Home Loan it's always favorable

* Hypothecary crediting brings to nothing degree of inflationary risks.
* Payment of cost of the real estate, in conformity with mortgage conditions, is carried out not at a time, and in a current of long time that is much more favourable than full payment.
* The Sums of payments connected with repayment of the hypothecary credit, are fixed at the moment of credit reception.
* Possibility of registration (residence permit) in the got apartment (house).
* VA Home Loan — favourable capital investment (at current trends of the market of the price for the real estate grow on the average from 14,5 to 30% a year).

VIA «About the mortgage and a loan»

The Montaigne Readalong is a year long project in which I try to read over 1,000 pages of Montaigne's essays. Every Monday I write about the essays I read for the week. You can share your thoughts or join the readalong if you'd like, just check the Montaigne Readalong schedule. You can read several of these essays for free on Google Books or subscribe to Montaigne's essays on Daily Lit.

Note: I'm posting this on Thursday rather than Monday because I was participating in a book tour on Monday.

Essays Read this Week:
1. On the power of imagination
2. One man's profit is another man's loss
3. On habit: and on never easily changing traditional law

Favorite Quotations:
"When imaginary thoughts trouble us we break into sweats, start trembling, grow pale or flush crimson; we lie struck supine on our featherbeds and feel our bodies agitated by such emotions; some even die from them." (On the power of imagination)

"Married folk have time at their disposal: if they are not ready the should not try to rush things. Rather than fall into perpetual wretchedness by being struck with despair at a first rejection, it is better to fail to make it properly on the marriage-couch, full as it is of feverish agitation, and to wait for an opportune moment, more private and less challenging. Before processing his wife, a man who suffers a rejection should make gentle assays and overtures with various little sallies; he should not stubbornly persist in proving himself inadequate once and for all. Those who know that their member is naturally obedient should merely take care to out-trick their mental apprehensions." (On the power of imagination)

General Thoughts:
This week was essentially sex advice from Montaigne. What a dirty dead white guy. Okay, he wasn't that dirty, but he does seem awfully concerned with the performance of men's members during sex. On the power of imagination was an essay about our ability to convince ourselves bad things will happen. I can totally relate to this. I am the queen of psyching myself out. If you go into something thinking it will be bad, it will probably be bad. Montaigne has several examples of this, almost all of them are related to sex. Apparently the best way to illustrate this phenomenon is discussing men who are unable to have intercourse because they are convinced they won't be able to perform.

Seriously. If you read no other Montaigne essay read this one. It has some naughty bits.

One man's profit is another man's loss. Don't think that one needs much explaining and it's only a page long.

On habit was quite interesting but drug on way too long. He talks about how others perceive what we believe is perfectly normal. My favorite example was a guy who blew his nose with his fingers because he said boogers weren't special enough for him to blow them in a hanky and carry them around all day. Classic. Not all of his examples are boogers though. He lists several things that are considered normal in other cultures, like burning their dead and polygamy and nose rings, but that seem odd to Europeans. Then he turns the tables and writes about things other cultures probably find odd and he does so in such a way that makes the reader see the strangeness of these things too. Basically, everyone is weird.

Questions:
1. Would you take sex advice from a dead man?
2. Are boogers special?

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In the biggest shake-up of arts and culture of modern times, Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister, has announced that the Government is to run advertisements in the Economist on January 9 to recruit new administrators "because we want to have the best directors in the world".

The leadership changes are part of a dramatic shake-up of the arts spearheaded by Dario Franceschini, the Culture Minister, in an attempt to make the country's galleries, museums and historic sites more profit-driven. Italy boasts nearly 3000 cultural sites that attract 77 million visitors a year.

The Colosseum alone draws 5.5 million of those.

Among the other "super museums" Franceschini wants to develop are the Borghese Gallery and National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Under a government decree, Franceschini hopes to generate earnings of more than 2 billion ($3.16 billion) in 2017, with further growth in the years to come. Italy's museums, galleries and archeological sites generated only 380 million in revenue in 2013, according to La Repubblica newspaper, and cost 350 million to operate.

The minister's office declined to comment on the new plans. But, according to La Repubblica, Franceschini wants to model Italian museums on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and add more restaurants, gift shops, guides and accessories that will attract more visitors and ultimately more profits.

He also wants to create 18 new regional offices with responsibility for the country's biggest artistic sites and grant more power to individual directors who run them. Italian media also said he was expected to appoint 12 new directors-general within his ministry who would manage specific sectors such as tourism, cinema and live theatre.

Franceschini has openly favoured other measures to increase tourism by "adding value" to the country's heritage and strongly supports corporate sponsorship.

He recently backed a move to bring live cultural events and concerts to ancient monuments such as the Colosseum because he said they needed to be "brought alive" for visitors from around the world.

In June, he launched a $50 million appeal to preserve the vast Domus Aurea palace built by Emperor Nero beside the Colosseum.

The Domus Aurea, loosely translated as the Golden House, is a sprawling complex of interconnecting dining halls, frescoed reception rooms and vaulted hallways on the hill opposite the ancient amphitheatre.

"The state has very limited resources unfortunately," said Franceschini at the time.

"This is an opportunity for a big company to sponsor an extraordinary project, which will capture the world's attention. It would be scandalous if no one comes forward."

Source: The New Zealand Herald [December 26, 2014]

I've selected Books for Soldiers as my charity for the 24 hour Read-a-Thon. Books for Soldiers is a non-profit corporation that ships books, dvds, video games and relief supplies to deployed military members of the US armed forces.

For every book I read, I will donate $5 to Books for Soldiers. Typically, I can read a 300 page book in two hours, so I'm estimating that I will read approximately 12 books (more or less!) Books For Soldiers operates totally on donations, so please consider sponsoring me during the Read-a-thon with a donation. You can donate a flat amount or per book.

Books for Soldiers has provided me with a secure easy pay button to post on this blog. This button is posted below, and will be posted on the sidebar of this blog through the conclusion of the read-a-thon. Payments will be processed using Paypal. All donations are tax-deductible.

If you are interesting in donating, please email me at jenlaw77ATearthlink.net or by posting a comment below. I would like to keep track of the donations earned through this effort.

In addition, I will be sending a copy of each of the books I read to troops overseas. If you are interested in donating books please email me or comment below.

Thank you for considering a contribution to this cause. If you are unable to donate, please follow my progress on Saturday, April 18! I will be hosting an amazing giveaway that day, so stay tuned!

The Wheelwright's are an affluent Boston family. They meet up every summer at the family's Nantucket summer home, also the permanent residence of the family matriarch, Nona, and Charlotte, Nona's 30 year old granddaughter.

This summer the family really has something to celebrate: Nona's 90th birthday! Soon the quiet Nantucket house will be overflowing with family members, and with them comes extra family drama.

Summer House

is told from the viewpoint of three generations of Wheelwright women: Nona Wheelwright, Helen Wheelwright, and Charlotte Wheelwright.

Nona Wheelwright is the oldest surviving member of the Wheelwright family. Her husband, Herb, passed away several years ago. Her days are spent reliving her youth. Through flashbacks, the reader catches a glimpse of her introduction to the Wheelwright family. Although her midwestern family was wealthy as well, Nona (known as Anne in her youth) had to work hard to be accepted into the family. Secrets she's kept for decades may change the family forever...for the good and and the bad.

Helen Wheelwright is married to Nona's oldest son, Worth. She's recently discovered he was having an affair, and spends the summer weeding through her thoughts as to what her future will hold.

Charlotte Wheelwright has finally found her passion: running an organic gardening business on her Grandma Nona's land. She's the free-spirit of the family. After attempting to join the family banking business without success, the Wheelwights agreed to allow Charlotte to take upon this endeavor. It also helped that she'd be caring for Grandma Nona, a task Nona's children hadn't been able to take upon themselves.

Three years later she's still at it and with a profit! When the older generation of Wheelwrights learn that Charlotte's "pet project" as bloomed into a profitable endeavor they want to put an end to it immediately. Although Charlotte pays her grandmother rent for the land she uses, her family thinks she is taking advantage of Nona's generosity.

Summer House

contains everything you would want a summer book to have: love, deceit, drama, mystery. I loved that the story is relayed through the eyes of three different generations of family members. Each gives a different perspective on a situation. The Wheelwright family is a large one, and at first I got a little confused with all the differerent names. After long, it wasn't too difficult to distinguish between them as each has their own very distinctive personality.

This book was the perfect quick summer read for me; I read it in one afternoon alone. I appreciated Thayer's descriptive writing and in-depth characterization. You fall in love with each of the family members, despite their many flaws. I held great reverance for Nona--she was an incredibly selfless, inspiring woman.

So, be sure to pick up a copy of Summer House

before you head out on your summer beach (or backyard!) getaway. You won't regret it.

Thank you to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for allowing me to join in on this tour. Thank you to the publisher for providing my review copy.

Click here to read an excerpt of Summer House

by Nancy Thayer.

After blogging for over a year now, I figure it was about time I created an "About Me" page!

I'm a full-time working mom with an amazingly supportive husband, John, and two boys John-John (9) and Justin (3). We live in the DC metro area. I work at a non-profit and provide chapter support (leadership training, conference planning, etc.).

I've been reviewing books for around 10 years now, but decided to take the plunge and create a blog in March of 2008. Reading has always been a big part of my life. Since I can remember, I've always had a book nearby or a book in hand. I began blogging about books because I love to discuss and recommend books.

My oldest son was/is an reluctant reader, so blogging has actually improved our relationship because I've been able to discover books that interest him. He begs to read each night, so that brings such joy to my life!

My husband, boys & I also have two cats ,Sylvester (tuxedo cat), Jadzea (tortoise shell) and a dog, Jack (Doxie/Chihuahu Mix).

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about me! If you have any questions about my reviews, the books I blog about, or about me in general, please stop by my Contact Me page or email me at jennsbookshelf@gmail.com.

The BBC has been investigating the trade, and the routes from Syria through Turkey and Lebanon to Europe.

The Smuggler

It has taken many calls and a lot of coaxing to get a man we are calling "Mohammed" to meet us. He is originally from Damascus but now plies his trade in the Bekaa valley on the border between Syria and Lebanon. He's 21 but looks much younger in his T-shirt, skinny jeans and black suede shoes. As we sit in an apartment in central Beirut I have to lean forward to hear the softly spoken young man describe how he began smuggling looted antiquities from Syria. "There's three friends in Aleppo we deal with, these people move from Aleppo all the way to the border here and pay a taxi driver to sneak it in." He specialised in smaller items which would be easier to move on - but he says even that has become too risky. "We tried our best to get the items which had most value, earrings, rings, small statues, stone heads," he says.

He made a good profit but bigger players with better connections "sold pieces worth $500,000, some for $1m", he says. When I ask who's making the money and controlling the trade in Syria his gentle voice takes on a flinty tone: "IS are the main people doing it. They are the ones in control of this business, they stole from the museums especially in Aleppo," he says. "I know for a fact these militants had connections overseas and they talked ahead of time and they shipped overseas using their connections abroad." Mohammed is still involved in cross-border trade, but no longer in antiquities. "Anyone caught with it gets severe punishment," he says. "They accuse you of being IS."

The Go-between

To sell looted antiquities you need a middle-man, like "Ahmed". Originally from eastern Syria, he is based in a town in southern Turkey - he doesn't want me to specify which one as he doesn't want the police to know. As a Turkish-speaker he is popular with Syrian smugglers, who ask if he can move goods on to local dealers. When I speak to him via Skype he shows me a blanket next to him filled with artefacts - statues of animals and human figures, glasses, vases and coins. They were dug up in the last few months. "They come from the east of Syria, from Raqqa, all the areas controlled by ISIS (Islamic State)," he says. Islamic State plays an active part in controlling the trade, he tells me. Anyone wanting to excavate has to get permission from IS inspectors, who monitor the finds and destroy any human figures, which are seen as idolatrous (those Ahmed is showing me have slipped through the net). IS takes 20% as tax. "They tax everything," he says.

The main trade is in stoneworks, statues and gold, and it can be extremely lucrative. "I have seen one piece sold for $1.1m," he says. "It was a piece from the year 8500BC." He gently handles each artefact as he brings it closer to the webcam to give me a better view. He has had to pay a sizeable bond to the smugglers to get this material and he doesn't want to lose any of it. The final destination is Western Europe, he says. "Turkish merchants sell it to dealers in Europe. They call them, send pictures... people from Europe come to check the goods and take them away." Ahmed will have to return the looted artefacts to his Syrian contacts, as I am clearly not buying them, but he won't be returning to his homeland. "If I went back I'd be killed," he says.

The Dealer

It's an unremarkable tourist shop in the centre of Beirut. Inside the glass cases are ancient oil lamps, rings and glassware but the shop owner, a laconic man in his late 40s, has an unusual selling tactic - he says much of it is fake. However, he assures me he does have genuine pieces from the Hellenic and Byzantine periods, around 1,000 years old. I'm interested what other items he can get, mosaics for example? I had been advised by archaeologists that mosaics would almost certainly be looted - at the moment, that would mean most likely from Syria. He asks which kind I want. Faces, animals, geometric designs? "If you're serious we can have a serious negotiation... there is always a way," he promises. When I ask if it's legal he smiles as he tells me the only way to legally ship these items is with official documentation from a museum saying they have been cleared for export.

If it was only a small mosaic I wanted, I could take the chance and try to smuggle it out myself but he warns it's a serious decision, as I could get caught. For a fee he can have them shipped to the UK but it will cost me many thousands of pounds. We shake hands as I leave and he gives me his business card. It has only taken 10 minutes to be offered illicit antiquities. Arthur Brand, an investigator who helps recover stolen antiquities isn't surprised, it chimes with his experience in Lebanon. "I've been there several times and at times and it really is amazing," he tells me from his base in Amsterdam. "The illicit trade is run as a professional business with offices and business cards and you can buy antiquities from Lebanon, but also from countries like Syria, Iraq." The link between smugglers and dealers is the dirty secret the art world doesn't want to admit to, he says.

The Cop

He could easily pass for the star of an Arabic cop show but Lt Col Nicholas Saad is a real policeman, head of Lebanon's bureau of international theft. In his office, filled with certificates from the FBI and Scotland Yard, he shows me photos of huge Roman busts seized in a recent raid in Lebanon. We go up to the roof of his police station, where out to the east, beyond the mountains, is the border with Syria. This is where refugees pour into the country and are exploited by the smuggling gangs.

"The refugees come in big numbers and the gangs put things between the belongings of the refugees," he explains. Since the conflict in Syria he has noticed a significant increase in the smuggling of looted artefacts, "especially from the Islamic parts, Raqqa (the base) of the Islamic State", he adds. His team has seized hundreds of Syrian artefacts. "We have the archaeology expert that said they're very valuable from the Roman period, from the Greek period, years before Christ," he says. But there isn't a market for them in Lebanon. "Lebanon is a transit station, it's one of the the doors that goes to Europe. The real money is made in Europe."

The Treasure

Inside the Beirut National museum are treasures from the cradle of civilisation - Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine statues, busts and sarcophagi 3,000 years old. Hidden away from the public in a store room below the main galleries, seized looted antiquities wait to be returned to Syria. My guide is Dr Assaad Seif, an archaeologist and head of excavations at the directorate general of antiquities in Beirut. He rings a bell and a wrought iron door is unlocked. Inside are scores of items - pottery, stonework - but the most valuable items are sealed away in a warehouse. "We have huge funeral sculptures, representing men and women used to seal the tombs, from Palmyra," he says.

Most of the seized items are from excavations rather than thefts from museums. The looters target warehouses at ancient sites like Palmyra, a Unesco world heritage site. "The warehouses at archaeological sites have objects they know are not listed or catalogued yet, and they think it could be easier to sell them," he says. "The Palmyra objects had value for people in Syria... it gives a kind of identity," he says. Although reluctant to put a price on any of the bigger items, after some coaxing he relents. "We have a dozen objects that would sell for $1m each on the open market." I understand why they keep them out of sight of curious foreign visitors.

The Destination 

It has taken days to get through to Dr Maamoun Abdulkarim, the archaeologist in charge of Syria's dept of antiquities in Damascus. When I do reach him, he's angry. "The sites under the control of ISIS, in these areas we have a disaster, a lot of problems. IS attack all things just for the money," he says. "It is our memory, our identity, for the government, the opposition, for all Syria." It's impossible to stop the looting but he is adamant more could be done to crack down on the trade. "We are sure through all the sources a lot of objects go from Syria to Europe, in Switzerland, in Germany, in UK - and Gulf countries like Dubai and Qatar," he says.

It was a common refrain. Everyone from the Lebanese police to Mohammed the smuggler and Ahmed the go-between said the main market was Europe. In the UK there have been no prosecutions or arrests for selling looted Syrian artefacts but Vernon Rapley, who ran the Metropolitan Police's art and antiquities squad for almost a decade, says too much shouldn't be read into this. "I'm quite confident that there have been seizures of material like this," he confidently states, as we stroll around his new workplace, the Victoria and Albert museum, where he is director of security.

Rapley still liaises closely with his former police unit and he is certain that artefacts from Syria are being sold here. He wants the trade in these antiquities to become "socially repugnant and unacceptable" so that in the future, he says, "we don't have interior decorators looking for these things to decorate people's houses".

Author: Simon Cox | Source: BBC News Website [February 17, 2015]