Friends of Syria 'meet to judge Assad' on peace plan

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/friends-syria-meet-judge-assad-peace-plan-141137842.html

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The Wanted Taking Their U.S. Invasion To 'American Idol'

Boy band set to appear on the show next week in support of their forthcoming self-titled album.

The Wanted
Photo: Steve Thorne/ Redferns

The boy-band bonanza continues! The Wanted have just landed a spot on "American Idol" next week. The guys confirmed the long-teased news on Twitter. "And now for our big news ... we are excited to announce we will be performing on American Idol on 5th of April!! #TheWantedOnIdol," they shared late Wednesday, prompting a Twitter spree from fans excited to see them on the Fox competition show.

"5th of April ... be there #TheWantedOnIdol. Greatest fans on the planet. Love the #TWFanmily#TheWantedonIdol," they added.

The guys are currently appearing all over the States to promote their self-titled debut U.S. album, which will hit shelves April 24. Riding high off their first single, the cheeky "Glad You Came," the guys are set to release their next single, "Chasing the Sun," in the very near future.

The fivesome sat down with MTV News recently and shared that they are looking to "Glad You Came" as the inspiration for the other tunes that make it onto the album.

"You know, I think from the start when we were in the U.K., we got our first single, which was 'All Time Low,' and it set itself up," Tom Parker told MTV News about the band's control over their music and the direction they are hoping to go in. "And we all agree on a certain sound, and 'Glad You Came' was probably as [far as] we went in terms of difference in sound, but we all kind of come to an agreement to keep it upbeat, usually."

As for the super-warm U.S. reception, Parker's bandmate Siva Kaneswaran couldn't be more excited by the American enthusiasm for the band. "To be in the U.S. is amazing," he said. "But just as long as we go out there and be ourselves and the U.S. takes us as we are, we're just coming over here to have a laugh."

Are you looking forward to the Wanted's appearance on "Idol" next week? Tell us in the comments.

Related Artists

• The Wanted

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1682024/the-wanted-american-idol.jhtml

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AHI: United States ? The unaccountable third party: Part 1, where's ...

By: David A. Smith

?

A while back, the New York Daily News (March 14, 2012) was in full populist dudgeon:

?

In a town where landlord-tenant disputes are the stuff of legend, the New York City Housing Authority has now achieved the inconceivable.

?

The agency?s dysfunctional new $36 million computer system for tracking tenant and landlord records ? better known as NICE ? has created such chaos that it even prompted a small landlord and his tenant to band together in Housing Court.

?

The two-family Kingsland Ave. home where Bronx resident and?Section 8 tenant Eileen Coello has lived for several years

?

Now, even the Daily News climbs up on its high horse to fulminate about NYCHA?s inefficiency, we can use the facts to explore what is really one of the thorniest challenges in three-way bargains (and one, b y the way, that has implications for the health-care debate):

?

Eileen Coello, a Section 8 tenant in the Bronx, and her landlord, Edward Koester, grew so frustrated with nearly two years of agency foulups that they went to court to force NYCHA to abide by the law.

?

Coello has lived for several years with her young son and sister in an apartment in a two-family house owned by Koester on Kingsland Ave.

?

In a normal economic transaction, with only two parties involved, pure market dynamics work fine ? either we agree and transact, or we don?t.? No outside party is needed for the adjudication ? and indeed, the classical definition of ?fair market value? is the price, in terms of cash, between:

?

• Independent parties
• Dealing at arm?s-length
• Both fully informed
• Under no undue compulsion to act

?

For Ms. Coello and Ms. Koester, that is the relationship they think they have:

?

She is always on time with her share of the federally-subsidized rent, according to her landlord.

?

Yet there is a third partner, our silent partner the government:

?

But the bulk of it? $913 ? was being paid by NYCHA, and in July 2010, the agency suddenly suspended those payments without notice.

?

Adding the government adds a third party to the relationship ? and as everyone knows, the third wheel is a complicating factor, one whose moral authority and rules of engagement turn out to be terribly important.? So before we examine just what NYCHA and NICE did that was so wrong, let?s understand how NYCHA came to be in the middle of this sandwich.

?

What?s the point of having that in the middle?

?

Government intervenes in private market transactions only when it perceives an undesirable imbalance between the parties, and usually on behalf of the consumer, when government thinks the customer is impaired by lack of money, lack of knowledge/ intelligence, lack of choice, or lack of bargaining power.?

?

It?s not fair!

?

That?s the justification for antitrust laws and consumer protection laws, for instance ? laws that seek to prevent one party from exploiting the other beyond the bounds of normal market trading.? It?s also the justification for subsidies ? where the government provides money to top up the consumer?s impaired buying power.? Now, because the government is standing in for the consumer?s benefactor, government believes that it must act in loco parentis, in effect as a custodian or trustee for a beneficiary who is presumed to be ?not fully adult?.? These situations of stewardship, expressed or implied, include:

?

• Parents with their children.
• Adults with their aging and declining parents.
• Employers with their employees? pension funds.
• Charities with their beneficiaries.
• Courts with bankrupt entities.
• Government with the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to rent apartments.

?A three-way system is inherently more complex, and it tends to be structured based on the presumption that the custodian or guardian is wise, capable, and above reproach.? Today?s modern guardians are seldom individual patrons, they are increasingly government bodies, usually bureaucracies, made up of the same fallible individuals their organizations are established to serve ? and that leads to systemic or organizational weaknesses:

?

That April, an NYCHA inspector had discovered two minor violations, a broken light fixture and a broken door hinge.

?

horrors ? horrors

?

By itself, there?s nothing wrong with regulations governing minimum property standards for landlords renting to recipients of portable rental assistance.? It?s easy enough to imagine that a landlord might intimidate a resident into not reporting ? nor is the possibility of corruption and intimidation limited to private landlords.? So it?s reasonable to have rules preventing landlords from so profiting:

?

Federal regulations require a landlord to fix violations within 20 days or payments are automatically suspended.

?

Now that rule, written by lawmakers who are envisioning incorruptible and supremely efficient law administrators, presupposes that once the violation is identified, the landlord is immediately made aware of it.? But the system can break down:

?

Time for a new system

?

Koester did not receive NYCHA?s formal notice of the problem until Dec. 9 ? eight months after the inspection.

?

Sentence first, verdict afterwards

?

Unfortunately, this is all-too-typical of Federal housing program administration ? the rules penalize the owner immediately, even as it is the government that is often late or in flagrant breach of its own contracts (such as by being massively late in paying Section 8 reimbursements), such as in this Congressional testimony:

?

While HUD has been late sporadically in making payments over the past several years, this year [2007] late payments have been widespread over most parts of the country, with nonpayment often persisting for several months.

?

It is not exactly clear how these payment problems occurred and owners have no assurances that the problem will not recur in the future.

?

Most owners come to learn that they have no practical choice ? when the government fails its own standards, there is simply no good alternative but to suck it up, because in practice the government is unaccountable:

?

We support legislation to charge HUD interest on payments not received within 30 days of the due date, a penalty payment available to most contractors doing business with the government, and that might also be an incentive to HUD to make timely payments.

?

Even worse is when there is nobody home at the authority.

?

No action may be taken without proper authorization

?

Try calling HUD headquarters sometime and asking for particular individuals.? Something

?

Before that, he kept calling the agency to find out why the rent had stopped, and no one could answer him.

?

Lost in the system, an all-too-common occurrence, and yet one for which lawmakers never design remedies or systems.

?

Anybody home?

?

Of any building in Washington DC I?ve been in, including Treasury, HUD Headquarters has the worst visitor experience, a combination of extreme security consciousness and inefficiency.? But then, once you?ve navigated what is normally a twenty-minute delay, and you are inside the building, you are free to roam anywhere you want, and on some floors ? many floors ? you can walk the full length of the building without encountering another individual: just gray floors that echo with your footsteps.

?

?Where?s the agency? Where?s NYCHA??

?

As soon as he got the formal notice, however, Koester immediately repaired the problems and hand-delivered to NYCHA the tenant?s signed certification on Dec. 11.

?

Bear in mind that the two violations found by NYCHA were minor.? They weren?t health-and-safety issues, they were the sort of minor infraction ? a dead light fixture and a broken hinge ? that I dare say are present in nearly every single-family home in America, that most of us fix when we get around to it, or are doing something else at the same time.

?

Here is where the story takes a turn for the truly bizarre ? or the truly brilliant:

?

One or the other, anyhow

?

[Continued tomorrow in Part 2.]

?

?

Source: http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/2012/03/the-unaccountable-third-party-part-1-wheres-the-agency.html

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Spring Care Checklist for Your Pets | Santa Cruz Westside Animal ...

Posted on Mar 27th, 2012, 03:58 PM UTC

Spring is a great time of renewal and there are a few things that you can do to ensure that your pet is ready to come out of hibernation and enjoy the long, warm days ahead.

First of all, there is no better time to schedule your annual visit to your favorite Westside veterinarian.? After being cooped up all winter, it gives your pet a great start on a new season.? Many illnesses that affect your pets can lie dormant and catching them now may very well be a preemptive strike on painful and costly problems in the future.? It is a good time to be sure that all vaccinations and treatments such as heart worm are up to date.? And a tooth cleaning now will save pain and expense in the future.

Pets need a spring cleaning too.? Be sure that those beds and pet areas are cleaned out.? A good brushing will help to reduce skin problems and help to get rid of that big winter coat.? While the days are warmer, the ground is still damp from the spring rains so be sure to keep the paws of your outdoor pet clean.? Their paws may be tender from a winter indoors and keeping them clean will prevent painful foot problems.

And now for the fun part:? get outdoors with your pets.? The weather is wonderful and it will do both of you a lot of good.

Source: http://scwestsideanimalhospital.com/2012/03/27/spring-care-checklist-for-your-pets/

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Santorum Says Gingrich Cutbacks Prove It's a Two-Person Race

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/santorum-says-gingrich-cutbacks-prove-two-person-race-033708512--abc-news-politics.html

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Ricoh GXR

The Ricoh GXR ($349 list, body only) is a throwback to a bygone era. Its interchangeable sensor concept harkens back to a day when all cameras had them?we just called it film. You could trade out a roll to best suit your needs. Shooting an event in available light? Best to reach for a high speed stock like Superia 1600. Going for shallow depth of field on a bright day? Kodachrome 25 will do nicely. While it's not practical to remove an image sensor as you would a spent roll of film, Ricoh came up with a solution: a sealed, modular lens module that contains both an optic and sensor. The addition of a Leica M mount sensor module has turned the GXR into a camera that should excite enthusiasts?but it does lack some of the more consumer friendly features found in the camera that remains our Editors' Choice for compact interchangeable lens cameras, the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 ($649.99 with lens, 4.5 stars).

Lens Modules, Design, and Features
I tested the GXR with along with three of the available modules?the GR Lens A12 50mm F2.5 Macro, the GR Lens A12 28mm F2.5, and the GXR Mount A12. Each of these modules uses a 12-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor and sells for $649?making the GXR a rather expensive proposition if you'd like to have more than one module in your gear bag. Serious photography can be an expensive hobby, and if you choose to add the VF-2 External LCD Viewfinder ($219 list) the cost of the system continues to mount.

Ricoh also offers three modules with zoom lenses. The GR Lens S10 24-72mm F2.5-4.4 VC ($329 list) is a 10-megapixel unit with a 1/1.7-inch CCD image sensor, the same size that is found in nicer point-and-shoot cameras like our Editors' Choice Canon PowerShot S100 ($429.99, 4.5 stars). If you're looking for a longer zoom, the GR Lens P10 28-300mm F3.5-5.6 VC ($249 list) uses a 10-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor that is equal in size to the one found in almost every consumer point-and-shoot camera. Finally, the GR Lens A16 24-85mm F3.5-5.5 ($599 list) is a 16-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with a zoom lens attached. As sensor sizes do vary, Ricoh identifies each module using its 35mm equivalent focal length to avoid confusion.

Depending on what lens you have installed, the GXR is a pretty compact camera. It measures 2.8 by 4.5 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.6 ounces. Adding a lens only adds to the depth, although the modules can be heavier than the camera?the 50mm Macro weighs 9.3 ounces by itself, bringing the total to 14.9 ounces. To compare, the Sony Alpha NEX-5N ($699.99 with lens, 4.5 stars) weighs 14.2 ounces with its standard zoom lens and its body is slightly smaller at 2.3 by 4.4 by 1.5 inches.

The camera's body features magnesium alloy construction and a discrete black finish. An integrated front handgrip and rear thumb grip give it a comfortable feel. The most commonly used controls, the Shutter and Control Wheel, are located on the top right of the camera, right near where your index finger rests when holding the camera. There's also a top-mounted Mode Dial, although adjusting that requires two fingers?you'll need to hold a button down while turning it. This prevents you from changing modes accidentally, but can slow you down a bit when shooting.

Rear controls include a standard four-way directional Pad that can be customized, a Macro button, a Self Timer button, an adjustment lever, a Flash control button, and a button to toggle between the rear LCD and the optional LCD viewfinder. There's also a Direct button, which?brings up an on-screen display that gives you quick access to many common shooting settings, including lens aperture, ISO, White Balance, and the Metering mode. The camera also has a Menu button that takes you to a dedicated menu screen. It offers several pages of options that can be adjusted, presented as clear white text on a black background.

The GXR's rear LCD is 3 inches in size and features a very sharp 920k-dot resolution. It is bright and and crisp, making it a pleasure to use for image framing and review. However, it is fixed?so you won't be abe to use it at waist-level like you can with a camera like the Olympus PEN E-PL3 ($699.99 with lens, 3.5 stars), which features a tilting rear LCD. You also get a built-in pop-up flash and a standard hot shoe with an accessory port.

The hot shoe is used to add the optional LCD Electronic Viewfinder, which is a quite useful add-on for shooters who prefer to work with the camera at eye-level. This is especially useful if you opt for the A12 Mount module, as you'll be required to manually focus lenses. The camera supports Focus Peaking, a visual aid that highlights the in-focus parts of an image to allow for quicker, more accurate manual focus. The EVF, which uses LCD technology, isn't quite as sharp or crisp as the optional FDAEV1S Electronic Viewfinder ($349.95), which can be added to the Sony NEX-5N. That camera also supports Focus Peaking, but its OLED finder is faster to refresh and packs two and a half times the pixels than the GXR's 920k-dot EVF.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/2W3WUJoRu0U/0,2817,2401858,00.asp

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