This can be attributed to rising unemployment rate in the country during recession and the increased bonuses provided by the U.S. government, said researchers at RAND Corp., a non-profit think tank.

In Los Angeles County last year, 22 percent of Army recruits were Asian-Americans, which is almost twice their proportion in the population. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the sign-up rate is also spiking. The proportion of newly enlisted soldiers who are Asian- Americans this year is nearly double that of last year, statistics show.

Usually Asian Americans were most unlikely to join the army and those who volunteered to join the army have the lowest rate of any ethnic groups. Asians make up 4 percent of the U.S. population, but only 1 percent of military recruits, statistics show.

For the first time that began to change. California sees a most remarkable increase of Army recruits. Similar increases have been reported from Seattle, New York and other cities.

One of the reasons behind the increase is that most Asian American parents want their children to \”go to college\”, and joining the army is one way to go to college since the U.S. Government will pay the four-year tuition for anyone who has served in the army and will go to college.

The U.S. Army has expanded its college program to pay for anyone to go to any college all across California like University of California Los Angeles, (UCLA), University of California Berkeley, California state universities. Since the government will pay for their four-year tuition so they can get a degree and then pursue their chosen field, that is very attractive.

According to Mark Howell, Chief, Advertising & Public Affairs at US Army, the U.S. Army is not necessarily strengthening its recruitment of Asian Americans but the reason for the event was to educate any misperceptions Asian Americans have about joining the military.

Howell said a lot of people, especially Asian Americans and the Asian Pacific Islander community think that once a person signs up they go to war. But that\’s not the case. The U.S. Army has over 150 jobs available in the medical field, high tech jobs like computers, a lot of different things they can do in the military.

According to the U.S. Census, there are less than 300,000 Asian Americans serving in the U.S. military. Targeting Asian Americans who want their children to receive better education, the U.S. Army provides an alternative path with the U.S. economy in deep recession and the higher tuition has caused a heavy burden for them.

Army officials said the US Army offers education, bonuses and trainings in over 150 job programs and career disciplines. It provides excellent benefits, including salary, health care, retirement pay, childcare, food and housing.

Robert John Burck (C) poses for a picture with tourists on the Times Square in New York City, the United States, June 18, 2008. (Xinhua file photo)

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhuanet) — The famous \”Naked Cowboy\” in New York\’s Times Square threatens to sue a bikini-clad woman who calls herself The Naked Cowgirl of copyright infringement, according to Reuters reports Wednesday.

Robert Burck, a 39-year-old street performer in Times Square, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sandy Kane, who wears a red, white and blue cowboy hat and matching bikini.

Burck\’s manager, Todd Rubenstein, commented on the situation by saying, \”If she\’s going to sell stuff and make money off of it, then, yeah, she\’s going to have to pay.\”

An excerpt from Burck\’s letter to Kane reads, \”Your use of Naked Cowgirl is essentially identical to the Naked Cowboy and is clearly in violation [of the Naked Cowboy trademark].\”

Kane, who is in her 50s, is a former stripper who\’s now a fixture of the city comedy scene. Her real name is Sandra Brodsky. She says she doesn\’t owe Burck anything.

(Agencies)

The proposal before the 88-member commission would allow the three countries limited whaling while imposing a 10-year period of international monitoring.

The proposal would require whaling countries to outfit their whaling ships with satellite monitors, letting international observers track their movements and activities.

?If a country hunts more than its quota, that quota would be lowered in subsequent years.

Environmentalists attending as observers denounced the move to hold closed-door negotiations.

While some commission members opposed sanctioning any whale hunting at all, others might agree to a deal that protect the most endangered species.

Many commission members also wanted international sales of whale meat halted.

Currently, more than 1,000 whales are killed each year, with nearly 2,000 killed in the peak year of 2006, the Pew Environmental Group said.

(Agencies)

?

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer addresses the media at his office in New York, March 10, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhuanet) — Eliot Spitzer, the ex-New York governor who resigned?two years ago?following a prostitution scandal, will co-host a new 8 p.m. show with conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, CNN announced Wednesday.

\”Other cable news channels force-feed viewers one narrow, predictable point of view; in contrast, CNN will be offering a lively roundup of all the best ideas — presented by two of the most intelligent and outspoken figures in the country,\” CNN President Jon Klein said in making the announcement Wednesday.

The new show will replace one hosted by Campbell Brown at 8 p.m. EDT,?and line up?against Bill O\’Reilly at Fox News Channel and Keith Olbermann at MSNBC.

\”We respect all of the other shows out there, but we want to be different — a bit more upbeat, affirmative, funny and also informative,\” Spitzer said of the new show.

Eliot Spitzer?has emerged publicly in the past few months following his resignation in March 2008, slowly becoming a go-to guest at cable news programs.

Earlier this month he was guest host of an afternoon hour on MSNBC for a week.

(Agencies)?

Related:

Woman pleas guilty in Spitzer\’s call-girl ring?

BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhuanet) — Another woman Tuesday pleaded guilty to money-laundering conspiracy and to conspiring to run the prostitution ring in the scandal that brought down former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Cecil Suwal, 23 was claimed as the manager behind the Emperors Club VIP escort service where clients paid up to 5,500 U.S. dollars an hour.Full story

NY governor Spitzer steps down amid call-girl scandal

A combo of Ksristen?(Photo source: Chinanews.com.cn)

NEW YORK, March 12 (Xinhua) — Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York State resigned Wednesday, two days after news broke that he was a repeat client of a high-end prostitution ring.

The resignation becomes effective March 17. His deputy, Lt. Gov. David Paterson, will take over to become the state\’s first black governor. Paterson, who lost most of his sight after an infection at the age of three months, will also be the first legally-blind governor in the United States.Full Story

NY governor apologizes for linking to prostitution ring

SINGAPORE, June 22 (Xinhua) — More Singaporeans are not getting married with the proportion of singles in 2009 significantly higher compared to a decade ago, official data showed on Tuesday.

Among those aged 30-34, the proportion of singles in 2009 (41.9 percent for males and 29.8 percent for females) was significantly higher compared to 1999 (33.2 percent for males and 21.7 percent for females), according to the official Population in Brief 2010 report.

Singlehood rates were the highest among males with below secondary educational qualifications and among females with university qualifications. Citizens who do get married are also doing so at a later age.

Overall, the general marriage rate for citizen males decreased from 53.1 per 1,000 unmarried males in 1999 to 41.5 in 2009, while that for citizen females decreased from 56.0 to 38.2 over the same period.

Proportionately more Singapore citizens are marrying non- citizens. Of all marriages involving citizens, the share of those between citizens and non-citizens increased from 30.7 percent in 1999 to 40.8 percent in 2009. The majority of the non-citizen spouses originated from Asia.?

CANBERRA, June 23 (Xinhua) — Polar bears, guerrillas and ice crevasses will be some of the hazards to the Australian man, Pat Farmer, who is likely to face on the longest run on earth, from the South Pole to the North Pole, Australia\’s media reported on Wednesday.

The ultra-marathon runner and outgoing federal Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for the southwestern Sydney seat of Macarthur, was to attempt the absolutely ultimate marathon to raise 100 million U.S. dollars for water projects in the world\’s neediest regions.

During the 21,000-kilometer epic, which will take more than a year, Farmer expected to wear out more than 20 pairs of running shoes and go through more than 600 pairs of socks.

Starting in Antarctica in November and finishing in the North Pole in early 2012, he will average 30km a day on ice and 80km a day on normal terrain — the equivalent of almost two marathons a day.

Farmer will not have a single day off during the epic journey through 14 countries, including Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

\”I will be the first person to ever run from the south pole to the north pole continuously,\” Farmer told Australian Associated Press on Wednesday.

\”I will be setting a record by doing it and then it will be there for other people to break at a later date.\”

Farmer will be assisted at the beginning of his journey by a specialist Antarctic guide but he will be pulling his own sled through winds of over 100 kilometers per hour, across deep snow crevasses and cracking ice.

He will be airlifted twice, once from the edge of Antarctica to Ushuala in Argentina, the southernmost point in South America, and then from the edge of Canada to the North Pole ice shelf.

The run will be broadcast live via the Internet.

\”If I see a polar bear, they will see it at the same time I do, \” Farmer said.

\”If I fall down a crevasse, they\’ll see that I\’ve fallen down a crevasse.\”

Farmer was inspired to raise awareness about water issues after traveling to countries such as Peru, Nepal, Egypt and Thailand with the International Red Cross.

\”I\’ve seen first hand what the real needs of poverty stricken people are and I keep coming back to the same thing — without water there is no life,\” he said.

Global data showed every 15 seconds a child dies from a disease caused by lack of access to safe drinking water or water for sanitation and hygiene.

\”You can do a certain amount here in parliament in terms of highlighting issues, but I\’m very much a hands-on person,\” Farmer said.

\”If I\’m prepared to hurt for a worthy cause, then surely other people are prepared to get by and support me with it.\”

By inspiring people to donate, Farmer hopes to raise more than 100 million U.S. dollars.

Any family who registers after playing the game will be in the running for a free holiday as Queensland Ambassadors for the Shanghai World Expo in August.

Gamers take control of one of two mascots — either PoPo the panda or KoKo the koala — before button-bashing their mouse pad to make them fly through a range of Brisbane scenes, collecting tokens along the way.

\”The Chinese love technology and are highly competitive so an online game such as this gives them a fun glimpse of Queensland that will hopefully spark the desire for them to visit,\” Lawlor said.

The winning Chinese family will receive five days in Queensland, while the winning Brisbane family will get to visit the Australian Pavilion in Shanghai, meet Chinese locals and experience the culture.

For those who like a challenge, at the end of the competition one winner will be randomly drawn from the top 50 on the competition leaderboard to receive a 1,000 Australian dollars (878 U.S. dollars) holiday voucher to be used for travel anywhere in Queensland.

To play the game visit www.queenslandholidays.com.au/ sunshinexchange.

Besides, there\’s one thing that you definitely can\’t ignore — Vuvuzela, a long plastic horn popular with South African soccer fans. Its loud buzz has sparked a debate about the level of tolerable noise at a sporting event.

Including Vuvuzela, TIME magazine summarized some other sounds that are not music to our ears.

1.Vuvuzela

A soccer fan blows Vuvuzela during World Cup match?(Xinhua/File Photo)

2. Emergency Broadcast System

Children?join a earthquake drill?(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

3. Gilbert Gottfried

File photo of Gilbert Gottfried?(Photo Source: gb.cri.cn)

The stand-up comedian has made his loud, grating voice his trademark, but that doesn\’t make it any less annoying.

4. Nails on a Chalkboard

(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

Have you ever been evoked such a negative response by this annoying sound during class?

5. Car Alarms

A Bentley car?(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

Not only is the sound of a car alarm annoying, but some sensitive alarms are increasingly ineffective.

6. Dial-Up Modem

(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

Before broadband Internet widely used as a household commodity, the dial-up modem reigned supreme. At that time, connecting to the Internet was quite painfully slow. Worst of all, it was annoyingly loud.

7. The Hum

?

(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

This mysterious natural phenomenon occur the world over: there\’s the \”Bristol Hum\” in Great Britain, the \”Bondi Hum\” in Australia and the \”Taos Hum\” in New Mexico. It might infuriate one person, while the man standing next to him hears nothing at all.

Author of \”Harry Potter\” Series

Net worth:?1 billion U.S. dollars

File photo of J.K. Rowling (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

?

Net worth: 5.5 million U.S. dollars

Kids: Two daughters: Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8

U.S. President Barack Obama (L), first lady Michelle Obama wave as they attend the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, April 5, 2010. Their children, Sasha (2nd L) and Malia (C) join them.?(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

2. Eddie Murphy, Hollywood actor

Net worth: 55 million U.S. dollars

Kids: Eight children ranging from 20 to 2-years-old

Eddie Murphy and his kids?(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

3. Johnny Depp, actor

Net worth:?74 million U.S. dollars

Kids: Two children: Lily-Rose, 10, and John, 7.

Johnny Depp and his family (Photo Source: ent.sina.com)

4. Will Smith, actor

Net worth:?80 million U.S. dollars

Kids: Three children: Trey, 14, Jaden, 11, and Willow, 9

Will Smith (R), Jada Pinkett Smith (L), and their son Jaden Smith?(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

5. Michael Jackson, pop iicon

Net worth:?250 million U.S. dollars

Kids: Three children: Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7

Michael Jackson?(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

Paris Jackson (2nd L), Prince Michael Jackson I (R) and Prince Michael Jackson II (aka Blanket)?(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

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