6 Gorgeous Wedding Dresses for Second-Time Brides (PHOTOS)

wedding dressEven though the season is halfway over, summer nuptials are still in full swing -- which is great news if you love cake and the occasional toss of a bouquet. And in the heat, I always give summer brides credit -- it's no easy task trumping down the aisle in those big, bustly, and heavy wedding gowns.

The dress is, after all, why we go to a wedding. Picking the right one is a HUGE deal. And it's just as important for brides who walk down the aisle for a second or third time.

You don't want something too frumpy, too frilly, or too reminiscent of your first gown. Right? Right. And you don't want to look like an overstuffed cream puff, either. Your dress should capture your new stage of happiness. So in the spirit of the season, check out six of our favorite fashionable and feminine wedding gowns that make any try at happy ever after a pretty one.

More from The Stir: 5 Gorgeous Slimming Styles That Will Let You Skip the Gym (PHOTOS)

Would you wear something without all the bells & whistles to walk down the aisle a second time?

Addicted to beauty and style? Make sure you follow us on Pinterest, the virtual pin board that is seriously addicting! Check out some of our favorite boards, including Spring Style 2012, Celebrity Style, and our hilarious I'll Take That Dare style videos, and you'll see what we mean.

Image via PeterJBellis/Flickr

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cafemom/thestir/beauty_style/~3/3I4DvrLLb14/6_gorgeous_wedding_dresses_for

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Domestic violence against a pregnant woman and ... - Is It Legal To

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Source: http://www.isitlegalto.com/new-jersey-state-laws-legal-forum-new-jersey-laws/27140-domestic-violence-against-pregnant-woman-civil-motion-nj-please-help.html

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Peugeot-Toyota van deal ups pressure on unions

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/peugeot-toyota-van-deal-ups-pressure-unions-090100587--finance.html

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World AIDS conference begins in Washington

WASHINGTON - Around 20,000 delegates - researchers, activists, advocates and policymakers - from more than 200 countries came to the Washington Convention Center on Sunday to begin the International AIDS conference.

Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, used the event to announce that the government has more than 150 antiretroviral drugs available through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or Pepfar, a globally funded plan begun under President George W. Bush.

"We've come together this week because we know that now is not the time for easing up, slowing down or shifting focus," Sebelius said at the conference's opening ceremony Sunday night. "If we are going to reach our ultimate goal of an AIDS-free generation, we must all challenge ourselves to do more - to reach even more people, to make programs even more effective and accountable, to push the boundaries of science even further."

Sebelius also announced new collaborations for American HIV care with Walgreens pharmacy; with Medscape, an online continuing education program for American clinicians; and with the MAC AIDS Fund, a charity run by MAC Cosmetics, to launch a mobile texting pilot program that assists with disease management and to join with Pepfar on a project to focus on international lessons applicable to the U.S. fight. Further, she said the department has joined with the eight largest AIDS drug companies to consolidate an application form that would make it easier for patients to access critical AIDS medications.

But ending the epidemic won't be easy and the optimism shouldn't obscure that, said Mark Dybul, who was U.S. AIDS coordinator in the Bush administration.

"Ending the epidemic is not eradicating HIV - that will come when science produces a cure and vaccine," Dybul said. "Ending the epidemic means driving new infections down to very low levels that are even lower than ever-decreasing deaths as we achieve an AIDS-free generation."

Diane Havlir, U.S. co-chairman of the AIDS conference and a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said: "Our big idea, which many didn't think was on the horizon five years ago, is that we can start to end AIDS. To some, this may seem impossible. I hope they are wrong, but what I do know is that if we do not try, there will be millions of new infections - lives will be changed forever. The death toll will continue to climb above 30 million.

"My message to policymakers around the world watching us here in D.C. is this: Invest in science, invest in the epidemic. You will save lives."

The global pandemic has killed 30 million worldwide over three decades, including 600,000 Americans. At this week's conference, attendees expect to hear of new breakthroughs in research and new efforts by governments and organizations to reduce the spread of HIV and treat those who have it.

Lydie Marc, an HIV health educator from Atlanta, said the intensity of the conference is what makes it appealing. "I'm really excited," she said, clutching her thick program of sessions. "Looking at this big book, I expect there's going to be a lot going on."

The week will be packed with symposiums, workshops, specialized committees and youth programs. Speakers include Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, philanthropist Bill Gates, and former President Bill Clinton.

For Joy Crawford from Jamaica, director of programs and training at Eve for Life, a group that supports women and children living with the human immunodeficiency virus, the conference is a chance to network, stay informed about trends and share best practices. She's attended three international AIDS conferences, but this time, she's brought young teen mothers and plans to screen a film about a program for young HIV-positive and HIV-negative teens and their families.

Crawford hopes the conference will make a difference, especially given that it's in a First World country this time.

"At the end of it all, I hope we would be able to have gotten value for money," she said. "So often we have the conferences and at the end of the day there's no real serious impact in regionals and at the community level. I'm hoping that we can see in the next two years some real serious monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the conference at the community level."

For Jaime Ruiz-Perez, director of program services at the Sharing Community in Yonkers, N.Y., who attended the conference the last time it was in the United States, this is a chance to hear from the global community and to glean success stories and challenges about HIV and AIDS.

He said much has changed since the last time he was at the International AIDS Conference.

"Eighteen years ago, it was more an advocacy type of message - more of a continued struggle with government to actually accept these interventions and accept these services," Ruiz-Perez said. "It was more of a rally-type of feeling than now. Now it's more like 'what can we do better.' "

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/22/2907553/world-aids-conference-begins-in.html

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No need to file income tax returns if ? | Strategic Growth- Managing ...

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No Tax Return

31st July is approaching soon and millions of tax payers are worried about filing income tax returns. However this year not everyone has to go through tax filing procedure.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has exempted salaried employees from the requirement of filing the returns for assessment year 2012-13. The exemption from filing I-T returns is applicable only if ?the total income of the employee does not exceed Rs 5 lakh and all following conditions are fulfilled.

1. The employee has earned only salary income and income from savings bank account and the annual interest earned from savings bank account is less than Rs 10,000.

2. The total Income of the employee does not exceed Rs 500,000 (total income means gross total income minus deductions under Chapter VIA).

3. The employee has reported his PAN to the employer.

4. The employee has reported his income from interest on savings bank account to employer.

5. The employee has received Form 16 from his employer.

6. Total tax liability of the employee has been paid off by the employer by way of TDS and the employer has deposited the TDS with Central government.

7. The employee has no refund claim.

8. The employee has received salary only from one employer.

9. The employee has not received any notice from the Income Tax Department for filing of

Earlier, it was obligatory for all salaried persons to file income tax returns under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Tax payer has to worry less as this year income tax department had made special arrangement,? As per tax department officers special counters will? be set up in Delhi and ?Tax Kiosks? in various parts of Mumbai to assist people in filing income tax returns.

The Mumbai Income Tax Department will set up ?Tax Kiosks?, manned by Tax Return Preparers, at various locations in city to assist individual and HUF taxpayers in preparation and filing of the returns. Prescribed fees of Rs.250/- per return shall be payable by the taxpayers to such TRPs.

?NOTIFICATION?NO. 9/2012 [F. NO.225/283/2011-ITA(II)], DATED 17-2-2012 can found on

http://law.incometaxindia.gov.in/DIT/Notifications.aspx

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Source: http://strategic-growth.in/finance/index.php/no-need-to-file-income-tax-returns-if/

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How to Get the Most From Social Security | Top iPad Finance Apps ...

You really can hit the ?pause? button on your Social Security retirement benefits?and if you do, it will increase their value later.

Weekend Investor mentioned the ?file and suspend? strategy in a recent cover story about new services that financial planners are starting to provide for their clients, including Social Security counseling. (For more, see, ?Your Adviser Does What For You?!? from July 14.)

Growing numbers of financial planners are helping clients figure out the most advantageous time to begin collecting Social Security. There are many considerations, including the tax impact, whether one spouse already has started collecting, income from ongoing work and income from tax-deferred accounts such as a 401(k) or an individual retirement account.

In general, if you expect much of your income to come from tax-deferred savings, you might be better off using those assets first and delaying your Social Security benefits until later, according to research by James Mahaney, a retirement specialist at Prudential Financial

. (The report, ?Rethinking Social Security Claiming in a 401(k) World,? is at pensionresearchcouncil.org. Click on ?Working Papers? and 2007.)

Still, sorting through the choices can leave retirees feeling overwhelmed. Financial advisers and websites are stepping in to help.

Matthew Curfman, a certified financial planner in Jackson, Mich., this year started using a program, Social Security Timing (socialsecuritytiming.com), to help married couples crunch hundreds of timing combinations for taking retirement benefits. The program is geared mainly for financial advisers, because creator Joe Elsasser, a certified financial planner in Omaha, Neb., says there are ?taxes and too many other things going on in people?s lives? to look at Social Security in a vacuum.

Other low-cost or free tools online include Social Security Solutions (socialsecuritysolutions.com), Social Security Choices (socialsecuritychoices.com), analyzenow.com (click on ?Computer Programs? to get to the Social Security planner), and AARP?s calculator (aarp.org/work/social-security).

Most programs calculate the total benefit amount across your life expectancy, or, alternatively, the ?break-even? age after which you would wind up getting more benefits by delaying your payments until Social Security?s ?full-retirement age? or age 70. Full retirement age is when you get 100% of your benefit. It is 66, for example, for people born from 1943 through 1954. You can look it up at ssa.gov/pubs/ageincrease.htm.

At least one program, MaximizeMySocialSecurity (maximizemysocialsecurity.com), focuses on how to get the highest payments up to age 100, rather than until life expectancy.

One strategy that married couples increasingly are stumbling upon is file and suspend. Mr. Curfman?s clients, Bruce and Sharon Huntzinger, are a textbook example: Mr. Huntzinger, a 65-year-old retired electrical engineer, started collecting Social Security three years ago. His wife, Sharon, also 65 and a retired teacher, hasn?t started drawing yet.

They can increase their returns, if they live to their 90s like their parents, by having her file for a spousal benefit at age 66, and then file for her own full benefit at age 70. Meanwhile, Mr. Huntzinger will suspend his benefit at age 66 and restart it at 70.

After reading about their experience in last week?s article, one reader questioned whether it is possible to attempt such a do-over after the first year of collecting benefits has passed; others asked for more details about it.

The short answer: Yes, it is possible. You can choose to suspend your benefits once you reach your full retirement age and still claim what are called delayed retirement credits, meaning you can increase your payments beyond your full retirement benefit, up to age 70. For more information on how to proceed, go to ssa.gov/retire2/suspend.htm.

This strategy is different from withdrawing a Social Security claim. If you change your mind within 12 months of starting your benefits, you might be able to withdraw your application. You have to repay all the benefits you received for Social Security to approve your withdrawal request. After you have been collecting Social Security for 12 months, withdrawing is no longer an option?but you can suspend payments once you reach full retirement age, and up until age 70.

Suspending your benefits comes at no cost, other than having to make do without a monthly check you probably got used to receiving. That is why it might make sense for married couples to have the other spouse file for a spousal benefit at the same time.

Delaying benefits until later can boost them significantly?by 8% for each full year you wait. If you were born between 1943 and 1954 and you delay your benefit until age 70, your payments could be 32% greater than what you would have gotten at age 66.

A higher-earning husband who delays benefits until age 70 could also help his wife, if he dies first, by increasing the value of her survivor benefit down the road.

?Email: familyvalue@wsj.com

WSJ.com: Markets

Source: http://topipadfinanceapps.com/how-to-get-the-most-from-social-security/

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Source: http://frutcheyedwina9.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/how-to-get-the-most-from-social-security-top-ipad-finance-apps.html

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1356 KINGSTON ST, Coquitlam - House/Single Family V963325

View more homes for sale in Coquitlam - Click here

  • Street Address: - 1356 KINGSTON Street
  • Area/City: Coquitlam
  • Community: Burke Mountain
  • Postal Code: V3E 0H4
  • MLS? V963325
  • Property Type: House/Single Family
  • Property Style: "2 Storey w/Bsmt."
  • Taxes: $0.0/2012
  • Approx Year Built: 2012
  • Bedrooms: 4
  • Bathrooms: 3
  • Total Floor Area (sqft): 4341
  • Lot Size (sqft): 7509.000
  • Frontage (feet): 14.101
  • Depth (feet):
  • Title to Land: Freehold NonStrata
  • Name of Complex: KINGSTON
  • Listing provided by: Mstar Realty Ltd.
  • Board: Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

HST INCLUDED! Situated atop the choicest site on Burke Mountain, The EMERALD home at KINGSTON is a combination of luxury, comfort & wow! Upon entering you are greeted by the sophisticated foyer & the elegant den. The kitchen is made for serious cooking & entertaining w/our biggest ever Granite Island while the Dining room is surrounded by oversized windows & French doors that lead you to your huge & private Backyard. Upstairs features 4 Bedrooms, including the vaulted Master Retreat with His & Hers WI closets, vaulted show-stopper Ensuite w/stand-alone tub & a covered Romeo & Juliet Balcony w/French doors & Greenbelt views. Ask about our custom options: Butler's Kitchen, Extra Ensuite & Deluxe or Legal suite Basement finishes.

"Central Location","Recreation Nearby","Shopping Nearby"


Don't hesitate to call for any additional information:
Joe Manhas 604-720-0438 or Rimpy Hothi 604-725-0017

Map/Street View
1356 KINGSTON Street, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada

Disclaimer: The data relating to real estate on this web site comes in part from the MLS Reciprocity program of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Real estate listings held by participating real estate firms are marked with the MLSR logo and detailed information about the listing includes the name of the listing agent. This representation is based in whole or part on data generated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver which assumes no responsibility for its accuracy. The materials contained on this page may not be reproduced without the express written consent of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

Still have questions? Do not hesitate to call for any additional information:
Joe Manhas 604-720-0438 or Rimpy Hothi 604-725-0017

Source: http://bchomez.com/1356-kingston-st-coquitlam-housesingle-family-v963325/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=1356-kingston-st-coquitlam-housesingle-family-v963325

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Financial Asset Management Systems Inc ? Debt Management ...

Financial Asset Management Systems Inc is not only concerned about the financial health of its customers but it also takes initiatives to ensure that the objective is attained in the best possible way. This is perhaps the reason why Financial Asset Management Systems Inc ensures that it takes care of client receivables collection. When it comes to the question of managing the finances, there is no other firm better than Financial Asset Management Systems Inc. These people are not just seasoned professionals but they are also very honest with their intentions and dedicated with their efforts.

Financial Asset Management Systems Inc has very good knowledge in dealing with debts and that very clearly reflects in the work that it has rendered with respect to its borrowers and lenders in the past. The firm has also witnessed and analyzed situations that have involved equities getting blown out by organizations and individuals out of proportion. In other words, Financial Asset Management Systems Inc helps customers manage its debts and also ensures that they are educated about the same so that managing future debts do not become a problem.

Financial Asset Management Systems Inc looks at each and every customer in isolation and does not have a standard approach towards interacting with its clients. This is perhaps the reason why the quality of results that Financial Asset Management Systems Inc achieves with its clients or customers is the most satisfying and comprehensive.

If one goes by statistics, one would find out that 13 percent of the total population of America still does not have relationships with banks of any kind. The statistics does not involve kids or people who are not eligible to open a bank account. It usually comprises of widows, minorities, immigrants, divorcees, etc. Financial Asset Management Systems Inc believes that there are several different ways through which an individual can get connected with banks.

Checking account is one of the ways through which an individual can build a relationship with a financial institution. This is a more economical option for any individual, when compared to cash checks and money orders. There are several benefits to checking accounts and the check-holders are also eligible for several incentives.

With an account, the account holder would get a debit or credit card. This negates the need to carry hefty amounts of cash, which is an insecure and dangerous way of handling funds. Along with these benefits, an individual would also expose himself to several other financial tools and products through his association with a bank.

-->

Comments

Source: http://www.monsterhouse-lefilm.com/financial-asset-management-systems-inc-debt-management/

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On writing and being read: Jared Wilson on Fifty Shades? ? Shored ...

?When?I?use a word,? Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ?it means just what I choose it to mean ? neither more nor less.?

?The question is,? said Alice, ?whether you?can?make words mean so many different things.?

?The question is,? said Humpty Dumpty, ?which is to be master ? that?s all.? (Lewis Carroll,?Alice Through the Looking Glass, ch. 6)

A rather ugly storm in the blogosphere has broken out over the last couple of days over a recent post on the Gospel Coalition website. I don?t want to adjudicate who is right and who is wrong (like anyone involved might listen to me?), so much as to reflect on the misunderstanding ? and the anger ? to understand a bit more about what we do when we blog, or write in other contexts, and what our proper ethical responsibilities might be when addressing a sensitive subject.

The post, by Jared Wilson, was an attempt to account for the popularity of E.L. James?s?Shades of Grey?trilogy. This is a worthwhile aim: we understand our culture better by understanding those parts of it that become popular, and so understanding why a piece of ? by all accounts ? very poorly written pornography has suddenly achieved enormous mainstream success is an relevant task for the church. Jared Wilson quoted several paragraphs from a book by Doug Wilson which applied the ?complementarian? understanding of gender relations to the act of intercourse in the context of marriage; Jared Wilson then suggested that this was God?s intention for human sexuality, and that male rape fantasies and female submission fantasies ? such as those reflected in?Shades of Grey ? arose because of our cultural refusal to practice proper male headship/female submission. Our culture?s embracing of gender equality leads directly to the popularity of the books.

Now, I I have not read the book quoted, or ? to the best of my recollection ? anything else Doug Wilson has written, but,?insofar as I can understand it from the post and the ensuing discussion, I do not find his?account of the marriage relationship to be convincing when tested against Scripture. Even if it is granted for the sake of argument, Jared Wilson?s analysis of?50 Shades?at least needs a great deal of expansion to be plausible (he accepts without comment Freud?s bombastic claims about the universality of rape fantasies, which have surely been comprehensively demolished by the last century of psychological work in this area; I can begin to imagine how an attempt might be made to extend the argument to reflect such data, but that attempt is wholly absent from the post?)

Disagreement with the claims made does not make a blog post offensive, inappropriate, or otherwise worthy of the opprobrium heaped on this one, however. After all, only by disagreeing, and teasing out our disagreements, can we hope to make progress in understanding. Yes, I find the casual assumption that Freud?s bizarre theories of a century ago are right very difficult ? particularly coming from a site that professes a commitment to Biblical authority ? and I confess to serious concern over the apparent lack of any awareness of the extensive work that has been done in understanding the real causes of rape and domestic abuse that has been done since then (which would point in very different directions to those proposed in the post). All this, however, is a cause for engagement and (hopefully) mutual edification, not for a call for removal.

So is there any reason to regret the fact that the post was published? Yes ? because the post contains language which?will inevitably be heard by some as promoting or justifying domestic abuse, and we have an extremely serious pastoral responsibility not to use such language. This has been repeatedly pointed out, but both Jared Wilson and Doug Wilson have attempted to defend the language used. The defence is summed up in a second post by Jared Wilson, and seems to consist of two, rather contradictory, lines ? one of which has some validity as an argument, but does not lead to the conclusion pressed.

The first line can be summed up in a quotation from a comment by Doug Wilson, quoted in Jared Wilson?s second post:

Anyone who believes that my writing disrespects women either has not read enough of my writing on the subject to say anything whatever about it or, if they still have that view after reading enough pages, they really need to retake their ESL class.

The defence here is that the offending language is being read out of context, and so misunderstood. As I say, I have certainly not read enough of Doug Wilson?s writing to judge, but the claim has at least?prima facie plausibility: any of us who write have been quoted out of context from time to time, in ways that obscured or subverted our intended meaning. But when it has happened to me I have never seen my role as defending the one who quoted me so badly as to obscure my meaning; rather I have been anxious to correct the misapprehension. So if the defence is really that, on reflection, the quoted paragraphs give a misleading impression of what Doug Wilson wants to say, I am prepared to accept it (if only on trust until I should happen to read his book) ? but then the post should be taken down, or edited to give a better account of his meaning, as an act of courtesy to him and of service to the blog?s readers.

The second defence is that the critics are wilfully misunderstanding the words. Jared Wilson writes:

The phrase that most critics seemed to hone in on was this one:

A man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants. A woman receives, surrenders, accepts.

Unable to connect these descriptions to ?serve and protect? or the surrounding context against force/manipulation/kink, many decontextualized them and maintained it doesn?t matter what was meant, only what was said, and therefore what was thought to be said was assumed to be meant.

I am not prepared to accept that defence. At root this is for a boring logical reason: it appears to assume the existence of a dichotomy, which dichotomy is false. This bit of dry logic is, however, of enormous importance: trivially, in any piece of writing?both??what was said??and??what was meant? matter; when subjects as painful and sensitive as rape and domestic abuse are being referenced, then ?what is said? matters at least as much as ?what is meant?. The reader may ? perhaps, in cases of importance or sensitivity, should ? criticise the piece along the lines of ?whatever was meant, the words used were sufficiently ill-chosen (or sufficiently removed from context) that they either were actively misleading, or were susceptible to being badly misunderstood.?

Now, this is no doubt true of a great many pieces of writing/speaking. But there are certain responsibilities we have concerning protecting meaning, because of the serious consequences of any potential misunderstanding. Safety instructions for using a dangerous machine, for example, must be extremely resistant to misunderstanding. Accounts of the core claims and benefits of Christ offered to those who are, by the gracious work of the Spirit, ready to hear the gospel must not only be true, but must be sufficiently transparently true that we can be confident a supposedly-Christian life is not built on foundations of sand. The same is true in the case of discussion of the causes of domestic violence. If we presume to refer to rape and/or domestic abuse, we have an overwhelming moral responsibility to frame our thoughts in ways that not only do not encourage or condone rape/abuse but also could never be misunderstood in such a way that someone might infer that we are encouraging/condoning rape and/or abuse.?So my comment above: ?the post contains language which?will inevitably be heard by some?as promoting or justifying domestic abuse, and we have a pastoral responsibility not to use such language.?

?Inevitably? here might seem strong; I simply note that anyone with any significant pastoral experience will know both that domestic abuse ? including marital rape ? is endemic in our churches, and that Biblical/theological language of male authority and female submission is routinely misused by male perpetrators to justify the abuse, and by women living with abuse to try to minimise the reality of what they are experiencing. For someone who lacks pastoral experience, the stories are not difficult to find and to read. Given these pastoral realities, if we presume to comment on these subjects in public, we have an overwhelming ethical and pastoral duty to choose language carefully, so that we cannot be misheard or misinterpreted.

An analogous example comes to mind from my own experience: ten or so years ago, I was part of a writing group for a Christian charity; we met in the present home of a religious community in London; we were told of the history of the community, which stretched back over nine centuries (!) and included several noble examples of its being a place of refuge for Jewish people in the face of medieval antisemitic riots or laws. As a result of all this, it was explained to us, there were various quirky traditions in the life of the community which we were respectfully asked to conform to; one of these was that the leader of the community was to be referred to at all times as ?Master?.

I was sitting next to a Black woman who, it is fair to say, exploded spectacularly at this point. She was an academic, with much interest in Black history. She was not about to be told to call any white man ?master?!

She was, of course, right. This title in this context in fact had nothing to do with the history of transatlantic slavery, but that is completely beside the point: you cannot ask a Black person to call a white person ?master? without the weight of that history surrounding and overwhelming the request, and all the community story, all the explanation, all the tradition, and even all the proud record of standing against antisemitic forms of racism, could not change that.

Maybe it is possible, by contrast, to talk about female submission and rape in the same sentence without giving any sort of ammunition to those who would seek to justify rape ? I confess that it is not a sentence I would want to try to write ? but at the very least, the ? pastoral, ethical, Christian ? need to be acutely conscious of excluding any remote possibility of being misheard is extraordinarily strong.

Of course, all of us writers fail ? I failed in a related area a few weeks ago on this very blog, using a phrase to describe male-on-male sexual violence which I had thought was the standard term in academic literature but which, it was pointed out to me, in fact carried a set of extremely unhelpful connotations. I apologised in the comments section, and edited the blog post. It was not the first apology I?ve made here, and I?ve had cause to make at least one other since. I have published thirteen books, and probably about a hundred articles or other shorter pieces; I do not know how many sermons I?ve preached, or lectures I?ve given ? well into the thousands, certainly. I know that there is not one of those books which I wouldn?t change in some way or another this afternoon if I could, and, if I could remember them all, I suppose the same would be true of the shorter pieces, and of the sermons and lectures. We all fail when we write, but there are some ways of failure that are potentially sufficiently damaging that we need to put our hands up and acknowledge that something that, although never intended by us, is nonetheless utterly horrific could be read into our words, and so it is better that our words be withdrawn or amended than allowed to stand.

When we presume to write (or speak) what people understand by our words becomes our responsibility, at least to some extent. Of course, some people can read us wrong ? but most people will not (or else we are such bad writers that we should put away the keyboard). The first time I am challenged with a misinterpretation of something I have written, I tend to say ?I didn?t say that!?; the second, I might say, ?but that?s not what I meant??; come the third, I am likely to say ?can I buy you a drink, and ask you to tell me in detail why you thought that is what I was saying?? If enough people have misunderstood me, the fault is mine, not theirs.

Lewis Carroll put another false dichotomy into Humpty Dumpty?s mouth ? as he well knew. Words are not either simply our servants or purely our masters; rather, when we send them on their way, they have a personality and a life of their own, which as writers we do our best to rein in, to conform them to our intentions. Carroll could make words dance to his command better than almost anyone else; for a lesser craftsman like me, or most writers, we need to be constantly vigilant of the unruly servants that we let loose on the world.

Source: http://shoredfragments.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/on-writing-and-being-rea/

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Indian Hills mom's breast cancer battle serves as rallying point for ...

Melissa Anthony, front and center in the pink and white head scarf, will Indian Hills swimmers at the club?s June 23 swimathon.

The camaraderie that propelled Indian Hills Country Club swimmers last week to take their second Country Club Swim Association of Kansas City championship title in a row was forged in part by the swimmers rallying around an Indian Hills parent battling a deadly disease.

Melissa Anthony, one of the club?s 2012 swim chairs, was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2011, forcing her to have a double mastectomy early this year. Unfortunately, the disease was all too familiar to the Indian Hills community. Kristen Christian, who had been instrumental in organizing the 2011 CCSAKC meet at the club in 2011, had fought the disease as well.

So in late June, the team put on a ?swimathon? to raise money for the local Susan B. Komen chapter. More than 25 swimmers got pledges from family and friends to swim laps at the Indian Hills pool one Saturday morning, raising more than $11,000 to fight breast cancer.

Anthony says the event marked something of a turning point for the swimmers, who rallied around the cause, bringing them closer together.

?I think we?re a very caring community, and this was something that everyone really rallied around,? Anthony said. ?It gave everyone something to build a sense of team around.?

But, she says, the group is very happy not to have anyone to rally around anymore. Anthony was declared cancer free after six rounds of chemo therapy this spring, though she?s currently undergoing radiation.

?We had an Indian Hills Swim Team-themed head scarf that Kristen handed down to me this year,? Anthony said. ?She wore it when she was going through chemo. And I wore it when I was going through chemo. We keep saying that we?re very happy to retire it.?

Indian Hills swimmers hoisted the CCSAKC trophy in Kansas City Country Club?s pool last week.

Source: http://pvpost.com/2012/07/20/indian-hills-moms-breast-cancer-battle-serves-as-rallying-point-for-swim-team-11055

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