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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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The Money Behind the Marriage

My husband and I were married on June 3, 2006. I chose that particular month because it was the same month my parents got married (1952) and it's also my birthday month. 

Did you know June is the most popular month for weddings---followed by August, May and September?

Upon doing some research to see how expensive weddings have become, I discovered the following facts:

* The average wedding costs more than $28,200. 

* The reception accounts for 43 percent of wedding costs, with an average price tag of $12,343.

* Outside of the reception, the largest chunks of money are going to engagement rings ($5,000), photography and video ($3,378), music ($1,297), and wedding rings ($1,727).

* The average wedding cake costs $461.

* The current average cost of an engagement ring is $5,002, down $229 from 2012's average cost of $5,229.

* The average wedding dress costs $1,380, up $25 from 2012's average cost of $1,355.

* The average bridesmaids' dress costs $134, consistent with the cost in 2012. 

*$72 billion per year is spent on weddings

*$8 billion per year is spent on honeymoons

*The average honeymoon budget is $3,657

Our honeymoon ended up being the most expensive cost for us when we traveled to St. Lucia. How expensive was YOUR wedding?