The U.S. Navy has lowered qualification requirements to enlist as the branch struggles to meet its recruitment goals. The branch will now allow recruits who did not graduate from high school or get a GED. It’s reportedly the second time in roughly a year the Navy has lowered its education standard to meet enlistment marks. The U.S. Navy is starting to enlist individuals who didn’t graduate from high school or get a GED‚ marking the second time in about a year that the service has opened the door to lower-performing recruits. Read more: https://t.co/6g49EE9hO1 — Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) January 27‚ 2024 From the Associated Press: The decision follows a move in December 2022 to bring in a larger number of recruits who score very low on the Armed Services Qualification Test. Both are fairly rare steps that the other military services largely avoid or limit‚ even though they are all finding it increasingly difficult to attract the dwindling number of young people who can meet the military’s physical‚ mental and moral standards. Under the new plan‚ Navy recruits without an education credential will be able to join as long as they score 50 or above on the qualification test‚ which is out of 99. The last time the service took individuals without education credentials was in 2000. “We get thousands of people into our recruiting stations every year that want to join the Navy but do not have an education credential. And we just turn them away‚” said Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman‚ the Navy’s chief of personnel‚ in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. He said that of the more than 2‚400 who were turned away last year‚ as many as 500 of them could score high enough to get in. He said he has already sent an order to his recruiters to start the new expanded effort‚ adding‚ “I’m hoping all my recruiters have called all 2‚442 of them in the last 72 hours‚ and we’ll see how it goes … We’ll try to get some test takers this weekend.” A slippery slope on those decks… US Navy lowers standards again—allows new recruits join who didn't graduate from high school or get a GED. #military #Navy #education https://t.co/HDAunzZKHs — John Nosta (@JohnNosta) January 28‚ 2024 According to USNI News‚ the Navy missed all its recruiting goals in Fiscal Year 2023. Per USNI News: The Navy missed its enlisted sailor goal by 7‚464‚ according to the sea service’s numbers published Tuesday. It aimed to recruit 37‚700 sailors‚ but ended the FY 2023 with 30‚236. The service met its active-duty enlistment goal in Fiscal Year 2022 by a thin margin‚ USNI News previously reported. The sea service fared no better with officers or reserve personnel. It missed the officer goal by 452‚ enlisted reserve goal by 2‚048 and officer reserve by 773. Despite the failure to meet its goals during the last fiscal year‚ the Navy has set higher goals for the FY 2024‚ likely to account for the lower recruiting year. In FY 2024‚ the Navy aims to recruit 40‚600 enlisted sailors‚ 2‚807 active-duty officers‚ 7‚629 enlisted reserve sailors and 1‚785 reserve officers. Although the Navy missed its recruiting goals‚ the service gained 6‚000 more contracted future sailors in FY 2023 than it did in Fiscal Year 2022‚ Lt. Cmdr. Richard Parker told USNI News in an email. The recruitment difficulties aren’t exclusive to the Navy. The U.S. military continues to miss its recruitment goals across numerous branches. Stars And Stripes explains: Last fiscal year‚ which ended Sept. 30‚ the Navy‚ Army and Air Force all failed to meet their recruitment goals‚ while the Marine Corps and the tiny Space Force met their targets. The previous fiscal year‚ the Army fell 15‚000 short of its enlistment goal of 60‚000‚ and the other services had to dig into the pools of delayed entry candidates in order to meet their recruiting numbers. Last year‚ the Navy’s enlistment goal was 37‚700‚ but the service brought in just 31‚834. This year‚ Cheeseman said‚ he set the goal higher — at 40‚600. The total size of the Navy for 2024 is set at 337‚800. “I need these sailors. So it’s a stretch goal. We’re telling our recruiters to go get 40‚600 people to join the Navy‚” he said. “We don’t fully expect to get that many. But we’re going for it.” The other services have largely balked at such changes. The Navy is the only service that enlists anyone considered a “category four” recruit‚ meaning they scored 30 or less on the qualification test. The service expanded the number of those category four recruits arguing that a number of jobs — such as cook or boatswain mate — don’t require an overall high test score‚ as long as they meet the job standards. The Army will only take those lowest scoring candidates into their so-called Future Soldier Prep Course‚ which gives them weeks of instruction and the opportunity to increase their score in order to make the grade and enlist. The Navy allows low-scoring recruits to go through its Future Sailor Prep Course but doesn’t require an increased score to enlist.

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” – Winston Churchill Socialism is a terrific idea in theory. Who would not want everyone in society to have a house with a white picket fence‚ the job of their dreams‚ 2.5 kids and a dog? But plain vanilla socialism has failed every single time it has been implemented — the Soviet Union‚ Cuba‚ Yugoslavia‚ Venezuela — and it turned each of those countries (and others) into a totalitarian state. In a socialist state‚ success is pushed down‚ and failure is elevated. This is how equality of outcome is created. In the Soviet Union’s version of plain vanilla socialism‚ we were taught to hate the wealthy and empathize with the poor. This empathy was easy for us because everyone (with the exception of the tiny ruling-class bureaucrats) was poor. Capitalism does not offer the sexy‚ utopian promise of socialism‚ but it works in practice. Capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty; but it is now under threat‚ ironically‚ from those who have benefited the most from it — academics. Universities  have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the wealth created by capitalism.  As Margaret Thatcher once said‚ “Socialism is a great idea until you run out of other people’s money.” Universities used to be spartan gyms for our minds‚ places where opposing ideas collided and gave birth to new ones and where our thinking got challenged through healthy debate. This growth came with healthy pain‚ the type that accompanies and stimulates intellectual growth. Today‚ many universities have been turned into day spas‚ where‚ for $300‚000‚ a student’s mind will be pampered and coddled. Now they are “safe places” from opposing ideas‚ which are considered as microaggressions. This is where free speech goes to die‚ unless it calls for the genocidal extermination of Jews; then you can speak your mind. It seems today’s college administrations are afraid to upset their spa customers (I mean students). They do not seem to be focused on challenging their thinking and producing the brightest but are instead fixated on making students feel better about themselves. I was not surprised to learn that socialism is slowly poisoning our universities‚ but I was surprised by its new avenue — the socialization of grades. Professors at a local law school are required to grade to a B+. When professors submit their grades‚ if the average is below a B+‚ the system will reject it. The university is afraid of making students feel bad about a low‚ albeit deserved grade and wants every student to have a high grade-point average upon graduation. However‚ what is inflation for one group is deflation for another. This practice punishes hard working students‚ as their work may result in a lower grade than they deserve‚ compared to classmates who are preoccupied with attending “TikTok University” during lectures. Universities are on a quixotic mission to right a wrong — they are fighting against grade inequality. This is what socializing (equalizing) outcomes looks like. In fact‚ this seemingly innocent practice of equally high grades has the familiar ring of a Karl Marx slogan that I heard endlessly in the Soviet Union: “From each according to his abilities‚ to each according to his needs.” Law students need a B+‚ so they get a B+.  With each graduating class‚ our capitalistic (equal-opportunity) society is being slowly diluted by equal-outcome dogma (socialism). Grade inflation appears to be happening in virtually every college across the country. Colleges should not receive all the blame for this‚ however. Unfortunately‚ it starts in high schools‚ where super grade inflation is on the rise — grades have gone up while reading and math skills have fallen‚ with minorities experiencing the largest grade inflation.  Bad grades are a necessary part of education. How else would you know you had not learned something as well as you thought you had? I failed English as a freshman in college. I had been in the US for two years. My English was objectively horrible. I’m glad I didn’t receive special (woke) treatment for being “fresh off the boat.” I studied a lot harder‚ retook the class and passed it my senior year. If I had not‚ my English would not have improved and I would not have written several books or received national awards for writing. The beauty of the Declaration of Independence is that you are guaranteed the “pursuit of happiness” — you are given an equal chance to pursue it. You are not guaranteed the outcome‚ just the opportunity. There is enormous value‚ and yes even happiness and meaning in the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit will often take you down a harder road‚ but it will result in the best version of you and bring a sense of pride and accomplishment. * * * Vitaliy Katsenelson is CEO of IMA – a value investing firm in Denver. You can read his articles on  ContrarianEdge.com. He is the author of Soul in the Game – The Art of a Meaningful Life (Harriman House‚ 2022). The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

When you go to your local cafe‚ you can expect to see some interesting people most days. This day was no exception‚ as patrons saw a gentleman performing magic. The scene opens in a normal cafe with patrons seated at every visible table. Most guests were seated in groups‚ but one man sat by himself. Image from TikTok. With his back to the window‚ the camera zooms in on him. He is making strange movements with his hands. Image from TikTok. He appears to have a long‚ skinny piece of paper. He makes the “OK” sign with both hands and passes the paper through the circles. As his hands reach each end of the paper‚ you expect it to fall to the table. Image from TikTok. But… it doesn’t fall. It just floats above the table in front of the man. Image from TikTok. At first‚ we thought that the white lines visible in the image had something to do with the magic. However‚ as you watch the video‚ you can see that those are behind the gentleman’s arm. They are not connected to the paper as it floats. He continues passing his hands around‚ over‚ and under the floating paper. There is nothing holding it up. Image from TikTok. The man uses his hand movements to guide the floating paper without touching it. We watch him move it up‚ down‚ and around. An observer caught the magic of the moment and posted it on TikTok. The Only Description For This Is Magic As the man finished his impromptu demonstration‚ he turned to the camera. His knowing smile and nod say it all. He knows his magic just boggled the brains of the other people in the cafe! Share this with a friend who needs a little magic in their life! @pubity Imagine looking over and seeing this #Pubity (portlandgear via ViralHog) ♬ original sound – Pubity You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Mesmerizing: Man Quietly Performs Magic To Himself At Table In Cafe. appeared first on InspireMore.

As reprehensible as it is‚ frankly‚ stupid

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Facebook‚ Instagram‚ WhatsApp‚ Facebook Messenger‚ Meta Marketplace‚ and Meta. According to the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) law‚ these are all gatekeeper services. Meta is a gatekeeper company as a whole. Therefore‚ Meta has to make changes according to the EU regulations by March 7th or risk penalties. With that in mind‚ hearing that Meta will let you unlink various accounts is unsurprising. In turn‚ this will prevent the sharing of information between Meta's services and might improve privacy. The downside should be obvious to anyone familiar with the DMA legislation. Meta's big changes only apply to users in Europe. Soon‚ Meta will let Europeans disconnect Facebook‚ Instagram‚ and Messenger accounts and use them as separate services. It's unclear when it will happen‚ but again‚ Meta has until March 7th to implement the changes.  Continue reading... The post How to unlink Facebook‚ Instagram‚ and Messenger accounts: Move to Europe appeared first on BGR. Trending Right Now: Groundbreaking new solar panels can generate electricity in the dark

A majority of taxpayers feel they pay too much in taxes‚ with many saying that they receive a poor value in return‚ according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs...