Kids in restaurants can be a touchy topic

Kids in restaurants can be a touchy topic. But it doesn’t have to be.

We come together here at Best of the Big A not to share stories of nice meals spoiled by unruly children — be it someone else’s, or even your own.

Instead, we want parents to share their expertise: Which restaurants in metro Atlanta are the best places to take kids?

Sure, there’s McDonalds and Pizza Hut and all. Those are no-brainers. Think broader. Are there restaurants with special children’s menus that are particularly tasty? Places where the waitrons go the extra mile? Restaurants with food that kids seem to love (hellooo, mac and cheese). How about something crazy, like taking them to a Korean barbecue joint?

We’re looking for nominations for real restaurants, and why they’re worthy.
Read more…

August 21st, 2008 by Muslim Rahman | No Comments »

Competitiveness Forum shows how international Atlanta has become

Heads of state, business and academic leaders as well as government dignataries are in Atlanta for the second annual Americas Competitiveness Forum today and tomorrow.

At the opening session, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez welcomed about 1,000 people who had come to Atlanta from “Canada to the Southern most tip of our hemisphere.”

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin told the group: “What is good for one of us is good for all of us.”

And then the conference took on an international flavor.

The panel of media professionals all spoke to the group in Spanish.

(The moderator, CNN Espanol anchor Alberto Padillo did open with a funny comment in English. “Sec. Gutierrez first tried to get Lou Dobbs, but he wasn’t available. For those of you who don’t know Lou Dobbs, I really don’t recommend him.” Dobbs often uses his pulpit on CNN to rail against illegal immigration). Read more…

August 21st, 2008 by Muslim Rahman | No Comments »

Success in college football just as dependent on opponents

Success in college football can be just as dependent on opponents avoided as opponents defeated. Hey, the road with fewer potholes is the road more easily traveled.

Creative scheduling can ensure three or four non-conference victories, but once league play begins, championship aspirations and bowl appearances can be enhanced by the luck of the draw.

That’s not an issue in the Big East and Pac-10, which play round-robin conference schedules. But in the Big 12, Big Ten, ACC and SEC, the schedule can be a distinct advantage.
Read more…

August 21st, 2008 by Muslim Rahman | No Comments »

Olympics: Usain Bolt broke the world record of 200 meters

Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the world record by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds Wednesday night, becoming the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 gold medals at an Olympics.

Bolt is the first man ever to break the world marks in both sprints at an Olympics. Not even Lewis or Jesse Owens managed that.

Showing what he can do when he runs at full speed all the way through the finish—something he hadn’t done yet in the Beijing Games—Bolt eclipsed the old record of 19.32 seconds set by Michael Johnson in Atlanta in 1996.

Bolt was an astonishing 0.52 seconds ahead of Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles, who was second across the finish line but later was disqualified after a U.S. team protest that he had run out of his lane. The third man across the line, Wallace Spearmon of the United States, also was disqualified for leaving his lane. Read more…

August 21st, 2008 by Muslim Rahman | No Comments »

Israeli baby who was pronounced dead by doctors

The baby, weighing only 600 grams at birth, spent at least five hours inside one of the hospital’s refrigerated storage units, before her parents, who had taken her to be buried, began noticing some movement.

“We unwrapped her and felt she was moving. We didn’t believe it at first. Then she began holding my mother’s hand, and then we saw her open her mouth,” said 26-year-old Faiza Magdoub, the baby’s mother.

The baby was pronounced dead several hours earlier, after doctors at Western Galilee hospital in northern Israel were forced to abort her mother’s pregnancy because of internal bleeding. Magdoub was 23 weeks into her pregnancy.

“We don’t know how to explain this, so when we don’t know how to explain things in the medical world we call it a miracle, and this is probably what happened,” hospital deputy director Moshe Daniel said. Read more…

August 21st, 2008 by Muslim Rahman | No Comments »

A security guard spotted monkey near ticket gates in Shibuya

Morning train commuters in Tokyo were joined on their way to work by an unusual companion Wednesday: a wild monkey. A security guard spotted the monkey near ticket gates in Shibuya Station, said Norihiru Masui, a spokesman for train operator Tokyu Corp.

The monkey climbed to a perch high atop a departure board, and around 30 policemen surrounded the area and attempted to snare it with a variety of nets, as commuters crowded around and snapped pictures with their cell phones.

The standoff ended when the monkey climbed down and dashed out of the station, with several policeman and local TV crews in tow. News reports said the monkey was last seen heading in the direction of nearby Yoyogi Park.

The animal appeared to be a Japanese monkey, which are native to the country, and was about 27 inches (70 centimeters) long from head to the tip of the tail. No one was injured and no trains were delayed in the incident. Read more…

August 21st, 2008 by Muslim Rahman | No Comments »

61-year-old Japanese woman given birth a surrogate child

A 61-year-old Japanese woman has given birth to a surrogate child, an obstetrician in central Japan said on Wednesday. She is believed to be the oldest surrogate mother yet recorded in Japan.

The woman became pregnant with an embryo created from the egg of her daughter, who has no uterus, and sperm from the daughter’s husband, the maternity clinic involved said in a statement.

The clinic is run by Yahiro Netsu, who has defied longstanding opposition to surrogate births from Japanese obstetricians.

The clinic declined to confirm when the woman gave birth or to give her name, citing privacy concerns.
Read more…

August 21st, 2008 by Muslim Rahman | No Comments »