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The United States relationship with the Middle East has been...rocky, to say the least. The situation has become so complex, that by now, if you are not a History or Political Science major, it's more than likely you'll get confused or mislead (especially if you are an avid FOX news reader, then it gets really confusing. In an attempt to help ameliorate any anxiety over what is going on currently with Syria --since I'm sure you've all read/seen/heard things over the media, I'm going to consolidate all the information I can gather about the subject, and walk you through what been going on. Firstly, let's start with a little History facts:

In-app purchases are a pretty big deal to developers; there’s a reason the “top grossing” apps in the Android store are mostly free. Now Amazon is trying to extend that logic to buying… well, anything you see inside an app. Amazon calls it the “Mobile Associates API”, and essentially, it means you can make anything in an app an ad for it on Amazon. And it’s not necessarily a bad deal for developers, either: "The Mobile Associates API allows developers to sell real products from the millions of items at Amazon, whether physical or digital, from inside their apps or games while earning up to 6% in advertising fees from those purchases. The Mobile Associates API is an extension of Amazon Associates, our successful web-based affiliate program created in 1996, paying advertising fees to hundreds of thousands of affiliates worldwide." 6% may not sound like much, but consider that some apps can be seen by millions of people in a given day. 1% of those buying could put a lot of cash in the pockets of developers, and you have to admit, being able to click a link to buy a book is a lot less annoying than having to hit up your friends on Facebook for in-game gold. The ultimate goal, of course, is to crush all retailers under Amazon’s heel as it builds a massive fulfillment network that makes consumer gratification instant and Jeff Bezos can afford his own planet. But, hey, it’s convenient!

Local to Ithaca New York, Kelly Cox-Brady is creating a horticultural landscape with a paint brush. Her paintings are very much like her personality, bright, bubbly, big, with a earthly center and a realistic personality. Studying landscape design, Kelly thought she would be taking her green thumb to make plants grow. Somehow along the way of life she grew Black Eye Susans (flowers) to over 10 feet tall in her Botanical Mural in Ithaca. Quoted in Garden Designs, Kelly talks about how her education combines her passion for art. "One interesting aspect of painting botanical murals is the attention to detail that is required. Since my subjects are larger than life, many details become obvious that are easily overlooked on the actual plant. It is almost like putting a specimen under a microscope, but instead I’m painting them on walls. This is where my education in plant science comes in handy. I make sure the veins, stems and petals are all scientifically accurate." Don't you love it when science and art combine together!

A 26 story residential building in Beijing, China has a new bizarre construction. There's a mountain on the roof around one man's attic apartment. How did this happen you wonder? A doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, Professor Zhang Biqing built it over a period of 6 years by carrying rocks and other material to construct a mountain around his home. He then added some balconies and landscaping to create his own retreat. All of that was done illegally and without consulting with the rest of the building residents, so after complaints of cracking walls, the eccentric owner was issued a 15 day notice to remove his 800 square meter creation. "I used to worry that the house might be too much but I never expected this much attention," Zhang is reported to have told The Beijing News. Oh of course not, it totally blends in with the rest of the mountain top buildings.

Apparently the Kardashian mama got offended by president Obama's comments about her daughter Kim, during one of his recent speeches on the American Dream. She responded with some ridiculous comments on her talk show, check it out.