Crooked Afghan police create challenges for Marines

Police pad salaries by demanding bribes.

Crooked: : DISHONEST/not straight

a pretty hefty undertaking.

hefty: 1 quite heavy 2 a: marked by bigness, bulk

undertaking: : to take upon oneself : set about : attempt "undertake a task" "undertake to learn to swim"

Mundane.

Embattled Japan PM Calls Elections.
Embattle:1 : to arrange in order of battle : prepare for battle.
embattled: b : characterized by conflict or controversy "an embattled presidency"

Before we can sincerely apologize for the inequities of the past , we must openly acknowledge that we were not always the "beacon of hope and freedom" in our History , as we pretented to be .

Apologies would not be needed if we did not try to sweep and hide all those anti social deeds under the rug over the years and kept quiet about it , pretending to be a “lilly white” and innocent society where the “Christian values” would wash and erase all the misdeed of our ancestors.

If not us, who; if now now, when. by R. Reagen.

NASA Scrubs Endeavour Launch Yet Again.
scrub:3 : CANCEL, ELIMINATE scrubbed the flight because of bad weather

Visas for Foreign Retirees Could Be a Boon.
Boon: 2 : a timely benefit : BLESSING

Republicans have attacked the stimulus package as wasteful and ineffective, and the White House seized on the new figures to buttress its argument that the massive spending bill is having its intended effect.

1 : a projecting structure of masonry or wood for supporting or giving stability to a wall or building

Failing economies shouldn't put pressures on friendships

(Transferred from "Alligator", June 18 2009, for study only)

One of the more ignored side effects of a recession is the toll it takes on friendships. It seems kind of silly to worry about this when, in times of economic hardship, physical worries dramatically outweigh emotional ones. After all, it's easy and probably not wrong to take an attitude of first figuring out if you can make rent this month, then speculating if your BFF charm bracelet is shiny enough.

But it's worth noting, because, at least anecodotally, financial difficulty is one case where friendships can be more likely to accentuate how tough things really are than to provide an escape.

An underwhelming job market means people can't be picky about where they get a job. "Proximity to loved ones," once a reasonable criterion when deciding where to work, is now, at best, sentimentally naive. At worst, it's irresponsible.

And even if you're willing to stand boldly and declare that being close to the ones you love is important enough to stake your career on it, it can be devastating when you realize your loved ones are simply unable to make the same gesture.

Geography is a bitch, and no matter how many promises are made to keep in touch with friends back home, there's always an expectation to start living lives away from each other. It's draining to be someone's perpetual lifeline, and it's unfair to place somebody in that position. The result is a game of emotional chicken that frequently boils down to, "I need you, but not so much that I freak you out."

Intuitively, this should be a boon to new friendships, but that's not always the case. People in the market for new friends are often people who just had to face the harsh realization that not all relationships are permanent and may decide that transient relationships are more trouble than they're worth.

Really, that's the most poisoning thing a recession can do to friendships - the deprioritization of friends can all too easily lead to an attitude of skepticism toward future ones.

This is all a lot direr than it really is of course. Strong relationships can survive most anything, and even if they don't, the ephemerality of a friendship shouldn't diminish its meaning. But the recession acts as a stress test for relationships and as a stark reminder that the strength by how well things go when times are good, but how strongly two people work to protect it when times are bad.

Last week, I visited a friend in Virginia whom I hadn't seen in years. We kept in touch in the interim - phone calls, letters, Christmas gifts, Facebook - but it wasn't until I saw her again did it fully sink in how different we had become.

She drove me back to the airport on my last day in Virginia. We did the goodbye stuff outside the terminal - hugs, I love you's and a kiss - and I told her that it's clear we've become different people, but if she's in, I want to protect our friendship because she's still important to me.

She grinned in a warm, you-totally-rehearsed-that-in-your-head sort of way and said with a smile, "I'm in."

With a major particularly sensitive to economic downturns, I'm faced with a gloomy job outlook - an internship is no guarantee of a job, and a job is no guarantee of a career. Thus, any talk of wisdom gleaned from the recession is usually met with cynicism from me.

I do feel, though, I've learned one thing from the recession: There are so many reasons why friendships fail, and it's our responsibility not to let the stupid shit be among them.

(by Joe Dellosa, who is president of UF's Human Decency Now and an advertising senior.)

accentuate: INTENSIFY "accentuates the feeling of despair"

dire: DISMAL, OPPRESSIVE "dire days"

ephemerality: lasting a very short time

stark: 1 a : rigid in or as if in death b : rigidly conforming (as to a pattern or doctrine) : ABSOLUTE

glean: 2 : to gather information or material bit by bit

cynicism: contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives

(By Merriam-Webster 11th collegiate dictionary)

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and Determination alone are omnipotent.

The solgen Press on has - and always - will solve problems.

Happiness

Happiness is like peeing in your pants, everyone can see it, but only you

can feel the warmth.....

Swepted under the rug.

This loss in SNR is a very serious limitation of MIMO radar, which is often swept under the rug by MIMO radar researchers.