Syrian civil war at stalemate, Assad won't go: Russia

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's civil war has reached stalemate and international efforts to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to quit will fail, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.

Mainly Sunni Muslim rebels seeking to overthrow Assad are fighting on the edge of the capital Damascus and expanding southwards from their northern strongholds in Aleppo and Idlib into the central province of Hama.

But Assad, from the Alawite minority linked to Shi'ite Islam, has responded with artillery, air strikes and - according to the NATO military alliance which is stationing anti-missile defenses in neighboring Turkey - with Scud-type missiles.

The Kremlin's Middle East envoy was quoted as saying earlier this month that the rebels could defeat Assad's forces and that Moscow was preparing a possible evacuation of Russians, the strongest signs yet that it is preparing for a post-Assad Syria.

That followed concerted calls from Western powers and some Arab countries for Assad to step down before Syria's 21-month-old conflict, which has killed more than 44,000 people according to activists, wreaks more destruction.

But Lavrov said the Syrian president was not about to bow to pressure from opponents or more sympathetic leaders in Moscow and Beijing.

"Listen, no one is going to win this war," he told reporters aboard a government plane en route to Moscow from the Russia-EU summit in Brussels. "Assad is not going anywhere, no matter what anyone says, be it China or Russia."

Lavrov said Russia had rejected requests from countries in the region to pressure Assad to go or offer him safe haven, and warned that his exit might lead to an upsurge in fighting.

He also said Syrian authorities were gathering the country's chemical weapons in one or two areas and that they were "under control" for the time being. "Currently the (Syrian) government is doing all it can to secure (chemical weapons), according to intelligence data we have and the West has," he said.

Western countries said three weeks ago that Assad's government might be preparing to use poison gas to counter rebels who are encamped around his capital and control rural Aleppo and Idlib in the north.

REBEL WARNINGS

In central Hama province, where rebels say they have taken most of the rural territory west of Hama city, fighters threatened to storm two mainly Christian towns which they said Assad's forces were using as bases to attack them.

A video released by the rebels showed seven armed fighters of the Ansar Brigade demanding that residents of Mahrada and al-Suqeilabiya evict Assad's forces.

In Aleppo, rebel leader Colonel Abdel-Jabbar al-Oqaidi said his fighters considered the skies above Aleppo to be a no-fly zone and repeated a warning that they would attack planes using the city's airport.

Snipers fired at an airliner preparing to take off from Aleppo on Thursday, forcing it to abandon its departure.

"The airport was being used as a military airport to transport troops and (Iranian) Revolutionary Guards," Oqaidi told Reuters. "We forbid planes from flying in Syrian air space. We will set up a no-fly zone."

In Damascus, a car bomb killed five people and wounded dozens in the eastern district of Qaboun on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Video footage which activists said was filmed at the site of the explosion showed a white car in flames in the centre of a street filled with concrete rubble and furniture from at least one building which had collapsed.

The British-based Observatory, which monitors violence across Syria through a network of sources on the ground, also reported clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Assad on the southern edge of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, taken over by rebels this week.

Three people were killed by snipers and the army sent reinforcements to the perimeter of Yarmouk, which is described as a camp but in reality is a dense concentration of concrete buildings housing descendants of Palestinians who fled the 1948 fighting at the creation of the state of Israel.

The Observatory says 44,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising erupted against Assad in March last year.

International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who tried in vain to secure a four-day truce in November to mark the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, will visit Syria in the next few days for talks with Assad, a source in the Cairo-based Arab League said.

The source said no date for such a visit had been announced but he expected it would be within a few days. "Lakhdar Brahimi's team does not want to announce the time of the visit too early, perhaps for logistical or security reasons," he said.

(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Aleppo, Alexei Anishchuk in Moscow, Ayman Samir in Cairo; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-target-aleppo-airport-110335105.html

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Gang rape protesters clash with Indian police

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Police in India's capital used tear gas and water cannons for a second day Sunday in a high-security zone to break up protests by thousands of people demonstrating against the gang rape and beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus.

Police chased angry protesters with batons some of whom fought pitched battles with steel rods and rocks as they tried to get past steel barricades and a wall created by hundreds of policemen to reach the president's mansion to present their demands. "We want justice," they shouted.

Television footage showed that some protesters were injured in the clashes.

The protesters made bonfires and damaged cars and police vehicles.

Police blamed the violence on hooligans. "A peaceful protest by people has been taken over by hooligans," Dharmendra Kumar, a senior police officer, told reporters. He urged people to go home to help police deal with the trouble makers.

The demonstrations continued Sunday despite Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde promising to consider their main demand for death penalties for all six suspects who have been arrested by police following the Dec. 16 attack.

Shinde said Saturday night that the government was taking steps to better ensure the safety of women.

A group of protesters met Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, and her son and lawmaker Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday and demanded a speedy trial of the suspects.

Popular yoga guru Babar Ramdev stood on the roof of a bus and pledged support to the protesters. "The government must set up fast-track courts to punish the offenders in rape attacks," he said.

The attack one week ago has sparked days of protests across the country. The victim is recovering from injuries in a New Delhi government hospital but is still in critical condition.

After battling the protesters throughout the day on Saturday, authorities early on Sunday banned their entry into the high-security zone, which also houses the offices of the prime minister and defense, home and external affairs ministries. Police evicted dozens of protesters who had spent the night there.

However, as groups of protesters marched through the streets of New Delhi and began converging on the high-security area on Sunday, authorities withdrew the ban on the assembly of more than five people there. But it set up barricades to keep them away from the president's residence.

Protesters tried to break the police cordon repeatedly by hurling stones and water bottles and pressing against the steel barricades. Policemen responded by firing tear gas and using water cannons against them. The battle continued throughout the day.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gang-rape-protesters-clash-indian-police-134049182.html

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Video Marketing ? Mantra For Successful Internet ... - Barber Software

Posted on | December 22, 2012 | Category: Articles| No Comments

Video marketing is the future of Internet marketing. If you are marketing and promoting products or services online, you need to pay attention on using videos online!

Why video marketing is so popular?

The reason is simple? ?Seeing is Believing!? With videos, people can actually see you in person and hear your voice. Therefore, there is a feeling of closeness as you appear and talk in front of them. This also helps to build trust and communication between you and your audience. Basically, people prefer to watch and listen rather than reading a long text.

However, video marketing is easier said than done? because creating and preparing a video can be quite challenging. You need to invest in some expensive video editing software and you also need to have media marketing skill. That?s why video marketing is still considered as an expensive online marketing or advertising campaign.

But fortunately, there is a brand new technology that allows people (even the total beginners) to create high quality videos easily, cheaply and quickly. That new video marketing technology is known as Easy Video Player 2.0 (now in version 2.0 with a lot of new and more powerful features). This technology is going to level the video marketing playing field for all online business owners. A complete beginner who has never created a video before can now use this tool or technology to create quality videos easily and quickly. I have written a full review for this product, if you are interested in learning more about this product, you can access the link in my author?s resource box at the end of this article.

If you are selling products or services online and you are not using videos, then I think you are losing out big time from your competitors who do! Your competitors would have an upper hand over you if they use videos in their marketing messages and you don?t.

Another great benefit of video marketing is that it has the tendency to be ?viral?.
A recent study shows that more than half of the people who watch a good video end up sharing the clips with friends through email or social networking sites. This will help spread your messages virally on the web.

As the internet technology has advanced, text and pictures are gradually being replaced by audio and video. It is an extremely powerful medium that many online marketers are now using to literally catapult their online businesses into success.

In the Easy Video Player 2.0 Review, I give you a detailed run-down of what this technology is all about, how it can help you create videos quickly, how it can help you improve your business and who would greatly benefit from this technology.

Below are some of the benefits you are going to get from Easy Video Player 2.0 :

** A surefire method for profiting online by leveraging the power of video marketing.

** A new video marketing technology that has helped thousands of businesses to improve their bottom lines.

** How to setup a free profit pulling video in literally minutes and how you can turn that one video into a constant flood of targeted website visitors and a potential long term income stream.

** The proven system for driving serious amounts of targeted visitors to your profit pulling website.

** Discover one secret technique that almost no one is teaching that can increase your traffic almost overnight!

** And much more?

I hope by now I have managed to convince you how powerful is video marketing for improving your business. Again, remember to go and check out Easy Video Player 2.0 and take advantage of the power of video marketing before your competitors do. Thanks for reading this article.

If you really want to learn more about video marketing and how to use it to grow your business online, go and read this article: Easy Video Player 2.0. I also recommend you to read the Zero Down Traffic Blueprint article.

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Author is an executive with internet marketing software. More information on http://www.aprimo.com/Solutions_B2C.aspx?id=4>Internet Marketing Solution is available on website.
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Source: http://barbersoftware.com/2012/12/video-marketing-mantra-for-successful-internet-marketing/

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We Can Often Tell What Tattoos Mean, But What Do Body Piercings ...

As a society, are we too quick to judge people who have body piercings and tattoos. Although I don?t have any personally, and no one in my immediate family seems to, that I know about, it does appear that there is a negative stigma, that shouldn?t really exist. I have a few reasons for believing this, one is I think it is human nature, as we?ve noted with tribal people, and many of our ancestors. Secondly, individuality should be garnered as a positive in our society, not a negative. Okay so let?s talk.

Something has come to my attention recently which is somewhat bothersome, it appears that the FBI wants to figure out what tattoos mean about a person?s personality, and what type of tattoos are certain people with certain personalities more likely to get. That seems problematic to me. No, I am not for Iris scans, fingerprinting the whole world, or all this Facebook recognition technology on the social networks on the Internet either. I know for a fact from reading research papers that the human iris changes over one?s life based on their health condition, their diet, exposure to UV radiation, and all sorts of other things as well.

?What does your tattoo say about you? The FBI wants to know,? was the title of an article appearing in NextGov Online News on July 17, 2012 posted by Aliya Sternstein which stated;

?The FBI is working with police tech vendors and local police to interpret the symbolism of tattoos to catch crooks and terrorists. This will be added to Iris and Facial Recognition, they already have fingerprint data. The mass collection of multiple biometric markers, potentially including vocal tracks and handwriting samples, has upset immigrant communities who say the FBI and DHS are misusing the technology to deport innocent people.?

Still, isn?t this stereotyping? It seems us citizens are not allowed to stereotype as that is considered a no-no, political correct, and lord help us if we make an inappropriate comment; can you say hate crime? And yet, the government is instituting profiling and stereotyping of anyone who is different, treating them as if they are the evil joker in a Batman movie. Why are we stereotyping, and what does all this mean. Someone with no tattoos could just as well turn out to be a criminal, as someone who does have tattoos.

Some people might say that those who don?t have tattoos are more integrated into society, and are less likely do a crime, but as soon as we say that, we are attacking a minority that we very much need, that minority believes in individuality, and they are exercising their freedom of expression. That?s a good thing, that?s what the US stands for, and we need more people who believe that. We do not need a society that looks like the Borg, yuk, where everyone is the same, and no one dares to step out of line, or wear a bright color unless it is Friday. You see my point? Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you?ve enjoyed today?s discussion and topic. http://www.worldthinktank.net/ ? Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.

Source: http://www.huntingbynight.com/we-can-often-tell-what-tattoos-mean-but-what-do-body-piercings-say-about-you-ask-the-fbi/

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Immigrants Welcomed: A City Sees Economic Promise | New ...

If there's one common language that some recent immigrants in Dayton, Ohio, seem to share, it's soccer.

The first Dayton World Soccer Games kicked off earlier this year, an initiative hosted by the city to welcome an influx of immigrants. On the field, a rainbow of brightly colored jerseys represented nearly 20 of the different immigrant communities in the city.

"I've been really surprised to see that there's a lot of soccer going on in Dayton," says Adolphe Bizwinayo, who left Rwanda as a refugee.

The sport, he says, has been instrumental in his transition to the unfamiliar city.

"It just brings this joy, like we are home ... like how we used to play soccer back at home when we would play for hours and hours," Bizwinayo says.

That kind of response is exactly why the city launched Welcome Dayton last year ? a strategy to help immigrants ease into American life. City Manager Tim Riordan credits two reasons for the adopted framework: It was the right thing to do, he says, and immigrants were needed to help restore the battered city's economy.

"I saw immigrants doing things in the neighborhoods," Riordan says. "They were buying really inexpensive houses and fixing them up. I heard stories from hardware owners where the immigrants would come and buy one window at a time to fix up their house as they got money."

An Investment In The Community

Riordan says changing Dayton's culture is an investment in the city. One section of the city, for example, is now entirely designated as an immigrant business zone, and police can check immigration statuses only when suspicious of a serious crime.

Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, says the relationship between cities and immigrants is certainly evolving.

"What's good about the Dayton program is the way that leaders in those communities talk about immigrants and talk about them as a positive force and contributing," she says.

In fact, a Brookings study finds that immigrants are 30 percent more likely to form new businesses than U.S.-born citizens, which is good news for a city like Dayton, which has been bleeding jobs and population for decades.

Legal Immigrants, That Is

Not everyone, however, is a fan of the city's new approach. Steve Salvi runs the Cleveland-based Ohio Jobs and Justice PAC, a group focused on illegal immigration. He says officials are relying on a naive myth that immigrants will be the saviors of Dayton.

"I think what the city needs to do is focus on helping native residents and make the city a place where people want to come and start a business if they're immigrants or native-born," Salvi says.

One of his largest concerns is that Dayton could become a sanctuary city, a place harboring illegal immigrants.

City Manager Riordan, however, maintains that the term immigrant is not synonymous with illegal. "Frankly, the good people of Dayton didn't have that kind of attitude," he says. "It was the people from outside of Dayton. I got emails from outside Wyoming and Montana telling us what to do, and I was like, 'Eh, that's not your business.' "

The real thrust of the plan focuses on legal immigrants, Riordan adds. For instance, the city wants to help people like Francis Matias, who worked hard to get his Puerto Rican restaurant, Antojitos, off the ground.

"In other states, it's harder. They're following immigrants and they're treated like criminals. Here, it's great," Matias says in his kitchen.

Other cities, however, are now falling into line with Dayton. Tucson, Ariz., and Salt Lake City, for example, are among those also making it official policy to welcome immigrants and help them feel at home.

Source: http://www.nhpr.org/post/immigrants-welcomed-city-sees-economic-promise

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Will Obama include his Hollywood supporters in the discussion about repairing a culture that ?glorifies guns and violence?? (Michellemalkin)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/272424867?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Santa for Children With Autism ? Health Hub from Cleveland Clinic

We?re all familiar with the holiday shopping mall scene: Bright lights, bag-toting crowds, gaggles of excited kids, blaring holiday music and over-the-top decorations.

Most of us think it?s festive, or if not, tolerable. But to a kid with autism, it can be terrifying. The lights, colors and sounds can cause sensory overload. Add a loud stranger in bright red clothes and strange white beard? and this can overwhelm children with autism, as well as mom and dad.

But these children don?t have to be denied the fun of this old holiday tradition. With some planning, parents can offer them a satisfying experience with Santa, says Francine Dimitriou, Assistant Director of School Programs, Lerner School for Autism at Cleveland Clinic Children?s Hospital.

She offers 5 tips for making the?trek to see Santa?a?merry one:

1. Paint a mental picture of what the trip will be like

Take some of the anxiety out of the trip by helping your child understand what to expect. Create a story about their visit with Santa and spell out everything step-by-step. Use short sentences and pictures to show them how they will get to Santa and what will happen once they meet him.

2. Print out a schedule for the day

Create a schedule and share it with your child to help prepare him or her. In the schedule, show when the visit with Santa will occur in relation to the regular events of the day. This will help your child to anticipate the change in his or her routine.

3. Offer a reward for behaving well during the trip

Encourage your child to be patient and well-mannered by offering an incentive for good behavior, whether it?s a toy, treat or privilege immediately after the visit with Santa. This helps motivate children to cooperate and gets them in the right mindset for a positive experience.

4. Plan ahead

Before your visit with your child, call or visit on your own and ask critical questions: What are the best times?to visit? Can your child be placed at the front of the line? Can Santa and his staff take special measures to accommodate your child?s needs?

5. Be open to other options

Kids with autism vary in their tolerance of new places and people. If a trip to a crowded mall does not work for your child, consider a visit with Santa at a church, local organization or school. Or with a red suit and a hat, you can bring Santa right into your own living room. Also, some communities offer ?Sensitive Santa,? a low-key experience with a Santa trained in working with children with autism. You could check to see if this is an option near you.

No matter how you approach a visit with Santa, it?s important to consider your own child?s tolerance for different environments and plan accordingly, Dimitriou says. Respecting your child?s own tolerance level will go a long way in creating a positive, memorable experience.

Source: http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2012/12/a-santa-for-children-with-autism/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-santa-for-children-with-autism

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