Teary Errani gone from US Open; Williams moves on

Serena Williams falls after an off-balance shot against Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan during the second round of the 2013 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Serena Williams falls after an off-balance shot against Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan during the second round of the 2013 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Flavia Pennetta, of Italy, returns a shot to Sara Errani, of Italy, during the second round of the 2013 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Flavia Pennetta, of Italy, returns a shot to Sara Errani, of Italy, during the second round of the 2013 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Sara Errani, of Italy, returns a shot to Flavia Pennetta, of Italy, during the second round of the 2013 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Serena Williams gestures to the crowd after winning her second round match against Galina Voskoboeva, of Kazakhstan, at the 2013 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Only a few spots separate them in the seedings. Still, the considerable gulf between No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 4 Sara Errani was hard to ignore in their back-to-back matches Thursday at the U.S. Open.

Williams, seeking her 17th Grand Slam title and second straight at Flushing Meadows, brushed off an ungainly slide onto her backside en route to a typically easy second-round victory, 6-3, 6-0 over Galina Voskoboeva in half-full Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Barely worth talking about by Williams' standards: "I'll have to think about it and see what I can do better, but it was OK," she said.

Only an hour before on the same court, a much different scene: Errani imploded in a 6-3, 6-1 loss to her Italian teammate, 83rd-ranked Flavia Pennetta. Then, while tears welled up in her eyes, Errani conceded that she's struggling to handle her high ranking and the high expectations that have come with that.

"My problem isn't that I lost. I've lost a million times in my life," Errani said. "My problem is trying to find the desire to fight and be on the court ready to fight. For a few weeks, I haven't felt like I wanted to be on the court. That's the problem."

That concession was the most unexpected development on Day 4 of the U.S. Open, where the tournament got back on track after a rainy Wednesday that postponed eight women's matches and shuffled the lineups.

Among the results from Thursday afternoon's full slate:

?No. 4 seed David Ferrer overcame an error-filled second-set tiebreaker to top Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2.

?Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka defeated Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-3, 6-1.

Williams got through her win unscathed, and when she was done in Ashe Stadium, five-time champion Roger Federer, the seventh seed, dispatched Carlos Berloq 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in 1 hour, 35 minutes.

"It's one of those matches I expect myself to win if possible in straight sets and gain confidence in the process," Federer said. "All those things happened, so, yeah, I'm pleased about it."

American Christina McHale won a three-setter over Elina Svitolina, while another U.S. player, 81st-ranked Allison Riske, had an easier time in a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Mona Barthel.

"You never know at these things," Riske said after making the third round of her second straight Grand Slam tournament. "Anything can happen. That's kind of the beauty of tennis in general. Ranking is kind of just a number."

Victoria Duval, the 296th-ranked, 17-year-old American who earned her first victory in a Grand Slam tournament Tuesday, was also in action later.

The top two U.S. men, No. 13 John Isner and No. 26 Sam Querrey had later matches, while 20-year-old Jack Sock moved to the third round with a 7-6 (3), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina.

Williams was pushed only briefly against Voskoboeva, ranked 77th from Kazakhstan.

Serving at game point trailing 5-3, Voskoboeva drew Williams to the net, and as Williams reached for the ball, her feet slid out from under her and she fell hard onto her backside, her racket slamming to the ground. Before she fell, however, she reached the shot to win the point. Two points later, she closed out the set.

The second set took all of 27 minutes. When it was over, Williams was sitting at the same table where Errani had cried earlier, being asked how she would advise the Italian, who said she was "destroyed by the pressure" of returning to the French Open this year, where she followed up her 2012 appearance in the final with a run to the semifinals.

"I really wouldn't know what to say," Williams said. "I can only say that I think she's doing a good job. I mean, sometimes you have a tough day at the office, and it doesn't mean that you don't handle the pressure well."

But Errani said she didn't.

She is 5-foot-4? with energy to spare, but with loopy, unthreatening groundstrokes and a serve that maxes out at around 85 mph. It has been, even by her account, heart and grit that helped her get to the 2012 French Open final, then follow that with a trip to the U.S. Open semifinal, where she lost 6-1, 6-2 to Williams.

Those results, plus a tournament win and three second-place finishes on tour this year, made her the highest-seeded Italian woman ever in a major for this trip to Flushing Meadows.

But after a 6-0, 6-0 victory over a 152nd-ranked "lucky loser" in the opening round, Errani previewed what was to come, saying then that her tension was "through the roof" knowing that "everyone expects me to win 6-0, 6-0, or thinks that I can only lose against three other women in this tournament."

Then, after the loss to Pennetta, Errani tearfully acknowledged she couldn't handle the strain.

"For a couple of weeks now, I haven't been well," she said. "There's too much pressure."

It didn't help, of course, that she was playing an opponent with nothing to lose, the way many players react when they face someone in the top-5. Last year, Pennetta missed the U.S. Open and the entire end of the season while she recovered from surgery on her bad right wrist.

Going against a player she's familiar with, Pennetta went for it and hit 33 winners to only 12 for Errani. Pennetta broke serve in the very first game and never looked back.

"I tried to play aggressive from the very beginning and I was perfect today, I think," Pennetta said.

As for her friend's woes ? well, Pennetta certainly didn't see them through the same lens as Errani.

"It's nothing tragic for her," Pennetta said. "One match is one match."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-08-29-US%20Open/id-fd64f9184b71486982c7b76fd23e331c

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New imaging technology promising for several types of cancer

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A new form of imaging ? PET/MRI ? is promising for several types of cancer.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/poaUjxO8Bak/130829105751.htm

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Google+ Hangouts moving to HD video soon, going plugin-free within months

You may not have noticed it yet, but Google is in the middle of sweeping changes to Hangouts that should offer big improvements to image quality and accessibility. The company tells GigaOM that it's currently upgrading its video chat service to 720p by switching from the H.264 video codec to the more efficient (and Google-controlled) VP8 standard. HD-quality Hangouts should be available soon after Google finishes the VP8 rollout to web users late next week. A sharper picture is just one part of the puzzle, however. The switch to VP8 also sets the stage for WebRTC support, which will let Google offer plugin-free Hangouts in browsers like Chrome and Firefox within the next several months. The search giant will still offer a plugin for holdouts, but they may soon be the exceptions to the rule.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/28/google-hangouts-moving-to-hd-video-soon/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

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U.S., allies prepare for probable military strike on Syria

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Matt Spetalnick

AMMAN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies geared up for a probable military strike against Syria that could come within days and would be the most aggressive action by Western powers in the Middle Eastern nation's two-and-a-half-year civil war.

Western envoys have told the Syrian opposition to expect a military response soon against President Bashar al-Assad's forces as punishment for a chemical weapons attack last week, according to sources who attended a meeting with the rebel Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul.

Amid a quickening drumbeat of preparations, Australia, a close U.S. ally and incoming chair of the United Nations Security Council, on Wednesday endorsed possible action against Syria even if the security council fails to agree.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday that American forces in the region were "ready to go" if President Barack Obama gave the order.

Obama - long reluctant to intervene in the Syrian conflict - worked to solidify allied support, including calling the leaders of Britain and Canada, while U.S. intelligence agencies assembled what they are sure to say is final confirmation of the Syrian government's culpability for Wednesday's poison gas attack near Damascus.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said it would "fanciful" to think that anyone other than Assad's forces was behind the large-scale chemical attack, which activists said killed hundreds of people as they slept.

"There is no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in Syria: the Syrian regime," Vice President Joe Biden said at a speech in Houston to the American Legion, a military veterans' group.

Top U.S. national security aides gathered to review the situation on Tuesday night in a meeting chaired by Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice, officials said.

Obama has yet to make a final decision on the U.S. response, Carney said, but left little doubt that it would involve military action. He insisted, however, that Washington was not intent on "regime change," signaling that any military strikes would be limited and not meant to topple Assad.

The British military was also drafting plans. Prime Minister David Cameron, anxious, like Obama, not to emulate entanglements in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that beset their predecessors, said any strikes would be "specific" so as not to drag the allies deeper into Syria's civil war.

Cameron, who spoke to Obama on Tuesday for the second time in four days, recalled parliament for a debate on Syria on Thursday.

U.N. chemical weapons investigators put off until Wednesday a second trip to the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus where the chemical attack took place.

While evidence of chemical warfare could bolster an argument for intervention at the United Nations in the face of likely Russian and Chinese opposition, Western leaders and the Arab League have already declared Assad guilty.

Ahmad Jarba, president of the Syrian National Coalition, met envoys from 11 countries at an Istanbul hotel, including the U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford. The rebel leaders proposed targets for cruise missiles and bombing.

One participant said: "The opposition was told in clear terms that action to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime could come as early as in the next few days."

Planning appears to focus on missile or air strikes. There is little public support in Western countries for troops to invade Syria.

The precise timing of possible military action remained unclear, but it is certain to wait for an official U.S. intelligence report expected to blame Assad's government for the chemical attack. The findings, considered merely a formality at this point, will be released this week, U.S. officials said.

Obama will go ahead with a speech on Wednesday at Washington's Lincoln Memorial to mark the 50th anniversary of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I have a dream' speech.

"The clock is ticking, and the administration is not going to want that to tick too long," said Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House of Representatives intelligence committee, as White House aides broadened consultations on Capitol Hill.

MOOD IN DAMASCUS

Syria's government, backed by Iran, denies gassing its own people and has vowed to defend itself, but residents of Damascus are growing anxious.

"I've always been a supporter of foreign intervention, but now that it seems like a reality, I've been worrying that my family could be hurt or killed," said a woman named Zaina, who opposes Assad. "I'm afraid of a military strike now."

Russia, Assad's main arms supplier, opposes military action and has suggested that rebel forces may have released the poison gas.

China's state news agency recalled how flawed intelligence was used to justify the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, while the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, said the United States and its allies were seeking to use the issue to pursue regime change in Syria illegally.

Firm opposition from permanent members of the Security Council all but rules out a U.N. mandate of the kind that gave legal backing to NATO air strikes that helped Libyan rebels unseat Muammar Gaddafi two years ago.

"Our preference, everyone's preference, would be for action, a response, under United Nations auspices," Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, whose country takes over the rotating chair of the Security Council on Sunday, told reporters.

"But if that's not possible, the sheer horror of a government using chemical weapons against its people, using chemical weapons in any circumstances, mandates a response."

Russia and China accuse Western powers of using human rights complaints, such as in Libya, to meddle in sovereign states' affairs.

Although Obama has long said Assad should step down, he is unwilling to commit to making that happen by force. White House spokesman Carney said it was "profoundly in the interests of the United States" to respond to the chemical weapons attack.

In Britain, Cameron told reporters: "This is not about getting involved in a Middle Eastern war or changing our stance in Syria or going further into that conflict. It's about chemical weapons. Their use is wrong and the world shouldn't stand idly by."

In France, which played a major role in Libya, President Francois Hollande said he was "ready to punish" Assad for using the chemical weapons, citing a 2005 U.N. provision for international action to protect civilians from their own governments.

Similar arguments were used by NATO to bomb Serbia, a Russian ally, in 1999 after the killing of civilians in Kosovo.

In an indication of support from Arab states that may help Western powers argue the case for an attack against likely U.N. vetoes from Moscow and Beijing, the Arab League issued a statement blaming Assad's government for the chemical attack.

Fears of another international conflict in the Middle East affected financial markets. Oil prices hit a six-month high and stocks fell around the world, notably in Turkey, as well as in emerging economies that would suffer from a chill in trade.

TOUGH CHOICES

Obama, Cameron and Hollande face questions at home about how a military intervention would end and whether it risks bolstering Assad if he rides out the assault or empowering anti-Western Islamist rebels if the Syrian leader is overthrown.

Turmoil in Egypt, where the 2011 uprising inspired Syrians to rebel, has underlined the unpredictability of revolutions. The presence of Islamist militants, including allies of al Qaeda in the Syrian rebel ranks, has given Western leaders pause. They have held back so far from helping Assad's opponents to victory.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said U.S. strikes would help al Qaeda and called Western leaders "delusional" if they hoped to help the rebels reach a balance of power in Syria.

"We have means of defending ourselves, and we will surprise them with these if necessary," he said. "We will defend ourselves. We will not hesitate to use any means available."

Assad's forces made little or no response to three attacks by Israeli aircraft this year that Israeli officials said disrupted arms flowing from Iran to Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The presence of U.N. experts in Damascus may be a factor holding back international military action. The experts came under fire in government-held territory on Monday before reaching rebel lines.

Opposition activists have said at least 500 people, and possibly twice that many, were killed by rockets carrying the nerve gas sarin or something similar. If true, it would be the worst chemical weapons attack since Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Iraqi Kurds in 1988.

(Additional reporting by William Maclean and Mariam Karouny in Beirut, Phil Stewart in Bandar, Seri Begawan and Andrew Osborn in London, John Irish in Paris, Timothy Heritage in Moscow, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Seda Sezer and Daren Butler in Istanbul, Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai, Roberta Rampton, Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Tabassum Zakaria and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Writing by Matt Spetalnick and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Paul Simao and Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-allies-prepare-probable-military-strike-syria-000900545.html

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Make Your Web Hosting en Mexico Experience A Breeze With This Advice!

Our Hosting Mexico Choosing a website hosting service is an essential part of designing a website. While you may be puzzled by the prospect, you are responsible for doing your own research and understanding what you are purchasing. Continue reading and it will become clear what you need to watch out for as you search for web hosting.
There are certain circumstances in which you may want to try out a VPS (virtual private server) hosting plan. A VPS gives you more control over your server environment, from installing and upgrading software to creating new accounts. Keep in mind that you should know how to administer a server before you consider this plan.
A good tip for anyone looking for a hosting service for their website would be to back up their content regularly. Don?t just rely on the backup options that many hosts offer. Take this responsibility personally so that you avoid losing valuable work and information.
Backing up your site is still your responsibility. Be diligent in backing up everything yourself so that if something goes wrong, you can restore it all. This is particularly crucial if you have spend a lot of time doing SEO work.
Choose a web host company with adequate room to grow. A single HTML page doesn?t require a ton of space; however, if you add items like videos and photos, you?ll need more space quickly. Be mindful of any storage space limitations a company might have.
If you are still connecting to the Internet with dial-up, then don?t try to host your site yourself. A reliable connection is necessary to ensure that a site is available all the time. A slow internet connection can cause your site to go down, frustrating your customers and future clients.
It is important that you know a lot about your hosting provider. If many hosts are down, you?re able to see that your particular company isn?t the only one, and that it?s working hard to fix the issue. You can sometimes get more information from this type of forum than you can directly from hosts, and you can also post information about your experiences.
You should consider the server access privileges you are afforded by any potential web host. Some will use a simple control panel, while others have a complex type of server access. The more complex the site is, the better access it will require. If your site is small, then it may be a better choice for you to pick a hosting company that uses the more simpler control panel option, which does not require you to have a lot of technical knowledge.
Look for a web host that offers detailed statistics about who visits your site. Add your own site counter to track the number of visitors your site gets, then compare that to your web host?s stats to check for accuracy. To maximize the effectiveness of your web site, this information can help you tailor your marketing approaches.
The company you select should be able to meet both your current and future needs of programming languages on your website. If you don?t have support for the languages used, you cannot launch your site. Furthermore, any web host with such constraints will likely be unable to accommodate any changes in future programming languages. Switching web hosts can be a real hassle.
The steps you?ll take when selecting a hosting provider are similar to steps you take when making any other major purchase. Determine what you want and what fits your budget, so you can find a provider that fits. Since you?ve read the advice and suggestions listed in this article, you?ll have no problems accomplishing that. If need more information, visit oir site for hosting mexico

Source: http://www.blptechnologies.com/make-your-web-hosting-en-mexico-experience-a-breeze-with-this-advice.html

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Ten Pay Per Click Strategies For Your Internet Business | Content for ...

Author: Johnny Black | Total views: 119 Comments: 0
Word Count: 745 Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 1:19 AM

PPC advertising is a very powerful way to build a customer list for your online business. However if it's not used the right way , it can be a very costly route to success.

Anyone who has ever used the internet has seen PPC advertising. They are the ads at the top of the search result page and listed on the right hand side. They are often referred to as 'sponsored links' and may show up in a coloured background.

PPC work for any business and will attract prospective customer leads to your business because those people are actually looking for your type of products or services. For example, if your online business is all about home baking and a website user types 'cake baking tips' into a search engine and 'cake baking tips' is among your keywords, they will view your PPC advertisementif you have placed an appropriate bid for that keyword.

Nevertheless , with PPC marketing , you still need to understand how advertising works and how to write effective advertisements in order to remain competitive against other internet businesses. The two leading PPC search engines are Google and Bing.

Below are 10 Pay Per Click Techniques For Your Online Business

1. Have keywords on the display URL.

If you are targeted on any keyword, for example 'real estate' then create a display web link with the words 'real estate' in it.

2. Test various advertising styles .

You will not know which style works the best until you have actually tried them. You can test soft styled writing with a hard sales pitch. You will need to give each type time to analyse the outcomes and then make a decision which one provides the best response .

3. Create an powerfulsqueeze page.

This is where you will send a user when they click on your advert . Make certain that your squeeze page is clearly related to your advertisement and provides the benefits of your product . Include an opt-in form on your squeeze page to capture the users email address so that you can add them to your potentialcustomer database .

4. Have keywords on your squeeze page.

The keywords on your squeeze page should ideally be the actual words that the user has typed into the search engine. It is important because the only reason a user clicked on your ad was because it included the keyword that they were searching for.

5. Don't send prospective buyers to your website homepage.

Sending your potential buyers to a non-specific page will not get you results if it is doesn't connect directly to the subject of your ad . The potential customer will leave and not return. This will waste your pay per click budget.

6. Bid for your advert placement intelligently .

Be sensible when you are bidding. Never bid for anything more than what you can afford to pay. Bid as low as possible while still making sure that your ad is on page one.

7. Write different PPC adverts .

This is a very efficient technique but few businesses use it. Write adverts that are specific to each keyword that you use so that you can track which are the most effective.

8. Create your keywords carefully .

There are 3 keyword options with PPC marketing .

Exact match means having an exact keyword match which activates a listing. This is the best keyword that you want.

Phrase match is the keyword phrase which can help to result in a listing. This is the second best option .

A Broad match is a listing can be brought about even if the keywords are not in proper order or are split up by other words. This can drive traffic but the leads will not be as qualified as an exact match

9. Use a keyword research resource .

Keyword research tools support you to locate what keywords are being typed in to search for the products offered by your internet business.

10. Don't forget the purpose of your PPC advertisement.

Your ad is selling the click not selling your products or services. Your advertisementis the bait , to get people to your squeeze page and then onto your database . Your website and your email follow-ups will do the selling for you.

When building an online business there can seem to be a mountain of obstacles to climb - from understanding pay per click advertising to search engine optimisation, from blogging to social media marketing, from finding the right products to sell to finding customers to buy them, the list goes on. To learn how to quickly and easily give your online business a boost click here.

Related to: Cost of PPC - what is pay per click - pay per click campaign - nbsphow to use pay per click - PPC Management - Pay per Click Cost - pay per click - Pay per Click Search Engines - Pay per Click Training - ppc marketing

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1: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics

Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."

by: Steve Shaw on: Sat, 23 Apr 2011

2: Simple Article Writing: 5 Steps For Beginners Who Are Learning To Write Articles (Try This!)

When you look at an article, you may say, "That article looks great, but I have no idea how I would produce something that good." In this article I am going to help you break your article creation process down into "blocks"--smaller bits of information that when assembled together will form a top quality article submission.

by: Steve Shaw on: Sun, 21 Apr 2013

3: Back Link Building - 6 Methods You Can Use To Rank Your Blog Posts

Panda and Penquin Google has changed the game with back link building. Here are the backlink strategies I use to get quality backlinks.

by: Jen Thoden on: Wed, 13 Mar 2013

4: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself

Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.

by: Michel Maling on: Sat, 29 Sep 2012

5: Understanding Online Business Success

Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.

by: Mike Christie on: Sat, 29 Sep 2012

Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/internet-marketing/ten-pay-per-click-strategies-for-your-internet-business.htm

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Israel?s Foreign Ministry criticizes UN agency for ?one-sided political advocacy?

JERUSALEM (JTA) ? Israel?s Foreign Ministry took a United Nations agency to task for its ?one-sided political advocacy? in condemning the deaths of three Palestinians during clashes with Israeli soldiers in a refugee camp.

?Israel regrets the fatalities that resulted from yesterday?s military operation to arrest a Palestinian terrorist suspect,? the Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Wednesday, which criticized the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, for its assertion in the hours after the incident that a Palestinian agency employee who was killed was not involved in the violence.

The clashes in the Qalandiya refugee camp, which also injured 15, took place on Monday morning.

Border Police troops dressed as civilians entered the camp to arrest a terror suspect who was released recently from an Israeli prison, and camp residents responded by surrounding and attacking the troops with rocks and firebombs. The troops responded with ?crowd dispersal methods,? according to the Israeli military, which usually includes rubber bullets shot at demonstrators? legs and tear gas.

The Israel Defense Forces launched an investigation into the incident.

?We were disappointed (but not surprised) at UNRWA?s press statement from yesterday. While omitting to mention any context or reason for the Israeli operation, it was quick to cite ?credible reports? in determining that its employee had been shot ??on his way to work, and was not involved in any violent activity.? Quite aside from the fact that UNRWA did not even bother to approach any official Israeli sources for comment, its statement was rushed to the press while the violent riots were still raging on in Qalandiya,? the ministry statement said, questioning how the agency could have gathered the information so quickly in order to assert its facts.

?It is regrettable that UNRWA has consistently failed to display similar zeal and enthusiasm when asked to investigate its own cases of alleged wrongdoing,? the ministry statement said, referring to the agency?s decision to investigate the use of its summer camps for jihadist training.

UNRWA spokesman Chris Guinness told Israeli newspapers that the agency has what he called ?six independent eyewitnesses? to the incident and that the agency stands by its statement ?absolutely.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jta/breaking-news/~3/udgDD3SUJpY/israels-foreign-ministry-criticizes-un-agency-for-one-sided-political-advocacy

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Recovering Real Estate Market Creates Jobs

The U.S. construction industry has been quietly making a comeback, according to new research from WANTED Analytics, a leading source of real-time business intelligence for the talent marketplace.

WANTED data shows slow, steady growth over the past three years.

For a sector that was hit hard by the recession, this is indeed good news. But the news gets even better, and has wider implications.

The number of construction job ads grew 26 percent in July compared to July 2012. In addition, hiring has more than doubled over the past four years.

In some parts of the country, construction hiring is way up ? in Houston, which tops the list, hiring is up 62 percent year over year.

Momentum is building in the building business, buoyed largely by a recovering real estate market ? and here too the numbers are noteworthy.

The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to the National Association of Realtors, home prices are soaring in some areas.

A healthy real estate market has a trickle down effect ? home improvement retailers, furniture manufacturers and sellers, and others benefit from a boom. Of course, the market is not at the boom stage yet, but it has come a long way from bust.

And improvement in the real estate sector is starting to produce jobs, in construction and elsewhere.

It?s also worth noting that a rise in home values has a positive psychological effect; and, while difficult to quantify, this influences consumer spending and ultimately the job market.

Think about it. If, instead of watching real estate prices plummet, a homeowner starts to see a return on investment, chances are he or she will feel more comfortable making discretionary purchases. This has the potential to impact a wide range of industries, including but not limited to the automotive industry (which has already made an incredible turnaround in a few short years) and travel, leisure, and hospitality (another sector that has been doing well).

Even seemingly disparate industries are often connected, and job creation builds on trends within these connections. In assessing your business?s employment outlook, are you looking beyond your immediate industry, at the bigger picture?

?

Source: http://www.recruitingtrends.com/recovering-real-estate-market-creates-jobs/

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Colombia president says government ready for peace talks with ELN rebels

By Helen Murphy and Peter Murphy

BOGOTA | Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:17am EDT

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday said he is ready to start peace talks with the smaller of two leftist rebel groups, the National Liberation Army, in an effort to end half a century of war in the Andean nation.

Santos' decision to engage in dialogue with the guerrilla group, known as the ELN, came after it freed a Canadian geologist this week after holding him hostage for seven months.

The ELN, which has about 3,000 combatants, has been fighting the government since 1964 when radical Catholic priests inspired by the Cuban revolution took up arms in a bid to overthrow the government.

Santos already opened peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in November and though they have been turbulent at times and progressed slowly, neither side has walked away from the negotiating table.

"Hopefully we can work out the necessary procedures to start dialogue with the ELN to see if once and for all we can put an end to this conflict with the two groups involved in it," Santos said at the presidential palace.

Both groups are considered terrorist organizations by the United States and European Union.

Santos' bid to draw ELN rebels into negotiations was widely expected and the group's leaders have for months expressed interest in starting dialogue similar to that of the FARC.

While Colombians will welcome Santos' effort to bring an end to conflict in Colombia, many analysts believe it will be difficult to get talks off the ground before campaigning begins for next year's presidential election. Santos must make a decision on whether to run for a second term by November.

Talks with the FARC have already dragged on for 10 months with only partial agreement on one item on a five-point agenda.

The scion of one of the nation's wealthiest families, Santos took a political gamble when he opened peace talks with the FARC in late 2012. The rebel group has taken advantage of previous peace talks to rebuild and return to the battlefield revitalized.

The ELN has sought peace before, holding talks in Cuba and Venezuela between 2002 and 2007. Experts say there was a lack of will on both sides to agree on a final peace plan.

But this time, a 10-year military offensive, backed by U.S. funds has weakened both rebel groups, cutting their numbers and damaging their lines of communication, which may have left them more amenable to negotiating a peace agreement.

Peace with the ELN and FARC - which have both made doing business in Colombia risky - would cement huge security gains over the last decade and help attract more investment to the $330 billion economy.

Colombia, a nation of 47 million, has attracted record foreign direct investment in recent years as troops push the guerrilla groups deeper into the thick jungles.

While oil and mining companies have been able to work in more remote and dangerous areas in recent years, the risk to employees continues. Both the ELN and FARC have stepped up attacks on the infrastructure this year, hitting oil pipelines and power lines repeatedly.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Peter Murphy and Helen Murphy; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/29/us-colombia-rebels-eln-idUSBRE97S03S20130829?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

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Telluride Film Festival to offer peek at early Oscar favorites

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Telluride Film Festival, one of the United States' top movie events and early Oscar showcase, will feature films from directors Jason Reitman, Joel and Ethan Coen, and Alexander Payne, the festival said on Wednesday.

Reitman's drama "Labor Day," which also plays in September's Toronto International Film Festival, will have its world premiere on Friday at the movie gathering in the Colorado town most famous for its ski slopes.

The film stars Oscar-winner Kate Winslet and is based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, which tells the story of a mother and son who accidentally bring an escaped prisoner into their lives.

The festival, in its 40th year, opens on Thursday and concludes on September 2. It will screen 27 feature films, which are announced only the day before the festival begins.

Telluride runs alongside Italy's Venice Film Festival and ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival, which each traditionally set the stage for the favorites heading into next year's Hollywood awards season.

Telluride has been a springboard in the past for films seeking Oscar buzz and critical praise. Most notably little-known British drama "Slumdog Millionaire" premiered at the festival in 2008 before going on to win eight Academy Awards, including best picture.

Other prominent films to be shown include Joel and Ethan Coen's "Inside Llewyn Davis" about a 1960's Greenwich Village folk singer and Alexander Payne's drama "Nebraska" about a father-and-son road trip. Both of the films played at Cannes Film Festival in France earlier this year.

French drama "Blue Is the Warmest Color," voted the top film at Cannes, and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris' "The Unknown Known" about form U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will also highlight the Telluride festival.

The festival will also screen "Gravity," a 3D space movie starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts stranded in space, that premiered in Venice on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/telluride-film-festival-offer-peek-early-oscar-favorites-232423090.html

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London Whale suspect arrested in Spain

A former JP Morgan trader wanted in connection with the ?London Whale? scandal was arrested by Spanish police in Madrid today.

Javier Martin-Artajo handed himself in to police after they got in touch with him, the authorities said.

Mr Martin-Artajo will not be allowed to leave Spain and must appear in court every 15 days, a Spanish court source said. He is not willing to be extradited to the United States, the source added.

Earlier this month US prosecutors brought criminal charges against the Spaniard and his former colleague Julien Grout, who both worked at JP Morgan?s chief investment office

Source: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/banking/article3853350.ece

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Younger GOP voters support diverse candidates, poll finds

Melissa Daniels, PA INDEPENDENT

Last updated: Tuesday, August 27, 2013, 11:24 AM

HARRISBURG?? Those darn kids.

In the Republican Party, it?s the ?young crowd that?s pushing for diversity, a hot topic after last year?s elections.

Pew Research?found a majority of Republican voters?of all ages think the party could be more successful in national elections with more women and minority candidates, a view held by a larger share of voters 18 to 39.

About 64 percent of voters in that age group think more women nominees would help the GOP fare better in national elections, compared to 46 percent of voters 40 or older who share that view.

And about 68 percent of younger Republican voters think more racial and ethnic minorities would help the party, versus 49 percent of those 40 and older.

Young voters with an open mind about the types of candidates they?d like to see means parties may adjust their selections to win over this ever-growing demographic. But as a?report from the?College Republicans,??Grand Old Party for a Brand New Generation,? concludes, it?s about more than just fitting the mold.

?To shed the brand of being old-fashioned, the GOP need not just find young candidates who can make pop culture references with ease,? the report said. ?Instead, candidates need to be able to show that they understand the problems young people face when it comes to economic opportunity and have a plan to break down the barriers that are standing in their way.?

As Republicans look to 2014 as an opportunity to take control of the U.S. Senate, candidate choices could become crucial in whether the party is successful.?Recent history shows voters are increasingly open to supporting congressional candidates who don?t fit political stereotypes: In 2011,?Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., became the first Republican to join the?Congressional Black Caucus since 1997,??and the current Congress has 20 female senators, the most in the nation?s history,

BREAKDOWN: This chart, compiled by Pew Research, show the age breakdown of GOP voter views on types of candidates.

In Pennsylvania, the Republican Party has no female representatives at the national level. Inside the state House, the?House Republican?caucus has slightly more women than the?Democrat?caucus ? about 19 percent compared to 17 percent, accounting for the 19-seat edge held by the GOP.

In the Senate, three female senators in the Republican Party compare with five across the aisle, making up 11 percent of the caucus versus about 22 percent.

In total, 17. 8 percent of the?General Assembly?are women, per the?Center for Women and Politics?at?Chatham University.

Dovetailing with this diversity are active, young voters.

Whether the Republican Party listens to its younger iteration, though, may depend on how much they think those voters will turn out. According to Pew, about a third of the party?s voters are younger than 40.

Those voters, though, appear to want to see the tent open up to more nontraditional Republicans. About 45 percent of younger Republicans say the party is not ?tolerant and open to all groups of people,? compared to 32 percent of older Republicans who share that view.

Pew?s research drew from a study conducted July 17-21, among 1,480 adults, including 497 Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters.

Dana Brown, executive director of the?Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics?at?Chatham University, said the Pew results are good news, because state parties may eventually choose more diverse candidates in response to voters? desires.

In the past, parties, or even prospective female candidates themselves, may have held off out of fear of the ?sexist voter? bias. But Brown?s research and others in the field show that?s not true, she said.

?When women do run for seats,? she said, ?they tend to win or lose as t the same rates as men.?

They also prove to fundraise just as well as men, she said.

Despite this, picking non-traditional candidates may still be a slow change. The GOP, just like the Democrats, have to contend with closed primaries in Pennsylvania that typically see higher turnout from older, more traditional wings of the party ? and the candidate selection process typically keeps that in mind, Brown said.

?Right now, as parties control a number of the nominating and gatekeeping aspects for candidate selection, it?ll still be a challenge to see some major changes quickly,? Brown said.

So while Republicans may continue to look to the party to break the mold, it still likely to take some time ? at least until these young Republicans, and young Democrats, for that matter, can call their own shots.

Contact Melissa Daniels at melissa@paindependent.com

Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/Younger_GOP_voters_support_diverse_candidates_poll_finds.html

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Randomized Treatments May Be More Effective at Stopping Disease Outbreaks

Mathematicians have found that by varying the timing of treatments, doctors may be able to increase the odds that a disease outbreak will die off suddenly

By Calla Cofield

Although vaccinations tend to trickle in over many months, randomness in treatment schedules may actually help manage a disease outbreak. Image: iStockphoto

• 

  Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

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Herding cats is a cakewalk compared with getting people to take flu vaccine shots in the last weeks of summer?work, school, limited pharmacy hours, beach days and countless other factors conspire to interfere. As a result, vaccinations tend to trickle in over many months. Rather than resisting this tendency, some mathematicians now think that public health officials may one day embrace it. A bit of randomness in treatment schedules may actually help manage a disease outbreak.

This conclusion comes from an analysis of treatment options in infectious disease outbreaks through the lens of complexity theory, which attempts to make sense of systems that are fundamentally unpredictable. Researchers using complexity theory to study disease outbreaks have identified rare instances when the outbreak will die out suddenly. Say, for instance, health workers administer antibiotics to fight an outbreak of bacterial meningitis, causing infections to decline. A classic disease model would suggest that every infected person must be isolated and treated before the disease can die out. But complexity theory shows that occasionally, the disease will die out due to random and unpredictable factors.

Such a ?random extinction event? is impossible to predict, but new research shows that judicious timing of treatments can increase the odds of one occurring. Knowing how to vary them to make random extinction events more likely could be particularly helpful in developing nations, where pharmaceutical supplies are often limited and treatments are not available year-round, but are given in bursts a certain number of times per year. This is often the case when an aid organization administers treatments remotely.

Ira Schwartz, an applied mathematician and physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and his colleagues utilized a computer simulation that models the general behavior of infectious diseases in a population of 8,000 people. The simulation took into account the element of randomness and compared the outcome of two different scenarios: one in which treatment is delivered at regular intervals in time and another at random intervals. They compared these two scenarios for infectious diseases such as bacterial meningitis, venereal disease and plague, which are treated largely with antibiotics.

The results show that in cases where treatment bursts could only be administered between two and eight times per year, the random schedule created an exponential decrease in the time to a random extinction event: in other words, a disease died out faster. ?The research demonstrates why randomized treatment schedules work,? says Schwartz, a co-author on the paper, which was published in PLoS ONE in August.

In 2008 Schwartz co-authored another paper that used similar models to test the effect of random vaccination on incoming members of the population (infants), and showed similar decreases in disease extinction time.

In the new paper the researchers speculate that if disease treatments are delivered twice per year, six months apart, a disease may have time to regain strength between doses. In a random schedule, however, those doses might come closer together, increasing the likelihood that the second dose would attack the disease while the latter is in a weakened state. Such a one?two punch increases the possibility that a random extinction event will occur. (Although researchers can calculate the odds of such an event, they remain ultimately unpredictable.) For this reason, the researchers conclude that when resources are limited, treatment should be distributed to a larger percentage of the population in a few random, closely distributed pulses, rather than many smaller pulses distributed to fewer people.

With more research into the random interplay between treatment and disease, it is possible scientists will provide more suggestions for how to best administer treatments, particularly in locations where supplies and manpower are limited.

Charles Doering, acting director of the Center for the Study of Complex Systems at the University of Michigan, says Schwartz?s team is one of few groups exploring how randomness in treatment schedules can affect infectious disease progress. Although the researchers used well-established models of how diseases spread and survive in human populations, their mathematical techniques for taking randomness into account, developed from quantum mechanics, is difficult to apply to disease models. ?You never quite know,? he says. ?If you changed any of the structure of the model, maybe the conclusions would change.? But the work may inspire further investigation with larger computer simulations or laboratory experiments that test these theories on live populations of microorganisms. ?This gives a starting point; a working hypothesis to investigate,? he adds.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/ScientificAmerican-News/~3/ZzFkZodP3w8/article.cfm

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Wordless Wednesday: What are you looking at?

About the Author: DNLee is a biologist and she studies animal behavior, mammalogy, and ecology . She uses social media, informal experiential science experiences, and draws from hip hop culture to share science with general audiences, particularly under-served groups. Follow on Twitter @DNLee5.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/basic-science/~3/jJknQ802nDw/post.cfm

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When to strike: Syria timing is complex for Obama

FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama pauses while speaking at Henninger High School in Syracuse, N.Y. The launch of a highly anticipated strike on Syria could make for awkward timing. Few doubt that Obama is preparing for a U.S.-led military action to retaliate for what the U.S. and its allies say was a deadly chemical weapons attack perpetrated by the Syrian government. But there are few good options for when to attack. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama pauses while speaking at Henninger High School in Syracuse, N.Y. The launch of a highly anticipated strike on Syria could make for awkward timing. Few doubt that Obama is preparing for a U.S.-led military action to retaliate for what the U.S. and its allies say was a deadly chemical weapons attack perpetrated by the Syrian government. But there are few good options for when to attack. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Preparations for a highly anticipated strike on Syria could lead to an awkward decision on timing.

Few doubt that President Barack Obama is preparing for a U.S.-led military action to retaliate for what the U.S. and its allies say was a deadly chemical weapons attack perpetrated by the Syrian government. But there are few good options for when to attack.

Wednesday, for example, would make for an uncomfortable juxtaposition of themes: On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Obama pays tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of the nonviolent leader's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Thursday is also problematic. That's when British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to convene an emergency meeting of Parliament, where lawmakers are expected to vote on a motion clearing the way for Britain to respond to the alleged chemical weapons attack.

Days later, on Tuesday, Obama embarks on an overseas trip that will take him away from the White House for most of the week.

Would Obama really want to be running a military operation from Sweden? Or from Russia, which vigorously opposes action against Syria?

Compounding the pressure, some lawmakers and allies are urging Obama to proceed slowly and seek U.N. Security Council approval, while others are imploring the president to act quickly and decisively. After all, Obama's response earlier this year after the U.S. first concluded that Syrian President Bashar Assad had used chemical weapons was criticized as too little, too late.

"The longer you wait, the less meaningful it becomes," said Barry Pavel, a former top national security official in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations.

Lawmakers from both political parties have called on Obama to consult Congress before taking action ? a step the White House says is now underway. Obama also is seeking buy-in from Western allies such as Britain and France, and from regional organizations like the 22-member Arab League, which has signaled its interest in justice for victims of the alleged chemical weapons attacks and blamed the Syrian regime.

But those consultations, too, limit the haste with which the U.S. can act without going it alone.

Britain added another wrinkle to the deliberations Wednesday by saying it would seek a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing steps to protect Syrian civilians, although Britain's foreign secretary said the world has a responsibility to act even if the resolution fails; Russia is all but certain to veto it.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged against immediate military action, saying U.N. inspectors need four more days to complete their work before evidence can be analyzed and then presented to the Security Council.

Although Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the U.S. military is in position to strike as soon as Obama gives the order, the administration has yet to release a promised intelligence report formally linking Assad to the attack. That report would provide a key rationale and underpinning for the administration's assertion that a game-changing response was warranted.

The report could be released as early as Wednesday, the same day as Obama's speech marking the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.

A successful vote Thursday in Britain's Parliament would mark the start of short window that national security experts say could be a less awkward time for Obama to act. But a senior administration official said once Obama decides on what action to take, he won't delay the decision because of outside factors or competing events.

Obama, on Tuesday, will travel to Stockholm for his first visit as president to Sweden. The Northern European nation has claimed a position of neutrality in international conflicts for about 200 years.

Two days later, he heads to St. Petersburg, Russia, for the Group of 20 economic summit with leading foreign counterparts. A major conference intended to focus on wonky issues like tax evasion and monetary policy could easily be subsumed by a military incursion in a Mideast hot spot embroiling the U.S. and potentially other G-20 nations.

What's more, Russia, the host of the summit, is staunchly backing Assad and would be among the most vocal opponents of a military strike in Syria. An American-led attack on Assad's forces while world leaders meet in Russia would be a major embarrassment for the Kremlin, and would deliver yet another blow to shaky relations between Russia and the U.S., already at a low point since the recent U.S. decision to cancel a bilateral meeting between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The president has to be prepared for a lot of tension and a high degree of awkwardness," said Nikolas Gvosdev, a national security professor at the U.S. Naval War College.

Despite the messy optics, Obama's foreign travel next week will not be a factor in his decision about when to act, said the administration official, who wasn't authorized to discuss internal deliberations publicly and requested anonymity. The main factor in when an action starts will be how long it takes to get it off the ground once Obama makes the call. An increase in foreign assistance, for example, would take a while to ramp up, while a military action could be ordered right away.

There's precedent for Obama to take military action while outside the U.S. It was in Brazil in 2011 when Obama, on a five-day Latin America swing, authorized limited military action against Libya to counter Moammar Gadhafi's assault on his own people.

U.S. officials say a response most likely would involve sea-launched cruise missile attacks on Syrian military targets. Logistical and military considerations could also play a role in determining when the U.S. and others take action. Military experts and U.S. officials said strikes probably would come during the night, a strategy that could help minimize civilian casualties.

___

Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-08-28-US-United-States-Syria-Timing/id-1b8781e9c4f84423ae740f261592d163

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Celebrity Branding Online: Five Keys to a Powerful Internet Presence

The internet is an incredible tool for small businesses. We have worked closely with dozens of business owners who have used the internet to leverage their personal brand and their expertise in order to create a powerful CelebrityExpert? brand.

And the good news is that today?s technology makes it easier than ever for a business to create an internet presence. But, while it may be easy to ?get up and running?, there?s still a lot of work that goes into creating an appealing and engaging personal brand. Today, we?re going to look at five key components of a powerful online presence. How are you doing with each of these?

1) Create a branded, engaging website. It?s not enough for a business website today to simply contain a list of information and perhaps a phone number. An effective website must be engaging and compelling. That means understanding your target market enough to ?hook? them ? and it means creating a site that reflects your expertise and the brand you are creating.

2) Remember that it all comes back to providing value. ?Value? is the magic word. If your website, your blogs, your articles, and your social media presence don?t provide value to your audience, they will be ignored. Use these platforms to share breaking news, analyze recent developments, and provide practical tips to your audience.

3) Leverage email marketing. Social media is one great way to engage your audience ? but it only works when they?re online and using social media themselves. Email marketing, on the other hand, gives you the opportunity to consistently interact with your customers and your market as long as they are checking their email inbox. (And these days, who isn?t??) Remember to focus on providing value in order to keep your readers engaged.

4) Give away ?freebies? in order to build your list. Your email marketing campaigns are a great way to stay top-of-mind with your customers and to keep your market aware of what you are offering. But if you don?t have any email addresses to send to, what does it matter? One of the most effective ways to build a targeted email list is by offering free content, such as e-books, special reports, video seminars, and so forth. Simply require that the user give you their email address in order to access the content. Promote these freebies on your website and through social media, and you will see your email list start to grow steadily.

5) Use pictures and video to tell your story. You know the saying ? a picture is worth 1,000 words. And a video is even more powerful. The simple truth is that pictures and video are far more engaging than pages and pages of text. So embrace it! Create a video introducing yourself and welcoming people to your site. Share pictures and video of your team at work. Post pictures of your latest products. Take advantage of visual media to keep your audience engaged.

Questions or comments? Feel free to get in touch with me or any of the Agents at our Agency to learn more!

Source: http://www.celebritybrandingagency.com/blog/celebrity-branding-online-five-keys-to-a-powerful-internet-presence.php

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Unofficial Orientation Series: Middletown Eateries, Part 2 | Wesleying

You?re probably stuffed full after beccahope?s list of Middletown Eateries, but that was only Part One. Only amateurs stop eating after Part One, because obviously Part Two is more delicious and has funnier pictures. By the time this list is done with you, you?re going to be an expert on Middletown, CT?s wonderful array of om nom nommeries. Check out the glorious Part Two after the jump!

Once again, we price restaurants on a precise $ to $$$ scale. In the case that we?re still missing your favorite place, please let us know in the comments so it can get added in next year?s addition! We poor Wesleying writers can?t afford to try every place around, but we?d sure like to!

Anoho:?Asian fusion, $

I could wax poetic about Anoho for pages. Anoho = Asian Noodle House, and they do not let you down. The owner is extremely Wes-friendly and gives a nice 10% or so discount for students, making this hella cheap and high quality option even more appealing. Let?s get the non-noodle stuff out of the way: Anoho?s sushi is well priced and pretty filling, and their sushi lunch specials are some of the best I?ve seen; and their menu also offers more mainstream Chinese, Japanese, and some Thai dishes. But what you will want are bubble teas and noodles. If you haven?t had bubble teas yet, you?re in for a treat? essentially they?re iced, fruity flavored drinks (I prefer milk bubble tea over the regular fruit ones, but it doesn?t matter a whole lot) with tapioca ?bubbles? for added deliciousness. Just try it. The noodle dishes are essentially make-your-own, with a menu of noodles, sauces, and meats/vegetarian options for you to choose from: anything from pad thai to yellow curry to szechuan sauces, with rice noodles, lo mein, and chow fun (wide noodles that are my personal fave). Go crazy. My friends and I come here more than any other restaurant, and for good reason: We are always satisfied, and very often we have a huge amount of leftovers.

Javapalooza Sweet Harmony Caf? and Bakery:?coffee shop, $$

Javapalooza is dead. Long live Sweet Harmony. Javapalooza, like Klekelo, was where you went for coffee that?s not whatever Pi Cafe is serving. Now, replaced by a relocated local bakery and caf?, the now-Sweet Harmony seems to do just about the same thing, except without many drinks and with lots and lots of food. beccahope?and I were dismayed when we found out about the change, because Javapalooza was damn good.?It was one of my favorite places in town to chill and maybe get some work done, because the couches were comfortable and the background music playlist was top notch. Sweet Harmony is only just getting off the ground, so I haven?t been there yet, but they have an extensive menu of sandwiches, salads, and obviously desserts and baked goods. As long as they keep their music the same, it?s probably still worth checking out.

La Boca:?Mexican style, $$

Middletown is filled with delicious places to get your fill. La Boca is one of the more popular restaurants, and rightfully so: the more Americanized Mexican food is good, and the ambiance too. Their lunch specialties are killer, and although their dinner options are a little more pricey, the selection is not to be scoffed at, and apparently their burritos are quite filling. And don?t forget the wide assortment of drinks.They changed to a nice new location on Main Street, with more space for activities like in-house music performances. As a bonus, La Boca regularly hosts fun events during the week, such as open mike nights and Trivia Tuesday on (you guessed it) Tuesday nights.

Iguanas Ranas:?Mexican, $

Let?s break it down: Really, really delicious and really, really authentic Mexican food. Iguanas is another hole-in-the-wall eatery, an informal taqueria, smaller and a lot different from La Boca, which some would count as more mainstream fare.?Iguanas Ranas has the real deal, and it?s pretty cheap too: all kinds of tacos imaginable, tortas (Mexican sandwiches), burritos, you name it, mostly without any frills. But you can also order specials loaded with all sorts of creative (read: awesome) sauces.

Thai Garden:?Thai, $$

One of the most popular Thai restaurants in Middletown, Thai Garden has?affordable prices, a kick-ass Pad Thai, and (reportedly) a free Thai iced-tea drink if you present a WesID. Middletown Cash is accepted here, so use your card for this instead of laundry, which is really less fun than panang curry.

Haveli India:?Indian, $$

Haveli is probably one of the best restaurants in Middletown, and has one of the best reputation among students. Good Indian food is necessary for many of us to even make it through the semester, and Haveli is pretty well priced, which makes it the go-to catering option for a lot of events at Wesleyan.?Haveli is a sit-down Indian restaurant about a ten-minute drive from campus down South Main St. The restaurant itself is a very warm and cozy set of dining rooms in an old little inn right on the road. They also serve a lunch buffet matching their dinner for quality, which is saying a lot. You can look at about $15 or $20 dollars per person all told, depending how many you bring along with you (protip for amateur group eaters: the more people you bring, the less it costs, and a good way of ordering Indian is ordering one less dish than you have in your party). Don?t worry about being hungry: it?s lot of food and almost no one finishes their plate. Don?t forget to order naan.

Mondo?s Pizza: Gourmet pizza, $$$

Mondo?s is a short walk away from campus and a good use of your time and Middletown cash. When you?re tired of ordering Dominos pizza, Mondo?s has the more gourmet alternative? which also means it?s sort of pricey. Bring a few friends along, however, and it?s totally worth it: I recommend splitting a few of the smaller pizzas, mixing up between the Mondo Bianco (white sauce pizza with spinach or broccoli covered with ricotta & mozzarella,?garlic and fresh basil) and something of your own creation (sun dried tomato tastes good on everything). I have friends who like their paninis and pastas, but I go there to get my pizza on. If you have a large party, you might want to reserve a table because they often get pretty busy.

Neon Deli:?Deli, $

Neon Deli is not technically part of Wesleyan University, but it?s practically an institution, and most likely the most-frequented non-Wes non-mobile food option. Located at the corner of Cross and Vine streets (across from Freeman Athletic Center, practically on campus) and offers great subs/sandwiches and a fair array of grocery-type items. Pro tip: Lobster roll. Even if you?re not eating in (seating is limited and it?s not exactly a dining atmosphere), a lot of people come here to get cooking supplies they can?t get/don?t want to pay for at WesShop. The building in which the deli resides is owned by Wesleyan (the abandoned store to the right used to be Club Liquors but closed a several years ago). The university had planned to turn the whole building into an?expanded WeShop, but it seems those plans have been shelved for the time being.?Some Neon Deli history, courtesy of The Argus. (2013: After a bunch of debate and Wesleyan community outcry, the WSA has withdrawn its proposed tobacco ban resolution, which would ban the sale of tobacco on Wesleyan-owned property, mainly Neon Deli. The Deli is the closest place for students to get cigarettes, and a poll sent out the student body came back with 64% in favor of dropping the ban. If you smoke, you?re welcome. Read more in this Argus article.)

Mikado: Japanese, $$$

Mikado is an underground but upscale place just off of Main Street near Exit 16 (the door is in the back of the buildings on Main Street) that offers an extensive variety of sushi and other Japanese food like udon, soba, and tempura. The booths are pretty comfortable and good for larger parties, but this is not exactly a regular destination for an easy meal. While everything is high quality and well done, the prices are a little prohibitive on a college budget. Maybe a nice place for a date, a fancy birthday celebration, or to make your parents take you out on Homecoming weekend.

Amici:?Italian style, $$$

Just like Luce, Amici offers nice Italian food for a slightly lower price without as strict of a dress code. You?ve got your salads, your paninis, chicken and veal dishes, steaks, a good selection of seafood, and pasta pasta pasta out the wazoo. Amici is located on Main St near the Police Station and the other dozen restaurants in that area. According to my sources, Amici?s bread basket is to die for.

The Nest:?American, $$

Located right next to Junior Village on Church street, the Nest gets pretty busy on Wednesday Bar Nights. On any other night though (or during the day for lunch) it?s not too crowded, and a apparently a fun place to grab some grub. With pretty reasonable prices, The Nest keeps a simple yet varied menu, including sandwiches, pizzas, salads, etc. Your typical American restaurant, really, which is nice to have around. And for when it?s nice outside, there?s a pretty chill patio to eat on, as well as chill bar to grab a beer at if you?re 21+. The artist formerly known as Cardinal?s Nest.

Eli Cannon?s Tap Room:?Restaurant-bar, $$$

I?ve got to leave this to gabzalot to explain: ?For those of you over 21 (especially those who love beer, but even for those who don?t), this place is yet another?must.?Located at the end of the downtown area, it?s a slight walk away from campus, but well worth the trip. Throughout the year, this place rotates through dozens of different ales in order to always have the 36 freshest ones available to you, many of which you have probably never heard of.?Their extensive and ever-changing tap menu tells you where each beer is from and what style it is to help you out. And if you?re still unsure of what (or how) to pick a beer, just ask a waiter and they?ll hook you up with something really good. And what really makes the place is the fabulous indoor decor and the back outdoor patio, so be sure to check both the inside and the outside out. It?s this sort of place that makes being 21 really worth your while??

That?s about the North and South of it, folks. You have four years to explore all of Middletown?s diverse and really quite wonderful, locally-owned restaurants, and there are plenty that even we haven?t covered. Feel free to help add to our list, but this should start you off pretty nicely. Happy eating!

Source: http://wesleying.org/2013/08/26/unofficial-orientation-series-middletown-eateries-part-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=unofficial-orientation-series-middletown-eateries-part-2

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Thin veneer of normalcy in Syria's wartime capital

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Even in the capital of a country torn apart by civil war, Syrians have to find some way to enjoy themselves on a hot summer weekend.

So the pool at a Damascus luxury hotel was packed on a recent afternoon. The children playing in the water paid no attention to the frequent thump of artillery and shells from fighting on the city outskirts.

"This part of Damascus, the center, is like Paris. But beyond that, you don't go," said a 26-year-old bank employee, lounging on the deck with his buddies, who took puffs from a thick cigar they passed among themselves. Like several others who spoke to The Associated Press, he talked on condition he not be identified, wary about drawing the attention of either side in the conflict.

Not that the center is entirely safe. Just a day earlier, a mortar fired by rebels on the city edges landed just a block from the hotel, across the street from a church, knocking a chunk off the balcony of an apartment building. A few days later, on Monday, another mortar hit a neighboring mosque, cracking its minaret and killing a passer-by.

The veneer of normalcy is thin in Damascus, the stronghold of President Bashar Assad's rule, at a time when a conflict that has dragged on more for than 2 1/2 years nears a potentially crucial juncture: possible U.S. and Western airstrikes against the Syrian military in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack last week.

Firmly in the hands of the state and the military, the capital has been spared the widespread destruction wreaked on battle zone cities such as Aleppo and the rebel-held districts on Damascus' outskirts. Instead, the city of around 2 million feels small and hemmed in.

For much of the conflict, it has been cut off from its hinterland, the densely populated towns and villages that surround it in the area known as "Rif Dimashq," or "the Damascus Countryside." Rebels have controlled most of the Rif since last year, and regime forces have launched repeated assaults trying to dislodge them, devastating the area.

Nearly daily last week, military artillery stationed on Qassioun Mountain, the plateau that overlooks the capital from the north, bombarded the rebel-held suburbs east of the capital, just a 20-minute drive from downtown.

The shelling sent booming echoes across the city, raising the occasional plume of smoke in the east. Rebels in the Rif responded with rounds of mortars that fell into Damascus's eastern neighborhoods.

In the middle-class district of East Tijara, a 70-year-old retired government employee looked glumly at the burned-out husk of his 1993 Volvo, which took a direct mortar hit only a half-hour earlier. A hole in the crumpled roof showed the impact, the interior was mangled and charred.

"We'll have to throw it out," he sighed. "It's the only car I have."

The rebel-held area of Jobar is only a few blocks away, on the other side of a main boulevard. Beyond it stretches the East Ghouta region, where last week's alleged chemical attack took place, killing hundreds. There, the destruction is far more extensive.

Once, the Rif Dimashq was intimately linked to the capital. Farms in Ghouta provided much of Damascus' produce and dairy products. Many Damascenes would go on days off to Ghouta for family barbeques in its gardens and fields.

Now, residents of the capital talk of it like a zone of death, where no one dares to go.

"We used to have the life of princes and kings. Better than princes and kings," said Abboud Mardini, who runs a grocery store in East Tijara. "We would go out at 10 p.m., come home at 2 or 3 in the morning. ... Not anymore."

Hanging over everyone are the country's economic woes ? the Syrian pound has dropped in value, to nearly 200 to the dollar in the black market, compared to 50 before the conflict.

That's just one factor fueling inflation. Officials have said industrial and agricultural production has been cut in half because of fighting. Transport around the country has become more difficult, with roads cut off.

Mardini said he used to get the yoghurt he sells from the northern city of Aleppo, but that source has been cut off by the months-long battle for control there between government forces and rebels.

So now he only gets a trickle of supplies from the central city of Hama. And yoghurt that used to go for 60 pounds a canister now goes for 225.

Still, the city maintains a determined liveliness. Damascenes still go out at night to sit at the city's outdoor cafes, particularly in the upper-class districts, which are nestled in central areas more insulated from the outskirts.

But they head home around 10 p.m., cautious of staying out too late.

During the day, traffic is heavy. But in a sign of the conflict, checkpoints are set up on most major intersections and at entrances to each neighborhood, manned by soldiers or civilian defense groups. They search through the lined-up cars, popping open hoods and checking IDs to prevent weapons smuggling or car bombs, which have struck repeatedly in the city's heart.

At one checkpoint at an intersection near the outer district of Qusaa, a young soldier said their position came under fire several weeks ago from rebels who infiltrated into the city, using a building on the other side of a nearby graveyard to shoot down at them. They stormed the building and drove them out, but were unable to catch the rebels, he said.

The soldier, who refused to be identified in accordance with military rules, was a member of Syria's Shiite minority, and said his home village up in the northern province of Idlib, by the Turkish border, was surrounded by rebels.

The city has also been swamped by an influx of Syrians fleeing from war-torn parts of the country, particularly the Rif. Some move in with relatives, while others search for apartments, causing a spike in rents. The poorest set up tents in highway medians and city parks. With little to do, displaced families wander through the city's historic Souq al-Hamediya market.

"They just look, they never buy," said Hassan al-Qadi, a gold-seller in the Souq. His business has plunged as residents concentrate on buying the essentials and avoid luxuries. His main clients now are people who have some extra money they want to protect ? but they buy raw gold from him, not anything with workmanship, so his profit margins are lower.

"It used to be that people bought gold when they got married. But now they just buy the fake stuff," al-Qadi said. "At most they'll buy a ring."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thin-veneer-normalcy-syrias-wartime-capital-204320259.html

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