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Monthly Archives: October 2009
Sermon For Sunday Week: In Christ Alone My Hope Is Found
Tomorrow (Saturday) I begin a week's leave to spend half term with Debbie and the children. I have just finished writing my sermon for Sunday week, when I return to duty. Here it is.
All around me I find people struggling for hope. For some, it is the economic uncertainties of the recession. Will they have a job? Can they pay their mortgage? For others, it is the onset of serious or potentially terminal illness. I think of two families I know where a child has cancer. Or people wonder what legacy we are leaving to our children and grandchildren from the environmental devastation our greed has caused.
And of course, I find it in the church. I think of one church facing an imminent decision about possible closure, and another where the signs are not promising for ten years' time.
I've come to the conclusion that our problem is that we conceive of hope wrongly. This is all hope based on circumstances, or on what people do. It's an uncertain hope: "I hope that such-and-such will happen." Such-and-such may or may not happen.
Christian hope is different. Let me introduce it this way. A couple of weeks ago, Debbie and I went to a concert by the worship leader and hymn writer Stuart Townend. We sang his hymn 'In Christ Alone', and it's easy to slip past the profundity of that first line: 'In Christ alone my hope is found.' The Christian hope is in God. Our hope is in God in Christ.
So to our passage from Revelation. We're familiar with it at funerals, where its words bring comfort, and that's good. But there is so much more it can offer us. Why? Well, if you want a bunch of people who needed Christ-shaped hope, the first readers of Revelation would be good candidates. Facing persecution in the AD 90s under the Roman emperor Domitian, they saw loved ones arrested, tortured and killed. Our troubles look small fry in comparison. The vivid pictures that John gave them form a Christ-shaped hope. I believe we need a Christ-shaped hope to fit a Christ-shaped hole in our lives. Come with me as we explore this. Let it strengthen us for whatever we are facing.
Firstly, there is hope for creation. Whenever we go on holiday, an important item on my check list for packing is books. This year, I packed three but only got through one. Last year, I took a couple and only managed one. You'd have thought I'd have learned my lesson this year, wouldn't you? But you'll perhaps remember I never want to be caught short of reading material!
And the book I read on holiday last year was one that has helped a lot of people rethink their understanding of Christian hope. It is called 'Surprised By Hope' and was written by Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham. One of the most important slogans in the book is this: 'Heaven is not the end of the world.'
Got that? Heaven is not the end of the world. We frequently speak about the Christian hope after death as being the hope of going to heaven to be with the Lord. That is true as far as it goes. But the Bible talks about so much more. The biblical story doesn't end with heaven: it ends here with 'a new heaven and a new earth'. In some way that Revelation doesn't explain, heaven and earth will be renewed. 2 Peter speaks about the destruction of the earth, but again followed by a new earth where righteousness will reign.
Our hope is not to be disembodied spirits floating somewhere in space, it is physical. God is interested in the physical and the material. He made it and he will redeem it. Just as God will not simply leave the dead in Christ in heaven but will raise them to life with new bodies, as he did with his Son, so he will also bring in a new creation.
What does that mean for us? It gives us hope for creation. Since God cares about his physical creation, so do we. Christians should be at the forefront of concern for the environment. We shouldn't be like some Christians who say that the human race was put in charge of the earth and we can do whatever we like with it. That's wrong. It's God's world, and we look after it as his stewards. One day he will renew it.
Debbie and I are no experts on green issues, but we see it as our duty to encourage Rebekah and Mark in a responsible attitude to the creation – not in a negative, hectoring way, but by filling them with a sense of wonder. Every now and again, we visit a country park near Basildon and Pitsea called the Wat Tyler Country Park. There are plenty of the usual attractions for children there, but there is one place we always visit when we go there. The RSPB has a place there, and we take the children to that so they may gain more of a sense of wonder about wildlife. It does help that Rebekah fancies herself as a young Doctor Doolittle anyway, but Mark enjoys the activities, too – I recall him coming out once, very proud of the wormery he had made!
As adults, we know this is serious stuff. You may well be aware of the forthcoming Copenhagen Climate Summit. At the time I prepared this sermon, European Union leaders were in deadlock about how to take further steps in reducing climate damage. So I've done my little bit of lobbying. Various organisations make it easy to do this, especially if you are online. I use something called Superbadger from TEAR Fund on Facebook. Recently, I have sent a couple of emails to Gordon Brown, asking him to continue his efforts in this area. So have thousands of others.
But let's remember, this is about hope. The fact that God will replace the current heavens and earth with a new one means that whether we succeed or fail in our efforts, the purposes of God will not be thwarted. We put ourselves in harmony with his purposes when we care for creation. Done with the right spirit, creation care is for Christians an act of worship, and a sign of God's hope.
Secondly, there is hope for humanity. The holy city, the new (there's that word again) Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven, like a bride adorned for her husband (verse 2). Mention of the bride makes me think about the Church, the Bride of Christ, rather than a literal city. This speaks of the redeemed community.
The hope for humanity is a simple one: God dwelling in the midst of the redeemed community, for the voice from the throne says,
'See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them …' (verse 3)
You may think me odd, but this puts me in mind of Magnus Magnusson on old editions of Mastermind. This is one of those "I've started, so I'll finish" moments. Why? Let me render part of verse 3 more literally: 'See, the tabernacle of God is among mortals. He will tabernacle with them …'
Perhaps you remember the tabernacle, the 'portable sign of God's presence' in the Old Testament. Holding that in your mind, go back with me to John chapter 1, where we read of Jesus, 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among them' – or, more literally, 'The Word became flesh and tabernacled among them.'
So here in Revelation 21, God's purposes in John 1 are fulfilled. What God started in Jesus, he will finish. The mission of Jesus will be fulfilled. God will dwell with 'his peoples' – and note it's 'peoples' not 'people'. The Bride of Christ will be composed from every tribe, tongue and nation under heaven, a vision that must be anathema to Nick Griffin and the British National Party. How distorted is their attempted takeover of Christian language. In Christ, people are reconciled to God and to one another. It's a sign of hope for a divided and troubled world. Be clear about one thing: the extinction of the Church is not on God's agenda. Rather, it has a vivid, glorious, multi-coloured future in God's new creation.
What is our part in this now? If God's mission to dwell in the midst of reconciled peoples was expressed in Christ dwelling in the midst of the human race, then we are called to something similar. For Jesus said, 'As the Father sent me, so I send you'. Therefore, just as Jesus dwelt in the midst of those he came to reconcile to the Father and each other, so must we. No religious ghettos. No spiritual escapism, where we run inside our castle, pull up the drawbridge and be relieved that we can worship without the distractions of the world. No more the increasingly futile approaches to mission that wait for 'them' to come and meet 'us' in our comfort zone. Instead, as the Father sent Jesus, so he sends us. Our sharing in God's hope for humanity means we choose not to engross ourselves in church-filled lives but live out God's love in the midst of the world, where we are needed. For now, I'll limit myself to these words from Henri Nouwen:
More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.
Thirdly and finally, our passage has hope for the individual. I want to consider those famous words from verse 4 that make this reading so apposite at a funeral:
'He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.'
To those who first read Revelation or had it read to them, these words had immense impact. Remember ,they were facing hideous persecution. Tears, death, mourning, crying and pain frequently soundtracked their lives. How they longed for it to pass. How they, the suffering ones, longed for justice – which is surely why Revelation takes delight in the downfall of the wicked.
So this constitutes the good news of God's hope for individuals. Whatever we struggle with in this life will be abolished in the new creation. Be it sickness or injustice, its days are numbered. One day, God will call time on all that corrupts the beauty of his creation and will restore all things. Indeed, this is so important that when the voice from the throne says in verse 5, 'See, I am making all things new', this is at most only the third or fourth time God himself is reported as speaking directly in Revelation[1]. Not only that, God has given an advance sign of his promise to do all this in the Resurrection of Jesus. The Resurrection constituted amongst other things – the healing and transformation of a body traumatised to the point of death, and God's vindication of his Son in the face of those who condemned and executed him. The Resurrection is healing and justice. We look forward to both of those in full measure when God's new creation comes. The Resurrection guarantees our hope in God's healing and justice.
But meanwhile – what do we do? Shall we lie down and allow pain and wickedness to walk all over us and others? By no means! We pray for healing, we campaign for the oppressed and we accompany the suffering – for that is what we must do if, like Jesus, we are to dwell in the midst of the world, with all its pain. Sometimes, we shall see victories and rejoice. At other times, it will seem like evil has won the day. But when it does, with Christian hope we can laugh at the darkness, for whatever battles it wins, God's hope means the war is lost. Whatever discouragements we have, our certain hope in God means we need never completely lose heart. We have a vision of hope to fortify us, and the Resurrection to guarantee it.
In conclusion, let me take you back to that Stuart Townend concert I mentioned near the beginning. He introduced another of his famous hymns, his version of the Twenty-Third Psalm, 'The Lord's My Shepherd'. He talked about how loved that psalm is by millions, both inside and outside the Church for its sense of comfort.
However, he said we needed to do something with that comfort, and that was why he wrote the chorus with its words,
And I will trust in You alone.
And I will trust in You alone,
For Your endless mercy follows me,
Your goodness will lead me home.
If we are comforted, then we need to trust, he said. And I think it's the same with the Christian hope, which we find 'In Christ alone'. We may be encouraged by the prospect of God's hope for creation with its new heaven and new earth. We may find succour in the hope for humanity found in the God who dwells in the midst of peoples reconciled to him and to one another. We may be comforted by the thought that one day, sickness and injustice will finally be completely conquered when all – like Christ – are raised from the dead.
But we need to trust. And that means action. Action in creation that is consistent with God's purposes of renewal. Action in the church, as we dwell in the midst of the world to offer reconciliation in Christ. And action for the sick and oppressed, as we anticipate the fulfilment of their hope in Christ.
Let us be strengthened in God's hope. And let that hope propel us to trusting action.
[1] Robert H Mounce, The Book of Revelation, p373.
What's Going On
Sorry I can't post a new sermon tonight. Hard to be specific, but lots of difficult stuff going on this week. One major painful crisis that I can't spell out here. Also, the profiles came out near the end of the week for the appointments available for next year. Given our decision to move on, we have to start looking very intently at those.
Normal service (whatever that is lately) will be resumed as soon as possible.
links for 2009-10-17
Spiritual Types test. (Via Gavin Richardson's FriendFeed.)
Google Wave Invitations
I have received an invitation to try out Google Wave. I can give eight invitations out to friends. If you would like one, please leave a comment here or send me an email through my Facebook page. The first eight get it!
UPDATE: I'm afraid all the invitations disappeared very quickly between here and Facebook. I obtained my invitation simply by submitting my email address to Google, and eventually it came after a week or so. You might like to try that.
FURTHER UPDATE, 26TH NOVEMBER 2009: As I've mentioned in the frist update above and in some comments below, the invitations went very quickly. However, every few days I am still receiving requests for them. Since I cannot honour these requests, I am now closing comments on this post. Please do not email me about this; I will let you know if I receive any more invitations.
Sermon: Where Is Our Security?
I hate this passage! Sell all your possessions – is that what it takes to enter eternal life? I remember many years ago hearing Ronald Sider say, "What ninety-nine per cent of Western Christians need to hear ninety-nine per cent of the time is, 'Sell all your possessions and give to the poor'." And to read this only two weeks after we bought a new television! Surely that Sony has damned us to hell?
So what do I make of this story? What can I offer you before the flames start licking around my flesh?
I propose to think about it in the three phases of the story: firstly, considering Jesus and the man, secondly thinking about Jesus and the disciples, and thirdly Jesus' reaction to what Peter says.
Firstly, Jesus and the man. Matthew calls him 'young' and Luke calls him a 'ruler'; all we know from Mark is that he is rich. It would be easy for us to be cynical, especially since we know how the story ends. But he seems to have a genuine question, and Jesus treats him with dignity and respect. No – more than that – we read that Jesus 'loved him' (verse 21). That doesn't suggest Jesus detected any hypocrisy. I think we must take the man's enquiry as a sincere one.
Well, how many sincere enquirers would we turn away from the church today? Very few if any, I would suggest. Churches are often so desperate for new members that they will soften the entry requirements or rationalise what people say in order to get them in and swell the numbers.
Not Jesus. Far from lowering the bar, he raises the bar for the man. The man has kept this, that and every commandment, even one that isn't in the Ten Commandments – 'you shall not defraud'. Surely he has covered all the bases? What more could someone do? Isn't he better than so many of the people who came to Jesus?
But even this man, with all his lofty moral conduct, still lacks one thing. It's his attitude to his wealth. He needs to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor before following Jesus (verse 21).
He has kept that extra commandment, 'You shall not defraud', with its implication about defrauding the poor, because they are usually the silent victims of wealth accumulation. But while he hasn't gone out of his way to make life worse for the poor, neither has he shown any real concern.
And it's ironic to contrast him with those Jesus talked about in the preceding four verses in Mark. He spoke about little, vulnerable children, who in worldly terms owned nothing yet in his eyes lacked nothing for the kingdom of God. Here is a man who has everything the world can give and yet has nothing that the kingdom of God requires.
Why? Because the critical issue for him is one of trust and security. His money and property are what help him to sleep at night. For all Jesus' words of warning about wealth, he didn't completely reject all the rich people of his day. He benefitted from the largesse of some rich women who supported his ministry (Luke 8), and his body would be laid in the tomb of a wealthy man.
Furthermore, it's illuminating that the man asks, 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?' (verse 17). He doesn't ask about the general conditions for everybody; his question is specific to his own situation. And Jesus picks on the way he trusts in his riches.
The question for people like us, then, is what our attitude to money and possessions is. Do they become the things we rely on? Is my security in the pension I will receive (even in economically uncertain times)? Is it the house we own? Are we free to give to the poor?
A minister I know told me earlier this year that he has thought for many years that the decline of the Methodist Church means it is futile for him to rely on that pension when he retires. So he plans to quit this country in a few years' time and spend the rest of his ministry working as a Christian in Muslim lands, having the courage to find appropriate ways of sharing the love of Christ there. His security is not in money but in God.
And that is the question Jesus posed to the man: where was his security? It couldn't be in his moral conduct, because everybody falls short somewhere. In his case, it was his finances and property. But the kingdom requires that we put our trust in God. So where is our security?
Well, that's a huge challenge. And when I hear something like that, I'm tempted to respond after the manner of Private Frazer in Dad's Army: "Doomed, doomed, we're all doomed!"
Which isn't too far from the second conversation, the one between Jesus and the disciples. Jesus tells them it will be hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God, harder even than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle (verses 23-25). And they respond, "Then who can be saved?" (verse 26). It's their 'Doomed, doomed, we're all doomed' moment.
We'd like something to break the tension. Something to let us off the hook. Some little indication that Jesus is being mischievous or ironic. So people talk about the 'eye of the needle' as describing a gate into Jerusalem. However, there is no record of that until the ninth century AD. Is there any hope in this passage, or are we all doomed? Is God lighting the blue touch paper and retiring while we burn?
Thankfully, Jesus replies with the essence of the Gospel:
"For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible." (Verse 27)
Discipleship is possible through God. Faith is possible with God. Obedience is possible with God. It is no use relying on our goodness, the Gospel only works because God makes the impossible possible. He makes it possible for selfish, self-centred other-forgetting people who are entirely bound up with themselves (get the message?) to be forgiven, put in the right with him through Christ – and transformed into entirely different people over a period of time, thanks to the Holy Spirit.
We need that sense of inadequacy and desperation that we can't make it into the kingdom of God. But the story doesn't stop there. God steps in with the Gospel. He does the impossible.
However, that Gospel does not stop with the forgiveness of sins, as some Christians would have us believe. That is central, but it is not the whole message. A Gospel which then requires us to follow Jesus, with all the challenges that involves, also does the impossible in turning us inside out.
Don't get me wrong. To hear the Gospel proclaimed as the forgiveness of sins is wonderful. It is exactly what we need to hear. But when that is the limit of the message, it is in danger of becoming 'cheap grace'. I can be forgiven and just wait for eternal life. In the meantime, I can live however I want.
But Jesus is not recruiting people by simply offering them a ticket to glory, he is calling them to enlist in the cause of God's kingdom, which means following him. So as well as forgiveness there is transformation. God is making all things new, and he wants to include us in that.
So it may be hopeless for us, but there is always hope with God. He challenges us deeply about our security, but provides all we need in order to be different. We need not walk away, like the rich man did. We can instead walk with Jesus. Good news? I think so.
Which brings us to the third conversation, the one between Jesus and Peter. Because in the light of this, Peter issues a plea: "Look, we have left everything and followed you" (verse 28). In other words: we've done what you've asked us to do. We haven't walked away, like the rich man. We've sized up the cost and paid it. we've made the sacrifices and are depending on God as we follow you, just as you've taught us. And it's quite a sacrifice they've all made: home, family, business – all left behind. It's rather like Peter is saying, "We've met the tough conditions you've laid down: what's in it for us?"
And Jesus' response is broadly to say, don't just conceive of discipleship as being about what you've given up. Sure, there will be persecution, he says, but you will be amply rewarded in this life and in the life to come (verses 29-30). Your heavenly Father knows what you have given up, but there is more to discipleship than sacrifice. Certainly, it requires sacrifice, but God does not overlook that.
I wonder whether you ever feel like your efforts and sacrifices for Christ are not noticed? Do you sometimes wonder whether what you have done at great cost to yourself or your family was a waste of time and effort? Do you ever despair that you have sweated so much in following Jesus and yet you feel there is so little to show for it? Perhaps you feel like Joseph in the Old Testament, languishing in an Egyptian prison having accurately interpreted dreams, but forgotten by the man who was vindicated by what he said? In my experience, plenty of Christians feel like all they do has been forgotten by God.
If you are one of them, then Jesus says something to you that is similar to what he said to Peter. All that you put in for the kingdom will be rewarded, a hundredfold in this life and eternal life in the age to come.
Why can he say this? Ultimately, it's because of the Resurrection. One of my favourite Bible verses – and also most challenging – comes at the end of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul's great chapter on the Resurrection. His conclusion is nothing to do with sweetly waiting for the age to come, it's this: 'Nothing you do for the Lord is ever in vain.'
Now I frequently feel like what I am doing is in vain. I am seeing no fruit and precious little encouragement. I throw that text back at God sometimes when I'm exercising the spiritual gift of moaning!
Seriously – you might be shocked if you knew the number of ministers who at some point or another had seriously considered quitting the ministry. Put it alongside other Christians who find discouragement, apathy and hostility littered regularly across their way and it really isn't surprising that many Christians do think their efforts are worthless.
But the text is true. The Resurrection is the promise that God will vindicate what is right, that truth and justice, beauty and love will prevail. It is what drives us on. It is what makes our efforts and sacrifices 'worth it'.
And in the meantime, while God's age to come clashes with the present evil age, there will still be some reward, even if it is mingled with suffering and opposition.
So in conclusion, I don't know who you find yourself identifying with in this story. Sometimes I am with the rich man, struggling to find my security in God rather than in the material blessings of this world. I need to be reminded that in Christ God gives me true and lasting security, and everything else that seems so solid is a dead end. Sometimes when I think all is lost I am with the disciples, who need to know that God makes both the forgiveness of sins and the power to live a radical new life possible. And on other occasions, when I'm tempted to give up the effort needed to keep on keeping on, I'm with Peter, learning from Jesus that God has not forgotten me and will specifically remember what I have done for him and fulfil his purposes.
Who are you? What do you need to hear from God today?
links for 2009-10-10
When you search Google, Yahoo, or Bing, it's becoming more and more common that some normal-looking ads actually lead to malware. This article explains how you can avoid hacker sites that try to install a Trojan horse on the PC of everyone who visits.
links for 2009-10-06
Forum discussion with ideas on how to (re-)enable wireless devices in an Acer Aspire 5720 under Ubuntu Linux.
Old Website About To Disappear
My introduction to personal websites was to design one in a sabbatical in 2003. Since I went over to blogging my sermons and articles, it has not been updated. It has now been dormant since 2006. Occasionally, I know people still visit it. However, it was hosted with my ISP and I have recently heard they will be taking it down because of the particular platform on which it was hosted. So if anyone wants to make any final visits to http://www.davefaulkner.co.uk, please do so before 15th October. Ideally I'd like to transfer some of the material as an archive here or somewhere else, but that will be a big job, and I can't see that happening in the foreseeable future.
Sermon: Some Basic Christian Convictions About Marriage
I wonder whether you know the story of the devout Methodist who refused to get married on principle? He said he didn't believe in games of chance.
The Lectionary today presents us with readings about marriage and divorce. When these lessons came around three years ago, I preached on the Mark reading and explained that Jesus does not here completely prohibit divorce and remarriage. Indeed, the prohibition on a woman to divorce her husband is actually about not deserting him.
But today, I want to go to the reading from Genesis. In some ways, this is the most fundamental text in Scripture about marriage. Both Jesus and Paul quote this passage when they teach about relationships, especially verse 24:
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.
And in a culture where marriage is regarded as simply one of a number of relationship options, we need to think again about our Christian beliefs regarding it. We hear that 'marriage doesn't work'. We hear that people should do whatever two consenting adults decide between themselves to do, provided it doesn't harm anyone else.
Before I launch into this, I want to say one other thing. As both a minister and as someone who didn't marry until he was forty-one, I am aware this subject may not immediately apply to everyone. We are a mixture of single, married, widowed and divorced people. However, it's hard to look at all these in one sermon. Just as I explored divorce from the Mark reading three years ago, this time I am thinking about marriage. On other occasions (not in Chelmsford, admittedly) I have preached about singleness. Another time it would be appropriate to think about widowhood and bereavement. Nor do I have time to offer any reflections this morning about homosexuality.
So come with me back to this ancient, inspired text as we explore some basic elements of Christian marriage.
The first point I want to make is that marriage is social. This is not an argument for wife-swapping! It is to say, though, that although marriage is exclusive, it isn't private. What do I mean?
The context of our passage is about how the man will look after the garden God has created[1]. He needs a helper, a partner. The woman is created so that she and the man may steward God's creation together. Marriage has a social function. It is designed to bless the world. Whatever goes on in our relationships, they affect the world. This has a negative and a positive consequence.
Negatively, this is where I beg to differ with those couples who choose to live together and not marry, saying they don't need a piece of paper to prove their commitment to each other. I don't doubt their sincerity. However, I believe they are mistaken in thinking their exclusive relationship doesn't have social implications. That's why marriage is a step of social recognition.
Positively, it means a couple when they come together do not do so simply to enjoy one another and support each other. As a couple, they can have an effect for good on other people, on society and on the environment. Let me repeat something I said in a different context once. The love between the members of the Trinity had to be expressed from and beyond them, hence the creation of the universe. Likewise, the love that exists between a couple has to go from and beyond them to others. The most common way in which this happens is if they are blessed with children, but they may also share their love by serving the community. Marriage is designed to radiate the love within the home to the world.
This can involve simple acts of kindness. Opening up our homes in hospitality to those in need is one obvious way (and of course is not limited to those who are married). Just the other day, Debbie and I found ourselves talking to a friend who is Australian but married to an Englishman. A dear friend of hers back home is gravely ill with cancer. We promised to pray for her and her friend, but we also said our door was always open if she wanted a coffee. It was just a simple way of extending our love to her. It is something married couples and families should, I believe, normally aim to do as a token of God's love.
Secondly, marriage is equal. You may find it surprising to hear such an argument from the Bible. Isn't the woman here called a 'helper', and doesn't that make her subservient to the man? Didn't the Apostle Paul tell women to submit to their husbands, and wasn't he an ignorant single man? Let's dismantle this.
Take the 'helper' description first. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, God is called 'the helper of Israel', and it's the same Hebrew word for 'helper' as here. I hope we are not going to suggest that God is subservient to men! The great Puritan Bible commentator Matthew Henry made this point about the woman being made from the man's rib: She was
Not made out of his head to top him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.[2]
As for the texts about submission, let it simply be said that we also need to note what Paul required of husbands: we are to love our wives as Christ loved the Church – that is, we must be ready to die for them! The equality of marriage is not so much about equal status and rights, it is an equal relationship of self-giving, sacrificial love. This is what makes for the companionship of marriage. It is not whether we have compatible personalities, it is what we are each willing to do for our spouse for their well-being. The Bible teaches an equality of helping that leads to deep companionship.
Oh, and by the way, Paul probably wasn't single! He says in 1 Corinthians that he isn't married, but as a Pharisee it would be unthinkable that he hadn't married. It's far more likely, I believe, that he was a widower. I think he did have experience of marriage when he was young.
Thirdly, marriage is a priority. When verse 24 says, 'Therefore a man leaves his father and mother', that is a rather curious statement for a Jewish text. Usually it was the other way around: the bride left her parents to move in with her husband, who stayed close to his parents.
But 'leaves' may be translated 'forsakes', and this is a relative term. Marriage establishes new priorities. It is not that we stop caring about our parents, but they are no longer our first concern: our spouse is.
And I might suggest that this reordering of priorities applies not only to our parents. It applies to the rest of our lives. Which comes first, work or family? Some large companies think their employees can just uproot their families and follow the latest economic whim.
But before we get too self-righteous, we should remember how the Church has sometimes expected members and ministers to show commitment to meetings and programmes at the expense of family life. There was once a church where mysteriously a banner appeared one week across the notice board. It said, 'All meetings cancelled.' The stewards set up an investigation to find out who the vandal was. They discovered it was the minister's teenage son, who felt he wasn't seeing much of Dad.
It's why, although I technically work a six-day week, one of the first things Debbie asked me to do when we married was to block one night a week just for us. We can't get by as a couple simply on one day off a week. So when I look at weeknight meetings from Monday to Thursday (allowing for Friday as my usual day off), once three of those four nights are filled with appointments, I refuse any more. I don't always get my priorities right as a husband, and I wouldn't have thought of doing that myself, but it's what my wife needs and it's right to do it. After all, those who want their pound of ministerial flesh would soon express disapproval if we drifted apart and separated.
This area of priorities is one where Christians could go against the flow of society. We might not all get the promotions in our jobs that we want, but marriage makes for new priorities.
Fourthly, marriage is a covenant. In verse 24, the man 'leaves' or 'forsakes' his parents and 'clings to his wife' – the old word for 'clings' is 'cleaves'. He leaves and cleaves. It has the sense of sticking to his wife. It is about 'both passion and permanence'[3]. And that raises the idea of covenant: a permanent commitment that is not simply a legal contract (marriage is more than a piece of paper), but backed with passion, with love.
This, then, is the 'for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, until we are parted by death' element of the marriage vows. The man sticks to his wife and sticks with his wife, if you like.
Sometimes people say their marriage just died. I suggest that's based on a false understanding of marriage. I once read some wise words on the subject. The writer said, it's not love that will keep your marriage alive: rather, marriage will keep your love alive. In other words, it's that decision by the grace of God to stick with your spouse in bad times as well as good that makes the difference. It's the covenant love that loves even when we don't feel like it. We stick to one another.
And that, I know, can be enormously difficult. A musician friend of mine, Bryn Haworth, once wrote a song called 'Working for love', which sums up what the covenant nature of marriage sometimes requires of us. It requires work and effort to maintain that 'stickability'. But the good news is that the God who calls us to such effort in order to maintain and grow our marriages offers us grace and power all the time and especially at our time of need. For where God guides, he provides.
Finally, marriage is a unity. In marriage, man and woman 'become one flesh', says verse 24. In an age of individualism, the unity of two people in marriage reminds us we are not isolated and separate people who make our own decisions regardless of anyone else. The partners in a marriage may be very different, and that may cause tension and conflict, but they act as one. Marriage is not about 'me': it's about 'us'.
But note the unity isn't simply that the man and woman 'become one', Genesis says they 'become one flesh'. This is, I believe, a poetic allusion to the act of love. For Christians, sexual intercourse is not simply a pleasure to be pursued, like buying an ice cream (although God does intend it to be pleasurable, as the Song of Songs attests). Rather, it is, as the great spiritual writer Richard Foster says, 'a life uniting act with life uniting intent'[4]. The sexual act is virtually sacramental for Christians in marriage. No wonder we talk about it as the 'consummation' of a marriage.
This means, though, that we find ourselves vastly differing with the beliefs and practices of millions today, who believe in mutual consent but not necessarily in union. It's another reason why I don't believe Christian faith can agree with living together, however sincere many cohabiting couples are. If they live together as trial marriage, that makes little sense. Marriage is about total commitment, so you can no more have trial marriage than you can have trial death[5]. Besides, all the research I have ever read shows that couples who live together are much more likely to break up than those who marry without living together first. Sexual relationships without the abandonment to unity are houses built on sand.
In conclusion, then, I cannot state an entire Christian view of marriage from this one passage, but we can find some fundamental building blocks. And what we have here makes for a distinctive witness in our society, if not a thoroughly counter-cultural approach. We take marriage to have social implications rather than being entirely private. We agree with today's view that it is between two equals, but we say that is about mutual service and sacrificial love, not inflicting my rights over and above another person. We see the marriage relationship as a high priority above the allure of money and career. Furthermore, it is not merely a piece of paper or a legal contract, it is a covenant requiring total commitment and love. Finally, the one-flesh unity cemented in the sexual relationship distinguishes us from the tentative approaches to commitment today and the disposable attitudes to sex found in some people.
This lines us up to be distinctive in today's world, even to the point of being mocked. May God grant us the grace to hold to our witness, and to hold to it winsomely.
[1] Walter Brueggemann, Genesis, p51, calls this 'the far agenda' as opposed to 'the near agenda' of sexuality and sin.
[2] Cited in Gordon Wenham, Genesis 1-15, p69.
[3] Op. cit., p71.
[4] I'm sure this quote is in his book Money, Sex and Power but I can't find the page number.
[5] I owe this insight to Doug Barnett in a seminar at Spring Harvest some time in the 1980s.
links for 2009-10-01
An evolutionary explanation for depression: it's to do with getting to grips with a serious problem. The theory can by no means explain all depression, in my opinion, but it does contribute a new angle. Helpful for those of us who get alongside the depressed.
Software for copying DVDs to a DVD+/-R disc or HDD. 14-day free demo, then paid-for.


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One great example of the importance of fair use to the First Amendment is about the band Negativland and their fight with the music industry over a parody of U2's song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for." Negativland is an experimental band known for its use of music collage, combining portions of other songs, speech and "found" elements of sound (like a running vacuum cleaner) with their own music to make a statement about the cultural industry. They are satirical, and they pushed the fair use envelope.
In 1991, a huge ruckus started when Negativland issued its extended play CD entitled U2. The long legal battle from the restraining order issued by Island Records and Warner/Chappell music publishers "citing deceptive packaging, copyright infringement and image defamation" to a final out of court settlement is documented in a book by Negativland, Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2. Negativland and others riffed on "who owns the letter U and numeral 2?" noting that the real U2 (the band) took their name from U-2, the high attitude surveillance aircraft that was shot down and led to a US intelligence cover-up.
Richard Gehr of Spin magazine called U2 as one the top ten albums of the year, even though most copies of the CD had been impounded. Gehr said "It took a court order to suppress what is quite possibly the most truly subversive rock record ever made. But having attracted the litigious wrath of U2's recording and publishing companies, Negativland's snarky and brilliant multileveled take off on Christian liberals, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" — with foulmouthed Casey Kasem samples, a bone-headed Bono interview, and a ditzy disco version — proved again that the price of artistic freedom can be hefty legal fees." The band U2 had no say in the matter, and "The Edge" said that the parody might be a good B side to their record. Casey Kasem, DJ of America's Top Forty was not pleased that his meltdown and resulting swearing rant – previously recorded by music engineers during a Top Forty rehearsal—was included in the song. Unfortunately, Casey Kasem started to receive threatening phone calls that were attributed to the fans of Negativland.
All of this occurred before, during and after the Supreme Court ruling on Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music and its focus on parody and transformative fair use, and so much has happened since then. In the early 90s, people were just getting use to personal computers. It was a time when people pulled out the rolling ball on their computer mouses and snapped it back in place because it was thought to improve performance. It was the time when the general public started to think about copyright and ask their librarians about fair use. Now we have so many people and groups interested in fair use that we have to have a Fair use/Fair dealing week.
Carrie Russell
Latest posts by Carrie Russell (see all)
- Helping authors get rights back through termination of transfers - August 29, 2018
- August CopyTalk: Controlled digital lending by libraries - July 16, 2018
- Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act passes the Senate - June 29, 2018

subset: commoncrawl


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Yesterday Breitbart posted an article about the Russian investigation. It seems as if this investigation has been going on forever, and so far nothing has been found. I am waiting for the eventual charge that someone went to a Russian tea room for a cup of tea and therefore should be prosecuted. Unfortunately, because special prosecutors tend to want to charge someone with something, all these lawyers with political leanings may eventually charge someone with a process crime (they forgot something in their testimony and gave an answer on a minor point that did not satisfy the investigators). However, it is becoming rather obvious that the tale the left has been spinning since the election of foreign intrigue tied to the Trump campaign or Trump Administration is pure fiction.
Breitbart reports:
Investor William Browder testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that Fusion GPS, the firm that had been responsible for creating and pushing the so-called "Russia dossier" against Donald Trump, had been paid by the Russian government to push for the repeal of the human rights sanctions in the Magnitsky Act of 2012. In other words, the Russian government may have been paying to smear Trump with false and salacious accusations.
Until now, the media and the Democrats have proceeded under the assumption that Russia intervened in the 2016 election by hacking the email server of the Democratic National Committee, as well as the private email of Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, and releasing their emails via Wikileaks. They have further claimed — with no evidence — that the Trump campaign may have colluded with the Russians in obtaining or releasing the emails.
The entire theory rests on the ridiculous claim that Trump had invited Russia to hack Clinton and the Democrats when he joked last July about the Russians releasing the emails Clinton had deleted from her illicit private server. (The left-wing HuffPost observed Thursday as the anniversary that Trump "asked for Russian help in the election.") That joke prompted then-CIA director John Brennan to convene an investigation of alleged Russian interference.
Thursday The Wall Street Journal posted an article by Kimberly Strassel (the article is not linked here because it is subscribers only) noting a connection between Fusion GPS and the Democratic party.
In an interesting move, Congressional Democrats, who were ready to hold public hearings about Russian election interference featuring Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort, have decided to hold those hearings in private (where they can't pontificate instead of asking questions). Why? Because if Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort were questioned in public, then Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson would also be questioned in public. For whatever reason, the Democrats were willing to give up their dog and pony show to avoid Glenn Simpson's public testimony (where he would have been asked who paid for the false dossier on Donald Trump).
The Wall Street Journal article asks:
What if, all this time, Washington and the media have had the Russia collusion story backward? What if it wasn't the Trump campaign playing footsie with the Vladimir Putin regime, but Democrats? The more we learn about Fusion, the more this seems a possibility.
We know Fusion is a for-hire political outfit, paid to dig up dirt on targets. This column first outed Fusion in 2012, detailing its efforts to tar a Mitt Romney donor. At the time Fusion insisted that the donor was "a legitimate subject of public records research."
The article at Breitbart concludes:
Or the truth could be that Russia was trying to embarrass both parties, to weaken the eventual winner. Browder told the Senate Judiciary Committee that it is common for Russia to back both sides in elections, simply to create chaos.
Regardless, the Russia conspiracy theory has now collapsed. There is no evidence that Russia was colluding with the Trump campaign. But there is evidence Russia was working against it. And the truth is only beginning to emerge.
The following quote is from Shakespeare's Macbeth:
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
The same thing can be said about the investigation into President Trump's ties to Russia.


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At one time, many business owners believed that social media was just another fad. Today, social media is one of the top activities on the Web. In fact, the average social user spends more than 30 minutes a day on a social media site. It is no longer up for debate – social media is very important for business. If you're still not convinced, here's what social media can do for your business:
- Increases traffic if targeted to the right audience.
- Captures the attention of new customers and improves brand visibility.
- Cost-effective when compared to traditional forms of advertising (i.e. print ads, direct mail, billboard ads, cable television, etc.).
- Gives you the opportunity to build a review profile from satisfied customers.
- Allows you to improve customer service and offers real-time feedback. You can utilize this feedback to make improvements to your business.
- Increases customer loyalty, according to a study conducted by Texas Tech University. The study concluded that businesses should take advantage of social media tools when connecting with their target audience – this will help increase engagement.
- Gives you the opportunity to convert potential leads into customers.
- Builds stronger customer relationships. Social media allows you to instantly interact with your customer. For instance, let's say that a customer posts a complaint about your product or service on Facebook, you can respond and resolve the issue right away. By doing this, you're showing customers that you're prompt when it comes to responding to their needs. Responding promptly to feedback (whether negative or positive) shows that you genuinely care about your customers.
- Offers a great way to distribute content. According to AOL and Nielsen, people spend over 50% of their time on the Internet reading or watching video content. Approximately, 30% of this time is spent on social media sites where people share the content they like the most.
- Provides good search engine rankings. It is said that when you maintain a solid social media presence, it lets the search engines know that you have a credible brand. As a result, you're more than likely to experience an increase in traffic to your website.
The above are just a handful of benefits of using social media for your business. It is important to know that in order for social media to work well, it must be done the right way. Hiring a professional social media consultant who can think strategically, when it comes to creating a social media campaign, will ensure you experience successful results.
Just like SEO and other forms of Internet marketing, social media takes time before you begin to reap the benefits from your efforts. However, if you can invest at least 45 minutes to 1 hour a day in social media 'consistently' you will begin to notice results.
Tip: The key to success with social media is to be engaging. Engagement is the main ingredient to building long-term business relationships with your followers.


text: HomeKeren SookneCOVID-19COVID-19 Provides Use Cases for Mobile RoboticsRobots can tackle the three Ds they are known for to help combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. Mobile robots are suited to disinfecting facilities, providing surveillance, and delivering goods.Aaron HandApr 2nd, 2020HomeQuick Hits: 50-in-1 Blood Test Detects Cancer EarlyResearchers at Harvard Medical School have developed a new blood test that detects cancerous tumor DNA.Tim HayesApr 2nd, 2020HomeQuick Hits: Hate Running? New Exoskeleton Aims to HelpEngineers have created a motor-powered system that straps to legs to make running easier.Tim HayesApr 1st, 2020HomeCannabis and the CoronavirusMedical and recreational cannabis growers and retailers deemed essential services to help Americans cope with "stay-at-home" orders.Jim ChrzanMar 31st, 2020HomeCall for Applications: 2020 Excellence in Reusable Packaging AwardThe Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) announced the opening of the application period for the 9th annual Excellence in Reusable Packaging Award.The Reusable Packaging Association (RPA)Mar 17th, 2020HomeQuick Hits: New Device Sterilizes Inhaled AirProtectivAir uses UVc light to clean air and protect users against airborne pathogens including COVID-19.Tim HayesMar 31st, 2020HomeCOVID-19 Survey: Early Results Reflect CPGs' Current Resolve, Future UncertaintyResponses indicate that companies producing packaged goods tend to be "So far, so good, all things considered" as one phrased it, and supply chains remain intact. But when asked to forecast into the future, there's far less consensus.Matt ReynoldsMar 30th, 2020HomeCBD: Cooperation to Outdo CompetitionAt the CPA 2020 Annual Meeting, Bruce Bernstein, President of UBIX Processing, talks about the opportunities for CPGs and contract packagers in the growing CBD market.Anne Marie MohanMar 30th, 2020HomeAn Appeal to Support Our Essential Services and Critical Infrastructure WorkersThe COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be a tremendous global challenge that we must work together to defeat. Now, our essential and critical workers are being relied upon to provide the services we expect every day and we must do everything to support them.EmersonMar 27th, 2020HomeQuick Hits: Lung Removed, Cleaned, & Returned to BodyA new surgical procedure in Israel could revolutionize the way cancers are treated.Tim HayesMar 30th, 2020Package designUltrasound Gel Pouch Gets Ergonomic Design, Reduces WasteDesigned to be easy to hold and evacuate more product, this multilayer spouted pouch replaces the traditional bottle while requiring less energy to manufacture and transport.Keren SookneMar 27th, 2020COVID-19Telehealth, Home Devices Help Increase Bed Capacity in HospitalsAs the COVID-19 virus continues to spread, there is a growing need for remote monitoring of other types of patients. See how senior living centers are implementing this Virtual Exam Room.Aaron HandMar 27th, 2020HomeOEM COVID-19 #5: BellatRx & Mpac LangenUnPACKED with PMMI podcast with Canadian OEMs highlights communication early and often.Mar 26th, 2020HomeQuick Hits: India Weans Itself off Chinese APIsIndia is investing $1.3B to decrease its dependence on Chinese APIs amid supply concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak.Tim HayesMar 27th, 2020HomeSecond Life: Sterile Wrap Fashioned into MasksAn anesthesiology professor has developed masks from surgical tray wrap that cannot be penetrated by water or bacteria and block 99.9% of particles. Prototypes are underway.Keren SookneMar 27th, 2020HomeWhy Women are Under-Represented in the C-SuiteIf companies with more women in leadership roles have greater innovation, increased productivity, higher employee satisfaction, and higher employee retention, why are there so few in the C suite?Kim OverstreetMar 26th, 2020HomeQuick Hits: Tesla Starts Making Medical DevicesTesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will manufacture ventilators in case of a shortage.Tim HayesMar 26th, 2020HomePopularity of Cannabis Formats Evolving, Packaging Follows SuitDried flower is giving way to creams, gels, dried teas/powders and inhalers, products that doubled in growth in two years' time. Packaging for cannabis is expanding to meet this growth.Kim OverstreetMar 25th, 2020HomeQuick Hits: Costume Designers Shift Production to Make Medical MasksThe costume design industry has gotten involved to address the shortage of medical supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic.Tim HayesMar 25th, 2020Supplier NewsSejla Repetti Promoted to Vice President of Commercial Development, Formulated SolutionsNew VP expected to strategically develop partnerships in Brand Partners.Mar 24th, 2020


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The successful launch of Henry London watches has propelled Peers Hardy into the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table of Britain's fastest-growing mid-market private companies.
The Solihull-based distributor, which has enjoyed growth surges with Ice Watch and Daniel Wellington over the past decade, launched Henry London as its own brand in 2015.
The watches are designed, manufactured, marketed and distributed by Peers Hardy. Since the brand's debut, Henry London has stockists in over 70 markets.
"Debuting Henry London and other key brands from our fashion portfolio at Baselworld 2015 was the start of establishing our international presence. We received an immediate international demand for Henry London that was way beyond our expectations. It has driven us to increase our global ambitions and we fully intend to capitalise on our global reach with a broadening brand portfolio and diversification of our product offering," said Paul Harry, international sales and marketing director said.
Annual growth of 70%, recorded in the Sunday Times list, placed Peers Hardy at number 53 among the 200 mid-market private companies featured.
In an interview to be published in the August edition of WatchPro, Mr Harry said that 2016 had been a record year for Peers Hardy, despite the challenges faced by licensed fashion watch brands.
The company's current portfolio includes Cluse, Radley, Orla Kiely, Lola Rose, Henry London and Halcyon Days.


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Any way you choose, you'll experience impactful, inclusive theatre produced with rigor and an abundance of craft.
Join us as we bring our full season lineup to the intimate stage of CoHo Theatre in Northwest Portland. Enjoy bold, thoughtful plays you won't see anywhere else with multiple ways to engage that can be personalized to suit your taste and schedule. Our Main Stage Flexible Subscriptions offer you great savings and perks to our Main Stage productions. If you want more, our Membership program offers you unlimited access to all Third Rail programming, including Main Stage productions, National Theatre Live broadcasts from London, and exciting Members-Only events. Or, purchase an NT Live Punch Card and get the best of international theatre right here in Portland. Any way you choose, you'll experience impactful, inclusive theatre produced with rigor and an abundance of craft!
MEMBERSHIP: Every Show. Every Screening. Every Moment.
As a member, you have unlimited access to all of our programming. Every month, you'll have multiple opportunities to engage with deeply-moving, entertaining, and provocative theatre, including:
Our Main Stage Performances:
See all of the shows in our Main Stage season, as many times as you'd like! Want to bring a friend? Any additional tickets you purchase are 20% off.
National Theatre Live:
Your membership includes a ticket to every NT Live Screening. Catch the best of London theatre, right here in PDX. Want more NT Live tickets? Purchase additional tickets for 20% off!
Sunday Salons:
This behind-the-scenes look at Third Rail's season selection process is for members only! Join us once a month for brunch readings of plays being considered for production in our next season. Sip a Bloody Mary, enjoy a snack, and give us your opinion on what you'd like to see produced next year!
First Reads:
Members are invited to join us for the first rehearsal of each of our Main Stage productions. You'll hear the director, designers, and dramaturgs speak about the play, and then be the first to hear the work read aloud by our Season Company Members.
Additional member perks include:
- Unlimited exchanges, with no fees
- Invitations to our Season Announcement Party and other company events
- Early choice of assigned seats for our Main Stage productions
- Early entry to our general admission performances
- A weekly Member Email from Company Member Darius Pierce, keeping you in-the-know about all upcoming Third Rail events
Membership is the best deal we offer. Taking advantage of membership could save you up to $492 this season!
Purchase a Membership
MAIN STAGE FLEXIBLE SUBSCRIPTION: See One Show, or See Them All!
The Main Stage Flexible Subscription is the best way to save on our season. You choose how you want to use your tickets. Whether you decide to reserve one ticket to each of our Main Stage productions, or bring a few friends to the show you are most excited about, this is your traditional subscription made more flexible! Each subscription includes four tickets to use on any of our Main Stage Performances.
Subscriber perks include:
- Unlimited exchanges, with no fees
- First choice of assigned seats for our main stage productions
- Discounts on all additional ticket purchases
Purchase a Flexible Subscription
Save on NT Live Hi-Definition Screenings with the purchase of our Punch Cards. Punch Cards are sold in packages of 6 for $109 (inclusive of fees). Punch Cards are good for every Hi-Definition Screening in the given season.
Third Rail's Hi-Definition Screenings began with the National Theatre of London's groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre from the London stage to cinemas across the UK and around the world. Third Rail is proud to present these amazing productions captured live onstage and presented locally in high-definition video.
Additional Punch Card Holder perks include:
- Unlimited exchanges, with no fees
Purchase an NT Live Punch Card
Already a Member, Subscriber or Punch Card Holder? Reserve your tickets!
Make your reservations by calling our Box Office at 503-235-1101, or emailing us at firstname.lastname@example.com! You simply select the date that works best for your calendar, and we'll take care of the rest.


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Hours of Operation: Monday - Saturday: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.Proudly Serving Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock, Port Townsend, Sequim, Port Angeles
Arnett Construction & Home Improvements has a proven record of excellence in designing affordable Construction Services, Kitchen Remodeling, Bathroom Remodeling, Tile, Marble, Granite, Wood and Laminate. Managing several Home Improvement projects throughout Jefferson and Clallam counties. No matter the size of your project, the experienced professionals at Arnett Construction & Home Improvements will help you plan, design, construct, and maintain your project.Effective planning is crucial to the successful completion of any project. Before starting the project, Arnett Construction & Home Improvements will first assess your goals. We then provide you with an estimate and time line for completion. There are also options for the "do it yourself" client, providing you with a materials order list and assistance from beginning to the successful completion of the project, we can be involved every step of the way.
Eliminate all the items on your to-do list by calling the experts at Arnett Construction & Home Improvements. You'll be glad you did. We have many years of experience and work hard to make sure the job is done right while saving you time, money, and aggravation. We'll be there whenever you need us.
Arnett Construction located in Port Townsend, WA specializes in Construction Services, Kitchen Remodeling, Bathroom Remodeling, Tile work, Marble, Granite, Wood & Laminate Flooring. Please call 360-477-1935.
When you want it done right the first time, call us.


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The Lismore Eisteddfod wouldn't be possible without the support of community groups, local businesses and a host of volunteers. The 2015 program was supported in many different ways from promotion, providing venues, and the organisation of this massive event.
We would like to say thank you to:
- Lismore City Councillors
- Lismore Workers Club
- Northern Rivers Conservatorium
- Wilson Park Special School
- The Hon. Thomas George MP
- the Nesbitt Estate
- The Northern Star
- ABC Radio
- Prime 7 TV News, and
- CWA ladies, Mr Stan Brown and team, trophy donors, business houses and our priceless volunteers.


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Phoenix Rising is a ministry that was started in response to the needs of the many homeless and near homeless living along the Route One corridor in Alexandria from the Beltway to the Fairfax County Parkway (just south of Fort Belvoir). Since then, the ministry has been coordinated and expanded by many faithful members of various churches throughout Alexandria and Fairfax County. St. Stephen's participates in this ministry on the 5th Fridays of the months when they occur. Contact Pastor Jiyeon if you have any questions.
Each Phoenix Rising team is responsible for meal packaging and delivery on one particular Friday of each month. On the Thursday night before the church's scheduled Friday delivery, 75 to 100 volunteers gather at their particular church to make a total of 400 bagged meals — 200 for Friday night and 200 for Saturday.
Then, on Friday night at 6 PM throughout the year, rain or shine, assigned teams from local churches and organizations set out with the sandwiches and pre-packed food items to make deliveries along the Route One corridor.
What's in the Bagged Meals?
Friday night bags are made up of the following items: one sandwich, chips, fruit, cookies, and Capri sun. Saturday meals receive the following items: a tuna or chicken salad kit, peanut butter crackers, fruit snack, and Capri sun.
Who Receives the Meals?
The nutritious, bagged meals are delivered to those who are homeless and living in tents, vehicles, motels, and short-term lodging. Meals are designed to provide nourishment to those who may not otherwise have something to eat over the weekend, filling their stomachs and touching their hearts. Approximately 100 meals are delivered to children and another 100 meals to veterans.
Who Makes the Meals?
All ages can help in this ministry! There is a job for everyone — from the 3 year-old who drops a bag of potato chips into the meal or a teenager who writes a note of encouragement. For very young children who come out to volunteer and then loose focus, we do offer child care in the nursery so the rest of the family can still volunteer for the full hour!
Like Stop Hunger Now, our hope is that children and families from SSUMC will invite friends and neighbors to participate as well. As a church, we believe helping our neighbors is important and we want to be the destination where children, teens, and families can come to serve alongside one another.
How Can I Help?
There are a variety of jobs that children and families can participate in together such as: shopping for supplies, preparing sandwiches, assembling bag lunches, writing personal messages of encouragement and faith to place in the bags, and assisting with delivery. The church also receives donations of food and hygiene items to supplement what is given out through the bagged meal delivery.


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Cobalt & Chartreuse
This color combo is not for the faint of heart. If you are looking for bold, fun & modern, then Cobalt & Chartreuse is a perfect fit. These analogous colors look great together in many tones, but if you are planning a later summer wedding, this color combo will be a fun pallet to play with. Cobalt glass is beautiful for place settings, and can be found at many resale shops too! Think apple martini signature cocktails for your guests, or blue parasols for a reception in the sun! Consider the Judy wedding invitation design for a late summer wedding. It's a bold playful design that sets the tone well for your wedding!


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When I was in line at the DWP office, there was this little girl with her mom.
Little Girl: Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
Me: (looking around seeing where the voice was coming from)
Mom: (looking relieved when she saw someone to distract the girl.) Say "hi" to the nice man.
Little Girl: Hi.
Mom: Say "hola".
Little Girl: (looking shy…) hola…
Little Girl: (smiling) Why is your eyes… (then she squints). Are you's tired?
Me: It's because I'm Korean and our eyes are naturally small most tim…
Little Girl: LIAR!!!
Hahaha~ Little kids are funny~ =P


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Catering and Bar Services
Contracting guest acknowledges that all catering, including alcoholic beverages must be purchased, provided and served by Michael's on East. Any other food provider, such as but not limited to, cake baker, etc. must be licensed and insured. All services must be provided through the contracted caterer*.
*Other vendors/contractors are an exception to this rule (i.e. DJ, Florist, Baker, Planner, Musicians, etc.). Contracting of these vendors must be provided, in writing, to Michael's On East 30 days prior to Event. Lighting that is hung over guests' heads and attached to Garden's grounds must be provided by the 2 pre-approved vendors, unless prior approval is obtained in writing by the Sales Associate.
No alcohol shall be served or given to any person except by the approved catering provider. Persons under the age of 21 shall not be served or given alcoholic beverages. Event Host shall assume responsibility for attendees' intoxication and subsequent actions. Selby Gardens reserves the right to shut down, at any time, alcohol service at the Event. Except as provided by the approved Catering Provider in accordance with this Contract, no alcohol may be brought or consumed at Garden's Property; doing so will result in a fine.
The Gardens has parking for approximately 200 vehicles in 3 paved lots. Parking is limited, and there may be more than one event held at the Gardens concurrently. Your guests may park in the Gardens designated parking lots free of charge. We kindly ask that your guests not park on Palm Avenue.
Facility Rental Times and Details
Selby Gardens is open to visitors between the hours of 10:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., and all visitors are asked to depart no later than 5:00 p.m. Selby has a strict policy that no event should interfere with our guests' experiences. Consequently, roping off or stanchioning areas to prevent access to garden visitors is strictly prohibited. Guests are permitted to view any area of the gardens during regular hours.
The Garden's outdoor facilities are available for private events during hours when the Gardens are closed to the public beginning at 5:00PM. Note: A noise ordinance enforced throughout the City of Sarasota prohibits music after 11:00PM. All outdoor areas are subject to weather conditions. A rain contingency plan must be arranged with Michael's On East prior to event date.
The rental time may be adjusted to include delivery and setup based upon availability. All timing of the Set-Up, Removal and Clean-Up and of the Event itself must be coordinated with at least 10 business days prior to the date of event except as scheduled above. Event must begin and end by specified time noted in the schedule above, (time being of the essence).
Wedding Rehearsals
Rehearsals are scheduled for the day prior to the wedding at the discretion of Selby Gardens and during normal operating hours. Your sales associate reserves the right to change the time of the rehearsal. Your sales associate will notify the contracting guest and rescheduling will take place accordingly.
Reservations will be secured after a signed contract and reservation deposit are received and countersigned by the Garden's representative. For wedding ceremonies and reception, the reservation deposit is 25% of the base total, plus tax. Verbal reservations will be held for 10 days to allow a client to submit a credit card or check. Due to the volume of requests, dates will not be held for more than 10 days. The balance of the event fee is due 4 days prior to the scheduled event.
Green Rooms
Green rooms are provided by Selby Gardens as a courtesy, if available. Green room location(s) are assigned on a first come, first served basis. Access to Selby Gardens green rooms is NOT available prior to scheduled time. Any personal preparations for the event (i.e. make-up, hair, etc.) prior to scheduled time must be completed off-site.
Decorations and Usage
The following is not permitted. Glitter, Confetti, Stapling, Nailing to Walls, etc. All decorations must be pre-approved by Selby Gardens and Michael's On East and must be removed by the end of the event. All decorating is highly recommended to be installed by pre-approved vendors.
Insurance Certificate
A certificate of insurance is required for ALL vendors doing business at the Gardens. A $1,000,000 combined public liability for personal injury and property damage naming Marie Selby Botanic Gardens, 811 South Palm Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236, as insured, is required and must be received at least two weeks prior.
Cancellation and Reservation Refund Policy
The contracting guest may cancel their contract at any time. All cancellations must be in writing. If a contracting guest cancels the contract more than 9 months prior to event, 10% of the rental fee will be refunded. If the contracting guest cancels less than 9 months prior to the event, the entire 25% deposit will be forfeited. The total fee is retained by Selby Gardens if the event is cancelled less than thirty 30 days prior to the Date of Event.


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un-BEAR-able Synthetic Liquid Attractant
Buck Bomb un-BEAR-able Synthetic Bear Attractant is an extremely strong attractant that will lure in bears in areas where natural lures are illegal (including Canada). Un-BEAR-able contains a strong sweet smell of blueberries that bears can't resist, and is also lined with synthetic bear pheromones that draw in bears right where you want them.
The easy-to-use dropper bottle contains four ounces of synthetic scent that can be dripped on the ground, stumps, bait sites - or even better - used with the Buck Bomb Detonator retractable scent wick (sold separately) or the 4 included spike wicks. This super potent formula makes the urge to come investigate grow until it's simply un-BEAR-able!
- Strong, sweet smell of blueberries with synthetic bear pheromones
- Bears can't resist and draws them in to a specific spot
- Apply liberally near, around or on your bait site
- Can be used where natural lures are illegal (including Canada)
- 4 oz dripper bottle


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About Egzoset
Vaporist of Borg
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Egzoset started following Hole & Disc Volume Calculation [480x640] .PNG, Danger! (2020-Apr-3) [800x170] .PNG, Slim Full-Metal Cust. VG Tops by Egzoset (2020-Mar-17) [400x360] .PNG and and 7 others
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Egzoset added images to a gallery album in Members Gallery
Vegetal Life
Egzoset added images to a gallery album in Members Gallery
Salutations, Here's yet another KISS-inspired idea of mine: If you're a DynaVap VapCap enthousiast then just imagine carving that tube's surface with a spiral trench, accepting fresh air from the right side, passing through an optional CCD Screen of the far right side right before it enters the cavity with Space-Age Silicon Carbide Foam inside... This should even prove compatible with a VapBong LoxLux (Halogen-based) "party" scenario IMHO! Etc., etc. It shouldn't be much of a problem substituting SiC pellets with "Health Stones" while i don't suppose that's even private/patented intellectual property so far. E. G. still free for the taking i'd bet... Too bad i require Inlet Water on top of Pulse Vaporisation, that's way too long a path for me to walk alone. So who's ready to take over?? Good day, have fun!!
Euh... That was to be expected right from the very begining, since you immediately failed to appologize while having troll trophees accumulating already. I can't but conclude that you did know about the 2010 thing and were quite prepared to use it for your present self-serving purpose, with a fanboy in support nearby... You did try to suggest that Egzoset "goes off" at random, trying to excuse your provocation in disguise and hence i'm most satisfied such head games didn't last long before the real intentions were finally revealed: further personal attacks based on musical taste, for example... M'well, at least detection was quick this time, your confidence in local fanboyism made yourself a bit too obvious and that tells me this is another board infested/infected with installed abusers i may have dealt with as soon as 2010... I suppose that's a rendez-vous under your multiple identities for a revenge on FuckCombustion, GrassCity, ICMag, etc... You name it, that's not exactly new to me to be chased around by ghosts.
Hi again, It's quite informative what part of a moderate post was retained, only to invite agravation... Well, lets talk about you instead of me: what are your other identities elsewhere for starters?? Reversing roles in 2 sentences already?? You've been informed in a calm way, now join my [ Ignore ] list as this did warrant "going off" swiftly: life's just too short for those house of mirrors games. An insult, even accidental (in appearance...) that's topped with more disrespect via forging imaginary substitution characters didn't exactly sound like you've made it by mistake at all. Good day, have fun!!
Salutations GardenArtUs, M'well, i wouldn't mind for a correction if it came from a total newbie, but i'm afraid if you truly mean to sound friendly to Egzoset then please avoid making it look like an insult, by starting to write the alias with a lower-case then compounding that offense with a typo... I'm genuinely hoping that the simple action of informing you about such cultural element won't put us at war but i'd advise anyone addressing me to just never use the alias again instead of taking the risk it might be received as pure provocation - from repetition of a 2010 gag that i always failed to find amusing though it was repeated twice this year alone on similar boards. Nonetheless, at the moment i still am in a neutral state of mind - so i wish i could have been able to afford not reacting. Actually the man behind Egzoset communicates and interacts much better when Egzoset ain't a topic itself, so i'm glad to find something to hook on. Yep, that's certainly not the conventional stuff heard on radio... More specifically, about the LiFA album, i found it starts strong kind of early with its piece titled "In Maidjan" (#2), and more specifically when Maria Franz delivers some etheral 4 minutes female vocalist performance @7:38. Quite frankly i got to regret that other outbreak moments often feel too short, as in "Fylgija Ear / Futhorck" @2:53 (#7), since it lasts only a mere 2 minutes at most. In "Othan" (#8) it's 6 minutes but the magic doesn't survive to that song's conclusion neither, as if there was a need for "fillings"... Go figure, in "Hamrer Hippyer" @6:46 (#9) there's some 4 minutes male vocalist performance that feels completely satisfying, it's a mystery to me why that needs to get spoiled by experimental excess weight thereafter. Yet, overall the ambiance can prove enjoyable indeed. It's full of testosterone expression that can be comforting but it was the guest female vocalist who carried it to another dimension and after such powerful exposure i must admit my cognitive ears began to starve for more: all the sudden it seems i lived through over half-a-century remaining in profound darkness! Good day, have fun!!
YouTube: Heilung | LIFA - Full Show - Othan @ 52:42
From former hachish smoker to vaporist
Egzoset replied to Egzoset's topic in Introduce YourselfA few easy fixes for some "broken" picture links, changing ".Org" domains into ".Cc", for example: [ https://s14.postimg.cc/6flhbadkh/Pierre-_Hugues_Boisvenu_-_TVA_2018-_Feb-6_640x450.png ] ... [ http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-passes-probably-not-perfect-pot-bill ] Mtl Gazette: Quebec passes 'probably not perfect' pot bill (2018-Jun-12) ... E.G. N. B.: Please disregard stylish exagerations... Nope: the Enterprise ain't really about to crash again. Good day, have fun!!
Quick update A month has passed and yet there's still plenty of broken stuff found in intro post and more: N.B.: Pictures previously hosted @ postimg.org can now be found @ postimg.cc instead, which could be a simple fix to perform, by the way. Good day, have fun!!
Salutations Sannie, It's no trivial migration but there are elements coming back, some others like reformated text which i doubt can/will be fixed i'm afraid, others as pictures hosted on PostImages.Org happened to be broken at the source in the worse possible times, just a couple days ago (while backups were available with a .CC domain extension instead). That's equally frustrating behind my screen i'm sure, i can use patience no worries but my bet is you'll need aspirin, some support and luck! Good day, have fun!!
Salutations, Still plenty of computer vomit mixed with dead emoticon links, etc. Most demotivating. Good day, have fun!!
Forum offline on 08-04-2018 for two days
Egzoset replied to sannie's topic in This WebsiteM'well... Maybe it's cleaner on the other side of my screen but seen from right here it's computer vomit, even the emoticons ain't right and i found no setting to fix this. Actually i'm not even sure past text can be retrieved using the search function judging from what i seen as a 1st contact. Lets hope that was appreciated by those who post with a cellular phone! Hang on, that's going to take some courage i think! Good day, have fun!!
Egzoset replied to suulhaze's topic in Introduce YourselfSalutations SuulHaze, M'well, is that the Switzerland of CBD cannabis made legal as tomatoes to serve as a tobacco substitute, or is that the Switzerland with ties to some Geneva Opium Convention of 1925?... Good day, have fun!!
Hi from France!
Egzoset replied to boubacrampon's topic in Introduce YourselfSalutations BoubACrampon, Money indeed, at least that's how i thought Ruquier came to put 2 martyr kids in such vulnerable positions as theirs. Both abused by their respective fathers, the female raped, the male violently repressed... That's a kind of display only money would justify i guessed. It's so regrettable, what they need is medical attention instead of cameras. But that's TV! ... Good day, have fun!!


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We are really excited to announce that our team building website located at https://www.leadersinstituteteambuilding.com/ got a face-lift this past week. Although we have used this website to promote our team building programs for years, the new site will be much more focused on being a library for good team building tips, articles, and videos. So, please use this site as a resource for all of your team development needs. We recently posted a few new self-help articles to the site, and later this week, we will start adding some of our favorite meeting tips that will help you insert energy and fun into any meeting. Keep coming back to the site for more free tips!
The Leader's Institute® Team Building Company is located at 1900 Grandstand Dr San Antonio, TX 78238, but delivers events and activities in all 50 states plus Canada and Europe. To reach them by phone, call (800) 872-7830.


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Analyzing Scene Performance and Memory
You can analyze the performance of a scene using the Scene Debugger. This can tell you the processing time and memory consumed by the elements in your scene, and help you to find and correct things that are slowing it down.
To open the Scene Debugger
Do one of the following:
• Choose View > General > Scene Debugger.
• Click the Open Scene Debugger button at the bottom of the main Softimage window.
Scene Debugger Overview
Switch between Performance and Memory.
When you switch to Memory, you need to click Update. Switching to Memory flushes captured performance data, so you need to re-capture data when you switch back to Performance.
Export to a text file, or set preferences.
Update the display. Click this after you have stopped or started consolidating below nodes, or changed preferences.
Clear the data. This also stops capture.
Start or stop capturing performance data. This is required for displaying performance data. (Performance tab only)
Controls how operators are grouped for display. (Performance tab only)
• Consolidate Below Objects collects all the operators in the call stack into a list directly under each object. By default, the operators are grouped by category (Animation, Deform, etc.).
• Consolidate Below Drawing Steps collects all the operators in the call stack into a list below the associated drawing step (Transform, Visibility Determination, or Draw Primitive) under each object. Again, the operators are grouped by category by default.
• Custom indicates that you have modified the display by right-clicking in the view below. Do not choose Custom directly from this menu — the last custom state is not stored and cannot be retrieved.
Information about performance or memory appears in this pane.
On the Performance tab, you can right-click on certain nodes to control how the operators are consolidated, and then click Update.
On the Performance tab:
• Net Total shows the time taken by a node and its children (all the operators it pulled).
• Executing shows the time taken by a node itself (not including its children).
• # of requests shows the number of times a node was called for its output. When a node is called and it hasn't been evaluated yet, an evaluation is triggered.
For information about the Memory tab, see Displaying and Interpreting Memory Data.
Walk-through: Profiling Performance
Here is a quick walk-through that outlines the general steps for profiling the performance of your scene:
1. Choose View > General > Scene Debugger and make sure the Performance tab is displayed.
2. If necessary, choose File > Preferences and set the Filtering threshold to filter out nodes that take very little time.
You can change this later and click Update. However it can take a long time to refresh the display depending on how much data there is to capture in your scene, so it's best to start with the value you want.
3. Select either Consolidate Below Objects or Consolidate Below Drawing Steps.
Again, you can change this later and click Update but it's best to start with the value you want.
4. Start capturing performance data.
5. Play back the scene, or interact with it (move deformers and so on).
6. Do one of the following:
- Stop capturing.
- If you want to accumulate timing information, you can continue capturing and click Update instead.
The performance data appears in the Scene Debugger. To understand how to interpret it, see Interpreting Performance Data.
7. When you find a node that takes a long time to evaluate, you can investigate it further. You can right-click on the following types of node in the lower portion of the window (in the Call Graph section below the Category section):
- Geometry views, for example, OpenGL Render View B
- 3D objects, including models
- Drawing steps: Transform, Visibility Determination, and Draw Primitive
- Operators
The context menu contains a couple of mutually exclusive options:
- Consolidate Below This Node. This option collects the operators called by the node into a list. It is useful when you want to simplify the presentation of the data.
- Don't Consolidate Below This Node. This option shows you the entire nested call stack from that node down. It is useful for seeing exactly which node calls which.
These settings are stored per node. When you choose one of these commands, the display changes to Custom but it does not update right away. You can right-click on additional nodes to control how their operator calls are consolidated, and then click Update. Note that Custom settings for consolidation are not kept if you switch to another setting, so you cannot retrieve your previous view by switching back to Custom from the menu.
Also note that if you choose to consolidate below a node such as an operator, it will have no effect if the nodes are already being consolidated at some point above it in the call stack. You must stop consolidating from the object or drawing step above the operator to see the effect of consolidating below the operator.
8. Make some changes to the scene, and then repeat as desired:
- If you don't want to accumulate performance data, click Clear and go to step 4.
- If you do want to accumulate data, go straight to step 4 (or to step 5 if you didn't stop capturing).
9. When you have finished debugging, click Clear before closing the Scene Debugger window to discard the performance data.
Interpreting Performance Data
Interpreting the data in the Scene Debugger can be tricky. For example, it may seem like a particular node is taking an unusually long time to evaluate, but that may only be because it is the first node to pull on an expensive operator that must be evaluated anyway. In such a case, modifying the scene so that the node doesn't pull on the expensive operator simply shifts the blame to another node. For another example, computing the transform of the left eye may require pulling on many inputs, but then computing the right eye may require only one since the others have already been evaluated.
How Information Is Laid Out
The information on the Performance tab of the Scene Debugger is divided into 3 sections:
• The first two lines show the time unit and filtering. You can simplify the data by filtering out nodes that are less than the Filtering threshold you set — see Scene Debugging Preferences [Preference Reference]. Note that you must click Update to refresh the data after you change the threshold.
• The next section, labelled Category, displays summary information for every category of operator. This section is the same no matter how the data is consolidated in the main section. The categories are shown in descending order of evaluation times, and categories with long evaluation times are automatically expanded.
• The main section, labelled Call Graph, displays the detailed timing data according to how you have chosen to consolidate the operators. Again, nodes are shown in descending order of evaluation times, and nodes with long evaluation times are automatically expanded.
Each top-level node represents a separate call stack. There is one for each geometry view, unless views have been muted or minimized. There may be additional ones that represent call stacks executed outside of drawing a view — for example, if you interact with a manipulator in Local mode then Softimage needs to evaluate the transforms of the hierarchy.
Operators are categorized by type in the summary near the top of the Scene Debugger.
By default, they are also categorized in the consolidated lists in the main section. This is controlled by Show the consolidated categories — see Scene Debugging Preferences [Preference Reference]. When this option is off, the consolidated operators are displayed as an uncategorized flat list.
The following table describes the categories:
Animation Operators
This category includes all animated transforms, including kinematics and constraints.
Deform Operators
This category includes deformations. It does not include ICE trees that are used for deformations.
This category is divided into the following drawing steps:
• Visibility Determination. This represents the time taken to determine whether an object needs to be drawn, which includes evaluating the extent of its bounding box and culling. To compute the bounding box, the object's geometry may need to be evaluated, resulting in some inputs such as deformation operators being pulled. If nodes are consolidated below drawing steps, those inputs are included in this subcategory. If nodes are consolidated below objects, those operators appear under other categories (Deformations, etc.).
• Transform. This represents the time taken to find the object's center. Although this is also required for visibility determination, it is classified separately to make it easier to see what's really slowing things down. For example, an envelope may be slow because of its rig rather than because of the deformation itself. As with Visibility Determination, if nodes are consolidated below drawing steps then the children include operators like animation and others (for example, a deformation that is pulled because of a cluster constraint). If nodes are consolidated below objects, those operators appear in other categories.
• Draw Primitive. This represents the time taken to draw objects after Transform and Visibility Detection. When using approximate envelope operators, the time taken to evaluate the point positions and normals appears here.
ICE Operators
This category includes all ICE operators whether they are being used for deformation, simulation, and so on.
You can profile the performance of ICE operators individually as described in Profiling the Performance of ICE Trees [ICE Fundamentals].
This represents the overhead consumed by objects outside of operator evaluations. The values should be quite small.
OpenGL Render
This represents the time taken to render the updated views.
Custom Operators
This category includes scripted and custom compiled operators.
This includes any scripts that you ran while capturing performance data.
This includes any commands that you invoked while interacting.
Topology Operators
This includes any operators that add or remove geometry components.
Other Operators
This includes all operators that don't fall into one of the other categories, such as expressions (which may or may not represent animated transforms), cluster operators, and so on.
Strategies for Optimizing
The techniques for optimizing are very specific to individual scenes. However, there are some general strategies that you can apply:
• If there is a great deal of time spent in Visibility Determination (usually due to the time to required compute the geometry), key the visibility of objects off while they are out of frame.
• If much time is spent in Transform, try reducing it by plotting animation, caching geometry, and simplifying rigs.
• To minimize time spent in Draw Primitive, look for unfrozen texture projections and similar things.
Displaying and Interpreting Memory Data
Compared to the Performance tab, the Memory tab is quite simple. You don't need to capture anything — just click Update. Note that when you switch back to the Performance tab, you need to recapture performance data.
The memory data is divided into two sections:
• The first section shows summary memory usage by object type.
• The second section shows detailed memory usage by owner.
This gives you a rough idea of the memory used by the scene, but note that not every byte is accounted for.
If you see that there are data copies listed, this may indicate something that can be frozen to save memory. However, this is not always the case — copies can also represent internal data that will be removed automatically when no longer needed.
Autodesk Softimage 2011 Subscription Advantage Pack


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City Forums and Lobbying
CityCo and Manchester BID represent our business networks at a range of city meetings and forums. As constant corporate champions, we have an influential role in lobbying local authorities authorities, transport organisations and other agencies.
To assist members we run forums and workshops to help resolve area issues and represent businesses at a range of other city committees attended by Manchester City Council, Salford City Council, Marketing Manchester, Visit Salford, Transport for Greater Manchester and Greater Manchester Police.
The groups allow for networking, sharing of plans and discussion around developments, challenges and opportunities for our growing cities.
CityCo Forums
- BCRP City Centre Intelligence Briefings
- CityCo & Manchester BID Cleansing Committee
- Greengate & Embankment Action Group
- Manchester Arndale Tenants Security Meeting
- Manchester BID Board
- Manchester BID Sector Groups (Events, Operations, Large Stores, F&B, Jewellery, Financial Services)
- Oxford Road Security & Environmental Action Group
- Petersfield Operations Group
- Piccadilly Basin Action Group
- Piccadilly Hoteliers Group (Online group)
- Piccadilly Operations Group
- Salford Hoteliers Group (Online group)
City Committees
- City Centre Licensing Multi-Agency Meeting
- City Centre Ward Coordination Meeting
- Manchester Chinatown Business Association
- Manchester City Council Integrated Neighbourhood Meeting
- Manchester Homelessness Partnership Board
- Manchester Pub & Club Network
- Nature's Quarter (Northern Quarter)
- North West Crime Regional Crime Meeting
- Salford Quays Marketing Group
- TfGM Traffic and Transport Group
- Village Action Forum
- Village Business Licensing Association
- Water Safety Partnership Board


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La Isha Timeless Beauty Blog
Tagged "#AgeSpotRemover"
Summertime Woes: What Are Age Spots and How Do I Get Rid of Them?
Posted by Sharon Gnatt Epel on
The older you are and the more time you have spent in the sun, the more likely you are to develop age spots. These small discolorations can be unsightly or even embarrassing. Once you can identify them by their most common characteristics and learn how to protect your skin, you can do something about them.Read more →


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Nappies, tampons, tissues and similar hygiene products come into direct contact with people's bodies. Contaminants, especially pieces of metal, can result in injury. In turn, manufacturers face the risk of recalls, claims for damages and a tarnished reputation. We have the right detection systems to minimise these risks.
Consumer protection has the highest priority with regard to items that come into direct bodily contact, such as nappies, liners and cotton wool pads. Metallic contaminants can result in injury, product recalls and claims for damages, not to mention harm a brand's image. The use of metal detectors is therefore key to assuring product quality.
The most frequent contaminants in hygiene products are pieces of metal. They can come from various sources:
Usually for quality assurance of outgoing goods. Our metal detectors check the already packaged products for such items as the following: