text:
Recent Scholarship in Islamic Law and Society
Posted on May 3, 2017 May 5, 2017 by shariasourceblog
Compiled by Maliheh Zare (JSD Candidate, New York University School of Law) for the Islamic Law and Society Collaborative Research Network.
ISLAMIC LAW AND SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
FALL and WINTER 2016-17
The contributors to this edition are Matthew Erie, Iza Hussin, Mirjam Kuenkler, Tamir Moustafa, Michael Peletz, and Daromir Rudnyckyj. In addition to publication information, the abstracts of most works are included. Also, the papers and the covers of the books are attached (and are available on Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wsh7jbuv391sg29/AACwooreMHpd3eylFMhayCvQa?dl=0.)
The ILS-CRN Newsletter editor is Maliheh Zare. For any inquiries or if you wish to be included in next edition, contact her at mz974@nyu.edu.
MATTHEW ERIE (UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD)
The Traveling Waqf: Property, Religion, and Mobility Beyond China (April 24, 2017). Islamic Law and Society, Vol. 25, (1-2) (February 2018).
Abstract: For most of their millennial history in China, Muslims have established pious endowments called waqfs that served a variety of functions, including providing land to build mosques. The founding of waqfs radically changed in 1949, when the Communists confiscated land. Recently, a Hui who was performing the hajj in Saudi Arabia discovered a pre-Communist waqfiyya or document that established a waqf in Gansu Province in northwest China. The contemporary Chinese property regime prohibits religious land and hence the waqfiyya is legally void, yet its return afforded the Hui an opportunity to reflect on the relationships between law, lineage, and public goods, laying a foundation for an historical anthropology of Chinese waqfs. Drawing on material from historical Gansu and ethnographic encounters, I argue that whereas shariʿa suffered a kind of "structural death" in China, it does have its own "afterlife," as illustrated in documents that travel across time and assume new meanings through transnational mobility and memory.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2957407
IZA HUSSIN (UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE)
THE POLITICS OF ISLAMIC LAW: LOCAL ELITES, COLONIAL AUTHORITY AND THE MAKING OF THE MUSLIM STATE. University of Chicago Press. April 2016.
In The Politics of Islamic Law, Iza Hussin compares India, Malaya, and Egypt during the British colonial period in order to trace the making and transformation of the contemporary category of 'Islamic law.' She demonstrates that not only is Islamic law not the shari'ah, its present institutional forms, substantive content, symbolic vocabulary, and relationship to state and society—in short, its politics—are built upon foundations laid during the colonial encounter.
Drawing on extensive archival work in English, Arabic, and Malay—from court records to colonial and local papers to private letters and visual material—Hussin offers a view of politics in the colonial period as an iterative series of negotiations between local and colonial powers in multiple locations. She shows how this resulted in a paradox, centralizing Islamic law at the same time that it limited its reach to family and ritual matters, and produced a transformation in the Muslim state, providing the frame within which Islam is articulated today, setting the agenda for ongoing legislation and policy, and defining the limits of change. Combining a genealogy of law with a political analysis of its institutional dynamics, this book offers an up-close look at the ways in which global transformations are realized at the local level.
MIRJAM KUENKLER (UNIVERSITY OF GÖTTINGEN)
Mirjam Künkler (University of Göttingen) and David Kloos (KITLV, Leiden) have edited a special issue in the Asian Studies Review on female Islamic authority in Southeast Asia (Vol. 40,4).
Their introductory article titled "Studying Female Islamic Authority: From Top-
Down to Bottom-Up Modes of Certification" is available at
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10357823.2016.1227300
Abstract:This article introduces a special issue on female Islamic authority in contemporary Asia. It provides an overview of the literature on religious authority in Islam and briefly lays out whichmodes of female religious authority have been more accepted than others in the schools of jurisprudence. Based on the articles included in this issue, the introduction makes two chief observations. First, in contrast to the overwhelming consensus among experts of Islamic law that women may serve as muftūn (plural of muftī), in most Muslim-majority societies today women are either seldom found in this role, or where there are muftīyāt (female muftūn), their role is confined to women's issues. Second, while a growing body of academic studies has drawn attention to the recent phenomenon of state-instituted or –supported programs that train women in Islamic authority, little attention has been paid to the question of how communities react to such programs. The special issue is a call to study female religious authority from the bottom up, in order to better understand why believers, whether men or women, ascribe religious authority to women in some contexts and situations, but overwhelmingly still prefer male religious authority over female, despite the permissiveness for female juristic expertise in Islamic law.
TAMIR MOUSTAFA (SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY)
The Arabic Translation of THE STRUGGLE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL POWER: THE ROLE OF THE SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL COURT IN EGYPTIAN POLITICS is published by Tadween Publishing in 2017.
Abstract: Since its establishment in 1979, the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) has played a central role in Egyptian politics. As the only court with the power of judicial review, the SCC served as a flashpoint between the government and activists of all stripes — from liberals, leftists, and Islamists to human rights organizations, political opposition parties, and everyday citizens — all of whom used the Court to challenge government legislation. In the process, the SCC played a key role in adjudicating the most important political issues of the day. This Arabic translation (with new preface) of The Struggle for Constitutional Power (first published in 2007 by Cambridge University Press) offers one of the most detailed accounts, in English or Arabic, of the role of the Supreme Constitutional Court in Egyptian politics over its first three decades of operation.
MICHAEL PELETZ (EMORY UNIVERSITY)
2013a. "Malaysia's Syariah Judiciary as Global Assemblage: Islamization, Corporatization, and Other Transformations in Context". Comparative Studies in Society and History 55(3): 603-633.
2013b. "A Syariah Judiciary as a Global Assemblage: Islamization and Beyond in a Southeast Asian Context". In A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion. Janice Boddy and Michael Lambek, eds. Pp. 489-506. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
2015. "A Tale of Two Courts: Judicial Transformation and the Rise of a Corporate Islamic
Governmentality in Malaysia". American Ethnologist 44 (1): 144-160.
2016. "Syariah, Inc.: Continuities, Transformations, and Cultural Politics in Malaysia's Islamic
Judiciary". In Shari'a Law and Modern Muslim Ethics. Robert W. Hefner, ed. Pp. 229-259.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
DAROMIR RUDNYCKYJ (UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA)
Islamizing Finance: From Magical Capitalism to a Spiritual Economy, Anthropology Today. 32(6): 8-12. 2016.
Abstract: Following recent economic crises there has been a widespread sense around the world that finance is important, but little understanding of what alternatives might exist to prevailing financial practices and networks in which Wall Street and the City of London wield outsized influence. In recent years the Malaysian state has sought to devise an alternative financial system based on Islamic principles, foremost among them a prohibition on interest-bearing loans. Simultaneously the Malaysian central bank has sought to position the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur, as a principal node in what planners envision as an alternative global financial network to the one centered on New York, London, and Hong Kong. Adverts for Islamic financial products offered by the dozens of Islamic financial firms operating in Malaysia, are pervasive in the country's larger cities and serve as graphic testament to the hope that Islamic finance offers both more stable global financial arrangements and a means of sustaining the country's impressive economic growth. In this issue Daromir Rudnyckyj examines contemporary debates over the authenticity of Islamic finance. Ethnographic attention to the convergence of religious practice and economic action has often been taken as evidence of the mystifying nature of capitalism. In contrast, Rudnyckyj approaches the magic of capitalism not in terms of occult beliefs or millennial practices, but rather as the tricks and sleight of hand techniques deployed by Islamic finance experts. The initial iteration of Islamic finance in Malaysia relied on what experts refer to as 'tricks': stratagems that transformed impermissible contracts into ones capable of being deemed halal by Islamic scholars. Today amidst widespread criticism of these techniques, experts seek to reform Islamic finance and in so doing create a spiritual economy characterized by the ethical practices conducive to neoliberal action: entrepreneurship, risk calculation, and cost-benefits analysis.
The Organizers of the ILS-CRN
Intisar Rabb irabb@law.harvard.edu and
Tamir Moustafa tmoustafa@sfu.ca
The Islamic Law and Society Collaborative Research Network is a CRN of the Law and Society Association. The CRN serves as a resource for scholars working on Islamic law and society from a variety of disciplines, including comparative law and legal history, sociology and cultural anthropology, political science, and related fields. Areas of collaborative research include the varying and sometimes contested relationships between Islamic law and liberal rights; the transformation of Islamic law and religious authority from the classical to the modern period; contending visions of Islamic law in contemporary social and political movements; and popular understandings of Islamic law among Muslims in the West and Muslim-majority countries. In these and other substantive areas, a key goal of the Islamic Law and Society CRN is to facilitate conversations between specialists in Islamic legal doctrine and history with scholars examining the social and political construction of Islamic law in its varied forms in the contemporary world.
The CRN sponsors two email listservs:
The Research listserv is dedicated to discussion among scholars with an active research program in Islamic law and society and who have presented their work at an LSA conference at least once in the past three years. To post a message to the research list, send to: ils-research@sfu.ca
The Announcements listserv is open to anyone inside or outside of the Law and Society Association with a general interest in Islamic law and society scholarship. To send a message to the announcements list, direct your message to: ils-annoucements@sfu.ca
Posted in law and societyTagged Daromir Rudnyckyj, Iza Hussin, Matthew Erie, Michael Peletz, Mirjam Kuenkler, Tamir Moustafa
← The Transformation of Anglo-Muhammadan Law: Muslims on British Benches
INTISAR RABB SELECTED AS 2017–2018 RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE FELLOW →


I, the U2Station.com Webmaster was in Buffalo for the U2 concert on September 5, 2017! Please check out some of the finest pictures I photographed at the show! Thank you.
This page contains a single entry by Jonathan published on September 12, 2017 1:13 AM.
U2 debuts new single "You're the Best Thing About Me" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon was the previous entry in this blog.
U2, Ed Sheeran St. Louis Concerts Canceled Amid Violent Protests is the next entry in this blog.


Lite Geology was started in the fall of 1992 as a publication intended for earth science teachers in New Mexico. It is written in a format that is less technical than other publications of the Bureau. Included with the main articles are cartoons, puzzles, and other features designed to make learning fun. We also include information about teachers' resources, and upcoming geological and scientific events.
Lite Geology was originally a quarterly publication, but was published intermittantly after 1996. In 2009 we began to regularly publish Lite Geology twice a year, in the Spring and in the Fall. New issues, in PDF format, will be posted on this site when they become available. Past issues were printed and distributed by mail but are now only available in PDF format. If you'd like, you can request to receive an e-mail notice when a new issue becomes available.
We retain copyright to all of our publications. One printed copy of any materials from our website or our print and electronic publications may be made for individual use without our permission. However, teachers and students may make unlimited copies for educational use. Any other use of these materials requires permission.
Back issues of Lite Geology are available as free downloads in PDF format (Adobe Acrobat is required).
Where are you? See if you can identify where in New Mexico these photos were taken.
Like geology cartoons? Check out these gems from past issues.
You might want to look at the Bureau's online collection of New Mexico minerals from the Mineral Museum.
Teachers! Visit our teacher info page for information about resources, activities, and seminars.
If you're interested in earthquakes, take a look at our Tremor earthquake education website.
You can explore the geology of New Mexico with our virtual geology tour of New Mexico or read about it in one of our Scenic Trips.


Watching a hockey player score a goal can be a rush of excitement. But did you know players often take physics into account as they play? We join the Raleigh, North Carolina hockey team, the Carolina Hurricanes, and learn how torque, friction, energy transfers and vectors make for success on the rink.


Advisory services offered through Global View Capital Management, Ltd. (GVCM). GVCM is an SEC Registered Investment Advisory Firm headquartered at N14 W23833 Stone Ridge Dr., Suite 350, Waukesha, WI 53188, (262) 650-1030. Nathan Mueller is an Investment Advisor Representative of GVCM which is affiliated with Global View Capital Advisors.


text:
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. For more information please see our privacy policy.
Info /Random/Submit/Press/News
265 MUST's automatic water and soap dispenser
Designed by: Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST)
Credit: Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST)
The Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) has designed a system which dispenses water and soap automatically. The team leader of the project explains that the 'innovation is on smart hand washing where people will start the process and complete it without touching anything as the water and soap will dispense automatically due to sensors that have been placed close to the water tap and the soap dispensing tap.'
A V&A/RCA HISTORY OF DESIGN MA PROJECT
graphics/architecture/space/objects/projects/wearable
twitter/ insta

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Germany's Surrender To The Greens Forced A Second Surrender To Russia
https://www.nationandstate.com/2021/12/25/germanys-surrender-to-the-greens-forced-a-second-surrender-to-russia/?amp
…Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com, Germany is in a world of hurt over natural gas, the price of electricity, and its energy policy in general. Let's look at how we got here… EU 0 – Putin 1 The following from Eurointelligence on December 17, emphasis…
NEW YORK TIMES: BIDEN'S INFLATION FURTHER CRUSHES THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR FOR THANKSGIVING | Balladeer's Blog
October 27, 2021 tonytran2015
https://glitternight.com/2021/10/27/new-york-times-bidens-inflation-further-crushes-the-working-class-and-the-poor-for-thanksgiving/
Even the Democrat media outlet the New York Times is forced to admit that Joe Biden's inflation has made this coming Thanksgiving the most expensive ever. The Times admitted that every item for a Thanksgiving meal costs more than ever before as Biden's inflation and supply chain crisis further crushes the working class and the poor. The Democrats stopped being the party of FDR and JFK long ago. Join so many of us and #walkaway from them to become Independent Voters.
A great piece tracks NINE MONTHS OF BIDEN DISASTERS AND FAILURES.
By the way, even Democrat-dominated Austin, TX has put a measure on the ballot to restore lost funding to its police because of the wild increase in crime after the city foolishly followed the irrational Democrat demand to DEFUND THE POLICE last year.
Austin joins other cities in recognizing the destructiveness of that particular bit of Democrat lunacy.
America Hit By Recession! | Call Me Stormy
https://callmestormy.net/2021/10/22/america-hit-by-recession/?amp=1
In a SHOCKING new report, a Dartmouth professor says America is in a GREAT RECESSION. Professor David Blanchflower warns that the US will enter a recession by the end of 2021. Learn about the coming recession and what it means for you! In other news, Jen Psaki, the spokeswoman for the deadbeat Biden administration, gets SLAMMED by critics after downplaying the supply chain crisis...
'China's financial system could collapse': What the Reserve Bank's Evergrande bombshell means for Australia – ABC News
October 8, 2021 tonytran2015
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-08/chinese-property-evergrande-collapse-damage-in-australia/100521564
… "If they act too quickly in addressing these
vulnerabilities, confidence in the implicit guarantees that underpin much of China's financial system could collapse, which would lead to
financial distress," the RBA says.
"In contrast, if they act too slowly, the probability of more severe financial stress in the future will increase.
"Continued bailouts also risk further entrenching perceptions of implicit guarantees."…
The Market Crash Nobody Thinks Is Possible Is Coming, by Charles Hugh Smith | STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC
September 30, 2021 tonytran2015 1 Comment
https://straightlinelogic.com/2021/09/29/the-market-crash-nobody-thinks-is-possible-is-coming-by-charles-hugh-smith/
Charles Hugh Smith foresees a thunderous crash and believes the stock market has already topped out. SLL isn't arguing with him. From Smith at oftwominds.com:
The banquet of consequences is being served, and risk-off crashes are, like revenge, best served cold.
The ideal setup for a crash is a consensus that a crash is impossible–in other words, just like the present: sure, there are carefully measured murmurings about a "correction" but nobody with anything to lose in the way of public credibility is calling for an honest-to-goodness crash, a real crash, not a wimpy, limp-wristed dip that will immediately be bought.
What I'm calling for is a rip your face off, weeping bitter tears over the grave of the speculative wealth that you thought was forever crash.All those buying the dipbecause the Fed will never let the market go down will be crushed like scurrying cockroaches and all those trying to rotate into the next hot sector or asset class will also be crushed like scurrying cockroaches because when the Everything Bubble pops, well, everything pops. There is no shelter in a risk-off cascade.
The crash is coming as a result of multiple mutually reinforcing dynamics, the first being that no "serious person" believes a crash is possible, much less imminent. In no particular order, here are a raft of other causally consequential triggers of a cascading market crash:
1. As I noted in my call for the top, Is Anyone Willing to Call the Top of the Everything Bubble?(September 6, 2021), there is no history to support the widespread confidence that the extremes of over-valuation, leverage, euphoria and speculation last forever, or even much longer than the lifespan of a cockroach. We're well past that benchmark into unprecedented insanity. So what happens next: squish.
Just for the record, the Dow topped out on August 13, the S&P 500 topped out on September 2 and the Nasdaq topped out the day after my call, September 7. (Close enough for gummit work…)
The U.S. Government Vows to "Fix" the Food System, by Bill Bonner | STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC
https://straightlinelogic.com/2021/09/27/the-u-s-government-vows-to-fix-the-food-system-by-bill-bonner/
Like they've fixed the educational and medical systems, and turned everything else they've touched into crap. From Bill Bonner at rogueeconomics.com:
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Things go wrong.
The Wall Street Journalpublished this alert last night:
Democratic leaders are trying to shepherd two complicated legislative packages: a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a sprawling healthcare, education and climate package whose proposed $3.5 trillion price tag and contents are still under intense debate within the party.
At the same time, the government's funding is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 1, which would partially shut down the government if Congress doesn't act. Lawmakers also are feuding over who is responsible for raising the debt limit and avoiding a potentially catastrophic default. Absent swift action, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress this month that the Treasury may be unable to keep paying all of the government's bills on time during October.
Reuters calls it a "moment of truth" for Congress.
Politicians grandstand. They argue and point the finger at each other.
But if the spending is interrupted, it won't be interrupted for long. The real truth is that Democrats and Republicans agree on the important issue – that the rip-off of the American public must go on.
Borrow… spend… print… and borrow more.
Eventually, the end of the world as we have known itcomes. And then, things get serious. Painful. Chaotic. And disastrous.
Empty Stomachs
And today, we look at one of the most nightmarish features of the End of the World As We Have Known It: hunger.
It is hard to imagine widespread hunger in the U.S. The country is so rich, so big, so productive… food is so plentiful… and its people are so fat. What could possibly go so wrong as to cause people to go hungry?
Evergrande: Embattled China property giant sparks economy fears – BBC News
…Chinese company Evergrande
has started to repay investors in its wealth management business with
property, as the world's most indebted real estate developer faces a key
test this week.
Evergrande: Shares in cash-strapped China property giant plunge – BBC News
Comment by tonytran2015: Any overpriced enterprise in heavy debt may go bankrupt suddenly leaving its investors, creditors and employees with heavy losses.
… The firm said it is struggling to sell assets fast enough to service its massive $305bn (£220bn) of debts…
World could face disastrous financial crisis in 2023 on same scale as devastating 2008-2009 economic crash – Russian central bank — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
September 4, 2021 tonytran2015 1 Comment
https://www.rt.com/russia/533877-central-bank-financial-crisis-2023/
By Jonny Tickle
The world might face a financial disaster comparable with the
2008–2009 crisis because of problems accumulated over the last 18
months, which are a byproduct of measures implemented by governments to
battle the spread of Covid-19.
That's according to the
Central Bank of Russia, which published a Monetary Policy Guidelines
draft report on Wednesday. According to the institution, the world
economy could enter a crisis scenario due to both the increase of global
debt held by countries and the increasing number of companies with weak
financial soundness.
According to the draft, the bank has
developed four separate scenarios for the near future, up to 2024.
According to its so-called 'baseline' scenario, a recession is avoided
as countries achieve their vaccine targets and advanced economies shift
toward monetary policy normalization.
Also on rt.com
IMF transfer pushes Russia's international reserves to historic high
However, the other three possible scenarios paint a decidedly
grimmer picture. In the first instance, the pandemic worsens
significantly causing an economic crash worldwide. In the second, the
pandemic improves, but problems accumulated over the pandemic
deteriorate the economic situation considerably causing a rise in
inflation. In the third, monetary policy normalization by advanced
economies is accompanied by unsteady dynamics in financial markets,
causing a lack of confidence in investors. This is the worst of the
three negative scenarios, the bank says.
Russia's economy is
suffering from stubbornly high inflation, which currently sits at 6.5%,
and has been blamed for eating significantly into living standards in
the country ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections.
In July,
Central Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina revealed that the
institution would be hiking its rate to match its key interest rate to
the 6.5% annual inflation rate in a bid to encourage saving and
discourage borrowing. The bank wishes to get this figure down to the
publicly announced target of 4%.
IMF's $650 billion in pandemic relief will mostly go to rich countries
Could Inflation Sink Biden Plan? – The Lone Cactus
August 27, 2021 tonytran2015
https://thelonecactus317896151.wordpress.com/2021/05/16/could-inflation-sink-biden-plan/
Joe Biden is rooting for the economy to come roaring back after COVID. In fact, he's banking on it. His plans to spend upwards of $4 trillion on infrastructure, COVID relief, Immigration reform, and other topics has got economists' heads spinning. Not even Bobo Obama could top the spending spree Biden has planned.
But it all could go away at the snap of the fingers.
Joe Biden is facing one of his biggest fears. He knows that if inflation takes off, there is no way he can battle rising, runaway prices, with more spending. That just can't be done, and the Republicans in Congress would be quick to tackle him and throw him for a loss if he tries it…


Say NO to create a BIGGER YES.
Okay… so, I live inside a YES culture.
And, I love it. I am ALL ABOUT the Big Yes to love, to life, to intimacy, to more life… I'm all about the delicious bio-chemistry of embracing my life.
But, really folks, have you taken a moment lately to celebrate NO?
NO it the other side of the big YES. Without it… we're just a ceaseless, unbounded, amoebic blobs. Without no, we are unable to negotiate our time, energy attention, and intimacy. Without it, we are unable to create healthy boundaries, to make coherent choices or to be effective in our leadership.
But, we are really afraid of the no.
We are afraid we will disappoint, upset, off-put or loose out. We are afraid to be perceived as negative. We are afraid that NO will inhibit the yes.
We have equated no with negative.
What if no IS profoundly positive?
What if NO is the secret ingredient in a coherent system?
What if NO is the key to living a sane and healthy human life?
What if NO is also part of the BIG YES of oneness?
WHAT IF YOUR STRONG, CLEAR, NO FREES AND SUPPORTS THE BIGNESS OF YOUR YES?
Really… if I were a cell, and I only said YES, I would soon become a cancer.
If I were a gardener, and I only said yes, I would only have a plot full of weeds.
If I were a mother and I only said yes, I would exhaust myself and my child would grow up without healthy boundaries or respect for others.
If I were a woman, and I only said yes, I'd be recapitulating the same dysfunctional I came here to heal this lifetime.
If I were a leader and I only said yes, you would walk the other way…. Wouldn't you?
I am here today to firmly and lovingly, joyfully and lightly, embrace NO. Sometimes it takes a BIG NO to create an even bigger YES.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2013 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


text:
House Prioritizes Legislation to Give Governor's Pandemic Orders 'Effect of Law'
Former State Rep. Matt Rinaldi says the bill will "result in more restrictions for Texans."
By Brandon Waltens and Jeramy Kitchen|February 26, 2021
Nearly one year ago, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide disaster declaration for the Chinese coronavirus. Since then, that declaration has been used to issue numerous unilateral executive orders, shuttering businesses, restricting business occupancy, and mandating masks.
Since then, the Republican Party of Texas has made ending executive overreach a legislative priority. Instead, Texas House leadership is prioritizing a bill to codify Abbott's actions.
House Bill 3, filed this week by State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock), has been titled the Texas Pandemic Response Act.
Rather than eliminate the ability of the governor to issue edicts during pandemics, it instead establishes a new section of code to issue "pandemic disasters." Those emergency powers are largely the same as the current disaster powers Abbott used to justify his edicts and mandates over the past year, with the "force and effect of law."
Though each "pandemic disaster" may only last 30 days, the legislation allows the governor to renew the orders indefinitely. And though the Legislature may terminate the disaster, they are largely powerless to do so, given the fact that only the governor can call them into a special session when they are not meeting—which is the majority of the time, for Texas' part-time Legislature.
"It grants the governor authority to do all the things he already did that we've all been screaming about," said Fran Rhodes, president of the True Texas Project.
In addition to codifying pandemic disaster powers for the governor, HB 3 says churches and Second Amendment rights cannot be terminated during such a disaster and limits local authority during pandemics.
Additionally, the bill acknowledges "the authority of the governor to proclaim martial law," a power that is heavily disputed.
Another section of the bill would grant liability protections to businesses only if they comply with "federal, state, and local laws, rules, ordinance, declarations, and proclamations."
Jill Glover, the chair of the Texas GOP's legislative priorities committee, also raised concerns over the legislation.
"HB 3 would actually extend executive powers and would give the federal government more power in our state by mandating that businesses comply with CDC recommendations," said Glover. "For example, if our governor were to end the mask mandate, but our federal government continued it, our governor could simply say there is nothing he can do, as our Legislature voted to comply with federal regulations."
Attorney Matt Rinaldi, a former state lawmaker, went even further during an interview on The Luke Macias Show, saying it would effectively make Dr. Anthony Fauci the "King of Texas," causing businesses to require double-masking and the masking of 3-year-olds.
Rinaldi said the bill would actually increase the governor's strength to file executive orders, calling it the "most offensive" priority bill he has seen since he started following the Legislature a decade ago.
"It's an insult to every single citizen of Texas that has lived for a year under these restrictions and expects them to be lifted," said Rinaldi. "This bill will result in more restrictions for Texans. It needs to die, it can't be fixed, and I want every activist out there to know that."
House Bill 3 can be read here.
Brandon Waltens
Brandon serves as the Managing Editor for Texas Scorecard. After managing successful campaigns for top conservative legislators and serving as a Chief of Staff in the Texas Capitol, Brandon moved outside the dome in order to shine a spotlight on conservative victories and establishment corruption in Austin. @bwaltens


5 years ago Samsung introduced the Galaxy S4. It had a big 5 inch Full HD display, an Octa-core processor and had double the ram. The other place where it got a big upgrade was the camera. The main camera was upgraded to 13MP from 8MP of Galaxy S3. It was a time when all the talk was about pixels.
In subsequent years, manufacturers made ambitious strides with 16MP, 20MP and even 41MP sensors. OEMs were facing a constraint at the start of the decade. They knew the fundamentals of good cameras like large aperture, bigger pixels, and bigger sensors. The problem was the size. Bigger sensors take up more space and trend was to make the phones thinner and lighter. So OEMs compromised in the camera department for appealing looks and ergonomics. Their hypothesis was proved true when one of the most popular complains about the Lumia 1020 (the 41MP beast) was the size, the appeal, the camera hump. And so followed the dark years of mobile photography where the innovation was absent, and the change was iterative.
It was in late 2016 when something happened. Apple introduced the iPhone 7 Plus with dual cameras. There were 2 main breakthroughs. First, it introduced optical zoom, so no more cropping in for zoom. The second, you could snap portraits with a convincing "Bokeh".
However, a bigger leap in mobile photography was seen when Google introduced Pixel and it changed the way people thought about mobile cameras. The google pixel had the same Sony IMX378 found on many phones like the HTC U Ultra and Blackberry Keyone. What Google did differently was they used software to enhance their output. The idea was to focus more on software than on hardware. Using smart HDR Google would take multiple low exposure shots and then combine them to produce the final image.
The results were astounding. The results from Pixel were not iteratively better, they were generationally better and so we entered the realm of computational photography. Since then, with every new version of Pixel, Google has done wonders. And while the hardware has improved, it's the software that always steals the spotlight.
2018 was a big year for mobile photography as this every major OEM adopted computational photography of some sorts. OEMs introduced some interesting things like variable aperture, scene detection, 4 cameras, and even 40 MP camera without a camera bump. The biggest changes came with iPhone's new smart HDR and yes the Google Pixel 3. iPhone Xs with its smart HDR uses advanced software algorithms to produce images with a very wide dynamic range. The Pixel 3 was far more impressive here.
Apart from the iterative improvements, the pixel 3 introduced 2 new things, super res zoom and night sight. Super res zoom is fancy software trick that allows Pixel 3 to zoom in digitally without losing as much detail as you would with conventional cropping based zooming. Yes, it is not as good as optical zooming, but it is interesting to see how comparable results were achieved. Night sight was something that honestly made me smile. I don't know what sort of magic Google is doing here but the night sight on the pixel 3 makes low light shot gorgeous.
We wanted to see how good the software really is. So we took a OnePlus 6 and installed the pixel 3 camera app. A thing to note here is that this is not the official app and the app is still in beta, but the results are still going to blow you away.
The images on the left were taken with the stock camera app while the images on the right were taken with the Pixel 3 camera app (comparisons are best viewed using a desktop browser). What you will see is that the images on the right are sharper, have better colors, better contrast, lower noise and are generally more pleasing. This was a software port in beta for the OnePlus 6, that is something that makes it even more amazing.


Jimmy & Sarah Call it Quits!
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel and comic Sarah Silverman have broken up after five years of dating, their reps have confirmed.
Vanity Fair was first to report the news. Reps for both Kimmel and Silverman say the split was amicable.
"Jimmy and Sarah will have no further comment," their reps Lewis Kay and Amy Zvi said Monday in a statement.
Hmmm, has anyone bothered to contact Matt Damon or Ben Affleck for comment?


text:
Kanton Ouzouer-sur-Loire () je francouzský kanton v departementu Loiret v regionu Centre-Val de Loire. Tvoří ho šest obcí.

Obce kantonu
 Bonnée
 Les Bordes
 Bray-en-Val
 Dampierre-en-Burly
 Ouzouer-sur-Loire
 Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire

Ouzouer-sur-Loire

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


In past articles we've pointed out the beginning of a new, elite dominant social theme: globalism versus populism.
Brexit is being positioned as a populist uprising and so is Trump's campaign.
And below, after further exploration of this emergent propaganda, we travel back in time, as we have in the past, to explore some fairly definitive evidence that shows that Hiroshima/Nagasaki were also used as globalist propaganda in their day.
The "atom bombs" dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki created our "modern" world. And this world has always been portrayed, like all directed history, as a natural and unstoppable evolution.
Now, thanks to Brexit, globalism, too, will be portrayed as natural and necessary adaptation to a more complex world. Donald Trump may well win the election, just as Brexit won.
But ultimately, it seems, populism is fated to be discarded. A new and gentler globalism may emerge in the East and include the BRICs. or pieces of them.
Already we are being instructed that because the Brits made the wrong, "populist" decision, chaos threatens that world leaders are now powerless to prevent.
But the starting gun for technocratic corporatism was the explosion of the nuke over Hiroshima.
Yet what has come to bother us lately is that, like vaccines, these technical evolutions always favor government control as a necessary adaptation to scientific progress.
It is hard to believe that the major discoveries of the past 200 years inevitably demand government supervision.
Consider what we have already uncovered just by scrutinizing the Internet and looking for evidence of "directed history" regarding the initial atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The dreaded mushroom cloud presented by the Hiroshima memorial is actually a photo of Hiroshima on fire. HERE.
A squadron of 66 bombers was directed to Imabari. in the early morning of August 6 (666) – the morning of the A-bomb – but Imabari. had been bombed already, twice. This bombing squadron might have fire-bombed Hiroshima instead. HERE.
Initial reports in Japan were that Hiroshima was firebombed. AP filed the same report. HERE.
In the aftermath of the explosion, Hiroshima (and Nagasaki) look no different than Tokyo after it was firebombed. HERE and HERE.
In Hiroshima numerous buildings are standing along with erect tree stumps. HERE.
Limited trolley service was revived in Hiroshima after only three days. HERE.
The Hiroshima bank at the epicenter of the bomb is fully functional and can be seen HERE.
Predictions of endless radiation poisoning for thousands of years proved untrue. Today, Hiroshima and Nagasaki's radiation levels are normal. HERE.
Outdoor shadows and other dramatic evidences of the Hiroshima bombing seem to be faked. HERE.
The initial American reporting on Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs came from Wilfred Burchett and William L. Laurence. One was a communist (Burchett) who hated America and reportedly ended up on the Kremlin's payroll. HERE.
The other was secretly a paid employee of US armed forces. He was the man who rode with the crew to witness the nuke dropped on Nagasaki. His report on the attack is painful to read for all the wrong reasons. HERE.
Laurence was also the only reported to cover the development of the atomic bomb, see the initial bomb testing (from 20 miles away) and to report from Nagasaki. In other words, only one reporter, paid by the US war dept, provided the entirety of the initial civilian narrative for the testing of nuclear devices and then bombing of Nagasaki. Just one. It was roughly the same at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reporters were not allowed to visit. HERE.
Military officers were asked to exaggerate the injury count.HERE.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were apparently shut down for months. There was no influx of Western reporters. The nuclear narrative was developed by the Pentagon from what we can tell. HERE.
It was immediately made a crime punishable by death in both the US and Japan to discuss nuclear attacks and the technology that created them. ("The restricted data clauses of the US Atomic Energy Act specifies that all nuclear weapons-related information is to be considered classified unless explicitly declassified, and makes no distinction about whether said information was created in a laboratory by a government scientist or anywhere else in the world by private citizens.") HERE.
As for Little Boy, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, photos show it seems to lack the necessary antennas to function. HERE.
There were apparently several Little Boys of various sizes, not just one. HERE.
The narrative surrounding the dropping of the Hiroshima bombing is reportedly inaccurate. "Levers" were "pulled" to drop the bomb, but the automatic system did the job. HERE.
The automatic targeting system itself was an inaccurate device that reportedly might drop bombs miles from where the pilot hoped to deliver them. The odds that both bombs ended up delivering effective blasts are surprisingly low.
The Nagasaki bombing narrative was confused for decades. The story kept changing. HERE.
The photos of the Nagasaki mushroom cloud are suspicious. They appear to be composite images with cloud cover inserted to ensure that identification of Nagasaki is impossible. HERE. Other Nagasaki photos appear fake.
One of the two famous and supposedly identical photos of the Nagasaki mushroom cloud includes part of a plane. One of the photos is thus fake, or at least retouched.HERE.
There don't seem to be any civilian photos of either mushroom cloud taken by Japanese civilians or even military facilities. This one HERE looks evidently faked.
Much of the Western Hiroshima narrative regarding the blast was developed by a single Jesuit priest who, along with other Jesuits, had survive at the epicenter of the blast through the intervention of the Virgin Mary. HERE.
The eyewitness accounts of the blast itself have a repetitive and artificial quality to them, at least the ones we read. One doctor claims to have treated 2000-3000 injured on the first day. HERE.
There are other disturbing elements to the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings, and if you are interested, you can see more documents calling many elements of the attacks into question HERE.
Here is direct testimony of some of the exaggerations that took place from Crawford Sams – (of the 'Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission'). HERE.
The object of this instruction, called Letter of Instruction, was "You will play up the devastating effect of the atomic bomb." All right? So I was the one who set the deadline this time. Anybody who had been in Hiroshima and died within six months, whether they got run over by a bicycle or whatnot, would be credited to the atomic bomb.
When the bomb went off, about 2 thousand people out of 250 thousand got killed [in Hiroshima] – by blast, by thermal radiation, or by intense x-ray, gamma radiation.
You see, it wasn't "Bing" like the publicity here [said]: a bomb went off and a city disappeared. No such thing happened. That was the propaganda for deterrent.
When I came back to this country, I was appalled, from a military standpoint, to find that our major planners in the War Department were using their own propaganda, 100 thousand deaths, Bing!
You don't hear much about the effects of Nagasaki because actually it was pretty ineffective. That was a narrow corridor from the hospital … down to the port, and the effects were very limited as far as the fire spread and all that stuff. So you don't hear much about Nagasaki.
Conclusion: The entirety of the Cold War, including the "arms race" and the "space race" all have elements of directed history. In other words, they are not what they seem. They are what authorities wish us to believe. While here at DB we have never written that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not bombed with nukes, we do have grave reservations about the narrative.
Editor's note: One of the main pages we were using as reference was suspended.
The page was https://w w w.big-lies.org/NUKE-LIES/www.nukelies.com/forum/5-Hiroshima-Nagasaki-myth-in-fact-not-nuked.html.


Request an extensive Web Studio market report.
This report shows the usage statistics and market share data of Web Studio on the web. See technologies overview for explanations on the methodologies used in the surveys. Our reports are updated daily.
Web Studio is used by less than 0.1% of all the websites whose content management system we know.
This diagram shows the percentages of websites using various versions of Web Studio.
Version 5 is used by 70.7% of all the websites who use Web Studio.
This diagram shows the historical trend in the percentage of websites using Web Studio.
You can find growth rates of Web Studio compared to all other content management systems in our Web Studio market report.
This diagram shows the market position of Web Studio in terms of popularity and traffic compared to the most popular content management systems.
Get a notification when a top site starts using Web Studio.
Web Studio is a discontinued Windows-based website builder by Back to the Beach Software.


text:
Notebook: College Ties Stay Strong Through Summer August 6, 2013 | Charleston, S.C. By Anne D. Pennington, USGA
Leona Maguire (right), of Ireland, defeated her opponent, Stephanie Meadow, of Northern Ireland, 3 and 2, in their Round of 64 match. (USGA/Chris Keane)
For most collegiate sports, the end of the academic year brings a well-deserved break from training and fewer interactions with coaches and teammates. But in amateur golf, summer is arguably the most hectic season, allowing teammates at elite programs to remain close year-round, offering support as well as healthy competition.
At the 113th U.S. Women's Amateur, the University of Southern California had five players from the active roster and incoming freshman class advance to match play: Doris Chen, Kyung Kim, Annie Park, Sophia Popov and Gabriella Then.
Chen, 20, of Chinese Taipei, defeated Erynne Lee, 20, of Silverdale, Wash., 1 up. Lee plays collegiate golf for the University of California-Los Angeles, USC's crosstown rival.
"Today I tried not to think about that," said Chen when asked about the USC-UCLA rivalry. "I tried not to give this match too much meaning. I know she's a very good player and we've played several times together, but today I wanted to just focus on my game and get my game right."
Park, 18, of Levittown, N.Y., eliminated Lauren Stephenson, 16, of Lexington, S.C., 4 and 3. Park joined the USC squad for the spring semester and won the 2013 NCAA Division I individual championship, becoming just the seventh freshman in history to do so.
While Chen and Park advanced, their comrades were not so fortunate. Kim, 19, of Chandler, Ariz., fell to Katelyn Sepmoree, 22, of Tyler, Texas, 2 and 1. Popov, 20, of Germany, lost to Casie Cathrea, 17, of Livermore, Calif., 3 and 2. Incoming freshman Gabriella Then, 17, of Rancho Cucamonga, lost to Aurora Kan, 19, of Boothwyn, Pa., 7 and 5.
The University of Alabama had three active players and one recruit advance to match play: Cammie Gray, Stephanie Meadow, Emma Talley and Nicole Morales, who will join the Crimson Tide in 2014. All advanced to the round of 32 except Meadow, 22, of Northern Ireland, who was defeated by Leona Maguire, 18, of Ireland, 3 and 2.
Gray, 20, of Northport, Ala., eliminated Simin Feng, of the People's Republic of China, 4 and 3. She said that having her teammates at the championship is invaluable because they understand her game, and more experienced players can offer good advice.
"It's been nice to be able to hang out with people you know so well," said Gray. "It's also very helpful because they've been in this situation before and I'm kind of a baby, so it's nice just getting some help from them mentally. They always tell me it's just important to stay in the moment and stay focused."
Talley, 19, of Princeton, Ky., defeated Lydia Choi, 16, of Beverly Hills, Calif., 3 and 1. Talley, a rising sophomore, earned second team All-American honors for the 2012-13 season. Morales, 17, of South Salem, N.Y., earned a 2-and-1 victory over Liv Cheng, of New Zealand.
Matches to Watch
Cathrea and Morales are facing off Thursday at 8:20 a.m. in one of the most anticipated matchups in the round of 32.
Cathrea was the low amateur at the 2013 U.S. Women's Open at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., finished tied for 25th with a final-round 70 that was tied for Sunday's low score. She was also a quarterfinalist in the 2009 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior championship.
Morales advanced to the third round of match play in the 2011 Women's Amateur, as well as in the 2010 and 2012 U.S. Girls' Juniors. Both players will represent the United States in the 2013 Junior Solheim Cup.
In tomorrow's lower bracket, local favorite Katelyn Dambaugh, 18, of Goose Creek, S.C., will take on Alison Lee, 18, of Valencia, Calif., at 9:10 a.m. Dambaugh eliminated Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City, Hawaii, 2 up, to advance to the round of 32, and Lee defeated Dawn Woodard of Greer, S.C., 3 and 1, to move on.
Both players have finished as runner-up at the U.S. Girls' Junior. In 2010, Dambaugh was defeated, 3 and 2, by Chen. In 2012, Alison Lee was bested by Minjee Lee, 1 up.
Alison Lee will also represent the United States in the 2013 Junior Solheim Cup.
At the start of the 24th match of the 113th U.S. Women's Amateur, the two young women about to ascend to the teeing ground animatedly chatted as the starter cleared her throat to announce them. The girls paused for a moment as she announced Stephanie Meadow, of Northern Ireland, and Leona Maguire, of Ireland. Spectators scattered around the tee turned abruptly, suddenly paying attention to this match that had piqued their interest.
Maguire defeated Meadow, 3 and 2, in a match that pitted friendly rivals. They have competed against each other on multiple occasions, most recently at the 2012 Irish Ladies Close Championship, when Maguire was also victorious.
However, they have also played as teammates. In the 2012 Curtis Cup Match, Maguire and Meadow played together in four-ball, when they defeated Lisa McCloskey and Lindy Duncan, and in foursomes, when they lost to the same duo.
Both players acknowledged that this would be a difficult match, given their familiarity with each other's style of play. Maguire didn't think either had a clear advantage, simply saying, "It could have gone either way at any stage."
Anne D. Pennington is a communications intern at the USGA. Email her at apennington@usga.org.


text:
Seeds In A Dark Fruit Sky
A collection of short stories from Haiti
Kickstarter Supporters
1) Where is the money going?
2) Who is the author?
3) What is narrative non-fiction?
4) Is it a "Christian" book?
WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?
If this book makes a profit after it is published, 15% will go straight to Haiti Bible Mission to help support their school in Te Wouj.
25% will go to a fund that will begin to pay back the contributors of this book project. They put a lot into it for very little money, and we want to be able to thank them as it succeeds.
10% will go to fund a new project with the locals in Jérémie, Haiti. Although this project has not been determined yet, there are a couple ideas in the works.
The other 50% will go to fund printing and shipping copies of the book to send to schools and other relevant places in Haiti or wherever else the book will be useful.
That depends on what you mean by author. The originator of the story itself? That would be the individual Haitian who gave the story. But if you mean the person who wrote the stories in English, that would be Rosie Alexander. But do you mean the Creole translator? They have to rewrite each story so that it will make sense and sound beautiful in Creole, it's not just a word for word translation.
So it's a complicated question.
Check out our Meet the Team page to get to know everyone who contributed!
WHAT IS NARRATIVE NON-FICTION?
You may ask what narrative nonfiction is, and you wouldn't be the only one. "Narrative" and "nonfiction" seem to be mutually exclusive. Emily Dickinson wrote, "Tell all the truth but tell it slant," and many authors, such as Tim O'Brien in The Things They Carried, call their works creative nonfiction because they tell true stories in a compelling, dramatic way so that it reads like fiction. They use literary styles and techniques to create accurate narratives that are beautiful to read.
Human memory is fallible, details are lost or changed. Knowing this, there is freedom to delve into these snapshots of life with greater descriptive freedom while still remaining true to the essence of the story and the details provided by the memories. The author's process was to first interview Haitian locals with a translator, asking them questions and recording our interview. After the story is written, the author has the Haitian read or hear the story with the help of a translator in order to verify the story. This was to ensure that the Haitians felt like the work represented them and their story accurately.
How can one extract the absolute and whole truth from a memory? What is truth when it is told through a subjective perspective and narration of a human being? It is impossible to convey the complete truth of a memory. The point of these stories is to show the essence of truth of Haitian memories and lives – not to repeat facts and details in a dry and confusing way, like a textbook or history book.
And just to reassure (again) – all of these stories were verified and approved by their original storytellers before being approved for publication.
IS IT A CHRISTIAN BOOK?
Probably not in the sense you are thinking. An important clarification would be to define what people assume is a "Christian" book. Most would define it as writing that deals with Christian themes and morals as a primary plot point as well as a Christian "take away" that calls for the reader to convert or change their lifestyles.
Although there are a couple stories related to Christian faith, the majority of them are not about faith. This book was made while Rosie was staying with a Christian mission (Haiti Bible Mission), but it is not a collection of conversion stories. At the same time it is understood and acknowledged that because the Haitians interviewed were generally known by or affiliated with Haiti Bible Mission, most of those interviewed are now Christians.
The point is these are stories from life being lived in Haiti. The good, the bad, the little things, the big things… Everything.
SiaDFS Social Media
View Seeds in a Dark Fruit Sky's profile on Facebook
View DarkFruitSky's profile on Twitter
View Seedsinadarkfruitsky's profile on Instagram
View Darkfruitsky's profile on Pinterest
Follow Seeds In A Dark Fruit Sky on WordPress.com
View Seedsinadarkfruitsky's profile on Facebook
Want e-mail updates?
In Haiti


The phrase "rentals" quite often leads people to imagine compact, cramped housing complexes linked to more compact, cramped housing complexes. Anybody relocating to Hanover, however, really should know that there will also be houses for rent in the area. Believe it or not, there are many good considerations for renting a house versus purchasing or choosing an apartment or townhouse, and with the right tools, it`s possible to easily identify the best house for rent in Hanover that will match your everyday life and preferences.
Numerous people prefer houses for rent in Hanover since they give you far more space, compared to the vast majority of apartments and condos. Also, rented homes allow residents a great deal more flexibility by having lease obligations at or below a year (most often) and limited obligation for maintenance and repairs. All lease contracts should be studied carefully though so that you will know every detail, but usually, the landlord will be the person required to fix A/C, furnace or plumbing troubles, oftentimes even have the yard mowed, and many other things.
Most houses for rent in Hanover will be located in outlying areas, in contrast with downtown. Nevertheless, you may every now and then be able to find good houses for rent in the downtown area if you`re among those who are determined to be there. Houses for rent in Hanover are perfect for families or those with multiple housemates, and they can also lessen tenant`s payments and at the same time provide an array of important features not found in other kinds of housing. Contrary to apartments and townhomes, houses are built freestanding, typically come with at least some semblance of a front lawn and never have communal laundry rooms or other communal household amenities. Like many people, you almost certainly want to be near to the city`s main attractions. You needn`t worry, as houses for rent in Hanover, Kansas are available right by these locations too.
By making use of RentFinder, it can help you zero in on available houses for rent in Hanover that meet parameters which are important to you personally. Have young kids? RentFinder will let you find residences near primary or secondary schools by way of the right-side map on this web page. Are pets a portion of your household? You could even perform a search for pet-friendly spots. Perhaps it`s pizza that is crucial for you, know that you are able to look for a local pizza joint over on this web page`s right-hand portion as well.
Shortly after you`ve cut down your list to one final house for rent in Hanover, Kansas that`s a great match, make certain you find a day to check it out ahead of signing anything official. In other words, planning to see the house in person, instead of only checking out pictures forwarded your way from the realtor or landlord, or even offered on the net.
When the moment arrives and you`re showing up to view a home, make sure you take a look at anything that could be in a state of disrepair. The owner is generally responsible for caring for it, so its existing condition will imply how the landlord will handle things should you end up being a lessee. Is the yard and landscaping in good overall condition? Do you find any peeling wallpaper or dented and cracked wall surfaces? Are all of the kitchen and other home appliances functioning correctly? Do the front and back doors lock firmly? It`s advisable to take a good look at the homes on the same street. Even when not under the same exact owner, their present condition tends to be influential and a case in point of the neighborhood in general.
Wavering about what kind of house for rent in Hanover you want to have exactly? Give RentFinder a go right now—tap the button shown below, and you`ll be on your way.


text:
Pound Latest News – Why Has the Pound Fallen?
In times of economic uncertainty, it's common to see variations between the US dollar vs pound. The UK sterling began falling in the week of the March 16, following an announcement from the Bank of England that all interest rates would be slashed by 0.5 % to 0.25 %. It was on March 18 that the pound to dollar exchange rate was said to have collapsed.
The pound falling is certainly nothing new, although this is a much more significant drop than usual. Following the Brexit vote in June 2016, the GBP experienced one of its biggest drops in recent years. By August of the same year, however, the pounds latest news at the time showed that the sterling drop had recovered and the pound rose to £1.32 against the dollar. UK pound forecast predictions and past economic trends suggest that the GBP will recover once the Covid-19 pandemic calms down. This highlights the importance of acting fast in situations like these in order to reap the full benefit of current investment opportunities.
I'm an Overseas Investor – What Property Should I Invest In?
As always, it's important not to rush into the first investment opportunity you come across without first researching the UK market. Since the pound is currently low but expected to rise by the time Coronavirus has been resolved, the best move investors can make is to purchase properties in areas that are already displaying a high level of growth. This way, you will benefit from an even higher increase in capital appreciation.
Explore High Return Investment Opportunities Now
According to recent market analysis, the North West region is the best area to focus on for strong capital growth. The region is expected to see property prices rise by 28.8% by the time we reach 2025, and has displayed some of the most significant growth levels over the last few years. This is no doubt thanks, in part, to ongoing regeneration seen across the region. Both Liverpool and Manchester boast some huge planned regeneration projects including Liverpool Waters and the redevelopment of the Anfield area.
If you're looking to keep costs low on top of discounts resulting from the pounds drop, then Liverpool is a prime city to explore. Luxury properties are available to purchase from as little as £92,950 in Liverpool. Combined with impressive rental yields and high rental demand, Liverpool property investment opportunities are not to be missed by overseas investors currently looking into the UK market.
Make the Most of the Sterling Drop With Our Buy to Let Opportunities
If you would like to enquire about our current Liverpool and Manchester property investment opportunities, please get in touch today. We can help you get more for your money by taking advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and benefit from significant returns. Contact us today to make your first step into the UK market.
Download Your FREE Overseas Investors Guide to UK Property
Enter Your Details for Instant Access
Thank You for Downloading Your Free Guide
Click the button below for instant access


But Trump is responsible for this problem precisely because he systematically obliterates any distinctions between the overwhelming majority of immigrants who are law-abiding and the violent minority among the foreign-born.
The slippery inexactness of Trump's language is often ascribed by his detractors to the deficiencies of his verbal skills and his lazy tendency to return again and again to the same stock words and phrases. Trump's admirers frequently cite his use of colloquial language as key to his success in persuading so many that he is not a traditional politician. After all, the way in which he uses the word "animals" is drawn from common street-corner or barroom talk. It's not a usage he invented.
But both of these innocent explanations underestimate Trump's gift for using incendiary words that send clear messages to his supporters. He is brutally calculating in finding ways of casting large groups of people as undeserving of dignity. Dehumanizing those he and his core constituents see as radically different is central to Trump's project.
Here's what's insidious about this: Throughout his presidential campaign and since, Trump has regularly blended talk about all immigrants with specific attacks on immigrants who committed serious crimes -- particularly those who belong to the murderous MS-13. Even assuming that Trump was, in fact, limiting himself to MS-13 in his reply to Mims, he has spent years creating rhetorical links between the foreign-born as a whole (especially those here illegally) and the bloodshed perpetrated by the few.
By playing fast and loose with language, Trump avails himself of escape hatches, as he did last week, and can then go on to cast his critics as defenders of criminality.
No one wants to be put in a position of seeming to say anything good about gang members. Yet Trump's strategy of dehumanization must be resisted across the board. We cannot shy away from what history teaches. Pronouncing whole categories of people as subhuman numbs a nation's moral sense and, in extreme but, unfortunately, too many cases, becomes a rationale for collective cruelty.
What's not fake news is Trump's refusal to take responsibility for using words quite deliberately to enrage, degrade and divide. In doing so, he debases and dehumanizes all of us.


text:
Oil prices slide on yet another surprise inventory build
The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a build in crude oil inventories of 12.792 million barrels for the week ending March 5.
Analysts had predicted an inventory build o 816,000 barrels for the week.
In the previous week, the API reported a major build in oil inventories of 7.356-million barrels after analysts had predicted a 928,000-barrel draw. But that was nothing compared to the EIA's report a day later of a 21.6 million barrel build.
Illustration image
It is unclear whether today's reported stock build is part of EIA's large build reported last week, or whether we will see another large build from the EIA tomorrow.
Oil prices slid further on Tuesday ahead of the data after a couple days of price rallying courtesy of the Houthi rebels, who claimed Sunday's attack on Saudi oil infrastructure.
At 3:19 p.m. EDT, before Tuesday's data release, WTI had fallen by $0.99 on the day (-1.52%) to $64.06. Although down for the day, WTI is still trading up more than $4 per barrel over this time last week.
The Brent crude benchmark had also fallen on the day, $0.75 at that time (-1.10%) to $67.49—also more than $4 per barrel up on the week.
U.S. oil production rose by 300,000 bpd barrels per day to 10.0 million bpd, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Enbridge tanks at Cushing as of March 5. Image courtesy of GeoSpatial Insight
The API reported another large draw in gasoline inventories of 8.499 million barrels for the week ending March 5—on top of the previous week's 9.933-million-barrel draw. Analysts had expected a 3.467-million-barrel draw for the week.
Distillate stocks saw a large decrease as well, of 4.796 million barrels for the week, after last week's 9.053-million-barrel decrease.
Cushing inventories rose by 295,000 barrels. Last week, inventories at the Cushing oil hub increased by 732,000 barrels.
Post data release, at 4:35 p.m. EDT, the WTI benchmark was trading at $63.79, while Brent crude was trading at $67.22.
https://nsrp.vn/latest-article/oil-prices-slide-on-yet-another-surprise-inventory-build/


He's also very interested in Twister. Twister is one of the 3 legged cats we rescued several years ago and is and always has been very attached to me. Benji really likes to cuddle with Twister but Twister isn't so sure she truly likes this. We'll see how this turns out; hopefully they'll get along just fine.
Today Benji ate the egg whites of a hard boiled egg, 2 peas, a piece of potato, and some mango for the first time. Over the last few days he has already been eating apple and carrots. It's good to see he likes solids but we're still giving him a bottle every 6 hours.


text:
Home » About » News » Five Star Service from Mercedes-Benz South West
Five Star Service from Mercedes-Benz South West
Achieving Platinum status two years running for our customer service by independent review platform Feefo, has been one of our favourite moments in 2021 so far and we couldn't have made it without you! We love reading through your reviews of Mercedes-Benz South West and hearing about our customer's experiences.
Through adversity the team at Mercedes-Benz South West have continued to provide the highest level of service possible and ensure peace of mind for our customers during a time of change. Achieving Platinum status again is a true reflection of their commitment to our customers.
Rated by real customers, here's a look at some of the top reviews of Mercedes-Benz South West so far in 2021:
Top Reviews of Mercedes-Benz South West in 2021
"Fantastic to deal with, brilliant service from the sales team. Highly recommend. Never thought I would buy a car over the phone and by video from home."
★★★★★– Mr Light
"A refreshing experience. Very professional from start to finish. First class experience!"
★★★★★– Mr O'Neil
"Good information and good feedback. It was good to have a video of the service. The car was returned in an excellent condition having been well cleaned"
★★★★★– Mr Webb
"As each year the service and attention to detail is amazing, well done on maintaining this high standard through a very difficult year, great team effort."
★★★★★ – Mr Howe
"They did what it said on the tin efficiently and promptly. What more can you ask?"
★★★★★ – Mr Renalls
Find out more about what the Feefo award means to us. If you want to see why there are so many outstanding reviews of Mercedes-Benz South West for yourself, contact your local dealership
Mercedes-Benz South West, at your service
Platinum Customer Service from Mercedes-Benz South West
2019 Highlights from Mercedes-Benz South West


text:
Q: Reading from a memory pointer (base address) I just started digging into C++ Yesterday after watching around 7+ hours of tutorials on game hacking, however my goal is not to create a hack for a game at all, however to see if I can create an automated system or a (BOT) to do things for me. This is simply for a learning experience, however.
Currently I understand how to get the Base-Pointers, what multi-level pointers are, and how to write to memory, however I have yet to find any decent information on reading from memory that I could get to work.
For this project I am using a DLL that is being Injected into the software that I am using. I am wanting to gather some data from the memory. I've taken the time to find the static pointers for some of the variables that I am wanting to display on my Windows Application Form. (Such as the health, etc)
The Base Pointer for one of these variables is: 0x302DD0E8
The Offset for the base pointer is: 0x84C

After experimenting quite a bit and doing hours of research I have come up with this code
DWORD HPValue = *(DWORD*)(*(DWORD*)0x302DD0E8 + 0x84C);

However, this instantly crashes my application, if I remove this code and inject the DLL everything works fine.. well "Works" as it's not really doing anything besides sitting there.
Really looking for help understanding how this works, I'm not trying to do anything bad like ruin a game either, just trying to get some experience in. Here's a screenshot of what my DLL Interface looks like, I'm literally just trying to read data.
http://gyazo.com/0b60c4246a8bd7ebc8da3620ad311eb4
Here's a picture of the address information as found in cheat-engine, this information works on other computers as-well as I have tested since asking this question.
http://gyazo.com/733d50c751119376d3195b6a5b703e9a
When I say I have the pointer, what I mean is I have the base address, I've already cycled through all of the pointers to get the base address.....

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Rimonim (), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

Rimonim or Rimmonim may also refer to:

Torah rimonim (or simply "rimonim"), finials adorning the top ends of the rollers of a Torah scroll
Rimonim, a magazine of the Center for Jewish Art, Israel
Rimonim hotels, a chain owned by Israel Land Development Company
Rimonim Prison in Tel Mond, Israel; part of the Israel Prison Service

See also

Rimon (disambiguation)
Rimmon


text:
#NeverTrump Candidate McMullin Envisions A Country Of Understanding, Respect
By NPR Staff
Former CIA agent Evan McMullin announces his presidential campaign as an independent candidate on Aug. 10 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I'm officially on the ballot in #Utah! Thank you to all our volunteers who collected signatures! #StandUpWithEvan pic.twitter.com/My0tVfhs7e
— Evan McMullin (@EvanMcMullin) August 15, 2016
For voters dissatisfied with both major party candidates, there are a few other options. There's Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and a lesser known late arrival to the scene — Evan McMullin.
McMullin is running as an independent with support from the #NeverTrump movement. He has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump — and he's seen as a conservative alternative to the candidate. He has blasted Trump as personally unstable on his website and "a real threat to our Republic."
McMullin has worked for the CIA, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Goldman Sachs, and as chief policy director of the House Republican Conference.
The 40-year-old Utah Mormon has qualified for the ballot in his state and his candidacy there could potentially split the state's conservative vote, giving Hillary Clinton an avenue to win what has traditionally been a red state. In an interview with NPR's Scott Simon, McMullin argued he is the best candidate on national security. He also spoke about his stance on the Affordable Care Act, trade and Syrian refugees.
On why he's the most qualified on national security
I believe that one of the largest challenges this country faces is that of national security right now. It comes from terrorism threats as well as others.
And I am prepared on day one to handle those unlike any of the other candidates.
I also understand in a way that I think the other candidates do not what kind of reforms this government needs to put in place and to advance in order for the American people to feel once again like they're being heard by their government and like their government is accountable to them.
On his plan for Syria
Syria's an issue I've worked quite a long time on. ...
I believe that we've made some mistakes as a country in the way we've responded to that and not just as a country but as an international community. The longer we've waited to engage, the worse it's gotten and now it's affecting whole world. We have a refugee crisis that's the largest humanitarian disaster since World War II. These refugee flows into Europe are destabilizing Europe. They're also creating political strife here in the United States, our civil liberties and our ideals as a country are now being threatened by some of the rhetoric coming from Donald Trump. ...
We need to get serious about defeating ISIS, we just aren't serious about it yet, I would be very serious about getting it done, I know how to do it. We need to take the fight to them on the battlefield in a more serious way. We also need to be more seriously committed to fighting the ideological battle, this is a battle of ideas just as much as it is a traditional battle on the field.
On whether he'd overturn the Affordable Care Act
What I would do is look for a better option. We see it not delivering what, I think, even its proponents hoped it would. Premiums are going up for many middle class Americans who are already suffering. Insurance companies, as we saw just this last week, are pulling out of the exchanges.
There are good things about it — for example, people with pre-existing conditions ... but we can do better. We need to do better so that everybody has better access to care and better care and it's done more affordably. The ACA didn't do anything about the underlying costs of health care, which is part of its problem. So I'm for delivering the most convenient, highest quality health care to all Americans. ...
We're a wealthy, capable country that can get this done. It's less than an entitlement, but just something that we can do.
On his vision for the country
We're a country of 330 million people. It is absolutely natural that we're going to have different ideas and different background and different preferences on a whole range of things. But in this country, we are all empowered to pursue happiness. That was the "why" of our country — that's what our founders envisioned for this country. And it wasn't perfect but over time we've done better and better and better.
We need to get to a place where we understand that we're not always going to agree with each other on everything but we're in a place in which we still respect each other's decisions. ...
I'm advocating for a new era in American politics and society where we understand that we're all different, we're all different people and we embrace those differences, and we respect those differences and we allow people to pursue happiness in the way they'd wish.
NPR Staff
See stories by NPR Staff


Today's is one I am compelled to share. I wish I had done this on our wedding day.
This blog is new, created specifically for letter-related news and views. I look forward to posting something here each Monday night (or Tuesday morning), in honour of my weekly (mostly) cyber-silent day: a day I set aside for quiet reflection, solitude, silence and yes, letter writing.
The winner of the Tulip Notecards Giveaway, posted yesterday, is "EMP," aka Elaine Mary Phillips.
Since I was 7, I knew I'd be a letter-writer-poet when I grew up. Once I ventured out on my own (after hap'ly co-authoring and publishing a book of letters in 2007), I set up a baker's dozen blogs as a discipline to record my thoughts and type up all the random bits 'n' pieces composed in coffee shops and on silent retreat days.
EMP has a lovely website, and you can read more about her book, The Hippo and the Unicorn: A Rainbow of Words there. Browse around; she has some interesting stories!
Congratulations to EMP for winning the cards!
Welcome to Correspondence Quarter—home of EMP's "quarterly" correspondence.
7. Pop letter in outgoing mail, sit back, and sigh with contentment.
QED: 15 minutes well spent, eh?


In the last few decades, as technology has continued its unstoppable stride towards omnipresence, one faction seems to have remained on the fringes: the world of virtual reality (VR) and augmented/mixed reality (AR). But times are changing: this year's AR VR Innovate conference, held in Dublin's RDS, hosted over 30 exhibitors and 40 speakers.
The takeaway? The world of AR/VR is entering an exciting new era – and we were right on hand to find out what this means for brands across a range of industries.
To date, AR/VR hasn't played a major role in fields such as manufacturing, commercial design, or even entertainment. However, its power and potential as an immersive entertainment medium is unlike any other, with its ability to hijack the senses and transport the mind elsewhere unparalleled; even IMAX, VR's closest rival in terms of experience, comes a distant second. And while the concept of VR/AR technology has now been around for a decent stretch, it is fair to say that its most impressive applications have been confined to the world of science fiction.
With the huge computational and manufacturing requirements of the hardware in question, along with the complexity of the content creation platforms, there are quite a few hurdles to be overcome before VR and AR achieve mainstream adoption. That said, perhaps Moore's law is catching up with us and we may be, just now, starting to see the first green-shoots in the VR revolution.
This was a recurring theme that was raised in a number of talks throughout the day. Rather than focusing on the tech itself, we need to create engaging, memorable stories, to drive the tech forward. What is an incredible headset if you have nothing to watch on it?
This beautiful animated experience showcases how the use of clever animation, sound design and storytelling can create an experience that surpasses the technology. Particularly interesting is the use of 3D-projected sound within the experience to subtly guide your attention in a particular direction and allow the story to progress.
This simulation was an all-too-real simulation that mirrored the daily lives of countless aid workers around the world. This type of approach could be useful both in helping lay people to understand the treat facing UN personnel in these locations, as well as being used as a training or recruitment tool for potential candidates.
Audi has been tinkering in the world of VR for many years, from creating in-store experiences to showcase their latest cars, to augmented reality tools to help mechanics to standardise their repairs processes.
VR currently holds a unique position in the creative industry. The headsets are widely accessible and moderately easy to create content for, and yet the technology still has a wow factor for the lay user.
This presents fantastic opportunity for banding activations, whereby brands can easily create an engaging VR experience that will live with the audience member far longer than any comparable interaction of the same duration. The challenge lies in crafting a lasting story to accompany the experience, rather than just using VR for VR's sake. It might be just the path to bring your own story to life.
Eamonn Rohan is Digital Director at McCannBlue; Cian McIntyre is an Account Executive.


Figure 8b. Selection of a second randomly chosen point (y) based on a new compass bearing and distance.
Figure 8c. This diagram shows the results of choosing a number of randomly selected points based on compass bearing and distance. There are several important issues to keep in mind when using this method: it's wise to begin this method near the middle of your field site to be sure that your first few points will be located within your site; once near the edge of your site, throw out any compass bearing/distance combinations that take you out of your site; you should constrain the minimum and maximum distances that are generated based on the details of your field site and your sampling design (see the appropriate random number tables here for more details); this method is prone to repeat sampling, so it's important to keep track of locations already sampled - for example, if measuring trees, tree bark can be marked with chalk so that the tree is not sampled again.


The database of your potential customers is all you need when you are strategizing to make the expected conversions. Bring in the proper B2B lists from us.
Don't just think about participating in Qatar's economy, take some solid steps by owning the Qatar Business Decision Makers at E-Sales Club. A valid list of email ids is the least that you need to communicate with the businesses in Qatar in a significant way. Just be well informed about their economic structure and set your plans accordingly.
The business email lists with us have been intensively researched and upgraded. The initial stage of communication is always crucial for a strong connection in the future.
Once your marketing team acquires the business email lists they will definitely start pitching out the emails to the targeted companies in Qatar, however, an authentic Qatar Business Targeted Audience is necessary to get back genuine responses.
Your email marketing campaigns will succeed only if the data you have stands valid and at E-Sales Club, they are nothing but valid. They are extracted from legal sources like, White Pages, telephone directories, Yellow Pages directories, conferences, business cards, filings etc. Get ahead and let the Qatar economy know about your company.
Everything to do with communication falls into the right place if the database you use is reliable and true. The business email lists at E-Sales Club are accurate and your desire to connect with the businesses in Qatar can be fulfilled by the Qatar Business Online Marketing Emails with us.
However, your emails are to introduce yourself and your ideas to them and it's possible with our list of valid email ids. Once earn their trust they will surely guide you with the procedures.
Our accuracy in information is all you need to have that confidence to build real connections.
Qatar, officially known as the State of Qatar has the third largest oil and gas reserves in the world and their government has some rules when it comes to business- it requires you have an agent or a representative to establish your business further and you cannot buy their lands except for some real estate companies but long term renting is allowed.
An authentic data is what you will discover at our Geo email database on E-Sales Club.
You need a good ROI and we ensure to help you with our valid contact lists.


I was in the process of starting a loan for this client. We did some research online with the county and found out what his property tax would soon be after the sale went through. He was thankful to know, but mad as hell at the seller. When the buyer found out the property was netting so much less he tried to convince the seller to lower the price so that he would still be buying at a 6 cap. The seller, knowing that it was a sellers market would not do so and my client eventually had to buy another property that was not identified in his 1031 exchange and pay the capital gains tax he was trying to avoid in the first place. This is an example of how misrepresenting, or not knowing the accurate cap rate can really do a lot of damage. In this case, the listing agent in the offering memorandum did list the property as being sold at a 6 cap. Whether or not the listing agent meant to mislead the buyer or was just not being meticulous, is not the point. The point is that until you do your due diligence on the income and expenses of the property you are not going to know for sure exactly what the cap rate of the property is. To my client it meant that he was getting a 1.3% lower rate of return on the purchase price which computed to $19,500 less in income annually from the property then he expected. This true story illustrates how my client fell into the first pitfall in the cap rate trap: When Buying – Assuming the Cap Rate is Accurate.
Keep in mind that Cap Rate or Capitalization Rate is the most important number when buying, selling or refinancing a commercial property. Cap rate is simply the annual net operating income of the property divided by the property value. So the lower the cap rate, the lower the annual rate of return on the value of the property. The higher the cap rate, the higher the annual rate of return. But more so, this number represents the percentage of the investment that the owner of the property will be earning based on the appraised value or purchase price. The simplest way to understand why cap rate is so important is to think about investing money in the stock market or an annuity. Besides the safety of the investment, the most important thing to you is how much annually are you going to earn. If the number is 6% or better you are likely thrilled. A higher number is better than a lower number. The same is true for cap rate. We have already illustrated why computing the cap rate accurately is so important when buying a property. You certainly do not want to pay more than a property is worth, and cap rates represent what other like investment properties are selling for – so this is really important. When an income property investor looks for commercial properties to purchase, they always have a minimum cap rate in mind which represents whether or not this is a good deal based on the purchase price and net income. When an income property investor is selling a property, they also look at market cap rates. What are the current cap rates on similar properties? They certainly want to sell at the lowest cap rate supported by market sales. They want to get the very best price based on prices other investors have received. When an investor is refinancing their commercial property, they also need to get an accurate idea of what the property will appraise at before they go through the money and time to apply for a loan. Keep in mind that commercial appraisers rely on cap rates to determine the property value in the income approach of the appraisal.
Compare the gross income on the rent roll with actual collections showing on the income and expense statements. Just because someone is renting a unit does not mean they are paying rent. You need to determine what the economic occupancy is, not just the physical occupancy.
Collect the last two full years and current year to date income and expense statements. It is important to know how the property has performed historically. Again, this is a business. Wouldn't you rather buy a business that has more than a few months or a year of good sales and income?
Request the past trailing 12 months income and expense statement (if you can get it). This is what a lender will need. The most important thing to the lender is to know how the property has done over the past year.
Determine actual property taxes. If you are purchasing in a state that increases property taxes based on the purchase price, find out what the milleage rate is and multiply this by the purchase price. This will give you the correct property tax expense for this to be used in computing the cap rate. And yes, this will be higher than what the seller is paying. If you are purchasing in a that state does not increase taxes based on the new purchase price, be sure to still check with the county to see what the current taxes are. They might have gone up recently and the seller and/or listing agent may not have known this.
A list of all the capital improvements made in the last 5 years. Capital improvements are items like a new roof, new appliances, a resurfaced parking lot – items that are not just repairs but are replacements. The IRS expects property owners to not write these off on their taxes. These should not show as expenses but often are.
A list of all deferred maintenance items. This will tell you if the maintenance and repair expenses are low because the seller has not been spending the money necessary. If so you will need to add more to your annual cost projected for this expense. If this seems like a good deal because the cap rate is quite high the property likely needs a lot of work.
The Seller's Schedule E's. If the income or expenses seem inaccurate, ask to see the seller's schedule E's from his taxes. This will tell you how he reported the income and expenses to the government.
When you calculate cap rate be sure to include market vacancy or 5% even if the property is full, and replacement reserves of at least $250 per unit per year. The appraiser and your lender will do this and it is standard practice in computing cap rate.
If this is an office building or retail building be sure to include the expenses for tenant improvements and leasing commissions.
Make sure that the seller has given you a complete list of expenses.
As a seller, do not let your realtor oversell the cap rate by convincing you that the market is so good that he can sell the property for you based on pro forma income or expenses. Always insist that your realtor use actual numbers. If he wants to use a pro forma to show potential rent and/or some improved expenses that is fine as long as he states clearly in the offering memorandum, which numbers are not actual and that only actual numbers are used to calculate the cap rate.
Be sure to include market vacancy and replacement reserves in your expenses. Keep in mind that appraisers and lenders always do this and a savvy buyer will too.
If this is a fixer upper or an opportunity for someone to buy your property and reposition it (fix it up and raise the rents), then it is ok to have your realtor show the current actual cap rate and the potential estimated cap rate based on when the renovations and rent increases are in place.
3. When Refinancing Being Burned by A HIgh Cap Rate Bad Appraisal – Commercial appraisers certainly do not like to admit that their reports might not be totally accurate. But the truth is that an appraisal report is not always based on exact research. These reports can be and often are convoluted. The appraiser can choose which comparables they want to include in the report and which they want to exclude and thus influence the valuation one way or another. When you refinance your commercial property, you do not get to choose the appraiser, the lender does. Think about it, the appraiser wants to get hired again and does not want to have his report challenged by the lender. So the appraiser will often deliver an appraisal to the lender that they know will be accepted. I know this is a harsh statement for me to make and any commercial appraisers reading this will discredit me on this. But with my over 20 years of experience as a commercial mortgage banker and broker and reading hundreds of appraisals, I have seen this too often to be the case.
On one extreme we have community bank appraisers. They almost always seem to be the most conservative and may compute the cap rate in the income approach as being up to 1.00% higher than what the property would sell for.They do this by using higher cap rates and lower rent comparables in the income approach.Understand thatcommunity banks really got hurt after the great recession of 2008 when property values fell.They got in trouble with federal regulators because many of their commercial loans had the loan to values increase beyond acceptable limits.The banks were often forced to get these loans off their books by lowering the principal balances and demanding that their valued customers refinance elsewhere.
On the other extreme we have CMBS,Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appraisers who have the tendency to be on theliberal side of property valuation.Their cap rates will be computed with higher rents and cap rate comparables in the market. Community banks, national banks, and life company appraisers are often in the middle on valuation and thus more accurate.
If you are applying for a loan with a community bank do some research first with a commercial realtor to determine what they think the value of your property is. Share this data with your bank at the beginning. Getting you bank behind the value first and getting them to accept that maybe cap rates have come down can only help you. And at a minimum, it might influence them to value the property more accurately.
If you need a certain amount of cash out in your refinance (banks rarely allow this), and you are concerned that the appraisal might come in too low to support this, consider having a skilled commercial mortgage broker like Apartment Loan Store submit your loan. We know which loan programs and lenders use more liberal appraisers, and will help you hit a home run.