TeamProg
TeamProg's JournalVideo shows Palestinian workers abused in Israeli detention
Gaza death toll passes 10,000, health officials say; Blinken says more aid coming soon
Source: WaPo
The Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll in the enclave surpassed 10,000 after four weeks of war with Israel. The updated figure was released after another night of intense strikes on Gaza during a communications blackout. The Biden administration expects more humanitarian aid to begin flowing into Gaza within days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a news briefing in Ankara, Turkey, on Monday as he wraps up a whirlwind tour of the Middle East, his second since the Israel-Gaza war broke out. Blinken also said he was optimistic that there would soon be movement on U.S. efforts to push Israel to implement “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza, though Israel has so far refused to agree to them.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/06/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-palestine/
Collusion in the Real Estate Industry, the clock is ticking on the 6% real estate commission
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/05/homes/nar-verdict-real-estate-commission-fee/index.htmlWhat was the case about?
The cornerstone of the plaintiff’s argument is that NAR is forcing home-sellers to pay an inflated commission that is then split between their agent and the buyer’s agent. The home-sellers argued commission sharing as a condition for access to the Multiple Listing Service was unfair and kept commissions artificially high.
Typically, when a home goes on the market for sale, the seller offers their broker a set commission. For decades, the commission has consistently been around 6% of the sale price, usually with a 3% split for the buyer’s and seller’s agent.
Close-up of for sale rider on real estate sign post in front yard of house
Realtors found liable for $1.8 billion in damages in conspiracy to keep commissions high
In a competitive market, the home sellers argue, the cost of the buyer’s agent’s commission would be paid not by the seller, but by the buyer who received the service. The sellers said that the buyers should be able to negotiate the fee with their agent, and that the sellers should not be on the hook for paying it.
NAR and the other defendants argued in court that their commissions are always negotiable. They also said that the system of having the seller’s agent split the commission with the buyer’s agent allows buyers, who are already weighed down with expenses like a downpayment, closing costs, inspections and appraisals, to avoid the added expense of having to pay an agent as well.
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A Seller's Agent will always say " your house will sell for what the market price will bear."
So how come I can't negotiate the commissions to be earned by a Realtor based on competition and what the agent market will bear?
Why must sellers turn over SIX PERCENT of the VALUE of their home?? It's been a SCAM forever.
I've bought as many houses as I've sold, always reinvesting. One time I had a house on the market that wasn't;t being shown to potential buyers because my listing agent and I were only offering 2% instead of the usual 3% for the Buyer's Agent. Basically BLACK-LISTED!
The MLPS ( listing service) shows to NAR members the commissions being paid, so if members don't like the lower commissions, they will say ill things about your house ('probably' needs a new roof, noisy neighborhood, bad neighbors, etc) and not show it.
I got my agent friend to go back to offering the 3% for the Buyer's side and my agent / friend only took 1%.
How Netanyahu helped turn Hamas into his Frankenstein's monster
How Netanyahu helped turn Hamas into his Frankenstein's monster
https://www.wionews.com/world/explained-how-netanyahu-helped-grow-hamas-which-became-the-frankensteins-monster-for-him-651336
Tel Aviv, Israel Edited By: Vikrant Singh Updated: Oct 26, 2023, 11:33 AM IST
Story highlights
The basis of this collaboration of more than a decade between Bibi and Hamas was their shared hatred for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its leader Mahmoud Abbas.
As the war grinds on between Israel and Hamas, one should not forget the decades-old “alliance” between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Gaza-based terrorist organisation.
The basis of this collaboration of more than a decade was their shared hatred for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Let us break it down for you.
Netanyahu assumed the PM's office in 2009 and since then, he has tried to shore up Hamas in order to ostracise the PA.
Netanyahu always opposed peace efforts between Hamas and the PA
He opposed reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah, the political party backed by PA leader Mahmoud Abbas.
During that time, Netanyahu reportedly made all possible efforts to derail that deal, while claiming that “reconciliation between Hamas and the PLO makes achieving peace harder.”
Bibi believed that peace between Hamas and PA would pave the way for a united Palestine, essentially leading to a two-state solution, an idea Netanyahu vehemently opposes.
In May 2019, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak further confirmed this during an interview with Channel 13. “Netanyahu isn’t interested in a two-state solution. Rather, he wants to separate Gaza from the West Bank, as he told me at the end of 2010,” he said.
Netanyahu’s pro-Hamas policies
Under his rule, Netanyahu ensured Hamas got unhindered access to funds flowing in from Qatar and Iran. He did almost nothing to install checks and balances even as he knew much of it might be directed towards funding terrorism and the flowering of militant ideology.
Without these funds, Hamas would never have developed such a strong military arm, eventually carrying out the dastardly terrorist attack of October 7.
In March 2019, Netanyahu himself admitted that he supported the policy of enriching Hamas to keep the PA at bay.
This question needs to be asked. Why is it impossible to voice criticism of Israel as a political
body and not immediately be labeled as anti-Semite?
In my posts, religion is the furthest thing on my mind, just the policy of the nation and yet I get grief.
How can we have serious policy debate when sides takes a defensive/aggressive posture with their personal religion over policy matters?
Someone please explain this to me.
To moderators, there many, many posts here at Gen Discussion relating to Israel/ Palestine. It is the subject of the year.
Jordan won't seek third speaker vote, backs plan to empower interim speaker
Source: WaPo
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will not seek an additional speaker vote Thursday, and he will back a plan to give Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.), the temporary speaker, additional powers, according to multiple people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the situation. After two rounds of votes, a group of Republicans had made it clear that Jordan did not have enough support to win the speaker’s gavel. With House functions at a standstill, lawmakers can now consider a proposal to expand McHenry’s powers.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/19/house-speaker-vote-live/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most
Chaos..
They eat their own.
Republicans doing what they do best.
“Their own” means:
Their party
Our nation
National security
Education
Healthcare
The underpaid
The overworked
Children’s health
Families
all for corporate donations.
Excellent read: Palestine / Judea - World History Encyclopedia
I knew some of this in bits and pieces over the years and from art history courses in college, but the complete history is a chore to fathom.
[link:https://www.worldhistory.org/palestine/|
Sign at skin Drs' office yesterday: RELAX!! We're All Crazy. It's Not A Competition.
Too real, too funny!
"They hate us for our freedom!" Remember that line from the Bush Admin echoed by the
GOP and conservatives after 911 ?
The terrorists hate us for our freedoms.. since then?
Conservatives and Republicans have taken away our individual freedoms and have banned or squelched:
Abortion
Books
Bodily autonomy
Sex education
Climate change awareness
Transgender rights
Gay rights
Labor rights and more.
Profile Information
Gender: Do not displayHometown: Monte Sereno, CA
Home country: USA
Current location: At home on five acres of pines and cedars at 3,100 ft elev in the Sierra Nevada, California ( in a VAN, down) by a river!
Member since: Tue Jan 26, 2021, 10:27 PM
Number of posts: 6,117
