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So what do you do when you spend hours, days, months, sometimes years searching for the perfect engagement ring only to find out it’s not quite the ring your significant other had envisioned…. yikes!
Throughout the years I have seen this happen time and again. Choosing jewelry for a loved one can be a daunting endeavor. Choosing the “perfect” engagement ring raises this anxiety to a whole new level, especially if you want your gift to be something more special and personal than a pre-manufactured ring with engraving inside the band.
Fortunately, whether you are shopping for an engagement ring as a couple, or as a single in order to surprise your loved one, many reputable custom jewelers are very good at walking you through this process, and the results can be beautiful , wonderfully personal, and treasured for a

Up this week are two areas of housing investment — new multi-family construction and remodeling — and a look at how people’s attitudes about housing are affected by personal experience.
What’s Bob the Builder Working on Now?
One of the clearest signs that the housing market is — and has been — suffering is that builders aren’t building a lot of new homes. Only when builders think demand for new homes is growing and that prices are going up will they pick up the pace. This week, the Census reported that housing starts remain in the doldrums: in September, builders started construction on new single-family homes at an annual rate of 425,000

Last night, I slouched in the center row of a mostly empty theatre while a gaggle of teen queers passed around a fuzzy microphone, reflecting on the importance of the Gay-Straight Alliance at their local high schools.
A teen with flamingo-pink leggings and immaculate eye makeup stood to address the crowd. “I don’t know if you guys watch TV,” they said, “but you’ve probably heard of Chaz Bono.”
The audience cooed.
“Most of the things I’ve found online about him are ugly and bigoted and awful. People call Chaz ‘she,’ and people call Chaz ‘it.’ Chaz is not an ‘it.’ Chaz is a man. When is this going to stop?” the high schooler

It’s Tuesday evening near Temple University’s campus as Rosella Eleanor LaFevre, 21, sits in the nearby Dunkin’ Donuts jotting down ideas for the next installment of MLTS magazine.
The first issue, for now available only online, has been well received by its intending audience: women. MLTS standing for Most Likely To Succeed, is a magazine aimed at “providing readers with the know-how and help they need to do just about anything they wish”.
Anyone who questions the wisdom of LeFevre’s launch into on-line publishing should consider that she’s been able to launch each issue for less than $30; has amassed an impressive amount of journalism experience for her mere 21 years, and sees her work at MLTS as more than just being an editor.
“One of the things I’m trying to do with MLTS is give my friends, and eventually readers, more platforms to do what they want to do and find more avenues toward that profession,” LeFevre said. “I love journalism, so for me it’s about the journalism, but also about helping people.”
In addition to covering fashion, beauty and entertainment, MLTS aims to provide advice to help each reader get the most of her education, career and

Metropolitan Community Churches are proud to support the 800-plus Methodist clergy and laity in New York and Connecticut who are vowing to perform same-sex weddings despite church prohibitions. These United Methodists can no longer stay silent, or on the sidelines, while members of their churches who are legally entitled to marry cannot marry in their own churches.
As a former Methodist myself, I am moved by their courage to fulfill their vow to minister to all their members — regardless of whom they choose to marry.
read full news from www.huffingtonpost.com

As Congress approved three Free Trade Agreements (also known as Trade Pacts) with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia, I get the impression that there are two leading narratives. The first, this approval is driven mainly by internal political forces, the need to build coalitions around ‘currency wars’ legislation and the Jobs Act. The second, the size of the economies and their significances put in question the true economic impact of these agreements. However, these narratives seem simplistic as they ignore important developments in international economic relations.
There is no doubt; it is too little too

Looking for a good reason to thank Obamacare? How about 10 good reasons?
You’ll find the top 10 reasons to thank Obamacare on the newly launched website ThanksObamacare.org.
Then you can watch the video of our happy story of Obamacare.
And then you can join the sometimes happy, sometimes fun, sometimes funny conversation on Twitter at #ThanksObamacare or follow us @ThanksObamacare.
Why all the push to thank Obamacare? Well, because the groups Colorado Consumer Health Initiative and ProgressNow Colorado Education decided the poor word had such a bad rap… one it really didn’t deserve.
I mean, really, this is something that keeps sick people from being kicked off health insurance, makes sure women aren’t discriminated against in coverage, and gives small businesses tax credits to cover their employees.
read full news from www.huffingtonpost.com

By Matthew Mosk, Brian Ross and Ronnie Greene, iWatch NewsRepublicans are calling on Congressional investigators to expand their probe of the Obama Administration’s “green energy” loan program to include Fisker, the start-up electric car company that received more than $500 million in federal support but is assembling its high-end sports sedan in Finland. “We need to extend the investigation,” Rep. Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican who sits on the committee that has been investigating the government’s loan program, told ABC News in an interview for “World News” and “Nightline”. “If they couldn’t find someone to build the car in the U.S., then don’t do

Actors Sean Astin and Cheri Oteri work out their characters’ relationship in And They’re Off…
Photo with permission of Harper Smith and Paul Mocey-Hanton
Can And They’re Off … be to horse racing movies what This Is Spinal Tap is to rock films? What Best In Show is to the dog show oeuvre? Given the deft comic timing of the film’s acting, writing, directing and producing connections, my hopes are high.
Unlike last year’s glossy, high budget film Secretariat, And They’re Off… is a mockumentary — a genre that infuses the devices and production aesthetics of a documentary with parody, satire and

Humanity is about to reach another milestone. According to a recent United Nations report, sometime on Monday, Oct. 31, 2011, the world population will reach the seven billion mark. That is one enormous tribe!
Or perhaps you haven’t

By Ben Hallman, iWatch NewsThe foreclosure crisis met the campaign trail this week in Nevada, with President Barack Obama and Republican candidates for president suggesting sharply different approaches to help address the nation’s continuing housing crisis. Obama’s new housing initiative , announced Monday in Las Vegas, may not be as bold as some had hoped, but it offers some underwater homeowners the possibility of relief. A week earlier at the Venetian casino, the leading Republican candidates said that the government should get out of the way and let the market sort out the foreclosure mess. The president’s plan will loosen restrictions on the Home Affordability Refinance Program (HARP), which was created especially for homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than their homes are

In poll results from CBS News released earlier this month 57% of Americans feel that we should not be fighting the war in Afghanistan. When asked, “How much longer would you be willing to have large numbers of U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan?” 38% of those polled responded with less than a year. 24% of Americans felt we should only maintain a presence in Afghanistan for one to two years.
Clearly a majority of the people has grown weary of this war and sees little to be gained from maintaining our

I’ll be the first to admit that I am way too busy. Last year during course selection my friend looked at me and said, “Is this a suicide attempt? Because there are easier ways to do that…” My commitments have only grown since. Despite having almost no free time on any given day, there is something that I might just be crazy enough to add to the mix. NaNoWriMo.
This November marks the 13th NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, an event where people attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30

Sixty students from 15 universities – 12 from across the U.S. and 3 international – participated in the 8th Annual CIBER Case Challenge this past Saturday at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. I had the privilege of being selected as a judge and, as such, spent the third and final day on campus interacting with these students, listening to their presentations and providing feedback.
As an international business professional who regularly talks up the importance of thinking globally and adequately preparing our students for the global marketplace, the annual CIBER Case Challenge delivers an excellent opportunity for students to appreciate their importance in real time.
“The CIBER Case Challenge is a part of the overall Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) program, funded by the

“Your dog has cancer.” I felt surprisingly calm when the veterinarian said those words to me. I must have been temporarily stunned.
My husband and I had been awaiting the results of a biopsy taken a few days earlier after my dog, Peebucks, had a severe and uncontrollable nosebleed. I worked from home for a few days afterwards, afraid to leave him home alone in case the bleeding reoccurred. When the phone finally rang, a wave of anxiety swept over

The most watched cooking show in the world is not produced in Hollywood. MasterChef India, based in Mumbai, just began its second season on India’s Star Plus TV with the highest viewership of any cooking show in the world. Last season’s premiere episode reached a whopping thirty million viewers. These are numbers that the fragmented

Last Tuesday, Cecilia Muoz, President Obama’s main advisor and White House spokesperson on immigration, appeared on national television defending the indefensible: the Administration’s enforcement-only immigration policies. These policies have devastated Latino and immigrant communities throughout the United States. During an interview on “Lost in Detention,” a PBS documentary, Ms. Muoz defended the controversial program S-COMM, which allows local police to share information with immigration.
As a former advocate for immigrant rights,

Far from the mainstream tourism circuit, dozens of islands handmade from native totoro reeds float off the Peruvian shores of Lake Titicaca.
The Uros Islands provide inspiring lessons in sustainable building and local sourcing. Nearly every item in this collection of photos (taken on a recent trip to Quantati Island) was hand crafted from the reeds growing along the lake’s banks–boats, toys, furniture, watchtowers and, of course, the islands themselves. Every two weeks, residents bolster the very ground they walk on with additional reeds as the bottom layers start to rot away.
While many traditions remain, the islanders have also embraced new ideas — like drawing inspiration from Italian architecture for decorative window arches or weaving upcycled plastic bottles into their boats for longer

The Diwali season is upon us — five days of food, festivity, fireworks, friends, family and worship. For Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world these sacred days are not only a time of celebration and consumption (thanks to Diwali sales that make Black Friday look like window shopping), but one of reflection.
For the past eight years, my colleagues at the Hindu American Foundation and I have worked towards generating awareness of Diwali. From working on congressional resolutions recognizing the significance of Diwali, both in the House and Senate, to explaining Diwali in our FAQ; from promoting a National Teach Diwali in School Day to showcasing Diwali greetings from HAF’s friends in interfaith, public policy and academia, we have sought to educate Americans at large about one of the Hindu community’s significant holidays as well as raise the profile of the Hindu American community.
All of this has been fulfilling, yet I realized today, that while I know and understand why we celebrate, what I feel I’ve lost along the way is how to

An electrified fence. On the border. Designed to kill people. Along with “real guns with real bullets.”
This is the immigration “plan” recently proposed by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.
And he’s one of his party’s frontrunners.
There’s no question that immigration is a serious issue that needs to be

Dear Mexican: There’s something I concerned about, or bothered by. I was born and raised in Mexico, but I’ve been here for eight years. All the talk about 9/11 is too much, because every single year brings a rehash of the tragedy. I really think that remembering the event for two or five years is enough, but 10 years is too

I woke up a few days ago with the sense that my life as I had known it had come to an end. What contributed to that feeling was the fact that I had completed a book that took me a year to write and a lifetime to experience.
The book titled “Unbinding the Heart” is a collection of stories of the experiences in my life that led to my own unbinding. Originally, I planned to write a book that would offer seven or eight steps on how to unbind the heart, but instead thread by thread, string by string, I had unraveled the tangles, returning to the simplicity of my

In their attempt to protect pay packages that would shame a Goldman Sachs executive, the CEOs of the biggest military contractors are again releasing bogus “analysis” on job creation related to massive military budgets. Don’t be fooled: the spin coming out of the Second To None lobbying front is about one job, and one job only: the job of the guy at the top of the war corporation, along with its massive salary.
Let’s dispense with the war profiteers’ so-called economic analysis (.pdf). The study released today at a war-contractor-convened press conference tries to obscure the massive jobs cost of military spending by citing all the jobs that are tied to the current Pentagon budget. This “analysis,” though, is completely context-free, rendering it useless in determining the best course of action for the deficit committee and in making predictions about the economy in general.
The study ignores the jobs cost we’re already suffering from big military budgets, both in terms of:
simple analysis of how many more jobs would be created through virtually any other kind of spending (even plain old consumer spending) compared to military spending in the short term, and
the huge jobs cost caused by the “brain drain” imposed by huge military R&D budgets, which pull engineers and scientists out of more productive civilian fields, leading to a loss of competitiveness in

The month of October marks the beginning of family holidays for the next three months. If you are a newly divorced parent, the next 120 days is going to test your patience and communication skills with your ex-spouse. Have no fear, because SingleDad is here to offer a few friendly reminders on the new rules of Co-Parenting. This blog is going to address Halloween and how important it is to establish a good relationship with your child and ex-spouse during this holiday.
Over-communicate
If you have children 12 and under, they are most likely attending a elementary