Our correspondent explains why there's less than meets the eye when it comes to being 'naked' in China.
Everywhere you look on the Internet in China these days, somebody is referring to something as ?naked.?
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I have written two stories recently about ?naked? social phenomena ? ?naked marriage? and ?naked resignation.? The articles? headlines attracted a lot of readers; I hope they were not too disappointed to find, when they clicked on them, that the stories had nothing to do with a lack of clothes.
?Naked marriage? refers to couples getting hitched even though the groom brings no apartment or car to the relationship, as is traditional. ?Naked resignation? refers to people quitting their jobs without the security of another one lined up ? once highly unusual but now a growing habit among the urban young.
In new Chinese slang, students can take ?naked exams,? which means they have done no studying, or make a ?naked return? to China after studying abroad, with no specific career plan. Senior officials can go in for ?naked retirement,? which means they really retire, rather than take all sorts of honorary positions or consultancy posts.
The term began appearing on the Internet about five years ago, and it seems to represent a spreading zeitgeist among educated young Chinese, a spirit of the times that encourages the pursuit of freedom and independence.
Naked marriage means shrugging off material burdens; naked resignation implies following your heart; naked retirement means switching to a simpler life without the glory of titles; naked exams suggest self confidence, a ?let it be? approach.
This is new in China, where children are taught to be obedient and respectful of tradition and adults are expected to subordinate their personal interests to group values. If ?going naked? really takes off, it could mean major changes for Chinese society, and Chinese politics.
CARSON, Calif. - Landon Donovan is returning to Everton on a two-month loan.
The Los Angeles Galaxy made the announcement Thursday, giving the Toffees some attacking help as they try to climb the standings after a slow start. Everton is 12th in the English Premier League standings and has just 15 goals in 14 league matches.
"I am delighted that we have managed to get Landon back. He will give us some good experience," Everton manager David Moyes said. "He did well for us when he was over two years ago and hopefully will return with those same qualities. His season has just finished and like last time we need him to hit the ground running because the games come thick and fast at this time of year."
Donovan will be eligible to play starting with the Jan. 4 home match against Bolton and will stay through the Feb. 25 Merseyside derby at Liverpool. He scored two goals in 13 matches during a loan to Everton from last January to March in 2010.
"The opportunity to return to Everton and play for such a well-respected club and a manager that I hold in such high regard was something that was simply too good to pass up," the 29-year-old midfielder and forward said. "I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Everton in 2010 and I'm hopeful that we can experience similar success this time around."
Donovan scored 16 goals in 34 games for the Galaxy this year, including the one that won the MLS Cup final against Houston last month. He is to return to the Galaxy on Feb. 26, ahead of the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal against Toronto.
"This is a great opportunity for Landon," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. "During the final months of the 2011 season he was limited because of an ongoing injury, and he just started to get his legs back during the playoffs. Therefore, I think that this opportunity with Everton comes at a perfect time as he is rested and ready to go."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Broken leg for Villa
David Villa broke his left leg, marring Barcelona's 4-0 victory over Qatar's Al-Sadd on Thursday night that advanced the European champions to the Club World Cup final against Brazil's Santos.
The Duggar Family, grieving from the loss of what would've been their 20th child, not only named the miscarried baby (a girl, Jubilee), they held a memorial service for her and took photos of the corpse, one of which made it onto Twitter.
It's unclear which family member or friend posted it online, but the Duggars weren't trying to keep it private. An artistic picture of the fetus, due in April, was distributed it at the memorial Wednesday. We have not posted it here for obvious reasons.
Michelle Duggar, who has given birth 19 times, and suffered severe medical issues with her youngest, Josie-Brooklyn (now 2), announced the miscarriage last week.
Because it was during the second trimester, the little girl's body was partially formed, and therefore had to be delivered, allowing the family to take photos afterward.
Alongside the image of the fetus, the Duggar family wrote the following message: "There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world."
Say what you will about them, the family marches to the beat of their own drum.
What do you think of the Duggars' way of honoring their unborn baby?
RALEIGH, N.C.?? As Superstars prepare to smash each other using tables, ladders and chairs at WWE TLC on Sunday, they made final efforts to gain valuable momentum for the brutal pay-per-view. Taking the brunt of World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry?s wrath was a hapless WWE cameraman, who was brutally smashed with a steel chair.
Randy Orton & Zack Ryder def. Wade Barrett & United States Champion Dolph Ziggler (WATCH | PHOTOS) Although they are not competing for a championship at WWE TLC, it?s clear that Randy Orton and Wade Barrett are both eager for a victory on the pay-per-view stage. After a back-and-forth tag team battle, it was The Viper who garnered the win for his team by dropping United States Champion Dolph Ziggler with a stinging RKO. As the ref delivered the three-count, Orton locked eyes with Barrett, who slowly backed away from the ring. (WWE TLC TABLES MATCH PREVIEW)
Sheamus def. Jinder Mahal (WATCH | PHOTOS) Despite the ruthlessness Jinder Mahal displayed against Ted DiBiase, Mahal could not stop the hard-charging Great White Sheamus, who downed Mahal with a stunning Brogue Kick.
Ted DiBiase def. Heath Slater (WATCH | PHOTOS) Ted DiBiase had Health Slater singing the blues when he planted him into the canvas for the win. But before the DiBiase Posse Party hero could celebrate, Jinder Mahal charged to the ring and locked him in a Camel Clutch. Taking charge of the situation, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long emerged and declared that Mahal would face Sheamus.?
Mark Henry attacked a WWE cameraman and Jack Swagger (WATCH) Full of rage, The World?s Strongest Man took out his fury on Swagger by blasting him from behind with a steel chair. Not done yet, Henry demolished an unsuspecting WWE cameraman with a vicious shot from behind with a steel chair. The ugly display was eerily reminiscent of when Henry attacked a WWE audio technician earlier this year (FULL STORY).
Big Show def. Jack Swagger (WATCH | PHOTOS) Despite being able to lock the massive Big Show in his painful ankle lock, Jack Swagger could not stop The World?s Largest Athlete. With his devastating WMD, Show dropped the former World Heavyweight Champion for the win. Afterward, Show grabbed Swagger by the neck and tossed him from the ring.
Primo & Epico def. The Usos (WATCH | PHOTOS)? Despite an impressive effort from both teams, it was Primo & Epico who prevailed when Primo capitalized on a distraction from Rosa to pin Jey Uso.
Alicia Fox def. Natalya (WATCH | PHOTOS) Using her superb athleticism, Alicia Fox managed to roll-up Natalya for a commanding win. In the process, Fox ripped out one of Natalya?s blonde hair extensions. After the bout, Fox added insult to injury by attacking the distraught Diva. ?You?re so synthetic, it?s pathetic,? Fox declared.
Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes def. Daniel Bryan (WATCH | PHOTOS) With Booker T banned from interfering in Rhodes? match ? or their TLC match would be off ? the champion got down to business against Daniel Bryan. Looking good for Sunday, Rhodes took Bryan down with Cross Rhodes for the victory.
Booker T vowed to win the Intercontinental Championship (PHOTOS) If there?s any doubt in Booker T?s mind if he?s ready for a return to the ring, he?s certainly not showing it. The veteran Superstar vowed to give Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes the beat down of his life and win the Intercontinental Championship at WWE TLC (PREVIEW). And, "If I win the title, I will defend it," Booker said during commentary.
WASHINGTON ? Congress is putting the spy world on a diet ? trimming back planned growth in staff and high-tech surveillance programs.
Next year's budget doesn't cancel any programs, but it shaves money off big-ticket items like the multi-billion-dollar spy satellites.
A budget bill passed Friday is classified, but it's expected to stay in the same range as last year's -- just under $79 billion. Spy agencies had asked for an increase.
Congress left alone plans for new hires in cybersecurity and counter-terror threat finance.
One change in the new measure: Families of intelligence officers will get the same financial help for burial expenses as those of uniformed military, if agents are killed by terrorists.
WASHINGTON ? Imploring supporters to stick with him, President Barack Obama acknowledged Tuesday that his re-election is "not a slam dunk" ? despite his administration's achievements ? because of understandable public skepticism over the economy.
Addressing donors at a hotel near the White House, the president drew attention to his efforts to heal the economy, save the auto industry, end the Iraq war and overhaul health care.
But he said: "All those things don't mean that much to somebody who's still out of work right now. Or whose house is still underwater by $100,000."
Obama said his campaign will have to fight to take its message to voters. "This is going to be tough," he said.
Obama spoke hours after his top campaign advisers said they are uncertain about which Republican will emerge to challenge him next year but predicted a long GOP primary contest that they say will produce a weaker opponent in 2012.
Democrats have been targeting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as the Republican most likely to challenge Obama but now say former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's surge in the polls has made the GOP contest very unpredictable.
Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said in a briefing in Washington for reporters that he was unsure "what kind of candidate will be in the general election." He said he anticipated a lengthy primary contest that would eventually hurt the party's nominee.
Of the Republican candidates, Axelrod said: "They're being tugged to the right every day. I think they're mortgaging themselves for the general by tacking as far as they are." He said that would make it more difficult for the nominee "to scramble back" to the center and appeal to a broader base of the electorate for the November general election.
Romney and Gingrich remain locked in a close contest in early Republican voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina with less than a month before voters begin assessing the GOP field.
The campaign officials said the president's speech last week in Kansas offered a glimpse of what his message will be next year: His argument that the middle class has faced numerous challenges during the past decade and that the country's economic policies must give everyone a "fair shot and a fair share."
Obama made that case again in his remarks to donors, telling them "we're all in this together."
"That vision can contrast to a vision that basically says you are on your own," he said. "It's what this election was about in 2008; it's what this election is going to be about in 2012."
The campaign officials also claimed an organizational advantage over the GOP. They said they have more staffers on the ground in Iowa than the Republicans and have had about 1 million conversations with supporters and about 90,000 in-person meetings with volunteers since Obama launched his re-election campaign in April.
Obama's campaign outlined several potential paths to victory that would build upon states that Democrat John Kerry won in 2004 and winning in Western states like Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada or holding onto Southern states Obama captured in 2008, such as Virginia and North Carolina.
Obama's session with top campaign donors came ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline for the current fundraising quarter. Obama has raised more than $150 million for his campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the end of September.
Growing income and gender gaps in college graduationPublic release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Diane Swanbrow swanbrow@umich.edu 734-647-4416 University of Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A new study shows that the gap in rates of college completion between students from high-and low-income families has grown significantly in the last 50 years.
"We find growing advantages for students from high-income families," said University of Michigan economist Martha Bailey, who conducted the study with U-M economist Susan Dynarski. "And we also find that increases in educational inequality are largely driven by women."
Bailey and Dynarski analyzed nearly 70 years of data on postsecondary education from the U.S. Census and the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth. Their findings were included as a chapter in the book "Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality and the Uncertain Life Chances of Low-Income Children," published this year by the Russell Sage Foundation. They were also issued this month as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (www.nber.org/papers/w17633).
For their analysis, the researchers compared the educational attainment of those born between 1961 and 1964 (who were college age in the early 1980s) to those born between 1979 and 1982 (who were college age in the early 2000s), by family income at the time children were between fifteen and eighteen years old.
They found that 54 percent of those who went to college in the early 2000s and who were from families in the top income category graduated from college, fully 18 percentage points more than college-age students in the same income group twenty years earlier. In contrast, college completion rates for those in the lowest income group increased only slightly over the same period, from 5 percent to 9 percent.
"Growing inequality in college graduation rates happened during a period when education became increasingly important for subsequent earnings," Dynarski said.
The U-M researchers also found that inequality in educational attainment has risen more sharply among women than among men. For those entering college in the 1980s, the gap between men and women was small: about 2 percent more females in the top income group graduated from college than did males; and about 2 percent fewer females in the lowest income group graduated than did males. But for those entering college in the 2000s, the gender gap widened significantly especially at the top of the income distribution, with 13 percent more women than men in the highest income group graduating from college.
This female advantage in educational attainment is not a new phenomenon, the researchers point out. More women than men graduated from college in all birth cohorts since 1950. But the gap has grown recently, with the overall college graduation rate for women now ten points higher than the rate for men? percent compared to 22 percent.
The recent increase in women's college graduation reflects rapid achievement gains among women from upper-income families who have outperformed their brothers, according to Bailey. Why this is the case is not entirely clear.
Whatever the reasons for the growing gender gap in college graduation, the growing income gap has some clear policy implications, according to the authors.
"Inducing more low-income youth into college will not, by itself, serve to close income gaps in educational attainment," they conclude. "Even if rates of college entry were miraculously equalized across income groups, existing differences in persistence would still produce large gaps in college completion."
###
Bailey is an assistant professor of economics in the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) and a faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). Dynarski is an associate professor at the U-M Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and the U-M School of Education, and also holds appointments in the Department of Economics and ISR.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Growing income and gender gaps in college graduationPublic release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Diane Swanbrow swanbrow@umich.edu 734-647-4416 University of Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A new study shows that the gap in rates of college completion between students from high-and low-income families has grown significantly in the last 50 years.
"We find growing advantages for students from high-income families," said University of Michigan economist Martha Bailey, who conducted the study with U-M economist Susan Dynarski. "And we also find that increases in educational inequality are largely driven by women."
Bailey and Dynarski analyzed nearly 70 years of data on postsecondary education from the U.S. Census and the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth. Their findings were included as a chapter in the book "Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality and the Uncertain Life Chances of Low-Income Children," published this year by the Russell Sage Foundation. They were also issued this month as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (www.nber.org/papers/w17633).
For their analysis, the researchers compared the educational attainment of those born between 1961 and 1964 (who were college age in the early 1980s) to those born between 1979 and 1982 (who were college age in the early 2000s), by family income at the time children were between fifteen and eighteen years old.
They found that 54 percent of those who went to college in the early 2000s and who were from families in the top income category graduated from college, fully 18 percentage points more than college-age students in the same income group twenty years earlier. In contrast, college completion rates for those in the lowest income group increased only slightly over the same period, from 5 percent to 9 percent.
"Growing inequality in college graduation rates happened during a period when education became increasingly important for subsequent earnings," Dynarski said.
The U-M researchers also found that inequality in educational attainment has risen more sharply among women than among men. For those entering college in the 1980s, the gap between men and women was small: about 2 percent more females in the top income group graduated from college than did males; and about 2 percent fewer females in the lowest income group graduated than did males. But for those entering college in the 2000s, the gender gap widened significantly especially at the top of the income distribution, with 13 percent more women than men in the highest income group graduating from college.
This female advantage in educational attainment is not a new phenomenon, the researchers point out. More women than men graduated from college in all birth cohorts since 1950. But the gap has grown recently, with the overall college graduation rate for women now ten points higher than the rate for men? percent compared to 22 percent.
The recent increase in women's college graduation reflects rapid achievement gains among women from upper-income families who have outperformed their brothers, according to Bailey. Why this is the case is not entirely clear.
Whatever the reasons for the growing gender gap in college graduation, the growing income gap has some clear policy implications, according to the authors.
"Inducing more low-income youth into college will not, by itself, serve to close income gaps in educational attainment," they conclude. "Even if rates of college entry were miraculously equalized across income groups, existing differences in persistence would still produce large gaps in college completion."
###
Bailey is an assistant professor of economics in the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) and a faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). Dynarski is an associate professor at the U-M Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and the U-M School of Education, and also holds appointments in the Department of Economics and ISR.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Randy Orton & Zack Ryder def. Wade Barrett & United States Champion Dolph Ziggler (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Big Show def. Jack Swagger (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes def. Daniel Bryan (WATCH | PHOTOS)![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uSGW1-nEoCZ6GnZx-Oyuvem45Sm-8RI9cIz4zW_SPO563z-YXN-SBLBxdP4vOOBGlL3cQZDQS5TyWLAanZ7dd_ZEB-TenvQLkhDzmpNy0=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 6-Dec-2011
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