Historically, the real estate trends of California have always been the precursors for the rest of the country. Which is why leading players of the real estate market keep a close watch on the Golden State’s real estate market conditions. And whether you are a first time homebuyer, debating the viability of building your dream house in San Bernardino, or a real estate investor looking to sell condominium units in Los Angeles, you certainly want to know: When is it the optimum time to buy or sell? Purchasing a house is a major investment. With judicious planning, this valuable asset will appreciate with each year. But how do you get the big picture? Fortunately, real estate trends are predictable because these develop over a long period, unlike the stock market, which is rather volatile. The first thing you will need to do is to read and track real estate articles: the market reports of the California Association of Realtors or the California Building Industry Association, and the briefs created by housing analyst companies. Once you have identified the following key indicators you will have a better grasp of the general trends in California’s real estate market. THE FIVE KEY INDICATORS TO WATCH Interest Rates When interest rates rise, buyers shy away. Conversely, lowered interest rates attract more buyers. This year, interest rates in California are on an upswing. For example, thirty-year fixed mortgage rates, which averaged 5.71 percent in 2005, has risen to 6 percent levels in January 2006. And adjustable mortgage interest rates have moved up to 5 percent levels compared to 4.12 percent in 2005. Building Permits The higher the number of building permits issued, the higher the demand for houses. Figures show that number of building permits issued for the year 2006, have fallen by 10 percent in comparison to last year’s figures. In terms of houses, that’s a decrease of 1,430 building permits compared to January 2005 figures, according to California Building Industry Association report. Home Sales This key indicator refers to the total number of homes sold. In the law of supply and demand, when there are few buyers, real estate prices fall. The January 2006 figures of the California Association of Realtors reveal that the number of existing single-family detached homes sold, has gone down by 24.1 percent in comparison to sales for the entire year 2005. Another factor to consider is the growing inventory of available houses in certain counties in California, which is changing the market dynamics. What was once a sellers market is slowly turning into a buyers market. Loan Defaults This refers to the failure of homeowners to pay their monthly mortgage fees. One downside to this is that many Californian homeowners are choosing to have a bad credit report, rather than to keep paying fees for a home whose value has been inflated by as much as 20 percent more. Foreclosure Sales Figures presented by DataQuick Information Systems, a housing analyst company, indicate that foreclosure activities in California have gone up by 19 percent in the last quarter of 2005. This is an increase of 3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2005, and is 4.6 percent higher when compared to 2004’s last quarter figures. When foreclosure sales are on an upswing, consumer spending is down and consumer debt levels have risen. In the real estate market, this has meant that many financially strapped homeowners are selling their homes at lower prices. The other contributable factors are inflation, the rising prices of gasoline, federal budget deficit, and interest rates. Concurrently, these key indicators confirm that although home sales levels in California are falling, the demand for houses remains strong and steady. Always do your due diligence before undertaking a purchase of property in California.
Sunday, 2 October 2016
Introduction to argentina soccer
Ok, you know all about the passion for soccer in Brazil from Ronaldinho's promo ads, but what about Argentina soccer? Why is it that a country that suffers and lives for soccer equally as the Brazilians don't get their fair share of spotlight time? Admittedly, one of the reasons is its smaller trophy room in comparison to Brazil's (2 titles in 4 finals for Argentina, 5 titles in 7 finals for Brazil) but still...In order to do it justice, I decided to accustom you to football in Argentina. Argentina soccer was organized in amateur or semi-professional local championships at the dawn of the 20th century and despite the fact that Argentina's national soccer team played its first match in 1901, don't think it was the same type of national team you would have today. Most of the players, spotted in the semi-professional championships formed up that 1930 World Cup finalist team, after which most of them returned to mediocrity. In 1931, the first professional country-wide championship was instituted, although not all teams were affiliated to the national association. For example, only teams from Buenos Aires, Avellaneda and La Plata formed the championship structure in the first years, with teams from Santa Fe or Rosario joining later on. This early championship called the Metropolitano did not allow other provincial teams to join and due to increasing demand, the Argentina soccer association finally created a fully nation-wide competition in 1967, called the Nacional. For several years, the Nacional and Metropolitano championships were played separately. The Nacional was a 1-group championship, of which the six best teams would be eligible to take part in the Metropolitano next year. It would be until 1985 that Argentina soccer would hold this structure, after which the Nacional became the main championship. In Argentina, football holds two "seasons" as of 1991, named the Clausura and Apertura (the closing and the opening), and played as two distinct single-round championships. Each year, relegation is calculated based on a three-year average and the 2 teams with the lowest average are relegated, with 2 teams with the highest three-year average from the lower division are promoted. I have to admit, this system they adopted for football in Argentina was a bit weird at first and needed some getting used to. But I can also see the advantages of such a system. There are 5 teams that have dominated Argentina soccer ever since the Metropolitano championship was created: River Plate, Independiente, Boca Juniors, San Lorenzo and Racing Club are fighting for the title of Champions each year, for the past 50 years or so. Unfortunately, it's a case of "rich get richer" and smaller teams have less and less of a chance to be crowned as Argentina soccer champions, with these 5 (especially the first 3) dominating and monopolizing the competitions. It's these 5 clubs that launched many of the greatest Argentina soccer players on the world stage, although most of them transferred to powerful European clubs after only a few years at their home clubs. A few noteworthy examples include Alfredo Di Stefano (River Plate), Diego Maradona (Boca Juniors), Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors), Daniel Passarela (River Plate), Esteban Cambiasso (Independiente) or Guillermo Franco (San Lorenzo).
Introductory course on e learning
: The scope of this introductory article in e-learning methods and practices is to provide the readers with the necessary knowledge to develop e-learning courses. Developers of e-learning courses should be able to: 1) Understand in which cases e-learning constitutes an appropriate educational method 2) Define the educational needs of their learning groups 3) Write distance education materials 4) Choose the adequate ways of communication between students and tutors as well as between students themselves 5) Become effective e-tutors 6) Provide student support, when necessary 7) Assess the students in an effective way 8) Evaluate the effectiveness of their courses Methodology The duration of a course, as well as its exact contents, depend on the educational needs of the specific group of learners. Therefore, the first step in the designing of the course will be to identify the specific needs of the learners. A detailed questionnaire should be distributed to the target group and their answers will be measured qualitatively and quantitatively. The questionnaire will measure the IT level of the learners, their previous experience in e-learning or other distance education methods, their learning and communication patterns, etc. Those answers will form the basis of the course’s planning. Α bibliographical research in each country’s social, political, educational and technological background is also essential in order to understand the prospective learners and plan a program that fits their needs as well as their customs. Unfortunately, as Robinson (1995, p.225) pinpoints, a significant amount of research and studies based on the subject of student support and communication in e-courses has been developed on the basis of an analogous cultural context: the formal, institutionally-based higher education of the developed world. The imposition of this context has created a false “norm” and has undervalued the importance of diversity in the development of open and distance educational courses. The aim of this research will be to identify the context-specific factors, which shape the learners’ needs, mainly: *The geographical distribution of learners *The technological infrastructure *The economical capabilities *The socio-cultural diversity The study and analysis of the bibliography and the questionnaires will enable the educational team to develop a course, with respect to the diversity of the specific learning community. The findings will be used particularly in the designing of the communication methods and patterns and the system of student support. The course will be designed in order to provide high levels of interactivity between learners. The students will have a lot of opportunities to communicate with each other in both synchronous and asynchronous ways, exchange viewpoints and, the most important, undertake team-work projects. One of the most significant advantages of the online distributed courses is the ability to bring people from diverse cultures closer by creating multicultural learning communities. Thus, the collaboration between students will add value to the students’ learning experience, since it will offer them the chance to view the world from a wider perspective. The projects and assessment exercises that the students will undertake will be practical, in forms of realistic scenarios. For example, in the thematic field “Understanding your learners” (see below), the students may be asked to draw up a list, of which elements are important in knowing their learners and cast interviews on a real group of learners. Since the prospective students of this course are already working in the field of education, they won’t encounter any difficulty in accessing a sample. Thematic fields of the course The suggestive thematic fields of the course are: 1) The historical context of distance education and e-learning 2) The designing of e-learning material: text and multimedia material 3) The communication between groups of learners a. The pedagogical necessity of interactivity between learners b. Forms of communication: synchronous, asynchronous communication and the technological means to achieve it 4) The role of the e-tutors 5) The support of students in e-learning environments 6) The students’ assessment and self-assessment 7) The evaluation of the e-courses Of course, the aforementioned thematic fields are indicative, subject to change depending on the findings of the research. Bibliography ROBINSON, B. (1995), Research and pragmatism in learner support, in Lockwood, F., Open and Distance Learning Today, Routledge, London.
Saturday, 1 October 2016
Does the american government see its citizens as its children
In Americas 230 year history the government seems to have forgotten that there job is to run the government as the people see as best and not the government telling the people what is best for them. The most recent example is the Internet gambling Ban signed into law last week by President Bush. The bill makes it illegal for banks and credit card companies to transfer money to casinos for the purpose of wagering on sports or games of chance, like roulette, blackjack and poker. These games are harmlessly enjoyed regularly by millions of Americans everyday, but some people become addicted to these games so the government is telling all of its citizens that no one is allowed to play these games in an online casino. This is not the first case of the government going against the wishes of the people, in the early 1900’s the government decided that the consumption of Alcohol should be banned, because some people were developing health and mental problems related to drinking too much. So rather then educating the people on the ill effects of prolonged Alcohol abuse the American government banned Alcohol. But instead of reducing the consumption of Alcoholic beverages it increased, and because the government was not allowing the production or importing of Alcohol, organized grime got into the moonshine business, and eventually the Government saw the error of their decision and repealed the law. Another great example of a failed policy to protect the people is the war on drugs that the government has been aging since the early 1980’s Billions of tax dollars a year goes into the war on drugs, but what are the results? The price of drugs has risen, and to support their habits many drug addicts have had to commit acts of robbery and murder to get their drugs. The American prisons are packed full of people whose only crime was possession of these illegal drugs. Instead of being an industry that is regulated and controlled you have people selling these drugs to kids in school playgrounds, and shooting each other to protect their territory. Had the government decided not to criminalize drugs but make it a heavily controlled industry, they could use the tax money for social programs like schools ad to give Americans universal health care. Please do not misunderstand me I am not in favor for legalizing hard drugs, but the current system is not working at all, but I am all in favor for legalizing online casino gambling. If I choose to play some hands of blackjack or poker from the comfort of my home what rights does the government have to tell me not to, and what sense does it make that I can not play in a casino over the internet, but I can drive down the street to the local casino and play there. To enforce this ban millions if not billions of dollars of software and computer hardware will be needed to monitor all of the banks transactions and that money will come from taxes instead of the government taxing online casinos or even having all the online casinos government controlled then they get all the profits to be used to improve the lives of the American citizens, millions of which are bellow the poverty line if not homeless. The American government needs to start re-thinking its policy of treating its citizens like small children, or the American people need to demand a new government.
Six mistakes to avoid at the taj mahal
Most of your visit to India’s most-famous attraction is natural and inspiring. If it is your first visit, however, it is easy to make the following mistakes Mistake 1: Make your visit too short. Buses have been known to allow as little as half an hour to “see” the Taj Mahal, which is hardly time to walk the length of the reflecting pool. If this is your bus’s timetable, consider finding another. Allow a minimum of two hours to fully savor the “poem in marble.” Mistake 2: Arrive with no prior knowledge of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum and not a palace; it was created by a Mughal king in honor of his wife who died giving birth to their fourteenth child, and it is covered in real marble. There is much more to the story that will enhance your enjoyment of what you will see and feel. Do yourself a favor and enjoy some reading and research beforehand; the more you know, the richer your experience. Guidebooks, such as Eyewitness, are helpful. Mistake 3: Remain with your guide or group during your entire visit. After hearing what they have to tell you, leave them and wander to a secluded spot so you can gaze at this wonder of marital love on your own. Carve out time for solitude. Sit on a bench and contemplate the grace, balance, and beauty of Shah Jahan’s creation. Mistake 4: Limit your visit to the Taj Mahal to only one time of the day. Throughout daylight, the marble dome reflects sunshine with hues of pink, orange and white. Clouds and rain add additional interest. In Agra, the sky provides a backdrop for the double dome of the Taj Mahal. See as many of these variations as you can. Count yourself blessed if you are able to see the Taj Mahal in the moonlight. Mistake 5: Become frustrated with the guides and photographers. It is a popular business to impart information and produce a lasting memory for you at the Taj Mahal. Guides will ask if you want them to tell you about their country’s most famous attraction. Photographers will want to snap shots of you during your visit. Most of them are citizens of the country you are visiting. If you have made plans that exclude your need for their services, refuse with firm courtesy. Your desire for personal viewing time needs to be balanced with their need to work. Mistake 6: Don’t take any—or enough--pictures. The Taj Mahal is the single most photographed place in India. You can add to this distinction with your own images. Unless you are certain you will return shortly, visually record your favorite sights while within the walls of the Taj complex. Are you drawn to the walkway? The row of shoes outside the entrance? The black and white pattern of the platform? The inlaid prayer rugs in the mosque? Whatever they are, record details as touchstones for remembered pleasure From the moment you enter through the gate and stroll along the dazzling, rectangular reflecting pool, the lovely mausoleum will draw you to its marble steps. Slipping off your shoes, you will pass into a softly lit interior, and circle two richly inlaid caskets beneath a great domed ceiling. The carvings on the walls, the spectacular dome, and the harmony of all the details are there for you to admire. The truth of the matter is you could actually make all the mistakes above and still be touched by the Taj Mahal. It is a sight undiminished by expectations.
Successful outdoor paintball gun strategies
The key to all effective outdoor paintball gun strategies is practice. Every professional paintball team spends many hours going over their paintball gun strategies. Practice allows you to have individual skills and enhance teamwork. There are four steps you should use when practicing outdoor paintball gun strategies. Discussion Before you even being training it is best to go over the various field plans as a team and decide on the best paintball gun strategies you should use. Consider the different situations you may run into and the plans you can use. Before you actually set foot on the field you want to make sure everyone is clear on what to do. Dry Training In this step you want to take the time to walk through all your paintball gun strategies. You don't have to do this on the actual field, especially if you don't know where its going to be. You can practice in your backyard if necessary, just make sure everyone knows what your paintball gun strategies look like when they are in progress. Half-Speed Training In this training method you will actually use paintballs. Go through all of your paintball gun strategies, but go slowly like you did with dry training. Don't rush and use soda cans as targets. If you can hit soda can during training, you will have no trouble hitting your opponent during the game. Full-Speed Training Now you will be running through the field and using paint as if you were playing against real opponents. It is a good idea to do this first on the speedball field where you can get a feel for your paintball gun strategies and how the team works. Then you can do a practice run in the woods before you are ready to face your opponents. Practice is a long and important process. By following the four steps of practice you can be successful every time you step on the field. However, some keys to successfully completing your paintball gun strategies include knowing the terrain; having good communication and teamwork; and being able to move effectively. Know The Terrain Study your terrain well and look for any advantages. If there are hills you can slowly climb up at a crouch. Then when you reach the top you can pop-up for a quick look before dropping to your stomach for protection. This way you can quickly and easily see what targets are available. If the goal is to protect your flag then you should look for a tree that gives you good protection while allowing for movement. It may be a good idea to try sitting in the tree and suprising your opponents from above. Communication and Teamwork Communication is essential to outdoor paintball gun strategies. Make sure you have your movements planned so that everyone instinctively knows where to go and what to do just by watching each other. In outdoor paintball games communication doesn't necessarily mean the verbal kind. You don't want the other team to know what you are doing so silent communication is important. Choose a leader and base your reactive strategy off them. Choose your leader based on tactical experience, military sense and nerve. Movement The most important part of outdoor paintball gun strategies is movement. If you want to rush through the woods it is best to stay on uncluttered ground. When you are in the woods the spot you step on will have an impact on how loud you are. It is best to have comfortable hiking boots especially if the area is muddy and the ground is unlevel. Another key to silence in outdoor paintball gun strategies is your hopper or paintball pods. If they are half-filled they will be as loud as baby rattles. You should choose pods that are about half or 3/4 the size of your hopper.
Interracial dating and love
Interracial dating in the past has been considered taboo. But as time passed by, more and more people came to understand and accept relationships of people from different races. Although there are still quite a few who are uncomfortable about the idea of interracial dating, most people in the society nowadays are open-minded. You cannot control what your heart tells you. If you fell in love with someone from a different culture and racial background, you may find it difficult to fight for your love because of other people’s reactions. However, there are a lot of interracial relationships that prove to last longer than those who have had same-race relationships. This may be because they felt a stronger bond of love between them and the trials that they went through made them love each other more, instead of breaking them apart. They grow together as one which is a really strong foundation for real love and long lasting relationship. There are some challenges that face interracial dating because of cultural differences between interracial couples. There are some countries that still have this societal pressures and prejudices about it. In addition, some of the interracial couple’s family members might oppose the union because they might think that it is unsuitable for their family’s image in the society. They are worried about what other people might think about their son or daughter’s relationship with another person of different background and color. The cultural differences between the couple are one of the most difficult of all challenges because each one has to adjust to the other’s cultural upbringing. While establishing their own family, the question lingers about how they would raise their children. What cultural background should they be exposed to and other things for that matter. In order to resolve this, they should have a serious exchange of ideas for raising their children. The best thing to do is mix in all the good things about each culture but leave out anything negative about it. Interracial dating might have its difficulties and trials however there are a lot of couples who are successfully and happily married. They outgrew and withstand all the trials they have faced during their first days of dating up to the time they have established a happy home. They both have benefited of learning new things about one another’s culture, both the good and the bad attributes of each culture. Another thing that contributes to the success of every interracial dating and relationships is the advancements of technology nowadays. The mobile phone industry and the internet revolution lets people interact accordingly even if they are on the opposite sides of the planet. They feel closer than the actual thousands of miles distance between them. According to studies, there are more love quotes and love sms sent nowadays and much more egreetings sent over the internet. This surely is the essence of the new technologies constantly renovated each day and the interracial couples are greatly benefiting from them. Interracial couples are brave enough to face the world and let the society know that nothing can stand between them and their love for each other. The more challenges and trials the interracial couples are undergoing, the stronger their relationship becomes. This only proves that love can indeed conquer all, from the moment it starts and hopefully until eternity.