Author: Serkadis

One Purple Heart Recipient/OEF Veteran’s view:

And a POV for those that would prefer a Marine to a Soldier. (H/T: JSP)

There’s a really interesting article posted on BBC News comparing the UK and US on this issue. The UK changed their policy and allowed gays to serve openly in the military 10 years ago. (This wasn’t exactly thier choice though, the decision was “forced on the UK government by the European Court of Human Rights.”) At the time, civilian support for gays serving openly was much higher than support in the Armed Services. “Large-scale resignations from the UK armed forces were widely expected in some quarters, when the ban on gays was lifted – but in practice they did not materialise[sic].”

Polls among military members currently serving in the US reflect the same sentiment –with about 10% saying they’ll resign if DADT is repealed. And even if they haven’t pledged to resign, a majority (59%) of military members are against repealing DADT while an overwhelming number (69%) of civilians are in favor of the repeal. Even “Support among “conservatives” had jumped 12% over the same period, from 46% to 58%.” (source)

The successes of British units serving in both OIF and OEF is said to disprove the assertions that gay troops would lead to the breakdown of cohesion and discipline.

As I have said in the past, (though I cringe when I read of returning heroes and Purple Heart recipients being relived of duty because a FB or MySpace page outs them…) I feel that as a civilian I have no place making judgments or recommendations. I have never served and have never been in a war zone. This is a military issue to be battled within the military IMO.

…Though, I am interested in what you active duty and veterans think about the “case study” of the UK…?

Sophia Khawly could have spent last weekend celebrating. After all, the Florida State University junior had just received a statewide honor, a 2009 Excellence in Service Award.

But Khawly was much more focused on seeing family members who had been in Haiti during the earthquake…

“Both of my parents were born in Haiti,” Khawly said, “so I have a lot of family that lives there.”

Florida Campus Compact last week recognized Khawly and two other Florida students as 2009 Excellence in Service Award winners.

»Read the full article in the Tallahassee Democrat.

Areview.co.cc: Radnici kompanije Fijat su širom Italije stupili u četvoročasovni štrajk, protestujući zbog plana da se sledeće godine prekine proizvodnja u fabrici na Siciliji. Uprava Fijata tvrdi da fabrika mora biti zatvorena jer prevoz delova sa severa Italije do Sicilije košta 1.000 evra po automobilu. Fijat je saopštio da će razmotriti mogućnost da fabrika na Siciliji ubuduće pravi komponente, ali da proizvodnja automobila mora stati. U Italiji Fijat ima 80.000 radnika, javlja AP. Autor : Fonet Posted by: Mfarhanonline

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China’s booming economy can’t keep up with its demographic crisis, as millions of new college graduates are unable to find good jobs.

Graduates live by the thousands in “intellectual slums” on the outskirts of Beijing, according to France 24.

Many residents are stuck in the slums, burdened with heavy student loans and a saturated job market.

A series of photos posted on a Chinese message board chronicle the life of young graduates in the Tangjialing slum. The post, La solitude do DanDan, includes a depressing narrative by the author.

In the long run, a more educated population will do wonders for the Chinese economy. But in the meantime, this should serve as a strong reminder of how much wealthier our society remains (for now).

See The Miserable Cramped Slums Of Beijing Graduates >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• It’s Official, Asian-American Students Work Way Harder To Become More Educated Than Everyone Else
• College Is Probably Just A Huge Waste Of Money Right Now

A good friend of mine recently went to a traditional Chinese wedding, and as she excitedly rattled off the list of “do nots” she’s been told (such as don’t: wear white, give a picture frame, give anything with a 4 in it, give a clock…and DO give cash -in sums with 8 or 9-in a red envelope)…I started thinking about all the “unwritten rules” out there.

Like, haggling a Craig’s List price. Apparently, if you want to negotiate a price on Craig’s List you need to do it via the phone or email BEFORE you go to the person’s house. It’s considered gauche to do so once you’re there.

And I don’t know if I believe this one, but I was recently told that a second date from one of the match sites implies there will be copulation. Wow, good thing I’m not single…I value myself a little more than two Jack Daniel’s steaks at TGIF…

List more…I want to make sure I’m not committing social faux pas everywhere!

Volkswagen, currently the world’s third biggest carmaker has set itself the target to increase its sales by almost 60 percent and improve profit margins by 2018, with the final goal of taking the world’s No. 1 car producer title from Toyota, as Reuters reports.

Europe’s biggest car producer plans to increase its sales to around 8 million units in the medium term, with the figure exceeding the 10 million mark by 2018. Last year, the carmaker sold 6.3 million vehicles, a 1.1 year-to-year increa… (read more)

We’ve been hearing for some time now that Scion vehicles will get the application of hybrid technology in the near future – well, don’t hold your breath. According to Jack Hollis, vice president of Scion, owners of the brand seem to be content with their sub $20,000 form of transportation.

While hybrids would seem to be a natural fit for Scion, the technology would make the vehicles too expensive for the brand’s young buyers, says Hollis.

“We really still feel (hybrids) fit into the Toyota lineup better than the Scion lineup, from a pricing structure,” Hollis told WardsAuto.

He said that Scion aims to keep its prices below $20,000 and dismissed the notion of the recently unveiled FT-Ch hybrid concept could become a Scion.

“I don’t know what they’re working on (for) the pricing of that,” Hollis says. “We just know it fits into that Prius family. Scion would want to have a totally differentiating hybrid, and we don’t have that ready yet.”

– By: Kap Shah

Source: WardsAuto

The Bridgewater State College campus community will gather from 1 to 8 p.m. Wednesday to raise funds for Haiti relief.…In the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake that struck the island, more than a dozen student groups, along with academic departments and campus offices, have come together to plan the HOPE.HELP.HAITI program.

»Read the full article in The Standard-Times.

Miggy’s Emergency Trip to the Hospital!

Around 3:00 a.m., Miggy complained of abdominal pain, so the Biggest Loser staff phoned 911. Shortly after the call, an ambulance arrived and transported her to the hospital. Everyone else was asleep and unaware of the situation until Alison showed up at the house later that morning. Alison explained Miggy’s absence, and she told the Biggest Loser couples that the hospital was running tests and Miggy should be okay.

After the announcement regarding Miggy’s emergency, Alison led the contestants outside where the blue and yellow teams emerged from their limo. Following a short explanation that the eliminated teams would weigh in to see which team would get to return to the competition, Cherita, Victoria, Sunshine and O’Neal headed to the gym expecting to weigh in. Upon their arrival, Bob and Jillian surprised them with the news that they’d get to experience a Last Chance Workout before their weigh-in. Although the Last Chance Workout didn’t compare to the workouts the blue and yellow teams had been doing at home, they were excited and completed their workout before heading to the scales.

Everyone gathered for the blue and yellow team’s weigh-in, but before the two eliminated teams stepped on the scale, Alison informed the contestants that the returning team would have immunity for two weeks. Furthermore, she said the returning team would also be the only one with the elimination vote this week. The Biggest Loser couples didn’t seem to mind the fact that the returning team would be safe for two weeks, but a few of them were a bit concerned when they learned the returning team decided who would go home this week. Some of them felt that because the blue and yellow teams hadn’t been on the ranch long enough to get to know them, they shouldn’t have the elimination vote.

Moment of Truth: Blue vs. Yellow Weigh In

After a month of working out at home and struggling to keep a healthy diet, the blue and yellow teams stepped onto the scales to see which team would get to continue their journey on the Biggest Loser ranch.

Cherita lost 24 pounds, and Victoria lost 39 pounds. The blue team lost a combined total of 63 pounds (9.92 percent) in one month!

Sunshine lost 25 pounds, and O’Neal lost 51 pounds. The yellow team lost a combined total of 76 pounds (11.45 percent) in one month, which meant they’d continue their journey on the ranch.

Cherita and Victoria congratulated Sunshine and O’Neal on their amazing loss, and on their way off the ranch for the second time, they said failure was not an option for them, and they vowed to return home to continue their hard work.

In the Gym

In the gym, Bob had Melissa pushing weights with her legs while he pushed against the weights adding more resistance. Although Melissa pushed through the pain, she continued to yell at Bob for laying on the weights. She stated it would be easier if he weren’t pushing on the weights, but as everyone knows by now, the Biggest Loser doesn’t make the workouts easy for the contestants; therefore, Melissa wasn’t going to be an exception.

After a short break from the leg presses, Bob told Melissa he expected a 2-pound loss from her last week, but when she lost 11 pounds, he told her she earned his respect, and at that point, he committed himself to helping her.

The Biggest Loser couples joined Alison for a Super Bowl Week challenge that involved pushing two large pillars back and forth until they reached 1000. The first team to a thousand won immunity, and the team that finished last received a 2-pound penalty at the weigh-in.

Mike kept a study rhythm throughout the challenge, and his consistency paid off when he pulled ahead of Sam and won immunity. Unfortunately, Ashley and Sherry finished last, so they had to workout harder in the gym to keep the 2-pound penalty from affecting them at the weigh-in.

Miggy’s Appendectomy

Miggy returned to The Biggest Loser ranch with news that she had surgery to remove her appendix. Because of the surgery, Dr. H restricted her exercise to walking. On top of the surgery and exercise restriction, Dr. H told her that during surgery they placed 8 to 9 pounds of salt water in her body. Despite the circumstances, Miggy was determined to work hard and stay on the ranch. In fact, she was so determined that she told Dr. H she’d already walked 13 miles. He was surprised at how far she was able to walk and agreed to let her continue her journey on the ranch.

The Biggest Loser couples returned to the gym for their Last Chance Workout. As usual, Bob and Jillian’s excellent training and encouragement throughout workout paid off, and the exhausted contestants headed to the scales for the results.

On the Scales: Final Weigh In

Before the contestants weighed in, Alison asked Miggy how she had been doing since the surgery, and Miggy told her that she’d walked a grand total of 45 miles this week! Miggy hoped her hard work and determination was enough to keep her on the Biggest Loser ranch another week.

The teams with immunity weighed in first.

• Sunshine lost 5 pounds, and O’Neal lost 5 pounds. The yellow team lost a combined total of 10 pounds (1.7 percent).
• Mike lost 13 pounds (2.85 percent).
• Ashley lost 9 pounds, and Sherry lost 6 pounds. The pink team lost a combined total of 15 pounds, and with their 2-pound penalty, their total percentage of weigh loss was 2.54 percent.
• Melissa lost 5 pounds, and Lance 4 lost pounds. The red team lost a combined total of 9 pounds (1.73 percent).
• Cheryl lost 3 pounds, and Daris lost 12 pounds. The orange team lost a combined total of 15 pounds (3.05 percent).
• Stephanie lost 5 pounds (2.17 percent).
• Sam lost 10 pounds, and Koli lost 6 pounds. The gray team lost a combined total of 16 pounds (2.42 percent).
• Andrea lost 5 pounds, and Darrell lost 8 pounds. The black team lost a combined total of 13 pounds (2.1 percent).
• Miggy lost 5 pounds (2.37 percent).
• John, who needed to lose more than 7 pounds to stay above the yellow line, lost 6 pounds. Because he was the only remaining brown team member, Sunshine and O’Neal didn’t have to decide who to send home, which worked out well for them since they were worried that their decision could’ve earned them a few enemies.

Since leaving the Biggest Loser ranch, John has lost 104 pounds. John plans to be even smaller when he returns for the Biggest Loser Couples season 9 finale.

(By Misti Sandefur for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News (REF3076322B7)

The Biggest Loser Couples Season 9: Emergency Surgery

This is a great sign of just how smoking hot China has become.

Burton Malkiel, the author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, and a huge critic of active portfolio management, is starting a long-only China-focused hedge fund, according to FinAlternatives (via PragCap).

The fact that he’s doing this — apparently in contravention of the gospel he preaches — is a sign of just how big a lure the China moneypot is to everyone

It’s still tiny, with just $30 million, but with a famous name, and a hot country, it should have a good shot at growing.

But anyway, are we to presume that efficient markets don’t apply in China like they do here, and that it’s worth paying high fees for the ability to go long only the Shanghai market?

Don’t miss: The 10 US states that will be murdered when the China bubble pops >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Eugene Fama: If I’m Getting Attacked By Krugman, I Must Be Doing Something Right
• Burton Malkiel: Relax, High-Frequency Trading Is Perfectly Fine
• ROBOTS: They Kick Our Ass At Chess, And Next It’s Trading

Areview Forex:Discover the top ranked Forex Robot World Cup Robots. The cash prize for the top robot developer was $100000. Get these Forex Scalping Cheatsheets FREE. Read.

A cover of R.E.M.’s 1992 classic “Everybody Hurts,” produced by Simon Cowell and re-recorded to help the victims of last month’s natural disaster in Haiti, is set to become Britain’s biggest-selling single in 10 years.

The star-studded track — featuring the vocals of Kylie Minogue, Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, and Susan Boyle, was released on Tuesday, but is expected to go platinum across the pond by the end of the week.

The track will be available Sunday, Feb. 7 via hmv.com, play.com, or amazon.co.uk. Online distributors claimed pre-orders for the new “Everybody Hurts” went into “meltdown” after the song was heard for the first time this week.

“We’re getting record levels of pre-orders for Everybody Hurts. It is well on course to become a million seller, easily the biggest selling single for a decade,” says HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo.

All funds raised will go to Britain’s Helping Haiti Fund.

When McLaren unveiled the new MP4-12C last year, it expressed no interest in offering a race version for the motorsports world. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean you can’t dream up one on your own. That’s exactly what one of our favorite automotive renderings artists, Jon Sibal, did.

Sibal says:

One of my favorite McLaren F1 variant is the McLaren F1 “GTR”. The GTR version was created to satisfy the need for demands for capable cars to run in the GT1 class of the BPR GlobalGT Series…Fast forward to the present times, Gordon Murray have moved on, but McLaren is still at it. In September 2009, McLaren introduced their latest sports car – the 2011 MP4-12C. This car got me wondering what other variants this model might produce. No idea if McLaren will even make them but I thought to just have a go at the MP4-12C in a GTR configuration.

Click here for more news on the McLaren MP4-12C.

Check out videos of the McLaren MP4-12C here.

Refresher: Power for the McLaren MP4-12C comes from a 3.8L V8 twin-turbo engine producing around 600-hp mated to a 7-speed Seamless Shift dual-clutch gearbox (SSG). 0 to 60 mph comes in the low 3 second range with a top seed of more than 200 mph.

2011 McLaren MP4-12C:

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Jon Sibal

The past few years have seen an outpouring of books and reports deploring Americans’ civic ignorance….This is a problem that everyone seems to complain about but no one tries to solve through any coordinated, nationwide effort.

National organizations have recently been formed, including the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Political Engagement Project, and Campus Compact….

»Full article is available with a subscription to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The University of Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns (CSC) is seeking a full-time, two-year postdoctoral research fellow who can begin work in August, 2010.

Overview

Founded in 1983, the Center is an academic institute at Notre Dame that fosters student and faculty engagement in relation to issues of social concern and justice. Each year, approximately 1,000 undergraduate students enroll in over 25 Center-facilitated courses built on community engagement. Students are placed at sites in the local community, across the United States, and internationally. To enhance such efforts across the University, the Center offers course-development grants, research awards, and consultation to faculty and graduate students in each College.

The Center conducts research on the impact of such initiatives on students’ personal, ethical, and professional development.* It is also interested in investigating the impact of such educational efforts in communities that receive Notre Dame students. The Center is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to further this research agenda in higher education.

*http://socialconcerns.nd.edu/faculty/research/research.shtml

Responsibilities

• To strengthen the Center’s capacity to fulfill its research agenda.
• To make use of existing Center data and collect new data assessing the impact of its community-based learning efforts on students and/or in the local community. The fellow’s research will result in the publication of scholarly manuscripts and research articles.
• To offer one course each year that is consistent with the Center’s mission and builds on the Fellow’s area of expertise; for example, a course that helps students learn how to use research skills to assist a community organization, or one that examines the role of higher education in social change.
• To assist the Center with the development and writing of reports and the creation of instruments for the assessment of programs and student learning. The Center is developing university-wide assessment tools for undergraduate research and community-based research, to which the Fellow may contribute.

Requirements

• Strong research skills, quantitative methods preferred
• Record of publication
• Experience/interest in higher education, engaged pedagogies, and/or applied research
• Ph.D. in field consistent with research and teaching at the Center (e.g., anthropology, education, psychology, sociology, statistics). Degrees from interdisciplinary programs welcome.
• Salary: $35,000/year, plus benefits

Review process will begin February 25th and continue until the position is filled. To ensure consideration, please send the following items electronically to Meredith Nelson at cntrres {at} nd(.)edu:

• letter of interest describing experience, goals, and project interests
• curriculum vitae
• sample of work (scholarly publication or professional writing sample); you may also send a relevant course syllabus
• current contact information for three professional references

The University of Notre Dame is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, disability or veteran status. Members of under-represented groups as well as women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

This is a guest post by Joseph Matthews from Art of Approaching, a hands-on guide to picking up any woman.

Has this ever happened to you?

You go out with some buddies for a night on the town, hoping to meet a girl to have some fun with. You head to a bar, get a booth, and order drinks. The place is kickin’, and you and your buddies are having a good time looking at all the pretty girls… except nobody is meeting any them. You want to talk to them, but you feel more comfortable sitting around with your friends talking about how you would like to go home with a girl that night. Instead, you all end up leaving the same way you came in – together.

This is a pretty common occurrence among the lovelorn bachelor. This is a symptom of what I like to call the “comfort zone.”

Basically, everyone has a comfort zone. This is a state of mind where people are surrounded by that which is FAMILIAR. Familiarity breeds complacency, which can keep you from taking the action necessary to achieve your goals, because that action introduces uncertainty into your life – something the comfort zone likes to keep at bay.

So when you want to meet a woman, you need to know how to break out of this comfort zone.

How do you do this?

The answer is self-evident: You must learn to meet women BY YOURSELF!

Friends can be a great asset, but most of the time, going out with friends actually HINDERS your ability to meet women. Not just because of the comfort zone factor, but because other guys who don’t know what they’re doing with girls can actually ruin the interactions you have with them – be it by jealousy or ineptitude. So the best way to counter this is to LEAVE YOUR FRIENDS BEHIND.

But the prospect of going out by oneself can strike fear into the hearts of men. After all, doesn’t going out by yourself signal to everyone that you’re a loser with no friends? Doesn’t it make you look creepy?

The answer to both these questions is:

NO!!!!!

The simple act of going out on your own can shake your comfort zone, because you have no anchors to keep you there. Often your friends will act as an anchor to your comfort zone that keep you from approaching women. And it is easier to break out of this comfort zone without those anchors present. Plus, you don’t have to worry about failing with women and being judged by your friends if they’re not around.

But the most powerful thing about going out by yourself is that it puts your focus on what you are doing. This means that every interaction you have is without distraction, so it is more easily examined and the problems you had are more easily identified. This allows you to spot your sticking points more quickly and correct them.

Not only that, but being out by yourself gives you the freedom of flexibility when it comes to where you’re going and who you talk to. If you’re bored with a place, you can leave and go to another one. If you want to talk to a girl who your friends might poke fun at you for, you can. Not only this, but you’re free to mess up the interactions you have, because chances are, no one there will ever see you again, so you don’t have to worry about what others think of you.

But like all things, knowing what to say will help you to go out by yourself and succeed at increasing your ability to approach. There are many examples of Openers to say in my book The Art of Attraction, but some guys will need to know how to handle the inevitable question “Where are your friends?”

Something I’ve used to great effect is the answer “Oh, they’re around.” This simple dismissive statement not only answers the question, but as far as anyone knows, you’re telling the truth.

But if you want to take it a step further, I’ve even used this as an Opener at times I’ve been out by myself.

The “My Friends Ditched Me” Opener

This works good whenever you’re out somewhere by yourself. Basically, you approach your target or a group, and say:

“Hey guys, you won’t believe this. All week, me and my friends have been planning on going out and having a good time, because we’ve all been busy and we wanted to blow off some steam. So we made plans to go out tonight, right? Well, one by one they call me up and say stuff like “I’m too tired,” or “My girlfriend wants to watch a movie,” and stuff like that. Some friends huh? Bunch of lame-o’s. But I’m thinking there might be something more to this, because last week two of my friends had a knock-down drag out fight over some girl they both like, so the situation is all weird. Do you guys have any friends who got split up by someone they both liked?”

Using this, you set the stage that you’re out by yourself because, well, unlike your friends, YOU’RE not lame! Not only that, you throw in a nice Drama Opener in there to engage the group.

And if you’re still too shy to go out by yourself, then try this little trick:

When you go out with your friends — DITCH THEM. Go off on your own and leave them behind for a while, then meet up with them later. This can be quite an effective method if your friends don’t mind you leaving!

If you don’t know what a Drama Opener is, check it out in my book The Art of Approaching. It’s got TONS of openers and other things to say so that you never have to worry about how you’re going to meet women again. If you’re one of those guys who gets tongue-tied around beautiful girls, or if your mind likes to “blank” out on you, then you definitely need to check out my book right now by clicking below:

Click Here To Download Now

Once you learn the secrets I unleash in my book, you’ll know how to meet any woman, any time, anywhere you may be – whether you’re alone or not!

To your success!

photo credit: Michele Eve

Related posts:

1. How To Get Women To Approach YOU
2. It’s Friday – The Best Time to Pick Up Women
3. Which Puppy is the Best for Meeting Women?

Nice timing, Acacia Research Corporation. The mother of all patent trolls patent acquisition, development and licensing company, which was profiled in depth by BusinessWeek just two days ago, this morning announced that it has been awarded a total of $12.4 million in a patent infringement case against Yahoo.

On May 15th, 2009, a federal court jury decided that Yahoo’s messenger program with IMVironments – which revolves around interactive backgrounds that users can add to IM conversations – infringes US Patent Number 6,205,432, filed by a trio of inventors and published back in 2001.

The patent was described as follows:

An advertisement system and method are provided for inserting into an end user communication message a background reference to an advertisement.

In some embodiments, the background reference causes an advertisement image to be tiled, or watermarked, across an end user screen behind the text of an e-mail message or public posting.

According to today’s statement, Acacia subsidiary Creative Internet Advertising Corporation received a $12.4 million final judgment stemming from its May 2009 trial verdict (PDF) and corresponding $6.6 million damages award in its patent lawsuit.

In addition, the District Court’s judgment awarded a post-verdict ongoing royalty rate of 23% for all of Yahoo’s IMVironments sales.

To learn more about Acacia Research Corporation and its business, I suggest you read up on the company by heading to the BusinessWeek profile.

To give you an idea: Acacia essentially buys patents from inventors and then seeks fees from companies that it says infringe on those patents. It’s in the business of suing companies rather than producing products or services; the company is said to have filed at least 337 patent-related lawsuits since its inception in 1992.

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Greece’s plan to bring budget deficits down to under 3% of GDP by 2012 have received formal approval from the European Commission.

Bloomberg:

“We are endorsing the Greek program; we are giving confidence and supporting the Greek authorities,” EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters in Brussels today. “The implementation of this program is not easy.”

Still, it’s been made clear that the nation’s financial situation will require monthly updates, and that road ahead remains extremely challenging.

It remains to be seen whether the Greek government has the political capital to enact the spending cuts and potential tax hikes necessary to achieve its proposed goals.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Euro Breaks Above $1.40 As Markets Expect Resounding European Approval For Greece’s Budget
• The New European Gas Pipeline That’s Threatening To Whack Putin At The Knees
• Global Market Slump Continues In Europe

Yamaha fans will be glad to hear the manufacturer launched a new range of snowmobiles for winter sports enthusiasts and bikers who put their motorcycles to sleep during the cold season. The 2011 Apex SE and Apex X-TX snowmobiles offer enhanced performance and handling, while introducing a number of world firsts.

Both snowmobiles come equipped with a new generation of the Genesis four-cylinder engine, which delivers improved peak power and torque thanks to Yamaha’s EXUP (Exhaust Ultimate Power… (read more)