In this era of modern technology, it is simple to use many of the desktop publishing applications and image editing functions to both enhance and completely change or create a picture. With the advent of social media and the “share-ability” of images through services like Flickr it is also very easy to get feedback from people as to if your “art work” is any good.In the last decade and especially the last 5 years there has been a massive paradigm shift in what people want from art, and especially paintings. If we look back at history, with the exception of Monet or Picasso, many of the most famous artists of the last 200 years have been known as much for their skill at fine art and detail as much for their application and imagination of art.Things happen fast these days (or so it seems) and with Art, what many modern day consumers want is a piece of “mood” art as opposed to a piece of traditional “art” – what is art? I hear you cry – art is anything that inspires or creates emotion which has been created from passion for making a statement. So, going back to the point, modern art buyers do not just want what we call modern art but they also want a “mood” and “effect” to hang on a wall – very few modern day artists specialise in detailed “fineart” – those that do are (in my view) in possession of a skill which most “mood” artists (like myself) could only dream of.So where will art (specifically visual arts like paintings) be on 100 years time? I personally suspect buyers will put a premium on fineart once again and that we are in a transition stage between consumers not being that interested in fineart because it can never match up to what can be done digitally and consumers getting slightly bored of mood art. There will be a time where fineart artists are once again top of the pile when it comes to skill and respect in the art world.
Dealing With Collection Sharks
This was so popular and a lot of folks missed it. So we are going over this article again. (it really can help many of you). This is an actual copy of the Federal Trade Commission in action. Perhaps many of you have been faced with this same problem. You have an old account that is due to be automatically removed by virtue of the Statute of Limitations. Yes, the seven-year clock is getting ready to expire.But lo and behold, up jumps this company that has just purchased this old account and are circumventing the law. How? Simple, they just put a new date on your credit report relating to their purchase of the account. This now gives them another seven years to either force you, harass you or do whatever they can to force you to pay. Lets just say that you were put into a credit prison for (7) years. You accepted your fate. But about the six year and six month time you really are aware of when your sentence ends. BUT, here in the middle of the night, without your even knowing who or how, someone adds more years to your sentence. Are you mad? You bet. What can you do? Up until you read this article you might not have even been aware such things can happen. YES, they most certainly do.It is illegal as hell! Here is proof of this company being caught by the Federal Trade Commission. Remember the law works for you. If you have this situation, you can always download and reprint this letter to send to them. Don’t be afraid. This is public information. Anyone can subscribe to the Federal Trade Commission website and get these rulings. So go ahead and use the power given you under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This letter appeared in August 2000. The following letter is reprinted from the FTC website.California Debt Collection Agency Settles FTC Charges Of Fair Credit Reporting Act Violations
The Federal Trade Commission today announced a proposed settlement with a California-based debt collection agency, Performance Capital Management, Inc. (PCM), under which the company would be fined $2 million and enjoined from what the FTC called “serious violations” of Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). According to the terms of the proposed settlement, payment of the fine would be waived due to the company’s poor financial condition.The FCRA regulates the collection and dissemination of sensitive information about consumers by credit bureaus and other types of consumer reporting agencies. Section 623 was added by Congress in the 1996 amendments to increase the accuracy of consumer reports by imposing specific duties upon any entity that furnishes information to a consumer reporting agency. The settlement announced today is the Commission’s first enforcement action under Section 623.PCM is a California corporation with headquarters in Irvine, California. It specializes in buying and collecting consumer debt that has been charged-off by the original creditor as un-collectable. PCM is currently in bankruptcy, and the Commission has waived the $2 million civil penalty based upon the financial condition of the company. In its complaint against PCM, the Commission alleges that PCM violated a number of requirements imposed by Section 623. First, the complaint alleges that PCM provided credit bureaus with inaccurate “delinquency dates” for its accounts. Section 623 defines the delinquency date for an account as the month and year that an account first became delinquent.This date is important because it is used by credit bureaus to measure the seven-year period that negative credit information maybe reported under the FCRA. According to the Commission, PCM systematically reports accounts with delinquency dates that were more recent than the actual date of delinquency, resulting in negative information remaining on consumers’ credit reports long beyond the seven-year period mandated by the FCRA.The Commission’s complaint also alleges that PCM violated Section 623 by ignoring or failing to investigate consumer disputes referred by credit bureaus, and by failing to notify credit bureaus when consumers disputed collection accounts with PCM.The proposed settlement would require PCM to provide correct delinquency dates when reporting collection accounts to credit bureaus. The agreement also mandates the proper investigation of disputes. Where PCM learns during an investigation that account records no longer exist for a disputed debt, the company must delete the information from credit bureau files within five days. Finally, the agreement would require PCM to report as “disputed” all accounts where consumers have disputed the information with PCM.The Commission vote to file the complaint and the proposed settlement was 5-0. The proposed settlement will be presented to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, which is overseeing PCM’ s bankruptcy. If approved, the agreement will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.Regis Sauger has contributed the opening portion of this article and makes you aware of how the law can help you with information that is public knowledge. Regis Sauger takes no credit for the materials in the reprint, but has provided all readers with information that otherwise they might not learn about.Respectfully, Regis Sauger
Martial Arts – Japanese Jujitsu
Japanese Jujitsu which is also known as Traditional Jujitsu is accepted as the mother of many of the modern arts of the 20th century. Karate, Judo, Aikido and Brazilian Jujitsu are just a few of the arts that have spawned from this ancient martial art. During the feudal period of Japan, an art was needed for warfare. A definitive date for the origins of this martial art is impossible to locate but it is universally agreed upon that Jujitsu is purely a Japanese martial art. Known as the art of the Samurai, Jujitsu was highly feared and respected by other territories due to its vast skill set. A samurai was trained in weapons consisting of the staff, the katana, the sword and many others, while he was also trained in all ranges of fighting including striking, throwing and ground grappling.Jujitsu is an art that for the most part has gone unrecognized for its many contributions to the martial arts community as a whole. This isn’t to say that most people aren’t aware of the art, they just aren’t fully aware of the various facets of this martial art. This isn’t a new problem, this has been the story throughout history when it comes to Jujitsu. Remember that in the early years of its inception it was only taught to Samurai’s and they used it in a way that was not only brutal but in most instances, lethal. How were they supposed to get exposure for a martial art that couldn’t be practiced or exhibited without the chance of a serious injury? Looking at the late 60s and early 70s you’ll see that Kung-fu had its poster boy in martial arts legend Bruce Lee while Karate had an equally great spokesperson in Chuck Norris. It’s not until Tom Cruise acted in the movie the “Last Samurai” that western society became privy to the martial art of Jujitsu. The Tom Cruise of Jujitsu in the 1800s was a man by the name of Jigoro Kano who was one of the champion practitioners of the martial arts.What Jigoro Kano did was devise a way that not only could Jujitsu be practiced safely but competitions and exhibitions could now be held as a way of exposure for the art. What he essentially did was eliminate the deadly striking and eye gouging from the martial art and focused on both the throwing and submission holds. The problem was his art became so watered down that it didn’t even reassemble Jujitsu anymore. Not only was the striking omitted but some of the submissions such as leg locks were also taken out. Jigoro Kano had also introduced a way for all the practitioners of the art t o partake in live sparring. This was known as randori and out of it a new sport was born which we now call Judo.You might be wondering how a martial art like Jujitsu can benefit you in this day in age. The fact of the matter is, yes it was created for the Samurai to do battle in war, but with some of the modifications made to it in the last two centuries, it has become much safer while still keeping its effectiveness. Not many arts were heralded enough to have more then ten new martial arts created from them. A martial art that was good enough to preserve the life of a Samurai during battle is certainly capable of granting us the skills needed to defend ourselves.
Hard Money Commercial
Hard finance provider loans are mortgages from private investors and companies that will lend to you for refinance or purchase the real estate.What is Commercial Hard Currency?Commercial Hard currency provider could be defined as a sub class of hard finance provider. But there is one essential difference: lenders charge some higher interest rate for a commercial loaning of hard money than they do for the regular hard finance provider loans. Commercial hard currency provider lenders have to do this with the only purpose to protect them and their money from high risk involved. As usual, commercial hard finance provider loans are taken for a short time period and they are taken strictly for business use.Hard finance provider commercial lenders are not as protected as any other products of a consumer loan. Commercial hard finance provider loans could be given to a business enterprise. They could also be given to individuals but there is one essential requirement that he or she is getting the loan on behalf of some business corporation or entity. Generally there are the following institutions where you can get the hard money provider commercial loan:· Federal Banks
· SBA Lenders
· Private individuals
· Mortgage CompaniesThe hard money commercial lenders have absolutely different degrees of advantages and varying disadvantages in the proposed conditions for loaning hard currency commercial (as the competitiveness of a loan rate).While usual hard money lenders are giving loans for the purchase of a house or some residential property, today many companies are coming up with means and ways with which they are creatively designing a loan in order to make it possible for people to buy commercial land or property as well.Typically the hard finance provider commercial loan’s interest rate is higher and it is around 12% – 18% and in the most of cases the loan is an actual mortgage. There also is the balloon payment due after one or two years.These loans could be characterized by their relatively lower loan to value ratio and by their higher fee. So together with the interest rate, there also is a fee which can consist about up to 8% of the amount of the loan. The hard money commercial lenders are trying to keep their loans safe and because of this reason they need to be sure that the recipient of a loan has the sufficient equity in the house. So in the case of default the hard currency provider commercial lender could sell the real estate property to recover their loans.
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