Daily Archives: October 4, 2006

What IS Wrong With The FCC? Long Beach

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You really have to wonder what is wrong with the FCC?  Who are they protecting?  Certainly not consumers.  Are they just big news media and political lobby lackeys?

Yesterday the FCC had an open hearing where actors, producers, musicians and even politicians voiced criticism on the eventual consolidation of media ownership.  Do we need the media to be owned by a few groups pouring money into more lobbies?  Already the state of news media in our country has dwindled over the past decades and the quality is dramatically low.  Anyone who reads the BBC, other European and worldwide news sees the myoptic fcus of our news coverage.  With more and more local newspapers bought by the few groups of consolidated news media, you can see how not only quality is affected but also how it becomes a powerful tool for political parties with any interest in these consolidated media groups.

Then again, this should come as no big surprise when even local government disregard what locals ask for in favor of juicy business deals.  Home Depot will most likely be built in the 3rd district in Long Beach.  Is that a bad thing?  Maybe not.  However the main important questions have not been answered.  We already have two Home Depot conveniently located in Signal Hill, in the middle of Long Beach.  Not much was said about traffic handling capacity in the new location.

I don’t want to paint a bleak scenario but looking around you, you will not see too many happy blissfully grinning out of happiness.  Drive around a little while and see who looks happy.  OK, if you see this guy in a little blue Alfa Romeo convertible or a black Alfa Romeo sedan smiling, that’s me. But that is because I do everything in my power to be surrounded with, a wonderful wife that supports me, an amazing team of co-workers who share the same principles of ethics and fair-play (rare in our industry) and cars that make me smile when I drive.

There needs to be a change to intelligent values at every level.  I do not think we should go back to anything but moving forward with ethics and integrity in the bigger sense of the word. 

Integrity:

1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship’s hull.

According to Dictionary.com

The Market State Is Exaggerated, Long Beach

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For all the talk of a slowing market, one thing you never hear are that prices came down?  What you say, but they have!  Well, asking prices, but that is not what dictates a market.  Homes have appreciated this year according to many surveys.  Buyers still  dictate the price of a market.

With more tales of closing real estate offices, the future looks good.  Are we witnessing the birth of a healthy market?  It looks like it.  With 1 in 75 Californians licensees as real estate agents, it is over kill and someone is profiting here will high desk fees and seminars on how to get rich.  Want to get rich?  Work hard, be honest, know your business and put yourself in the shoes of your clients.  Simple enough.

With rumors of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Long Beach shutting its doors, the corporate-owned broker Rose Voss vehemently denies it.

Rumors or not, offices got some interesting businessmen walking in to sell a well known realty office in town a few months ago.  That is undeniable.  Who was it?  Who knows but really who cares?

Strangely enough, a Wall Street Journal poll showed some economists predict no change, or even a decline, in home prices up to next year with this fluctuating market.

I was going to link to an article I based this post but it looked like a PR pitch for big companies.  On the positive side, little Real Estate shops like us are not just holding on but representing what we do best, Mom and Pop shop attention to quality and details.  I guess that is the good part about not being too big and in the limelight…

Yawn, Yawn, Not Boring, Long Beach

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This is my kind of article. Snoozing helps boosts memory.  Maybe that is why I feel so sleepy sometime…

If you want to improve your memory or just learn and remember anything, take a nap.  According to this article on th4e New Scientist, even a short daytime snooze could help you learn.

I was born and raised in the South of France and I can vouch for that the sieste, or what you might know under the Spanish name siesta and more commonly "nap" is crucial.  In the 60s, 70s and part of the 80s, businesses closed from 12 to 3, sometimes even 4, especially in the summer time.  People would go home to eat and take a nap.  Unfortunately, one negative aspect of globalization is that we are hard pressed to work, deliver and eventually burn out.  But taking a nap for 15 to 20mn is one of the best and healthiest things you can do.  Those old folks sure knew what they were doing.  My Great-Grandfather, whom I knew lived to be a 100.

A good night’s sleep improves learning.   Matthew Tucker at The City University of New York and colleagues have shown naps with no REM sleep help.

Here is the link.