KScience

The BBC has to attract viewers and unfortunately well informed or analytical programs do not attract wide audiences... reality TV and soap operas with the occasional period drama is what we get now. I am always dismayed by the "documentaries" which lack any attempt at critical thinking. My biggest bug bear is the push for "balance reporting" which actually just means giving air time to anyone with an opinion, no matter what the factual basis. BBC radio is better - try listening to BBC Radio 4. The Olympic coverage is SPECTACULAR though I miss the BBC of 10 years ago and can only predict further declines as funding is cut further

Scott you would need to show a much longer time scale to make a fair comparison and call it a "crash" (compared to 87, 98, 2008) the scale on Y axis does not indicate such a large decline. Mores you need to watch more Parliament on a Thursday, Prime Minister's Questions are always lively and full of banter. Its one of the reasons that females have historically been put off becoming MP's. Not terribly productive but entertaining.

Scott the pound crashed way before the brexit vote. We have made a better recovery than just about all parts of Europe. Germany and France were always going to make the split acrimonious as they will be left to foot our portion of the bill, supporting the rest of Europe (Greece, Italy, Spain should all be on your list of places to visit if you want more bang for your buck as their economies are being propped up/failing) and our exit sets precedent for any other countries looking to leave, so we were always going to get treated as harshly as they could possibly make it. The real effect on the economy won't be felt for a little while yet, as Europe had suspected another referendum resulting in staying would be an easier path for a Prime Minister and we had made no obvious contingency for actually leaving without a deal. When Boris takes us out on the 31st Oct there will be financial carnage.....come visit then and bring your $$$$$

Junior why ask for everyone's advice and then ignore it? You have given just about every possible objection to actually going to church. Your behaviour and answers show your commitment to the gospel. You are not coming across as a caring husband who does not want to hurt his wife's feelings, you look like someone justifying his actions. Your wife will object to many things, will you just capitulate? Sometimes showing love is going against what someone "wants" or avoiding hurt feelings; somethings mean more than this and its your choice if church is one of those things.

Junior if you stop going to church to appease your wife at what stage will you be able to go back to church without hurting her feelings more or making her feel like you have chosen church over her? It will only get more difficult as you will have changed your behaviour and then will have to change it again. If you honestly (and the only person you have to answer this to is yourself) want to go to church then just go, things will probably not be as bad as you are anticipating, and if they are you will find a way to deal with it. There will always be a reason not to go - find the reason why you MUST go regardless of the potential actions of others.

If I could only have member friends, I would be scuppered. We have very small congregations here in the UK and just because you share some of the same beliefs and values, does not mean you will necessarily have much in common. Here in the UK finding anyone of ANY faith is hard enough with between 42-52% (depending on poll) stating they have no religious affiliation. Only 20% of the population report praying regularly........... So we are a very peculiar people in this land!! Having friends to discuss matters of faith with is not something that happens easily and something we should all cherish

I will only attend if the new president can't make it, and I have permission. Hanging over someone else is not a good way to show that you have faith in their abilities. The Lord chooses those who are needed at a particular time for a particular reason. The new president will be WAYYY better than I am. The girls run the program and are amazing. Back to Grief Society for me....... It was hard enough being in adult Sunday School after being released from primary. My place is NOT with the adults in the ward!!! So I plan on moving to my new ward, figuring out who the primary president is and being UBER friendly/helpful until someone gets the hint!!!

Hi chaps, just need a safe place to vent tonight. I am moving out of the ward at the end of August. I informed the Bishopric a couple of weeks ago so that they had plenty of warning. So last night I get a text from the 1st counselor asking if I can meet early on Sunday "for a chat". Today at a ward activity the 2nd counselor grabs me "for a chat" and I am being released tomorrow. I am NOT ready, we have Beehive camp, the girls have fun activities planned over the summer I was looking forward to and as a teacher I will finally have time not to be running around like a headless chicken..... *pouting like a small child* So tonight I am making notes for the next YW pres, so that there can be a smooth handover....... and plan to approach the primary president offering my services for the next month Trying to find the positive....BUT.... Really still just pouting.....

I have an amazing sister in my ward (we used to co-teach in primary) who has not taken out her endowments. She is temple worthy and attends regularly with the youth to participate in baptisms. She is a convert who was married for 15years before joining the church. Her husband took the missionary discussions with her, but decided not to join. He is happy that she attends on Sundays and is generally tolerant, but would be very upset by her wearing garments. So she prays that this is just not the season for her to do this work and waits patiently for his heart to change or she outlives him (her words not mine!!) and tells me she is learning a lot about patience. She is a better woman than I

HI hellosun, I hope you can find some helpful comments from the wise people here. I wonder if your frustration is all about your husband, are there other areas of your life that you feel the same way about? Make a list of all the reasons you married him. From what you have written I can identify some very positive qualities and wonder if you are taking them forgranted. What was the last thing he did that DID make you feel special? How did you respond to that? What exactly are your expectations and how would anyone be able to meet them? Lots of questions and not much help from me I am afraid

me too....except for the male bit, although I am not particularly a girlie girl....I would start an awareness campaign but I think me too might have been taken

I think it might be a cultural thing, I guess I am not used to the directness. I am also naturally a very reserved person and don't like to rile people, especially those I don't know. British sarcasm is a thing to be enjoyed with friends and with the benefit of vocal tones and facial expression. Its difficult to judge peoples tone and intention from the written word; and trying not to offend people as I am not a regular poster

Mikbone, my proposal is to be informed. I obviously have to wear the clothing, but if I am aware that there are potentially environmentally damaging processes involved I can fill in the feedback form on LDS.org. I am not one who does outraged and certainly not upset with church leaders and sorry if any of posts have come across that way. I am aware that here in europe there is a lot of support for environmental causes and anything that can be construed against these can be taken out of context and used negatively against the church. Awareness campaigns certainly work in the UK, thinking vaccinations, breast screening, reduction of using plastics, increased recycling, prostate cancer, cervical cancer screening, blood donation, organ donation. NO idea about the US

WHOA I go to dinner and come back to an angry thread!! In the UK there is currently a big push for a more sustainable clothing industry, so I have been considering my options. My conscience has been pricked by a number of the issues associated with textile production. I was just looking for information about the sustainability of clothing that I wear and have struggled to find anything at all about the production of church clothing. Mikbone I have mixed up the issues associated with all of the textiles used. I am in no way implying that the church is single handedly causing environmental havoc or contributing to fast fashion - I was talking about the considerations for my whole wardrobe. Sorry for the confusion I caused by mixing these details. Mores Sorry if you saw my posting as virtue signalling (I had to go Google what that meant), It was an honest question on a forum where I was expecting a pointer to gather information rather than what I have regrettably started. I do not post regularly but have contributed often enough for you to see that I am a genuine poster. The terminology of chemical bleaching is used by the textile industry as opposed to enzymatic processes. I agree it is an ill used phrased bandied around poorly and associated with many topics. Sorry for getting everyone so fired up on what I genuinely thought was an innocuous topic.

I am happy just so long as no one is throwing me under a bus ...... proverbial, literal or otherwise P.S. I am a she

Thanks Anatess, I was thinking of it more with regard to publicity and the different perspectives of European and US audiences. There are a number of organisations trying to change farming practices, but sustainable practices are presently not able to supply the needs. I look forward to this changing due to consumer pressure.

Thank Anatess, was just wondering if I had missed something. There was a news release about the sustainable design measures used when building the Rome visitors centre. There was obviously a lot of thought in the plans, although the exceeding the energy efficiency standards in Rome would be easier than the same in other countries, The plan also unfortunately outlined the use of palm oil to fuel the co-generation plant. https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/multimedia/file/Environmental-Feature.pdf There have been a number of campaigns against the use of Palm oil in the UK and Europe as it has links to deforestation and environmental damage. Without researching what actually happens there can be no one to appeal for change.

Mikbone, it is one of MANY things I worry about. If I am one less person reliant on irreplaceable resources, chemical bleaching processes which destroy the environment and contributing to "fast fashion" adding to landfill then it will make me feel better about my clothing choices. Anatess thanks already have that in mind when I make purchases. I may not be able to do anything about it, but doing my research I may be able to direct questions to others who do have the authority to do something and maybe have them think more about these issues. It may be that there are issues which have already been addressed, just not well publicised.

Thanks Scott, I know thats the US address for Beehive clothing, but could not find any information that all garments worldwide are produced there. I would suggest that the transportation of garments throughout the world from the US would not be an environmentally friendly approach. I would like to know more details about "environmentally friendly" policies in place but can not find any more specific information.

I was thinking more about garments as I will be wearing a lot of sets over my lifetime (as long as I am not hit by the proverbial bus anytime soon)

Odd question, but I have been thinking about sustainability through all parts of my day to day life and prompted by current media have been looking at my own wardrobe. However there is a major part that I cannot change my choice of where I purchase. I have been trying to find information about the ethical production of church clothing both in terms of manufacturing and resource procurement and but not finding anything. Any ideas where to look or who to ask?

I have have had mixed success and being new to the ward brought its own special challenges. The successes..... I have a great relationship with one sister who was originally my companion and who I now minister to. Her family has had a recent change of circumstances and I have been available to help and feel honoured that she would accept help (picking up a child from school occasionally, accepting my mediocre baking) as I know she finds that difficult. It helped that I have called her as my counsellor in YW so we are serving together and finding out how much we have in common (i.e. outlook and goals). I am also still ministering to an older sister who officially is no longer on my list, but who struggles with mobility and gardening so I offer her lifts regularly to church activities and whenever I am going to the temple and she is teaching me to garden (I am useless and she has a lovely garden that she adores). Although not assigned I also minister to a couple of new converts (our only two YSA) and drive them to institute each week as they have no transport and its about an hour away. I had not realised this was ministering until I had a conversation with RS president so we now count them as mine too as their assigned ministering sisters were not having much luck with contact. This weekly "road trip" has meant that we have had time to get to know each other and discuss the gospel, which they don't have much chance to do being the only members in their family. The challenges....... I have a new companion, who only attends church occasionally and has no interest in getting together and is too anxious to engage with sisters they "don't really know and are so much older than them so they have nothing in common" . But I keep contacting her and figure eventually she will give in or ask the RS pres to find her someone else. I also have one sister to minister to who attends church periodically, and is pleasant but most of our exchanges are "Hi (big smile) how are you?, great, are you coming to *insert ward event* OK see you soon". I have however found her on facebook and found that she is knitting blankets for a local hospital....so I got my knitting needles out and am just completing blanket number 2 for her to take to the local hospital for me. I figure a large number of small positive interactions is all I can do right now. Most importantly I don't take any interactions personally, I figure people have stuff to deal with and life is complicated. So I am friendly, even if I am not yet a friend and look for opportunities to serve in small ways and do the best I can and talk often to my Heavenly Father and ask him to accept my ministering efforts such as they are. I am moving again soon....so will start all over again Edited to correct SPAG

Reading through (most) of this thread has made me wonder if I drastically underthink things, am too naive or am just plain dumb. Answers on a post card please