with other facts bearing upon the kind and condition of the boiler in determining the essential and ultimate question; i. e. whether the boiler was in the condition required by the act.
But we think the court erred in instructing the jury that defendant was bound to avail itself of 'the best mechanical contrivances and inventions in known practical use which are or would be effective in making safe a locomotive boiler as against explosions,' and also erred in authorizing the jury to decide that 'the standard of duty imposed by the law required a fusible safety plug to be installed,' and that 'the absence of the fusible safety plug would impose upon the defendant here an absolute liability.'
Judgment reversed.
[ Footnote 1 ] Pawling v. United States, 4 Cranch, 219, 221; United States v. Breitling, 20 How. 252, 254, 255; Schuchardt v. Allens, 1 Wall. 359, 369; Merchants' Bank v. State Bank, 10 Wall. 604, 637; Improvement Co. v. Munson, 14 Wall. 442, 448; Pleasants v. Fant, 22 Wall. 116, 121, 122; Herbert v. Butler, 97 U.S. 319 , 320; Bowditch v. Boston, 101 U.S. 16 , 18; Griggs v. Houston, 104 U.S. 553 ; Phoenix Ins. Co. v. Doster, 106 U.S. 30, 32 , 1 S. Ct. 18; Russell v. Allen, 107 U.S. 163 , 2 S. Ct. 327; Anderson County Commissioners v. Beal, 113 U.S. 227, 241 , 5 S. Ct. 433; People's Savings Bank v. Bates, 120 U.S. 556, 561 , 562 S., 7 S. Ct. 679; North Penn. Railroad v. Commercial Bank, 123 U.S. 727, 733 , 8 S. Ct. 266; Kane v. Northern Central Railway, 128 U.S. 91, 94 , 9 S. Ct. 16; Dunlap v. Northeastern Railroad, 130 U.S. 649, 652 , 9 S. Ct. 647; Delaware, etc., Railroad v. Converse, 139 U.S. 469, 472 , 11 S. Ct. 569; Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. Cox, 145 U.S. 593, 606 , 12 S. Ct. 905; Elliott v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, 150 U.S. 245 , 14 S. Ct. 85; Gardner v. Michigan Central Railroad, 150 U.S. 349, 360 , 14 S. Ct. 140; Union Pacific Railway Co. v. McDonald, 152 U.S. 262, 283 , 14 S. Ct. 619; Southern Pacific Co. v. Pool, 160 U.S. 438, 440 , 16 S. Ct. 338; Patton v. Texas & Pacific Railway Co., 179 U.S. 658 , 21 S. Ct. 275; Marande v. Texas & Pacific Ry. Co., 184 U.S. 173, 191 , 22 S. Ct. 340; McGuire v. Blount, 199 U.S. 142, 148 , 26 S. Ct. 1; Empire State Cattle Co. v. Atchison Ry. Co., 210 U.S. 1, 10 , 28 S. Ct. 607, 15 Ann. Cas. 70; Delk v. St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., 220 U.S. 580, 587 , 31 S. Ct. 617; Slocum v. New York Life Insurance Co., 228 U.S. 364, 369 , 33 S. Ct. 523, Ann. Cas. 1914D, 1029.


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In the News
Archiving Literary History, Then And Now
Blogger Christine Frost attended Radcliffe's lecture and 20 questions with Roger Chartier and writes, "The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study has become an amazing place. It serves as a hub for collaborative projects that span Harvard University, and all disciplines, from humanities to the sciences, are explored in a variety of symposia and events."
Thomas Jefferson Was Not a Monster
Seeking to Connect on Water Issues
The future of water symposium featured a variety of water-centric issues, from desalination to pollutants to the dangers of contamination from hydraulic fracturing. Radcliffe Dean Cohen said that water issues reach across disciplines, making them good subjects for the science symposium, which seeks to stimulate interdisciplinary conversation and collaboration.
Radcliffe Institute Dean Examines Urbanization in Lecture
Lizabeth Cohen, the recently inaugurated dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, brought a multi-faceted lens to the problem of integration in post-World War II urban America in a speech called "Place, People, and Power"—an aptly all-encompassing name for a wide-ranging talk.
The Rise of Medical Tourism
A Renewed Look at Urban Renewal
Q&A with Radcliffe's New Dean
Symposium Celebrates Julia Child's Life, Love of Paris
The Bay State Banner reports the symposium honoring the centenary of Child's birth offered a day-long sampling of Child fervor, drawing an overflow audience as well as Internet viewers. In Cambridge, as on TV, Child was disarmingly natural and free of pretension, engaging and curious, whether shopping for cheese or meats or chatting with nearby ladies at her hair salon.
Raj Chetty and Benjamin Warf Win MacArthur Grants
The MacArthur Foundation awarded its $500,000, no-strings-attached fellowships, known as "genius grants," on October 1. Former Radcliffe Fellow and MIT professor Junot Diaz, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008 for his novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, was announced as a winner.
Back to Birmingham
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Diane McWhorter RI '12, who spoke as part of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute's Colloquium Series, said she decided to re-issue her prize-winning book, "Carry Me Home," after she discovered new materials on the subject. Introducing McWhorter was Jane Rhodes the Joy Foundation Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute.


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There are made to help people with their concerns. Whether it's general care or styling issues, these products help us boost our confidence by styling our hair or simply by making it manageable and healthy.
This products such as shampoos, conditioners, hair dyes, gels and loss solutions are highly popular in the market.A shampoo is one of basic that are readily available in the market. It's a detergent that removes oil, dirt and prevents dandruff caused by outdoor pollution. It's a general product that is needed for one's daily bathing activity.
Redken shampoo is among the top 10 best shampoo products based on surveys. All Soft Shampoo is one of its products. This shampoo offers advanced "silkening" solutions that can transform dry and brittle to soft and manageable hair.
A products conditioner is another type of commonly used that compliment shampoo products. This is a great help for maintaining healthy looking hair.Some hairs are generally fizzy or too dry due to too much exposure to outdoor pollution. When products dries, it becomes brittle and it easily breaks. If you don't treat it right away, it will reach the follicles and would result to falling hair.conditioners help fix greatly damaged by keeping it moisturized.
Daily Color Enhancing Conditioner – for Gray to Silver shades, Sterling to Snow is a product of Pantene, one of the leading manufacturers. It specializes in restoring vibrant shine to your silver, white or gray hair. This conditioner uses Pantene's Pro-V solution to rid dull issues and let your grow shiny and healthy.
Hair dyes are also popular products. It is mostly used in parlors. Hair dyes are used to alter the original color of the products and are commonly used by many aging people to hide their gray hair. These products are also made available for hair color fashion statements.
Crabbe and Wylde Botanicals are organic henna products available in the market. Using a natural ingredient – the Lawsonia inemis shrub, it can produce a vibrant red color dye finish. Crabbe and Wylde Botanicals are sold in packs in different quantities.
These various are commonly found in every kind of regular kit. Shampoos, conditioners and hair dyes are the basic products that help keep our healthy and feel good and look beautiful.


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Blind Item #5
This A list entertainer(athlete) who did not have a great Olympics ditched his long time girlfriend when this television hostess started flirting with him. She is on a very long running musical show and once dated an A list mostly movie actor. The two went back to her hotel room since his had his girlfriend in it.


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Maybe it's just society's collective attention span being shortened by a barrage of short form information, lists, tweets, rapid news cycles, etc, but when it comes to deeming something "old school," it seems like the barrier to entry is not altogether formidable. We get through so many flavors of the week that anything that's been around for a little while gets to be old school.
X Large, however, is the real deal. 2016 marks their 25th anniversary, but they aren't being celebrated just for sticking around. Boasting celebrity associations from the Beastie Boys, to Kim Gordon, to Chole Sevigny to Spike Jonze, X Large is one of the true originators of streetwear, not just in the sense of one particularly famous item or another, but in the sense that their vision defined the entire aesthetic. Check out any 90s movie where a group of diverse "cool kids" are wearing similar "alternative" but not readily assignable to a particular category clothing like work shirts, striped polos, baggy pants, and logo tees, for instance. X Large is responsible for that.
Here's your chance to grab a place at the original cool kids table.
If a size is not listed, it is sold out.


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Avira Appoints Travis Witteveen as CEO
Founder Tjark Auerbach Remains Majority Shareholder
Tettnang, Germany --- June 12, 2013 – Cyber-security expert Avira announced today that Travis Witteveen has been promoted to CEO of the company, effective July 1, 2013. Witteveen, who has been with Avira since 2009, was formerly Chief Operating Officer. Company founder Tjark Auerbach, who started Avira more than 27 years ago in a garage in Germany, will remain the majority shareholder.
Since 1992, Witteveen's entire career has been in the security software industry. Prior to joining Avira, Witteveen distinguished himself as Senior Vice President of Sales and Global Operations at F-Secure (NASDAQ OMX: FSC1V) and Vice President of Global Sales at AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG). At both companies, Witteveen was responsible for internationalizing sales and distribution as well as driving global sales growth.
Avira has quietly become one of the largest antivirus software companies in the world with more than 100 million active users and 500 employees worldwide. Avira was recently ranked #1 in technology innovation according to ABI Research; recommended by Consumer Reports for its free antivirus software; cited by OPSWAT as the # 1 fastest-growing antivirus vendor in 2012 and the #2 largest vendor worldwide in 2011; and over the last decade has earned a nearly unbroken string of Virus Bulletin VB100 awards .
"Avira is a healthy growing company, firmly established in the security industry," said Tjark Auerbach, founder and majority shareholder of Avira. "With Travis, I have found a successor who shares my company vision and has the operational skills and industry connections to take Avira to the next level. He also possesses similar values as I do, and a relentless passion to build and do great things."
"For the last 27 years Tjark Auerbach has built a top-notch company with great employees, achieving a leadership position in the antivirus industry. I am honored he has chosen me to continue evolving Avira", said Travis Witteveen. "We have a solid pipeline of innovative technology and solutions, expanding our offering beyond just computers and devices. We have a great team with a strong commitment to the customer. It will be hard work, but we are going to have a lot of fun continuing the growth and success of Avira."
"In the coming months we will strengthen our leadership in the antivirus industry even more. We will expand our portfolio by providing more security and safety functionality across all our customers' internet-connected devices, as well as the services and activities they engage in. I'm excited."
- Sign up to receive news from Avira: http://www.avira.com/en/press-press-distribution-list
- Follow Avira's TechBlog: http://techblog.avira.com/en
- Join the Avira community on Facebook: www.facebook.com/avira
Media Contacts:
Rocket Science PR, for Avira
Rich Mullikin, APR
Tel: +1 415 464 8110 x216
Mobile: +1 925 354 7444
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Flutlicht GmbH, for Avira
Veit Kollera
Tel: +49-911-47495-17
Fax: +49-911-47495-55
Mobile: +49-170-2252603
Email: email@example.com
Sobre a Avira
A Avira quer que seus clientes "vivam livres" de spyware, phishing, vírus e outras ameaças com base na internet. A empresa foi fundada há 25 anos baseada na promessa de Tjark Auerbach de "fazer software que faz coisas boas para os meus amigos e família". Mais de 100 milhões de clientes e pequenas empresas agora dependem da experiência em segurança da Avira e software antivírus premiado, o que fazem da empresa a segunda líder no mercado mundial. A Avira oferece proteção de segurança de TI para computadores, smartphones, servidores e redes, entregues tanto como software e serviços com base em "nuvem".
Além de proteger o mundo online, o CEO da Avira promove o bem estar no mundo offline através da Fundação Auerbach, que apoia projetos de caridade e sociais. A filosofia da fundação é ajudar pessoas a se ajudarem.
Para mais informações, visite o site www.avira.com ou participe da comunidade www.facebook.com/avira.


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|Find the best surf spots
Sunday May 13 2007 06:04:36 PM
Surf spot: Doheny, United States of America
Session's Rate:
Wind direction: Offshore
Wind Strength: Light
Nb waves ridden: 100
Length of the surf session: 180 min
Surfboard ridden: Longboard
Fins: Average
Weather and water temp: Windy, 60F
Waves height: 1m-1.2m / 3ft-4ft
Waves Quality:
- Soft
- Fun
Waves Shape:
- Walls
2nds was giving one of the longest rights I've ever surfed. No waves in LAguna but amazingly one beach down Doho had some good 4 ft sets. It was empty until school got out. When 2nds got to high I went to boneyards and it was ok but a little small. I waited far outside for the sets swith about 4 other advanced longboarders (including me) so that all the noobs wouldn't get in my way. Big sets came about every 20 mins with smaller sets inbetween. It would break outside then almost die. and the fall in again.
Created: Sunday May 13 2007 06:09:27 PM
Modified: Sunday May 13 2007 06:09:27 PM
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"What can an eighteen-year-old possibly care about a wrinkled-up old man with a pencil-thin mustache hunched over a keyboard?" he asks incredulously. "I mean, have you seen Dylan lately? You can't recognize a single song he plays anymore. It's like you order a pizza and Dylan brings you a pile of dog food, and you're like, 'What's this? I ordered pizza.' And Dylan says, 'This is my version of a pizza.'"Ths image is Dylanesque, but Dylan's image would be better:
Now you see this one-eyed midgetBut I'm not attacking Mister Coyne. And I like that Rolling Stone put up the audio of its interview with him, which is mostly not about Dylan.
Shouting the word "NOW"
And you say, "For what reason?"
And he says, "How?"
And you say, "What does this mean?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home"
Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?


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Norwegian Coffee Cake: A Yeast-Averse Story
If you've read some of my posts before, you've noticed that I don't make a lot of bread, and that on the rare occasions when I do, I mention my aversion to yeast. Well, maybe it's time I admitted that this aversion I have to yeast is mostly due to my often having a packet of yeast in the cupboard that, logically, hardly ever gets used resulting in the yeast becoming so old and ineffective that, when I finally get around to using it, a fair amount of cursing and imprecations is directed at said yeast when my dough still hasn't risen after 3 hours of pilot-lighting, oven-front sitting, steam bathing, etc...
So imagine my utter delight when, having purchased a brand new shiny packet of yeast a couple of months ago, all my bread endeavors now promptly ferment, bubble and rise and I obtain the bread I was trying to make, my kneading inability notwithstanding.
Really, there are two culprits in this newfound desire I have to actually make bread and brave yeast: their names are Jamie and Deeba. I mentioned both of them in the last post.
What you may not know about them is that Jamie has this fabulous recipe for a chocolate meringue coffee cake on her blog which was the catalyst of my old yeast/new yeast debacle, and Deeba pulls baked goods out of her oven like Mary Poppins pulls whatever she might need out of her bag. So when Jamie declared that she was hosting this month's Bread Baking Day and that the theme of it would be her birthday which was the 28th of January, I felt I really should participate both because she is a dear friend and because she got me to start baking bread. Deeba's contribution was to insist on posting bread after bread after bread, some from the Ottolenghi book which I gave her when she was here for FBC, which heightened my desperation for bread-baking success.
So out came the Tassajara Bread Book which I purchased last summer with every intention of making a ton of bread, and which went unused until yesterday when I leafed through it looking purposely for a yeasted recipe (yes there is a whole un-yeasted bread section in there) and came upon this Norwegian coffee cake. Flavored with cardamom, which I love, at its simplest, it seemed just the thing to bake on a chilly Sunday.
I had a bar of Valrhona orange chocolate I needed to use and orange and chocolate being two flavors that marry well with cardamom, half of it went into the bread. I could choose any shape and having never baked challah or any other braided bread before, I decided to try a four-stranded braid. Though I knew I'd gone wrong about halfway through the loaf (past the point where the diagrams ended), it wasn't until after I'd put the bread in the oven that I suddenly understood how the weave worked.
It was (and still is because it's huge*) delicious, with an airy, challah-like consistency to the crumb. I haven't been able to stop eating it since I first tore into it, and what remains of it will go into some bread pudding tomorrow.
The most satisfying part of the whole experience was when I gave the tiniest piece of just cardamom-flavored crumb (no chocolate chunks) to Baby Saffron, who hadn't had anything cardamom-flavored yet, to taste and she made this little high-pitched mmmm sound she's just started making recently when she likes food. My heart grew three sizes at that moment.
* The quantities in this recipe make an enormous amount of bread; for human-sized portions you should probably halve it or make two loaves.
Norwegian Coffee Cake
adapted from the Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown
Yeast Sponge:
1 1/2 Tbsp dry active yeast
1 1/4 cup (315ml) half-fat milk (or water) slightly warmed (not hot)
1 1/2 cup (190g) all purpose flour
2 Tbsp (26g) brown sugar
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp (136g) brown sugar
1/2 cup (110g) butter
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
100g (3.5 oz) chocolate roughly chopped into chunks
3 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour + more for kneading
vegetable oil for the bowl in which it will rise
Egg Wash (optional):
1 egg
2 Tbsp water or milk
For the yeast sponge:
- Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk. Add the flour and the 2 Tbsp of sugar and mix well. Cover with a damp towel and leave to rise. The book implies that you can do this while you are preparing the rest, but I actually left my sponge the whole night in my cold kitchen.
For the bread:
- Preferably using a mixer of some sort for ease, cream the butter (in a stand mixer use the paddle attachment). Cream the sugar into the butter.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well before adding the next.
- Mix the salt and the cardamom.
- Fold the butter/sugar mixture and the salt/cardamom mixture into the yeast sponge.
- Fold any extras such as the chocolate chunks into the mixture (I actually forgot to do this and had to add the chocolate right before the bread went into the oven...oops).
- Fold the flour in until you form a soft dough. I needed all 3 1/2 cups but you might only need 3.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and adding flour as needed, knead it into a smooth dough (it took me about 10mn).
- Using the vegetable oil, lightly grease a large bowl. Put your kneaded dough into it, making sure to coat it lightly with oil (I do this by rolling it around in the bowl a couple of times), then cover with a damp kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 30-40mn or until it has doubled in size.
- Shape your bread as desired. If you make the whole quantity, you might want to divide the dough in half and make two loaves.
- Preheat your oven to 350-375˚F (180-190˚C).
- Place the loaf on a sheet of baking paper or on a greased baking pan. Cover with the damp kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 20-30mn or until it has doubled in size again.
- For a golden crust, make an eggwash: beat the egg and milk together and using a pastry brush, brush onto your loaf right before it goes into the oven.
- Bake for 45-50mn or until the crust is golden brown.


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Last season the Knicks struggled mightily against the Cavs, losing 3 of 4 to LeBron's old squad. Current Knick Baron Davis killed the Knicks last season as a member of the Cavaliers. His replacement, first overall selection Kyrie Irving will provide a challenge for the Knick defense tonight as he has had an impressive rookie campaign.
Here's what to watch for:
- Multiple Knick beat writers have been reporting that Baron Davis may make his Knick debut tonight. Now this won't be a Melo debut where he starts and plays 35 minutes. Any Davis appearance will likely be 5-10 minutes just to get his feet wet. Personally, I do not want him to play tonight. I want him back healthy as much as anyone but there is no need to rush him back against a Cleveland team playing a back to back.
- Apart from breaking their 6 game losing streak, the Knicks decisive victory last night allowed the starters to get some much needed rest and the Knicks should have an advantage tonight. Cleveland battled with Miami last night and should have more wear on their legs than the Knicks do tonight.
- Lets see how Stoudemire and Anthony co-exist tonight. I blogged after the game last night about the remaining lack of a two-man game against Charlotte. Moving the ball definitely is great but to maximize their abilities, the two stars must learn to play together. Whether that is the pick and roll, the pick and pop or the give and go, the two stars must being to set each other up in positions to score the basketball.
- Landry Fields should continue his hot streak. Fields has begun to re-gain his confidence over the last 4 games and his continued production offensively will be huge to the Knicks success moving forward. Against the imposing defensive matchup of Anthony Parker (sarcasm), Fields should continue to get to the rim and score points for the Knicks.


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Health Education stresses the mental, social and physical well being of the individual.
TRANSFER MAJOR REQUIREMENTS in Health Education, Recreation, Physical Education, and Athletics are available in the Counseling Center. Students should consult a counselor and the appropriate college catalog for other transfer requirements.
Catalogs of California and out-of-state colleges are located in the Library and the Counseling Center. Four-year graduates in Health Education, Recreation, Physical Education, and Athletics qualify for employment in private industry and recreational agencies and are prepared to seek teaching credentials in elementary or secondary education.
Jill Whisler is a Registered Dietitian through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietietics , a certified Health Fitness Specialist through the... More


text:
Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, a renowned biblical scholar and former Archbishop of Milan, died today aged 85 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
Pope Benedict XVI met the cardinal privately during a visit to Milan in June and had been informed of his failing health, the Vatican press office said.
The cardinal was a prolific author whose books were bestsellers in Italy and included everything from scholarly biblical exegesis to poetry and prayer guides.
He retired as Archbishop of Milan in 2002, where he was known as a strong pastor and administrator, and as a very careful, thoughtful advocate of wider discussion and dialogue on some delicate and controversial Church positions.
At various times, he expressed openness to the possibility of allowing married Latin Rite priests under certain circumstances, ordaining women as deacons and allowing Communion for some divorced Catholics in subsequent marriages not approved by the Church.
During a special Synod of Bishops for Europe in 1999, he made waves when he proposed a new Church-wide council or assembly to unravel "doctrinal and disciplinary knots" such as the shortage of priests, the role of women, the role of laity and the discipline of marriage. His carefully worded remarks reflected his belief that the Church would benefit from a wider exercise of collegiality, or the shared responsibility of bishops for the governance of the Church. The idea of a new council was not taken up formally by the synod.
Following his retirement, his interests focused on biblical studies, Catholic-Jewish dialogue and praying for peace in the Middle East.
In a September 2004 message to a symposium on the Holy Land and interreligious dialogue, the cardinal wrote that Christians who visit Jerusalem should suspend judgment on the political situation there and simply pray for both sides. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict had become so complicated and painful that even an expert would have trouble sorting it out, he said.
In a November 2004 speech at Rome's Gregorian University, he told Catholics they could not understand their faith unless they understood the Jewish faith practised by Jesus and his disciples.
"It is vital for the Church not only to understand the ancient covenant [between God and the Jewish people] which has endured for centuries in order to launch a fruitful dialogue, but also to deepen our own understanding of who we are as the Church," he said.
Even in retirement, the cardinal kept up with issues of importance in the life of the Church. He was sought after for interviews and frequently published opinion pieces in Italian newspapers.
After Pope Benedict eased restrictions on the celebration of the pre-Vatican II liturgy in 2007, Cardinal Martini wrote a newspaper column explaining why, even though he loved the Latin language and could even preach in Latin, he would not celebrate the old Mass.
He said he admired Pope Benedict "benevolence" in allowing Catholics "to praise God with ancient and new forms" by permitting wider use of the 1962 form of the Mass, but his experience as a bishop had convinced him of the importance of a common liturgical prayer to express Catholics' unity of belief.
The cardinal also said the reformed liturgy that came out of the Second Vatican Council marked "a real step forward" in nourishing Catholics "with the word of God, offered in a much more abundant way than before", with a much larger selection of Scripture readings.
In a 2008 book-length interview called Nighttime Conversations in Jerusalem, Cardinal Martini said Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, which taught that birth control was morally wrong, led many Catholics to distance themselves from the Church and from listening to and being challenged by the Catholic vision of human sexuality.
While not specifically addressing the morality of contraception, the cardinal said the Church needed to take a more pastoral approach to questions of sexuality. "The Church should always treat questions of sexuality and the family in such a way that a leading and decisive role is up to the responsibility of the person who loves," he said.
Born in Orbassano, near Turin, on February 15 1927, Carlo Maria Martini entered the Society of Jesus in 1944, was ordained a priest on July 13 1952 and took his final vows as a Jesuit in 1962.
The cardinal, a biblical scholar, never held a parish post. With doctorates in theology and biblical studies, he was a seminary professor in Chieri, Italy, from 1958 to 1961, professor and later rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome from 1969 to 1978, and rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University from July 1978 until his December 1979 appointment to Milan.
After his retirement in 2002 he moved to Jerusalem and purchased a burial plot there but returned to Milan after his health worsened in 2008. He died in a Jesuit retirement home near Milan, surrounded by his Jesuit confreres and members of his family.
When he was named Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Martini was the first Jesuit in 35 years to lead an Italian archdiocese. Pope John Paul II ordained him an archbishop on January 6 1980, in St Peter's Basilica and named him a cardinal in 1983.
A well-known speaker and retreat master, he served as spiritual director of the US bishops' spring meeting in Collegeville, Minnesota, in 1986. In that role, he conducted a day of recollection on the first day and presented a series of reflections during morning prayers throughout the meeting.
Cardinal Martini's death leaves the College of Cardinals with 206 members, 118 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.


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"Excellent service. Knowledgeable and skilled captain and searless booking. Would strongly recommend "
Travel in total relax with a private transfer organized by Capri Relax Boats by speedboats "Itama 38" (12 mt)... 24h/24h
from 1 June 2019 to 15 September 2019 (All days) - High season from 16 September 2019 to 31 October 2019 (All days) - Low season
We accept all major credit cards
No deposit required
Direct payment in Capri by cash or mobile credit card machine
"Excellent service. Knowledgeable and skilled captain and searless booking. Would strongly recommend "
"Highlight of our trip! Loved every minute of it! Our skipper was knowledgeable and made us feel very relaxed. Easy to book and I would highly recommend booking a cruise with them if you go to Cari! "
"My family really enjoyed the trip and it was well worth the extra to have the boat to ourselves. A truly fantastic way to spend an afternoon. Thanks Capri Relax Boats you have my total recommendation."
"I have never done the same excursion twice, but if I were ever going to do one twice, this would be it."
"Perfect service and staff. "
"We had a fantastic day with peter petro as our captain. On time safety was good towels provided and it was the highlight of our trip we'd love to just go around the island again all day on the boat "
"Beautiful day , a great memory for my teens and parents. Jumping off boat and cave swimming . Loved this ! A highlight to Italy !"
"Gino was the best! We had a great time with him. It was the perfect day. Capri is such a magical place ! When we come back, we will be sure to book with Capri Relax Boats again!!"
"Andrea was attentive and pleasant during the booking process. Our captain, Cristof was great! Swimming in the green grotto was the highlight of our trip. We highly recommend this company."
"excellent trip! we loved it! captain Chris was knowledgeable and Handsome! we swam in the green grotto and Blue grotto. just wonderful and unforgettable "
"Fué la mejor experiencia de Capri. Ver la isla desde el mar es maravilloso. poder bañarte en la gruta verde, o en la blanca. Cristian nuestro patrón fué majísimo- Nos explicaba todo y nos hacía fotos"
"Excellent communication and reactivity from Andrea! Will book again!"
"Excellent and professional service."
"it was a great way to start our trip in Capri, very relaxing indeed!"
"Everything was absolutely PERFECT!!!!!!!!! Thanks you so much!"
"Excellent service! Definitely made arrival to Capri easy, fun and effortless! Would highly recommend! "
"You made our trip unforgettable. :)"
"Excellent service very professional !"
"Very pleased with the service. Will definitely use your company again when next in Capri."
"Will never use a ferry again lol"
"Capri is a magic place , ans the boat day was my favorite . Great experience whith a very polite crew .... I will do again for sure !!!!"
"The tour lived up to its name: Relax Boat Tours. Thank you Gino for making this a perfect day."
"Seeing the beautiful island of Capri by private boat was the highlight of my study abroad trip thus far! I would recommend this service for anyone trying to relax, drink some wine, and enjoy the views"
"We loved Gino and had an amazing time! I have no complaints! I will definitely book again in the future. Thank you again. "
"This is a MUST at Capri. Hands down our favorite part of our Italy trip. I would absolutely do it again and recommend others! Thank you so much for making our trip so special! "
"Best part of our trip! I will definitely recommend your company to any one I know that is going to Capri or to Positano. "
"Simply wonderful experience...Christian who was our capitan/guide ws personable, passionate about the sea and very easy to be with...he truly enhanced our vacation experience...bellissimo!"
"It was an absolutely amazing experience! It was the perfect way to end our trip in Europe, could not have asked for better service. The boat was beautiful! "
"We had such a wonderful day with Capri Relax boats! One of our favorite highlights of the trip - Marcelo was a fantastic navigator and made the trip that more enjoyable! "
"What a fantastic way to see the island. The guide was very skilful and knowledgeable and made the trip so enjoyable. What a perfect honeymoon treat! Would recommend to anyone!!!"
"Had a great time! Wonderful way to see the island. Marcelo was an excellent guide. "
"The boat tour was definitely a high light on our visit to this lovely island. Nuncio our guide was Informative and entertaining. The booking process was easy and professional."
"The 4 Hr trip was one of the best holiday trips we have been on. Our skipper made the trip for us with his local knowledge."
"Amazing experience!!! Christopher was a fantastic captain! Our favorite day in Italy by far, such a beautiful, relaxing, and fun excursion. Would recommend this to everyone!"
"We also had a great day, getting into the blue grotto was always on my bucket list, now I can cross it off!"
"Wonderful relaxing boat tour! I could not ask for anything better. Best part of our trip!"
"We had an amazing time in Capri. The boat tour was so professional and our driver Andrea wasfriendlg and extremely knowledgeable. I would reccomend to anyone who wants to see the Blue Grotto! Great!!!"
"This experience on Capri was one of our families highlights of the trip. Our captain Antonio was absolutely wonderful, informative, genuine, and professional. We felt like VIP's! The best! "
"Americo was a wonderful guide and absolutely made our day and experience. I would recommend this company/trip to anyone visiting Capri. Excellent experience!"
"Greatl 4-hrs with Christian as our captain. We were able to see everything, visit the Blue Grotto, and more. Suggestion: Have ice in the cooler or explain on the website more about what is on boat."
"It was the highlight of our trip to the Amalfi Coast and Capri. Christian was friendly,informative and passionate about Capri. Absolutely beautiful island, and a fun trip with swimming and relaxing."
"Such a great day... Marcelo was our skipper and he really made it fun... beautiful weather and the sea was amazing. Would highly recommend it!"
"We had a glorious day with Marcelo sailing around Capri and to Positano. It was so relaxing with Marcelo ensuring we were comfortable. We had a lot of fun and the whole day exceeded our expectations!!"
"The trip was beautiful. However we only had one short swim and did not get to swim in any grotto. Also we paid for a four hour trip and we returned a half hour early at 530 instead of six. "
"Wonderful experience and very relaxing. We also were able to pull into the Blue Grotto and get in with no wait. Fantastic and highly recommended!"
"Thank you so much Capri Relax Tours, although the weather was unusually against us, we had the most beautiful day. We travelled on the 26th April 2016. Highly recommended. Kay& Peter (Australia) "
This was one of the most memorable days on our honeymoon. We took a ferry to Capri for the day just for this boat tour and it did not disappoint! It was incredible! The captain was very knowledgeable... more »
Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed the experience of going in a private boat around Capri with my family and I definitely recommend it. Overall the experience was great but had some... more »
We reserved a 7.5 meter boat about three weeks in advance for a 9:30 am tour. We requested an English-speaking captain and were extremely happy with Antonio. We also requested a "Capri Picnic" and... more »


text: Awww, how cute are these hedgehogs? And the bird, and the squirrel, and even the mushrooms! Simply a must have for your all-time cuteness collection!Our clear-mount stamps * Are made of the same premium rubber as our wood-mount stamps.* Have deeply etched images so you get a superior stamped impression each time. * Are precut so you don't have to trim.* Are repositionable; temporarily mount them on clear blocks for stamping, then remove them for storage.* Save space—you need only one set of blocks for all your clear-mount stamps (blocks sold separately). * Come packaged in cases with images on the spine for easy storage and quick reference.Quantity: 12 rubber stampsSuggested clear blocks (sold separately): a, b, c


text:
Come and join us for forum chat on Facebook
Welcome to this brand new Yours.co.uk website!
We know the Yours.co.uk members are a wonderful, strong community of friends so, to help you to carry on sharing and supporting each other, we've created a 'closed' Facebook group especially for our forum members.
Although this will mean that you will have to join Facebook (if you're not already a member you can find out how to do that here) the creation of a 'closed' group means that it's a really safe and secure environment because only other members of the group can see what's being posted.
You will have to ask to be added as a member of the group and if (in the unlikely event) there are any problems with a member we can remove them from the group.
We realise it's disappointing not to be able to carry on with the Yours forum in its current form but by using our Facebook group you can all stay in touch with the amazing friends you've made over the years on Yours.co.uk. I really hope you'll join us.
Click on the link to ask to be added to the Facebook Meeting Place group where you'll find lots of your old friends already chatting away.
If you'd rather not join Facebook make sure you sign up for the Yours Newsletter here – so we can keep in touch and let you know all the latest news from Yours.co.uk.